PectCof

PectCof is a Dutch food-tech company operating in the circular economy, focused on valorizing coffee pulp, a significant side-stream of the coffee industry. The company was conceptualized in March 2011 during an innovation course at Wageningen University, where a multicultural team of students, including co-founder Rudi Dieleman, developed a biorefinery concept for the coffee cherry. Officially founded in 2012 by Dieleman and Andres Felipe Belalcazar, PectCof emerged from the idea to utilize the vast amounts of coffee pulp—the fruit's flesh and skin left after bean extraction—that is typically discarded. Dieleman, with a background in electrical engineering and a master's in management and innovation, provided the entrepreneurial drive for the venture.

The company's core business involves a proprietary and patented green extraction technology to process and upcycle coffee pulp into high-value functional ingredients for the B2B food and beverage market. The process begins with preserving the wet biomass at plantation sites to create a stable, dry material, which is then shipped to Europe for separation and purification. This model not only reduces CO2 emissions and pollution associated with agricultural waste but also creates an additional revenue stream for coffee farmers. The company has secured approximately $2.28 million in funding over four rounds, including a significant seed round in January 2022 led by Brightlands Venture Partners and Future Food Fund.

PectCof's flagship product is Dutch Gum®, a hydrocolloid that functions as an emulsifier, stabilizer, texturizer, and binder. It has been successfully tested in applications such as candies, sauces, soft drinks, plant-based ice cream, high-protein bars, and vitamin gummies. The product is positioned as a clean-label ingredient that can enhance plant-based food formulations by masking off-notes, extending shelf-life through high water-binding capacity, and improving flavor profiles. In a significant milestone, Dutch Gum® achieved Self-Affirmed Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) status in the United States in January 2024, opening up the North American market for the company. PectCof is now focused on scaling up production from batch processing to a semi-continuous model and expanding its customer collaborations for co-developing new product formulations.

Keywords: coffee pulp valorization, Dutch Gum, food ingredients, biorefinery, circular economy, hydrocolloid, food emulsifier, food stabilizer, upcycled ingredients, sustainable food production, clean-label ingredients, plant-based formulation, food technology, agricultural waste reduction, Pectin, Wageningen University startup, coffee by-product, functional ingredients, food texturizer, food binder, green extraction