What Celleste Bio does

Celleste Bio is an Israeli food biotech company founded in 2022 that produces cocoa butter and cocoa powder through plant cell culture in bioreactors, eliminating dependence on traditional cocoa farming. The company's proprietary cocoa technology uses cell suspension culture to grow cocoa cells from a single bean in 7-10 days, achieving a claimed output of up to one ton of cocoa butter per 1,000-liter bioreactor per year — a process said to replace approximately 1 hectare of cocoa trees, 4 tons of pods, and 1,736 trees per ton. The technology is non-GMO, integrates biotech, agtech, and AI computational modelling to customize melting points and flavor profiles, and produces ingredients that the company reports are bio-identical to traditional cocoa butter in chemical composition, fatty acid profile, texture, melt profile, and sensory qualities.

The company's product portfolio spans two lines: a commodity drop-in replacement line of chocolate-grade cocoa butter and powder, and a tailored/fine-flavor line enabled by AI customization. Celleste operates as a B2B ingredient supplier, targeting large chocolate manufacturers with a go-to-market centered on co-development and pilot partnerships. Its core customer relationship is with Mondelēz International, which has invested through SnackFutures Ventures, served as a strategic and design partner since founding, and manufactured prototype milk chocolate bars using Celleste's cultivated cocoa butter that passed integrity and consumption standards. The company is building a pilot facility in Israel and is targeting commercial volumes exceeding 10,000 liters by 2027.

Celleste has raised approximately $5.6 million to date across two seed rounds (2022 founding round led by Trendlines Group, December 2024 extension led by Supply Change Capital), with backing from Mondelēz, Barrel Ventures, Regba Group, and the BIRD Foundation. The company is supported by a team of approximately 15 scientific and operational staff and an advisory board including senior R&D and agricultural leaders from Mars and Mondelēz. Revenues are not publicly disclosed and the company is pre-commercial, with its pilot facility still under construction.

Name

Celleste Bio

Legal name

Celleste Bio Ltd.

Website

https://celleste-bio.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Celleste Bio is an Israeli food biotech company that produces bio-identical cocoa butter and cocoa powder via plant cell culture in bioreactors, targeting large chocolate manufacturers with a drop-in B2B ingredient supply, anchored by a strategic partnership with Mondelēz International.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cultured Cocoa Ingredients

NAICS

Sugar and Confectionery Product Manufacturing (3113), Chocolate and Confectionery Manufacturing from Cacao Beans (311351)

SIC

Sugar & Confectionery Products (2060), Food And Kindred Products (2000)

akta.pro primary industry

Confectionery Manufacturing (Chocolate, Candy, Gum) (AFAKAAAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Chocolate, Sweet Spreads & Syrups Manufacturing (AFAKADAK)

Keywords

• Cell-cultured cocoa ingredients
• Plant cell culture technology
• Cultured cocoa butter
• Bioreactor food production
• Cellular agriculture biotechnology

Headquarters

HQ city

Misgav

HQ country

Israel

HQ region

Middle East

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Cocoa Ingredient Sales: Celleste Bio produces and sells cell-cultured cocoa butter and cocoa powder as drop-in replacement ingredients for chocolate manufacturers. The company positions its products as commodity alternatives to traditionally-sourced cocoa ingredients, targeting the $16.5 billion annual chocolate industry cocoa ingredient spend ($7 billion specifically for cocoa butter). Products are sold directly to chocolate manufacturers as B2B ingredients.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Celleste Bio produces and sells cell-cultured cocoa butter and cocoa powder as commodity drop-in replacement ingredients for chocolate manufacturers, manufactured through proprietary plant cell suspension culture in bioreactors rather than traditional cocoa farming. The company also offers tailored cocoa ingredients with customized sweetness, melting temperatures and fine flavors, enabled by AI computational modelling, to industrial confectionery customers.

