Situation: A very high proportion of the global population suffers from lactose intolerance, up to 80% or 90% in some countries. Most are from countries with underdeveloped refrigeration and transport infrastructure. Milk in these countries is available in powdered or condensed form for ease of transportation and storage. Lactose-free liquid milk with a long shelf life is now readily available, but is costly to transport and store. Unfortunately the residual sugars from the conventional lactose reduction process make it difficult to dry without loss of quality and appearance. They also contribute an overly sweet flavour to the products.

Action: Agritechnology was approached by an innovative scientist to assist in developing and patenting a process to make lactose-free milk with similar nutritional profile, colour, and taste to regular milk, which could be readily dried without loss of quality. They worked together over 12 months to develop and jointly patent the process and products.

Results: Agritechnology has sole global rights to the patent IP, and is seeking expressions of interest from organisations interested in developing these opportunities for manufacturing or marketing lactose-free products on a regional or global basis.

Licensing opportunities are available.