Zero Acre Farms
Zero Acre Farms is a US food company that develops and sells sustainable cooking oils — including a fermentation-derived cultured oil from sugarcane and a regenerative palm fruit oil — to professional restaurants and health-conscious home consumers as healthier alternatives to industrial seed oils.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2020
- HeadquartersSan Mateo, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Zero Acre Farms does
Zero Acre Farms is a US-based food company founded in 2020 and headquartered in San Mateo, California, that develops and sells sustainable cooking oils positioned as alternatives to industrial seed oils. The company's core technology is a precision fermentation process that converts raw sugar from rain-fed sugarcane into cooking oil — analogous to how fermentation converts sugar into alcohol in beer or wine — yielding a product with a distinctive fatty acid profile of over 90% monounsaturated fat, less than 3% linoleic acid, a smoke point up to 485°F, and a neutral taste. The company has since expanded its portfolio with Organic Fera fruit oil, an expeller-pressed oil derived from the oleifera × guineensis palm fruit sourced exclusively from organic regenerative farms in South America, designed for high-heat commercial frying with approximately 12% polyunsaturated fat and roughly 2x longer fry life than conventional oils.
The company operates a two-channel revenue model. The direct-to-consumer channel sells Zero Acre Cultured Oil through an owned e-commerce storefront (zeroacre.com/shop) with one-time purchase and subscription tiers priced from $19.79 to $26.99 per 16 fl oz bottle, currently limited to the contiguous United States. The foodservice channel targets professional chefs and restaurant operators through a dedicated sales team, restaurant distributors, and a quote-based B2B model, with both Fera fruit oil and cultured oil available. Customers span enterprise QSR (Shake Shack), restaurant groups (ST Management Group), and Michelin-tier independents (State Bird Provisions, Oyster Oyster, Holey Grail, Farmshop, Inness, Los Felix). The company also identifies food manufacturers and CPG brands in bakery, confectionery, plant-based dairy, and meat analogs as a future customer segment within the broader alternative fats market.
Zero Acre's go-to-market is anchored by a content-first marketing strategy — an extensive blog, white papers, and social presence — amplified by endorsements from health and wellness authorities (Dr. Andrew Weil, Whole30's Melissa Urban, Holly Branson of Virgin Group). The company has raised approximately $40.6 million across three disclosed rounds from a syndicate including Fifty Years, Lowercarbon Capital, Collaborative Fund, FootPrint Coalition, Habitat Partners, S2G Investments, TGM Ventures, Virgin Group, Long Journey Ventures, BoxGroup, and Chipotle's Cultivate Next venture fund. Proprietary trademarks "clean-fried" and "Seed Oil-Free Certified" codify category language around seed-oil-free frying, and the company publishes per-batch third-party testing on toxic aldehydes, fatty acid profiles, and freshness as a transparency differentiator.
Zero Acre Farms firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Zero Acre Farms
- Legal name
- Zero Acre Farms LLC
- Website
- https://zeroacre.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2020
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Zero Acre Farms is a US food company that develops and sells sustainable cooking oils — including a fermentation-derived cultured oil from sugarcane and a regenerative palm fruit oil — to professional restaurants and health-conscious home consumers as healthier alternatives to industrial seed oils.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Zero Acre Farms industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Cooking Oils
- NAICS
- Fats and Oils Refining and Blending (311225)
- SIC
- Fats & Oils (2070)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Specialty & Tropical Oils Processing (Avocado, Sesame, Peanut, Rice Bran, Grapeseed) (AFAKAEAE)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- High-Oleic & Specialty Oilseed Oils (AFAJALAC), Virgin & Cold-Pressed Culinary Oils (AFAJALAB), Industrial Frying Oils & Foodservice Oil Blends Manufacturing (AFAKAEAI)
Keywords
Where Zero Acre Farms is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Mateo
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Zero Acre Farms business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Personnel
Revenue model
- Direct-to-Consumer Oil Sales (E-commerce): Zero Acre sells its Zero Acre Cultured Oil directly to home cooks through its e-commerce storefront (zeroacre.com/shop). Products are available as one-time purchases or via subscription with tiered discounts (1 bottle at $26.99, 2 bottles at $23.39/ea with 25% off, 4 bottles at $19.79/ea). Subscriptions offer free shipping. This is a primary revenue stream for the consumer segment.
