IN Brief:
- Cultivated Food Labs is developing a cocoa alternative primarily from faba bean processing hulls.
- The company claims up to 50% cocoa replacement in selected applications without sensory deterioration.
- A commercial-scale production trial is planned before samples are supplied to prospective industry partners.
Cultivated Food Labs is preparing a commercial-scale production trial for a cocoa alternative made primarily from faba bean hulls, moving the ingredient beyond pilot development towards customer sampling and industrial qualification.
The Vancouver-based food innovation business uses legume-processing side streams, particularly faba bean hulls that currently have limited value, as the principal raw material. Its process combines yeast activity, enzymatic treatment, and other processing stages to create an ingredient intended to replace part of the cocoa used in mainstream food applications.
A commercial-scale trial is scheduled for later in 2026. Cultivated Food Labs plans to use the run to produce samples for prospective industry partners while it secures raw-material agreements and assesses routes to market including licensing, acquisition by an established ingredient company, or direct B2B sales through contract manufacturing.
The company claims the ingredient can replace up to 50% of conventional or Dutch-processed cocoa in selected applications without a deterioration in sensory performance. External sensory testing involving more than 50 participants is also planned with grant support, giving the development programme a test beyond internal formulation work.
The target is partial substitution rather than complete replacement of cocoa in premium chocolate. Cultivated Food Labs is focusing on applications including cookies, bakery products, ice cream, and hot chocolate, where cocoa contributes flavour and colour but does not necessarily define the entire structure or legal identity of the finished product.
That distinction gives manufacturers more formulation flexibility. Replacing a portion of cocoa can reduce exposure to volatile supply and pricing without forcing a product developer to rebuild an entire recipe around an unfamiliar base. Lower substitution rates also give technical teams more room to compensate for changes in flavour, colour, fat interaction, or water binding.
The feedstock adds a second industrial argument. Faba bean hulls are a side stream from legume processing, so the proposed ingredient uses material generated by an existing food chain rather than requiring a dedicated crop. If supply can be aggregated consistently, the route could increase the value recovered from bean processing while providing cocoa users with an additional ingredient stream.
Feedstock consistency will be one of the practical tests. Hull composition can vary with variety, growing conditions, storage, and upstream processing, while an ingredient supplier has to deliver repeatable colour, flavour, microbiological quality, and functional behaviour. Scaling the process will therefore require raw-material specifications as well as a reliable procurement network.
The manufacturing route presents its own integration problem. Cultivated Food Labs has identified Canadian companies capable of carrying out fermentation, enzymatic treatment, and other required stages, but operations such as soaking, fermentation, and roasting or toasting are not always housed under one roof. Moving material between specialist processors can add cost, handling risk, and quality-control steps even when the individual pieces of equipment are conventional.
The company describes much of the required plant as relatively standard rather than bespoke. That can reduce capital requirements, particularly if contract manufacturers already operate suitable vessels, thermal equipment, and material-handling systems. The challenge is to link the unit operations into a repeatable process with controlled residence time, moisture, temperature, and microbiological conditions.
The forthcoming commercial-scale trial is important because pilot success does not establish industrial economics. Larger batches expose yield losses, cleaning requirements, transfer losses, bottlenecks, and batch variability that can remain hidden in small-scale work. They also produce enough ingredient for customers to run trials on commercial bakery, frozen-dessert, beverage, or other processing equipment.
Cultivated Food Labs says the project has moved from technology readiness level four to around 6.5, with grant support intended to advance it further. That places the ingredient beyond laboratory proof of concept but short of routine commercial production, where specifications, capacity, cost, and delivery performance have to remain consistent over repeated runs.
The route to market reflects that position. Building a dedicated factory, sales team, regulatory function, and distribution network around one emerging ingredient would require substantial capital. Contract manufacturing could allow earlier B2B sales, while licensing or acquisition by a larger ingredient supplier could provide established customer relationships and qualification infrastructure.
Customer approval will reach beyond sensory performance. Manufacturers will need information covering ingredient declarations, allergen management, microbiological limits, nutrition, colour consistency, water activity, shelf life, and behaviour during processes such as baking or freezing. Any cocoa saving can be eroded quickly if substitution introduces extra processing steps, lower throughput, or more difficult quality control.
The commercial-scale run later this year will provide the first meaningful test of those assumptions. If Cultivated Food Labs can reproduce the ingredient at larger volume, supply samples with consistent specifications, and demonstrate performance on customer equipment, the project will move from an upcycled side-stream concept towards a cocoa-reduction ingredient that manufacturers can begin to qualify.
