On September 22, the 8th "Maker in China" Biomanufacturing SME Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition was held in Beijing. 105 works from the field of biomanufacturing across the country went through rounds of competition, and finally 9 maker teams and 23 start-up companies made it to the finals. In the end, one first-prize winner, two second-prize winners and three third-prize winners were selected in the Maker Group.

"OleoBio Coconut Biotechnology", a team composed of teachers and students from Guangdong Technion – Israel Institute of Technology (GTIIT), with the project "Healthy, Silky and Peach-flavored Chocolate from Coconut Yeast", stood out and won the second prize in the Maker Group with high scores!

The competition is jointly sponsored by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Finance and has been held for eight sessions so far. This is the first time that a special competition on biomanufacturing has been set up in the competition. By focusing on the needs and problems of the industry, the competition aims to stimulate the innovation vitality and potential, promote the transformation and application of outstanding innovation products, incubate a number of biomanufacturing innovation and entrepreneurial enterprises, and promote the development of biomanufacturing.

The team consists of GTIIT research assistant Wang Jinpeng, MSc students Chen Wenhao, Chen Han and Lu Tianjian, UG students Yang Xingyue and Xuan Junyu (Shantou University). Associate Professor Xu Peng from GTIIT Chemical Engineering Program takes the role of the team's supervisor.

The team members introduced that chocolate is a $120 billion global industry whose production relies on one key ingredient, cocoa butter. More than 70% of the world's cocoa butter comes from Ivory Coast countries in Central and West Africa, and 80% of Ivory Coast's forests have been lost in the past 50 years, and large-scale deforestation and climate change have exacerbated ecological degradation in the region, threatening the global supply of cocoa butter. Chocolate is a popular holiday gift with high price. At present, there is no alternative raw material for the production of cocoa butter in China, and a large amount of chocolate needs to be imported from abroad every year. In 2021, the Department of Commerce of Guangdong Province reported that Russia's chocolate exports to China had increased eightfold in the past five years, while Russia's chocolate exports ranked only 11th in the world. At present, China's per capita chocolate consumption is far below the world average, while its demand is growing at a rate of 15-20% per year.

Microbial cocoa butter from "OleoBio Coconut Butter Biotechnology" is healthy and rich in antioxidant flavonoids with natural chocolate texture and peach or rose aromas. The team will focus on the technological development of high value-added fats such as cocoa butter, and strive to achieve the large-scale biomanufacturing of high-quality cocoa butter in China. Moreover, it is committed to breaking the situation that the origin of cocoa butter raw materials (Africa, South America) and chocolate manufacturing places (Europe and the United States) are subject to both sides, and achieving the industrialization innovation of domestic chocolate raw materials and production.

Group Photo

Biomanufacturing indicates the direction of strategic emerging industries in China's bio-economy, and it is one of the important technical means to achieve green and low-carbon development. "OleoBio Coconut Biotechnology" is committed to achieving technical breakthroughs and industrial landing of high-quality oil compounds by means of synthetic biology, accelerating large-scale production, and realizing the goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality.

This entrepreneurial competition has also received support and guidance from the GT Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Center (GTEC).

Text/Photos: Xu Peng, Wang Jinpeng, GTIIT News & Public Affairs