Sweet success: Mondelēz produces chocolate bars made with Celleste Bio’s cell cultivated cocoa butter
In Tel Aviv, Celleste Bio has unveiled the world’s first milk chocolate bars made with cocoa butter produced via cell suspension culture technology. Chocolatier Mondelēz International, Celleste’s strategic partner, used the cultivated cocoa butter to create a nearly a dozen chocolate bars that met integrity and consumption standards.
The milestone demonstrates that Celleste’s cell cultured ingredients are bio-identical to conventionally grown cocoa and deliver the same texture, melt profile and sensory experience. Celleste aims to scale production to market-ready quantities within the next two years.
“Celleste launched in 2022 with the mission to secure a sustainable future for the global chocolate industry amidst increasing supply chain pressures of climate change, disease, traceability and geopolitical instability,” said Michal Beressi Golomb, CEO, Celleste Bio. “In three years we’ve made unprecedented progress to meet this formidable scientific challenge. We’ve validated our ingredients as drop-in replacements, created an operational R&D pilot facility to scale up our volumes and now proven our cocoa butter performs identically to conventional cocoa, clearing the next phase to commercial scale.”
Celleste’s Chief Technical and Scientific Officer Hanne Volpin, PhD said the company is on track to produce 1 ton of cocoa butter annually in a 1,000 liter bioreactor from a single bean.
Category: Chemicals & Materials
