Planet A Foods raises more funds to take its cocoa-free chocolate global

Planet A Foods, a B2B sustainable ingredients company, announced it has received $15.4 million in Series A funding.

The sibling founding team of Drs. Max and Sara Marquart founded the Munich-based company to create sustainable alternatives to cocoa. When TechCrunch first reported on the company in 2021, the company’s name was QOA.

Max Marquart told TechCrunch that the idea behind the name change is that “Planet B does not exist” due to climate change and other environmental threats faced by the cocoa production industry.

“We need to pay attention so that our planet can survive,” he said.

Climate concerns have driven chocolate prices to a 45-year high in 2023, with cocoa bean futures trading at $4,362 per ton, up 84% from 2022. The global chocolate confectionery industry is expected to grow at an annual rate of 5.6% by 2028.

Planet A Foods uses fermentation technology to transform all-natural, local ingredients like oats and sunflower seeds into cocoa-free chocolate ChoViva. This product has a melt-in-your-mouth texture and rich chocolate flavor and is available in milk, semi-sweet and white varieties. The product can be used in everything from baking to ice cream and contains up to 30% less sugar.

“I’ve always said we want to be the ‘next generation of Cargill’ and a high-tech food ingredients company that provides sustainable food ingredients to the industry,” Marquardt said.

The company’s customer base includes food manufacturers Griesson-de Beukelaer and Peter Kölln as well as Lufthansa. The company also launched a variety of products in partnership with German retailer REWE last year, while chocolatier Lindt recently launched a vegan chocolate product containing ChoViva.

Marquart expects to reach eight-figure revenue by the end of 2024 as Planet A Foods plans international expansion of ChoViva, first in the UK and then other European markets, Asia and the US. The company is also expanding its fermentation platform to other botanical ingredients, with additional products expected to be launched in the first quarter of 2024.

He plans to use the new funding to hire more scientists to join Planet A Foods’ 50-person team in Germany to scale up production of cocoa butter and palm oil alternatives to industrial levels. The company has scaled up its factory to produce 750 kilograms of ChoViva per hour.

Meanwhile, the Series A round was led by World Fund, with participation from investor groups including Omnes Capital, Cherry Ventures, Mudcake, Nucleus Capital, Triple Point Capital and Feast Ventures.

“Sara, Max and the team have created the right product to address cocoa’s widespread climate impacts,” Daria Saharova, managing partner of The World Foundation, said in a statement. “In three years, , they turned proof-of-concepts into shelf-ready, industry-ready products and forged partnerships with global giants. The fact that this Series A round was oversubscribed, despite a general decline in food tech investment, is a testament to their success.”

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