Startup transforms leftovers from beer production into chocolate

Chocolate as we know it is under pressure. A Danish startup has used a surplus ingredient to make chocolate without cocoa.

Climate change is weakening the global cocoa supply chain and causing major problems in terms of price, sustainability and environmental impact. This challenge is being addressed by the entrepreneurial company endless food co ., which has developed a sustainable and price-stable alternative to chocolate that is not based on cocoa beans.

This Isn't Chocolate

The product is called THIC (This isn't Chocolate), and the startup's goal is to sell the product to, for example, restaurants or bakeries that can use THIC as an ingredient instead of chocolate. The ingredient is based on upcycled mash, which is a by-product of beer brewing, and it can be used as a substitute for chocolate in everything from ice cream to croissants to coatings.

"One day we would like to coat every Mars bar in the world. Because if we can avoid the unsustainable use of chocolate and replace it with a more planet-friendly ingredient, I think we all win," says Maximillian Bogenmann , co-founder and CEO of Endless Food Co.

An Innofounder project

Endless Food has been part of Innovation Fund Denmark's Innofounder program, which is a 12-month full-time program for entrepreneurs with the aim of accelerating the development of innovative entrepreneurial ideas from the early stages to a stage where the company becomes financially sustainable - either through sale or by raising additional public or private investments.

- At a very early stage in a startup's life, a big thing is to build credibility, but also self-esteem. And being able to tell people that we were part of the Innofounder program related to Innovation Fund Denmark gave us a little boost of self-confidence, but also credibility. Which we found quite important in the early stage, when we were still trying to figure out what it was we were doing, says Christian Bach, Co-founder and CEO of Endless Food Co.

You can hear the two Co-founders, Christian and Maximillian, tell more about THIC and being part of the Innofounder program here:

Shortly before the turn of the year, Endless Food Co attracted a total investment of 7.5 million DKK in an investment round led by Nordic Foodtech VC with support from EIFO and Rockstart. At the same time, Endless Food Co announced a partnership with 7-Eleven Denmark to launch new products.

Facts
The fund's investment: 760,000 DKK
Period: 2023 - 2024
Project title: Non-Cacao Chocolate from Brewers Spent Grains
Project participants: Planter Box ApS (Endless Food Co)

Foto: Cory Smith/Endless Food Co