Zero Acre Farms

Zero Acre Farms produces all-purpose cooking oil from sugarcane plants using a natural fermentation process that breaks down the raw sugar in sugarcane and converts it to oil. As of October 2023, the company's fermentation partners were located in North America, South America, and Europe.

Zero Acre Oil has a high smoke point (up to 485 degrees), resulting in a 10x smaller environmental footprint than vegetable oil and a 93% healthy monounsaturated fat content higher than that of olive oil. It also has less water usage: 88% less than palm oil, 90% less than sunflower oil, and 300x less than olive oil. 

As of October 2023, Zero Acre Oil was priced at USD 29.99 per bottle (437 ml).

Key customers and partnerships

In September 2023, the company partnered with Shake Shack, an American fast-casual restaurant chain, to launch a pilot program using Zero Acre oil for frying at two of its locations in New York City. In October 2023, Zero Acre Farms partnered with Hopdoddy Burger Bar, a burger joint, to replace soybean oil with seed oil-free Zero Acre oil at its 10 locations in Austin, San Antonio, and San Marcos, Texas.

Funding and financials

In February 2022, Zero Acre raised USD 37 million in an oversubscribed Series A round co-led by Lowercarbon Capital and Fifty Years to fund its development and bring its first product to market. In March 2023, the company received an undisclosed investment from Chipotle Mexican Grill, a fast-casual chain, through its venture fund Cultivate Next.