Leveraging functional protein: TurtleTree eyes commercialization with lactoferrin-infused beverages

26 Aug 2024 --- Earlier this July, TurtleTree became the first precision fermentation dairy company to secure a vegan certification for its animal product-free lactoferrin, LF+. With its recent partnerships with Cadence Performance Coffee and Strive, TurtleTree aims to “leverage that functionality” of the protein in direct-to-consumer offerings. 

Food Ingredients First sits down with Aletta Schnitzler, TurtleTree’s chief scientific officer, to unpack key company developments, including its recent vegan certification, F&B collaborations and future commercialization plans.

Lactoferrin is a protein component of mammalian milk with iron-regulating and gut health-improving properties. However, its extremely high costs have limited its application to infant formula and food supplements.

“We don’t use any animal-source materials in the development or manufacturing process for LF+. This enables us to include our product in vegan products like plant-based milk, where cow’s milk-derived lactoferrin is currently excluded from those products.”

Schnitzler acknowledges that offering a vegan version of an animal protein can be “confusing.” To circumvent this, the company has refined its marketing approach to address consumer perception.

“Much of what we’re doing with our communication is that consumer education element that shows that now, with the technology we’re using, we can get all of the benefits of milk proteins without using the animal.”

Strategic partnerships and commercialization

TurtleTree inked its first partnership with Cadence Performance Coffee this May to commercialize a functional espresso shot fortified with LF+.

“That product is aimed at sports nutrition, giving athletes a performance boost. Lactoferrin helps mediate the inflammatory responses that can be activated during strenuous activity. So adding LF+ to the coffee shot will help muscle recovery and maintain iron availability.”

We spoke to Aletta Schnitzler, TurtleTree’s chief scientific officer, to unpack key company developments.Then, in June of this year, the dairy company attempted to gain a stronger footing in the beverage space with nutrition player Strive to bring lactoferrin-incorporated immunity support beverage for adults and a line of protein-enriched drinks.

Schnitzler says the idea is to extend functionality “beyond delivering the basic nutritional needs such as bulk protein.” This can come in formats such as ready-to-drink beverages, sachets that can be added to water and more.

“Different consumers have different preferences, and that’s great for us because there are many ways in which we can deliver the benefits of LF+ to consumers in these beverages. We have also been doing a lot in food science and formulation. Those things must happen to deliver a safe, effective and enjoyable product to the consumer.”

“ Strive has been a great partnership in this prototyping journey, understanding stability and how to incorporate our product into their direct-to-consumer offerings.”

With the products hitting shelves by Q1 2025, Turtle has its eyes “absolutely” set on scaling into commercial-scale manufacturing. Last year, the company received self-affirmed generally recognised as safe (GRAS) status for its lactoferrin.

With a “clear line of sight on regulatory” and new collaborations, Schnitzler says she looks forward to consistently supplying LF+ to partners. Food science and stability remain crucial, especially at this time.

 “We are a B2B company. So we want to guide our partners in the science, process and logistics of incorporating LF+ into their manufacturing lines.”

Educating consumers about the advantages and uses of LF+ to leverage its functionality is significant, notes Schitnzler. In addition to social media activity, TurtleTree gave out gummies containing LF+ last year at an event, and this year at IFT in Chicago, they sampled the Strive collaboration.

Harnessing precision fermentation

Precision fermentation is making steady inroads in food innovation as demands for advanced protein delivery methods rise. Schnitzler notes TurtleTree’s precision fermentation-derived lactoferrin follows a process “similar to brewing beer, but much more sophisticated.”

For TurtleTree, the challenge with precision fermentation has been accessing commercial-scale manufacturing infrastructure.She tells us how it works: “The first step is identifying the genetic sequence for the animal protein we’d like to make. We then insert that sequence into a microbial host. For example, in our case, we use a yeast. We then ferment it, meaning we provide the yeast with sugar and nutrients so that it can make large amounts of the animal protein. It then goes through an extensive purification and testing process.”

“This is a well-established process used across various industries for many products, including insulin and rennet, which are enzymes used in cheese making. So, this is a scalable process. However, it’s been less leveraged for food proteins, so we are breaking the ground by creating these animal proteins using an animal-free method.”

For TurtleTree, the challenge with precision fermentation has been accessing commercial-scale manufacturing infrastructure despite its potential to produce abundant food ingredients.

“To get to market faster, we leveraged existing facilities instead of spending our resources on building our own as those facilities need expertise with our strain. They must have the appropriate quality management systems in place and the specific technologies and unit operations we need for our process.”

The challenge isn’t keeping the company from capitalizing on precision fermentation to develop and innovate new products or ingredients. Schnitzler reveals that a new milk-focused protein is in the works.

“Milk is a very rich resource, not only in terms of the basic nutrients an animal needs to grow, but it also contains bioactive ingredients that we need to thrive as infants. We have a pipeline defined that includes other milk proteins and bioactive ingredients.”

TurtleTree is also looking at other possible applications for LF+, including supporting pet nutrition and pet foods. Uses are possible in agriculture and cosmetics because of lactoferrin’s antimicrobial properties, the company notes.

“This is just the first step, and we plan on building from here,” Schnitzler concludes.

By Anvisha Manral