Prefer raises US$4.2M, launches bean-free soluble coffee, cocoa ingredients

SINGAPORE – Food-tech startup, Prefer, has unveiled new soluble bean-free coffee and cocoa powders designed for food and beverage manufacturers facing price hikes and supply constraints for these commodities. 

The company has also raised US$4.2 million in fresh funding led by At One Ventures and Chancery Hill Ventures, bringing its total to US$6.2 million.

Prefer makes its alt-coffee and cocoa using a fermentation and roasting process that transforms affordable feedstocks such as okara (soy pulp) and broken rice into ingredients that deliver coffee- and cocoa-like taste, aroma, and functionality. 

“Our focus has been on price and flavor first. Sustainability is a bonus,” said cofounder and CEO Jake Berber. “Using standard food manufacturing equipment allows us to scale cost-effectively, and our technology can adapt to a wide range of starch and protein sources.”

Unlike alternative coffee startups with long ingredient lists, Prefer keeps its formulations simple and affordable. 

The company has also developed a soy-free variant and is testing formulations that incorporate spent coffee grounds as an additional feedstock. In the future, Berber says a highly concentrated soluble version could even appear on ingredient labels as “natural flavor.”

The new powders allow manufacturers to blend up to 40% Prefer into existing coffee products, whether instant coffee, ready-to-drink formats, or ground coffee, without affecting flavor. 

This hybrid approach reduces costs, stabilizes supply, and cuts emissions, with Prefer’s ingredients up to two times cheaper than soluble arabica coffee.

Prefer has already secured US$15 million in memoranda of understanding (MOUs), most of it tied to the soluble powder launch. 

The company has inked partnerships with Ajinomoto in Thailand to develop coffee beverages and with The Coffee Ferm to license beanless coffee production in Australia and New Zealand.

“Prefer is a B2B ingredients company first,” said Berber. “We’re supporting the food industry, not disrupting it. Our goal is to ensure coffee and cocoa remain accessible to consumers as costs rise.”

Looking ahead, Prefer’s core fermentation platform could extend to other crops such as vanilla and hazelnut, which face similar cost and supply pressures. 

By tailoring microbes, feedstocks, and processing parameters, the startup aims to build a portfolio of sustainable, flavor-matched ingredients ready for large-scale production.

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