EIT Food has joined a €6.3m Horizon Europe project investigating how plant cell culture and artificial intelligence could reshape the way cocoa and other high‑value natural ingredients are produced.

The four‑year initiative, known as COCO‑AI, brings together nine partners across Europe, Israel, Canada and South Korea to build a scalable bio‑manufacturing platform capable of producing consistent, climate‑resilient ingredients independent of traditional agricultural supply chains.

A new model for cocoa production

Cocoa is one of the world’s most climate‑sensitive crops, with extreme weather, disease and fragile supply chains driving volatility and rising prices. COCO‑AI aims to demonstrate how cultivating cocoa cells directly in bioreactors — rather than growing full trees — can deliver the same natural compounds found in cocoa pods while using far less land and water.

Plant cell culture allows researchers to grow cocoa cells in nutrient‑rich liquid under tightly controlled conditions. But optimising these conditions requires managing dozens of variables, from nutrients and temperature to light and cell biology. This is where AI comes in.

AI as a scientific accelerator

Artificial intelligence will act as a “research assistant”, analysing experimental data to identify patterns, predict how cultivation conditions affect cell performance and help scientists prioritise the most promising experiments. Rather than replacing human expertise, the AI tools are designed to speed up decision‑making and shorten development timelines for efficient, scalable ingredient production.

Cocoa first — but not alone

Cocoa will serve as the project’s primary demonstrator, with the consortium working to scale cultivation from lab conditions to 10,000‑litre industrial bioreactors. The team will also develop six new ingredient formulations and two prototype chocolate bars, alongside open‑source AI tools and public datasets to support wider innovation.

Beyond cocoa, COCO‑AI will test its platform on eight additional high‑value plant species, including grape, oat and medicinal plants—laying the groundwork for a broader transformation in how natural ingredients are produced.

Kokomodo’s role

EIT Food‑supported scaleup Kokomodo, recently awarded the 2026 RisingFoodStars Scaleup Verification Badge, will contribute its expertise in cocoa plant cell cultivation and ingredient development. Its involvement marks a significant milestone in the company’s growth and underscores the role of emerging foodtech ventures in strengthening Europe’s bio‑manufacturing capabilities.

Strengthening Europe’s food resilience

By reducing dependence on vulnerable tropical supply chains and enabling consistent, high‑quality ingredient production, COCO‑AI aims to help manufacturers and policymakers build more resilient, sustainable and secure food systems.

The consortium — coordinated by the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology IME — includes CPI, Kaunas University of Technology, Celleste, Wageningen University & Research, Université Laval, iNGR Inc., Aberland and Kokomodo.