Compound Foods launches beanless coffee and cocoa ingredient platform

Compound Foods officially launched its beanless ingredient platform on 24 April 2025, offering brands new tools to address growing volatility in the global coffee and cocoa supply chains. Built through upcycled ingredients, fermentation, and food science, the company's platform delivers functional, great-tasting alternatives without relying on traditional beans.

The announcement comes at a time of historic market disruption. Cocoa prices quadrupled in 2024, and coffee reached a 50-year high in 2025. With climate volatility, declining yields, and economic pressures driving farmers away from these crops, Compound Foods said that structural solutions are needed to protect brands and supply chains.

“Today, we’re officially launching our beanless ingredient platform,” said Maricel Saenz, Founder & CEO of Compound Foods. “Built from upcycled ingredients, fermentation, and food science, our products are designed to help brands navigate a new reality with ingredients that deliver on taste, cost, and consistency.”

Saenz, who founded Compound Foods after years of research and development in sustainable food systems, said the personal connection to the crops at risk is strong.

“I don’t have to tell you how much I love coffee, and you know what else I love? Chocolate,” she said. “Like me, these crops come from tropical ecosystems that thrive in balance. I have been worried about their future for years, and today the hard reality we’ve been preparing for is here: the supply chains behind coffee and cocoa, the crops that fuel so much of our joy, rituals, and industry, are breaking.”

Saenz emphasized that what were once distant projections about the vulnerability of global agriculture are now happening in real time.

“What used to be long-term projections are now present-day realities,” she said. “This isn’t theoretical anymore. It’s happening now.”

Compound Foods spent the past five years developing coffee alternatives through fermentation and upcycled inputs. That expertise, Saenz said, allowed the company to create cocoa alternatives much faster, delivering products with great taste and functionality that respond directly to what the industry needs today.

“The in-depth work and research we conducted to create coffee alternatives enabled us to create alternatives to cocoa in record time,” Saenz said.

The platform is positioned to help companies blend resilient ingredients into their products, hedge against future price spikes, and co-create new offerings that can scale rapidly.

“We are in a strong position to support companies through this transition,” Saenz said. “This new platform is for the companies that are ready to adapt, those who want to meet demand, de-risk their supply chains, and manage volatility, without compromising product quality or process.”

Rather than aiming to replace specialty coffee or artisanal cacao, Compound Foods is focusing on the segment of the market most at risk: large-scale commodity crops that are vulnerable to climate shocks and often linked to exploitative practices.

“We’re not trying to replace specialty coffee or craft cacao,” Saenz said. “We’re building a better option for the part of the industry that’s most fragile: commodity crops traded at scale, vulnerable to climate, and often exploitative in practice.”

Reflecting on the milestone, Saenz credited her team and early partners for helping bring the platform to launch.

“I’m proud of our team, grateful to our early partners, and excited for what’s ahead,” she said.

Compound Foods, based in San Francisco, continues to focus on leveraging biotechnology and sustainable sourcing to build resilient food systems. The company said it is currently working with partners across multiple segments of the food and beverage industry to integrate its beanless coffee and cocoa solutions.