Comments
glue715 t1_iza8mx7 wrote
Ben and Jerry’s is a world apart from the product I fell in love with in the 90’s. There used to be a BIG gob of whatever the ice cream was flavored with right in the center, when I was a kid I couldn’t finish a pint- now I could easily house 2- if I would allow it. I’m certain Unilever would use the cheapest possible ingredients- what surprises me, is that cow-free dairy will be one of those ingredients- so soon…
[deleted] t1_iza95ak wrote
There's a protein (or perhaps multiple proteins, I'm not sure) in cow's milk that binds to the bitter compounds in coffee and tea in an amazing way. Plant milks are unable to replicate this. That's why almond milk, for example, will make your coffee creamier, but doesn't really cut down on the bitterness much.
If they could just add to plant milks whatever protein is in cow's milk that makes coffee/tea taste so good, that alone would make me very happy.
alexxerth t1_izaa1z6 wrote
I don't think cow-free dairy is a "cheap" ingredient.
When it comes to vegan milk alternatives, it's the closest you can get to actual milk, and it's still fairly pricey.
Edit: ok I'm not sure why you messaged me instead of commenting, but I don't think it's going to be a cheaper ingredient than any alternative soon either. I also don't see why you're using this as a dig against Ben and Jerry's, like they're using the most expensive, highest quality option on the market but they're bad because that will be cheap one day???
[deleted] t1_izaad89 wrote
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alexxerth t1_izaauk4 wrote
That's roughly what this is. They grow the proteins using yeast instead of cows. The rest of milk could already be replicated, so this was the last piece of the puzzle... Sort of.
It still doesn't have lactose, but as far as I can tell that's an intentional choice so people with lactose intolerance can drink it still. Shouldn't effect anything other than making it slightly sweeter if they don't offset the sugar content.
FuturologyBot t1_izabqn2 wrote
The following submission statement was provided by /u/chrisdh79:
From the article: For many — those who are lactose intolerant, those who are vegan, those who (for whatever reasons) do not consume dairy milk — Ben & Jerry's has been a reliable stalwart when it comes to producing non-dairy desserts, most of which are primarily made with almond milk.
While the grocery store freezer shelves are now replete with non-dairy products (ice cream, sorbet, sherbet, frozen yogurt and the like), many customers remain loyal to Ben & Jerry's, especially as their non-dairy oeuvre seems to grow quite often.
Soon enough, though, there may be a new type of product on shelves with Ben & Jerry's emblazoned across its packaging.
As TIME reported last month, Unilever (a British company which lists Ben & Jerry's as one of their brands) is looking to produce dairy ice creams that actually utilize milk that isn't derived from cows whatsoever. This would mean that the ice creams and frozen desserts wouldn't be branded dairy-free, since they would contain this lab-created "milk," but they could potentially be consumed by those who might have lactose allergies or are personally or morally against consuming any sort of cow-derived dairy.
TIME notes that this would be developed in a "process called precision fermentation that uses substances like yeast and fungi to produce milk proteins in a vat." Andy Sztehlo who runs Unilever's ice cream research and development team, notes that the "product could be available in about a year," meaning that you might have your hands on some dairy-but-not-from-cows ice cream before you know it.
This process, often called "lab-grown milk," has been practiced by other companies, but no "major food companies" have produced any particular products with said milk, including any other ice cream brand.
Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/zf63jf/ben_jerrys_owner_may_launch_ice_cream_made_from/iza7kjb/
drewbles82 t1_izaczeu wrote
I recently had the vegan version of their phish food, absolutely amazing, all of their vegan options have been great
KyojinkaEnkoku t1_izadb80 wrote
It's alright with me, I stopped buying Ben & Jerry's when they made ice cream political.
[deleted] t1_izadeyi wrote
I see. Boy, food is going to probably be very weird in a few centuries. At first, we're going to try to replicate all of the natural foods we're familiar with. But as we grow more disconnected from natural food over time, I imagine people will become increasingly open to lab foods that don't resemble anything found in nature. I see this evolution concluding with fantastical, extremely addicting foodstuffs that will share only a faint resemblance to what we eat today.
We'll live in virtual worlds and eat synthetic food and own nothing, and we'll love it!
