Chocolate makers are scrambling to secure cocoa supplies amid threats from unpredictable weather, deforestation and aging cacao trees.
“The industry needs solutions and it needs them fast,” said Shayna Harris of Supply Change Capital, which led Celleste Bio’s seed financing round.
The $4.5 million in funding will support production of Celleste Bio’s lab-grown cocoa powder. Celleste Bio’s cocoa ingredients have “the same taste and texture as tree-grown cocoa,” Harris told ImpactAlpha, and can help fulfill demand for cocoa in an environmentally responsible way.
The Israeli startup produces cocoa in controlled bioreactors, which extract cells from raw cacao beans to make cocoa butter and powder. Harris says Celleste Bio can produce the ingredients to be cost competitive with conventionally-grown cocoa.
The seed capital “provides us with the financial and strategic support we need to accelerate product, scalability and commercial readiness,” said Celleste Bio’s Beressi Golomb.
Lab-grown chocolate
Cell-cultured food, including lab-grown meat and coffee, have struggled to be cost-competive and to navigate regulations to get to market. Celleste Bio’s investors are optimistic about the company’s commercial viability. Its round was led by the corporate venture arm of snack food giant Mondelez International.
“As one of the world’s largest chocolate producers, we are acutely aware of the supply chain challenges we need to overcome to produce our iconic chocolate brands,” said Richie Gray of Mondelez’s SnackFutures Ventures.
Consensus Business Group, The Trendlines Group, Barrel Ventures and Regba Agriculture also joined the round.
