Swiss Biotech Firm Begins To Experiment With Cell-Cultured Coffee – CoffeeTalk

Swiss biotech firm The Cultured Hub is expanding its focus from scaling cellular agriculture products, like cultivated meat and microbial proteins, to future-oriented ingredients for coffee and chocolate derived from plant cell culture technology. Located in Kemptthal, the facility utilizes bioreactors to grow plant cells using sugar, vitamins, and minerals, thereby bypassing traditional agricultural needs like water and soil, ensuring a climate-resilient supply chain.

This innovation comes as cocoa and coffee industries face severe supply challenges due to climate change, with cocoa stocks at their lowest in a decade and coffee prices soaring to unprecedented levels. The cultivation of plant-based alternatives through fermentation and food technology is becoming increasingly important, especially for major brands like Starbucks and Nestlé, which are developing resilient crop varieties. The Cultured Hub aims to alleviate some of these pressures by leveraging plant cell culture to produce cocoa and coffee compounds independent of conventional farming practices.

Ian Roberts, CTO of Bühler Group, emphasizes the potential of plant cell cultivation in sustainable food production, acknowledging the similar challenges faced in scaling cultivated meat. The Cultured Hub has established facilities with advanced production labs and fermentation capabilities that enable startups and corporations to collaborate. Companies can operate in dedicated suites, scaling their research and production efforts without the necessity of large investments in infrastructure, thereby accelerating market entry and innovation.

Recently, The Cultured Hub hosted a Cultured Plant Cell Event to encourage collaboration among startups, corporate leaders, and researchers to discuss advancements in plant cell culture technology as a complement to traditional agriculture. Early-stage startups shared their developments in producing cell-based cocoa and coffee, while experts presented on topics relevant to scaling and commercializing these technologies. Innovations like microbotanics were discussed, focusing on the precision cultivation of plant cells for targeted compounds. Participants acknowledged that while plant cell culture offers promising solutions, scaling remains a significant hurdle that needs to be overcome through partnerships and ongoing research initiatives.

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