An Israeli food technology startup is preparing to bring its laboratory-produced, non-dairy milk made from dairy proteins to Israeli supermarkets and retailers in early 2025, with products already set to appear in restaurants within weeks.
Remilk, founded in 2019, announced Monday that it has partnered with Gad Dairies to distribute its products under the “New Milk” label. Starting in January, consumers will find 3% fat milk and vanilla-flavored milk made with Remilk’s non-animal protein, free of lactose, cholesterol, antibiotics, and growth hormones. A Barista milk line for cafés, restaurants, and hotels is expected to become available within days.
Co-founder and CTO Ori Cohavi explained that reaching this milestone required five years of R&D work in Israel and $150 million in investment. The company’s confidence in its product is evident in its marketing approach.
“We believe that we have reached the level that we can claim it to be the new milk,” Cohavi said. “It foams like regular milk, it tastes like milk, and behaves like milk, whether it is used for cooking or other applications”.
Unlike plant-based alternatives made from soy, almonds, or oats, Remilk produces animal-free milk proteins through a yeast-based fermentation process that renders them “chemically identical” to those in cow’s milk.
The company recreates milk proteins by taking the genes that encode them and inserting them into a single-cell microbe that is genetically engineered to express the proteins efficiently and at scale. The product is then dried into a powder.
This results in proteins identical to traditional dairy proteins, allowing the creation of products that match cow-produced milk in “taste, texture, and functionality,” according to Cohavi.
Remilk’s production model is projected to be up to 100 times more land-efficient than the existing dairy system, 25 times more feedstock-efficient, 20 times more time-efficient, and 10 times more water-efficient.
The company is motivated by sustainability concerns. “The traditional dairy industry is destructive to our planet and animals, and requires so many of Earth’s precious resources – it’s simply not sustainable anymore,” the company states.
Remilk’s prices are expected to be similar to other alternative milk products, such as soy or almond milk. However, the products contain 75% less sugar than regular cow-produced milk and are fortified with calcium and vitamins.
More than 90% of Israelis consume animal-based milk, and 61% of them also consume milk alternatives, according to the survey conducted by Remilk, Gad, and the Geocartography Knowledge Group.
The company faces competition in Israel’s emerging precision fermentation dairy market. In September, the Strauss Group announced it would launch cow-free milk and cheese products using Imagindairy’s whey protein, produced via similar technology, and began selling products this month.
The announcement comes more than two years after Remilk received approval from the Health Ministry to market its milk. The company has also received regulatory approvals from health authorities in Singapore and the United States.
“After Israel, we are planning for our next market, to go to the US, where we are already in quite serious partnership talks with large players,” Cohavi said.
Beyond milk, Remilk’s protein can be used in ice cream, yogurt, and cream cheese, all free of lactose, cholesterol, antibiotics, and growth hormones. “We are not only working on milk, but also yogurt, cream cheese, and have additional products in the pipeline,” Cohavi noted.
The dairy alternative market is expected to grow from approximately $32 billion in 2024 to $57 billion by 2030, according to research firm Research and Markets.
One of Remilk’s most significant advantages in the Israeli market is its kosher status. Because Remilk’s products are made without real dairy, they are certified as kosher-parve and vegan-friendly.
This parve designation—meaning neither meat nor dairy—is particularly valuable for observant Jews. According to a recent survey, 66% of Israelis maintain separation between meat and dairy in accordance with kosher dietary laws.
Co-founder and CEO Aviv Wolff highlighted this benefit: “Our new milk products are good news for many consumers who keep kosher and can now drink coffee with parve milk after a meat meal that tastes like real milk”.
The prohibition against eating meat and dairy together is one of the most distinctive features of Jewish dietary law (kashrut). This law is derived from a verse that appears three times in the Torah: “You shall not boil a kid in its mother’s milk” (Exodus 23:19; Exodus 34:26; Deuteronomy 14:21).
From this seemingly specific prohibition, Jewish law developed a comprehensive system of separating meat and dairy products. The repetition of this commandment three times is understood by rabbinic tradition to establish three separate prohibitions: cooking meat and milk together, eating them together, and deriving benefit from their mixture.
Jewish law requires strict separation between meat (basar) and dairy (chalav) in several key areas. Foods are divided into three categories: meat (fleishig), which includes beef, lamb, poultry, and their derivatives; dairy (milchig), which includes milk, cheese, butter, yogurt, and all products containing dairy; and parve (neutral), which encompasses foods that are neither meat nor dairy, including fish, eggs, fruits, vegetables, grains, and—crucially for modern applications—lab-grown proteins.
