Grate Expectations: The Troubled Quest for Tasty Vegan Cheese
The article examines why vegan cheese remains a niche product, accounting for less than 1% of the U.S. cheese market and seeing a 10% sales decline in 2025. It explains the scientific hurdle: plant proteins cannot replicate casein’s melt‑and‑stretch properties, leading to texture and flavor shortcomings. Start‑ups like Climax (now Bettani Farms) have pursued data‑driven formulations and precision‑fermented casein, but face high production costs and strict EU novel‑food regulations. Funding dried up, leadership changed, and the company pivoted away from its original AI‑heavy branding, highlighting the broader investor fatigue with plant‑based cheese ventures.
How Do You Replace 40 Million Dead Vultures?
India has lost an estimated 40 million vultures over the past two decades, crippling a critical public‑health service. The Jatayu Conservation Breeding Centre, the world’s largest vulture‑breeding facility, is attempting to restore populations by raising thousands of birds each year. However,...