Cibi e Bevande
Celleste Bio™ Announces Major Milestone for Cocoa Industry: Production of First Chocolate Grade Cocoa Butter Using Cell Cultured Technology
"Our ability to produce real cocoa butter via cell culture proves that science can be used to grow and produce ingredients that mirror nature with integrity and transparency", said Michal Berresi Golomb, CEO of Celleste Bio . "This is a major R&D achievement for Celleste led by Hanne Volpin , PhD, CTO of Celleste, and her R&D team, and also validation for the entire cocoa industry that there is a solution to supplement supply chain shortages caused by the volatility and unpredictability of traditional farming".
Cocoa is in fact a big business. Chocolate manufacturers spend about $16 billion on cocoa ingredients a year, with cocoa butter making up nearly half of that. In 2024 prices increased 400 percent due to a half billion-ton shortage.
And while prices and crop yields stabilize at certain points, experts say long-term instability is the 'new normal' and technology is the only way to stabilize the future.
"It's important to understand, technology doesn't replace traditional farming. It is an 'insurance policy' against imminent supply chain disruptions and destruction caused by pests, disease, land and water overuse - as well as those that will arise from climate and agricultural instability," says Howard Yano Shapiro , retired Chief Agriculture Officer at Mars, Incorporated. " Celleste Bio is one example of a technology that is getting ahead of a long-term crisis. Cocoa butter is the single most important, expensive and resource intensive ingredient in chocolate and if we've learned anything from last year, it's that solutions for crop supplementation are crucial."
Celleste is in the process of building a pilot facility to accelerate R&D and scale production of its cocoa ingredients.
To date, Celleste Bio has raised $5.6 million , including Mondelēz International as a strategic and design partner, along with Supply Change Capital, Trendlines, Barrel Ventures and others.
Celleste Bio is a cocoa tech company established in 2022 by Co-founder and Chief Technical Officer Hanne Volpin , PhD, Orna Harel , Avishay Levy and Daphna Michaeli , PhD with support from The Trendlines Group. Its mission is to create an economically and environmentally sustainable cocoa supply. Celleste uses a proprietary combination of BioTech, AgTech, and computational AI to produce 100 percent natural cocoa ingredients. For more information visit www.celleste-bio.com.
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