That’s according to research from The Oxford Brookes Centre for Nutrition and Health, which found a microbial lipid developed by a biotech start-up was able to mostly fool consumers in taste tests.
Sun Bear Biofuture develops sustainable alternatives to tropical fats and oils using yeast and precision fermentation. The research project sought to find out whether its product could successfully mimic cocoa butter in food and cosmetics.
The results showed that the products made with the substitute were rated as equal to or preferable in four of five tests.
What is a microbial lipid?
Microbial lipids are basically fats and oils derived from microbes like yeast and algae. These microbes naturally produce lipids; what Sun Bear Biofuture does is encourage them to produce much larger quantities, making it commercially viable.
“The yeast is fed sugar in a fermenter, which houses the best possible conditions for the cells to multiply and then generate the lipids,” explained Ben Wilding, CEO of Sun Bear Biofuture.
“The final stage of production is splitting the cells open so they release their lipids, which are then extracted as the end ingredient.”
A cocoa alternative
While other tropical and vegetable oils require plants to be grown, harvested and processed, yeast cells have their very own self-contained ‘factories’.
And because microbial lipids do not require the same raw ingredients (e.g. cacao) and can also be produced anywhere in the world, they offer a possible alternative to popular products which have been linked to deforestation, child labour, and hefty emissions.
Sun Bear’s solution also comes at a time of extreme volatility for the cocoa market which has been plagued by price hikes. While input costs have eased since 2024/25’s eyewatering levels, they have yet to recover entirely.
Last week, chocolate giant Lindt cut its sales forecast as a result of “necessary price increases” and “subdued consumer” sentiment. Mondelēz International’s Q1 2026 results, meanwhile, noted volatile cocoa costs remain a risk for the business.
And while the likes of Barry Callebaut assure it is better prepared for shocks, the cocoa market remains an unpredictable beast.
Consumer validation
The research from Oxford Brookes has now given the business greater confidence in its offering as it starts to scale production in its new pilot plant.
While scaling can be a major blocker for start-ups, the tech firm has managed to navigate this hurdle.
“We used equipment from brewing and dairy and built our pilot plant for just £30,000,” Wilding said. “This is less than 10% of what the typical costs would be. With our low cap-ex approach and our novel downstream processing approach, we believe we have reduced the cost of building an industrial-scale facility by 83%.”
Sun Bear Biofuture intends to start industrial scale production runs by the end of 2027, with full operations expected by 2029. But with novel food approval still needed, it’ll be a little while before we see this business taking on the great cacao tree.
Wilding acknowledged this, stating that the four-year-old business will launch into cosmetics first.
