Foods from animal sources are a significant part of diets all throughout the world. Within the animal industry, milk production contributes significantly to overall global greenhouse gas emissions and land use. The dairy food industry is now faced with the problem of developing more affordable, sustainable, and all-natural dairy-free substitutes. Research into dairy-free alternative products, whether plant-based or cell-based, is expanding quickly. The animal-free dairy products market size reached USD ∼25 billion in 2021 and is expected to register a revenue CAGR of ∼10% during the forecast period. More people are reducing/eliminating meat and dairy products from their diets for ethical, environmental, and/or health reasons, which is driving up market demand for these goods. Therefore, there are numerous research groups and businesses that are currently attempting to replace dairy proteins with plant-based products in both academia and the food sector. However, because dairy proteins are a source of high-quality protein and other micronutrients, these plant-based products are typically unable to match the protein quality that dairy protein offers. Additionally, plant-based proteins frequently perform inferior physiochemically than dairy proteins in terms of solubility, gelling ability, and emulsifying qualities. Making animal-free milk proteins that are nature-identical to milk proteins is a solution to the problems with replacing milk proteins with plant-based proteins. Recently, some companies have begun to investigate the conception of dairy products using precision fermentation and cell culture-based techniques. While some brands uphold a code of ethics and values, others may use the “animal-free” stamp, simply as a marketing hype. Businesses have changed quickly and have become more conscious about using animal-free ingredients in their productions. Overall, it is critical to address the future of animal-free dairy proteins from all the key work triangles of sustainability, commercial feasibility, and consumer acceptance.  Speaker: Els de Hoog, PhD