Nicole Astra:
Welcome to Talking Plant Protein. I'm Nicole Astra. My guest today calls herself a stubborn climate optimist, and I love it. Please welcome Irina Gerry to the show.

Irina Gerry:
Thanks for having me.

Nicole Astra:
So you made quite a big change from one of the largest names in the business to Change Foods. Why Change Foods?

Irina Gerry:
I've been in the plant-based food industry for about six years and on a personal journey towards a plant-based diet for over a decade. And what I saw is that as much progress as plant-based foods have made and we have a tremendous array of delicious products, there were still gaps in the market. And one of the biggest gaps I saw was with plant-based cheese and the technology that I've learned about through discovering what's new and what's on the horizon was precision fermentation. And we can talk more about it but when I saw the opportunity to really step change and further improve what plant-based foods can offer, I jumped at the chance to join this new company and help build the future of food.

Nicole Astra:
So we tease around here that it's the holy grail, cheese that matches the texture and the melting properties of real dairy. So what is Change doing differently to handle those obstacles?

Irina Gerry:
So if you've tried plant-based cheese, there's some good options and some not so great ones, but I would say on the whole plant-based cheese kind of under delivers on, if we think about the stretchy, melty, gooey properties of cheese that we love so much, and what we at Change Foods are doing is we've discovered that the key element kind of the secret element that is needed for cheese to do what we want it to do is a milk protein called casein.

Irina Gerry:
And we are able to create casein using precision fermentation technology, where we use microorganism microbes, much like you would use in traditional fermentation, whether it's beer or kombucha or even cheese fermentation, except that we do it in such a way where we select the microorganisms we want, and we give them the instructions so to speak, to produce the exact same milk protein that you can get from an animal from a cow without ever using a cow anywhere in the process. And what it does is that it cuts out the tremendous environmental impact of animal agriculture, specifically of dairy, but gives the consumers the same exact cheese experience that they know and love with the same nutrition of dairy protein that's a lot of people are seeking all kind of packaged up in a seamless experience, meaning you get to have the cheese that you want. And we save-

Nicole Astra:
That comfort that we-

Irina Gerry:
... a lot of resources-

Nicole Astra:
Yes-

Irina Gerry:
... in the process.

Nicole Astra:
Yeah and I love to say, it's we get to eat well to do good. And-

Irina Gerry:
Yes.

Nicole Astra:
... the technology that exists now is allowing us to not miss out on those pleasurable experiences.

Irina Gerry:
Exactly. And that's where the sacrifice that a lot of the early days plant-based foods required was just too much of a barrier for too many people where they would say, "Look, I would love to do better. I would love to eat more sustainably, but when it comes time to choose the foods I love and I know, and that my grandma's made and it's something I really enjoy. It was just too much." And I feel like we will make so much more progress if we don't ask people to make the sacrifice.

Nicole Astra:
I have been a plant-based eater for, I shouldn't admit this for over 30 years and we have come a long way. So-

Irina Gerry:
Yes.

Nicole Astra:
... and even in the last five years, then even exponentially more than that. So I'm so excited for what's on the horizon.

Irina Gerry:
Absolutely.

Nicole Astra:
And speaking of what's to come, you're going to talk more about this at Future Food-Tech in San Francisco, in March. What can we expect from that conversation?

Irina Gerry:
I think first of all, I think it's going to be one of the most exciting events of the year. We've all been cooped up in our Zoom boxes for way too long. So I think we're all excited and there are so many incredible companies attending the event. I'm really keen to meet everybody in person and see what they're doing. And there will be a number of companies in this new precision fermentation or what we call animal free protein space, Change Food is going to be one of them. And we are super excited to come in, share more about our technology, our progress, as well as introduce folks to the Change Foods brand.

Nicole Astra:
I always look forward to their events. They are so educational and collaborative. So we're looking forward to that. I appreciate your time on Talking Plant Protein. Thanks so much.

Irina Gerry:
Thank you so much.