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What’s the key to better vegan cheese? Microbreweries, one startup says.

2026-04-21 | original
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Why This Matters

AuX Labs aims to revolutionize vegan cheese by producing casein without cows, enabling cheese that closely mimics traditional dairy in taste and texture. By leveraging bioreactors and collaborating with microbreweries, the startup seeks to reduce production costs and address both consumer demand and industry challenges. This innovation could significantly impact plant-based foods and the broader food tech landscape, offering more authentic vegan cheese options at competitive prices.

Key Takeaways

Last week, I overheard someone in a pizza shop ask if a particular slice was vegetarian or vegan. Presumably they wanted to know if the pizza had vegan cheese, and when told it was so, they changed the order.

Vegan cheese is widely considered a poor simulacrum of the dairy version. The key missing ingredient is casein, a protein from mammalian milk that gives cheese its structure and helps it melt.

Now, a startup called AuX Labs is claiming it can make casein without the cow, which will enable vegan cheese that tastes and feels like the real thing. “Melt and stretch are non-negotiables,” Ted Jin, co-founder and CEO of AuX Labs, told TechCrunch.

AuX is using bioreactors to make casein, but it isn’t the first to do so. Still, the startup hopes its cheese can be produced just as cheaply as with dairy thanks to its secret weapon: struggling microbreweries.

In recent years, microbreweries have fallen on hard times. The industry grew dramatically over the last couple decades to nearly 10,000 microbreweries in the U.S. alone. But since the COVID pandemic, fewer Americans are drinking alcohol, according to Gallup.

“I don’t want to disparage their existing business because I’m a big supporter of them as well,” Jin said, adding that “there is a lot of excess capacity in the system.”

AuX says it has developed its microbial strains and its fermentation process with microbreweries in mind. Both sides benefit: Brewers get another business line to help support their operations, and AuX gets access to fermenters without having to pony up capital.

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Explore topics: vegan cheese casein aux labs microbreweries bioreactors
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