After eating meat, Jews must wait a specific period before consuming dairy. The waiting period varies by tradition: Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jews typically wait six hours, some communities wait three hours, Dutch Jewish custom requires one hour, and after dairy (except hard cheese), the waiting period is typically thirty minutes to one hour.
In restaurant and institutional settings, kosher establishments are typically either meat or dairy, not both. Those serving both categories require complete physical separation between preparation areas. Airlines and caterers must package meat and dairy meals separately to maintain kosher standards.
Technically, Jews can eat a burger with non-dairy cheese; if the cheese is genuinely parve (like Remilk’s lab-grown dairy proteins or plant-based cheese alternatives), it can be combined with a meat burger according to the letter of Jewish law. A parve product by definition contains neither meat nor dairy, so mixing it with either category doesn’t violate the biblical prohibition.
However, this is where the concept of marit ayin (“appearance to the eye”) becomes crucial. Marit ayin is a rabbinic principle that prohibits actions that, while technically permissible, might appear to others as violations of Jewish law. The concern operates on two levels.
First, there’s the issue of misleading observers. Other Jews who see someone eating what appears to be a cheeseburger might think that person is violating kosher law. This could lead to loss of respect for Jewish law, assumptions that the observer can also eat prohibited combinations, and confusion about what is actually permitted.
This is why many rabbinic authorities, including in recent rulings on lab-grown meat, have added conditions beyond the basic technical permissibility. Products should be clearly labeled as parve, and they should not be marketed or served in ways that make them indistinguishable from prohibited combinations. In some opinions, they should not be shaped or flavored to be identical to forbidden foods. Establishments serving such products should make it clear to customers that they are using alternatives, perhaps through menu descriptions or signage that explains the nature of the ingredients.
It’s important to note that not all rabbinic authorities agree with these permissive positions. In a controversial ruling, the Orthodox Union’s kosher division did not certify Impossible Pork, a vegan pork substitute produced by Impossible Foods. Despite admitting that the plant-based product was technically kosher, the OU cited consumer sensitivities as reasons for the refusal.
This demonstrates that even when something is technically permissible under Jewish law, communal standards and the principle of marit ayin can lead to more stringent practices. The OU’s reasoning reflected a concern that certifying a product called “Impossible Pork” would confuse consumers, potentially undermine the significance of the prohibition against pork, or simply offend the sensibilities of the kosher-keeping community.
The development of parve dairy proteins (like Remilk) and lab-grown meat creates unprecedented opportunities for kosher consumers. Observant Jews can now enjoy previously impossible combinations like coffee with cream after a meat meal, or cheeseburger-like experiences without violating dietary laws. These parve alternatives eliminate waiting periods and reduce the complexity of maintaining separate kitchens for certain applications.
For restaurants, this technology enables establishments to offer more diverse menus without requiring separate kosher meat and dairy certifications. A single restaurant could serve dishes that combine meat-like and dairy-like elements, something that would be impossible with conventional ingredients. This could make kosher dining more accessible and varied, particularly in areas with smaller Jewish populations where maintaining separate meat and dairy restaurants might not be economically viable.
Some suggest that the ability to eat previously forbidden foods is a sign of the Messianic era. Jewish sources indicate that specific prohibitions, including aspects of kashrut, may be changed in the Messianic era. Midrash Vayikra Rabbah 13:3 says:
“עתידה תורה שתשתכח מישראל… ועתיד הקב”ה ליתן תורה חדשה מאתו.”
“In the future, the Torah will be renewed.”
Commentators often explain this to mean a deeper understanding, not the cancellation of mitzvot. But some kabbalistic texts understand this to mean that the spiritual reality of the world will change, and therefore some commandments may no longer apply in their current physical form.
Zohar Vayikra 11 discusses that the spiritual source of tamei (non-kosher) animals will be elevated in the future:
“בעתיד יתבררו ויתעלו כל הבהמות והחיות הטמאות.”
“In the future, the impure animals will be purified and elevated.”
Some Chassidic teachings (especially Chabad and R’ Tzadok HaKohen) say this means their spiritual root will no longer be associated with impurity, and therefore they would become permissible.
But the Rambam is very clear:
When Mashiach comes, the halacha remains the same as today.
(Rambam, Hilchot Melachim 11–12)
According to the Rambam, there will be no change to kashrut at all in the initial Messianic era.
Only after techiyat hametim (resurrection) does Rambam describe the world as entering Olam HaBa (the world to come), where physicality itself changes. At that stage, some commentaries suggest that food as we know it may no longer be necessary at all, making the question irrelevant.
