Can Fermentation Help Save Coffee & Cocoa?

Can Fermentation Help Save Coffee & Cocoa?

From The Spoon Podcast by Michael Wolf

May 22, 2026 · 20 min

About this episode

Michael Wolf interviews Jake Berber about using fermentation to create coffee and cocoa extenders and the opportunities in food tech.

In this episode of The Spoon Podcast, Michael Wolf talks with Jake Berber, the cofounder and CEO of Prefer, a Singapore-based startup that uses fermentation to create coffee and cocoa extenders from ingredients like rice and chickpeas. Berber explains why rising coffee and cocoa prices, climate pressure, and growing global demand convinced him there was a massive opportunity to help future-proof some of the world’s favorite foods, and his journey from Texas to Israel to Singapore led him into the world of food tech and climate-resilient ingredients. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Host: Michael Wolf

Guest: Jake Berber

Topics covered

  • fermentation
  • coffee
  • cocoa
  • food tech
  • climate resilience
  • startup

Keywords

  • fermentation
  • coffee
  • cocoa
  • climate change
  • food technology
  • sustainability
  • startup

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Prefer

Places: Singapore, Texas, Israel

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