Scientists in Finland have successfully made coffee in a laboratory for the first time in two years, revealing the exact process used to produce the coffee. The process involves starting from the original coffee plant and establishing cell cultures to alter its aroma, caffeine content, flavor analysis, and sensory profiling by a panel of tasters. The production of coffee beans faces sustainability challenges such as land and water use, laborers’ rights, and climate change. Cellular agriculture offers a potential solution to these issues and can speed up coffee production significantly. Traditionally farmed coffee provides 1-2 harvests per year, while lab-grown coffee can be made in a month due to the controlled process and infinitely renewable nature of coffee plant cells. However, the journey of lab-grown coffee to grocery stores and people’s kitchens is not complete. Dr. Heiko Rischer, Principal Scientist and Head of Plant Biotechnology at VTT, calls for an ecosystem dedicated to the production and commercialization of lab-grown coffee. He believes that players interested in the same coffee value chain, such as cultivators, roasters, blenders, fermenters, and coffee brands, could come together to build the processes required to produce and commercialize the new sustainable type of coffee.
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