Next-Level Vegan Ice Cream Truck Hits the Streets of LA

Oakland, CA-based food technology startup Perfect Day is sampling two flavors (Vanilla Salted Fudge and Strawberry) of its “flora-based” animal-free ice cream around Los Angeles next weekend. Ryan Pandya and Perumal Gandhi—Perfect Day founders and biomedical engineers—began developing the innovative base for their ice cream in 2014, which is made by printing a cow’s DNA sequence as a blueprint that is inserted into yeast-based microflora (tiny living organisms used to make everyday items such as vitamins and probiotics). The flora then takes the place of a cow and undergoes an acellular (without animal cells) fermentation process producing an abundance of milk proteins. In July, Perfect Day released 1,000 ice cream pints in three flavors: Vanilla Salted Fudge, Milky Chocolate, and Vanilla Blackberry Toffee in a three-pint bundle for $60, plus shipping and handling—and sold all of its limited-batch ice cream in less than 24 hours. The company aims to partner with businesses making dairy-based goods to create next-level, animal-free versions of foods such as cheese, baked goods, and more varieties of ice cream. Perfect Day’s ice cream truck visited downtown LA, Silverlake, Santa Monica, and Venice last weekend, and those interested in trying its flora-based ice cream can catch the truck around Los Angeles (locations to be announced on Perfect Day’s Instagram) on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.