- Foodservice / Restaurant B2B Sales: Zero Acre sells its Organic Fera fruit oil and Zero Acre Oil to professional restaurant operators through a direct foodservice sales team. Restaurant sales are managed via contact/quote requests, and distribution is facilitated through restaurant distributors (DOT Marketing item #813420). This is a B2B revenue stream targeting commercial kitchens seeking healthier, higher-performing frying oils.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Single bottle one-time purchase |
| Subscription | Monthly | 2-bottle subscription with 25% discount + free shipping |
| Subscription | Monthly | 4-bottle subscription at maximum discount |
| Unit Pricing | Multi-year contract | Organic Fera fruit oil — restaurant/foodservice pricing |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels5 records
Zero Acre Farms product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Zero Acre Farms manufactures and sells high-performance, seed oil-free cooking oils as healthier and more sustainable alternatives to commodity vegetable oils. Its primary products are Zero Acre Cultured Oil, produced via precision fermentation of sugarcane-derived sugar, and Organic Fera fruit oil, expeller-pressed from oleifera x guineensis palm fruit grown on organic regenerative farms. These oils are sold direct-to-consumer through a subscription-enabled e-commerce storefront and direct to restaurants and chefs through a foodservice sales team.
Product overview
Zero Acre Farms is a food products company offering two main cooking oil products: Zero Acre Oil (cultured oil) made from sugarcane via fermentation, and Organic Fera fruit oil made from palm fruit. Both products are positioned as healthier, more sustainable alternatives to conventional seed/vegetable oils, targeting restaurants and home chefs.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Zero Acre Oil (Cultured Oil): All-purpose cooking oil made from sugarcane through fermentation. Contains over 90% monounsaturated fat, high smoke point up to 485°F, neutral taste. Uses 87% less land than canola oil, 86% less CO2 than soybean oil, 99% less water than olive oil.
- Organic Fera fruit oil
Products and services
- Zero Acre Cultured Oil All-purpose cooking oil made from rain-fed sugarcane plants through natural fermentation, containing over 90% heart-healthy monounsaturated fat, with a smoke point up to 485°F and neutral taste; aimed at home cooks and professional chefs as a healthier, more sustainable alternative to seed oils. Uses 87% less land than canola oil, 86% less CO2 than soybean oil, and 99% less water than olive oil.
- Organic Fera fruit oil Organic frying oil expeller-pressed from the oleifera x guineensis palm fruit, sourced exclusively from organic regenerative farms in South America, with USDA Organic and Non-GMO Project Verified certifications, no chemical additives or preservatives, and approximately 12% polyunsaturated fat. Used for commercial frying and clean-fried® applications in restaurants; lasts roughly 2x longer than conventional oils according to chef reports.
Quantifiable outcome
- Zero Acre cooking oil sales grew 139% at the Baldor Specialty Foods BITE 2026 event in New York City
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Zero Acre Farms
Customer profileNamed customers13 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Zero Acre Farms technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature5 records
Zero Acre Farms partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Shake ShackflagshipZero Acre Farms partnered with Shake Shack, sourcing Zero Acre's cooking oils for use in Shake Shack's restaurants. Shake Shack's SVP of Supply Chain and Menu Innovation, Jeffrey Amoscato, noted that Shake Shack is 'continuously exploring new ways to reduce our environmental footprint, including partnerships with companies like Zero Acre.' This is a flagship customer partnership demonstrating enterprise adoption of Zero Acre's oils.
Scale indicators8 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Zero Acre Farms competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Chosen Foods: Premium avocado oil and clean-label cooking oil brand with strong DTC and retail presence. Comparable target customer (health-conscious consumers and chefs) and similar positioning around high-oleic, non-seed-oil fats.
