Dive Brief:
- Savor, a startup that's attracted investment from billionaire Bill Gates, announced the commercial launch of a butter made from carbon — no plants or animals required.
- The butter replacement is meant to be a sustainable alternative to palm oil and other widely used fats "without the need for conventional agriculture." Restaurants and bakeries are set to be among the first customers beginning this year.
- Savor said it is also working with "multinational consumer packaged goods companies" on ingredient innovation projects for customizable fats and oils. The startup said it is actively negotiating joint development agreements with some of these partners.
Dive Insight:
Founded in 2022, Savor takes carbon dioxide from air and hydrogen from water to produce the same kinds of fat molecules found in milk, cheese, beef and vegetable oils.
While the startup is showcasing the technology through its animal- and plant-free butter, the technology can be used to replace a host of fats and oils used in industrial food production. Savor has highlighted its alternative fats as a potential solution to palm oil, which is widely used in packaged goods products but is also a major driver of deforestation.
"Savor is positioned to make a substantial impact on global sustainability efforts in the food industry," Kathleen Alexander, co-founder and CEO of Savor, said in a statement. "Savor's method of producing fats and oils offers differentiated scalability and versatility, allowing us to create rich, delicious ingredients while reaching price parity with conventional fats more rapidly."
Savor opened a 25,000-square-foot pilot production facility in Batavia, Illinois, which has initial capacity to produce "metric tons of fat" starting this year, according to a release. The company also recently expanded its research and development capabilities at its San Jose, California, headquarters.
The startup is able to legally sell its alternative fats in the U.S. after achieving a self-affirmed Generally Recognized As Safe designation from the Food and Drug Administration. Self-affirmation of ingredients has recently come under scrutiny from Human Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has directed the FDA to explore eliminating that pathway for regulatory approval.
In a blog post, Bill Gates, who has been a leading backer of Savor through investment arm Breakthrough Energy Ventures, said the challenge for alternative and sustainable ingredients is ensuring they cost the same or less than animal fats. Gates said Savor "has a good chance of success" because steps in the production process "already work in other industries."
"The process doesn’t release any greenhouse gases, and it uses no farmland and less than a thousandth of the water that traditional agriculture does," Gates wrote. "And most important, it tastes really good—like the real thing, because chemically it is.”
