In this instalment of ‘Start-up spotlight,' we speak to Jan Pacas, CEO and founder of All G. Australian health-tech company All G produces bovine- and human-identical milk proteins using precision fermentation, aiming to transform dairy and deliver 'next-generation nutrition' for one billion people. Read on to find out more about the company's bold vision.

Could you give us a bit of background about All Gs’ journey and how it was established?

All G was founded with an ambition to revolutionise the food industry with sustainable, low-carbon, animal-free solutions. After my previous ventures with Flare and Mad Paws, I wanted a new a challenge. With All G, I saw an opportunity reshape how we feed a growing population and address our planet’s biggest environmental issues.

Fortunately, I also crossed paths with Dr Jared Raynes, one of the world’s most brilliant minds in dairy protein, and the first person to create a casein micelle using precision fermentation. From our very first conversation, we saw precision fermentation as the future, and it was clear that we had the right combination of commercial and scientific expertise to create something extraordinary.

What kind of impact do you believe you could have on the plant-based food and beverage industry?

We believe All G’s impact on the plant-based food and beverage industry will be transformative. Our initial focus is on dairy, and whilst the market has seen great progress, most plant-based products still fall short of replicating the full nutritional profile and functional properties of dairy proteins. Our technology changes that.

Using precision fermentation, we produce bovine and human-identical proteins that deliver the taste, texture, and nutritional benefits consumers expect from dairy, but without the cow.

Can you tell us more about the technology you use to create your animal-free proteins?

We isolate the specific gene for the target protein or nutrient and then insert it into a microbe like yeast or bacteria. We effectively use these microbes as high efficiency protein producers.

The production process happens in a bioreactor and takes around five days. The microbes are fed a sugar-based feedstock and secrete the desired protein. This allows us to replicate proteins identical to those found in dairy and human milk, delivering the same functional and nutritional qualities without any animal involvement.

Which dairy proteins are you producing with your tech?

Currently, we’re focused on producing high-value dairy proteins such as bovine lactoferrin and humanised milk proteins – key components for applications like functional foods and infant formula, as well as caseins with signficant applications for the dairy industry.

What kind of product categories will benefit most from your solution? Where is your initial focus and do you plan to expand this in future?

As our technology improves, we have the ambitious goal of recreating infant formula using only human proteins. Today, infant formula is made using cow’s milk. But there is a significant difference in the nutritional profile between cow and human breast milk. Human milk provides the ideal composition of nutrients, bioactive proteins, and immunological factors tailored to support infant growth, gut health and immune system development.

It will be a long journey to fully recreate infant formula, but it is an exciting and worthy challenge. We’re excited by this future and the improvements it will offer infants around the world.

What stage of commercialisation is All G currently in with its solution?

It’s an exciting time as we transition from pilot-stage to full commercial rollout of bovine lactoferrin. We’re progressively increasing our production scale and will have a commercial launch in 2025.

On the regulatory side, we’re on track for self-GRAS approval in the US by the end of the year, unlocking our first commercial entry into the adult nutrition space.

We’re seeing strong interest from key players across the dairy and ingredient industries. These collaborations will play a vital role in helping us scale quickly and access established market channels.

Have there been any particular challenges for All G on its journey so far?

A key decision for us was to pivot away from developing beta-lactoglobulin. It’s an obvious initial protein candidate because it’s technically easier to produce, but we ultimately realised

that market demand is limited and so it lacks commercial viability.

Instead, we decided to pursue more complex bovine casein micelles and human-identical proteins like lactoferrin. Whilst this is a more ambitious technical challenge, the market need is clear.

Looking back, it’s been one of the best decisions we’ve made, positioning us to lead in a space where real, impactful change is needed.

How do you approach collaboration with other food and beverage industry businesses?

We’re quite open in the way we engage with the industry. As a small start-up, we can’t expect to lead in all steps of the value chain. We need to remain highly focused on areas like strain development which are the secret sauce of the technology. For other areas, like scale manufacturing, which requires significant investment, we will necessarily need partners to help us succeed. Currently, we are working closely with bioreactor partners to help us scale up quickly and in a cost-effective way.

What has been the company’s biggest achievement to date?

Our biggest achievement to date has been the development of what we believe is the world’s most advanced lactoferrin strain. The yield and purity are exceeding our targets, and we expect our production cost to be well below conventional bovine lactoferrin for commercial launch in 2025.

Equally important is the strong IP we’ve created around our caseins, particularly our groundbreaking work on casein micelles. This isn’t just about producing isolated proteins; it’s about replicating the full complexity of dairy, achieving the texture, mouthfeel and performance that consumers expect from traditional dairy products. Our patents give us a significant competitive edge, securing our innovations and positioning us as leaders in animal-free dairy proteins.

These milestones highlight the strength of our science and the vision of our team. We’ve laid a strong foundation, and this is only the beginning. With this momentum, we’re poised to drive the future of food innovation and set a new standard in the industry.

For aspiring start-ups in the food and beverage industry, what valuable advice or insights would you share to help them navigate the challenges and opportunities in this dynamic sector?

My number one piece of advice is to listen closely to your customers. They are usually (not always!) right.

The food and beverage market is full of opportunity, and precision fermentation alone presents a world of possibilities.

This means we need to be extremely careful about how we allocate our limited resources. We are convinced that precision fermentation is the future, it’s really just a question of the best way to navigate into that future. We need to balance our long-term goals with a short-term need to gain commercial traction and prove that precision fermentation is a viable technology.

Our close working relationships with customer have been so important in this regard. Customer perspectives and needs have guided our strain development, regulatory pathways, manufacturing process and target markets.

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