Sesamilk CEO Siripen Suntornmonkongsri, with Board of Director Wattana Suntornmonkongsri
In 2016, Siripen Suntornmonkongsri, an entrepreneur with over 10 years of experience in the sesame business in Thailand, decided to leverage her expertise to develop a product that not only encourages people to consume the seeds in the right way, but is also environmentally-friendly.
Shortly, she met and brainstormed the idea with Dr Napatrapee Luengsakul and Dr Tongchai Puttongsiri — two food scientists and professors of King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang in Bangkok.
Their mission: to develop a new super food that is not only tasty but can also be part of our daily diet.
“Our research yielded good results and it led us to develop Sesamilk in 2018,” Suntornmonkongsri tells e27.
What is Sesamilk?
Sesamilk — a product of Sesamilk Foods Co. Ltd. and member of the first batch of the Space-F accelerator run by the Nation Innovation Agency of Thailand— is an alternative to dairy milk and is extracted from premium-grade Thai sesame seeds, a rich source of fat.
Unlike other plant-based milk, Sesamilk is extracted from natural seeds — no dairy, soy, or nuts.
Also Read: Whole-plant based meat brand Karana raises US$1.7M
The product, which hit the market in March 2019, contains no ingredients that are harmful to health.
“All around the world, there is an increasing number of people who are allergic to dairy or soy milk,” says the CEO. “Coupled with this fact is that the number of vegetarians and health-conscious people is on the rise. Sesamilk targets this community.”
Sesame seeds are tiny, oil-rich seeds that grow in pods on the Sesamum indicum plant. The seeds have many potential health benefits and have been used in folk medicine for thousands of years.
Popular in Asia, the sesame seeds are used as sprinkles on buns and its oil is widely used for cooking. However, its nutrients are not absorbed by the human body in its entirety when used as oil or sprinkles.
“But when turned into a drink, sesame’s full nutrients can be absorbed by the human body. What is more remarkable is that sesame is believed to contain the cure for cancer,” she explains.
Health benefits
Suntornmonkongsri remarks that Sesamilk contains nutrients such as sesamin, sesamolin and sesamol. Sesamin can increase thermogenesis and fat oxidation, regulate fat-burning enzymes, decrease fat storage, and increase insulin sensitivity and ketone formation.
Apart from this, sesamin is also a potent antioxidant, reduces cholesterol level in the body, regulates HDL levels, decreases blood pressure, and improves liver and kidney health.
“We call it ‘functional milk’. Sesamilk contains Sesamin 128x more than soy milk-mixed black sesame and is also healthier than cow milk as it contains no growth hormone or cholesterol and is not allergic either, ” she says, sharing more details of the product.
Sesamilk is natural and can be consumed by kids as less as one-year-old and the product caters to those who are lactose-intolerant, cow milk-allergic, vegetarians and vegans.
Currently, Sesamilk is available in about 500 stores (online and offline) across Thailand. The product is also exported to Japan, Macau, Hongkong and Vietnam.
“We are getting good feedback from our customers, not just from our home country but also from countries like Japan, which is well aware of the benefits of sesame,” she remarks.
“We also see opportunities for Sesamilk in global markets. As a cow milk replacement, Sesamilk also foresees a massive opportunity in the HORECA industry, especially in cafes, as it can foam and goes well with coffee and beverages,” she says.
In addition to producing Sesamilk, the startup also promotes sesame farming in Thailand, which is economic and sustainable because the plant is drought-resistant.
Challenges
Creating awareness has been a daunting task for Sesamilk right from the start, admits the CEO. As a first mover, the company may have to invest more in the marketing activities and try to create brand awareness in many countries at the same time, she admits.
“Funding is also an important part we grow. We have already received our first seed funding from two angel investors — Lee Choo Chien of Singapore and Somchai Hirunyakorn of Thailand. However, we will look to raise more investment this year to expand further,” she concluded.
The company has a competitor in Singapore, called TurtleTree Labs, which uses cell-based technology to create milk without requiring animals. In January, KBW Ventures, the VC firm owned by Saudi entrepreneur and investor HRH Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal, invested in TurtleTree.
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Image Credit: Sesamilk
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