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Category: Alt Protein

  • Cultured Quail Startup Vow Gets FSANZ Regulatory Approval in Australia & New Zealand

    lab grown meat australia
    6 Mins Read

    Known for its cultured quail, Sydney-based Vow has received regulatory approval from Food Standards Australia New Zealand, a first for cultivated meat in the region.

    Australian food tech startup Vow has become the first startup to be allowed to sell cultivated meat in more than two geographies.

    The Sydney company has apparently received the regulatory green light from Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), the joint regulator for the Antipodean nations, for its cultured quail, according to an approval report dated today (April 7, 2025) uploaded to the regulator’s website.

    It ends a protracted process that started in early 2023 and involved two rounds of public consultation, during which Vow succeeded in getting regulatory clearance to sell the cultivated meat product in Singapore and by extension, Hong Kong (the latter does not have its own regulatory process for novel foods, but relied on approval Singapore under a framework of international cooperation).

    In an interview with Green Queen last year, Vow co-founder and CEO George Peppou had predicted that the company would receive approval in Q1 2025, and that prophecy rang true, with the FSANZ approving the application on March 27 and notifying the Food Ministers’ Meeting of its decision today.

    “FSANZ conducted a full and independent evidence-based assessment of all media inputs and was satisfied their use and/or presence did not raise any safety concerns,” the agency noted in its assessment.

    “At the estimated consumption levels, there were no toxicological concerns related to the cell media or inputs used in the production process,” it said.

    lab grown meat approved
    Courtesy: Vow

    What the FSANZ said about Vow’s cultured quail application

    Vow submitted its dossier in February 2023, seeking permission to use “cultured quail cells, derived from embryonic fibroblasts of Japanese quail, as a novel food ingredient” in Australia and New Zealand.

    FSANZ issued a call for public comments in December 2023 and another 12 months later. The second round received 22 responses, with each submission considered as part of the agency’s assessment of the cultured quail cells.

    The food safety body noted that “cell line suppliers already operate according to good laboratory practices (GLP) and good cell-culturing practices (GCCP) to manage risks”, and therefore, the overall food safety risk for cell lines is “very low”. It added that cell line suppliers aren’t expressly required to ensure that “inputs do not make cell-cultured food unsafe or unsuitable”.

    FSANZ further noted that cultivated meat cannot be included in “special purpose foods” like sports foods, infant formula, or food for special medical purposes without additional pre-market assessments.

    One public comment brought forward the question of whether cultivated meat products should be categorized as ultra-processed and the “adverse health outcomes” they’re linked to. In response, the FSANZ said the issue of UPFs is beyond the scope of the application.

    lab grown meat approval
    Courtesy: Vow Food

    “The nutrition risk assessment considered the macronutrient and micronutrient content of harvested cells including components introduced during the production process and found no nutritional concerns,” it concluded, adding that the harvested cells were unlikely to pose a food allergenicity risk.

    FSANZ confirmed that Vow did not request that its cultured quail be sold as a single ingredient in retail. Instead, it will be mixed with other ingredients – as is the norm for cultivated meat, including Vow’s – to produce dishes in restaurants and foodservice establishments.

    Addressing concerns about the high costs of cultivated meat and its impact on farmers, the FSANZ suggested that “certain industry costs and regulator costs are necessary to ensure safety and are unlikely to outweigh overall benefits to industry, consumers and government”.

    The assessment’s outlook on the potential for cultivated meat is encouraging for the industry at large: “The consideration of costs and benefits acknowledges that cell-cultured foods are in their infancy with uncertain market growth. That takes into consideration the currently high production costs and uncertainty of the future speed or extent of technology developments for reducing production costs.”

    A huge win for cultivated meat amid global challenges

    This is a big win for Vow and the cultivated meat sector as a whole, which has been embattled of late due to funding and geopolitical challenges. Private investment in cultivated meat startups fell by 75% in 2023 and another 40% in 2024.

    Cultivated meat has faced numerous cultural and political challenges of late. Italy prohibited the production and sale of cultivated meat in 2023. In the US, over 20 states have attempted to ban these proteins, and three have been successful. With Donald Trump as president and Robert F Kennedy Jr as health secretary, regulatory progress for cultivated meat looks uncertain – although the US did issue its third initial approval, for cultivated pork fat by San Francisco-based Mission Barns, last month.

    Still, the future of the sector remains murky in the US, and that has opened up opportunities for other countries to emerge as leaders. Singapore is already at the forefront, having been the first to approve cultivated meat back in 2020, and following it up with its green light for Vow last year.

    fsanz cultured quail
    Courtesy: Vow

    Other leaders could include Israel, which approved its homegrown cultivated beef maker Aleph Farms, and the UK, which has just opened a regulatory sandbox for a select group of cultivated startups. Experts believe South Korea could grant an approval this year as well, while regulators in the EU, Switzerland, and Thailand are evaluating applications. With the Vow approval, Australia and New Zealand are well-positioned to be key players in the field.

    The FSANZ approval comes weeks after Vow cut back 30% of its workforce, a decision Peppou described as coming from a “position of strength as the industry leader, not a position of weakness”.

    “However, given the complexity and novelty of the regulatory process for cultured meat, it has taken far longer than initially expected to secure regulatory approval in the markets which Vow has targeted,” he said at the time. “This is not a criticism of the regulators, but rather an acknowledgement of the care and thoroughness necessary to ensure cultured meat is completely safe for human consumption and regulated appropriately.

    The company, which also makes cultured foie gras, is currently selling its products at various restaurants and bakeries in Singapore through its Forged brand, with rave reviews from tasters. One of them told Green Queen: “What stood out to me was that it was genuinely delicious.”

    And just last week, the company claimed to have broken a world record by harvesting 20,000 litres of cell culture through its Andromeda bioreactor.

    Vow – which went viral and appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert for its woolly mammoth meatball stunt in 2023 – has secured $55M from investors to date, commercialising with a smaller outlay than competitors that have received approval, including Upside Foods ($608M), Eat Just ($270M), Aleph Farms ($147M), and Mission Barns ($60M).

    This is a developing story. Green Queen has contacted Vow for a comment on this story.

    The post Cultured Quail Startup Vow Gets FSANZ Regulatory Approval in Australia & New Zealand appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Brazilians Cool on Beef as Health Risks Take Precedence

    brazil vegan
    4 Mins Read

    Polling shows that health concerns are the biggest consumption driver in Brazil, potentially pushing 74% of its population to reduce or eliminate meat from their diets.

    Brazil is home to JBS, Minerva and Marfrig, making it the world’s largest beef exporter and second-largest meat producer. 80% of all beef produced here is consumed domestically, accounting for 12% of global beef intake – per capita, only two other countries eat more beef.

    Meat consumption – especially red meats like beef – is linked with a host of chronic diseases, including heart disease, obesity, cancer, and type 2 diabetes. In fact, the annual cost of treating conditions attributed to a diet heavy on processed meat in Brazil is $9.4M.

    Brazilians recognise this risk, with 74% open to reducing their meat consumption out of health concerns, a new survey has found.

    “It is encouraging to see that 74% of Brazilians are considering the possibility of reducing or eliminating meat consumption,” said SVB president Mônica Buava. “The survey confirms that there is a growing awareness about the impact of diet on health, the environment and respect for animals.”

    brazil meat consumption
    Courtesy: Sociedade Vegetariana Brasileira

    Plant-based eating led by Indigenous and older populations

    Conducted by the Datafolha Institute on behalf of the Brazilian Vegetarian Society (SVB), the research polled over 2,000 consumers in December, exploring dietary drivers in the country.

    When asked if they’ve ever tried to stop eating meat, 22% of the respondents said yes, with women and residents in the northern part of the country more likely to do so.

    Apart from health, there are other major drivers, too, with 43% saying they’re open to reducing or cutting out meat because of its impact on the environment. This is key since the food system makes up nearly three-quarters of Brazil’s overall greenhouse gas emissions. Another 42% say they’d stop eating meat to protect animal welfare.

    Meanwhile, 7% of Brazilians either fully or partially agree that they’re vegan, a share that’s similar amongst both women and men. People in the south are the least likely to follow a plant-based diet, as are those in the higher income brackets and Gen Z respondents.

    People aged 60 and above more commonly eat a plant-rich diet (9%) than other age groups, and the same rings true for Indigenous populations (10%).

    brazil vegano
    Courtesy: Sociedade Vegetariana Brasileira

    Latin America’s growing appetite for plants

    While it is home to industry pioneers like NotCo and Future Farm, Latin America has typically lagged behind regions like North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific when it comes to building a domestic alternative protein ecosystem.

    Recent data shows that this may be changing, with frequent consumption of meat-free food declining by at least five points in the latter three markets between 2023 and 2024. In fact, 15% of Latin American consumers now eat vegetarian food regularly, higher than the share in Asia-Pacific (14%) and North America (13%).

    Further, Latin America is the region most open to meat analogues. It’s probably why retail sales of meat and seafood analogues in Brazil increased by 38% in 2023 (reaching $226M), with the country host to the largest Meatless Monday movement globally.

    According to the Good Food Institute, 36% of Brazilians reduced their red meat intake between 2023 and 2024, mainly due to health detriments and high costs. Catering to these trends, there are around 240 meat-free restaurants in Brazil and over 3,200 establishments with at least one vegan option.

    In fact, interest in plant-based eating has remained steady over the past few years here, with SVB-commissioned research from 2018 showing that 14% of Brazilians identified as vegetarian, and 60% indicated they would eat more plant-based food if it were cheaper.

    That the climate argument resonates with over two in five Brazilians is a positive sign too. According to one study, a 40% cut in beef consumption between 2022 and 2050 in Brazil could prevent 65,000 sq km of deforestation and mitigate up to 2.8 gigatonnes of CO2e, representing a third of the world’s potential mitigation from dietary changes.

    The post Brazilians Cool on Beef as Health Risks Take Precedence appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • EU Grants €50M Loan for Swedish Ag Giant to Build Pea Protein Factory for Meat Alternatives

    lantmannen pea protein
    4 Mins Read

    The European Investment Bank has provided Swedish agricultural cooperative Lantmännen with €50M in part financing for a pea protein isolate factory.

    Lantmännen, Sweden’s largest farmer cooperative, has received a big boost from the EU to build a large-scale plant protein facility and supply ingredients to makers of meat and dairy alternatives.

    The European Investment Bank (EIB), which is owned by EU member states, has handed a €50M ($55M) loan to Lantmännen to help fund the construction of a new pea protein isolate factory in Sweden’s Lidköping municipality. The financing will cover about half of the project’s cost.

    The investment aims to strengthen the EU’s food security and reduce its reliance on imported plant proteins, amid calls for a diversifying the bloc’s protein supply in the face of the climate crisis.

    All of the EIB’s investments are aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement, with 60% of its annual financing supporting projects directly contributing to climate change mitigation and adaptation.

    Lantmannen factory to process 40,000 tonnes of peas annually

    lantmannen lidkoping
    Courtesy: Lantmännen

    Described as Sweden’s first such facility, it was announced last year, with Lantmännen – owned and governed by 17,000 farmers – earmarking an investment of 1.2 billion Swedish kronor ($116M).

    The site would be able to process up to 40,000 tonnes of peas grown by the group’s members every year, producing around 7,000 tonnes of protein. It’s expected to be completed in the first half of 2027, and contribute up to 30 new jobs in the region.

    It will produce plant proteins for use in applications like protein bars, drinks, breads, as well as non-dairy alternatives and meat analogues. The group explains that peas and beans are climate-smart, versatile crops that require relatively little water and nutrients, and benefit biodiversity.

    Lantmännen argues that ramping up the use of Swedish-grown legumes could help lower the share of imported soy in the region’s food production, bolstering both Sweden and the EU’s sustainability goals.

