Could cellular agriculture solve coffee’s climate woes? One biotech company believes its technology provides a solution to the industry’s supply issues.
Coffee is a very particular plant. To grow, it prefers a tropical or sub-tropical climate, some varieties require high altitudes, frost often spells disaster, and abundant sunshine, rain, and fertile soil are non-negotiables.
The plant’s fastidious nature is why most of the world’s coffee is produced in what’s referred to as the Bean Belt, a region hugging the equator between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn that includes parts of Central and South America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. With much of the coffee grown in this region exported to the rest of the world that doesn’t have the climate to cultivate it, the industry has an often long and sometimes complex supply chain.
What’s more, because coffee thrives in these very specific conditions, it is highly vulnerable to the effects of climate change – it doesn’t have much tolerance when the temperature drops lower than normal or when drought keeps rain away for longer.
Over the past decade, extreme weather events across the Bean Belt have seriously impacted the amount of coffee being produced, which in turn has caused prices to rise. At the start of 2025, the International Coffee Organization reported green bean exports in January 2025 totalled 9.72 million bags, down 14.2 per cent from January 2024 – a trend that’s expected to persist while demand continues to outpace supply. The industry is at a sticking point.
But what if coffee could be grown anywhere and without the worry of shifting climatic conditions? The team at Coffeesai, a subsidiary of Pluri Biotech, believe their cell-based solution could be the answer to the coffee industry’s supply concerns.
Utilising Pluri’s proprietary 3D cell expansion technology, originally developed for the pharmaceutical and therapeutical industries, Coffeesai’s scientists say they have developed a cellular agriculture method that can produce the coffee equivalent of 1000 trees in just three weeks – a process that would normally take years, with new coffee trees bearing fruit after three to five years.
“The coffee industry is facing a very significant challenge,” says Ami Herman, CEO of Coffeesai.
“The erratic climate is greatly impacting production in the coffee growing regions that are already part of a very complex supply chain. What we have developed is a novel way of coffee production that’s free of the concerns of climate change and the supply chain.”
The Coffeesai process takes the plantation into a laboratory environment. It starts with isolating the cells from the specific coffee plant to be reproduced and then duplicating those cells in a bioreactor. After two to three weeks, the desired number of cells required is reached, which is referred to as a biomass of cells. This is removed from the growing chamber within the bioreactor and dried, roasted, and ground like any other coffee.
“We are not talking about alternatives here. This is real coffee grown from cells extracted from the plant leaf,” says Herman.
“Although the initial biomass of cells doesn’t look like conventional coffee beans, once it is dried, roasted, and ground it looks much like traditional ground coffee. The roasting process is modified slightly, because the coffee material is a different shape, so we have had to tweak it to get the right roast profile.”
Each selected cell holds all the genetic information of that specific coffee species, which is influenced by the environment in which it was cultivated. This means the team at Coffeesai can reproduce any coffee plant species – be it a Vietnamese Robusta or a Panamanian Geisha – utilising its technology. Herman says they can also take the process a step further, tailoring the plant’s genetics to create desired flavour profiles.
“When the cell is removed from the leaf, we put it in a liquid medium with nutrients to help it grow efficiently, not dissimilar to the fertiliser process in conventional farming. However, we can control the quality and properties of the nutrients to ensure we get the desired result from the cells,” he says.
“What’s more, the bioreactor is a highly controlled environment, which we can adapt to provide the ideal conditions for the specific type of coffee. Therefore, the bioreactor can mimic the conditions of a Colombian coffee plantation, but be in Israel, Australia, China, or anywhere around the world.”
In the taste-testing stages of the protocol’s development, the scientists discovered new flavour profiles they don’t believe have previously been detected in coffee.
“Assessing the taste of the coffee is an essential step in the development of this technology. Our first mission is to ensure the sweet and bitter flavours consumers come to expect from coffee are present, yet we’ve also come across some new flavours we didn’t expect that we are keen to explore,” says Herman.
