MeliBio, Inc. has revealed its first product: real honey, made without bees. The company, which uses proprietary technology, will offer the plant-based ingredient for B2B customers and foodservice.
MeliBio presented the honey made without bees at an event organized at Cell Valley Labs, an incubator and networking space in Berkeley, California, where members of climate tech, food tech and investor communities had a chance to be among the first to sample the product.
After extensive research and development, MeliBio successfully scaled their method for making honey without bees on a manufacturing level, showing the ability to serve multiple clients in their needs for non-animal honey ingredients. The California-based company will start making deliveries to its customers starting from the end of 2021, and the beginning of 2022.
MeliBio, Inc. has developed a scientific approach to replace honeybees in the production process, and is providing solutions to several sustainability and supply chain issues. Studies show that the industry’s reliance on honeybees is making 20,000 wild and native bees crowded out from their habitats and vanishing at an accelerated rate. Additionally, climate change is making it difficult to keep up with the global demand for honey.
Darko Mandich, CEO and Co-Founder said: “MeliBio is founded with the mission to make food in a way to save our planet Earth by ending our use of bees in honey production, and thereby helping to restore bee biodiversity amongst native and wild bees worldwide. Scientific advancements have created a very exciting position where humans can finally make one of their favorite foods without the use of animals. Honey is an ingredient found in every product category, from food to beverage and personal care products for which MeliBio is now providing a plant-based option. By bringing delicious, nutritious and real honey made without bees to the market, we are shaping our present and future in a way that is better for bees and for humans.”
MeliBio is a venture-backed company, founded in 2020 by Darko Mandich and Aaron Schaller, PhD, that raised $1.5M in pre-seed rounds from investors in the US, Europe, Asia and Australia. Investors include Cult Food Science from Canada and Javas Venture from Indonesia, Big Idea Ventures, Joyance Partners, 18.ventures, Sparklabs Cultiv8, Sustainable Food Ventures, Capital V and mission driven family offices and angel investors.
