How Food Brewer boosts media screening accuracy using Reshape’s Imaging technology

Revolutionizing Media Screening for Cell-Cultured Coffee and Cacao

Food Brewer, a Swiss food-tech startup founded in 2021, is reinventing the production of cacao and coffee through plant cellular agriculture. With a mission to produce high-quality, sustainable ingredients to meet ever increasing demand, without the environmental impact of traditional farming, Food Brewer grows plant cells in steel tanks instead of on farms. A method that can be done anywhere in the world, regardless of climate or soil conditions.

The Challenge: Inconsistent Image Quality and Manual Processes

From the start, Food Brewer knew that tracking plant cell growth using different compounds across multiple media compositions and concentrations was critical to optimizing production. However, the company faced challenges:

Aggregated cell structures: The growth of cells into large aggregates made it difficult to analyze cultures accurately.
Manual image capture: Early methods relied on smartphones and makeshift setups, resulting in inconsistent image quality.
Limited growth insights: Tracking growth over time was very hard with single-time-point images.

We were using a black box with a phone mounted on top. Lighting conditions varied, and reflections distorted the data, making reliable growth tracking impossible.

The Solution: Discovering Reshape Biotech

In 2022, Food Brewer discovered Reshape at the Future Food Tech conference in London. "Our CSO attended the event, and after seeing the device in action, we knew it could solve our imaging problems," Christopher recalls.

Food Brewer quickly became an early adopter of Reshape's imaging technology, integrating the system into their workflows within weeks.

The implementation process was smooth and efficient. The device required minimal configuration and the Reshape support team was quick to assist, when needed. The intuitive interface helped team members, even those more cautious with new technologies, to get comfortable with the system without extensive training.

The Impact: Data-Driven Insights and Faster Experiment Cycles

Integrating Reshape transformed Food Brewer’s research processes:
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Fewer false positives: The switch from manual assessment to Reshape's standardized imaging reduced errors in growth predictions.
Improved growth tracking: Transillumination imaging enabled the development of mass prediction algorithms to estimate cell dry weight accurately.
Time savings in experimentation: By reducing the need to repeat experiments due to inaccurate data, the team shortened cycle times for media screening.
Capturing growth: The team now regularly captures images more frequently to track growth curves accurately.

"It increases speed and the quality of the media screening experiments that we’re performing. Before, we relied on inaccurate visual assessments of experiments that took 1–2 weeks. With Reshape and Food Brewers proprietary software, that guesswork is gone. Additionally, the manual involvement and the time of an experiment could be reduced by over 50%," Christopher notes.

Unexpected Benefits: Better Image Quality and Streamlined Data Flow

Beyond more accurate growth tracking, Food Brewer was pleasantly surprised by Reshape’s image-to-image consistency and contrast of bottom-lit specimens. 

The better illumination helped our algorithms separate tissue samples from the background more accurately. It’s made a big difference in how easily we can analyze growth patterns.

Looking Ahead: Scaling for Future Demand

With fresh investment from Swiss chocolate manufacturer Lindt & Sprüngli and venture firm Sparkalis (corporate venture capital division of Puratos), Food Brewer is gearing up for its next phase of growth. As the company prepares for its first commercial launch in 2026, it is focused on expanding production capabilities and refining its product development process. 

Reshape Biotech will continue to play a vital role in optimizing media screening and ensuring precise growth tracking — both essential as Food Brewer scales to meet the rising demand for sustainable cacao and coffee alternatives.