There are several companies and organisations that have experimented with producing coffee in a laboratory environment. In 2021, a team of researchers at the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland brewed what is thought to be the first lab-grown coffee using cell cultures. In 2023, the research group released its process to the public in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry.
“Our wish is that the publication of this scientific article, which clearly demonstrates proof of concept for lab-grown coffee, nudges forward the creation of an ecosystem or a collective that has the resources, know-how, and drive to pioneer an entirely new type of coffee,” said Dr Heiko Rischer, Leader Researcher, in a statement at the time.
“It is a huge challenge but one VTT is prepared to take on with the right partners and experts.”
Despite discussing a possible collaboration between VTT and Coffeesai, Herman says nothing came of the discussions.
“The beginning of VTT’s process is quite similar to ours but the bioreactor technology is different,” says Herman. “I appreciate their work but currently there is no collaboration.”
Coffeesai’s technology is now in the development phase, but is expected to be ready for international roll out in the next two to three years. The company’s ambition is to make coffee production possible anywhere in the world.
“We want to give producers the ability to create coffee close to their consumers and market, giving them complete control of the supply chain,” he says.
“A single cell can be reproduced again and again. Just imagine, producers won’t have to worry about climate change, shipping issues, or global commodity prices.”
Coffeesai plans to license its technology to international partners, who will establish a production line to take the product all the way to market. If successful, this new method of coffee production could radically change the industry as we know it.
The target market for this is the mass coffee industry, with the aim to blend the lab-grown coffee with traditionally grown beans in freeze-dried coffee products.
“With a 10/90, 25/75, or even 50/50 split of lab-grown coffee to traditional coffee, producers can be sure a proportion of their supply will be of a consistent quality and available when needed,” says Herman.
“They don’t have to worry about year-over-year differentiation. Adding this solution to their standard product will increase their efficiency in the market and better control prices.”
Another benefit for large-scale coffee producers, according to Herman, is the ability to control flavours. The scientists at Coffeesai can modify the caffeine levels, bitterness, sweetness, and general flavour profile to blend seamlessly with a roaster’s existing coffee.
If successful, Herman says this coffee-production process will not only solve the industry’s supply problem but also make it more efficient, greener, and cheaper.
“The existing coffee production industry is not only impacted by climate change but is also a contributor of greenhouse emissions. The current system requires a huge amount of energy – and that’s before it’s transported across the world,” he says.
“We foresee that, once we have scaled up our cellular agriculture model, our partners will be able to produce coffee much more efficiently and with a reduced impact on the environment.”
While Coffeesai’s model appears to be at odds with the conventional coffee farming industry, Herman stresses the innovation is designed to coexist alongside farmers and won’t threaten their livelihoods.
“We are here to support farmers not replace them. By 2050, the demand for coffee is expected to triple, but farmers are already struggling to meet today’s demand. There’s no way we could reach the demand of 2050 without mass deforestation,” he says.
“By filling the supply and demand gap, we can support coffee growing countries and farmers to focus on what they do best. We can also work together with farmers and researchers to help protect and preserve varieties of coffee that aren’t faring well due to climate change. We can ensure consumers can continue to enjoy the coffee varietals that are currently at risk.”
The industry, according to Herman, is keeping a close eye on the development of Coffeesai’s technology. He says he is already in discussion with many of the world’s biggest coffee companies, which are eagerly looking for solutions as coffee prices continue to rise.
“We have a long waiting list of companies that are fascinated with what we are doing. I get calls every day asking to visit us to taste the product. We are already in negotiations with many of the biggest names in the industry,” he says.
The CEO has big ambitions for this futuristic technology. In the next 10 to 15 years, he hopes to have seven to 10 per cent market share of the industry that currently stands at around 170 million 60-kilograms bags per year.
“Our product will bring a huge amount of stability to the industry, while also reducing carbon emissions and increasing efficiency,” says Herman. “We are here to ensure people can enjoy coffee for the long term.”
This article was first published in the May/June 2025 edition of Global Coffee Report. Read more HERE.
