Tomorrow Farms 2023: Real Milk Protein from Fermentation

Tomorrow Farms is a company that is committed to transforming the food industry by providing a better, more sustainable, and healthier way of making our favorite foods. They believe that the current food system is riddled with problems, such as the use of harmful ingredients, exploitation and abuse of animals, and compromise of our health and the planet's health. DeliveryRank chats with Ben Berman, Co-Founder and CEO of Tomorrow Farms.

Can you tell us about the mission and vision of Tomorrow Farms? What inspired you to co-found this company?

Tomorrow Farms is on a mission to win hearts, minds, and stomachs to fuel the sustainable food revolution. We partner with innovative food science companies (like Perfect Day!) to build irresistible food and beverage brands that are better for people, kinder to animals, and easier on the planet. 

We believe there is a better way to make our favorite foods. One that doesn’t use artificial ingredients, exploit animals, compromise our health, or put the planet at risk. The sustainable food revolution has already begun — you can see it in the dairy aisle, and the meat aisle, and the frozen foods aisle, and really all over the grocery store. But we’ve got a long way to go. If we’re going to leave industrial animal agriculture behind us, we need to make animal-free alternatives that are indistinguishable from the ‘real’ thing, from taste and texture to nutrition and ingredients. That’s where we’re headed.

I spend way too much time thinking about food. I don’t want to give up the foods I love most, but I know we have to find a better way to make them. I previously founded Mainely Burgers, a food truck company based in Portland, ME that I grew to 3 trucks and 16 employees (and an appearance on the Food Network). I also founded Good Pizza, a nonprofit initiative out of my Philadelphia apartment during the pandemic to raise money for hunger relief. Good Pizza was featured on the Ellen Show, Barstool Sports, NBC News, and more and is now the entrepreneurship program at Philadelphia's largest hunger relief organization, Philabundance. 

Your company produces animal-free dairy. How do you ensure that your products have the same taste, texture, and nutritional value as traditional dairy products?

We envision a world where sustainable, healthy foods are available to everyone, everywhere. To achieve that, all of us need to work to build a more equitable and harmonious food system. None of this will be easy, but all of it is necessary.

We also know that taste and functionality are still the most critical decision points. I fall into this bucket personally. I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about what I’m going to eat next and I’m always maximizing for enjoyment. So we have to create alternatives that function and taste the way we want them too. Bored Cow does that. 

All Bored Cow milks contain real milk protein made through fermentation, not factory farming. We combine it with plant-based ingredients that replicate the rich, creamy flavor of dairy. That's good news for cows, but it's better news for us, and for earth. 

We created Bored Cow to replicate the taste, texture, nutrition, and functionality of conventional dairy milk. Like other milk alternatives on the market, we combine our protein (fermentation-derived whey identical to what you would find in cow’s milk) plant-based ingredients, vitamins, and minerals. That’s why we call Bored Cow “the first milk alternative to do it all.” It’s the best of dairy milk and the best of plant milk combined.

Just like conventional dairy milk, a serving of Bored Cow has 8g of complete protein, amino acids and all, and is an excellent source of calcium, vitamin D, and vitamin B12. And this milk alternative froths, foams, cooks, and bakes just like the cow’s milk. But it’s also made without factory farming, and with a fraction of the environmental footprint.

What challenges have you faced in scaling your business, and how have you overcome them? How do you plan to expand your market reach in the future?

We’ve faced a million challenges scaling the business! That’s the fun part. We overcome them by working as a team, admitting what we don’t know, and solving problems with a mix of analysis and empathy. I get to work with an incredible team everyday at Tomorrow Farms. We’re like the Avengers for the future of food.

What is your long-term vision for Tomorrow Farms? How do you see the plant-based meat and seafood industry evolving over the next decade, and what role do you see your company playing in that evolution?

We believe there is a tidal wave of food-tech progress happening right now. Brilliant scientists are building ingredient platforms that can power a more sustainable food system. But someone needs to build the commercial infrastructure for that. We believe we’ve built a next-generation Unilever, harnessing the future of food to build products that are better for people, kinder to animals, and easier on the planet. That’s the only way we’ll be able to continue to enjoy the foods we love.

If you would like to find out more about Tomorrow Farms, visit https://www.tomorrowfarms.co/ or follow on https://www.facebook.com/WeAreTomorrowFarms/ or https://www.instagram.com/tomorrowfarms/