Funding to accelerate scale-up of world-leading Knowsley fermentation facility
LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Clean Food Group, a leading UK biotech manufacturer pioneering sustainable oils and fats through fermentation, is pleased to confirm a £4.5 million investment led by Clean Growth Fund and New Agrarian, two specialist investors dedicated to fostering sustainable growth in food technology. CFG has also successfully secured a £700,000 non-dilutive grant from Innovate UK which further improves the Company’s financial position.
Following the transformational acquisition of CFG’s one million-litre fermentation manufacturing facility in Knowsley, Liverpool in September 2025, this latest funding, announced today at its in-cosmetics Global debut in Paris, provides the necessary capital to complete the scale-up of the Knowsley facility, expand production capacity and accelerate commercialisation of the Company’s high-performance oils and fats.
The Knowsley site acquisition positions CFG as the world’s largest manufacturer of yeast-derived oils and fats, enabling the Company to meet growing global demand for sustainable, locally produced alternatives to traditional agricultural and tropical oil supply chains. The global sustainable food market was valued at US$315 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach US$524 billion by 2032 at a CAGR of 6.7%.1
CFG’s proprietary fermentation platform supports the manufacture of high-performance oils and fats that can deliver both sustainability and functionality at commercial scale, helping industries transition toward cleaner, more resilient ingredient systems across food, cosmetics and pet nutrition markets.
The Group continues to appreciate the support from its existing shareholders including institutional investor SEED Innovations and industry partner Döhler Group, one of the world’s leading ingredient companies who are also supporting CFG’s commercial scale up.
Tom Ellen, Chief Financial Officer of Clean Food Group, said: “We are extremely pleased to have the continued support of Clean Growth Fund and a new partner in New Agrarian, two highly respected specialist investors in sustainable food and industrial biotechnology.
“Their support, together with the Innovate grant, represents a strong endorsement of Clean Food Group’s significant progress and the scale of the opportunity ahead. The capital raised will enable the Company to bring on stream the world’s largest yeast-derived oils and fats facility and to deliver on our long-term vision for sustainable food manufacturing.”
Rodrigo Hortega de Velasco, Managing Partner at Döhler Ventures, the strategic investment arm of Döhler Group, commented: “We are pleased to support Clean Food Group in this latest funding round and proud to have been part of the Company’s scale-up journey to date. CFG has consistently demonstrated both the strength of its technology and the commercial potential of its sustainable oils and fats platform. The acquisition of the Knowsley facility marks a significant milestone, enabling production at a scale that brings these innovative products closer to widespread commercial reality. We look forward to continuing our collaboration as CFG advances towards full-scale market deployment.”
Jim Mellon, Chairman and Founder of New Agrarian, added: “Supply chain fragility is one of the defining risks of our time. War, climate volatility, and trade disputes are presenting a huge challenge to manufacturers; the ingredients we assumed would always be available are no longer guaranteed. Clean Food Group is addressing this problem head-on, using scalable science and technology to build genuine resilience and sustainability into the way we produce and source key ingredients used in everything from food to cosmetics. For me, this sits at a rare intersection: a compelling investment case and a genuine solution to one of the most pressing challenges of our generation.”
Building the future of sustainable oils and fats
Clean Food Group’s mission is to enable a more sustainable and resilient global food system by producing essential oils and fats through fermentation, using food waste feedstocks and scalable microbial production.
The Company is focused on reshaping how key ingredients are made, supporting the transition toward localised, low-impact manufacturing that reduces reliance on environmentally damaging supply chains, while meeting the needs of global consumer and industrial markets.
|
_______________________________ 1 https://www.datamintelligence.com/research-report/sustainable-food-market |
Notes to Editors:
About Clean Food Group
CFG is a leading UK biotech manufacturer of sustainable oils and fats for the global food, cosmetic and pet food industries. Through its proprietary CLEAN OilCell™ technology platform, CFG delivers functional oils (CLEAN Oil™) and fats (CLEAN Fat™) at price parity to agriculture alternatives, whilst meeting the growing need for local and sustainable production. In 2025, its CleanOil™ 25 product received approval to be used as a cosmetics ingredient in the UK, US and Europe.
Founded in 2022 after eight years of pioneering research, CFG manufactures its oils and fats from food waste, leveraging scalable yeast strains and fermentation technology to deliver sustainable alternatives to traditional oil and fat ingredients. With the manufacturing process now validated at scale and significantly bolstered by the transformation acquisition of a 1 million litre fermentation facility in Knowsley, Liverpool in 2025, CFG has strategic and industrial collaborations in place with leading global FMCG and ingredients manufacturers and has a strong demand pipeline for its products.
CFG has an experienced management team with a successful track record in scaling businesses in high growth regulated industries. For more information on CFG, please visit cleanfood.group.
Contacts
FOR FURTHER ENQUIRIES:
Clean Food Group
Alex Neves, Chief Executive Officer
Tom Ellen, Chief Financial Officer
Hannah Du Beke, Chief Marketing Officer
Via Burson Buchanan
Burson Buchanan
Henry Harrison-Topham / Jamie Hooper / Abby Gilchrist
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7466 5000
[email protected]
www.bursonbuchanan.com
