NEW TECH FOODS

Celleste Bio unveiled its chocolate-grade cocoa butter during EIT Food’s Next Bite Summit in Brussels, Belgium, last month. Writer Katie Johnson caught up with Celleste Bio CEO, Michal Berresi Golomb, to discuss the company’s first-of-its-kind, cell-cultured cocoa butter and its potential impact on the chocolate industry.

Katie Johnson (L) spoke with Celleste Bio's CEO, Michal Berresi Golomb (R).

Introduced as the first chocolate-grade cocoa butter made using plant cell culture technology, Celleste Bio's product could be pivotal for an industry under growing pressure.

“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,” Golomb said.

A market under pressure

Significant supply shortages in the $16 billion cocoa ingredient market caused a 400% surge in cocoa prices in 2024. Cocoa butter makes up half of this market.

The cocoa industry faces major environmental challenges: climate change threatens yields through rising temperatures and unpredictable rainfall; pests and diseases like mirids and fungal diseases damage crops; and deforestation from expanding cocoa farms harms biodiversity. Ethically, child labour, poor farmer wages and unsustainable land use persist despite efforts, creating social and ecological pressure for reform across the supply chain.

Considering these challenges, companies with holdings in the chocolate industry – such as confectionery giant Mondelēz International, a key investor in Celleste Bio – have started to fund options that don’t rely on resources from climate-dependent and unpredictable traditional cocoa farming.

Exploring alternatives

Fermentation-based cocoa alternatives use microbial fermentation to transform plant-based ingredients like oats and sunflower seeds into products with chocolate-like flavours and textures. Upcycled or plant-based substitutes include ingredients like carob, fava beans and upcycled seeds, while hybrid approaches combine these methods, sometimes blending fermentation-based concentrates with conventional ingredients and chocolate-making techniques.

While industries are exploring cocoa ingredient alternatives, Golomb of Celleste Bio affirms: “We are not an alternative. We are the real thing.”

Celleste Bio’s cell-cultured cocoa ingredients are bio-identical to conventional cocoa butter and powder. “Our cocoa ingredients... are uniquely providing the same molecular composition and functional performance.”

Instead of growing trees, Celleste Bio starts with a few living cocoa cells taken from real beans. These cells are placed in nutrient-rich bioreactors, where they grow and produce cocoa butter and cocoa powder that can be seamlessly substituted with the conventional ingredients. The zero-waste result has the same silky texture, aroma and melt that chocolate makers rely on.

Sustainability and efficiency

What makes the approach stand out is its stability and sustainability. Cell-cultured cocoa beans require significantly fewer resources than traditional farming. Additionally, because the process takes place in a controlled indoor environment, it isn’t affected by pests, drought or deforestation, and allows for year-round production. It can also be noted that cell-cultured cocoa ingredients are free from the heavy metal and pesticide contaminant concerns of conventional products.

To put this into perspective, traditional cocoa farming requires 4 tons of cocoa pods, 10,000 square metres of land and 1736 trees to make 2 tons of cocoa butter. Celleste Bio requires only 1-2 beans, a 1.5 square metre room and one bioreactor.

This dependable and environmentally conscious supply method could reshape the future of chocolate manufacturing.

Celleste Bio continues with technological advancements. “We have computational modeling that will help us tune desirable traits.” Golomb highlighted.

This technology can allow for selecting specific flavour profiles, reducing added sugar and increasing health benefits, such as increased polyphenols, for producers. Golomb continued: “We can cultivate multiple varieties of cocoa from different genetic origins…for different needs, different flavours or specific aromatic and taste components.”

Cell-cultured cocoa polyphenols can be rich in antioxidants such as catechins, anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins. Conventional cocoa products often require alkalizing– a process that reduces acidity and bitterness, but also significantly reduces these antioxidants. Golomb affirms that Celleste Bio’s technology can reduce bitterness and create a sweeter chocolate with lower levels of added sugar and no need for alkalizing.

Technical challenges and scaling

Making cocoa butter through cell culture is far from simple. Cocoa cells grow slowly and are sensitive to their surroundings, demanding the right mix of nutrients, oxygen and temperature to thrive. Even when growth conditions are perfect, getting the cells to produce the exact fats that give cocoa butter its smooth texture and melt is difficult. Unlike ordinary plant oils, cocoa butter depends on a very specific balance of fatty acids, which is hard to reproduce outside the cocoa bean. Scaling that process reliably is an even greater challenge.

Celleste Bio has raised $5.6 million to date and is building a pilot facility to accelerate research and development, and subsequent scaling, of its cell-cultured cocoa ingredients. Its goal is to have commercial products available by 2027.

As cell-cultured cocoa products are new to the market, it is also necessary to meet EU, UK and FDA regulatory requirements respectively. Celleste Bio is building a dossier and hopes to start receiving approvals by 2026.

The future of chocolate is uncertain. However, it is becoming increasingly certain that the chocolate industry will not be able to depend on susceptible traditional cocoa farming methods. A more sustainable and stable solution is called for. Golomb emphasises the importance of needing to work together. “I think collaboration here is key," she concluded. "Once one company benefits, every company benefits.”