A startup at Appalachian State University has received a major grant to advance the development of a new plant-based milk product made from sweet potatoes.
Professor Brent Taubman and his research team launched Rootsii to develop new uses for surplus sweet potatoes — ASU estimates over 63 million pounds of them go to waste each year.
The company has spent two years developing a sweet potato milk to tap into the booming plant-based milk industry. Now, backed by the $1.8 million grant from NCInnovation, Rootsii is working on sweet potato-based creamers, yogurt, ice cream and fermented foods like miso and hot sauce.
The grant will help support four App State student researchers who are testing formulations for nutritional content, flavor, texture and yield.
The company is aiming to have the products market-ready within two years.