Time-travelling Milkman secures EFRO funding to scale sunflower-based ingredients with NIZO and Duynie

Time-travelling Milkman (TTM) and its consortium partners NIZO Food Research and Duynie received EFRO Oost regional funding to accelerate the development of sustainable, circular plant-based food ingredients made from sunflower seeds. Announced on 1 December in Wageningen, the initiative aimed to move three sunflower-derived ingredients toward commercial readiness, providing new clean-label solutions for plant-based and hybrid foods.

The project centered on three innovations created through TTM’s oleosome extraction technology. OleoCream was developed to add creaminess to plant-based dairy alternatives, OleoPowder served as a natural texturizer for a range of formulations, and SunPulp offered emulsifying proteins intended for use in plant-based meat products. Together, these ingredients were designed to improve taste, texture and nutritional value while supporting more resource-efficient production.

The consortium blended expertise across product development, process optimization and sidestream valorization. TTM, a spin-off from Wageningen University, provided the core extraction technology and continued validating the functional performance of the resulting ingredients. The company had raised three investment rounds totaling €4 million (US$4.38 million) since its founding and expanded from laboratory-scale development to commercial volumes.

NIZO Food Research contributed its capabilities in production process optimization, biopurification techniques to improve flavor quality and sensory analysis to assess consumer acceptance. Duynie focused on the further processing and valorization of sunflower sidestreams for food, feed and biogas applications, aligning the project with both sustainability and circularity principles.

The long-term goal was to scale the ingredients toward industrial readiness, including a design for a production capacity of 10,000 tons per year of OleoCream. The consortium emphasized the importance of circular processing, with the intention to valorize all parts of the sunflower seed while reducing waste, water use and carbon emissions.

The initiative was co-financed by the European Union and supported by EFRO Oost, which aimed to stimulate innovation and strengthen economic development in the eastern Netherlands. According to the partners, the ecological benefits included solvent-free production, reduced waste streams and lower CO2 emissions. Economic gains were expected through more efficient processes and improved scalability, helping make sustainable plant-based alternatives more affordable. The project also aligned with broader social goals related to healthier diets and more sustainable agricultural models.

Saskia Tersteeg, R&D Manager at TTM, said, “We are proud to collaborate with NIZO and Duynie on this groundbreaking project. By combining science, technology, and circular economy principles, we are one step closer to making sustainable plant-based foods the new standard.”

The consortium said the combined expertise of TTM, NIZO and Duynie positioned the project to accelerate the transition from research to industrial-scale production. The three sunflower-based ingredients were intended to help manufacturers respond to growing demand for clean-label, functional and climate-friendly components across a wide range of food categories.

With EFRO Oost support, the partners advanced toward their shared goal of building a more sustainable and circular foundation for future plant-based innovation. They said the development of these sunflower-derived ingredients could contribute to improved performance in plant-based products while supporting environmental and economic resilience in the region.