“I’ve always loved proteins,” says Michal Mayer with a sincere smile on her face.
“You don’t dedicate your life to this if you don’t love proteins,” the biochemist and head protein researcher at Day 8 tells.
Day 8 was established in July 2023 by scientists-turned-entrepreneurs Daniel Rejzner, CEO, and Dana Marom, CTO.
This Israeli startup specializes in extracting RuBisCO plant protein, coveted by the food industry, from discarded leaves.
RuBisCO (short for ribulose 5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase) is stored in all green leaves and is considered the most abundant enzyme on Earth.
Unlike many other plant proteins, RuBisCO is complete, rich in essential amino acids, vitamins, nutrients, minerals and antioxidants.
Until a few years ago, there has been a lack of information about the applications of RuBisCO, vis-a-vis human consumption.
Recently, the plant-based market industry has been adapting RuBisCO as a sustainable source of protein and commercializing it. But progress is slow due to high production costs.
This is where Day 8 comes in.
The Rehovot-based company developed the first-of-its-kind approach to extracting RuBisCO protein powder from discarded crop leaves, focusing primarily on banana leaves.
“Bananas have an advantage when it comes to the supply chain because they grow all year round,” explains Marom, a biochemist with 20 years of experience in the food industry.
“Banana cultivation is one of the most prevalent in the world, while its leaves are very large and strong, so we’re not in the race against time when collecting these leaves,” she says.
Israel does not import bananas, so local cultivation is done at a large scale. This has helped Day 8 clinch agreements with three major domestic banana growers struggling due to the ongoing war in Gaza.
Rejzner, who has a degree in physics, says the leaf-collection process doesn’t require any changes to the farmers’ routines.
“Farmers are not the biggest fans of innovation, and normally aren’t open to partnerships,” he says, but Day 8’s noninvasive approach was welcomed by them.
One of the main advantages of Day 8’s method is that it eliminates the cost associated with growing raw materials only to extract protein from them, such as soybeans.
“We knew that working with waste would make us cost competitive and make it easier to scale up,” notes Rejzner.
The method has the potential to recycle up to 2.7 trillion tons of the unwanted leaf biomass, helping the food industry reduce its environmental footprint.
“It’s basically taking trash and extracting raw material from agricultural lands that were seemingly emptied,” says Marom.
This goes hand-in-hand with the eco-conscious agenda of Marom and Rejzner. Both founded successful startups in the past, but decided to enter a business sphere that they believe will ultimately change the world for the better.
In fact, the name “Day 8” is rooted in the belief that the world was created in seven days, and on the eighth day, it became “our responsibility to protect and nurture it.”
“On this symbolic eighth day, we find our purpose – to safeguard the planet and its resources by revolutionizing the way we produce and consume food,” says the company’s mission statement.
Despite the alternative protein market currently being valued at $18 billion, it faces a host of challenges, primarily taste, which despite the industry’s best efforts is still incomparable to animal-based protein.
The founders say that thanks to Day 8’s unique process, the extracted protein is completely taste-neutral.
Additionally, the extracted product is 100% natural, unlike some alternative proteins that involve genetic modification of the host plant.
Marom explains the consistency of the Day 8 protein powder is exactly the same as the consistency of the protein derived from eggs.
Rejzner adds that Day 8 products can also serve as a potential replacement for whey protein, a byproduct of cheese production widely used in the fitness industry.
“Our product is absorbed better by the body, it’s hypoallergenic, vegan, cheaper and has no aftertaste,” explains Rejzner.
The same properties are applied to plant-based dairy alternatives created with Day 8 products, such as vegan milk, cheese and yogurt.
Marom notes that plant-based dairy alternatives often have an endless list of ingredients, most of which are added to emulate the consistency of animal-based dairy.
“Oftentimes these products have a lot of fat and very little protein. Our goal is to minimize that list of ingredients; less chemical ingredients and more healthy ones.”
The company currently has five full-time and two part-time employees, working in partnership with food-tech incubator and investor The Kitchen FoodTech Hub.
The Kitchen Hub last year launched The Kitchen Labs, an innovation center for startups, with the support of the Israeli Innovation Authority. This is where the Day 8 labs are currently located.
With initial funding of $750,000 from The Kitchen Hub, the startup has now opened a seed round to raise an additional $2 million to take the product to market within two years.
The first target market is the United States, which has both a larger consumer market share and relatively lenient food regulations.
“Once it’s approved by the FDA, it will be easier to get approval in Europe and Israel,” adds Marom.
Produced in association with ISRAEL21c
