Vancouver-based Cultivated Food Labs is preparing to produce commercial-scale samples of a single-ingredient cocoa alternative from faba bean hulls as it explores partnerships, licensing agreements and potentially direct B2B ingredient sales.
A food innovation and commercialization specialist that supports companies from early-stage concept development through to large-scale manufacturing, Cultivated Food Labs has also begun incubating its own ingredient concepts over the past couple of years, says president Joel Gfeller.
One of the most advanced is a cocoa alternative made from legume-processing side streams—primarily faba bean hulls—that currently have limited value.
Supported by a Canadian government grant, the firm has spent the past several months moving the concept from technology readiness level four to around 6.5, says Gfeller. The funding should help that notch up to TRL 8, after which further commercialization support may be available.
Up to 50% cocoa replacement
The resulting ingredient can replace up to 50% of either conventional or Dutch-processed cocoa without a deterioration in sensory performance, claims Gfeller, who has also secured grant funding to support testing through external sensory panels with 50+ participants.
A commercial-scale production trial is scheduled for later this year, after which the firm plans to send samples to prospective industry partners. It is also securing memoranda of understanding with raw material suppliers and identified Canadian companies capable of performing the fermentation, enzymatic treatment and other manufacturing stages.
According to Gfeller, the process uses “relatively off the shelf equipment.” The main challenge is combining processes such as soaking, fermentation and roasting/toasting that are not always housed under one roof, although larger malting companies may already possess much of the necessary infrastructure, he says.
Gfeller acknowledges that several companies have already filed broad patents around cocoa alternatives, but says CFL believes it has identified a distinct intellectual property position.
“We absolutely have a distinctive line of difference.”
An upcycled ingredient targeting mainstream applications
Like most cocoa alternatives, the ingredient is not designed to replace cocoa in gourmet chocolate bars, which in any case must adhere to standards of identity in many markets, but is instead targeting applications such as cookies, ice cream, hot chocolate and bakery products.
“It is much easier to adapt to small changes than try to replace 100% of an ingredient.”
The firm also sees an opportunity to offer a simpler ingredient declaration than some alt-cocoa formulations containing multiple ingredients.
The proposition combines several selling points: lower exposure to volatile cocoa supply chains, the valorization of an agricultural side stream, a clean label and improved nutritional attributes, says Gfeller.
“It’s not just about cocoa replacement. We can also make a more nutritious product by back blending other legumes into it, so we can make a higher protein, higher fiber product.”
Cultivated Food Labs has modeled the unit economics under multiple scenarios and is confident it has something that makes sense, says Gfeller: “We’ve tried to break the model by saying what if the grower decides they want 10 times the price? You know, what if the [cocoa] market crashes? And we haven’t broken the model yet. There’s a lot of opportunity in there for everybody to get some margin.”
Licensing, acquisition or B2B ingredient sales
The immediate priority is to prove market demand, secure the supply chain and demonstrate that the process can scale, says Gfeller, with IP developed internally housed in standalone entities and licensed or sold independently.
Building separate commercial organizations around every ingredient would not be practical under the firm’s current structure, notes Geller, who says the ultimate goal is to work with a large ingredient company that could license or acquire the tech and bring it to market through an established sales network.
“The goal is to build out supply chains for these ingredients and then work with strategic partners.”
However, Cultivated Food Labs has distributors lined up and could initially sell the cocoa alternative itself as a B2B ingredient using contract manufacturing, avoiding the need for substantial upfront capital expenditure, he says. “It’d be a B2B play through distributors to start with.”
Next-generation TVP heading to market
Alongside the cocoa alternative, Gfeller’s team has also developed a gluten-free, legume-based textured vegetable protein that performs particularly well in conventional meat products at very high inclusion rates, he says.
“We are seeing some big interest in Europe right now in hybrid products,” says Gfeller, who says it has also attracted interest from the Canadian military for use in individual meal packs.
The firm has completed an initial commercial production run, with the ingredient expected to launch through distributors in North America in September. It is also discussing exclusive arrangements with potential partners and ultimately wants to build a broader family of textured protein ingredients rather than commercializing a single formulation.
The evolution of Gathered Foods
Cultivated Food Labs is owned by Gathered Foods, which is best known for developing the plant-based seafood brand Good Catch, which has since been sold to Wicked Foods. Gathered sold its Ohio-based factory to Ahimsa Companies in 2024 and has since focused efforts on building Cultivated Food Labs as an innovation firm.
The firm, which supports companies from early-stage concept development through large-scale manufacturing, has capabilities spanning product and process R&D, novel ingredient evaluation, formulation and extrusion-based protein texturization, as well as process improvement and scale-up.
It also helps clients identify and qualify co-manufacturers, ingredients, packaging and other suppliers; produces samples in its pilot plant; and provides QA and regulatory support, says Gfeller. “Our goal is to help the industry de-risk innovation.”
“2025 was our first full year of working under the new model and the short takeaway was we exceeded our expectations on revenue and opportunities with building our customer base.
“We were able to support projects both in North America, but also in Europe. Probably the biggest area for us has been on better for you snacking: higher fiber, higher protein snacks, so we’ve been leveraging our extrusion capabilities around those.”
He adds: “As we’re talking to potential investors or other groups to align with on the alt cocoa work, the fact we’ve got this [established innovation business] helps to de-risk things. If we were to come out right now as just an alt cocoa company and try to make a raise around that, I think it would be a bit more difficult.”
Further reading:
🎥 As cocoa prices swing, Kawa Project offers an upcycled alternative from spent coffee grounds
Prefer raises $4.2m, launches soluble bean-free coffee and cocoa powders
Compound Foods launches ingredient platform to future proof coffee and cocoa
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