ZX Ventures, AB InBev’S Global Innovation Group, Partners with Clara Foods to Unlock Precision Fermentation's Potential to Meet Global Food Challenges

NEW YORK --- Today, ZX Ventures, the global investment and innovation group of AB InBev, announced a R&D partnership with Clara Foods, a pioneer and leader in animal-free protein production, to unlock the possibilities of precision fermentation at large scale. The partnership draws on AB InBev’s centuries of expertise in scaled, food-grade fermentation and downstream processing gained from large-scale brewing processes, and Clara’s technology leadership in animal-free, performance proteins.

Since the turn of this century, global food demand is expected to increase anywhere between 59% to 98% by 2050, putting increased pressure on natural resources like water and arable land, and conventional food supply systems. This has created a growing need for new solutions to meet the increased demand for food. Through this partnership, ZX Ventures and Clara Foods intend to explore the development of sustainable, animal-free egg protein ‘brewed’ at large scale.

“Meeting the increased demand for food requires breakthrough solutions built on collaboration and innovation that spans several industry domains – both old and new. The ancient and natural process of fermentation can be further harnessed to help meet future demands in our global food system,” said Patrick O'Riordan, founder & CEO at BioBrew, a technology platform venture in ZX Ventures that is exploring opportunities to apply large-scale fermentation and downstream processing expertise beyond beer. “We look forward to exploring the development of highly-functional, animal-free egg proteins with Clara Foods in a scalable, sustainable and economically viable manner.”

“Humanity needs solutions that match the scale and urgency of our problems. Since day one, Clara has been on a mission to accelerate the world’s transition to animal-free protein, starting with the egg. More than one trillion eggs are consumed globally every year and corporate commitments for cage-free aren’t enough. We’re thrilled to be partnering with the world’s largest fermentation company to work together to enable a kinder, greener, and more delicious future. This partnership is a major step towards realizing our vision,” said Arturo Elizondo, CEO and co-founder of Clara Foods. “Working with BioBrew, ZX Ventures, and the broader AB InBev group truly allows us to harness our novel technology and bring it to scale – and the possibilities are immense.”