Our current system of feeding the world has become overly industrialized to the point of harming not only the environment, but the people who consume the food.
Through the years, our food system has become more mechanized, relying on synthetic fertilizers and chemical pesticides, with only a few powerful corporations producing the majority of the food products. The news is filled with stories about genetically-modified crops, water and air pollution, and soil depletion related to industrialized agriculture practices.
Sustainable farming practices are gaining popularity as people become more informed and more concerned about their health and the future of the planet. As public awareness has grown, so has support for sustainable agriculture along with a robust market for organic and sustainable food options.
Many individuals and companies are adding to that market by creating better food alternatives for consumers. One such biotechnology company, Afineur, is helping to create healthier, sustainable food products using controlled natural fermentations.
About Afineur
Cultured Coffee, the first product created by Afineur, was developed and launched in the summer of 2015 through a Kickstarter campaign. It is a premium coffee that is meant to be easier for the body to digest. The taste is marketed as less bitter than regular coffee with fruit and caramel notes in the flavor.
The company believes that the world’s urgent issues pertaining to food sustainability, security, and quality can be answered through nature. They work with microbial biodiversity in their attempt to harness nature’s goodness and craft healthy, delicious foods. The venture-backed company is based in Brooklyn, New York.
Cultured Coffee
To create their first product, Cultured Coffee, Afineur has taken a normal coffee bean and put it through a pioneering secondary fermentation process that is both natural and controlled. The end result is cup of coffee that is not only healthier for the body, but tastier, too.
The manufacturer states that Cultured Coffee takes your average joe to the next level, providing a wholesome beverage that has extremely low bitterness with shining fruity, floral, and chocolatey undertones.
The extra step that makes Cultured Coffee different than any other coffee product on the market is the use of natural, controlled fermentations right before roasting.
This breakthrough enables Afineur to remove undesirable coffee flavor molecules, such as bitterness, through a precise process, while enhancing its natural interesting ones to create a unique flavor profile that has never before been imagined by coffee drinkers.
With a product such as Cultured Coffee, coffee drinkers can forego flavored mixers and expensive specialty coffees, which are full of artificial ingredients and unhealthy amounts of sugar. Instead, they will be hooked on delicious, regular coffee, just as nature intended it.
Afineur Technology
While fermented foods have been a mainstay of diets throughout different cultures, traditionally, people have relied on spontaneous fermentations. However, Afineur is taking a process that has been utilized for thousands of years and combining it with today’s technology to create something brand new.
Using breakthroughs in biotechnology, Afineur is unlocking the hidden potential in plant-based foods through the assembly of what they refer to as “designer fermentations.” The company has developed a platform that consists of cooperative microbial systems, which enables workers to tailor fermentations.
These fermentations are used as a tool which can precisely enhance the natural chemistry of food. The result is the ability to design a variety of healthier, tastier food that is more sustainable for the environment.
The science behind Afineur’s Cultured Coffee – and other food products they are working on – involves specifically selected microorganisms. Each one must be capable of naturally tailoring a subset of molecules within the target food item in addition to cooperating with the other microbes. The company continues to research the latest scientific tools to fully understand food chemistry and refine its fermentations.
However, Afineur is not all about technology and science. The company relies heavily on the human touch. Their website notes that their cultured products are perfected through professional and sensory analyses. After all, without actual human interaction, they would never fully appreciate the different flavors and tastes produced by their hard work.
The Afineur Team
The Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Afineur is Camille Delebecque, a bioengineer by training and graduate of both Harvard and Paris Universities where he earned a PhD in Synthetic Biology. His research was published in Science and he is a serial entrepreneur. He is also a biotechnology advisor for the European Commission.
Sophie Deterre, the Chief Technical Officer and Co-founder of Afineur, is a food and flavor science expert. She earned her PhD at AgroParisTech Institute, where she transformed Grand Marnier’s hundreds of years of craft into a reproducible and predictable science. This helped to further the development of a new multi-million-dollar distillery. She has trained as a food process engineer and has worked with USDA, Mars, and the Parmesan Cheese Alliance.
The Director of Business Development for Afineur is Eric DeFeo, who has a Master of Business Administration from Northwestern University where he graduated as a Chemical and Biological Engineer. Following college, he worked as a management consultant with consumer packaged goods companies, where he assisted with business strategies. He studied business at NYU Stern before joining Afineur in June of 2016.
Afineur Review Summary
Is Afineur really better tasting and better for you? According to Peter Andrey Smith with Bloomberg Business, Afineur replicates the flavor of kopi luwak, an Indonesian blend of java that is revered by coffee-lovers around the globe. It is not only praised as the best coffee in the world, it is also the most expensive at more than $600 per pound.
Why is kopi luwak so expensive? Well, it’s all about supply and demand, and the supply of this particular coffee is low because the marinating process is quite unique. A palm civet – a small, cat-like creature – eats coffee cherries. They ferment inside the creature and then the undigested seeds, the coffee beans, are harvested from the civet’s excrement.
Smith states, “The Tanzanian roast doesn’t exactly match the taste of kopi luwak, but Delebecque says that’s by design. Afineur’s smooth, fruity roast has a relatively low acid content, making it potentially easier on the stomach.” The company is selling their coffee and currently working on producing cereals. They made about $100,000 in revenue in 2015 and sell the whole beans in sets with the Introduction Set including a five-ounce glass bottle and five-ounce refill for $49.00.
