Clean Food Group (CFG) has raised £2.5 million to accelerate the commercial launch of its precision fermentation-derived, non-GMO alternative to palm oil by 2025.

Chris Chuck – Yeast alternative to palm oil © University of Bath

Fermentation

Clean Food Group Secures £2.5M to Launch Non-GMO Alternative to Palm Oil by 2025

UK-based biotech firm Clean Food Group (CFG) has raised £2.5 million to accelerate the commercial launch of its yeast-derived, non-GMO alternative to palm oil by 2025. Said to be equivalent to high-oleic palm oil, CFG’s go-to-market product is designed as a drop-in ingredient suitable for baked goods, confectionery, and cosmetics applications. CFG believes it can introduce its novel food product to the UK and EU markets, as the regulatory process for non-GMOs is less strict than that for genetically modified foods. The UK VC Clean Growth Fund, which supports climate tech businesses that reduce carbon emissions and tackle the climate crisis, made this significant investment in CFG — bringing the company’s total raised funds to £13 million.  So far, CFG has received funding from the cell ag-focused VC …

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Clean Food Group raises funds

Image credit: Clean Food Group

Fermentation

Clean Food Group Raises £2.3M to Scale Pioneering Alternative to Palm Oil

UK-based biotech firm Clean Food Group (CFG) announces it has raised £2.3 million in funding to accelerate the commercialization of oil and fats produced using fermentation. The new capital will also fund regulatory and commercial approvals. The round was led by international food businesses, including the Doehler Group, which previously invested in CFG, and Colombian company Alianza Team. Previous investors include the biotech VC firm Agronomics and SEED Innovations, the AIM-listed fund focused on investments in global health opportunities. Agronomics previously invested £900,500 in CFG in June 2022. And in this round, it injected £700,000, acquiring 4.2 million shares. Jim Mellon, the executive director of Agronomics and co-chair of CFG, participated in this round with a £50,000 investment.  The international investment in this round signals that …

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the fruit of the palm oil used for palm oil production

© Clean Food Group

Cultivated, Cell-Cultured & Biotechnology

German Ingredients Supplier Doehler Invests in Cultivated Palm Oil

Doehler Ventures, the investment arm of German ingredients supplier Doehler, has announced an investment into British startup Clean Food Group (CFG). CFG is developing cultivated palm oil to address the deforestation caused by the conventional palm oil industry. This loss of habitat endangers important species such as orangutans and pygmy elephants, while also releasing considerable amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Along with providing capital, Doehler will support CFG as it works to increase production to a commercial scale. In future, the two companies say they may collaborate further to address other environmental issues. Cultivated palm oil production CFG’s cultivated palm oil is produced through the fermentation of a proprietary strain of yeast. The eco-friendly fermentation process is fuelled by renewable energy, with food-safe …

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the fruit of the palm oil used for palm oil production

© Clean Food Group

Cultivated, Cell-Cultured & Biotechnology

Cultivated Palm Oil Has Potential to Reduce Dependency on Controversial Palm Oil Industry

Clean Food Group, a company developing cultivated palm oil alternatives made from yeast, is currently preparing for the commercialisation of its Clean Palm Oil planned for 2023 aiming to reduce dependency on the controversial palm industry. The development process began at the University of Bath, where Christopher Chuck, Professor of Bioprocess Engineering, has been working on a project using “unique fermentation processes to develop a palm oil substitute from lignocellulosic waste.” In Q1 2022, the relevant intellectual property gained during the project was acquired by Clean Food Group, a food ingredients startup for which Prof Chuck is Group Technical Advisor. Back in 2021, UK cellular agriculture investment group Agronomics announced its plans to make investments into new “category leaders in both cell culture and fermentation …

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