    “It is gratifying that the European Investment Bank sees the long-term value in our investment in the food of the future – plant-based protein – and chooses to support our facility in Lidköping,” said Lantmännen CFO Michael Sigsfors.

    “Promoting exports and increasing food production leads not only to increased profitability for farmers but also to more robust food security. It is a fine and important assignment, and I am pleased that the European Investment Bank supports our work with this.”

    In addition to the facility, the group is working with Örebro University’s PAN Sweden research centre on a state-funded plant protein project and has partnered with ingredient giant Ingredion to speed up the development of pea protein isolates. Moreover, it is part of a consortium with the Chalmers University of Technology and dairy leader Arla, which is focused on advancing fermentation research and developing hybrid foods.

    EU steps up protein diversification efforts

    eu plant based report
    Courtesy: Dimarik/Getty Image, Alessandro0770/Getty Images, Canva AI | Composite by Green Queen

    For the EU, the Lantmännen loan is its latest effort to boost self-sufficiency in plant proteins, promote climate-friendly farming, and lower agriculture’s planetary impact.

    It comes as EU decision-makers are asked to accurate the protein transition towards plants, given the animal agriculture industry’s outsized impact on the planet. Livestock farming accounts for 81-86% of agricultural emissions in the EU, despite only providing 35% of its calories and 65% of its protein supply.

    Farmer groups and climate activists have both urged the EU Commission to deliver an action plan for plant-based food in its agrifood vision, a call backed by doctors, consumer groups, and even some of the largest food companies. While the Commission did not make that commitment in the final plan, it has pledged to create a protein diversification strategy to address the EU’s protein supply challenges.

    “It will focus on fostering the domestic production to improve self-sufficiency to reduce the long-standing dependency on imported plant-based protein and on diversifying imports of plant-based protein to increase the EU food security,” Agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen wrote in a letter last month.

    The EU, meanwhile, has been doubling down on its future food investments through various initiatives. It spotlighted several startups at EIT Food’s flagship Next Bite event last year, has included a number of alternative protein firms in its accelerator programmes, and invested €50M in precision-fermented and algae-based foods via the European Innovation Council.

    This is part of the EU’s broader leadership in research funding for alternative proteins. Since 2020, the region has pumped in €252M for future food research, half of which came in 2023 and early 2024, according to GFI Europe.

    “By supporting Lantmännen’s investment in the production of pea protein, we are strengthening both food security and climate work in Sweden and the EU,” said Thoman Östros, vice president of the EIB. “It is also a very good example of how European cooperation can create local benefits.”

    The post EU Grants €50M Loan for Swedish Ag Giant to Build Pea Protein Factory for Meat Alternatives appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Could Extended Reality Be A Silver Bullet for Plant-Based Meat?

    augmented reality food
    4 Mins Read

    Researchers in Finland are using extended reality to create a multisensory eating experience and enhance the appeal of plant-based meat alternatives.

    Forget CRISPR, fermentation or 3D printing – maybe all we need to improve the taste and texture of meat analogues are just a fork and a headset.

    Scientists at Finland’s Tampere University and the VTT Technical Research Centre are proposing the use of extended reality (XR) to make climate-conscious food even more attractive to consumers.

    XR includes all environments where reality means the virtual world, including augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality. In the study published in the Journal on Multimodal User Interfaces, the researchers argue that this technology can artificially modify human sensations, helping sweeten the appeal of meat-free products.

    “This could be one way of facilitating more ecologically diverse food production and, at the same time, encouraging people to eat healthier,” said Roope Raisamo, a human technology interaction professor at Tampere University.

    XR meatballs feel heavier, bigger, and more filling

    augmented reality in food industry
    Courtesy: TAUCHI

    Raisamo has been supported by funding from the Research Council of Finland for research on XR in different applications for over two decades. In this project, he teamed up with VTT’s Nesli Sözer and colleagues to create eating experiences and new food products that would boost satiety and pleasure while being kind to the planet.

    The team developed a multisensory augmentation system for the project, which comprised an XR headset, a prototype olfactory necklace display, and a fork that can provide haptic feedback and contains a visual QR code marker.

    This system made it possible to augment different food products that could be eaten with the fork. The headset and necklace helped alter the size, appearance and scent of the food item where needed, while the fork was used to modify the perceived weight of the dish to investigate how this plays into people’s perception of feeling full.

    “The premise was to bring two previously rarely collaborating disciplines together to do something completely new,” Raisamo explained. He and his colleagues then conducted an experiment with 40 participants, who ate plant-based meatballs made from pea protein, and blended meatballs containing chicken, beef, pork, and soy protein.

    They found that introducing meat-like flavours and fragrances to the plant-based balls changed the eating experience. The augmented meatballs were perceived as bigger and heavier, but taste-testers did not notice a stronger aroma. They found the scent of the modified vegan meatballs less appealing than the non-augmented versions, and the impact on taste perception and overall experience was similar.

    Multisensory changes could help alt-protein perception

    extended reality food
    Courtesy: Natalia Karhu/TAUCHI

    One of the study’s limitations was the requirement of the fork, which meant the experiment couldn’t really be tested on foods traditionally eaten without it, such as a burger or a chicken nugget.

    But the researchers argued that the study could have significant implications for food manufacturers, especially those exploring alternative proteins. It may, for example, lead to foods like seaweed becoming more widely used in food preparation.

    “The positive ratings for haptic and visual augmentations imply that adding multisensory enhancements can elevate the perception of food items. This could be a pivotal strategy for industries aiming to promote plant-based alternatives by making them as appealing and tasty as the traditional meat-based products,” the study stated.

    “By leveraging multisensory augmentations, businesses might be able to drive consumer preference towards more sustainable and environmentally friendly food options,” it added, noting that the results could also help design experiences to mitigate food waste – another major climate change contributor.

    “The results allow for the optimal use of extended reality systems through human-AI cooperation. We measure cognitive responses, task completion and user experience when a user interacts with an AI-based extended reality,” explained Raisamo.

    “We combine cognitive space modelling, detection, personalisation and forecasting with modelling, contextual awareness and adapting interaction methods,” he said, adding that XR-based olfactory and haptic sensations could be used in marketing in the future too, with multisensory modules that can be added to users’ devices.”

    “Once the XR headsets become lighter everyday products with multisensory stimulation capabilities, there is a promise that they may be used to facilitate healthier and more sustainable food choices while ensuring enjoyable eating experiences,” the study said.

    The post Could Extended Reality Be A Silver Bullet for Plant-Based Meat? appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • 5 Minutes with A Future Food VC: Grey Silo Ventures’s Matteo Leonardi

    matteo leonardi
    2 Mins Read

    In our interview series, we quiz future food investors about the solutions that excite them the most, their favourite climate-forward restaurant, and what they look for in successful founders.

    Matteo Leonardi is an Investment Manager at Grey Silo Ventures.

    What future food technologies most excite you?

    Precision fermentation: the whole concept of leveraging microorganisms to produce complex compounds is simply fascinating.

    What are three future food verticals you are actively looking at for 2025?

    1. New crop and genetic variety discovery and/or domestication
    2. Sugar replacement
    3. Soil restoration tech

    What do you consider the food tech sector’s greatest achievement in the past five years?

    Globally, introducing the first cultivated products in the market.

    If you could wave a magic wand, how would you fix plant-based meat?

    I wouldn’t call this fixing, just as I would not call it plant-based “meat”, as these products deserve their own definition and category.

    If there’s one thing I’d like to adjust, though, that is the flavour profile, to make it a bit more complex and longer-lasting.

    What’s the top trait you look for in a founder?

    Relentlessness, drive, and the ability to look at the grand scheme of things without losing touch with the real world.

    The One That Got Away: What is the deal you wish you had gotten into, but didn’t?

    Planet A Foods. We were super late to the party, and the round turned out to be much bigger than planned. Luckily, another great company in the sector came after them (Foreverland), which we invested in.

    What do you consider your most successful future food investment so far?

    xFarm Technologies (also the first).

    What has been your most disappointing investment so far?

    Quite proudly, none. We have a limited portfolio of companies (seven) as we are not forced to invest as a conventional VC following investment/divestment periods, allowing us to invest only when we build strong conviction. Luckily (and kudos to them), the founders we partnered with are all performing according to the plan.

    What do people misunderstand/get wrong most about VC?

    Timing plays a much bigger impact than anything else.

    What is the most ‘future food’ thing you have eaten this month?

    Gotta be the new version of Choruba, Foreverland’s chocolate alternative made with carobs.

    Where is your favourite climate-forward restaurant/dish/place to eat anywhere in the world?

    I’ll stick to my roots: a simple pasta al pomodoro. Quality ingredients, tasty, and climate-friendly.

    What’s your ‘why’? What motivates you to do what you do?

    Working with ambitious people trying to change the planet we live on for the best. No matter what you’re working on, if you are an entrepreneur in our field, you might not always get our money, but you surely (for what it’s worth) have my complete esteem.

    The post 5 Minutes with A Future Food VC: Grey Silo Ventures’s Matteo Leonardi appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Heura & Swap Say Collaboration – Not Competition – Is the Future of Plant-Based Meat

    6 Mins Read

    Spanish plant-based meat leader Heura Foods and French vegan whole-cut specialist Swap Food have teamed up to launch a Suprême chicken fillet in three European markets.

    With an aim to “revolutionise the plant-based fillet experience”, Heura and Swap (formerly Umiami) have linked up to introduce a whole-cut chicken breast.

    The Suprême fillet is rolling out in over 2,000 supermarkets in France (including Carrefour, Leclerc, Monoprix, Intermarché, and Super U), 1,000 stores in Spain, as well as retailers in Portugal. It enables Heura to expand its product range and Swap to enter the mass retail market in Europe.

    “The biggest challenges aren’t solved alone,” Laurent Gubbels, global head of content at Heura, told Green Queen. “While it might be natural to see other plant-based companies as competitors, that’s not how we see it. We see them as mission partners. When we collaborate, when we improve the offer together, everyone wins: the market, the companies, the consumers, the planet, and the animals.”

    He added: “From the moment we met Swap, we knew this could be one of those rare, game-changing moments.”

    Christel Delasson, VP of sales and marketing at Swap, said: “We have joined forces with a common goal – to break the mould by offering products that appeal equally to meat lovers, flexitarians, vegans, and vegetarians. With this launch, our expertise can reach a wider audience and introduce more consumers to a new way of enjoying plant-based food.”

    Bidding adieu to dry vegan chicken

    swap chicken vegan
    Courtesy: Swap Food

    The new fillet boasts a clean-label, additive-free recipe with 20g of protein per serving, offering nutritional values “comparable to a traditional chicken fillet”. It also has a Nutri-Score rating of A. It’s made from water, soy protein (22%), sunflower oil, natural flavours, pea protein flour, citric acid, and salt.

    “A product like this was missing from the plant-based market, a fillet that’s remarkably close to chicken in both taste and texture, made with just seven natural ingredients,” said Gubbels. “All the good, but without trans fats, cholesterol and filled with fibre. It’s something truly unique.”

    He continued: “Thanks to the complementarity of our expertise, we were able to co-develop a product that combines natural ingredients, pleasure, and accessibility, on a European scale.”

    The “tender and juicy” product is manufactured in France, and can be breaded, grilled, fried or braised, and aims to provide home cooks with both indulgence and an easy-to-prep ingredient. Both brands are leaning into the textural characteristics, noting that solving the “dryness” of vegan chicken was one of the main reasons they collaborated.

