New Cow-Free Cheese May Be Tastier, but Still Faces Hurdles

Selling consumers on engineered or “lab grown” foods has long been an uphill battle, but social scientists can help demystify what shoppers care about. A new study from researchers in Germany found 57 percent of respondents were willing to try cheese made with what’s called precision fermentation, but far fewer would buy it regularly. And it gets more complicated from there. When asked about perceived benefits like animal welfare and reduced greenhouse gas emissions, more than half of the consumers surveyed said these details mattered. But so do perceived risks, like putting dairy farmers out of business and the potential for companies to acquire too many patents.

What is Precision Fermentation?

Fermentation is a process that’s familiar to most of us. Traditional fermentation turns soybeans into tempeh, by using a naturally occurring mold called Rhizopus. Using yeast or bacteria to modify microorganisms as a way to create something new has also been around for quite some time — insulin and rennet for cheese are two common examples of this kind of biotechnology in action.

The name “precision fermentation” is relatively new, at least by comparison, but it’s mostly just a new application. Precision fermentation refers to a process that works like this: scientists engineer microorganisms of yeast, fungi or bacteria, turning them into something new, in this case, an animal-free alternative to cheese. The microorganisms are given feed (like sugars, for instance), and placed in a bioreactor to grow the desired product.

For cheese, the aim is to create what tastes, melts and stretches like traditional cheese, only without the industrial dairy farming responsible for climate emissions, water pollution and poor animal welfare.

Consumers Are Willing to Try, but Fewer Willing to Buy Regularly

Researchers from the University of Göttingen surveyed 2,035 German consumers, and found 57 percent of people surveyed were willing to try precision fermentation cheese. This tracks with an earlier study that found 79 percent of consumers were willing to try animal-free dairy cheese.

Far fewer consumers would buy it regularly — 32 percent, to be exact. The numbers shrink even more for everyday use, as only a quarter of study respondents said they would swap dairy cheese for cheese made with precision fermentation. Unsurprisingly paying more for precision fermentation cheese is also a no-go, with only 14 percent of people willing to add to their grocery bills.

The new research also found that when the survey participants were informed of the details of the technology — especially that the microorganisms were genetically modified — they had some trepidation about trying it, but it wasn’t a deal-killer. Careful communication is key, Sarah Kühl, author of the study wrote in an email to Sentient, adding that genetic engineering, in and of itself, would not “necessarily lead to a rejection of the cheese.”

Animal Welfare and the Environment Rate Relatively High

Precision fermentation offers several advantages over conventional methods of making cheese, including reduced climate pollution and land use. Because dairy mostly comes from cows, which emit lots of methane gas and require copious amounts of land and other natural resources, the World Resources Institute rates cheese as medium climate impact — somewhere between chicken and beef. Swapping dairy cheese for a lower-impact alternative would be a boost for climate action.

That kind of detail would be appealing to consumers in the study — 55 percent answered that fewer greenhouse gasses emitted were a “rather great” or “very great benefit.” Fewer animals kept in barns was also seen as beneficial by 59 percent of respondents, who see animal welfare as a rather great or very great benefit.

There are other benefits too. Cheese produced through precision fermentation could eliminate the need for antibiotics and hormones, and reduces the risk of contamination from pathogens, including avian or bird flu, which is currently affecting dairy cows across the U.S. and can live on milking equipment for hours.

The researchers also asked consumers about the perceived risks of precision fermentation, including farmers losing their jobs and companies acquiring too much power in the market from patents. The survey found 67 percent of consumers saw risk to farmer livelihood as a great concern, while 60 percent of people felt similarly about patents.

According to Kühl, who is a researcher at University of Göttingen, the risk to farmer livelihood primarily impacted whether a consumer would swap the cheese alternative for conventional dairy entirely or pay more for it. While there were no exact figures, Kühl said it was one of the “strongest effects” in the study. “Consumers value agriculture and farmers, in this case dairy farmers, and do not want them to cease to exist,” she wrote.

What Stands in the Way for Precision Fermentation Foods

There are still plenty of challenges ahead for this type of cheese alternative to be a serious contender at the grocery store. Even if consumers are willing to try these foods, that’s no guarantee they will buy them regularly, as this latest research shows.

And there are other roadblocks too. The costs to make precision fermentation cheese must come down to be on par with conventional dairy, industry experts say. More regulatory bodies around the world would also need to approve use of the technology in their food systems.

In the United States and Singapore, a number of companies are already selling precision fermentation products, like Brave Robot ice cream. But European Union regulators have stricter authorization processes for genetically modified foods, and it’s unclear when, if ever, companies will be able to crack the European market.

Communicating the technological aspects of creating precision fermentation cheese to the public requires finesse. “Many consumers have a preference for natural production processes,” said Kühl, “and are skeptical about new technologies.”

Still, the technology remains full of promise — because it just tastes more like the “real” thing. One of the study’s more positive findings is that precision fermentation consistently melts and stretches better. And food industry experts agree that getting taste and texture right is crucial, especially for a food as popular in many cultures as cheese.