- California Olive Ranch: Largest US-produced olive oil brand with significant foodservice and DTC distribution. Targets chefs and premium consumers with high-quality culinary oils — same end-market and use cases as Zero Acre.
- Graza: Premium olive oil brand specifically designed for chefs with squeezy-bottle packaging and DTC. Closest analog to Zero Acre's chef-first, premium positioning in the culinary oil category.
- C16 Biosciences: Uses precision fermentation to produce palm oil alternatives from microbial feedstock. Most direct technology peer to Zero Acre's cultured oil — both employ fermentation to displace commodity tropical oils.
Emerging players
- Checkerspot: Fermentation-derived specialty oils and ingredients platform. Shares the precision-fermentation production paradigm with Zero Acre's cultured oil and targets ingredient applications in consumer goods.
- Primal Kitchen: Clean-label condiments, sauces, and cooking products targeting health-conscious consumers and the Whole30/Paleo community. Overlaps with Zero Acre's health-conscious DTC consumer base and clean-ingredient narrative.
- La Tourangelle: Artisan specialty oil producer (walnut, avocado, grapeseed, sesame) with chef and retail distribution. Comparable premium culinary oil portfolio with established specialty/foodservice channel presence.
Broad incumbents
- Bunge Limited: Global agribusiness and the world's largest oilseed processor. Sets the commodity oil pricing baseline and supply chain Zero Acre competes against, and could enter premium/clean-label SKUs to neutralize early-mover advantage.
- Cargill: One of the largest global processors of vegetable oils and fats across food, foodservice, and industrial applications. Represents the at-scale incumbent against which Zero Acre must compete on quality and sustainability positioning.
- ADM (Archer Daniels Midland): Major global oilseed crusher and refiner of soybean, canola, sunflower, and other vegetable oils. Provides the commodity supply backdrop and potential competitive threat as it expands into specialty and sustainable oils.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Zero Acre Farms social profiles
Digital presenceZero Acre Farms financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Zero Acre Farms leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Zero Acre Farms funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds3 records
Investors14 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Zero Acre Farms M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Zero Acre Farms
What does Zero Acre Farms do?
Zero Acre Farms manufactures and sells high-performance, seed oil-free cooking oils as healthier and more sustainable alternatives to commodity vegetable oils. Its primary products are Zero Acre Cultured Oil, produced via precision fermentation of sugarcane-derived sugar, and Organic Fera fruit oil, expeller-pressed from oleifera x guineensis palm fruit grown on organic regenerative farms. These oils are sold direct-to-consumer through a subscription-enabled e-commerce storefront and direct to restaurants and chefs through a foodservice sales team.
Is Zero Acre Farms a public or private company?
Zero Acre Farms is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Zero Acre Farms founded?
Zero Acre Farms was founded in 2020. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Zero Acre Farms based?
Zero Acre Farms is headquartered in San Mateo, United States, in the North America region.
How does Zero Acre Farms make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Direct-to-Consumer Oil Sales (E-commerce) is the primary driver. The others are foodservice / Restaurant B2B Sales.
Who are Zero Acre Farms's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Chosen Foods, California Olive Ranch, Graza and C16 Biosciences. Emerging players are Checkerspot, Primal Kitchen and La Tourangelle. Broad incumbents are Bunge Limited, Cargill and ADM (Archer Daniels Midland).
Does Zero Acre Farms have an API?
No public API is recorded for Zero Acre Farms.
What industry is Zero Acre Farms in?
Zero Acre Farms's product category is Cooking Oils. Its primary akta.pro industry code is AFAKAEAE, Specialty & Tropical Oils Processing (Avocado, Sesame, Peanut, Rice Bran, Grapeseed), with a secondary code of AFAJALAC, High-Oleic & Specialty Oilseed Oils. Its NAICS code is 311225 and its SIC code is 2070.