    “We wanted to make you believe it was just like chicken. Same shape. Same taste. Same crispiness,” the brands said in one marketing poster. “But we failed to recreate… chicken’s dryness. Our fillet is juicy. Tender. Enjoyable. A real shame, honestly,” they added ironically.

    heura chicken
    Courtesy: Heura Foods

    Research has shown that Europeans want their vegan chicken to be more tender and have a uniform texture. However, only 18% are avoiding animal products today, and taste is a detractor for 37% of these consumers when it comes to plant-based meat.

    That said, 29% of them are cutting back on meat, presenting an opportunity for brands that can meet consumer preferences. In France, too, while the government continues to battle plant-based meat, six in 10 citizens aren’t familiar with vegan alternatives to meat, and nearly half (44%) feel they don’t taste as good.

    It’s why the Heura-Swap chicken is targeting not just vegans, but flexitarians and meat-eaters too. “This collaboration allows us to continue offering excellent products without compromise, with superior nutritional quality and a positive impact on the planet,” said Heura co-founder and CEO Marc Coloma.

    Swap targets home market with Heura link-up

    swap plant based meat
    Courtesy: Swap

    The companies called the collaboration a “turning point” for each of their European ambitions. Swap, which has raised $107M so far, uses its Umisation texturising platform to produce whole-muscle replicas of conventional fillets like chicken and fish. This involves a technique that transforms plant proteins into structured fibres without high heat or pressure.

    The technology allows the startup to produce plant-based meat with minimal ingredients, with the chicken using eight ingredients and no artificial flavours, colourants or texturisers.

    It operates a 14,000 sq m facility in the Alsace region, which can produce 7,500 tonnes of plant-based meat annually, eventually rising to 20,000 tonnes.

    Last year, it entered the US foodservice sector, with its chicken fillet appearing on the menu of several Chicago eateries, including Majani, The Chicago Diner, Spirit Elephant, Soul Veg City, Duke’s Alehouse, and Clucker’s Charcoal Chicken.

    Swap Chicken was the recipient of a Tasty Award by sensory-based research firm Nectar last month, signalling that more than half of taste-testing omnivores found it to taste the same or better than animal protein.

    Heura teases chicken burger and two ‘game-changing’ launches

    heura
    Courtesy: Heura

    Heura, meanwhile, claims it’s responsible for four of the five bestselling vegan products in Spain. In 2023, it grew sales by 22%, reaching €38.3M, and it’s charting a path to profitability this year.

    Having raised €88M to date, its products are available in more than 20,000 stores in 20 countries. After Spain, France is its second-largest market, where its sales hiked by 88% in 2023. “With over 2,000 points of sale, French consumers will now have access to this new innovation,” Coloma said of the Suprême chicken fillet.

    “It also meets the expectations of French consumers, who are increasingly incorporating plant-based foods into their diets,” he added. Indeed, despite the lack of familiarity, a quarter of French people eat meat and dairy alternatives weekly, and 14% do so several times a week – a three-point increase from 2022 and 2023.

    The Spanish startup is now working on vegan cold cuts, cheese, and pasta as well, aiming to tackle a wider range of categories with nutrient-dense alternatives and entice a larger share of consumers dissatisfied with ultra-processed foods. “They’re currently in development,” said Gubbels. While he did not share a timeline, he suggested that they have already undergone some taste tests.

    This is Heura’s second launch this year, following the chicken chunks it introduced in February. “This month, we’re also launching a ‘chicken-style’ burger, and two more game-changing products are lined up for summer,” he revealed.

    “2025 will be a transformative year for Heura. Last year was all about laying the foundation – we didn’t launch new products, but we developed patents and improved our current products. And this year, we’re set to see the results. Our goal is clear: to become profitable and prove to the world that a plant-based meat company can stay and succeed.”

    The post Heura & Swap Say Collaboration – Not Competition – Is the Future of Plant-Based Meat appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Future Food Quick Bites: CO2 Ice Cream, Cocoa-Free Chocolate & A Tri

    solein ice cream
    5 Mins Read

    Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Ajinomoto and Solar Foods’s latest product launch, Unity Diner’s return, and a new meat-free omakase experience in Hong Kong.

    New products and launches

    Japanese food giant Ajinomoto‘s Atlr.72 brand has released its latest product range featuring Solar Foods‘s Solein gas protein in Singapore. The Flowering Ice Creams come in vanilla and mochi (which contains dairy), chocolate and lemon peel, and salted caramel and nuts (both non-dairy) flavours, and can be found at the brand’s food truck.

    ajinomoto solein
    Courtesy: Atlr.72

    Nurasa, the sustainable food innovation platform owned by Temasek, will unveil NuFood Concept Studio, an innovation platform designed to speed up the commercialisation of healthier products, at the FHA-Food & Beverage 2025 event in Singapore (April 8-11). Here, it will showcase a blended meat product made with Quality Meat‘s Q Protein, featuring lower cholesterol and higher fibre.

    In the UK, Earthling Ed-owned Unity Diner is returning to London just two months after shutting down. The vegan restaurant had successful negotiations with its landlords, allowing it to open doors again later this week (April 4). It will also open a carvery on April 20.

    Meanwhile, plant-based leaders Beyond Meat and La Vie have collaborated on a joint marketing campaign with a new ad, with the brands offering a BBQ burger recipe and directing consumers to Honest Burger to try the Bacon Plant 2.0.

    San Diego-based CV Sciences Inc has expanded its plant-based portfolio with Lunar Fox Food Co, a new brand that sells animal-free alternatives to meat, cheese, and eggs. It’s also the owner of vegan egg and cheese maker Cultured Foods.

    lunar fox food co
    Courtesy: Lunar Fox Food Co

    Seafood chain Wintzell’s Oyster House has introduced Plant Based Seafood Co‘s Mind Blown range to its menu. It will offer vegan oysters, crispy fried shrimp, and crab cakes as salad toppings, entrées, and sandwich fillings.

    Brooklyn-based upcycled snack brand B-Sides has launched vegan Crunch Puffs made from the leftover pulp from oat milk production. They’re available in Cheddar, ranch and jalapeño flavours, and can be found on its website, Amazon, or independent retailers in New York City.

    choviva
    Courtesy: Planet A Foods

    German cocoa-free chocolate player Planet A Foods has expanded in three markets ahead of Easter: it’s co-launching eight products featuring ChoViva with chocolate maker Abtey in France, two innovations with retailers Lidl and Penny in Germany, and a new offering in the UK in collaboration with Wawi Schokoladen.

    Fellow cocoa-free chocolate maker Foreverland has released a 240g Easter egg featuring its carob-based Choruba alternative, in collaboration with chocolate giant Dulciar.

    foreverland
    Courtesy: Foreverland

    Israeli 3D-printed meat producer Redefine Meat has gained a listing at Rami Levy Hashikma Marketing, the country’s third-largest retail chain. Its New-Meat lineup of steaks, sausages, kebabs, and shawramas are available at all 57 branches.

    Hong Kong restaurant Niwa has introduced a Vegetarian Omakase Menu, featuring 14 items – from a tofu-pickle wafer and balsamic vinegar tomato to black truffle somen and mushroom sushi – for HK$780 ($100).

    vegan restaurants hong kong
    Courtesy: Niwa

    And in more good news for vegans in Hong Kong, famed meat-free dim sum restaurant Veggie Kingdom has opened its second site at Causeway Bay for perfect plant-based yum cha.

    Company and finance developments

    In a sign of the cultivated meat industry’s scalability potential, Australia’s Vow claims to have broken a world record by harvesting 20,000 litres of cell culture through its Andromeda bioreactor.

    differential bio
    Courtesy: Differential Bio

    Fellow Munich-based startup Differential Bio has emerged from stealth with €2M ($2.2M) in pre-seed funding to advance its Virtual Scale-up Platform for biomanufacturing firms, which combines advanced microbiology, lab automation, and artificial intelligence.

    French vegan seafood brand Olala! has ceased operations after three years, citing a lack of sufficient turnover. The company said it hadn’t found its market, and its industrial model needed a market dynamic.

    After completing its purchase of a 26-acre piece of land in Jefferson, Wisconsin for $777,000, Finnish precision fermentation firm Onego Bio is expected to spend $250-300M to build its new facility for animal-free egg proteins, set to be operational in 2028.

    vegan marbled steak
    Courtesy: Melt&Marble

    Swedish precision-fermented fat producer Melt&Marble has hired veteran pharma leader Tue Hodal as its first CTO, and Paulo Teixeira (formerly at Mycorena) as product manager.

    Californian biotech startup Triplebar has announced Shawn Manchester as its new CEO, who has been promoted from his role as COO. He takes over from outgoing chief Maria Cho.

    British vegan meal startup Planty, meanwhile, has appointed Samuel Rodriguez as head chef and Mimi Phillip as a freelance development chef – both used to work at rival firm Allplants, whose assets are now split between Plants (by Deliciously Ella‘s founders) and Grubby.

    UK vegan charity Viva! has hit its £400,000 crowdfunding target and secured screenings in 300 cinemas for its 62-second Dairy is Scary ad.

    Policy and awards

    Speaking of British non-profits, The Vegan Society has announced Libby Peppiatt as its new CEO. She will take over from interim chief Abbey Mann on May 14.

    Also in the UK, the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology has awarded £1.4M to the Food Standards Agency to support a new innovation hub for foods made via precision fermentation, another step towards novel food leadership for the country.

    new york city hospitals vegan
    Courtesy: NYC Health + Hospitals

    New York City’s Health + Hospitals programme has now served over two million plant-based meals to patients since it began in 2023, with 900,000 dishes served in 2024 alone. The initiative has a 90% satisfaction rate, and has reduced emissions by 36% and costs by 59 cents per meal.

    Finally, mycelium protein maker 50Cut (formerly Mush Foods), which is focused on blended meat, has been named the 2025 FABI Favorites Award Winner at the National Restaurant Association Show.

    Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.

    The post Future Food Quick Bites: CO2 Ice Cream, Cocoa-Free Chocolate & A Tri appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Protein Shift: This One Change Could Create 70,000 Jobs in the US

    plant based economy
    5 Mins Read

    Amid trade wars and a potential recession, the solution to a strong US economy could simply be on your plate.

    Can more plants equal more jobs? That’s the central argument from a new report suggesting that the US could create tens of thousands of roles and witness an economic boost by simply making plant-based food more common.

    While only around 5% of Americans identify as vegan or vegetarian, strengthening the economy is the policy priority for 73% of them. Nearly half (49%) say improving the job situation should be top of mind of the president and Congress.

    Analysis from BW Research Partnership and Faunalytics suggests that over the next 15 years, making plant-based milk, meat and eggs a more regular occurrence in shopping carts can bolster employment and economy alike.

    The researchers compared two scenarios – one with a moderate shift towards vegan products and another with a more significant transition – with the rate at which these foods are consumed today.

    With moderate growth, the US could see thousands of new jobs, with the affected industries contributing 0.3% more to the GDP, 0.2% more to total tax revenues, and 0.4% more to the overall labour income. But under the larger growth model, the country would open up tens of thousands of jobs, with the industry’s GDP share up by 4%, tax revenue by 2%, and labour income by 4%.

    “Despite the prevalence of animal products in US diets, the continued dominance of animal agriculture is not integral to the health of the country’s economy,” lead author Zach Wulderk wrote. “Indeed, this analysis predicts that the economy may perform better if the US moved away from animal agriculture.”

    Moderate growth of plant-based foods only brings minimal change

    plant based food market share
    Courtesy: Faunalytics

    According to SPINS data crunched by the Good Food Institute, plant-based milk takes up a 14.5% share in the overall milk industry. Meat alternatives, meanwhile, comprise 0.9% of the market, and vegan eggs are responsible for a 0.4% share of their respective category.

    Under this new report’s moderate growth scenario, the market shares of plant-based milk, meat and egg would be 20.8%, 1.8%, and 0.8%, respectively. It would mean that Americans spend $4.4B on non-dairy milk, $2.5B on meat analogues, and $90M on chicken-free eggs.

