Climax Foods Announces Rebrand to Bettani Farms, $6.5 Million in New Funding, and Industry Veteran Sandeep Patel as New CEO

The company's refreshed brand and strategy, boosted by additional capital, will support the launch of its proprietary Caseed™ ingredient and protein-rich, dairy-free cheeses.

BERKELEY, Calif., Oct. 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Climax Foods, a food technology company leading breakthrough innovation in the global cheese market, today announced it has rebranded to Bettani Farms and appointed former CFO of Califia Farms, Sandeep Patel, to serve as CEO and Chairman. Additionally, the company announced a $6.5 million initial closing of its Series A, led by S2G Investments ("S2G"), a multi-stage investment firm focused on scaling solutions across food and agriculture, energy, and oceans, with additional participation from new and existing investors that include At One Ventures, Gratitude Railroad, Manta Ray Ventures, and Toba Capital.

Bettani has developed a transformative protein-rich, non-GMO, dairy/soy/nut-free product platform. Its mozzarella, feta, and other cheeses leverage Caseed™, Bettani's proprietary protein ingredient. Caseed™ mimics the functionality and mouthfeel of dairy casein (the protein that allows traditional mozzarella, cheddar, and jack cheeses to melt and stretch) without the allergenicity of dairy, nuts, or soy. The ingredient also offers a creamy texture, neutral flavor profile, and white color, making a range of other protein-rich, dairy-free cheeses possible, including feta, goat, cream cheese, brie, and blue. With protein made from seeds of regenerative field crops, Bettani's cheeses are a natural, farm-sourced, allergen-free, and more cost-competitive alternative to fermentation-based attempts to develop casein equivalents. These differentiators are the inspiration behind Bettani's tagline, "Better with Bettani."

Along with Patel and the talented existing team, Bettani has strengthened its team with proven plant-based food scaling experience. Recent hires include Rajiv Dave, SVP of R&D (formerly Califa Farms, Nestlé, and Great Lakes Cheese); Tom Zilligen, SVP of Sales (formerly NUMU, Pacific Foods, and Schwann); and Maxwell Brown, Process Engineer (formerly Meati and Ingredion).

Bettani's strategic company updates come at a time when consumer food preferences continue to shift based on trends including high protein, allergen-free, clean label, and sustainable. In a recent survey, 71% of U.S. adults said they are trying to consume more protein. Meanwhile, recently released data showed more than 50% of North American coffee transactions on the Square platform had a plant-milk associated with them, with oat milk representing some 70% of plant-milk choices and 33% of all milk. Existing dairy-free cheese options, however, have failed to gain widespread adoption due to sub-optimal texture, teeth adhesion, poor melt/stretch performance, and lack of protein. Bettani is poised to change this with its revolutionary dairy-free cheeses that will have 12 to 20 grams of protein per 100-grams of cheese.

"Bettani is poised to do for pizza what oat milk has done for coffee," said Patel. "Just as oat won coffee over the last five years with its superior taste, mouthfeel, performance, and allergen profile, our Caseed™-powered cheeses deliver the melt, stretch, texture, and flavor consumers crave in pizza and other hot foods–without the allergens and high carbon footprint of dairy. Our Caseed™ protein also powers great non-melty cheeses, such as feta, goat, and cream cheese, adding sensory delight and protein to otherwise animal-free foods like salads, dips, and bagels."

Patel joins Bettani after his time at Califia Farms and serving as President and CFO of PopSockets, both of which have deep commitments to sustainability. He also brings extensive industry experience across packaged food, agriculture, consumer products, and sustainable technologies from his time as a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs and Barclays, where he advised food industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and investors. Under his leadership, Bettani will focus on commercializing Caseed™ and Caseed™-powered cheeses in partnership with frozen-food makers, food service operators, and existing dairy-free cheese brands seeking to improve their formulations.

S2G's investment in Bettani is closely aligned with one of its key focus areas, food systems innovation and sustainability. Cheese is the third most carbon-intensive major food group behind beef and lamb, and the most water-intensive. With global cheese consumption forecasted to continue growing strongly for decades, Bettani will leverage the new funding to launch and scale its products rapidly.

"As Bettani starts this new chapter, we believe it's clear the company has the strong leadership and vision needed to make protein-rich, dairy-free cheeses commonplace," said Sanjeev Krishnan, managing partner at S2G. "We're proud to continue to support Bettani and the commercialization of its technology at a critical time when demand for protein-rich, allergen-free, and more sustainable food products is increasing."

Bettani protein-rich, dairy-free cheeses will be showcased in multiple menu applications at MISTA's upcoming annual Growth Hack Demo Day on October 8, 2025, in San Francisco. Bettani will also be showcasing its products at Bridge2Food in Minneapolis October 22-23. To learn more about Bettani, please visit bettani.com.

About Bettani Farms
Bettani Farms is a protein-rich, dairy-free cheese platform. Its mozzarella, feta, and other dairy-free cheeses leverage Bettani's proprietary protein ingredient Caseed™, which mimics the stretch, melt and mouthfeel of casein without dairy, nuts, or soy. To see why it's "Better with Bettani," please visit bettani.com.

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SOURCE Bettani Farms