Innovation

Patxi Larumbe and Daniel Rico, two professionals in robotic construction from Pamplona, having a vast knowledge of 3D printing, realized the potential of their technologies in the food production industry and went for it. In 2017, the Cocuus company was founded, bringing together experts in the fields of biochemistry, engineering, design, nutrition and programming to apply their knowledge and make an impact. The business focuses on the construction of machinery able to produce mimetic food using plant and animal cells as raw materials. Therefore, it must be clarified that their products are machines, not food. However, they do help their clients in the development of different food by providing the support necessary to put their machines to work. Yet, it should be mentioned that the business is really extensive. The machinery produced by Cocuus is used for a wide variety of purposes in 3 different industries: hospitality (customization and advertising), healthcare (dishes made from purees) and the food industry (meat and fish substitutes). Nevertheless, our story will center on the most important technological solutions. So, what is the specific impact in terms of SDGs?

SDG 2 Zero Hunger

The company’s ability to produce machines that create food from remains of meat, plant-based protein or cultivated cells presents a huge opportunity in the long run to face the foreseen increase in the global population. The production of meat as it exists today will evidently be unable to keep up.

SDG 3 Good health and well-being

Driven by the issue of dysphagia (a difficulty in swallowing with which more than 210 million people suffer), the company decided to use machines to transform purees into real-looking food, conserving nutritional values while adding shape and color. Thanks to that, they have given back to people the desire to eat; they have given them excitement for life.

SDG 12 Responsible consumption and production

From a production standpoint, 3D printers need far less energy, space, and people, which means an improved production process. The company is aware of the impact of farming nowadays and aims to develop a more sustainable method of getting proteins in the same quantities.

Regarding consumption, the company encourages people to avoid consuming genetically modified food (as it can provoke heart diseases due to the trans fats that it contains). Therefore, they suggest turning to a mimetic food, which is a healthier and more sustainable alternative, as it goes through a completely different industrial process.

SDG 15 Life on land

There are huge territories dedicated to animal farms and agriculture for animal feeding, which results in actions such as deforestation aiming to make more space for these areas. Therefore, in some cases, ecosystems are destroyed and biodiversity is threatened. The solution of taking cells that Cocuus proposes reduces the number of animals needed, which consequently allows the land to be saved for other purposes that will be more beneficial for the environment.

Inspiration

The co-founders of Cocuus were inspired by the possibility of solving some nutrition problems both in the short- and in the long run and contributing to a sustainable future. The issues were so obvious that it was not clear why the market had still overlooked them.

The first issue that the company innovation deals with is the people with dysphagia. Patxi told us what inspired him to address this problem: "Many of the patients with dysphagia are unable to move and the only delight they have is food. And this problem affects not only elderly people. Imagine, for example, a 25-year-old paralyzed guy, who is told that from now on he could only eat the same tasteless purees. In such cases most people lose the excitement of eating and refuse to eat, ending up with a feeding tube in their nose. Do they have a desire to live? Probably not." So, the machinery Cocuus delivers to the hospitals with such departments is centered on improving the quality of life of those people. Since this disease is quite common (40% of the population suffers from dysphagia to some extent at a certain age), the impact of the innovation can go very far.

Speaking about long-term inspiration, Patxi Larumbe states: "In 15 years from now the population is expected to increase up to 9.7 billion people. The meat supply will be insufficient, leading to rising prices and lower consumption. The diet of the greatest part of the world will become imbalanced.” To prevent this from happening and somehow avoid this unappealing projection, action needs to be taken now. So, with a deep knowledge of printing, robotics, and laser cutting technologies, the founders had a great base to start changing the future now. Patxi was excited about implementing everything he knew and motivated his team to develop his ideas.

"Reshape the industry. Is this goal too ambitious? Maybe, but the thing is that we have the 'why?' and we won't give up."

Overall impact

By developing 2D/3D laser printing and bioprinting, Patxi Larumbe, Daniel Rico, and the other employees have shown their determination to create a more sustainable food production system. The company Cocuus, which is also involved in robotics technology, already possesses experience in the field of 2D/3D bioprinting. They have designed and marketed machinery that can be used to produce synthetic meat by the process of additive printing. One of Cocuus' clients (or collaborating companies), is already capable of producing 500 kilos of meat products a day, which is equivalent to 3000 median cutlets. Speaking about the complexity of the production of meat analogues, the company's innovation permits the reduction of the number of input ingredients to 3 (compared with an industry average of 12-14). This leads to significant time savings and increased efficiency.

Moreover, the Cocuus team has also developed a technology to give purees the appearance of real dishes without damaging the taste. This innovation is a solution for people who have difficulty swallowing; it helps nursing homes and hospitals ensure everyone can eat happily and deliciously.

With all those arguments, they were one of the four firms selected for Spain Foodtech, a program to help technological start-ups working in the field of food, and which has the support of a project incubator, Eatable Adventures, and the National Centre for Food Technology and Safety (CNTA).

Business benefit

With the implementation of the innovation, the business has changed, taking a completely new path. To begin, the company has become known worldwide due to its open events, presentations, and a clear compelling mission (improve well-being and prevent hunger). A new product was launched; however, we could also call it a service, as Cocuus not only sells and leases its platforms, but also provides its expertise and R&D assistance formulas and instructions, discovering new markets of hospitals and food production. It additionally plans to partner with alternative meat makers through selling and leasing its platform.

Moreover, the necessity of reshaping existing machinery attracted new faces in the research and development department. New people were also needed to develop formulas (biochemists, nutritionists).

Regarding new investment opportunities, Cocuus invests heavily in R&D in order to help economies of scale and offer an affordable product. There is no surprise that it takes a few years to reach such a volume of production. Nevertheless, thanks to the development of new formulas and improvements in existing processes, the efficiency of machinery is constantly increasing. It should also be highlighted that the number of investors has increased greatly, as they were passionate about the idea and the vision of Cocuus. In terms of revenues, the business has raised $2.95M since its foundation, which is an overwhelming number.

The overall wellbeing of its workers is crucial for the company as they only have 18 employees and each of them is a valuable asset for Cocuus. The innovation led to giving even more value to the team, thus providing the employees with higher salaries and benefits. High margins allowed Cocuus to do so.

Social and environmental benefit

Through revolutionary bioprinting, Cocuus is making strides to help better our biggest stakeholder, the environment. The reason that bioprinting is beneficial for the environment stems from 3 main reasons: reduction of greenhouse gasses, reduced water and food use, and reduction of land use.

There are approximately 8 billion people around the globe; even though there are many people who do not consume meat due to religion, health reasons, or preference, the majority of the world survives by eating meat. This means one thing: agriculture. Agriculture implies a great number of different instruments to raise animals, kill and prepare them, and store the meat. All of this requires a lot of machines which create the greenhouse gasses contributing to our global climate crisis; machines to harvest crops to feed the animals, keep them warm and tend to them. Not to mention the mass amounts of energy required to keep the meat refrigerated. Not only are these processes emission-intensive, but massive amounts of land are required to house the animals. This land could be used for things far more beneficial than simply housing livestock. Not only is land an issue, but the concept of feeding an animal enormous quantities of grains only to get substantially less of that weight back in meat is absurd. Finally, so much of our global population lives without water, yet we use so much of it in the process of raising livestock. All these issues can be solved through bioprinting. Cocuus can print “mock” meat for the masses, using very low resources compared to the alternative discussed. Although the new process does use energy, this energy can be harvested using environmentally conscious methods, such as solar or tidal. The solution to our food crisis is in the works and it starts with bioprinting.

Interview

Patxi Larumbe, CEO, co-founder