    However, this would only have a minimal impact on the US economy, despite sales of plant-based milk growing by 40% and meat and egg alternatives selling twice as fast. The affected industries would require over 7,000 more jobs than in the baseline scenario, making the change in employment negligible, according to the authors.

    plant based jobs
    Courtesy: Faunalytics

    The most affected industry is plant-based agriculture, which would see 13,000 new jobs as key inputs like soybeans would need to be scaled up. Meanwhile, the construction sector would add nearly 2,200 jobs in line with this capacity expansion. On the other hand, livestock farming and non-plant-based manufacturing would lose about 5,600 and 3,100 jobs, respectively.

    As things stand, industries affected by plant-based food would contribute $216B to the national GDP, and this would only rise to $217B with moderate growth. This minimal change is also seen in total labour income, which would increase by just $440M under this scenario.

    “Despite being small percentages, each of these changes represents tens of millions of dollars or more,” the report noted. “They show that the ripple effects of a small increase in the popularity of plant-based foods can have noteworthy benefits to the US economy and government revenue.

    Significant expansion of plant proteins key to economic benefits

    plant based food jobs
    Courtesy: Faunalytics

    The true potential of a plant-based transition can be seen under the more optimistic growth model. Here, plant-based products would account for half of the milk market, surpassing $10B in annual sales, and the share of vegan eggs would rise to 6.4% with $680M in sales.

    Meat analogues, meanwhile, would rack up over $20B in sales with a 14.5% share (which means they would be as popular 15 years from now as plant-based milk is today).

    All this would point to a remarkably different average American diet, which would result in nearly 70,000 new jobs (a 3.45% increase from the baseline). Plant-based agriculture would add 137,000 roles, though this would come at the expense of animal agriculture and its related manufacturing sector, which would lose a combined 100,500 jobs.

    In addition, this scenario will help boost these industries’ GDP contribution to $224B. While this is just a tiny fraction of the total GDP (which was $29T in 2024), each scenario still accounts for well over $200B, making plant-based food’s contributions “still quite sizeable”.

    Significant growth in plant-based consumption would also help increase labour income by $4.95B, reaching a total of $126.2B. “A larger shift toward plant-based eating would result in comparably larger positive changes in economic indicators,” the study read. “The more plants the US eats, the more its economy will grow.”

    plant based gdp
    Courtesy: Faunalytics

    Some fallout is unavoidable, though policy support can ease the transition

    The researchers pointed out that plant-based jobs may not be interchangeable with those in the animal agriculture industry. For example, most of America’s milk comes from California, Wisconsin, Idaho, Texas and New York – but plant-based producer Oatly only has facilities in Utah, Texas and New Jersey.

    “Workers who lose their jobs in California or Wisconsin can’t simply relocate to Utah to take a job at an Oatly facility there,” they said. “On the agricultural side, someone who has spent their life working on chicken farms in Arkansas can’t simply pivot to oat farming in Minnesota – the skills required in the non-plant-based milk industry may be quite different from those needed in the plant-based milk industry.”

    So even if the total number of jobs increases with the protein transition, some workers will be negatively impacted, which the report called an “unavoidable result of reshaping the economy”. That said, building plant protein factories and providing training in areas already home to animal production could allow for an easier transition.

    Support from stakeholders at the federal, state and local levels is therefore crucial. The report said industry advocates should lobby policymakers and business leaders to invest more in plant-based R&D to make these products tastier, cheaper, and more accessible, as well as craft policy proposals and encourage public opinion in favour of animal-free diets.

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  • Aussie Investment Firm Rescues Leading Plant Protein Manufacturer to Protect Jobs & Farmers

    australian plant proteins
    5 Mins Read

    Australian Plant Proteins, which went into insolvency last year, has been acquired by investment firm My Co and will resume operations next month.

    My Co, the investment vehicle of the Paule Family Office, has taken over Melbourne-based manufacturer Australian Plant Proteins (APP), 10 months after it went into voluntary administration.

    The move is said to support local farmers, protect jobs, and reinforce Australia’s status as a plant-based leader, with APP co-founder Phil McFarlane continuing as CEO. Fellow founder Brendan McKeegan has exited the company, according to information on LinkedIn.

    “APP is a natural fit into our investment portfolio and complementary to our Biocheese and Meliora plant-based businesses,” My Co CEO Vicky Pappas told Green Queen.

    She added: “APP will be fully operating in May 2025, and we will take the opportunity to first assess all areas of the business before embarking on further investment for exponential growth.”

    Why Australian Plant Proteins went insolvent

    australian plant proteins liquidation
    Courtesy: Australian Plant Proteins

    APP, which was founded in 2020, was the first firm to develop plant protein isolates in Australia. It entered insolvency in June, with industry experts blaming a lack of government support rather than a company failure.

    At the time, Simon Eassom, CEO of alternative protein think tank Food Frontier, called it “a warning that building a long-term sustainable industry takes time, ongoing investment, and commitment from government”.

    APP’s insolvency, he said, resigned Australian manufacturers to “relying on the importation of soybean concentrates and protein ingredients, often of variable quality and suitability” and put the country at risk of deepening its reliance on imports instead of becoming a leading exporter of innovative foods.

    “We hope that APP finds a buyer before it’s too late but, really, the support needs to come from government,” Eassom said in July.

    My Co, which focuses on agrifood and biotech startups at seed and Series A stages, has now swooped in to do just that. Pappas said APP’s insolvency was caused by “a variety of contributing factors exacerbated by tough economic conditions”.

    “The fundamentals of the business are sound with an exceptional, high-quality product,” she told Green Queen. “My Co has a long track record of successfully working with businesses like APP with a hands-on approach.”

    In a statement in the announcement, she added: “The potential of APP is immense. Its game-changing technology aligns with our vision of fostering innovation in the food sector and contributes to a sustainable future. We are excited about expanding APP’s capabilities and enhancing its presence in both domestic and international markets.”

    New products and capacity expansion planned

    plant protein isolate
    Courtesy: Australian Plant Proteins

    Operating the largest plant protein fractionation facility in Australia, APP manufactures protein isolates from locally grown faba beans, yellow peas, lentils, mung beans and other pulses.

    It uses a proprietary membrane extraction technology to create the ingredients, which boast more than 85% protein content. The isolates offer superior functional properties, including enhanced fortification, solubility, and texture, plus a neutral flavour, and can be used in numerous plant-based applications like dairy, bakery, nutrition, beverage, and meat alternatives.

    MacFarlane suggested that APP’s unique extraction process “differentiates it from other plant protein manufacturers” globally. “Unlike conventional methods that often rely on harsh chemicals or enzymes, APP extracts protein from pulses using a clean, non-solvent method,” he said.

    The process allows APP to manufacture plant protein isolates at scale and help food and beverage companies tailor their plant-based alternatives, meeting consumer demand and bridging the sensory gap with animal proteins. Its plant protein isolate powder even won the Best Ingredient honour at the 2024 Hive Awards.

    For My Co, integrating APP into its existing portfolio will enhance the latter’s operational efficiencies and marketing strategies, allowing it to double down on developing new products for evolving consumer needs.

    APP already has plans to kickstart several projects – including establishing a fibre and starch processing facility – which will increase its production capacity and diversify its product offerings.

    “This is more than just an acquisition; it’s about creating a sustainable future for food production,” said Pappas. “By acquiring APP, we are shaping the future of plant-based innovation in Australia and beyond.”

    A topsy-turvy plant-based sector down under

    australian plant proteins
    Courtesy: Food Frontier

    APP’s insolvency last year came amid several stories of alternative protein startups – both locally and overseas – ceasing operations, or coming close to it.

    Last year, New South Wales-based ProForm Foods – the company behind the Meet range of plant-based analogues – wound down after entering voluntary administration, and vegan burger chain Flave shut its doors too. Meanwhile, New Zealand’s Sunfed Meats ceased operations after nearly a decade in operation.

    The Aussie Plant Based Co also went into liquidation in October, before being swiftly acquired by Queensland’s Smart Foods eight days later.

    All this came amid a backdrop of a 59% hike in wholesale demand for plant-based meat in foodservice in 2023, and a 1% drop in annual retail sales between 2020 and 2023. Research by Food Frontier shows meat analogues are yet to reach 65% of Australia’s population. And of those who have tried them, only 22% say they’d buy them again, signalling a gap in consumer liking, and an uphill battle for brands in the space.

    However, with two in five Australians identifying either reducing or not consuming meat at all in 2024 (with 22% identifying as ‘meat reducers’), the opportunity is ripe for plant-based companies to attract this market. Can My Co help APP do so?

    The post Aussie Investment Firm Rescues Leading Plant Protein Manufacturer to Protect Jobs & Farmers appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Trend Report: From Syrups to Cereal, Protein is Everywhere – These Startups Make Sure It Doesn’t Cost the Earth

    protein syrup
    6 Mins Read

    We may be overconsuming protein, but the global appetite for the nutrient shows continues to grow – and future food brands are listening.

    Protein-enhanced coffee may have been around for a few years, but how often do you find protein in your simple syrup?

    Brands are continuing to find ways to deliver America’s favourite macronutrient. The number of people trying to consume more protein has been steadily increasing in the US, from 59% in 2022 and 67% in 2023 to 71% in 2024, according to a 3,000-person survey.

    The same poll found that 94% of these consumers source protein from foods and 25% from beverages, compared to just 18% who rely on supplements. At the same time, a quarter of Americans are concerned about the health impact of animal proteins.

    This has left future food brands – those producing proteins from plants, microbes, animal cells, or even air – with a huge opportunity. And it seems like they’re listening.

    Can protein syrups change the game for coffee?

    the every company egg
    Courtesy: The Every Company

    At the Future Food-Tech event in San Francisco (March 13-14), California’s The Every Company showcased its new protein syrup to attendees.

    The startup uses precision fermentation to make recombinant egg proteins, and has received a ‘no questions’ letter from the Food and Drug Administration for three proteins, including Every EggWhite (which contains animal-free ovalbumin) and a nearly transparent Every Protein (bioidentical to glycoprotein).

    Last year, at the IFT Expo Startup Pavilion, The Every Company unveiled Every OvoBoost, a neutral-tasting, colourless protein ingredient with low viscosity and zero sugar. This was exhibited in a protein syrup for cold brew coffee.

    This evolved into the Dash Protein Syrup seen at all coffee stations at Future Food-Tech this month. The sweetener contains 5g of recombinant egg protein per ounce, with the added benefit of being sugar-free.

    “The enthusiasm around our protein syrup was electrifying, and the feedback we received was nothing short of amazing,” the company noted after the event. And now, it is bringing the ingredient to market.

    “We’re about to pour protein into places it’s never been before,” The Every Company wrote on social media last week. “We’re shaking up the functional beverage category as we introduce the world’s first protein-boosted beverage syrup to consumers.”

    It is launching the syrup as part of a protein mocha and protein matcha latte at wellness retailer Earthbar, where it will be available for a limited time in several locations across California.

    “With OvoBoost, we’ve created a game-changing ‘Protein Pump’ that allows for easy protein-boosting in almost any kind of drink,” said Arturo Elizondo, co-founder and CEO of The Every Company. “Whether it’s black coffee, carbonated soft drinks, tea, water – you can now boost them with protein.”

    He added: Our protein syrup is truly a first-of-kind industry disruptor as consumers continue to demand more convenient ways to add protein to their diets without the added calories, chalkiness, or compromises.”

    A protein expo

    simply protein tortilla chips
    Courtesy: SimplyProtein

    The Every Company’s move to pack protein inside coffee syrups is reflective of the macro trend in the food and beverage industry: if there’s a way to add protein to an everyday food, brands are lining up to do so.

