Nourishy launches first freeze-dried breast milk for Aussie families
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Nourishy is an Australian female-founded startup which solves a common conundrum for breastfeeding mothers: how to extend the life of their nutrient-rich breast milk, and make their ‘liquid gold’ more accessible and transportable.
Founded by Cass Wingrove, a Brisbane-based mother of three, Nourishy is a user-friendly breastmilk freeze-drying service. The result is a transportable powder made from a mother’s very own milk, with a shelf life of three years, maintaining all of the milk’s essential life-building nutrients.
Nourishy is the official Australian partner of Milkify – the US-based breast milk freeze-drying service which has already helped over 4,000 families freeze-dry their breastmilk, and which attracted investment from Gwyneth Paltrow when it appeared on the US version of Shark Tank.
Dr. Berkley Luck, the PhD microbiologist who founded Milkify and invented its contact-free freeze-drying process, said ensuring the safest, highest quality product was of utmost importance as we sought out a partner in Australia.
“From the beginning, Cass Wingrove and the Nourishy team demonstrated that same unwavering commitment. We feel confident that, through Nourishy, Aussie parents finally have access to the same quality freeze-drying service Milkify has provided in North America over the past five years.”
Within their custom-fitted facility located in Brisbane, QLD, the Nourishy process ensures that each woman’s breast milk never comes into contact with any equipment or other milk. Each lactation bag of milk is processed individually and remains frozen from the home freezer to the Nourishy receiving hub in Brisbane, all the way through to the final drying and packaging.
“As a breastfeeding mum myself, I know how hard it can be to store and transport pumped breast milk – especially when travelling or leaving your baby in someone else’s care,” said Nourishy founder Cass Wingrove.
“Nourishy’s system adheres to stringent hygiene standards, and uses robust tracking systems to maintain the integrity of each mother’s own milk. We’ve already had amazing feedback from families, midwives and breast milk donation clinics about the potential of this new service.”
Mothers Milk Bank Charity, which collects, screens, pasteurises and distributes donated human milk to infants in need right across Australia, is already using Nourishy to extend the shelflife and accessibility of precious donated breastmilk.
“Freeze-dried breast milk changes how babies and young children are able to receive breast milk. The cost to freight frozen milk is expensive and we see Nourishy playing a critical role in mitigating this cost, ultimately making pasteurised donated human milk more accessible to more families who need it,” says Lyne Hall, RN, MN(Ed), IBCLC, Mothers Milk Bank Charity.
Using smart, contactless technology, Nourishy provides specialised shipping boxes to participating mothers, and a tagging system is used to ensure each person’s milk is tracked during every stage of the process.
The result is an easy-to-use powder, which preserves the molecular-structure of the milk. Making it ideal for travelling, attending events and even returning to work and navigating the use of breastmilk at childcare facilities.
“Nourishy is opening up options to make breastmilk more accessible and long-lasting. It’s empowering mums, dads, caregivers and guardians to feed babies nutrient-rich, immune-boosting breastmilk, with the ultimate convenience of a take-anywhere powder,” said Cass Wingrove.
Menchie Khairuddin is a writer Deputy Content Manager at Akolade and content producer for Third Sector News. She is passionate about social affairs specifically in mixed, multicultural heritage and not-for-profit organisations.
