Bel Group Partners With Standing Ovation, Targets Animal-Free Cheese

French food company Bel Group – maker of Babybel, Boursin and The Laughing Cow brands – is digging further into vegan cheeses through a strategic partnership with food technology startup Standing Ovation, announced today. The Paris-based animal-free ingredient maker uses precision fermentation to make animal-free, casein milk proteins that Bel will harness to broaden its portfolio of cheese alternatives.

The announcement comes on the heels of Standing Ovation’s $12 million capital raise in September. Bel Group contributed to the round and took a minority stake in the food tech company’s business.

For Bel, the agreement presents an opportunity for a “diversification of proteins,” said Caroline Sorlin, Bel Group Chief Venture Officer. The partnership will underscore one of its core business growth objectives: feeding a growing world population sustainably.

Three years ago the company decided to focus on disruptive technologies like precision fermentation and claim that its ability to make the same types of cheese products Bel already produces “without touching the cow can be complimentary,” Sorlin said.

In April, the company launched a plant-based cheese under the Babybel brand. Bel also offers its Nurishh brand of vegan mozzarella.

“If you want to reproduce something which is really close to the taste, to the texture, to the nutrition of a dairy product, precision fermentation is probably the most interesting technology to be the closest as possible to dairy,” Sorlin told NOSH. “So this is something different. This is something complementary to plant based. And both are super interesting.”

The partnership between Standing Ovation and Bel Group will allow both companies to benefit from the other’s expertise. Standing Ovation will be able to scale its animal-free casein technology and Bel will be able to make new cheeses with both companies putting their brand behind the products, said Anne Pitkowski, Bel Group Research and Application Director.

For Bel, Standing Ovation’s animal-free caseins differentiates it from other food tech operations that often focus on whey to make animal-free dairy proteins, Pitkowski said. “That is really important for us to be able to reproduce this functionality of the cheese that is really lacking from the plant-based cheeses.”

Cheese alternatives were once relegated to highly-processed plant-based alternatives that barely resembled traditional dairy products but the category has since evolved.

The vegan cheese market increased 5.7% in 2022 and is expected to grow by 9.3% by 2032, according to market research company Future Market Insights.

Only about a decade ago early adopters like Kite Hill and Miyoko’s Creamery began making plant-based cheeses with almonds and cashews, respectively. As plant-based eating has moved from niche trend to mainstream category, the options for animal-free dairy products has expanded with both emerging brands and global conglomerates leading the charge.

In August, Archer Midland Daniels (ADM) partnered with Bay Area-based food tech startup New Culture to produce animal-free mozzarella cheese from casein proteins using precision fermentation technology.

Additionally, Perfect Day, which Initially launched as a CPG brand, has pivoted to an ingredients first model with ADM and, most recently, with Mars and Nestlé. Food makers have tapped Perfect Day to bring new products like milk, chocolate, ice cream and cake mixes to market without the use of animal-derived ingredients.

Within the startup space, non-dairy cheese maker Nobell announced last year that it has secured $75 million to scale its plant-based cheese production using casein protein derived from soybeans. Israel-based alt-dairy start-up Remilk has also been raising capital and building out its own production facility to maximize its precision fermentation technology for uses in milk, yogurt, cheese and other dairy applications.