Clean Food Group raises £2.5M for its oil and fat substitutes

Clean Food Group (CFG) has announced £2.5M in funding following £13m raised in previous rounds. The injection of capital will be used to continue development of CFG’s sustainable oil and fat alternatives in the leadup to a planned commercial launch in 2025. 

The round was led by Clean Growth Fund, a leading investor in low-emission companies across power and energy, buildings, transport, agriculture, water and waste.

CFG makes its oils primarily from food waste, leveraging scalable yeast strains and fermentation technology to deliver sustainable alternatives to traditional oil and fat ingredients. Vegetable oils such as palm and soy are two of the largest drivers of deforestation, and oil and fat alternatives are of particular interest to climate tech investors. The processes of both products combined cause 20% of global deforestation and the sector constitutes 7% of total global greenhouse gases.

A life cycle assessment of CFG’s go-to-market product — a palm oil substitute — determined it delivers a 90% reduction in greenhouse gases when compared with traditional palm oil. The product is designed as a drop-in ingredient that can be substituted in consumables including baked goods, confectionery and cosmetics applications.

Alex Neves, CEO and co-founder said: “The capital raised with Clean Growth Fund will allow us to accelerate the scale-up of our technology platform while advancing critical regulatory and commercial pathways, with a fully funded commercialisation plan in place well into 2025. We are delighted to be working with the Clean Growth Fund team, led by Beverley Gower-Jones, who is equally passionate about accelerating innovation to help address climate change and to create a healthier, more sustainable, global food system.”

Beverley Gower-Jones OBE, Founder and Managing Partner of Clean Growth Fund said: “Clean Food Group has an impressive team with a broad set of skills, and who established several significant industrial partnerships. Backed by a strong technical base, Alex Neves and his team are well placed to commercialise the manufacture of palm oil substitutes and therefore reduce the reliance the food industry has on the production of palm oil, an industry which is one of the main drivers of deforestation and a major contributor to global CO₂ emissions. We are very pleased to support CFG’s development and growth.”