Paulig's venture arm PINC co-leads €2.6 million investment in Cotierra to strengthen coffee supply chain resilience

PINC, the venture arm of international food and beverage company Paulig, has co-led a EUR 2.6 million investment round in Cotierra, the Zurich-based climate technology company developing decentralised biochar systems for agricultural value chains.

Biochar, a carbon-rich material produced from agricultural residues, can help improve soil health while removing carbon from the atmosphere. The round was co-led with Carbon Removal Partners, bringing together deep expertise across food and beverage supply chains and carbon removal. PINC’s participation supports Cotierra’s move from successful pilots to repeatable, multi-year commercial deployments, starting with coffee.

Large volumes of agricultural residues are often left unused across tropical agricultural value chains. At the same time, farmers face declining soil health, increasing climate pressures and growing demands to reduce emissions. Cotierra addresses this by building the technology infrastructure to deploy and scale decentralised biochar production, combining reactor technology with a digital platform to operate, monitor and verify output. This turns residual biomass into biochar close to where it's generated, returning carbon to the soil and removing it from the atmosphere, while giving customers one integrated solution to strengthen farmer productivity and resilience and reduce supply-chain emissions.

Karl Swensson, Investment Director, PINC said: “For a food and beverage company like Paulig, the long-term resilience and productivity of agricultural value chains are fundamental. What stood out to us about Cotierra is the strong traction the company has achieved with coffee traders through a solution that delivers value for farmers, traders and coffee companies alike. We believe decentralised biochar can play an important role in reducing emissions and improving resilience in coffee-growing regions. As part of a broader portfolio of climate solutions, it has significant potential to contribute to Paulig's coffee climate ambitions.”

The investment reflects Paulig's broader ambition to build a more resilient and sustainable food system. Cotierra offers a highly strategic, end-to-end solution built on proven biochar technology, providing a credible path to reducing coffee's carbon footprint as demand grows for carbon removal and emission reduction across the coffee value chain. Having successfully proven its technology in the coffee sector, Cotierra is now focused on scaling its solution across regions and agricultural supply chains.

Thomas Käslin, CEO and Co-Founder, Cotierra said: “We have shown that decentralised biochar offers a highly effective pathway to decarbonise and strengthen tropical agricultural value chains where biomass is widely dispersed. Now we are making it simple, reliable, and scalable, starting with coffee where we already have strong traction with leading coffee brands and traders globally. Having a coffee company like Paulig join as an investor underscores the importance of climate resilience and emission reduction for them and the entire value chain.”

The round also included participation from Zürcher Kantonalbank, Carbon Drawdown Initiative, better ventures, GOTA Ventures, Hungry4Impact and Triple Impact Ventures, as well as climate- and impact-focused angel investors.

For media inquiries or interviews, please contact:

Nils Sjöberg
Head of Corporate Communications
nils.sjoberg@paulig.com
+46 70 085 24 11

About PINC

PINC Paulig’s venture arm for investments in early-stage startups in and around the future of food. PINC aims to help Paulig renew itself and prosper, as well as contribute to a tastier and more sustainable planet.

About Paulig

Paulig is an international food and beverage company, growing a new, sustainable food culture – one that is good for both people and the planet. Paulig provides Tex Mex, snacks, coffees, world foods and spices. The company's brands include Santa Maria, Paulig, Conimex, Poco Loco and Zanuy, among others. Paulig also manufactures products for its private label and industry customers. In 2025, the company’s sales amounted to approximately EUR 1.39 billion. Paulig was founded in 1876 and is 100% owned by the Paulig family. The company has 2,700 employees in 13 countries united by the purpose "For a life full of flavour".

About Cotierra

Cotierra is a Zurich-based climate technology company developing decentralised biochar systems for agricultural value chains. Its integrated hardware and software platform enables agricultural businesses to convert residual biomass into biochar close to where it is generated, while supporting the monitoring, traceability, and reporting of deployments. Cotierra works with agricultural partners to make biochar production easier to deploy and scale across distributed operations, with an initial focus on tropical commodities including coffee, cocoa, cotton, and citrus.