California Cultured and UC Davis Team Up to Bring Lab-Grown Cocoa Closer to Market
Sacramento-based food-tech company California Cultured is collaborating with researchers at the University of California, Davis, to develop commercially viable cocoa produced via plant cell culture, with commercial powder production targeted for early 2027. The project, funded by grants from the National Science Foundation and BioMADE, focuses on reducing the cost of growing cacao cells in bioreactors. UC Davis scientists will work alongside California Cultured to optimize bioreactor design, improve cleaning …