Precision fermentation startup Melt&Marble has achieved a milestone in biomanufacturing with the demo-scale production of over ten thousand liters of fermentation for fats.
According to the Swedish startup, the target bioprocess performance was maintained throughout the scale-up, achieving a 10-fold increase in bioreactor volume while sustaining comparable strain and performance metrics. This achievement builds on a previous bioreactor trial and demonstrates the platform’s scalability and robustness, explains Melt&Marble.
“Scale-up of fermentation processes can be tricky”
CEO Anastasia Krivoruchko shares, “Scale-up of fermentation processes can be tricky, and we’re extremely proud of what our scientific team has managed to achieve in such a short amount of time.”
Better alternatives for tasty food
The large amount of fat produced from this demo will enable the company to conduct application pilots to fine-tune the fat’s use for optimal performance in culinary contexts and enter into other joint development agreements.
Melt&Marble’s fats are designed to replicate animal-derived fats in a wide range of applications, including meat alternatives, confectionery, bakery, and personal care. The company says its fermented beef fat can help close the “taste gap” between plant-based and animal-based foods.
Melt&Marble CBO Thomas Cresswell added: “This is a pivotal step toward our goal of launching Melt&Marble’s fats commercially. It enables us to accelerate the pilot projects we’ve already initiated with some of our partners, bringing innovative, sustainable fat solutions to market and aligning with global demand for better alternatives sooner rather than later.”
Novel ingredients for the market
Melt&Marble uses precision fermentation to rewire yeast metabolism to create specialized fats from simple feedstocks, such as sugar. Its purpose is to make new food ingredients without relying on animal and plant sources to support the transition to a more sustainable food system.
The company secured €2.76 million in EU grants and €5 million in a seed round in May, led by Lever VC and with participation from Be8 Ventures and Good Startup, to scale up production and expand its team.
This successful scale-up and firm performance in demo-scale production mark significant progress toward launching commercially and bringing fat alternatives to market in the coming years.
CSO Florian David adds, “The scale-up is a key milestone which proves that our process can create precision-fermented fats in much larger quantities than we had done previously. The success of this was driven by the collaboration of both internal and external teams to ensure that our process is translatable to a larger scale.”