Fonky_Fesh t1_izado0r wrote
Serious question: why don't we pasteurize and sell human milk?
alexxerth t1_izadvm2 wrote
I'd argue jello and marshmallows are pretty close to that already.
alexxerth t1_izae6t6 wrote
Cows are generally cheaper than humans, and it's easier to breed them and fill them with hormones to have them produce more milk.
B-Town-MusicMan t1_izafkao wrote
Can you milk me, Greg?
WrongSubFools t1_izafvjh wrote
Why would we pasteurize and sell human milk?!
Some people sell their breast milk on a small scale, yeah (and they usually dilute it with cow's milk, and the buyer is none the wiser), but if you're talking about doing it on mass scale, as a replacement for cow milk, that would be horrible. Take every issue people have with cow's milk and multiply it massively.
zuzg t1_izafvxw wrote
Only thing that bothers me about vegan options is that it's most of the time still more expensive than the non-vegan options.
We really need to get rid of all the subsidizes on animal products, it's such a waste of tax money.
greenappletree t1_izagavi wrote
Excited to try this - The animal feee and lactose free is a game changer.
desertwildfire t1_izagieg wrote
Phish food is phenomenal. I was totally addicted for about 6 months
mini_galaxy t1_izahq3s wrote
It's not entirely subsidies, though those are quite a problem, it's also that these are still relatively low volume items with an uncertain market size. As vegan options become more widely used and more widely known to be delicious the costs will adjust themselves.
mini_galaxy t1_izai2ty wrote
Didn't they come out with a "cores" product that does exactly what your saying they got rid of for ... cost reasons? Also I would expect you can eat more as an adult than as a child, you're like, what, twice the size now?
TemetN t1_izaj1tx wrote
Honestly I'm back and forth on this - it's an interesting area, but I'm allergic to yeast. To be fair, I'm unclear on whether there's any actually in the product, but as is kind of taking a wait and see approach despite my generally appreciative attitude towards modern advancements in (healthy) food.
drewbles82 t1_izajby8 wrote
It only recently came out over here so only had the one tub but it brought back so many feelings cuz before going vegan it was my fav ice cream, thought I would never get to taste it again.
Fonky_Fesh t1_izajbzo wrote
Why? Why is it SO bad?
Fonky_Fesh t1_izakkgp wrote
Haha yeah i was alive in 2002 also
HourApprehensive2330 t1_izaks0d wrote
everytme i see ben & jerry in news, chris hensen comes to mind.
Pavetsu t1_izal8u9 wrote
Oat milk at least is better than regular milk imo, especially those made for coffee. Haven't tried other vegan milks though.
TheDarkClaw t1_izalm93 wrote
Uhhhh why not just call them launching lab grown milk instead of cow free dairy? Don't they already have cow free dairy.
Anarchy-Freedom t1_izanmla wrote
And the lab grown disease will increase ten fold. Why would you want to risk your health and life by intaking stuff made from who knows what in a lab?
[deleted] t1_izao7bg wrote
Dairy free dairy.
WrongSubFools t1_izap5ba wrote
People complain about how current milking practices are bad for animal welfare. Imagine how much worse it would be if put human women in six-by-two-foot pens hooked up to machines.
The alternative would be to just let the humans live normal lives and pump just a little milk when they can, but that would be hugely inefficient. That way, human milk would be no cheaper than breast milk is now, which is like 100 times as expensive as cow's milk and with no benefit.
Hetotope t1_izarniz wrote
Ok, Mr. Paranoid. Everything you eat has been modified in labs unless you grow it yourself. But even then the seeds you plant have been genetically modified to be larger, plumper, and sweeter
[deleted] t1_izarqse wrote
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Hetotope t1_izary28 wrote
By, they made ice cream political, do you really mean that you don't buy their ice cream because they are a fairly socially progressive company who believes in rights for all people?
Zemirolha t1_izasezi wrote
Wanting or not, we are gods on Earth.
What rules we set as gods? What do we understand about justice that others living beings will have complying?
Is power abusing allowed when there is no necessity for it?
Meat and dairy commerce should being banned by now-2022. At least ads should stop immediatly. It only helps addicteds thinking their cruelty is acceptable and induce new generations as abusers and addicteds too.
