March 28, 2024

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

British food technology company Clean Food Group has raised another £2.5 million (US$3.16 million)  in funding from Clean Growth Fund, bringing total funding to-date to £13 million (US$16.4 million) for its sustainable oils and fats technology. 

Clean Growth Fund is a climate-specific, UK venture fund backing British cleantech entrepreneurs with expertise and the necessary capital to reduce carbon emissions and tackle the climate crisis head-on.

With this investment, the firm now joins existing investors including Agronomics, Alianza Team, Doehler Group, and SEED Innovations Ltd. 

As things stand, food production accounts for 25 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, and within food production, our high-yield monoculture systems are responsible for increasing rates of crop diseases, deforestation, and land exhaustion. 

Compounding these issues, food waste, which is not being recycled back into the food ecosystem, is equal to about 30 percent of global food production, and vegetable oils, such as palm and soy oil, are a driver of 20 percent of the world’s deforestation and account for 7 percent of the world’s greenhouse gasses.

For instance, palm oil is everywhere. It’s versatile; has a low cost of production; has a high burning point; and is high in saturated fats. It’s an ingredient in a vast range of products from baked goods to chips, noodles, and even cosmetics and health and beauty products.

The oil’s popularity has driven it to have a global market value of $50.6 billion in 2021, and expectations of reaching $65.5 billion by 2027. However, this rise in popularity is a double-edged sword, as its production is responsible for vast deforestation, societal exploitation, loss of biodiversity and habitats of endangered species such as the Sumatran rhino, the orangutan, and the pygmy elephant, pollution to water and air, and increased greenhouse gas emissions across Southeast Asia due to the conversion of carbon-heavy peat soils to plantations. 

But there are potential answers in the pipeline. Clean Food Group’s proprietary sustainable fats and oils technology platform uses proven, scaleable yeast strains and fermentation which is fed by food waste to deliver sustainable alternatives to traditional oils and fats. 

“Clean Food Group has an impressive team with a broad set of skills, and who established several significant industrial partnerships,” commented Beverly Gower-Jones, OBE, founder and managing partner, Glean Growth Fund.

“Backed by a strong technical base, Alex Neves and his team are well placed to commercialize the manufacture of palm oil substitutes and therefore reduce the reliance the food industry has on the production of palm oil, an industry which is one of the main drivers of deforestation and a major contributor to global CO₂ emissions. We are very pleased to support CFG’s development and growth.”

The company’s go-to-market product is an equivalent to high oleic palm oil, backed by an externally validated life-cycle assessment (LCA) that demonstrates it delivers a 90 percent reduction in greenhouse gasses when compared to traditional palm oil. 

This product has been designed to be a drop-in ingredient that can be used as a substitute in a range of consumables including baked goods, confectionery items, and even cosmetics. 

“The capital raised with Clean Growth Fund will allow us to accelerate the scale-up of our technology platform while advancing critical regulatory and commercial pathways, with a fully funded commercialisation plan in place well into 2025,” said Alex Neves, CEO and co-founder, Clean Food Group.

“We are delighted to be working with the Clean Growth Fund team, led by Beverley Gower-Jones, who is equally passionate about accelerating innovation to help address climate change and to create a healthier, more sustainable, global food system.”

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor in chief with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and Agtech Intel News. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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