Cacao-Less Chocolate and Bean-Less Coffee and The New Bean-Free Brigade

Cacao and coffee, two of the planet’s most loved crops, are buckling under pressure. Cocoa prices have smashed past $10,000 a tonne, while weather stress is pushing Arabica uphill. Enter the bean-free brigade: innovators who promise the same taste experience, minus the deforestation, price shocks, and labour exploitation.

On the chocolate side, Celleste Bio is maturing cocoa bean cells in bioreactors in just seven days, producing cocoa butter and powder with the backing of Mondelez. London-based WNWN Food Labs has cocoa-free bars already in market, using fermented grains and carob, while Israel’s Kokomodo is developing cell-based cocoa for chocolate and supplements. Voyage Foods has doubled down with both cocoa-free chocolate and bean-free coffee, now scaling production through an Ohio plant and a Cargill supply deal.

Coffee is no less disrupted. Atomo Coffee’s bean-free brews claim ~83% lower emissions and ~70% less land per espresso, using upcycled plant inputs to mimic coffee’s aromatic fingerprint. Pluri has entered the space too, using 3D cell-expansion to grow coffee with an estimated 98% cut in water demand. Together, these companies are building insurance policies for our morning lattes and after-dinner chocolate, ensuring indulgence can survive the next climate and commodity shock.

TRENOS SiGINT LINK

ENDS: