palm oil

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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Lars Langhout, founder of No Palm Ingredients

Lars Langhout, founder of No Palm Ingredients, image supplied
Interviews

NoPalm Ingredients: “Our Oils and Fats Have a Dramatically Lower Impact on Nature, Climate and Biodiversity”

Based in Wageningen, Netherlands, NoPalm Ingredients “brews” tailor-made fermented oils and fats. These serve as high-quality, sustainable, local, and circular alternatives to palm oil in food, cosmetics, and detergent products. Lars Langhout (MBA) is the co-founder and CEO of NoPalm Ingredients. He founded NoPalm Ingredients together with Prof. Dr. Jeroen Hugenholtz (CTO) in 2022. Can you share some of the key challenges and highlights NoPalm Ingredients faced in 2023, particularly in the context of scaling up your production of sustainable palm oil alternatives? As with most startups, the key challenge has been raising money to scale up. The investment climate for sustainable, circular start-ups deteriorated over the past two years. At the same time, it is a process we have learned a lot from, and …

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Queen Margaret University develops alternative to palm oil

© Queen Margaret University
Ingredients

Scottish University Develops Sustainable & Clean Label Alternative to Palm Oil

Scientists at Scotland’s Queen Margaret University have developed a healthier and more sustainable alternative to palm oil. Called PALM-ALT, the ingredient is fully plant-based, made from a byproduct of the linseed industry along with fibre and rapeseed oil. Palm oil is considered problematic due to its environmental impact, with palm plantations a key driver of deforestation and habitat destruction in Malaysia and Indonesia. Despite this, the ingredient is still widely used in the food industry and elsewhere, as a replacement with the same properties is currently not available at a competitive cost. The development of a more sustainable alternative has the potential to reduce transport emissions as well as deforestation; PALM-ALT can be made exclusively with ingredients sourced from within the UK and the EU, …

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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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Upfield Flora Plant

©Upfield
Products & Launches

Flora Plant-Based Butter Alternative Bricks Launch in Canada

Upfield, whose market-leading spreads and vegan cheeses include Becel and Violife brands in Canada, has introduced Flora™ Plant-Based Bricks. The company says the butter is are made with “sustainably-sourced plant oils” and is wrapped in plastic-free, paper packaging. Vegans who choose not to purchase palm oil for ethical or environmental reasons should note that these oils do contain palm and palm kernel oils. “Home chefs now have another easy way to add a dairy-free, buttery twist to their favourite dishes and baked goods with Flora Plant-Based Bricks, while doing their part to contribute to a more sustainable planet,” said Leesa Steiner, Brand Lead, Flora, Upfield Canada. “With more Canadians adding plant-based foods to their grocery baskets for dietary, ethical and environmental reasons, Flora Plant-Based Bricks …

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Iceland supermarket

©Iceland
Society

That Iceland Advert: All You Need to Know

Earlier this year, Greenpeace released an animated film about devastation of orangutan habitat as a result of palm oil production. Palm oil production is a major contributing factor to deforestation in Southeast Asia, but is found in nearly half of all supermarket products, from food to cosmetics.

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