Scientists and chefs at the Copenhagen food research center Spora are developing alternative foods from brewing byproducts, rapeseed press cake and carbon dioxide emissions.
The independent research hub aims to address food sustainability by turning low-value agricultural waste into nutritious products that meet high culinary standards for taste and texture.
Founded in 2023 by Rasmus Munk, head chef of the award-winning Alchemist restaurant in Denmark, Spora operates as a global food research center. It collaborates with universities, scientific institutions and private companies across multiple interdisciplinary research projects.
Rather than bringing in chefs only at the final stage of product development, Spora integrates gastronomy directly into scientific research from the start, testing how new ingredients behave as real food.
Brewing waste converted into cocoa-free chocolate
The research center's most advanced project to date is NOTCH, an alternative chocolate product created without cocoa beans or cocoa butter. The idea originated in 2019 at Alchemist, when Munk created a chocolate substitute for diners unable to consume traditional chocolate.
NOTCH uses spent barley and malt grains left over from beer brewing, a byproduct typically used as animal feed. Spora dries and roasts the spent grain before subjecting it to traditional chocolate production steps, including milling, conching, tempering and molding.
Vegetable fats, muscovado sugar and vanilla are added to shape the flavor and texture. In December 2025, Spora launched a retail trial of NOTCH in Copenhagen through a partnership with Alma Madmarked, releasing three distinct bars alongside other product applications.
Alma Madmarked reported that the first two production runs sold out immediately. The retail trial concluded on June 1, 2026, as the partners shifted focus toward developing their next commercial product.
Transforming rapeseed press cake into human nutrition
Spora is also researching ways to convert rapeseed press cake into protein-rich food. When farmers press rapeseed to extract oil, a solid mass containing 30 to 40 percent protein, plant fiber and amino acids remains, but it is currently used primarily as livestock feed.
Raw press cake presents sensory challenges, including bitter, astringent, spicy and sulfurous flavor notes, while the plant itself contains compounds known as glucosinolates. Working with the University of Copenhagen, Spora is studying plant composition, food safety and consumer acceptance.
Culinary teams have created several prototypes from the material, including seasoning powders, fermented items, burgers, spreads and energy bars. In sensory evaluations, energy bar prototypes produced flavor notes reminiscent of rye bread, popcorn, cabbage and mustard.
In August 2026, the University of Copenhagen announced a new postdoctoral program to accelerate rapeseed press cake research. The initiative focuses on reducing glucosinolate levels and preparing safety data on toxicology and allergenicity for European Union novel food authorization.
Upcycling plant byproducts using fungal fermentation
In another research avenue, Spora is investigating how fungal fermentation can transform plant side-streams into new food ingredients using the fungus Neurospora intermedia. The organism is traditionally used in Indonesia to make oncom, a fermented food produced from leftover food scraps.
A 2024 study published in the journal Nature Microbiology by researchers from the University of California, Berkeley, alongside Munk and other scientists, examined the fungus across roughly 30 plant substrates. The fungus breaks down pectin and cellulose, altering the material's structure, aroma and taste.
Experiments conducted at Alchemist showed that fermenting rice porridge with Neurospora intermedia generated sweet, fruity aromas. Researchers noted that biological transformation alters the original byproduct fundamentally rather than simply incorporating it into a recipe.
Generating protein from captured carbon dioxide
Spora's most ambitious project, titled From CO2 to Dinner, forms part of the international Acetate to Food consortium. The project explores producing protein without relying on traditional agricultural crops.
The process does not turn carbon dioxide directly into food. Instead, carbon dioxide is first converted into acetate, a plant material derived from cotton, which serves as a carbon source for microorganisms during fermentation, replacing sugar.
During the project's first phase, researchers developed microbial strains that grow on 100 percent acetate and yield biomass containing over 40 percent protein. A pilot research facility was established at Aarhus University in Denmark to support ongoing work.
The consortium began its second phase for the 2025 to 2027 period, backed by up to 162.2 million Danish kroner, or approximately 21.7 million euros, from the Novo Nordisk Foundation and the Gates Foundation. Partner organizations include Aarhus University, the University of Copenhagen, Northwestern University, Novonesis, Topsoe and Orkla Foods.
Spora is leading work on turning the microbial biomass into edible food prototypes and conducting consumer taste testing across different food cultures. Consortium partners noted that if scaled successfully, the technology has the potential capacity to produce food for more than one billion people annually, though large-scale technical, financial and environmental viability remains under evaluation.
While NOTCH has completed market trials, Spora's other projects remain in development. Researchers emphasize that before lab-grown ingredients can reach supermarket shelves, questions regarding safety, production scale, cost and environmental impact must be fully resolved.