Product overview

Celleste Bio is a cocoa-technology company that produces 100% real cocoa ingredients through proprietary plant cell culture technology. The company operates a dual product portfolio: (1) Chocolate grade cocoa butter and cocoa powder as commodity drop-in replacements that seamlessly integrate into existing chocolate manufacturing processes, and (2) Tailored products and fine flavors offering customizable sweetness levels, melting temperatures, and unique flavor profiles enabled by AI computational modelling. The technology uses one cocoa bean to grow cocoa cells in bioreactors, producing bio-identical cocoa ingredients in 7-10 days without genetic modification, addressing the industry's supply chain volatility, climate vulnerability, and sustainability challenges.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Chocolate-Grade Cocoa Butter (Cell-Cultured)
• Cocoa Powder (Cell-Cultured)

Quantifiable outcome

• 400% cocoa price increase in 2024 due to global shortage of 500,000 tons
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• The Cultured HubminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 27 December 2025The Cultured Hub, a Swiss biotech facility established by Bühler Group, Migros, and Givaudan, has expanded services to include plant cell culture technology for producing cocoa, coffee, and citrus ingredients. Celleste Bio presented at the Cultured Plant Cell Event hosted by the hub, fostering collaboration between startups and industry leaders.
• EIT FoodminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 October 2025EIT Food is a European innovation community supporting food system transformation. Celleste Bio announced its first chocolate-grade cocoa butter milestone at EIT Food's Next Bite Summit in Brussels, positioning Celleste within the European food tech ecosystem.
• Mondelēz InternationalcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 December 2024Mondelēz International serves as strategic and design partner for Celleste Bio. SnackFutures Ventures, Mondelēz's VC arm, invested $4.5 million in Celleste Bio's seed funding round led by Supply Change Capital. Mondelēz previously invested in Celleste in 2022. The partnership involves co-development of cell-cultured cocoa butter, with Mondelēz manufacturing prototype chocolate bars using Celleste's cultivated cocoa butter ingredients.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• California Cultured: Direct cell-cultured cocoa competitor using plant cell culture technology to produce cocoa ingredients without traditional farming. Most directly comparable to Celleste Bio in both technology approach and target market.
• FoodBrewer: Cell-culture platform company developing coffee and cocoa ingredients via plant cell culture. Operates in the same technology category and addresses the same target market of chocolate and beverage manufacturers seeking supply alternatives.

Emerging players

• Voyage Foods: Alternative chocolate and coffee company producing bean-free chocolate from upcycled ingredients. Adjacent approach to cocoa supply problem but uses fermentation rather than cell culture, competing for the same chocolate manufacturer customer base.
• CacaoLAT: Cocoa processing technology company developing alternative methods for cocoa ingredient production. Adjacent to Celleste's value chain though approach differs from cell culture.

Broad incumbents

• Barry Callebaut: World's largest chocolate and cocoa manufacturer, sourcing cocoa beans and processing them into industrial chocolate and cocoa ingredients. Major incumbent customer and potential competitor in the alternative cocoa space.
• Cargill: Global agribusiness with major cocoa processing operations, supplying cocoa butter and powder to chocolate manufacturers. Established incumbent whose customer base overlaps with Celleste's target market.
• Perfect Day: Cell-culture food technology company producing cell-cultured dairy proteins. Comparable in biotechnology platform approach and cellular agriculture category, though applied to dairy rather than cocoa.
• The EVERY Company (formerly Clara Foods): Cell-culture food technology company producing animal-free proteins via precision fermentation and cellular agriculture. Comparable in biotech platform approach and scaling challenges of cell-culture food ingredients.
• Geltor: Cell-culture ingredient company producing animal-free proteins via fermentation. Comparable in cellular agriculture platform approach and B2B ingredient supply model to food and beverage manufacturers.
• Remilk: Cell-culture dairy company producing animal-free milk proteins via precision fermentation. Comparable in biotech platform approach, regulatory navigation challenges, and B2B ingredient supply to food manufacturers.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors7 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Celleste Bio