TEL AVIV, Israel — Yofix Probiotics Ltd., the winner of PepsiCo‘s European Nutrition Greenhouse Programme 2018 announced last week, launches its first dairy-free, soy-free yogurt alternative line with three fruit flavors. The products are based on a unique, clean-label formula made from just a few natural ingredients. It is traditionally fermented and contains live probiotic cultures plus the prebiotic fibers that feed them.
The new product line is environmentally friendly and vegan, and leaves a low carbon footprint since there is no use of cow milk and, unlike almond or cashew, does not require a great amount of water. Most importantly, the production process is carefully designed to ensure zero waste. All raw materials utilized in production remain in the final product.
Health-conscious consumers recognize yogurt as an immune-boosting source of beneficial probiotics. But these same consumers are increasingly conforming to vegan and flexitarian diets and are seeking plant-based dairy alternatives, as are millions of lactose-intolerant and lactose-sensitive consumers.
Increasingly important to health-minded consumers is the health of the environment, driving them toward sustainable products that leave a minimum footprint. Unfortunately, most of the yogurt alternatives on the market can’t meet dairy yogurt when it comes to taste, texture, and nutrition. Or, to be a good source of protein, calcium and fiber, they compromise organoleptic characteristics. Yofix offers a new-generation yogurt alternative that hits all the marks for flavor, texture, nutrition, and eco-friendliness. It has no added sugars, flavors, colors, or preservatives.
Behind Yofix is Ronen Lavee, an agricultural mechanical engineer with lactose intolerance. Lavee returned to Israel after eight years in Asia, and could not find a dairy-free yogurt alternative with good flavor and texture. He experimented with more than 100 fermented formulas based on natural ingredients until he found the “Bio 5 formula.” It uses no added sugars, preservatives, or colors. Yet has the texture and great flavor of yogurt.
Typically, gums and thickeners are added to dairy-free yogurts to stabilize them, but the Bio 5 formula, together with Yofix’s advanced technology, created similar texture and stability of yogurt, without additives. Moreover, since dairy-free yogurts often lack key vitamins and minerals, fortification is required to match dairy yogurt’s nutritional value. “I did not want to compromise on taste or nutrition in the product, nor compromise on the natural aspect” says Lavee, CEO and founder of Yofix. “The ingredients used in our products are simply grains, seeds, fruit and live cultures.”
Most dairy alternative yogurts available are high in fat, and use a single base ingredient such as soy, almond, or coconut. They have low amounts of calcium, iron, and fiber. Also, almond and coconut milk are not high in protein, a nutrient in high demand by yogurt consumers. But Yofix’s “Bio 5 formula” contains all these nutrients naturally, without need for fortification.
“Yofix will be launched globally,” says Steve Grun, CEO of Yofix. “And, we will be developing new plant-based dairy substitutes for milk, yogurt drinks, cream cheese, coffee creamers and even ice cream. Our proprietary manufacturing technology and formulations are highly flexible and require minimum investment for versatility.”
The company launched the plant-based yogurt line with Strauss Dairies in Israel last month under the ONLY brand in three flavors to target the rapidly expanding demand for vegan, flexitarian, and lactose-intolerance populations. The start-up was the first company to join The Kitchen, the leading food-tech incubator and seed investor in Israel, and part of the Strauss Group Ltd., the main investor in Yofix.
