Chefs have a saying: “fat is flavour”; but our relationship with fats has been complex and confusing for some time.
We’re told some are good, some less so when it comes to animal fats. And now, with the rise of plant-based meat substitutes, giving them good fats that add flavour is a challenge Anna El Tahchy, chief technology officer at Nourish Ingredients, a deep tech startup leading in the field of specialty fats and precision fermentation.
Dr El Tahchy was honoured as Best Technical Leader in the 2024 Startup Daily Best in Tech Awards, held last week in Sydney.
She was a finalist in the Best Technical Leader category alongside Vincenzo Marciano, CTO and founder of construction tech platform Build Buddy; Sam Fitz-Roy, cofounder and Head of Data and Virtual Power Plants at the National Renewable Network; and Lena Fussan, co-founder of Waterfall Finance, a technology and investment platform transforming climate hardware funding.
Best Technical Leader, presented by StartxLabs, recognises a CTO and/or other tech-focused leader as a key partner in the success of a startup.
The judges looked for an exceptional approach to solving problems with the potential to change the way we live, alongside delivering innovation and value for the company and its customers.
Dr Anna El Tahchy is an innovator in agriculture, food and product development, with a background in food chemistry and deep experience in lipid engineering. She steers the research and development efforts alongside a team of scientists at Nourish Ingredients. She is a fierce advocate for women in science and over half of her diverse team are female.
Nourish was founded in 2019 by scientists James Petrie and Ben Leita, who met at CSIRO a few years earlier and spotted the market need for non-animal fats to add flavour to the growing alternative “meats” industry. It’s nearly two years since the startup raised $43 million in a Series A led by Horizon Ventures with support from CSIRO-backed deep tech VC Main Sequence.
Nourish identifies fats for alternative and traditional food companies seeking to boost production with fewer or no animal ingredients, without sacrificing taste.
The problem the startup is solving is that plant-based “meats” often use products such as palm and coconut oils for flavour and nutrition, but production of both oils has led to widespread environmental devastation and rainforest destruction.
Nourish developed a fermentation process that mimics the molecular structure of animal fats without having to use animal products. The process allows them to tailor flavour profiles and mouth-feel properties that mirror animal proteins including seafood, pork, beef and chicken.
This time last year Nourish released its first product, the animal-free fat Tastilux, which has a meaty flavour and cooking performance. The breakthrough fat, made with through precision fermentation, is designed to provide global food and ingredient makers a fat that cooks, smells and tastes just like traditional meat for consumers.
More recently the Canberra-based startup launched a collaboration with Fonterra using Nourish’s latest animal-free fat product Creamilux, which gives a full cream flavour and mouthfeel to dairy products, and will be used by the global dairy giant for product innovation.
The two companies plan to explore opportunities where Nourish Ingredients fats can provide enhancements to non-dairy categories such as bakery, which traditionally rely on dairy lipids.
Whatever comes next, you can bet CTO Dr Anna El Tahchy will be on the frontline with her team making it happen.
This article is brought to you by Startup Daily, with thanks to our award sponsor StartxLabs.
READ MORE: The full 2024 Startup Daily Best in Tech Awards winners’ list
Deputy, Fortiro, Hysata, Startmate & Goterra win at the Startup Daily Best in Tech Awards
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