    This was evident at Natural Products Expo West trade show in Anaheim, California last month. Famed wholegrains food brand Bob’s Red Mill expanded its Protein Oats line with an overnight oats range in blueberries and cream and vanilla almond flavours. Interestingly, the protein comes from a particular crop of oats that have been bred to produce higher amounts of the nutrient, as opposed to a separate ingredient.

    Speaking of breakfast, Stoked Oats exhibited its Protein Oat Cereal (which will roll out at Sprouts later this year). The Cheerios-like product line contains 5g of protein per serving. And ChiChi Foods updated its packaging from ‘Grain Free Hot Cereal’ to ‘Protein Hot Cereal’ in response to consumer attitudes – each serving of its chickpea cereal contains 10g of protein.

    Also at Expo West, SimplyProtein unveiled new candy-like bars with 10g of plant protein per 45g serving, as well as two new flavours of its pea-protein-boosted tortilla chips (with 7g of protein per 100g).

    Meanwhile, New York-based brand Crisp Power gave attendees a taste of its patent-pending protein pretzels. Containing wheat protein, carob seed protein, and soy protein isolate, they boast 28g of protein and 36% of your daily recommended intake of fibre per pack.

    Protein for one, protein for all – but what about the climate?

    impossible steak bites
    Courtesy: Impossible Foods

    Americans overconsume protein. Men are eating 31% more than what’s recommended, and women 12%. At the same time, 95% are not getting enough fibre into their diets, which is crucial to their gut microbiome and general wellbeing.

    The protein craze shows no sign of slowing down anytime soon. So one way for companies to give people both what they want (protein) and what they need (fibre) is by focusing on alternative proteins, which have tons more fibre than animal-sourced versions.

    This is the focus of products like Impossible Foods’s new Steak Bites (21g of protein and 3g of fibre per serving), Immi’s vegan cup noodles (18g of protein, 10g of fibre per pack), and Cocojune’s high-protein Greek coconut yoghurts (8g of pea protein, 2g of fibre per 5oz pack) – all of which were featured at Expo West.

    Numerator data shows that the demand for these nutrients will continue to grow, with 39% and 28% of Americans tracking protein and fibre, respectively, more closely in their diets in 2025 (a six-point increase over last year). A survey by Chobani similarly suggested that 85% of Americans want to increase their protein intake this year.

    The protein explosion exposes a significant issue: with consumers demanding more and more protein, what happens to global greenhouse emissions?

    The growing shift towards animal-based foods in the US – think crisps made from chicken breast, tortilla chips fried in tallow, shakes containing bone broth, and raw milk– means more land, more water and more intensive livestock farming.

    Globally, livestock farming accounts for up to a fifth of all emissions and half the world’s farmland, and one recent study called it the leading cause of climate change. Plant-rich diets, on the other hand, can reduce emissions, land use and water pollution by 75% compared to meat-rich diets. Consumers may not see it this way. Sales of plant-based meat, meanwhile, fell by 9% between July 2023 and 2024.

    This is why as food companies rush to meet the skyrocketing appetite for protein, it’s critical to use ingredients and supply chains that don’t take up vast amounts of land and energy or produce as much carbon, methane, and other gases into the atmosphere. The need to decarbonise our protein supply is more important than ever.

    With the upcoming dietary guidelines putting plant proteins above meat and dairy, could alternative protein brands seize that opportunity?

    The post Trend Report: From Syrups to Cereal, Protein is Everywhere – These Startups Make Sure It Doesn’t Cost the Earth appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Meatable CEO: Uniting Innovation with Tradition is the Way Forward for Sustainable Meat Production

    jeff tripician
    4 Mins Read

    Jeff Tripician is the CEO of Meatable, a Dutch food tech startup working on cultivated pork. A former meat industry exec, he argues that a collaborative approach is the only recipe for success.

    As global demand for meat rises, one thing is clear: the only sustainable path forward is collaboration – between the meat industry, farmers, ranchers, and all those who have long secured our protein supply.

    By combining existing knowledge and infrastructure with new technology, cultivated and conventional meat can work together to make sustainable protein widely available at scale. Cultivated meat isn’t here to replace the industry – it’s here to complement it. Rather than competing, innovation and tradition must join forces to drive the industry forward, benefiting ranchers, businesses, and the environment alike.

    This was the focus of Meatable’s recent global summit, where over 80 industry leaders, meat executives, investors, and policymakers gathered to discuss how cultivated and conventional meat can collaborate to really make a difference.

    The problem

    The problem is undeniable: our current food production system is unsustainable. It harms the climate and depletes vital resources like water and land, and is subject to supply disruptions due to livestock disease, weather conditions and global conflict. If we continue down this path, we won’t be able to feed our growing population without devastating the planet. It’s time to change course and give the Earth a break.

    Farmers, ranchers, and the meat industry face immense pressure to meet the surging global demand for protein with finite land, water, and resources – all while minimising their environmental footprint. By 2050, global protein demand is projected to rise by a staggering 70%, relating to two billion more people needing 2 trillion meals per year, putting even more strain on an industry that is already pushing the limits of efficiency and scale. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly clear that relying solely on conventional methods is neither practical nor sustainable.

    As the Rt Hon Chris Skidmore, former UK Minister of Energy, stated during the event: “Every human being deserves the right to better nutrition, and to protein-rich meals, just as everyone should have the ability to access energy, electricity, or the internet. These are the global goals that sustainability has to deliver: not to ration, nor to restrict the choices and lifestyles of those who have been denied choice or freedom for too long.”

    The solution

    lab grown meat event
    Courtesy: Meatable

    Instead of competing in a zero-sum game, the meat industry has an opportunity to evolve by embracing cultivated meat as part of the solution. By incorporating this technology we can alleviate the burden on farmers and ranchers to continuously increase production under volatile market conditions. Rather than forcing a binary choice between traditional and cultivated meat, cultivated meat will be able to provide additional supply, so the industry can use both to build a more resilient and adaptable food system.

    At the same time, cultivated meat’s reduced environmental footprint offers a path toward a more sustainable future. By requiring significantly less land and water while generating fewer emissions, it minimises deforestation, preserves natural ecosystems, and reduces pollution from livestock waste.

    With the right approach, the industry can strike a balance between meeting growing consumer demand and protecting the planet for future generations. The future of meat production isn’t about replacement – it’s about integration.

    The way forward

    Courtesy: Meatable

    There is growing interest to do so. As an example, a representative from the New Mexico Partnership (US) outlined during the event that the state of New Mexico, an agricultural hub, is actively exploring opportunities in food innovation, including cultivated meat, and promoting the state as a business hub in this regard.

    And we don’t need to reinvent the wheel. The meat industry is built on centuries of expertise, finely tuned supply chains, and an extensive infrastructure that already feeds billions. This foundation provides an enormous advantage – one that cultivated meat is set to integrate with rather than replace. By working together, we can scale up high-quality, sustainable protein production without starting from scratch, ensuring a more efficient and practical path forward.

    My charge? Give future generations a chance, and give consumers a choice. Innovation has always shaped the food industry, and the market will naturally adapt, as it always does. If we strike the right balance, ranchers will not only survive but thrive, the industry will expand rather than contract, and consumers will enjoy more choices than ever before. This is what the future of meat should look like – one driven by innovation and collaboration, not restriction and competition.

    By supporting local farmers and ranchers, continuing the responsible production of conventional meat, and integrating high-quality, great-tasting cultivated meat as a complementary innovation, we can create a more resilient and sustainable future. The path forward isn’t about division or trade-offs – it’s about working together to feed a growing world while protecting the planet.

    This is not a battle between old and new. It’s an opportunity to evolve, using the best of what we already have to build something even better. The only way forward is together.

    Want to discuss further? I’m always ready to pull up a chair. Contact me on LinkedIn.

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  • Chinese Lawmakers Promote Alternative Protein Policies During Annual Political Summit

    china novel food regulation
    5 Mins Read

    Chinese government officials have called for a boost to the national biotech capacity and the introduction of a novel food framework at its Two Sessions summit.

    Chinese lawmakers have issued calls to speed up the development of its alternative protein ecosystem, with a focus on R&D and manufacturing, IP protection, and regulatory support.

    This month’s Two Sessions summit in Beijing convened lawmakers from across the country to ratify legislation, review government work, and set an economic agenda for the forthcoming year.

    Preceding the event were several documents indicating the government’s willingness to propel its alternative protein industry to new heights, which analysts saw as a sign of more things to come.

    At the summit, some of China’s top government officials proved them right. For example, in his opening day speech to the National People’s Congress (NPC), Li Qiang, the premier of the State Council, called for deeper integration of strategic emerging industries, which included biomanufacturing, according to industry think tank the Good Food Institute (GFI) APAC.

    This was followed by calls from several of his deputies who identified parts of the food system where China needed to ramp up its efforts. This included “strengthening IP protections for microbial proteins, leveraging underutilised ingredients like microalgae to help achieve China’s carbon neutrality goals, and redoubling efforts to upskill and grow the domestic future-food workforce”, said GFI APAC.

    National and local governments enthused about novel foods

    cultivated meat china
    Courtesy: CellX

    Perhaps the most sweeping statements came from Wei Chen, deputy of the NPC. In his address, he recommended that the country “expand the boundaries of food resources” and promote resource innovation, including “in-depth exploration, nutritional evaluation, and industrial production of alternative proteins”.

    He further highlighted the importance of increasing “the policy guarantee for the development and application” of novel foods and developing talent in this industry to upgrade the national food system and improve global competitiveness.

    Technologies like gene-editing and synthetic biology could help “create high-nutrition, high-function novel food ingredients”, according to Chen, who promoted multidisciplinary integration to realise the potential of microbial technology for nutrition, health and sustainable development goals.

    Additionally, he called upon the National Health Commission and the State Administration for Market Regulation to establish “a flexible regulatory framework” to ensure the safety and traceability of novel food resources, according to GFI APAC. Chen stressed the goal of introducing unified novel food standards “as early as possible”.

    It’s not just national policymakers promoting alternative proteins. Provincial and city governments are doing so too. The Suzhou Industrial Park, jointly governed by Chinese and Singaporean officials, this month released its 2025-27 action plans for biomanufacturing food, which state its “intent to obtain cell engineering equipment and microbial identification devices that can help scientists cultivate new food ingredients”, said GFI APAC.

    In China’s most populous region, the Guangdong province, local officials are planning to build a biomanufacturing hub to pioneer tech breakthroughs in plant-based, microbial and cultivated proteins. “The officials said that the new hub will be specifically geared towards expanding market acceptance of future foods by enhancing their ingredients, texture, and functionality,” GFI APAC noted.

    Meanwhile, the country saw its first alternative protein innovation centre open in Beijing last month, fuelled by an $11M investment from public and private investors to develop cultivated meat and fermentation-derived proteins.

    Can the statements turn into reality?

    cultivated chicken china
    Courtesy: Jimi Biotech

    The remarks at the Two Sessions summit are the latest in a long list of policy efforts to put China atop the global alternative protein race.

    In an official notice about China’s agricultural priorities before the summit, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) identified the safety and nutritional efficacy of alternative proteins as a key priority, while research in novel food tech to create the next generation of food was also highlighted.

    A week later, the No. 1 Central Document (which signals China’s top goals for the upcoming year), underscored the importance of “building a diversified food supply system”, including efforts “to cultivate and develop biological agriculture and explore novel food resources.”

    The following day, a briefing by MAFRA featured a call to action to “develop new food resources such as plant-based meat”, according to GFI APAC.

    The government’s current five-year agriculture plan encourages research in cultivated meat and recombinant proteins, while the bioeconomy development plan aims to advance novel foods too. President Xi Jinping has called for a Grand Food Vision that includes plant-based and microbial protein sources.

