In this instalment of The Cell Base's ‘Start-up spotlight,' we speak to Simon Dusséaux, CSO and co-founder of Denmark-based EvodiaBio, a bio-industrial firm that produces sustainable, natural aromas for the F&B industry.

What inspired the establishment of EvodiaBio, and what is the company's main focus?

The idea behind EvodiaBio started at the University of Copenhagen, where myself and co-founder Sotirios Kampranis were conducting research aiming to find better ways to produce aroma compounds.

Historically, it has been tough to make aroma compounds using biological methods because they are composed of structurally complex volatile molecules that are hard to produce and harvest. Among those, terpenoids are some of the most common aromas found in nature, present for example in basil, mint or other aromatic plants, like hops, and used in food and drinks.

We are driven by sustainability and have our hearts set on tackling issues that are important for society and have an impact on everyday life, such as responsible drinking. To achieve both of these overarching goals, we have decided to focus on producing non-alcoholic beer hop aromas.

Can you explain how precision fermentation is used in EvodiaBio’s aroma production?

Our patented platform technology is composed of carefully engineered strains that can convert sugar at high yields into the desired aromas. Until now, there were no effective ways of producing aromas in cell factories. After years of research, we now have developed and patented a technology that significantly improves aroma production over any other current biotechnology, bringing them within our reach.

How does your approach to cellular agriculture differentiate EvodiaBio in the aroma market?

Current options for aroma production are based on old technology used for decades, and the industry hasn’t had many new alternatives. Our aromas are made biologically and are not based on chemical synthesis or unsustainable plant harvesting, as is the case today. We aim to innovate the aroma market by proposing high-quality and biologically produced aromas, that circumvent the limitations of the current methods in terms of sustainability, consistency, supply chain and customisation.

What specific strains or microbes are key to your fermentation process?

The key micro-organism that we use is Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker’s/brewer’s yeast), which has been repurposed to achieve the production of those aroma molecules. As this microbe is safe and well-recognised in the fermented beverage industry, it is well-suited to be used within existing practices and processes.

How do you ensure consistency and quality in your aroma products through fermentation?

Our fermentation process is carefully controlled and monitored to ensure maximum reproducibility and has been extensively tested for robustness and consistency. Moreover, we have designed a purification strategy that ensures that the aromas we use in our products are of high quality and purity and meet the industry standards.

What are the environmental impacts of using precision fermentation compared to traditional methods and how do you envision EvodiaBio's impact on the aroma market?

The Danish Technological Institute has compared the environmental impact of aroma delivery in IPA-style beer production using traditional hops versus our product – named yops – produced with precision fermentation. Their life cycle analysis reveals that our technology leads to an 83% reduction in CO2 emissions, 86% reduction in water usage, 84% reduction of energy consumption and a 94% reduction in land usage compared to traditional aroma hops.

How scalable is your fermentation technology for larger production volumes?

Our fermentation technology has been already successfully upscaled from 5 litre to 300 litre bioreactors and production volumes will be further increased with a new 4000 litre production unit that is currently being installed at our facility.

Brewer’s yeast is well known for its high scalability, and we strongly believe that our technology is well-suited for large-scale production.

What regulatory challenges have you encountered in bringing your fermented aromas to market?

From the start, we have designed our technology to work together with the existing regulatory standards in the industry, minimising potential regulatory roadblocks. Using a well-recognised GRAS organism such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae and only food-grade raw material in all our processes has been key in that.

All aroma molecules produced by EvodiaBio to date are already approved on the market and our main focus has been to ensure that our production meets the quality and purity criteria set by the different regulatory bodies for each of them.

Can you discuss any collaborations or partnerships that have been crucial to your technological development?

The constant support of the University of Copenhagen has been instrumental in the development of the technology and ensured continued R&D efforts, especially in the very early stages. We also had a crucial collaboration with the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability that allowed us to successfully conduct our first larger-scale trials, thus demonstrating the scalability of our technology.

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