Kokomodo joins €6.3 million Horizon Europe project to advance sustainable cocoa production through AI and plant cell culture
EIT Food-supported scaleup will help develop new approaches to resilient ingredient production through the COCO-AI consortium
August 13 2026 | EIT Food-supported scaleup Kokomodo has joined COCO-AI, a €6.3 million Horizon Europe project exploring how plant cell culture and artificial intelligence can transform the production of cocoa and other high-value natural ingredients.
The four-year initiative brings together nine international partners from Europe, Israel, Canada and the Republic of Korea to develop a platform for sustainable, resilient and scalable bio-manufacturing. Using cocoa as its primary demonstrator, the project will combine advances in plant cell cultivation and AI to create new pathways for producing ingredients that traditionally rely on climate-sensitive crops and complex global supply chains.
Kokomodo's participation marks another important milestone for the company, which recently earned the 2026 RisingFoodStars Scaleup Verification Badge from EIT Food, recognising its readiness to scale and its potential to deliver impact within the agrifood sector.
Coordinated by the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME, the consortium combines expertise in plant biology, artificial intelligence, industrial scale-up, food science, sustainability, regulation, consumer research and commercialisation.
Over the next four years, COCO-AI will work to scale cocoa cell cultivation from laboratory conditions to industrial 10,000-litre bioreactors, create six new ingredient formulations derived from cocoa and other high-value plant species, develop two prototype chocolate bars, and release open-source AI tools, validated methodologies and public datasets to support wider innovation across the sector.
Responding to growing pressure on cocoa supply
Many natural ingredients used in Europe are produced from crops grown in regions facing increasing pressure from climate change, disease, fragile supply chains and the environmental demands of conventional agriculture. Cocoa is a particularly vulnerable example. Extreme weather, falling yields and crop disease have contributed to supply concerns and rising prices, increasing the need for more resilient approaches to ingredient production.
As part of COCO-AI, Kokomodo will contribute its expertise in cocoa plant cell cultivation and ingredient development, helping the consortium explore complementary production methods that can strengthen the long-term resilience of cocoa supply chains.
“Cocoa sits at the intersection of climate risk, geopolitical fragility, and surging global demand. Our platform enables consistent, high-quality cocoa ingredients produced independently of tropical supply chains, helping manufacturers and policymakers strengthen food security and supply resilience as traditional production faces mounting pressure.”
Plant cell culture offers an alternative approach by growing cocoa cells directly in nutrient-rich liquid inside bioreactors, rather than cultivating an entire tree. Because the cells are derived from cocoa, they can produce the same natural compounds found in cocoa pods while requiring significantly less land and water than conventional production.
Successfully cultivating plant cells requires researchers to manage a wide range of variables, including nutrients, temperature, timing, light and cell biology. Within COCO-AI, artificial intelligence will act as a research assistant to identify patterns in experimental data, understand how cultivation conditions affect cell performance and help researchers prioritise the most promising experiments.
Rather than replacing scientific expertise, the AI tools are intended to support better decision-making and accelerate the development of efficient production processes. Cocoa will serve as the project’s primary demonstrator, while the platform will also be tested on eight additional high-value plant species, including grape, oat and medicinal plants. The project aims to develop tools and methods that can support innovation across the wider plant cell culture and bio-manufacturing sectors.
Recognised as a verified scaleup
Kokomodo is one of 18 agrifood scaleups to earn the 2026 RisingFoodStars Scaleup Verification Badge following a rigorous and independent assessment process.
The recognition signals that the company has demonstrated scaleup maturity across key areas including leadership, commercial model, operational readiness and growth potential. RisingFoodStars acts as a market signal that a company is ready to scale, not just pitch, helping investors, corporates and other ecosystem stakeholders identify ventures with commercial potential, operational excellence and measurable impact.
Kokomodo received the verification within the Functional Ingredient category, which includes scaleups developing innovative ingredients that can help food manufacturers improve nutrition, functionality and sustainability without compromising taste or texture. Through COCO-AI, Kokomodo will contribute its expertise in cocoa plant cell culture and ingredient development as the consortium advances cultivation from laboratory research towards industrial production and prototype food applications.
Kokomodo’s participation in the Horizon Europe-funded COCO-AI consortium highlights the growing role that leading foodtech scaleups can play in driving innovation beyond their own businesses. As a RisingFoodStars company, Kokomodo exemplifies how ambitious entrepreneurs can contribute to collaborative European initiatives that strengthen food system resilience, accelerate sustainable innovation, and help bring science-based solutions to market at scale.
Although cocoa is the project’s principal demonstrator, COCO-AI’s ambitions extend far beyond chocolate.
The project aims to strengthen Europe’s bio-manufacturing capabilities by reducing dependence on vulnerable global supply chains, lowering barriers for companies entering plant cell culture and making new technologies available to the wider research and industrial community.
“By bringing together partners from multiple regions with complementary expertise, COCO-AI is designed to have global impact well beyond cocoa alone.”
The project originated through the Plant Cell Institute, a global community established to connect researchers and industry working to advance plant cell culture. It was through this community that the future COCO-AI partners first met, identified common challenges and developed the foundations for the project.
The consortium includes Fraunhofer IME, CPI, Kaunas University of Technology, Celleste, Wageningen University & Research, Université Laval, iNGR Inc., Aberland and Kokomodo.
By bringing together researchers, technology organisations and scaleups, COCO-AI demonstrates how collaboration can help move promising production methods from scientific research towards industrial and commercial applications.