With climate change, resource scarcity, and ethical concerns shaping consumer choices, the food industry is at a turning point.
A wave of startups are turning innovation into advantage, pioneering solutions to challenges presented by chocolate and cheese to coffee and packaging.
These five trailblazers are harnessing fermentation, plant-based science, and sustainability-driven innovation to create alternatives
Win-Win
Fermentation expert Johnny Drain claims he first created something that “tasted and smelled a lot like chocolate” without the cocoa completely by accident. After showing it to investment banker Ahrum Pak, the duo joined forces to disrupt the confectionery industry.
Win-Win uses “cutting-edge science” to convert vegetable fat, carob, oats and barley into cocoa-free chocolate. In 2023, it raised $5.6m to finance a launch into UK retail. Win-Win then launched a trio of spoof bars –inspired by popular staples from Cadbury, Tony’s Chocolonely and Terry’s – via its webstore. Last month it on-boarded fmcg industry veteran Mark Golder as CEO.
Prefer
Founded by Jake Berber and Ding Jie Tan in 2022, Prefer makes its coffee alternative by fermenting food industry byproducts, namely: waste bread, soy milk pulp and spent brewer’s grain. For those wondering about the caffeine, “we add it as an ingredient”, says Berber.
“We can get it from natural sources, such as green tea, or synthetically derived sources.” The startup last year secured $2m investment in a seed funding round led by Forge Ventures and has since broadened its horizons to include cocoa-free chocolate. What’s next in the innovation pipeline? “We’re getting some demand for hazelnuts… but not until next year, we’ve got our hands full.”
Read more:
How food commodities are being future-proofed for climate change
Lower-carbon parsnips in M&S stores after successful autonomous field trial
Regenerative agriculture can turn around a tough farming landscape
Riverford Organic Farmers doubles profits as Brits demand sustainable veg
Better Dairy
London-based startup Better Dairy is using precision fermentation to create dairy-free cheese. It has managed to make animal-free casein, a key milk protein that contributes to the taste, texture and melt of cheese.
To date, it has raised over $20m to fund its research, which it hopes to apply to all dairy products in the future. Better Dairy is also making the bioactive protein osteopontin, which is “plentiful in human milk, but virtually impossible to get from cows milk”. The startup is one of 12 businesses in ‘A Taste of Tomorrow: What will we be eating in 2050?’, an agri-food exhibit open at The Mills Fabrica, King’s Cross, London until 31 July.
Planet A Foods
Munich-based cocoa-free chocolate startup Planet A Foods is storming into 2025, having secured over $45m last year to fund its international expansion. The brainchild of twins Sara and Maximilian Marquart, Planet A Foods’ ChoViva product is made from sunflower seeds and oats.
It has already launched in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland through partnerships with the likes of Rewe, Lindt and Lufthansa. The latest investment secured by the company will enable it to scale production from 2,000 to over 15,000 tonnes annually, leveraging both its own facilities and strategic partnerships to meet demand. It will debut in the UK and France this year.
Xampla
University of Cambridge spinout Xampla is unlocking the power of plant polymers to replace traditional plastic packaging and more effectively deliver nutrients in fortified products. In 2021, it trialled an “industry-first” edible stock cube wrapper with Gousto.
The following year, it teamed up with Britvic to develop a technology to protect the vitamins in fortified drinks from sunlight. And last year, Xampla secured £5.5m in funding to “advance production of [our] biodegradable, plant-based materials”. It was then awarded an Innovate UK and BBSRC grant to advance its probiotic microencapsulation technology, working with the Quadram Institute.
No comments yet