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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

food dye

Phytolon Sees Green with $4.1M in Funding its for Natural Food Coloring

Phytolon, which uses fermentation to create plant-based food colorings, announced today that it has raised $4.1 million in funding. Millennium Food-Tech, EIT Food, Consensus Business Group, The Trendlines Group, Yossi Ackerman and the Israel Innovation Authority participated in the round.

Founded in 2018 and based in Misgav, Israel, Phytolon wants to change up the food coloring space by replacing the artificial and synthetic materials used in the process with natural ingredients. Phytolon does this via a technology the company license through the Wiezmann Institute of Science that uses the fermentation of yeast. The Phytolon website didn’t provide much detail on the technology, but claims its approach is environmentally sustainable, GMO-free, and offers a wide color spectrum across a number of food applications.

While we may not know all the specifics around Phytolon’s technology, we do know that fermentation is hot right now. Perfect Day is fermenting yeast to make non-animal dairy proteins. Both Mushlabs and Emergy Foods are fermenting mushrooms to create alternative meats. And Solar Foods is using gas fermentation to create protein out of air.

Phytolon is also not the only company creating food coloring via fermentation. Michroma is created dyes through fermentation of mushroom roots.

One of the side effects of the COVID pandemic is more people re-evaulating what foods they consume. Given that many food dyes on the market are made from petroleum because they create more vibrant colors, the market seems ripe for a more natural and less chemical-y solution to the food color spectrum.

Phytolon has recently conducted proof-of-concept experiments at production lines with different food companies. The company says it will use its new funding to help get its product reach the market.

Dye Another Day: Michroma Makes Sustainable Food Coloring through Fungi Fermentation

Be it Red 40 or Yellow 6, food dyes are hiding in a surprising number of food and bev products on your local grocery shelf. Sometimes these dyes are made from natural ingredients like beet juice, turmeric, or even bugs (which means they’re not vegan, and also kinda gross). But natural dyes aren’t as vibrant or heat-resistant as their artificial counterparts, which are typically made from petroleum (also gross).

Michroma, a new company currently participating in science accelerator IndieBio, is out to recast the food dye industry. The startup is developing a platform to create dyes through fermentation, specifically mushroom root fermentation. Michroma scientists use CRISPR to edit the genes in particular strains of fungi so that when they’re placed in a bioreactor they secrete vibrant, colorful dyes.

Ricky Cassini and Mauricio Braia founded the company a year ago in Argentina before moving to San Francisco for IndieBio. Cassini, who is the CEO, told me over the phone this week that Michroma has raised $250,000 from IndieBio and previously raised $200,000 in Argentina.

According to Cassini, Michroma’s fermentation process could usher in a more sustainable production method for food dyes. In addition to being free from stuff like petroleum and crushed-up bugs, Michroma’s dyes are incredibly scalable to produce since the funghi require very little light, space and energy. Cassini also told me that their fermented dyes are significantly more heat-resistant than plant-derived natural dyes.

Michroma is currently focused on developing red dye. The company can already make orange and yellow. Next up it’ll tackle blue, green and black food colorings.

For now, the startup is creating dyes at a lab scale and, according to Cassini, their products are already cost-competitive with plant- and insect-based dyes. Michroma will sell its dyes B2B to large food corporations (as well as cosmetic and pharma companies), but that won’t happen for a while yet. Cassini said that since their technology is new for food dye, they need to go through something called a “color additive petition” to have it recognized as safe to eat. That could take up to two years. By that time, Cassini said that the fermented dyes will cost around the same as those made with petroleum.

However, he’s hoping that it won’t take a full two years before they can start selling. If he’s right, maybe soon you’ll be able to scan the back of a bag of Dorito’s and see “fermented dye” listed instead of, you know, petroleum and bugs.