13 May 2025
3 minutes read

By Nick Hunter

What if the biggest unlock in plant-based food isn’t plants—but fat?

That’s the thesis driving Nourish Ingredients, the Australian food-tech startup led by Dr Anna El Tahchy, a former CSIRO biochemist turned fermentation pioneer. Her mission? To reinvent animal fat using microbes—no cows, no pigs, no guilt—and to bring taste, texture and mouthfeel back to alt-protein menus everywhere.

In Episode 19 of The Mucky Middle, we caught up with Anna to talk about the unsung science of flavour, the challenge of scale, and what it takes to change the way the world eats—without telling people what to eat.

1. You Can’t Win Hearts with Lentils Alone

Let’s face it: most plant-based food still doesn’t taste like the real thing.

“When people try to switch, they want the same experience—taste, aroma, richness. Fat is critical.”

Anna’s insight is simple: fat is where flavour lives. And while plant-based meat has made gains in texture, the flavour profile still struggles to hit the “real meat” benchmark. That’s where precision fermentation comes in—growing fats from microbes that recreate the sensory experience of animal-based foods.

No animal. No compromise. No weird aftertaste.

2. Precision Fermentation Is Food’s Quiet Revolution

Nourish isn’t making fake meat. They’re creating fat molecules identical to those found in animals, but grown from yeast and algae in controlled fermentation tanks.

“It’s the same process we use to make insulin or cheese enzymes. We just never used it for fat—until now.”

This isn’t lab-grown meat or cell-cultured burgers. It’s targeted, scalable, ingredient-level innovation—and it’s changing what’s possible for alt-protein brands around the world.

3. Science Isn’t the Bottleneck—Scaling Is

Anna is quick to note: inventing the fat was hard, but building a supply chain is harder.

“You need facilities, partners, and huge investment. Startups like us need to move fast and build infrastructure.”

Nourish has partnered with global manufacturers, but the real challenge lies in consistency, cost, and food-grade certification at scale.

This is not a tech company pumping out code. It’s real science, with real bioreactors, shipping real molecules around the world.

4. Storytelling Matters in Food Tech

The science may be complex—but consumer adoption still lives and dies on emotion.

“We’re not here to lecture. We want people to choose better food because it tastes amazing.”

That’s why Nourish is investing in brand and education, not just R&D. They’re working to demystify precision fermentation, make sustainability sexy, and reframe plant-based food from a sacrifice… into a treat.

5. The Future of Meat Is Modular

Nourish’s goal isn’t to become a supermarket brand. It’s to become the ingredient partner behind the scenes, powering alt-meat brands that need better flavour.

Think Intel Inside, but for umami.

“We want to be the plug-in that makes plant-based food better.”

That’s why they’ve raised tens of millions from investors who believe in the ingredient layer—not the brand layer—of the new food economy.

6. Women in STEM Need More Than Pep Talks

As one of the few Australian women leading a science-led tech startup, Anna doesn’t romanticise the journey.

“You still get asked if you’re the assistant. It’s subtle, but it’s there.”

She credits her confidence to a powerful community of mentors, peers, and fellow rebels—including her co-founder, CEO James Petrie.

Her advice to young women in STEM? Don’t just wait for permission. Build your own lab—and then feed the world.

TL;DR: The Nourish Ingredients Playbook

  • Plant-based needs to taste amazing, not just “do good”
  • Fat is the unlock. Fermentation is the enabler
  • Science is easy. Supply chain is hard
  • Don’t be the face brand—be the flavour behind the scenes
  • Consumer education is critical. Keep it human.
  • Startups need patient capital—and purpose-fuelled urgency
  • Diverse leadership isn’t a virtue signal—it’s a superpower

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