Compound Foods Jumps Into Beanless Coffee Race – CoffeeTalk

San Francisco-based startup Compound Foods has launched an ingredients platform aimed at providing cocoa, coffee, and chocolate alternatives to manufacturers. The initiative is designed to help companies mitigate the challenges posed by rising prices and unpredictable market availability. Maricel Saenz, founder and CEO of Compound Foods, states that many formulators are increasingly seeking to limit the use of traditional ingredients in their formulations and replace them with alternative options. The company’s initial product, a ready-to-drink beanless cold brew in 7.5oz cans, was always in their plan, as large-scale transformation is always going to be at the B2B level.

Compound Foods has developed a database focused on replicating coffee, cocoa, and chocolate at a molecular level, including expertise in fermentation to create complex flavors. However, this can increase costs. The company can also process ingredients without using fermentation if they want more cost-effective alternatives.

Compound Foods has announced the launch of an ingredients platform aimed at future-proofing coffee, emphasizing its ability to collaborate with businesses that have specific requests regarding taste and cost profiles. The firm has validated a wide array of ingredients for its formulations, allowing for flexibility in its supply chain. In case of a compromised ingredient supply, Compound Foods can easily replace it with an alternative.

Regarding manufacturing, the company notes that while there is intellectual property in its formulations and processes, the equipment necessary for producing its beanless ingredients—including instant coffee, coffee concentrate, cold brew, cocoa powder, cocoa extender, and chocolate compound—is not proprietary. The company plans to utilize co-packers for production.

The coffee alternatives developed by Compound Foods are made from date seeds, chicory, sunflower seeds, carob, and grape seeds. Cocoa alternatives consist of carob, mesquite, spent grain, sunflower lecithin, and cascara, which is the byproduct after coffee beans are removed from cherries. The surge of interest in beanless coffee and cocoa among startups is seen as beneficial for the industry, as there are more solutions in cocoa than there are in coffee.

In terms of messaging, Compound Foods acknowledges the importance of tailoring communication to different audiences. So far, Compound Foods has raised around $10 million from various investors, including Lowercarbon Capital, Bossa Invest, One Way Ventures, Collaborative Fund, and Ulu Ventures.

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