The production of coffee beans is notoriously bad for the environment. On an emission basis, coffee is one of the highest emitting crops that exists. Now, a new startup is trying to change that.
What’s happening:
- French crop tech startup Amatera has raised £1.5M in a pre seed funding round
- The round was led by PINC and included participation from Exceptional Ventures, Mudcake, Joyance Partners and others
The big idea:
- Amatera is developing a non-GMO approach to genome editing which enables them to cultivate their own coffee varieties and also bypasses the need for regulatory approval to sell their crops to farmers
- Their technology is based on accelerating a plant’s natural evolution at the cellular level which will help the end crop adapt to the environment and climate it is growing in
- Amatera believes this could be a breakthrough in developing new coffee varietals that are not vulnerable to extinction and can thrive in changing environments
Why it matters:
- The most popular coffee varieties in the world on a fast track to extinction largely due to deforestation and plant diseases
- Coffee has more harmful emissions than nearly any other type of food outside of dark chocolate and red meats
- There is a large, looming ethical issue around the conditions in which much of the coffee in the world is produced and growing concerns about human rights
The intrigue:
- Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) recently created half a dozen coffee varietals that they believe will be able to be resilient against climate change
- Those new varietals will be given away to coffee farmers for free in hopes of creating a healthy global supply of coffee
