Farmed meat is not environmentally sustainable, so companies around the world are racing to bring lab grown meat to market. It's not the only crop that is often under fire for being resource intensive though, almonds are another example, or coffee. With increasing demand and numerous sustainability challenges concerning traditional coffee agriculture, there is a pressing need for alternative ways of producing coffee. Due to the high demand of coffee, more acreage is required to produce enough coffee beans, leading to deforestation, particularly in sensitive rainforest areas. There are various ways to approach reducing those resource demands, including agroforestry , but just like with meat, one approach is to head to the lab and try to produce coffee there. Research institution VTT, which is owned by the Finnish state, has been doing just that, and have recently announced that they have "successfully produced coffee cells in a bioreactor through cellular agriculture" . According to VTT, the first batches which have been produced in their laboratory smell and taste like conventional coffee. In the process, plant cell cultures floating in bioreactors filled with nutrient medium are used to produce various animal- and plant-based products. “At VTT, this project has been part of our overall endeavor to develop the biotechnological production of daily and familiar commodities that are conventionally produced by agriculture. For this, we use many different hosts, such as microbes, but also plant cells,” says Research Team Leader, Dr Heiko Rischer. The work was started by initiating coffee cell cultures, establishing respective cell lines in the laboratory and transferring them to bioreactors to begin producing biomass. After analyses of the biomass, a roasting process was developed, and the new coffee was finally evaluated by a 'sensory panel'. According to the institute, the whole procedure required input from several disciplines and experts in the fields of plant biotechnology, chemistry, and food science. “In terms of smell and taste, our trained sensory panel and analytical examination found the profile of the brew to bear similarity to ordinary coffee. However, coffee making is an art and involves iterative optimization under the supervision of specialists with dedicated equipment. Our work marks the basis for such work,” says Rischer. Currently all coffee material produced in laboratory conditions represents experimental food and would require regulatory approval. That would be from the FDA to be marketed and sold to consumers in the United States, while in Europe, the lab-grown coffee should first be approved as Novel Food before being marketed. While it might sound a bit sci-fi and super modern, technically the production process is based on existing and established technology such as conventional bioreactor operation. In fact, the idea that coffee cells could be used to make coffee was already presented in the 1970s by P.M. Townsley. “The experience of drinking the very first cup was exciting. I estimate we are only four years away from ramping up production and having regulatory approval in place. Growing plant cells requires specific expertise when it is time to scale and optimize the process. Downstream processing and product formulation together with regulatory approval and market introduction are additional steps on the way to a commercial product. That said, we have now proved that lab-grown coffee can be a reality” says Rischer. The project links in to VTT’s strategic research targets to solve the world's biggest challenges. Cellular agriculture is one of the routes towards more sustainable food production. “The true impact of this scientific work will happen through companies who are willing to re-think food ingredient production and start driving commercial applications. VTT collaborates and supports large enterprises and small companies in adopting opportunities in their product development. Ultimately, all efforts should result in more sustainable and healthy food for the benefit of the consumer and the planet,” concludes Rischer. It's definitely one interesting solution to the environmental footprint of the growing global thirst for coffee, even if here at EKO Diena we prefer the idea of more natural solutions like agroforestry.

Sustainable coffee grown (in a lab) in Finland

John

@Treebeard How do you feel about this as a sustainable coffee option?

Treebeard

John Treebeard How do you feel about this as a sustainable coffee option?

I like the science, I doubt the coffee.

Definitely it would be better to invest in developing more sustainable ways if farming real plants than in creating a product in a lab.

Suur Tom

I think I like coffee to come from the plant not the laboratory.

Piri

Suur Tom That's for sure!

But it is fascinating what is possible.

Vilte

Suur Tom I think I like coffee to come from the plant not the laboratory.

Agree with this, I don't like the idea of any food 'grown' in a lab.

John

@Piri @Suur Tom I think the tech is amazing and if we continue to decimate the planet the way we are then we are going to need it for a lot more than just coffee…

but I also think I'd prefer my coffee to come from beans grown on a plant.

We need to investigate the tech possibilities but improve the sustainability of farming methods at the same time.

Ash

It's amazing that something like this is possible. And the most important thing is that it still smells like Coffee. I think that is something that would have bothered a lot of people.

Mushroom-King

Finland has some history with coffee. I read somewhere that they drink the most in the world per person. In another article read that mushrooms were used as a coffee substitute in Finland during World War II, when coffee beans weren’t available.

Ash

I'm curious as to what that might taste like actually. Surely it can't even be slightly similar to the taste of coffee. But maybe I'm wrong since I don't really eat mushrooms.

Treebeard

Ash I'm curious as to what that might taste like actually. Surely it can't even be slightly similar to the taste of coffee. But maybe I'm wrong since I don't really eat mushrooms.

You are not wrong. Mushroom 'coffee' does not taste anything like coffee, or like anything that is good at all.

There are actual coffees that have some mushrooms added that should be good for your brain and body but they are mostly coffee and taste kind of normal.

Piri

Treebeard Definitely it would be better to invest in developing more sustainable ways if farming real plants than in creating a product in a lab.

I prefer sustainable agriculture and saving the real foods firstly.

The best coffee alternative I had ever tried was chicory. Still it is not coffee, but closer than any other alternative.

Julie Brooks-Girskiene

Piri The best coffee alternative I had ever tried was chicory. Still it is not coffee, but closer than any other alternative.

I actually like the taste of chicory coffee, it is different from coffee coffee but it's a really nice taste.

Piri

Julie Brooks-Girskiene

There are kind of lots of coffee alternative I am not so sure why they are called coffee maybe because it is roasted.

For example carrot coffee ( I had latte and liked the taste, buy it is not coffee) 🥕; there is barley 🌾; acorn coffee 🌰; beetroot coffee; dandelion root coffee 🌼 at least these types you can buy back home.

Treebeard

Julie Brooks-Girskiene I actually like the taste of chicory coffee, it is different from coffee coffee but it's a really nice taste.

It is ok if you want a simple chicory drink but it is but an alternative to coffee.

Coffee is complicated and has depth, it tastes different depending on where beans grown and how they are roasted and how you make your drink in the cup.

Julie Brooks-Girskiene

Piri There are kind of lots of coffee alternative I am not so sure why they are called coffee maybe because it is roasted.

Maybe because people pick it up without paying too much attention and think they are buying coffee, or at least associate the taste with coffee that they already like before they try it for the first time.

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