KyojinkaEnkoku t1_izasxf5 wrote
No, I shouldn't feel like I'm voting when I buy things.
In the same way I won't buy MyPillows or Yeezys, I won't buy Ben & Jerry's.
Fonky_Fesh t1_izavlr7 wrote
U srsly fucking think that human milk maids would be treated like farm animals?
UpTheCreekItSeems t1_izavs1f wrote
And in 20 years, we'll find out 'lab grown' food is linked to cancer
mhornberger t1_izawl4m wrote
Agree on Brave Robot. Good stuff. But Ben & Jerry's is a known, famous brand. More brands equals more shelf space, more mindshare, so people will grow more comfortable. Plus greater production scale with lower production price, and then even more companies will be able to source their ingredients from cellular agriculture processes. It's going to have to win on economics, not merely on environmental sentiment, compassion for animals, or novelty. I want cellular agriculture to be normal and unremarkable, used in even the cheapest store brands. One step at a time, I guess.
LiftQueue t1_izaz2zf wrote
You can buy human milk! https://www.milkstork.com/
Omegaprimus t1_izb5bhl wrote
I am for this, the water savings alone would justify this. A dairy cow requires something like 30 to 50 gallons of water a day, it’s nuts.
[deleted] t1_izb5wcs wrote
Good point, although jello is actually just an industrialized evolution of entirely natural dishes such as aspic. In fact, when people now say folks were crazy for putting meat in jello back in the 1950s, what they don't realizes is that those '50s recipes were just emulating what European aristocrats had been enjoying for centuries. It wasn't some wacky idea that popped up out of nowhere.
Single_Pick1468 t1_izb7q0q wrote
Welcome to reality.
Single_Pick1468 t1_izb7ubk wrote
Like dairy and meat already are?
Omaha_Poker t1_izb8g36 wrote
It depends on the alternatives, almond milk for example also uses 17 times the amount of water cows need. It looks like this new process would also need a considerable amount of water.
UpTheCreekItSeems t1_izb8r7f wrote
Found the vegan
Omaha_Poker t1_izb91to wrote
They are political when it suits them. If Unilever truly believed in rights for all people they would have (like most other companies around the world) have pulled out of Russia aong time ago.
KyojinkaEnkoku t1_izb9dfq wrote
Ope, there goes gravity.
UpTheCreekItSeems t1_izb9n9s wrote
'Larger, plumper and sweeter' are traits bred into crops by selective breeding/growing throughout generations of trail and error and not necessarily the result of mad scientists sticking their dicks into our food.
Munchay87 t1_izbc4kv wrote
I wonder if this also will give you cancer like the impossible meat
[deleted] t1_izbef02 wrote
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opulent_occamy t1_izbgeun wrote
Exactly, it's a matter of efficiency and scale. idk much about vegan stuff, but from what I know about lab grown, it will come down in price as technology improves and scale increases. We'll get there, it just takes time.
Mitthrawnuruo t1_izbiqxi wrote
Except it won’t meet the e legal definition of ice cream. At best it will be considered a frozen desert.
The truth is it is Soylent Green.
Mitthrawnuruo t1_izbj246 wrote
You know there reason.
No one wants lab grown food.
TheDarkClaw t1_izbm4bw wrote
Maybe the general public but I would try it
SirPaddykins t1_izbnvgc wrote
And like beef and pork.
Hetotope t1_izbpbuu wrote
A GMO is a GMO, they just get the same results through different methods.
spelunk_in_ya_badonk t1_izbpgwj wrote
They already have a huge line of vegan ice cream thats indistinguishable from dairy ice cream
InformationDelivery t1_izbthz6 wrote
I imagine we have the subsidies in order to keep farmers afloat. I wonder what a valid solution to that problem would be.
Khaylain t1_izbtn5g wrote
Because beautiful lies sell better than not so beautiful truths.
It's not almond milk, it's nut juice (or almond-based milk substitute) the same way it's not plant-based meat, it's plant-based meat substitute.
I think it's a bit stupid to keep calling new stuff that isn't the same thing as something earlier by the same name or at least trying to invoke the image of it. Just like with JavaScript and Java.
