Harnessing AI to take fermented dairy to the level

Humans have had a love affair with yogurt for thousands of years. With the popularity of fermented dairy today, it’s probably safe to say it will be with us for a long time to come. But what will the yogurt of the future taste like? And how will it be produced?

A new report from dsm-firmenich explains how artificial intelligence is changing the game. In this report, you’ll read how we are using AI to pinpoint a seemingly endless array of beneficial culture combinations. The upshot? Better products, developed in a fraction of the time.

“What will they think of next?”
Today’s fermented dairy is big business. Consumer interest in gut-friendly foods has driven the development of the global yogurt market to $168 billion USD in 2023. In this competitive market, producers are under pressure to think up exciting, sustainable new products—in less and less time. Which got the experts at dsm-firmenich thinking…

What if AI could speed up the culture selection process, while increasing accuracy?

A new era of precision and choice
The result of that inquiry is our AI-powered Culture Co-Creation Platform. We work closely with our customers to understand their product and production goals. Using the AI platform, we are able to accurately test hundreds of billions of potential culture combinations to achieve those goals.  

Want to develop a product with a longer shelf-life? One that has a creamy taste, an improved texture, and even a desirable nutritional profile? We plug these objectives into the machine learning framework, and AI does the rest. Through several iteration cycles, culture blends are tested and improved until they tick all the boxes. 

The very best combinations can then be tested in the lab. 

The all-in-one culture solution
Alongside the platform is our all-in-one Delvo®ONE Culture Co-Creation solution. This encompasses five culture blends, each containing a starter culture, built-in bioprotection, and optional probiotic cultures. It meets bioprotection needs in yogurt production while enhancing taste, texture, fermentation time, and post-acidification. it improves manufacturing efficiency, flexibility and reduces costs.