Revo Foods' Fermented Apricot Kernel Cottage Cheese Beats Dairy in Taste Tests
Austrian startup Revo Foods has launched Cottage Protein+, a dairy-free cottage cheese made by fermenting apricot kernels, delivering 17g of protein per 150g serving from just five ingredients.
Unlike most plant-based dairy alternatives built on coconut or palm oil with minimal protein, Revo Foods uses fermentation to develop the product's texture, acidity, and flavour naturally, with fat derived entirely from apricot seeds' unsaturated fatty acids.
The product is rolling out at Edeka and Rewe in Germany, where cottage cheese volume sales have nearly doubled in three years, and 60% of consumers preferred it over its dairy equivalent in a blind taste test.
Revo Foods, the Austrian startup best known for its mycoprotein-based seafood alternatives, has moved into the dairy aisle with a product that turns discarded apricot kernels into a high-protein cottage cheese alternative. The launch marks a meaningful strategic pivot for a company that built its reputation on fermentation and 3D printing in the meat and seafood categories.
A Waste Stream Becomes the Main Ingredient
Cottage Protein+ is made from soft apricot kernels that would otherwise be discarded or incinerated during fruit processing for jam, juice, and dried fruit. The product contains five ingredients: 40% soft apricot kernels, water, salt, live cultures, and chives. Each 150g pot delivers 17g of protein, with fat derived entirely from the seeds themselves, which are rich in unsaturated fatty acids with a profile the company compares to olive oil.
The production process is simpler than Revo Foods' meat and seafood range. Ground, preprocessed apricot kernels are mixed with water and vegan starter cultures, then fermented until the characteristic texture, acidity, and flavour develop naturally. Salt completes the recipe. According to Niccolò Galizzi, head of food tech at Revo Foods, the fermentation cultures do the substantive work, meaning texture and flavour emerge in the fermenter rather than through a long list of additives.
This separates Cottage Protein+ from most plant-based fresh cheese products on the market, which are typically formulated from coconut fat, starch, and thickeners and carry protein content in the low single digits. Revo Foods claims its product has fewer ingredients than most conventional dairy cottage cheeses and more protein than many plant-based equivalents.
Positioned as Fitness Food, Not Vegan Cheese
Revo Foods founder and commercial director Robin Simsa is deliberate about how the product is framed. Rather than marketing it as a vegan cottage cheese alternative, the company positions Cottage Protein+ as a high-protein fitness product with a cottage texture. Simsa argues that consumers buying products like cottage cheese are primarily concerned with nutrition and price rather than the protein source, making this a more commercially neutral entry point than meat alternatives.
The product is launching at Edeka and Rewe, two of Germany's largest supermarket chains, in a market where volume sales of cottage cheese have nearly doubled over the past three years. In a blind taste test conducted by Revo Foods, 60% of consumers preferred Cottage Protein+ over its dairy counterpart, though the company has not disclosed the methodology or sample size of that test.
Scaling on a Sidestream
Apricot kernels are available wherever the fruit is commercially processed, making supply theoretically abundant. Revo Foods sources them from multiple suppliers to maintain stability, though Simsa acknowledges that establishing consistent food-grade collection and processing at scale remains an important challenge. The company is not alone in this space; fellow Austrian firm Kern Tec also uses apricot kernels for non-dairy milk, yoghurts, and cheese, and apricot kernel milks are sold across Asia-Pacific by Roots of Quality Foods and 138 Degrees.
Revo Foods has raised approximately €15m since its founding and is currently crowdfunding, having reached €900,000 towards a €1m target. The company is targeting profitability by mid-2027, or potentially earlier depending on the pace of retail listings. Cottage Protein+ represents the company's first entry into the cheese category, though Simsa indicates further applications for fermented apricot kernels remain under exploration, including different flavours, organic formats, and varied pack sizes.
The honest caveat here is that taste test data remains self-reported and unverified by an independent body, and the commercial scaling of a novel sidestream ingredient carries supply chain risks that have yet to be tested at meaningful volume.
