SACCHA, one of the finalists in the 2021 Fi Global Startup Innovation Challenge, is on a mission to rethink our food supply and believes it is possible to produce food in a more efficient and natural. Their solution? Biomass fermentation and downstream processing.
March 29, 2022
obtains proteins from microorganisms such as brewer's yeast that are like egg protein, but without the egg. These are distributed to food companies to help them create authentic alternatives to animal products and bring them into every European kitchen and every European household.
To learn more about this startup and how it is upcycling side streams in other industries, such as the beer and wine industries, to produce more sustainable protein and fulfil the need of our growing population, we caught up with CEO and Founder, Christoph Pitter after their pitch in the Most Innovative Plant-based or Alternative Ingredient category. Below are some of the highlights from the interview conducted on the show floor at Fi Europe 2021 in December:
Q: Do you think that consumers want to eat these kind of products, these kind of foods?
"That is what we believe because we are non-GMO and we use products everybody knows. Everybody is consuming yeast - if you eat bread, if you drink your beer or wine - everybody already knows these products. Because of that, we believe consumers will like our product. In the end, it is nothing else, just a yeast protein."
Q: Food obviously needs to taste good. What does SACCHA products taste like?
"That is also the most important part. And that is where we also see our USP, because we have proteins that can be completely flavourless, or we can add an umami taste for different end-applications like for meat alternatives or dairy alternatives if you want to have this natural umami-flavour. So, you don’t need any additives."
Q: What does it mean being a finalist in the SUIC this year?
"It was, so far, a great experience, especially with the jury that came after the show here and gave some feedback [on] where they see [the] challenges. So, I think it helped our company to grow and to solve the right challenges ahead."
Christoph Pitter holds an M.Eng. in Business Engineering as well as a B.Sc. in Biotechnology. He is the founder of SACCHA, and a sports and outdoor enthusiast with industry experience in global B2B sales, marketing and startup building. His favourite quote is by R.P. Feynman: "The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool."
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