TurtleTree has entered its first Singapore-based partnership with Mad Foods to enhance the ready-to-drink (RTD) brand’s oat milk coffee beverages with LF+, its vegan-certified lactoferrin protein made from precision fermentation. 

The use of fermentation to scale lactoferrin production addresses the current global shortage of the multifunctional ingredient, which has led to high costs and supply issues.

While lactoferrin is already used in some supplements and infant formulas today, supply scarcity means that demand continues to be a challenge for other verticals, such as sports nutrition, adult and elderly nutrition, and women’s health, among others.

After earning Self-GRAS (generally recognized as safe) in the US in November of 2023, TurtleTree has begun to commercialize and scale its production over the last 12 months.

“Both our global distributors and retailers are extremely excited about this partnership between Mad and TurtleTree. To tap into the US$45 billion functional market is to be given the opportunity to grow exponentially,” says Angelique Teo, co-founder and creative head, Mad Foods.

Charging up coffee benefits

The collaboration aims to offer a healthier, more functional beverage to consumers backed by health benefits such as immune support, gut health and iron regulation.

Mad Foods is headquartered in Singapore and has a branch office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Since its 2022 launch, the company has expanded to 3,000 retail locations within 18 months.

Having entered key markets in Singapore and Malaysia, it is targeting expansions in Australia and the US, with options of a single, double or decaf shot of espresso and oat milk.

“TurtleTree is very excited by Mad Foods’ mission and to support their expansion into functional nutrition, as well as the accessibility of this high-value protein in Singapore, Australia and beyond,” says Fengru Lin, CEO, TurtleTree. 

“It’s exhilarating to work with such passionate founders and to have the opportunity to scale this product globally.”

In February 2024, TurtleTree received its vegan certification from Vegan Action. It secured its first commercialization partnerships with Cadence Performance Coffee and Strive Milk and was recognized in Fast Company’s 2024 World Changing Ideas.

Both Mad Foods and TurtleTree are currently exhibiting at Singapore International Agri-Food Week

Industry is fermentation-forward

The dynamically maturing precision fermentation space continues to expand with various applications catering to scalability, sustainability and performance. Last week, Israeli food-tech start-up Phytolon secured investment from Rich Products Ventures to support commercializing its precision fermentation-based “clean label” natural food colorings.

Also this month, Revo Foods joined forces with Paleo, a Belgian company that taps into yeast to formulate animal-free myoglobin. The project partnership has received €2.2 million (US$2.38 million) in funding from the EU to help the companies develop innovative myoglobin for vegan salmon using Paleo’s precision fermentation and Revo Foods’ 3D structuring technologies.