Many companies worldwide are turning to biotechnology and food science to replace traditional coffee with "synthetic coffee," according to the American newspaper "The Wall Street Journal." This shift is driven by the high demand for coffee, with humanity consuming about two billion cups daily, leading to the removal of more forests and contributing to significant carbon emissions.
As climate change makes coffee beans harder to grow, alternatives made from date pits, chickpeas, and ramon seeds are making their way into morning cups. Research indicates that around half of the suitable lands for coffee cultivation will become unviable for this purpose by 2050, with this percentage rising to 88% in Brazil, due to climate change.
According to the newspaper, "synthetic coffee" will be less harmful than traditional coffee cultivation and will not carry the same negative impacts of climate change. It will be made from a variety of ingredients, including chickpeas and "recycled" agricultural waste such as date pits, cocoa, and nuts. Companies are also using methods involving lab-grown cells from real coffee plants to develop plants in bioreactors (systems that contain biological reactions for plant biotechnology processes) to create a material that closely resembles real coffee.
Some companies have already begun either selling "beanless coffee" alternatives or developing them. One of the largest food companies in the world, the American firm "Cargill," has recognized this trend and recently signed an agreement to become the sole commercial distributor of products from the American company "Voyage Foods," which manufactures beanless coffee.
The reach of these companies to a sufficient number of people exemplifies what economists and climate capitalists call the "substitution effect;" as traditional coffee becomes scarcer and more expensive, consumers will shift to these alternative, more affordable, and abundant beverages, according to the same newspaper.
