Melt&Marble Cleared to Sell Animal-Free ‘Designer Fats’ for Food & Personal Care

Swedish precision fermentation startup Melt&Marble has secured clearance to sell its animal-free fat for food in the US and personal care lipid internationally.

Melt&Marble can now commercialise its sustainable “designer fats” for use in food and personal care applications, thanks to two regulatory breakthroughs.

The startup has self-determined its MeltyMarble fat as Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) in the US based on extensive testing and quality controls, paving the way for its launch in the food industry.

Likewise, its Marble7 fat alternative has received an International Nomenclature Cosmetic Ingredient (INCI) name from the Personal Care Products Council. Labelled r-Saccharomyces Butter, this enables sales of the ingredient in the global personal care market.

“If all goes to plan, we aim to launch our first [food] product later this year in collaboration with a commercial partner,” Melt&Marble co-founder and CEO Anastasia Krivoruchko tells Green Queen, three months after closing an $8.5M Series A funding round for the startup.

“It is most likely that our first personal care products using Marble7 will be launched in Europe first,” she says, adding that a launch for this lipid is also earmarked for 2026.

Melt&Marble working on alternative protein products with Valio

Precision fermentation is a process where specific DNA is inserted into microbes to teach them to produce the desired molecules upon fermentation. Melt&Marble uses the tech to create planet-friendly alternatives to animal and tropical plant-based fats.

It uses yeast as a cell factory and directs the microbes to convert sugars into fat instead of alcohol. It grows the yeast in fermentation tanks, feeding them sugars and nutrients to produce the fat compounds, which are then harvested using standard extraction steps.

“MeltyMarble replaces primarily plant-based fats and oils that do not give the required functionalities in different applications. Coconut oil is a good example, but the specifics may differ from partner to partner,” says Krivoruchko.

The solid fat has a rich and creamy mouthfeel, and melts and releases flavour slowly, making it ideal for applications like plant-based meat and dairy, chocolates, baked goods, and snacks. “It is significantly less saturated than coconut oil. It contains bioactive fatty acids linked to health benefits,” she notes.

Marble7, meanwhile, is a functional bioactive lipid with a similar fatty acid composition to human skin sebum. It stays solid at room temperature but melts upon contact with skin to deliver long-lasting moisturisation, boosting skin barrier integrity, hydration, and elasticity.

Together, these ingredients can help food and personal care companies decarbonise their supply chains. Animal fats come from an industry responsible for up to 20% of all global emissions and use up most of the world’s farmland and freshwater. And tropical plant-based fats like palm and coconut oil are linked to large-scale deforestation, wildfires, and threats to Indigenous populations and wildlife.

Krivoruchko reveals that Melt&Marble is already in talks with a number of partners to use its fats in food and skincare formulations. This includes Finnish dairy giant Valio, an investor in the startup that’s working on a “variety of alternative protein applications” with MeltyMarble.

Alternative fats to become cost-competitive with ‘economies of scale’

Melt&Marble is among a number of biotech startups making climate-smart fat alternatives. As is the case with most new technologies looking to disrupt established industries, reaching price parity is key to the firm’s success.

“At current production levels, commodity plant-based fats like palm and coconut oil remain cheaper than Melt&Marble fats, with animal fats being still somewhat cheaper,” says Krivoruchko. “Economies of scale will bring this difference down considerably as we expand, and we expect to be cost-competitive with many speciality fats in the short term.”

Despite being more expensive, the disparity could be offset by these fats’ superior properties. “Our platform allows us to do more than replicate existing fats with greater sustainability profiles; it also means we can produce fats with optimal functional or sensory performance and other qualities like melt curves to suit the needs of different applications,” Krivoruchko explains.

With the self-affirmed GRAS pathway set to be scrapped under a directive by US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, companies are now looking to notify the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in pursuit of full approval for their novel food ingredients.

Melt&Marble has confirmed that it is now seeking a ‘no questions’ letter from the US agency. “The next regions in which we aim to file for approval for food fats would be in the EU and UK,” says Krivoruchko.

US startup Savor, which transforms greenhouse gases into sustainable fats, also has self-affirmed GRAS status for its butter alternative and INCI name approval for its caprylic/capric triglyceride substitute. Estonia’s Äio, which ferments industry byproducts into palm, coconut and petroleum-based mineral oil replacements, is set to roll out its cosmetics ingredients in the EU soon.

Similarly, UK-based Clean Food Group received regulatory approval to sell its yeast-derived palm oil alternative for cosmetic applications in the US, the EU and the UK last year. And Australia’s Nourish Ingredients secured US GRAS status for its precision-fermented meat fat, Tastilux, and is now eyeing the green light in Singapore, Australia, the UK, and the EU.