    Leaders in the US have already highlighted fears of being overtaken by China’s biotech prowess. And experts suggest that for the East Asian country to decarbonise, half of its protein consumption must come from alternative sources by 2060.

    How likely are all these statements to become a reality? “After a National People’s Congress deputy puts forward a suggestion during the Two Sessions conference, the Working Committee for Deputies Affairs takes these suggestions and directs them to the relevant government departments for further consideration,” Mirte Gosker, managing director of GFI APAC, told Green Queen.

    She clarified that in most cases related to alternative proteins, the relevant department would be MAFRA. “The exceptions would be for situations like regulatory supervision or judicial affairs, which are instead sent to the National Supervisory Commission,” she said.

    “After further study, the reviewing department will provide feedback on the suggestion as to whether or not it will be pursued further, but any deputy suggestions are taken very seriously. That’s why it’s so significant that deputies are lining up to show their support for deeper public investments in protein diversification.”

    The post Chinese Lawmakers Promote Alternative Protein Policies During Annual Political Summit appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Can Hoxton Farms’s Cultivated Fat Satisfy Asia’s Appetite for Pork?

    hoxton farms
    5 Mins Read

    British cultivated meat player Hoxton Farms has partnered with Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation to bring its pork fat ingredient to Asia.

    For cultivated meat, fat is all the rage right now.

    In Europe, Mosa Meat has filed for regulatory approval to sell its cultivated beef fat in Switzerland and the EU. Across the Atlantic, Mission Barns has received the go-ahead from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to take its cultured pork fat one step closer to commercialisation in the US.

    Now, a British cultivated fat startup has set its sights on Asia, the world’s largest consumer of pork. Hoxton Farms has partnered with Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo Corporation to bring its pork fat to the country and the wider Asia-Pacific region.

    The two companies will work to secure partnerships with food manufacturers to integrate Hoxton Fat into their products, support awareness initiatives to highlight the potential of the ingredient, and work with regulators and stakeholders to obtain approval ahead of its market entry.

    “The partnership spans multiple countries, including Japan, Singapore, Korea and beyond,” Hoxton Farms co-founder and CEO Max Jamilly tells Green Queen.

    The company’s plans are firmly global, with regulatory filings ongoing for multiple markings. “We will file this year in Singapore and the US, followed by UK and other jurisdictions such as Thailand, Japan, Korea, and Australia and New Zealand,” he says. “We expect to go to market in Singapore first.”

    Hoxton Farms takes on conventional animal and plant fats

    lab grown meat fat
    Courtesy: Hoxton Farms

    Founded in 2020 by Jamilly and COO Ed Steele, Hoxton Farms derives its ingredients from a few pig stem cells, which are fed on a blend of plant-based nutrients to multiply and mature into fat. It makes use of cell biology and machine learning to grow pork fat in modular bioreactors and currently operates a 14,000 sq ft facility in London, which has a fermentation capacity of over 1,000 litres.

    This is intended as a drop-in replacement for animal fats and plant-based oils, which can be mixed with plant proteins to create products like soups, sauces, and hybrid meats, which are seen as the most viable way for cultivated meat to get to market in the current climate.

    There are various motivations driving this innovation. It’s much more sustainable than the alternative – pork is a highly emissive food product, and farming pigs requires excessive amounts of water and land. And common plant-based fats like coconut or palm oil, which are preferred by many manufacturers for their functionality, are the primary contributors to tropical deforestation.

    Fat is also key to flavour and mouthfeel, which is the most important aspect of meat for many omnivores. By recreating pork fat in bioreactors, Hoxton Farms can offer meat-eaters the same flavour, minus the environmental and health harms.

    Speaking of which, processed meats like bacon and sausages are classed as carcinogenic by the WHO, while red meats such as pork are deemed possible carcinogens. Pork fat, coconut or palm oil, meanwhile, are high in saturated fat, which can raise bad cholesterol levels and the risk of heart disease.

    Since Hoxton Farms can precisely control the composition of its fat, its team is developing versions that are lower in saturated fat and higher in beneficial elements like omega-3 fatty acids. It’s doing this specifically to reduce the risk of diet-related diseases, which can help address public health concerns in Asia.

    More than 40% of adults are overweight or obese in Asia-Pacific, and up to 12% of total healthcare spending goes towards treating obesity or related conditions.

    “Cell-based foods are an innovative source of protein that can help address future food security challenges without the need for animal sacrifice and with a lower environmental impact,” says Takeo Kojima, agri-innovation head at Sumitomo. “We see Hoxton Farms’s cultured fat as a groundbreaking ingredient that contributes not only to better taste, but also to sustainability.”

    Targeting Japan’s curiosity for cultivated meat

    lab grown meat regulatory approval
    Courtesy: Hoxton Farms

    Asia’s demand for meat is set to increase by 78% by 2050, putting further strain on the planet’s resources and public health. “Asia is the world’s largest consumer of pork, but supplies are threatened by an array of challenges, including disease (African swine fever massively disrupted the global pork market in 2018),” Jamilly points out. “Further, countries in Asia have a strong regulatory environment for cultivated products.”

    The startup, which has raised $35M to date, will co-develop products with food manufacturers via its collaboration with Sumitomo. “With Sumitomo’s unmatched expertise and network, now is the time to bring our cultivated fat to Asia and set a new standard for food innovation,” he says.

    The two firms will closely work with food safety bodies in various countries to obtain regulatory approval for the novel ingredient. This includes Japan, whose government is “making steady progress in developing a novel food regulatory framework”, according to Kimiko Hong-Mitsui, managing director of alternative protein think tank the Good Food Institute Japan.

    Hoxton Farms and Sumitomo are consulting with the Japan Association for Cellular Agriculture (JACA), an industry non-profit, which they claim will play a crucial role in shaping regulatory and social acceptance of cultivated meat in the country.

    The collaboration gives Japanese stakeholders “efficient access to groundbreaking technologies, production facilities, and essential information regarding safety and taste in addressing challenges in food supply”, notes JACA president Megumi Avigail Yoshitomi.

    A 2024 survey found that 42% of Japanese consumers are willing to try cultivated meat products; the creation of government regulations is key for 44% of those who are unsure about their safety aspects.

    “We hope that this partnership will serve as a key pillar in strengthening bilateral cooperation between Japan and the UK in the field of food technology,” adds Yoshitomi.

    Currently, only a handful of cultivated meat firms have been approved to sell their products. This includes Eat Just (in Singapore and the US), Upside Foods,  Mission Barns (both US), Aleph Farms (Israel), Vow (Singapore and Hong Kong), and Meatly (UK). Regulators in the EU, Switzerland, Australia and Thailand are evaluating applications too.

    The post Can Hoxton Farms’s Cultivated Fat Satisfy Asia’s Appetite for Pork? appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • 5 Minutes with A Future Food VC: Paulig Incubator’s Erika Hombert

    erika hombert
    2 Mins Read

    In our interview series, we quiz future food investors about the solutions that excite them the most, their favourite climate-forward restaurant, and what they look for in successful founders.

    Erika Hombert is a Senior Investment Manager at Paulig Incubator (PINC).

    What future food technologies most excite you?

    1. The use of AI across the board.
    2. Advancement in crop development.
    3. Bioproduction with low energy requirements.

    What are three future food verticals you are actively looking at for 2025?

    1. Sustainable agriculture
    2. Circularity in food production
    3. Sustainable packaging

    What do you consider the food tech sector’s greatest achievement in the past five years?

    Bringing an entrepreneurial culture to the F&B industry.

    If you could wave a magic wand, how would you fix plant-based meat?

    I wouldn’t.

    I’d fix people’s pre-judgements and attitudes towards vegetarian and low-meat diets.

    What’s the top trait you look for in a founder?

    1. Intellectual honesty
    2. Ambition
    3. Empathy (this is important to lead a team and make sound business decisions)
    4. Transparency
    5. Resilience

    What do you consider your most successful future food investment so far?

    I think Win-Win (formerly WNWN Food Labs) in the UK is doing a really good job in alt-chocolate.

    What has been your most disappointing investment so far?

    In my own portfolio, I don’t have any deals that have died yet.

    What do people misunderstand/get wrong most about VC?

    That it’s a job for men. I constantly see women outperforming their peers and make better investment decisions.

    What is the most ‘future food’ thing you have eaten this month?

    Cell-based chocolate – yummy!

    Where is your favourite climate-forward restaurant/dish/place to eat anywhere in the world?

    I’m currently obsessed with ancient grains grown in my region, like Öland wheat, spelt, and rye. They are great for the soils and ecosystems, and very nutritious and tasty!

    What’s your ‘why’? What motivates you to do what you do?

    I’m driven by impact. My why is a liveable future for my children and the continuation of humanity.

    The post 5 Minutes with A Future Food VC: Paulig Incubator’s Erika Hombert appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Grass-Fed Beef A Deceptive Climate ‘Solution’ That Misleads Consumers, Confirms New Study

    grass fed beef climate change
    5 Mins Read

    Grass-fed beef is as bad for the planet as the industrial version, and significantly more carbon-intensive than plant proteins, a new study has found.

    You may be eating grass-fed beef because you’ve been told it’s better for the climate. Turns out this claim is misleading “a large portion of the population who really do wish their purchasing decisions will reflect their values”, according to Gidon Eshel, an environmental physics professor at Bard College and the lead author of a new study lifting the curtain on the planetary impact of beef.

    Proponents of grass-fed beef argue that it’s more environmentally friendly because cattle grazing can enhance soil carbon sequestration (offsetting production emissions in the process), but Eshel and his colleagues found that this wasn’t the case.

    Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, their research suggests that beef derived from cows only raised on pastures does not present a climate benefit over grain-fed beef. Even the most efficient grass-fed operations had 10-25% higher emissions than industrially farmed beef. The former were also three to 40 times more carbon-intensive than proteins derived from plants or other animals.

    In fact, replacing cropland-based beef with plant proteins is “far more environmentally lucrative”, according to the authors. While this is not the first study proving that grass-fed beef is a source of greenwashing rather than a climate solution, it’s still a damning indictment of the claim that any kind of beef is good for the planet.

    Grass-fed beef is just as bad as industrial farming

    grass fed beef better for environment
    Courtesy: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

    Beef is the most polluting food on Earth, generating twice as many emissions as the second-worst product (dark chocolate). About half of these emissions come from methane, a harmful gas 80 times more potent than carbon over a 20-year period.

    The average cow produces 200 lbs of methane a year – about half the emissions of an average car. According to the UN, cattle are responsible for over 60% of livestock emissions, which itself account for up to 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

    In the US, only about 5% of cows are grass-fed, with the majority being raised in concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), which are not just harmful to the animals, but also to human health and the planet.

    Eshel and his colleagues used newly available estimates of beef cattle yields, herd methane production, and feed needs from across the US, and factored this data into a model that simulated and compared the emissions of grass-fed and industrial beef.

    They incorporated estimates on the carbon uptake of grasslands into the model and excluded lush pasturelands with high rainfalls where other crops could be grown. This was done to align with the idea that cattle should only eat what humans cannot, and thus not take up land suitable for growing food crops.

    The researchers found that grass-fed beef produces more emissions than industrial beef. While the carbon footprint of the former shrunk after factoring in the effects of soil carbon sequestration, it was still not low enough to position grass-fed beef as a better-for-the-planet solution.

    This is because soil sequestration through grazing reduced grass-fed beef’s emissions from 280-390 kg of CO2e per kg of protein to 180-290 kg of CO2e, but industrial beef’s emissions were still at 180-220kg of CO2e.

    “Accounting for soil sequestration lowers the emissions, and makes grass-fed beef more similar to industrial beef, but it does not under any circumstances make this beef desirable in terms of carbon balance,” Eshel told the Washington Post. “That argument does not hold.”

