Voyage Foods has unveiled its latest innovation: beanless coffee. The company’s newest product is now available to commercial customers through food service and food manufacturing channels.

FoodTech 500 Alumni, Voyage Foods, makers of cocoa-free chocolates, peanut-free and hazelnut-free spreads from wholesome and more sustainable ingredients, announced its beanless brew – a result of proprietary technology that transforms natural ingredients into familiar flavors and formats. Today, Voyage’s bean-free coffee with caffeine is over 40% cheaper than traditional coffee, providing coffee manufacturers with price stability that results in significantly better margins.

“Given the current dynamics of the coffee market, food and beverage suppliers are uneasy about supply-chain volatility as well as fulfilling their triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit. There will always be a place for premium, fair-trade, single-origin coffee, and that’s not our target—we intend to make the biggest possible impact, and we’ll do that by supplying an eco-friendlier, ethically made alternative to commodity coffee.” – Adam Maxwell, CEO and Founder of Voyage Foods 

Specialty coffee represents only around 20% of the global coffee market. A vast majority of coffee drinkers worldwide select mass-market coffee, whether brewed at home, at work, or on the road.

The Coffee Alternatives Landscape

Our FoodTech Data Navigator tracks 123 startups operating in the field of coffee across the supply chain. The majority of coffee companies tracked focus on coffee alternatives (e.g. cell-based coffee, functional coffee, and fair trade coffee). Startups are also active across the supply chain in areas like coffee delivery, appliances, and upcycling coffee waste for fashion, sustainable packaging, and furnishings. Among these, 15 companies have been featured in the FoodTech500 across all editions. Since 2018, there has been a significant increase in capital with a 41.9% CAGR, and total investments since 2014 amount to €2.2B.

Taking a close look at coffee alternatives, more than half (56%) of these companies were established in the past five years, with total funding reaching €410M since 2014, 98% of which was raised since 2018. This can be attributed to the numerous challenges faced by coffee in the recent years, namely climate change. 

Why We Need Ethical and Sustainable Coffee Alternatives

This year alone, robusta beans have risen 63%, and coffee prices are projected to keep rising due to the increased impact of extreme weather conditions, pests, and diseases on coffee crops and coffee-growing regions. As land suitable for growing coffee is shrinking due to climate change, global demand has increased substantially, and expanded cultivation has led to tropical deforestation.

To ensure that the world can continue to enjoy coffee without environmental or ethical concessions, Voyage offers a simple, affordable swap for traditional mass-market coffee with a delicious, no-compromise taste.

Voyage’s bean-free coffee is made from roasted chickpeas, rice hulls, and caffeine from green tea at levels similar to traditional coffee. It is available in a variety of caffeinated and decaffeinated formats, including roast and ground, liquid, liquid concentrate, and instant in a variety of flavor profiles.

Voyage Foods is a first-timer in the FoodTech 500 for 2023 and among the Top North American companies that made it on this year’s list.

Don’t miss out! Be an Early Applicant for a chance to be a part of the 2024 FoodTech 500. Apply by July 31st, 2024, and fast-track your application to be reviewed sooner, giving you a head start in the assessment to join the ranks of the most innovative food tech startups. Know an innovative AgriFoodTech company that’s making waves? NOMINATE them for the next edition of the FoodTech 500. Read about all about what’s new in the 2024 FoodTech 500 and how startups, scale-ups, and ecosystem players can benefit from it. 

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