SAN FRANCISCO — Animal-based protein is a major component of complete-and-balanced pet food, providing cats and dogs with the essential nutrients they ensure health and overall wellbeing. However, the supply chain of these proteins continues to dwindle as the pet food industry battles demand from the human food industry, in addition to animal diseases, shifting geopolitical relations, environmental disasters and food safety concerns. Fortunately, alternative methods of producing animal proteins offer an opportunity. 

This is the basis for the creation of Ten Lives, a San Francisco-based company creating animal proteins through precision fermentation specifically for pet food. According to Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Victoria Mo, the goal is to develop the most of amount of clean, safe protein possible. 

“Our protein ingredients are high purity, so it’s actually an even better source of protein than animal meat itself,” she said in an exclusive with Pet Food Processing. “It has a higher protein content and you can do that while avoiding livestock diseases (Salmonella), pandemics (bird flu), etc. That’s a huge selling point.”

Nine lives becomes ten

The idea for Ten Lives started with a desire to make precision fermentation more productive, allowing more proteins to be made at a more economical price point.

Ten Lives operates a lab in San Francisco where it creates its proteins.

| Source: Ten Lives

Precision fermentation is similar to the fermentation of beer and kombucha, just more precise (hence “precision”). Essentially, yeast is fed a carbon source (in the case of beer and kombucha, the carbon source is sugar) and makes a specific compound of interest, like protein. However, the discovery and development process of specific yeast strains that can produce such protein is expensive and extensive, limited by yeast strain performance. Additionally, identifying these strains is typically done experimentally, often taking months to years. But, what if the screening process could be enhanced or even automated?

Mo and Ruby Yu, Ph.D., sought to make this a reality and developed an artificial intelligence (AI) platform that screens yeast strains, identifying and predicting the ones that would result in the most protein. The technology can then be used to create more proteins at a larger scale without compromising on nutritional value or food safety.

“Essentially, we had the technology to make proteins cheaper and were sitting around in Ruby’s kitchen thinking about potential applications for this technology,” Mo said. “She was cat sitting for me at that moment, and one of my cats walks across the kitchen and we had this light bulb moment: ‘What if we made better animal proteins for cats?’”

Suddenly, Ten Lives was born. The company originally began its precision fermentation journey by developing protein for cats, but expanded to offer protein for all pets, not just those of the feline persuasion. 

“We originally set out to make proteins that cats are naturally evolved to eat and doing that sustainably, ethically and cost accessibly,” Mo explained.

Into the tank

Leveraging the AI platform, Ten Lives computationally screens yeast strains to find the ones that produce the most protein, reducing strain discovery time from years to hours.

“Traditionally in precision fermentation, you would look for the most productive cells by testing them one by one experimentally,” she explained. “Using high-throughput screens and AI, we can computationally screen billions of times more cells in a fraction of the time and, therefore, we can find the cell that is the most productive, faster.  

“When you have a really productive cell, you can get protein at the highest yield,” Mo added. “So, for the same input our cells can produce more protein, allowing for higher yields, larger production capacity and lower costs.”

With this platform in-house, Ten Lives began developing rabbit protein, as opposed to chicken or beef, through precision fermentation for cat nutrition. The company specifically chose rabbit since it’s the No. 1 prey of choice for cats in the wild. Despite this, the US pet food industry often uses poultry or beef because the rabbit protein supply chain isn’t as established. 

Ten Lives' clean rabbit protein is made through precision fermentation. 

| Source: Ten Lives

“You don’t see rabbit that much in the US supply chain because it’s more difficult to source as Americans don’t eat rabbit,” Mo said. “You usually have to source it from Europe or someplace where they have rabbit in the existing supply chain. But cats don’t eat cows in the wild, we feed them beef because that’s what we have available in our supply chain. That’s the health benefit of doing precision fermentation: we can choose proteins that are actually closer to what cats are naturally evolved to eat.”

Ten Lives develops their cells and protein in-house at its labs in San Francisco. For small-scale production, scientists monitor cells in fermentation tanks, examining cell density and protein production to ensure harvesting for protein extraction and purification happens at the right moment. For large-scale production, the company has partnered with experienced precision fermented protein producers throughout the United States. According to Mo, Ten Lives’ partners have a combined 100-plus years of expertise in precision fermentation. 

The resulting ingredient serves as a complete protein, providing pets with essential amino acids. Compared to animal-based rabbit protein, Ten Lives’ fermented rabbit protein has the exact same amino acid sequence. Rabbit protein is also hypoallergenic, meaning it could minimize the risk of allergies or sensitivities. 

“Our food-grade yeast eats sugar, or an equivalent, and makes the same animal proteins with the same exact amino acid sequences as what you would find in the prey of pets in the wild,” Mo detailed. “When we isolate out the protein from the cells themselves, we’re left with a very pure protein product. That way we have this final ingredient that is clean, pure and non-GMO.”

In addition to its nutritional content, the rabbit protein offers pet food manufacturers environmental benefits. 

“Scaled up, our proteins have the potential to reduce the carbon impact of pet food animal protein ingredients by 90%,” Mo revealed.

A lasting impact

Ten Lives is currently working with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on a six-month safety study in order to receive regulatory approval on its protein. Though the US approval process can typically be lengthy, the company is optimistic given that precision fermentation has been a long-established, safe process. According to Mo, the company is targeting 2027 for approval.

“Precision fermentation has been around for decades and there are already precision fermented ingredients that have passed the FDA process,” Mo said. “Because of that, approval is more streamlined than other novel ingredients.”

To demonstrate the application of its precision fermented rabbit protein, Ten Lives created a wet cat treat containing the protein ingredient. 

| Source: Ten Lives

In fact, Ten Lives specifically selected their precision fermentation processes because of established food safety benefits. Safety was also a factor in the company’s selection of rabbit protein and its decision to purify the ingredient. 

“Health and safety are No. 1,” Mo explained. “We have a unique opportunity to make proteins that are safer, cleaner and purer than what the meat industry currently offers.”

Though pet parents are demanding more sustainable food options for their cats and dogs, consumer education on more novel proteins can be a barrier. To address this, Ten Lives launched wet cat treats made with its clean rabbit protein earlier this year.  

“Our treat is a test bed for our ingredient business, as it allows us to better educate consumers, and we also love how it provides joy and allows us to engage with our early supporters,” Mo said. “It also adds to our internal Ten Lives culture because we’re closer and more connected to the end customers, while allowing us to understand what cats and cat parents want. But ingredients are where we can make the most impact, it’s where we’re really going to change the pet food industry.”

Understanding the demand for protein continues to rise as the pet food industry continues to grow, Ten Lives is currently working on additional proteins. The main goal: creating the most protein possible at an economic price, while minimizing environmental impact. 

“Our main focus right now is leveraging our AI platform so that we can get our animal proteins to be at price parity with animal meat,” Mo concluded. “Getting to price parity is how we can make the most difference and is the most direct path towards net-zero impact in the pet industry. Traditional proteins are only going to get more expensive, they’re only going to get more difficult to source. By providing this healthy alternative, we can enable the pet food industry to grow despite increasing supply chain challenges.”

Read more about innovative pet nutrition ingredients.