GFI-Funded Study Estimates Waste-Derived Microbial Fats Could Match Cocoa Butter on Price

A peer-reviewed techno-economic assessment has found that fats produced by fermenting organic waste could compete on cost with premium ingredients such as cocoa butter and egg-based lecithins, offering a potential new supply route for the food and plant-based meat industries.

“Sourcing sustainable, scalable fats and oils that replicate the flavour and mouthfeel of conventional animal fats has long been a challenge”

The study, published in Communications Sustainability on June 29 and funded by nonprofit think tank the Good Food Institute (GFI), modelled a process in which food industry and agricultural byproducts are converted into biogas, then fed to microorganisms that accumulate lipids through fermentation.

Co-lead author Milena Ivanisevic of Cx Bio explained, “If demonstrated at scale, it offers a way to transform underutilised organic waste into valuable food ingredients while working alongside existing food production systems to build a more circular economy.”

GFI-Funded Study Estimates Waste-Derived Microbial Fats Could Match Cocoa Butter on Price — Photo by Elevate on Unsplash

Current and future price estimates

Under future scenarios involving cheaper feedstocks, improved microbial strains, and more affordable renewable energy, those prices could fall to $6.10/kg and $4.20/kg respectively, widening the range of conventional products these fats could replace.

Researchers at Luxembourg-based biotech consultancy Cx Bio (formerly Connectomix Bio) estimated minimum selling prices of $14.20/kg for phospholipids (lecithins used in products such as chocolates and pastries) and $10/kg for triacylglycerols (the oils and solid fats that give plant-based meat its richness). Both figures fall within the price range of existing premium ingredients.

Scalable supply from Europe’s organic waste

Europe generates approximately 849 million tonnes of organic waste annually, a supply base the authors say could support thousands of tonnes of microbial fat production without requiring new agricultural land. Each modelled facility would produce 2,250 tonnes per year, representing less than 1% of global cocoa butter demand.

Seren Kell, Head of Science and Technology at GFI Europe, stated, “Current production of fatty acids is unlikely to meet the global rising demand, while sourcing sustainable, scalable fats and oils that replicate the flavour and mouthfeel of conventional animal fats has long been a challenge for developing tastier plant-based meat that can appeal to a wider group of people.

“Fermentation promises a new approach that contributes to a circular economy by turning waste side streams into valuable food ingredients, and this study provides a robust roadmap for how this potential can be realised across Europe.”

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Current and future price estimates

Scalable supply from Europe’s organic waste

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