Trendlines invests in Celleste Bio to make our chocolate supply sustainable

We announced the establishment of Celleste Bio (“Celleste”), a new company focused on producing high value cocoa ingredients using cell culture methods, eliminating the dependence on cultivation of cocoa trees. Celleste’s technology will ensure that cocoa yield supply is invariable, not dependent on climate conditions, close to production sites and a final product of superior quality.

Today, the cultivation of cocoa worldwide can lead to sustainability challenges, including risks of deforestation, child labor and higher carbon emissions than other food sources. New technologies that enable production of cocoa ingredients without these risks can help ensure a more sustainable supply of cocoa ingredients, while appealing to consumers’ increasing interest in more environmentally friendly food choices. Celleste will make cocoa ingredients from naturally occurring cocoa cells without genetic modification or manipulation.

Celleste received their seed investment from The Trendlines Group, Mondelēz International, a global leader in snacking, Barrel Ventures, a US-based seed stage venture fund with experience throughout the food ecosystem, and Regba Group, an Israeli agricultural cooperative. Celleste was founded by four entrepreneurs bringing a wealth of interdisciplinary experience in the agrifood sector, specifically in the cellular biology field: Hanne Volpin, PhD, CTO of Celleste, Avishai Levy, MSc,E., Orna Harel, PhD, and Daphna Michaeli, PhD.

This news appeared in GreenQueen, AgReads, International Confectionery, FoodNavigator, and Geektime (Hebrew)