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Planet A Foods , a B2B sustainable ingredients company , declare $ 15.4 million in Series A financial support .
The brother - and - sister instauration team of Drs . Max and Sara Marquart started the Munich - found companionship to make a sustainable alternative to chocolate . When TechCrunch initiallywrote about the company in 2021 , it was buy the farm by the name QOA .
The melodic theme behind the name change was that “ there is no Planet B , ” due to mood change and other environmental threats to the cocoa bring forth industry , Max Marquart told TechCrunch .
“ We need to pay attention so that our Earth come through , ” he said .
The climate woes have result inchocolate prices come to a 45 - twelvemonth highin 2023 , with chocolate bean futures trading at $ 4,362 per tonne , up 84 % from 2022 . This is amid aglobal chocolate confectionery industryexpected to uprise 5.6 % per annum through 2028 .
QOA play in seed round to do for drinking chocolate what Oatly did for milk
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Planet A Foods uses fermentation engineering to plow all - instinctive , topically sourced factor — for lesson , oat and sunflower seeds — into its hot chocolate - free chocolate , ChoViva . The product features a melt - in - the - mouth grain and full - embodied drinking chocolate flavor in milk , semi - sweet and bloodless mixture . The Cartesian product can be used in everything from broil to shabu cream and hold back up to 30 % less sugar .
“ I always say we require to be a ‘ next - generation Cargill ’ and a high - technical school food for thought ingredient companionship that delivers sustainable food ingredients to the industry , ” Marquart tell .
The company ’s customer foot includes food manufacturer Griesson - de Beukelaer and Peter Kölln and airway Lufthansa . Last year , the company also launched several ware with German retail merchant REWE , while chocolatier Lindt of late launched a vegan chocolate intersection containing ChoViva .
Marquart carry to bump off an eight - anatomy receipts by the end of 2024 as Planet A Foods plans an external enlargement of ChoViva , starting with the United Kingdom , followed by other European markets , Asia and the United States . The company will also widen its fermentation program to other plant - based ingredient with further product launching ask for the 2024 first quarter .
He intends to use the new capital to charter extra scientists to link up Planet A Foods ’ 50 - person team in Germany in decree to surmount production of cocoa butter and palm oil choice to an industrial level . It has already scale output at its readiness to develop 750 kilogram of ChoViva per hour .
Meanwhile , the Series A bout was led by World Fund with involvement from an investor group that included Omnes Capital , Cherry Ventures , Mudcake , Nucleus Capital , Triple Point Capital and Feast Ventures .
The time to come of milk is … Milk River ?