    Swapping beef for plant proteins could bring large climate benefits

    grass fed beef
    Courtesy: BananaStock via Photo Images

    In stark contrast, non-beef alternatives generated 10-70 kg of CO2e per kg of protein, meaning that plant-based alternatives, pork, poultry, cheese and milk produced just 5-35% of the emissions of the least intensive grass-fed beef modelled in the study.

    The researchers highlight how beef only contributes 5-20% of the calories from protein intake in the US, despite its production dominating the resource use in the food industry.

    “Compared with non-beef alternatives, grass-fed beef yields at most one-tenth of the protein per kg CO2eq emitted regardless of agricultural intensity,” the study reads. “Beef – extensive, intensive, or anything in between – is not a competitive form of resource use.”

    The authors argue that pasturelands should be rewilded to provide nature-based carbon sequestration and biodiversity benefits, as well as boost food security. Plant proteins can prove handy here – if 120 million hectares of semi-arid rangeland in the US were converted from beef to plant production, it would save annual emissions between 85 and 195 million tonnes of CO2e.

    Likewise, croplands in high-rainfall areas can be repurposed from beef grazing to plant-based food for direct human consumption. Using only as much of these areas as required to replace protein from beef with plants would lower yearly emissions by 260 to 400 million tonnes of CO2e and free 50 to 120 million hectares of farmland.

    Environmental journalist George Monbiot has famously railed against grass-fed beef advocates, calling pasture-fed meat production the “major cause of agricultural sprawl”. “The world’s urban areas occupy just 1% of the planet’s land surface, in comparison with the 26% used for grazing. Agricultural sprawl inflicts a very high ecological opportunity cost: the missing ecosystems that would otherwise exist,” he wrote in 2022.

    “We live in a bubble of delusion about where our food comes from and how it is produced. We’ve been dealing in stories when we should be dealing in numbers,” he added.

    The new study is especially relevant as it comes during the tenure of Robert F Kennedy Jr as US health secretary. He has previously laid out plans to shift away from intensive meat production and advocated for grass-fed, pasture-raised meat, despite limited evidence about the latter’s health benefits, and a trove of evidence finding it just as bad for the climate.

    “I have a hard time imagining, even, a situation in which it will prove environmentally, genuinely wise, genuinely beneficial, to raise beef,” Eshel told the Associated Press. His advice for people who truly want to look after the planet? “Don’t make beef a habit.”

    The post Grass-Fed Beef A Deceptive Climate ‘Solution’ That Misleads Consumers, Confirms New Study appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • BioCraft Pet Nutrition Gets EU Registration to Sell Cultivated Mouse Meat for Dogs & Cats

    lab grown meat eu
    5 Mins Read

    Food tech firm BioCraft Pet Nutrition has received registration from Austrian authorities to sell its cultivated meat ingredient in pet food applications across the EU.

    After a string of developments last year, 2025 is shaping up to be a big year for cultivated pet food. Just weeks after the first such product went on sale in the UK, another startup is gearing up to sell its version in the EU.

    BioCraft Pet Nutrition, a Delaware-based firm with a lab in Vienna, has received registration from Austrian authorities to use Category 3 animal byproducts (ABPs) in the EU, allowing it to sell its cultivated mouse meat to pet food producers in the region.

    Companies looking to sell animal-derived ingredients to pet food manufacturers need to meet legal requirements ensuring the ingredients are safe, and register as a user of animal byproducts. BioCraft notes that it has met its obligation as a Feed Business Operator and notified the EU Feed Materials Register.

    “It’s important to note that there is no pre-market approval process to sell feed ingredients in the EU, which means that animal cell-cultured ingredients themselves are not subject to ‘approval’ or ‘registration’ directly,” outlines BioCraft co-founder and CEO Shannon Falconer. “Rather, ‘approval’ or ‘registration’ is granted to the facility producing these animal byproducts.”

    “Cultured mouse is a biomass suspended in liquid-nutrient broth from a safe, non-GM cell line in a controlled, antibiotic-free, animal-free medium. It is a source of polyunsaturated omega fatty acids, protein, and nutrients, for use in pet food only,” the register reads.

    “BioCraft has now met all its legal obligations to sell its ingredient to pet food manufacturers directly,” says Falconer, adding that the company “is not positioning itself to sell to consumers directly”.

    lab grown meat for pets
    Courtesy: BioCraft Pet Nutrition

    Cultivated mouse meat passes three-year-long safety testing

    According to Falconer, facility registration or approval is “not a long process”. BioCraft filed its application to the EU in August 2024 – but it only did so after three years of rigorous safety assessments.

    “What does take time are the many, many tests to validate the safety and nutritional profile of the feed material being sold – especially when it’s something new, such as an animal cell-cultured ingredient,” she explains.

    This includes a full genetic analysis of its cell line, a toxicological review of each ingredient that goes into the product, extensive nutritional profiling of the ingredient, as well as the generation of a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) plan, which is a legal requirement to sell any feed material in the EU).

    BioCraft enlisted a team of veterinary, food safety, and food science experts – both in-house and third-party – to generate safety data for its cultivated ingredient based on dossier requirements for an EU feed additive.

    biocraft pet food
    Courtesy: BioCraft Pet Nutrition

    Studies confirmed that the company’s ingredient is produced using stable, non-immortalised, non-genetically modified animal cells, and is free from bacterial pathogens, viruses, mycotoxins, moulds and yeasts. The cultivated mouse meat doesn’t contain biogenic amines or heavy metals either.

    Following the safety testing, BioCraft filed for facility registration with Austrian authorities, who granted it “for the purpose of multiplying cells for the production of pet food”.

    “This comprehensive safety analysis goes well beyond regulatory compliance and provides a meticulous breakdown of our feed safety protocols, including stringent supplier verification processes, traceability documentation, risk assessments, and SOPs for every critical control point,” says Falconer.

    “We’ve implemented rigorous quality control measures and transparency across our supply chain, and the result is the highest industry standards for safety and integrity in alternative protein production,” she adds.

    BioCraft in talks with leading pet food manufacturer

    It’s the biggest milestone in the startup’s nine-year history, allowing it to commercialise its debut product in the EU market. The cultivated mouse meat slurry can be used as a one-to-one replacement in wet or dry pet food at similar inclusion levels to conventional slurry, since it has a similar nutritional profile and consistency.

    Third-party profiling of over 100 nutrients showed that BioCraft’s cultivated meat has comparable levels of taurine, lysine, methionine and tryptophan to that of chicken slurry, and a superior omega-6 to omega-3 ratio.

    Last year, BioCraft announced that its product now had a sale price of $2-2.50 per lb. It achieved this feat by developing a plant-based growth medium formulated to provide a nutritious boost to the end product. Typically, animal-derived growth media – the mix of proteins, sugar and nutrients that feed animal cells in a bioreactor – cost hundreds of dollars per litre.

    biocraft pet nutrition
    Courtesy: BioCraft Pet Nutrition

    Formerly called Because Animals, the firm has raised $6.7M in funding to date, and previously earmarked early 2026 for its market launch. Leading manufacturer Partner in Pet Food (PPF) is now “investigating options” with BioCraft. “Pet food producers are following this market space eagerly because there is a need for more ingredients that are supply-chain stable, sustainable, scalable, safe, and ethical,” said Patricia Heydtmann, quality and product development director at PPF.

    Czech startup Bene Meat Technologies was the first to register cultivated pet food as an EU feed material back in 2023, although it did so under the fermentation category instead of as an ABP. It has since also filed an application to the US Food and Drug Administration.

    Meanwhile, Cult Food Science conducted feeding trials in the US in pursuit of regulatory approval for its Noochies! brand, and Friends & Family Pet Food Co has inked two deals to launch stateside and in Singapore.

    The UK appears to be leading the race, with London-based startup Meatly passing stringent inspections from its regulatory bodies and partnering with vegan pet food maker The Pack to launch its cultivated chicken in dog treats at Pets At Home.

    The post BioCraft Pet Nutrition Gets EU Registration to Sell Cultivated Mouse Meat for Dogs & Cats appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Future Food Quick Bites: Impossible Sliders, Major League Baseball & Cat Jewellery

    impossible beef sliders
    5 Mins Read

    Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Impossible Foods’s beef slider rollout, the New York Mets’s new vegan sandwich, and Grubby’s vegan meal kits for B Corp Month.

    New products and launches

    Impossible Foods has introduced its latest product, Beef Sliders, exclusively at Walmart stores. The mini vegan patties are available as a six-pack for $7.48.

    impossible sliders
    Courtesy: Impossible Foods

    Plant-based startup Daily Harvest has launched a USDA-certified Organic Pea Protein Powder with 24g of protein per 120-calorie serving, which would cost roughly $2.

    Tex-Mex chain Pancheros Mexican Grill has rolled out a Tofurizo on its menu, which includes sautéed peppers and onions, paprika, cumin, cayenne, and chilli powder. It’s available at all locations nationwide.

    With the Major League Baseball season underway, catering giant Aramark‘s Sport + Entertainment division has introduced a vegan pulled BBQ jackfruit sandwich (with a plant-based pretzel bun and coleslaw) at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets.

    mlb vegan
    Courtesy: Aramark

    In the UK, meal kit startup Grubby has partnered with leading plant-based players Oatly and This, nut butter maker ManiLife, and ingredient brand Belazu on a special range of recipes for B Corp Month. These include Creamy White Sausage Ragù Linguine, Greek Mushroom Pastitsio with Cucumber Salad, and Pesto Courgette Tarts with Tomato & Basil Salad.

    Speaking of Oatly, the oat milk giant has released two new flavours of its iKaffe range (as its barista edition is known in the Nordics) at coffee chain Espresso House. The vanilla and caramel barista milks are available in both hot and cold drinks at stores in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland.

    oatly ikaffe
    Courtesy: Oatly/Espresso House

    Scottish nutrition brand Vybey has expanded into the snacking category with plant-based Complete Nutrition bars in chocolate brownie, raspberry white chocolate, and mint chocolate flavours. Each 80g bar contains 20g of plant protein.

    And French supermarket E.Leclerc has launched a Végé line under its own-label brand, Marque Repère, which comprises 45 animal-free alternatives priced similarly to their conventional counterparts.

    Company and finance updates

    Indian plant-based nutrition startup Nourish You has raised ₹16 crores ($1.8M) in a Series A funding round led by SIDBI Venture Capital. The parent company of alt-dairy brand One Good, the firm will use the funds to scale operations, launch new products, and expand into new markets, including Australia, Europe, and the US.

    nourish you
    Courtesy: Nourish You

    Israeli cultivated meat pioneer Aleph Farms has raised $29M in new funding, as part of a larger tranche of financing it expects to close in the coming months. The firm reportedly slashed its valuation in the latest round.

    Further Foods, a subsidiary of Canadian cellular agriculture firm Cult Food Science, has signed an R&D supply agreement with a cultivated meat company to develop its Noochies! line of pet food treats, which it will showcase at the Global Pet Expo this week (March 26-28).

    noochies pet food
    Courtesy: Veronika Dvorakova

    Also in the cultivated meat space, Californian pioneer Upside Foods has conducted a fresh round of layoffs as it restructures to focus on commercialisation and scale. It is currently awaiting regulatory approval for its second cultivated chicken product in the US.

    Catering company Sodexo has announced that it is on track to halve its food waste in the UK and Ireland this year (compared to 2017 levels), five years ahead of schedule.

    sodexo plant based
    Courtesy: Sodexo

    Belgian food group Vandemoortele has agreed to acquire the European spreads and margarine business of US producer Bunge for an undisclosed sum, which includes several plant-based brands.

