NESS ZIONA, ISRAEL — Better Juice, Ltd., a food tech startup specializing in sugar reduction, has opened its first full-capacity manufacturing plant near Tel Aviv, Israel.

Constructed using money from the company’s $8 million seed funding round in 2021, the new facility will allow Better Juice to handle increased future demand and fulfill its current commissions for global juice producers.

“This move marks a major leap forward in our commercialization efforts,” said Gali Yarom, co-founder and co-chief executive officer. “We project that the new plant will accommodate our production needs for the next four years. As interest and demand in our technology continue to flourish in the global fruit juice sphere, we will expand our production capabilities outside of Israel as well.”

The facility will produce the company’s proprietary microorganism beads that convert sucrose, glucose and fructose in fruit juice into prebiotics and other non-digestible fibers. Better Juice beads can reduce juice sugar content by up to 80% without compromising natural nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals, and can later be upcycled into livestock feed.

Equipped with a variety of commercial-scale equipment used to grow and harvest the bead organisms, including an industrial fermenter and immobilization processor, the new location will be able to support the sugar reduction of 250 million liters of juice annually.

“We had to design and construct specialized systems from scratch to support our unique production processes while taking environmental considerations into account and adhering to the strictest requirements for waste treatment, water recycling and energy efficiency,” said Henry Elkoby, chief engineer for Better Juice.