Name: Cocoa and meat made in bioreactors
Uploaded: 2026-01-20T16:21:08.191Z
Duration: 4 min 24 s
Description: Meat, fish, cocoa and coffee are in big demand but not in unlimited supply. Rising prices are a good reason to search for alternatives.

Meat, fish, cocoa and coffee are in big demand but not in unlimited supply. Rising prices are a good reason to search for alternatives.

Zürich

Rising global demand for chocolate and soaring cocoa prices have prompted Swiss company Food Brewer to develop cocoa grown in bioreactors. The company multiplies cocoa cells in controlled environments, but faces lengthy and expensive regulatory approval processes, currently sustaining itself with plant-based cocoa substitutes. Meanwhile, Spanish start-up Cocos is innovating in meat production by using leftover meat pieces and plant fat to create new products, reducing waste and environmental impact.

Both companies emphasize that their technologies are not intended to replace traditional farmers or meat producers, but to supplement current supply and introduce more sustainable practices. Food Brewer expects its lab-grown cocoa to reach the US market within a year, pending regulatory approval, while Cocos' products offer lower carbon emissions and calories, targeting consumers with specific dietary needs.

Cocoa and meat made in bioreactors

The global appetite for chocolate keeps flowing and growing, but the price of cocoa beans has been anything but sweet, soaring by up to 400% in just two years. With alternatives urgently needed, a Swiss company is turning to cocoa grown in bioreactors. Inside, cells multiply and later become the raw material for chocolate, made on the shores of Lake Zurich instead of in Ghana. The challenge for Food Brewer right now is that it isn't making money yet. Approval is a long and expensive process. Sticking it out with products that you can't yet sell is very difficult, if not impossible. For now, the company finances itself with plant-based cocoa substitutes. The hurdles are even greater when it comes to fake meat. Bioreactor steak remains far from market-ready and some start-ups have already failed. I personally don't expect to see cultivated meat products on the market in the immediate future. There are still various technical and biotechnological problems to be resolved. Then there's consumer acceptance, and the legal side has to be carefully examined. In Pamplona, Spain, food tech start-up Cocos is focusing instead on rethinking traditional meat. You can look at the form, and here I can change a few things. For example, more fat on the outside, more fat in the meat, the maturity, and I can also add omega-3 or vitamin D. Cocos spent seven years developing its machine, scanning steaks in a CT scanner to build the mathematical blueprint for recreating the cuts of meat. Now its first industrial system is ready. In seconds, it can create rashes of bacon made from chicken meat and plant fat. And by the time it hits the pan, it looks like this. This product has 30% less CO2, 66% fewer calories, and thus we can reach the 19% of the world's population who don't eat pork. Bacon may not be everyone's favorite, but this version is surprisingly tasty, made from leftover meat pieces from the slaughter process. And the same method works with beef, too. This was made from meat left over from a cow, pieces that have little value even though the meat is good, just as nutritious as other cuts. What we do is process the meat to make chops out of it, with animal or plant fat. Whether fish or meat, this approach ensures that slaughtered animals are used more efficiently. Back in Switzerland, Food Brewer has already produced its first chocolate from lab-grown cocoa. But does this spell competition for traditional cocoa farmers? We won't be displacing any jobs because global demand for cocoa is so high that with this technology we only cover less than 1% of the international market. In fact, the company believes bioreactor cocoa could even benefit farmers. There's less generational renewal in agriculture now. Farmers' children no longer want to work in the fields. There are other opportunities. In this sense, we're looking for ways to attract these children, who were born in the age of technology, to work in this kind of agriculture. If all goes according to plan, cocoa from Switzerland could be being turned into chocolate in the US within a year. In the EU, stricter approval rules mean it will take a few months longer.

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