The climate biotech company is partnering with Coffeesai, a coffee cell-culture specialist, to harness light as a key factor in promoting the growth of coffee cells and accelerating the transition from laboratory development to commercial production.
The collaboration follows Brevel receiving a US$1 million grant from the Israel Innovation Authority, specifically to extend its illuminated fermentation platform to plant cell-culture companies.
Brevel is the first company to develop and scale illuminated fermentation from lab bench to 5,000-litre commercial volume. Its proprietary biomanufacturing technology is focused on helping to overcome a major challenge in plant cell culture by stimulating the production of beneficial natural compounds and increasing overall production efficiency.
The company’s proprietary technology was first applied to microalgae and successfully marketed to the nutraceutical industry.
Brevel said that while traditional agriculture depends on weather, seasons, water availability, and land, utilising plant cell culture, which directly grows single plant cells in suspension, can generate consistent output, use minimal land and water use, and mean year-round production regardless of outside conditions.
The coffee market is facing significant challenges, especially for high-quality Arabica beans, which are highly sensitive to temperature shifts.
“Our work in coffee cell cultures serve as a case study for the capabilities of our illuminated fermentation infrastructure,” said Yonatan Golan, CEO and co-founder of Brevel.
“Our recent work has demonstrated the platform’s ability to achieve high cell densities while sustaining continuous growth through an advanced semi-continuous cultivation process, paving the way for scalable and efficient production.”
Ami Herman, CEO of Coffeesai, said they had been encouraged by the initial results from Brevel’s platform and its potential to influence certain aspects of the sensory profile.
“We continue to evaluate its capabilities as we advance our development efforts and determine future production pathways,” Herman said.
The core of the process is the use of controlled light exposure within the fermenter to actively influence the cell’s output.
In the trials, it was observed that manipulating the specific light profile can enhance the flavour and aroma characteristics of the resulting biomass by modulating the expression of desirable value-added compounds.
