In this engaging conversation, Magi Richani, founder and CEO of Nobell Foods, shares her journey in engineering plant-based cheese alternatives. She discusses the innovative use of soybeans to replicate traditional cheese flavors and textures. The chat dives into the environmental benefits of shifting away from dairy, and Magi expresses her dream of seeing Nobell cheese on pizzas nationwide. They also touch on her unique health journey, from boxing to embracing a plant-based diet, highlighting the connection between mind and body.
Engineering soybeans to produce unique proteins can create delicious cheese without environmental impact.
By focusing on taste, affordability, and scale, plant-based cheese can become a widespread and sustainable alternative.
Deep dives
Engineering Cheese with Soybeans
The podcast episode discusses the efforts to engineer cheese using soybeans as a sustainable and animal-free alternative. Maggie Roshani, founder and CEO of Nobel Foods, shares her personal journey of developing dairy alternatives after discovering her lactose intolerance. She explains that current dairy production methods, which rely on impregnating cows to produce milk, are inefficient and resource-intensive. Roshani highlights the potential of plant-based proteins, specifically soybeans, to produce the unique proteins found in dairy, such as casein. By engineering soybeans to produce these proteins, they aim to create cheese and other dairy products that are equally delicious but without the environmental impact of traditional methods. The goal is to offer cheese alternatives that can compete on taste and price, ultimately changing consumer behavior and providing more sustainable options.
The Power of Designing Cheese from Scratch
The podcast delves into the process of designing dairy alternatives from scratch. Roshani explains that they are able to omit undesirable components like lactose, cholesterol, and hormones from the cheese, while retaining the unique qualities that make cheese delicious and versatile. Using first principles thinking and genetic engineering, they instruct soybean plants to produce casein, the key protein needed for cheese production. The lack of structure in casein poses a challenge, as it requires special techniques to produce this protein outside of an animal. However, by leveraging the natural protein production capabilities of soybeans, they can create a cheese alternative that closely mimics the flavor, texture, and functionality of traditional cheese. They highlight the potential for plant-based proteins to not only benefit the environment but also offer healthier food options for consumers.
Challenges and Future of Plant-Based Cheese
The podcast explores the challenges and future prospects of plant-based cheese production. Roshani acknowledges the difficulty of convincing consumers to change their eating habits, especially when it comes to beloved foods like pizza. To compete with traditional cheese, it is crucial to offer products that are equally delicious and can evoke the same nostalgic experiences and cultural significance associated with food. Roshani emphasizes the importance of taste and affordability in driving real change and widespread adoption. By focusing on mozzarella and cheddar, the most popular cheese categories, they aim to win over cheese lovers and foodies, ultimately making plant-based cheese more accessible and widespread. Additionally, Roshani outlines their cost reduction goals, utilizing scale and efficient plant-based protein production to eventually achieve cost parity with traditional cheese. Their vision for the future is to see their cheese available in all major pizza chains and fast-food establishments, offering a sustainable and affordable alternative to animal-based cheese.
Today’s episode is with Magi Richani, founder and CEO of Nobell Foods. She is joined by a16z Bio + Health general partner Vijay Pande.
Together, they talk about the details of engineering plants to create the future of food, why Nobell started with soybeans to produce their cheese, and her dream of finding a cheese pizza—with Nobell cheese—at any pizza shop across the country.
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