What if the chocolate industry's reliance on equatorial farms—and the deforestation that comes with it—could be eliminated entirely? Plant cell bioreactors are doing that, producing real cacao without a single tree. But this isn't just about chocolate. It's about fundamentally rethinking how we manufacture food at scale, and the bioprocessing innovations emerging from this shift have implications far beyond the food industry.

Steven Lang, Head of R&D at California Cultured, spent two decades mastering mammalian cell culture at biopharma giants like Johnson & Johnson and Genentech. Then he made a radical pivot: applying those same bioprocessing principles to cultivate plant cells for food production. His mission? Prove that cellular agriculture extends far beyond the cultivated meat narrative, and that plant cell manufacturing offers a faster, more economical path to market.

At California Cultured, Steven's team is scaling cacao and coffee production using innovative low-cost plastic bioreactors instead of expensive stainless steel vessels. They've engineered plant cell media formulations that operate at a fraction of typical bioprocessing costs. And they're preparing to launch their first commercial product—high-flavanol cocoa powder—in 2026.

What you'll discover in this episode:

Why cellular agriculture ≠ cultivated meat (07:16) – Steven's frustration with the narrow definition that's holding the industry back, and why plant cell culture deserves equal attention
Plant vs. animal cell culture fundamentals (09:26) – Technical comparison: totipotent plant cells, callus formation, adaptation to suspension culture, and how cacao cell lines are developed from explants
Achieving 30-40% pack cell volume in 7-day batches (11:14) – Process parameters: ambient temperature growth, low pH environments, minimal downstream processing, and maintaining product consistency without genetic modification
The economics that change everything (14:38) – How plant cell media costs and simple raw material requirements create commodity-scale economics
The Tesla model for biotech (15:58) – Strategic rationale for launching with premium high-flavanol cocoa powder first, then using that revenue runway to optimize for commodity pricing
Low-cost bioreactor innovation (18:23) – Why plastic vessels beat stainless steel, contamination management in low-pH cultures, and scale-out strategy over traditional scale-up
Decentralized biomanufacturing (23:10) – Converting underutilized office space into production facilities, onshoring food ingredient production, and what this means for emerging markets and supply chain resilience
The bigger picture beyond cacao (24:23) – Four approved drugs already produced via plant cell culture, the expanding landscape of ingredients (saffron, ginseng, echinacea), and why stage-appropriate models matter for cellular agriculture's future

The strategic insight:

While the cultivated meat industry struggles with cost structures and consumer acceptance, plant cell manufacturing is quietly proving the business model. The lesson for bioprocessing professionals? Sometimes the fastest path to commercialization isn't the most obvious one, and the innovations happening in food manufacturing today could reshape how we think about bioproduction economics across industries.

Here is the previous conversation with Steven Lang:

Episodes 55-56: Cultivated Meat: A Promising Future or an Inevitable Bubble? with Steven Lang

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