A life without cheese is difficult for many people to imagine. In fact, it is often cited as a key barrier when considering switching to a plant-based diet. But what if people could eat a vegan cheese that looks and tastes like the real thing? This may no longer be a question for science fiction, as companies like Better Dairy have started making cheese that’s been entirely developed in a lab. The revelation of this lab-grown dairy has come just months after the news that lab-grown meat is set to be sold in UK supermarkets within the next two years.
Also known as precision fermentation cheese, this lab-grown product is a new concept, with only a handful of companies around the world currently working on its development. To produce this synthetic dairy, microorganisms like yeast are genetically modified to produce specific proteins such as casein. The proteins are then combined with plant-based fats and other components to produce a product that replicates the taste and texture of traditional cheese. Presently, this approach is being advertised as a solution to reducing the environmental impact of dairy production. A study performed in 2017 by PlantBasedData revealed that the top 13 global dairy companies combined increased greenhouse gas emissions by 11% in just two years, highlighting that there are significant climate challenges associated with conventional dairy farming.
Another reason for the production of lab-grown cheese is to attempt to make veganism appealing to consumers. According to the Vegan Society, only 2-3% of the British population is vegan. On top of this, plant-based cheese sales in the UK declined by 25.6% in the first quarter of 2025. Reasons for this decline in sales include fears over eating ultra-processed food and high costs. Traditional dairy has also received criticism due to enzymes like chymosin being genetically modified to coagulate milk during cheese production. Lab-grown cheese may sidestep these issues due to not being ‘ultra-processed’ in the strictest sense, but is still viewed as unnatural by many as they are not familiar with the unique production process.
On paper, lab-grown cheese sounds like the perfect solution: authentic-tasting cheese that can be eaten without the guilt of a significant carbon footprint. But will this theory actually translate into a practical reality? The top concern around vegan cheese is its high cost compared to the dairy alternative, and right now, Better Dairy has been unable to launch its lab-grown product due to high expenses. This suggests that it may be a while before cultivated cheese is an economically viable solution, especially during a cost-of-living crisis.
Artificial cheese may also stumble upon the same issues as lab-grown meat in the future, as it’s still a brand-new and niche concept. As the Gaudie has previously explored, cultivated meat is facing problems with high CO2 emissions and requires a high energy input; if the cheese is to grow to the same scale, then it’s likely that companies developing the product will have a similar problem. There is also the concern that if cultivated cheese becomes too popular, then UK dairy farmers may lose their livelihoods, and the ongoing challenges that dairy farms are already facing could be accelerated. So, while on one hand, lab-grown cheese is a great solution to animal welfare issues associated with dairy farms, it also poses a risk to the rural communities that make Britain unique.
Concerns over the environmental impact of traditional cheese and the unappealing ultra-processed nature of vegan cheese are important issues that need to be addressed. It is clear that the future of dairy needs to involve innovative solutions. However, consumerism is increasingly driving us to invent complicated solutions for problems which have simple answers, and lab-grown cheese could become an example of this. For many, the easiest way to reduce the environmental impact of dairy production, without relying on highly processed alternatives, could be to simply cut cheese from their diet. So, before more lab-grown dairy enters the market, we need to question if it’s really the guilt-free solution we need, or just another product that creates as many problems as it solves.