I think the plant-based stuff would do better if they didn't try so hard to emulate something else. Make good recipes by themselves, don't try to fake something else.
muchisimowow t1_izbu9ct wrote
It would be chemically and biologically identical to actual cow milk so there would be no difference in risks or benefits to the person consuming it
muchisimowow t1_izbuq24 wrote
It would be biologically identical to actual cow milk so there would be no difference in risks or benefits to the person consuming it
shaneh445 t1_izbzgat wrote
>the costs will adjust themselves
Overly confident corporations that barely get a wrist slap nowadays for price gouging/inducing inflation may feel differently about that.
Sweaty-Junket t1_izc0sty wrote
Chemically identical?
Sweaty-Junket t1_izc0vnx wrote
You’re being downvoted, but telling the truth.
Welcome to Reddit.
King_Kthulhu t1_izc1alv wrote
You dont have to tell us you are a vegan, we can all tell.
oldcreaker t1_izc1vop wrote
Funny they title this as "Ben & Jerry's owner" instead of "Unilever, owner of Ben & Jerry's" - it's almost like they don't want you to know Ben & Jerry's is made by some soulless corporation.
And yes, the product has changed (not as good) since they sold it.
King_Kthulhu t1_izc22or wrote
Rats had some weight gain in one small, inconclusive study = impossible burger causes cancer?
Why read the actual article when you can just link an opinion piece about the article from a propoganda website instead!
cyberentomology t1_izc2phd wrote
“Ben and Jerry’s Owner”.
Why not be honest and say “giant consumer products conglomerate Unilever”
Head-like-a-carp t1_izc37sq wrote
I like a ice cream but I loathe the word amazing. This will mean amazing advances at ice cream technology. What would be amazing it's might taste better might have fewer calories but it's not going to be amazing. This sounds like something a zealous vegan with sputter
Epitaphi t1_izc6m3e wrote
I believe Brave Robot ice cream is lab grown and available in more than California, I had some when I went to Minnesota! It was a bit hard and not as creamy as I hoped, but I still liked it.
taste1337 t1_izc6m9k wrote
Nice! They have it at a store by my work and will refund my purchase to my Paypal or Venmo. Gonna try it tomorrow!
SoUpInYa t1_izc7rgk wrote
Or possibly even worse
Munchay87 t1_izcajgf wrote
Eat real food
fix-all-the-things t1_izcbgxo wrote
That's definitely the solution. Use politicians and regulation to force others to follow your own personal beliefs. Where have we seen that before?
Those subsidies exist for a lot of very good and very valid reasons.
This is why so many people hate vegans. You're no different than evangelicals who ram their beliefs onto others using the law and regulation. While it would be helpful to reduce the consumption of 1 or 2 types of meat of the many types of meat that exist, completely giving it up is an extremist belief that is nowhere near necessary.
StarGaurdianBard t1_izcbynu wrote
> real food
Yeah I'd hardly call the farm industry of today with rows of cows kept alive purely through pumping full of antibiotics and other shit real food. Nor would I call the freakish factory farm chickens real food either.
Omegaprimus t1_izcc9pf wrote
Oh god yes almond milk, that is nuts how much water and ginormous the amount of bees needed for a harvest.
Munchay87 t1_izcc9zz wrote
Better than processed shit
StarGaurdianBard t1_izccesp wrote
> no one wants lab grown food.
Speak for yourself. Not everyone is anti-science/afraid of progress. This is like saying "no one wants genetically modified food" but I gurantee the vast majority of people eat their modified corn and fruits just fine.
With how fast we are hunting various animals into extinction we either get used to lab grown food or get used to starvation.
StarGaurdianBard t1_izccupd wrote
We vastly accelerated that evolution through labs. Seriously it's super fucking easy to just youtube plants from 100 years ago vs today and see how many fruits and vegetables we eat that were genetically modified in a lab.
StarGaurdianBard t1_izcd9dq wrote
You are kidding yourself if you think stuff coming from factory farms aren't processed. You'd have to be strictly buying organic and I get the feeling you have similiar feelings towards organic food that you do lab made.
zuzg t1_izcdqh2 wrote
I eat meat you ignorant Spatula but I'm also educated about the topic and only eat it every once in a while.
