Symbio Bioculinary was featured by WGLT, the NPR affiliate serving central Illinois, for its work in sustainable food manufacturing, food-waste upcycling, and circular food systems. The feature highlighted Symbio’s use of engineered microbial bioprocessing to transform excess bakery dough, cocoa husks, and other byproducts into high-value, usable ingredients.
Founder Elliott Notrica noted the company’s goal to scale chef-inspired solutions:
“I got interested in how we can take the solutions that chefs were implementing at a very small size and allow them to be implemented at a larger scale.”
The coverage also explored Symbio’s ongoing projects, including cocoa husk valorization:
“What we’re working on right now is extracting these oils from the cocoa husk and then producing a cocoa butter substitute with the same functionality and the same sensory attributes as the butter itself.”
The story positioned Symbio at the forefront of central Illinois’ growing biotech ecosystem, demonstrating how its modular upcycling systems can reduce food waste, create new ingredients, and support sustainable manufacturing.