Takeover bid?
OPINION: Canterbury milk processor Synlait is showing no sign of bouncing back from its financial doldrums.
Food giant Unilever is planning a dairy ice cream that uses milk that doesn't come from a cow.
The company is working on a process called precise fermentation that uses substances like yeast and fungi to produce milk proteins in a vat. A product could be available in about a year, according to Andy Sztehlo, head of Unilever's research and development in ice cream.
If successful, Unilever could be the first major food company to create an ice cream made from cow-free dairy, dubbed lab-grown milk, in a burgeoning industry dominated by smaller start-ups.
A consumer giant like Unilever developing a precision fermentation version of one of its major brands makes it feasible that the technology can scale up and be cost-effective.