The current Form of livestock farming is unsustainable in literally every way and it would be blatantly obvious if we didn't waste taxes on making it cheap.
>Those subsidies exist for a lot of very good and very valid reasons
Literally only one reason corruption lobbyism. There's no other reason behind it.
Mitthrawnuruo t1_izce44e wrote
Actually, very few people eat genetically modified foods. Selective breeding is not the same as genetic modification. The only food that has met with commercial success for humans is an apple that doesn’t brown as quick. Things like genetically modified corn are used for animal feed, not people.
Which is pretty sad, considering what we can do, and what we are doing. I think we could improve many things by genetic modification, and would love to see it done on chestnut trees to see them return to their rightful place in American forests.
As to traditionally grown crops, there is a hell of a lot of science involved, and always has been.
You win no friends, or converts, with your uninformed and elitist view that lab grown is in some way superior, and traditionally grown foods are not the process of thousands of years of scientific advancement and study, ignorant of the fact that crops are probably the most scientifically studied thing in all of human history, at any point in human history, including the modern era.
[deleted] t1_izcfv3m wrote
Is it the same phenomenon with dairy products cooling your mouth after eating a really spicy chili?
femmestem t1_izcg1y5 wrote
Brave Robot is one of the first companies to partner with Perfect Day to incorporate yeast derived milk protein. The more dairy-based products to adopt it, the faster Perfect Day can achieve economies of scale and drive the price down.
Besides, they have limited selection and I didn't care for any of it. Maybe a well established ice creamery can really nail it.
[deleted] t1_izck87u wrote
Yes, basically. The milk proteins can break up the capsaicin compounds.
wynbns t1_izcnwiu wrote
Brave Robot was early to market, but they don't create the cow-free milk. Perfect Day is the firm behind that step.
MrDERPMcDERP t1_izcxlt0 wrote
Brave Robot is fire emoji
PallandoOrome t1_izd0mf8 wrote
the same subsidies for companies that are making non-animal-based foods
InformationDelivery t1_izd3emk wrote
You misunderstood. I'm asking how do we help the farmers who are bought into cattle and have no out?
Edit: weird that this comment is downvoted but not the other one.
[deleted] t1_izd4rqb wrote
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classicbj t1_izd8042 wrote
Perfect Day owns Brave Robot. (Used to work there)
JonesyOnReddit t1_izd9ctr wrote
What we really need are lab grown eggs so the cookie dough can go back to tasting how it did 20 years ago
femmestem t1_izdbpyq wrote
Thanks for sharing. The testimonial on Perfect Day's website is misleading.
> Thanks to our partnership with Perfect Day, Brave Robot is one of the fastest-growing new brands in the ice cream category. > Paul Kollesoff, Co-Founder Brave Robot
Upon further research, Urgent Company was spun off from Perfect Day to focus on consumer goods, whereas Perfect Day is a business-to-business model. Urgent owns Brave Robot, but you're effectively right that it's not the same as a major brand partnering with Perfect Day.
Chevey0 t1_izddghs wrote
That’s good it’s available in more states now. Doesn’t help me in the UK just yet though 😅
Just_wanna_talk t1_izdfblv wrote
And then farmers will complain that their market share is shrinking and they need more subsidies to keep prices low.
Just_wanna_talk t1_izdfim8 wrote
Wait so they can get rid of lactose and reduce sugar content? Sounds like a win win.
[deleted] t1_izdjitu wrote
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MatterShim t1_izdrj3g wrote
Their vegan options definitely don't taste quite the same. I tried them because I recently developed a dairy allergy and they leave you kinda disappointed. It just isn't the same.
Question_EverythingM t1_izdverk wrote
Bro these people, and me, and just plain old murderers. I try to change but life just won't fully allow me to at the moment.
It's sad really but hey it's not like this situation will last, soon everything will be lab grown.
For now though peeps gonna be murdering cows because the taste!
We live in a wicked world after all.
Question_EverythingM t1_izdvhkd wrote
It's funny how psychopaths out themselves out with such confidence.
Please don't have kids.
Epitaphi t1_izdyore wrote
Ahh okay, that makes sense. It isn't available anywhere near me in Canada either ^^
thisimpetus t1_ize0vso wrote
Imagine if ice cream actually started being ice cream again. I'm so tired of aerated milk solids masquerading as the real thing. You can buy ice cream, now, that doesn't entirely melt.
sirboddingtons t1_ize1hbj wrote
I have had cow free ice cream. There's a company who started doing it through a contract with Stanford University out in CA.
They grow whey proteins in fermenting tanks, same they use in the brewing industry, with a modified yeast that creates it when fed sugar instead off alcohol. It's then blended into coconut fat and some other ingredients. It was surprisingly similar in flavor, just not 100% in the texture. They also make whey protein products for sports nutrition. The process used 1% of the water used to make the equivalent volume of milk and obviously instead of acres of feed or grazing grown for the cow, it was all done in a 20 BBL tank that's roughly the footprint of a car. Really cool stuff. Sorry blanking on the name!
Edit: Brave Robot is the name!
Mr_Festus t1_izehdin wrote
> indistinguishable
Don't eat quality dairy ice cream much?
Eleutherii t1_izenzvf wrote
Thank God, free the cows from the hell they're currently trapped in unbeknownst to most dairy consumers
0xB0BAFE77 t1_izeo07k wrote
Good ol' Futurology...
It might!
It may!
It could!
Someday...!
Possibly!
Potentially!
In the future!
Eventually!
This sub lives off these words.
Murican_Infidel t1_izeqda3 wrote
Can lab-grown milk be modified to offer better nutrition and taste than regular milk?
[deleted] t1_izf8nk2 wrote
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mhornberger t1_izf92p1 wrote
Plus it's only "lab-grown" when it's being grown in a lab, during the R&D phases. Production facilities have large stainless steel tanks. Why don't we call beer "lab-grown"? Because even though production is done in large stainless-steel tanks, it's not in a lab.
cyberentomology t1_izf9eyw wrote
Because the article is actually about actions and policies at Unilever in general, not within the B&J ice cream brand specifically.
UpTheCreekItSeems t1_izfrk4a wrote
You are truly a fucking moron. Please get cancer.
Question_EverythingM t1_izfsgs2 wrote
Haha, no you!
[deleted] t1_izftgfv wrote
[deleted] t1_izftnkx wrote
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[deleted] t1_izfu09b wrote
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[deleted] t1_izfufdk wrote
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Mitthrawnuruo t1_izg29fy wrote
Any professionally run brewery is very much a lab, with everything you would expect from a lab, including lab tests at multiple phases of the brewing process, & chemists and biochemists on staff.
PallandoOrome t1_izglbbj wrote
the same way, there's always an out, they don't need to be owned by Monsanto and other huge corporate agroindustry companies
muchisimowow t1_izhfaiq wrote
Every food has chemical properties
[deleted] t1_j07a2ax wrote
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chrisdh79 OP t1_iza7kjb wrote
From the article: For many — those who are lactose intolerant, those who are vegan, those who (for whatever reasons) do not consume dairy milk — Ben & Jerry's has been a reliable stalwart when it comes to producing non-dairy desserts, most of which are primarily made with almond milk.
While the grocery store freezer shelves are now replete with non-dairy products (ice cream, sorbet, sherbet, frozen yogurt and the like), many customers remain loyal to Ben & Jerry's, especially as their non-dairy oeuvre seems to grow quite often.
Soon enough, though, there may be a new type of product on shelves with Ben & Jerry's emblazoned across its packaging.
As TIME reported last month, Unilever (a British company which lists Ben & Jerry's as one of their brands) is looking to produce dairy ice creams that actually utilize milk that isn't derived from cows whatsoever. This would mean that the ice creams and frozen desserts wouldn't be branded dairy-free, since they would contain this lab-created "milk," but they could potentially be consumed by those who might have lactose allergies or are personally or morally against consuming any sort of cow-derived dairy.
TIME notes that this would be developed in a "process called precision fermentation that uses substances like yeast and fungi to produce milk proteins in a vat." Andy Sztehlo who runs Unilever's ice cream research and development team, notes that the "product could be available in about a year," meaning that you might have your hands on some dairy-but-not-from-cows ice cream before you know it.
This process, often called "lab-grown milk," has been practiced by other companies, but no "major food companies" have produced any particular products with said milk, including any other ice cream brand.