    The Plant Based Foods Institute has appointed Sanah Baig, former senior policy advisor for agriculture and nutrition at the White House, as its new executive director. She will join the organisation in June.

    Policy and awards

    The Plant-Based Treaty is working with the Red Cross to provide plant-based food options to people during emergencies and disasters in Los Angeles.

    British startup Potina, which makes banana oat milk for kids, has won IFE Manufacturing‘s Clean Label honour, awarded in partnership with the Institute of Food Science & Technology.

    Discount retailer Lidl and the ProVeg Incubator have kickstarted a Cheese Alternative Innovation Competition, where participants will pitch their plant-based products to Lidl. Winners will get a listing under the retailer’s vegan private-label brand, Vemondo, in Germany.

    Indian cultivated meat startup ClearMeat has struck a partnership with the National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM), to scale biotech and food tech innovations and leverage their combined expertise and resources to drive the sector forward.

    vegan jewellery
    Courtesy: Catastrophy

    Finally, Singaporean jewellery brand Catastrophy, which makes ethical jewellery for cat lovers and donates 10% of all proceeds to animal welfare organisations, has received The Vegan Society’s Vegan Trademark, a world-first for a jewellery line.

    Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.

    The post Future Food Quick Bites: Impossible Sliders, Major League Baseball & Cat Jewellery appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • The Biased Science That Fuelled Italian Farmers’ Anti-Cultivated-Meat March

    coldiretti lab grown meat
    5 Mins Read

    One of the loudest opponents of cultivated meat, Coldiretti rallied thousands of farmers to demand the EU assess novel foods like new drugs. It cited concerns from scientists, but half of them are members of the organisation.

    It was only a week ago that thousands of farmers from across Italy marched the city of Parma with yellow and blue flags to demand an overhaul of European food safety regulations, specifically against cultivated meat and precision-fermented foods.

    The procession was organised by Coldiretti, Italy’s leading farmers’ association, which has been a key voice in lobbying for anti-cultivated-meat legislation in the country. The group’s 2022 petition, signed by nearly half a million people and 3,000 local governments, called on policymakers to ban “synthetically produced food” and eventually led to Italy’s world-first ban on cultivated meat a year later.

    During the march, Coldiretti – led by its President Ettore Prandini and its General Secretary Vincenzo Gesmundo – rallied against the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) to “shed light” on the safety assessments around novel foods. The group’s big ask? For the EU body to require novel food companies to carry out clinical and preclinical medical studies before their products are greenlit.

    In a statement justifying its protest, Coldiretti said it was acting upon requests from “illustrious scientists” to ensure greater transparency and scientific attention in the evaluation of novel foods, noting that they “cannot be treated as simple new foods, but must follow the same procedure as drugs”.

    As it turns out, the scientists Coldiretti is referring to may not be as independent as they claim, resulting in a significant conflict of interest in the association’s demands, according to reports first reported in Italian media.

    ‘Concerned scientists’ belong to Coldiretti think tank

    italy bans lab grown meat
    Courtesy: Coldiretti

    Coldiretti cited an inter-institutional technical roundtable established by Health Minister Orazio Schillaci and Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida in 2024, mere months after the country banned the sale or production of cultivated meat in violation of EU law.

    The roundtable assessed the impact of cultivated meat on health, farmers, the economy, and more. Last month, it presented recommendations that cultivated meat and other novel foods should be treated as pharmaceuticals subject to lengthy trials, mimicking the procedure applied by the European Medicine Agency for new drugs.

    Meanwhile, a think tank called Aletheia Foundation submitted 11 critical comments to the EFSA early last year, as part of its public consultation on its updated guidelines for cultivated meat regulation, unveiled in July. On its website, Aletheia describes itself as an organisation clarifying “the inextricable link between food and health” via “independent and free research”.

    But its recommendations were strikingly similar to those of the roundtable. And according to Italian newspaper Il Foglio, this should come as no surprise, since five of the roundtable’s members are part of Aletheia, which was founded by Coldiretti.

    It would appear that the protests sparked by what the union says was a concern from independent scientists are the result of pushback from Coldiretti’s own members.

    It also appears the Italian government was aware of the conflict of interest – Schillaci, the Health Minister, was a guest of honour alongside Prandini and Gesmundo in a ‘food and disease’ event held by the ministry and Aletheia last year. During the event, Gesmundo attacked the EFSA for promoting practices that he felt did the most harm to the EU population.

    EU clarifies policy after Coldiretti claims victory

    coldiretti efsa
    Courtesy: Coldiretti/EFSA

    After the protest, Coldiretti was quick to claim victory, saying it was “satisfied with EFSA’s commitment to conducting every necessary analysis on every single notified product, including pre-clinical and clinical tests on foods derived from cell cultures and precision fermentation”.

    In a statement, EFSA’s senior policy coordinator, Alberto Spagnolli, called the discussion with the group “constructive” and said the request to apply high scientific standards matched the EU’s mission.

    “EFSA Panel members will use conditions and requirements for the scientific assessment based on the most recent experience of evaluations, as provided for in the new guidelines in force today,” he said in a statement. “EFSA’s task is precisely to clarify doubts or uncertainties with regards to human health effects, nutritional profiles of these foods, risks linked to the production process or substances used. :

    Spagnolli added that the panels would conduct “in-depth, case-by-case, evaluations for each product” and “may use every level of study required (including pre-clinical and clinical tests) to determine safety”.

    Speaking to Green Queen, he explained that the “need for clinical trials is already considered” in its guidelines. “Our updated guidance requires that applicants provide comprehensive toxicological studies (similar to pre-clinical studies) to establish the safety of novel food, including cell culture-derived food,” he said.

    “If these studies do not enable a conclusive risk assessment, additional tests, including clinical trials in humans, may be requested to resolve data gaps or uncertainties,” Spagnolli added.

    However, there’s no precedent for that happening in food, and the EFSA confirmed that Coldiretti’s march hadn’t brought about any additional reforms. “The policy has not changed,” Spagnolli told Green Queen. “We always follow our guidelines for our scientific work, and these were recently updated.”

    The protest caused the EFSA to proactively shut down its office for the day and ask employees to not come to work, perhaps mindful of the commotion caused by Coldiretti’s previous protest during the parliament’s final vote on the cultivated meat ban.

    Coldiretti’s stunt was criticised by some in the alternative protein industry. “It is not acceptable for an organisation to disrupt the workings of a scientific agency that successfully keeps Europe’s food the safest in the world and, if the results of the investigation are accurate, disturbing that they may have fabricated research to justify their anti-innovation agenda,” Robert E Jones, VP of global public affairs for Mosa Meat, told Green Queen.

    The company recently filed for novel food approval for its cultivated beef in the EU. “Fortunately, we know from hundreds of conversations across the EU that [Coldiretti’s] views do not represent mainstream farmers or the agri-food value chain,” Jones added.

    The post The Biased Science That Fuelled Italian Farmers’ Anti-Cultivated-Meat March appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • In Thailand, Eating Plants Could Prevent 100,000 Deaths from the Burning Season

    thailand air pollution
    4 Mins Read

    Replacing half of meat and seafood production with plant proteins could save 100,000 lives lost from air pollution in Thailand, a new study has found.

    Thailand’s annual crop-burning season causes air pollution lethal enough to prematurely kill 34,000 people every year but the solution lies in another agricultural element: plants.

    Specifically, plant-based proteins. Agricultural burning is the biggest source of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the country, which is one of the main air pollutants. During the December-April season, PM2.5 levels are three times higher than the national acceptable standard.

    The problem is maize, which accounts for a majority of the crops burned – and nearly all of this (99.83%) is reserved for animal feed. This, in turn, contributes to Thailand’s thriving meat and seafood industry.

    If this sector grows as projected, the number of premature deaths associated with burning residues of maize could reach 361,000 (between 2020 and 2050), according to new analysis from non-profit Madre Brava and sustainable development consultancy Asia Research Engagement (ARE).

    Instead, a 50% switch from meat and seafood to plant-based proteins could reverse this trend, preventing 101,000 deaths in this period. This number takes in previous research by the two organisations, which found that such a shift would lower animal production by 28% by 2050.

    That study further revealed that doing so would create 1.3 million jobs and $37B in economic value, lower national emissions by 79%, and spare up to 2.17 million hectares of farmland.

    The link between meat, the burning season, and pollution

    planetary boundaries
    Courtesy: Azote/Stockholm Resilience Centre

    The study is based on the planetary boundaries framework, which identifies nine processes critical to the environment’s ability to regulate itself and life on Earth. In 2009, we had crossed three of these boundaries. By 2023, that number jumped to six.

    One of these processes concerns aerosols – tiny liquid or solid particles suspended in the air, such as PM2.5. These are small enough to penetrate deep into the respiratory system and enter the bloodstream, causing serious health problems, including respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, asthma, reduced lung function, and premature death.

    Wanarak Saiphankaew, a former lecturer at the Faculty of Science at Chiang Mai University, knows all about this. She has lost both her parents to respiratory diseases, as well as a colleague from the university. None of them were smokers, and the biology expert is convinced that air pollution was conducive to their deaths.

    “I have been having problems with my respiratory system, and it is getting worse. I don’t know how much time I will have left in my life,” she said, adding that she is now considering moving away from the northern Thai city. “So I decided to leave my job to do what I want to do.”

    Sureerat Treemanka, vice-president of the Chiang Mai Breath Council, said: “People in the north of Thailand bear the brunt of maize burning. Our region has the highest rates of lung cancer in the country and higher premature deaths from air pollution than other regions.”

    Animal agriculture dominates PM2.5 production emanating from the food system – this is because livestock production accounts for 80% of farmland and 42% of all human-caused ammonia (a PM2.5 precursor).

    “The meat and seafood industry feeds the entire country, including some export markets. The long-term solution should not be an indiscriminate penalty for farmers who burn crops, but should include supporting the shift away from monoculture of maize for animal feed and to more sustainable crops,” said Treemanka.

    The Thai government must lead by example with protein diversification

    thailand plant based meat
    Courtesy: Absolute Plant

    Madre Brava and ARE propose protein diversification as a “long-term, systemic solution” that can address the root cause of PM2.5 by reducing the demand for animal feed – and meat.

    The groups encourage Thai policymakers to build on the Department of Industrial Promotion’s Reshape the Future scheme, which supports small- and medium-sized plant-based businesses with tech and innovation access.

    One way to get consumers excited about more plants is by introducing financial incentives that vegan alternatives cheaper and more accessible. Lawmakers must support farmers transitioning into crop production for plant-based proteins via education, financial assistance, and capacity-building initiatives.

    Another step is to lead by example: serving meat-free meals at public events and increasing these options at government institutions (including schools and hospitals) can help generate demand.

    “The air pollution that chokes Thailand during the burning season places an unacceptable burden on the health and lives of Thai people. That’s why the government has introduced measures to reduce it,” said Wich Piromsan, Thailand director for Madre Brava.

    “But the role played by animal agriculture is largely overlooked. Cutting burning from animal feed production could save hundreds of thousands of lives and help many more lead healthier lives.”

    The report also recommends retailers and foodservice players to increase their plant-based offerings. Equally important is the role of Thai meat and seafood producers, which must incorporate protein diversification into their climate plans, and invest in R&D to enhance alternative protein products for both domestic and international markets.

    “The quality of the air you breathe should not be dictated by your zip code,” said Piromsan. “With a national shift in protein production, it wouldn’t be.”

    The post In Thailand, Eating Plants Could Prevent 100,000 Deaths from the Burning Season appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Hooked Foods CEO: Underwhelming Sales of Plant-Based Leaders Has ‘Scared Investors’

    hooked foods
    4 Mins Read

    Tom Johansson, co-founder and CEO of Swedish vegan meat maker Hooked Foods, says3 underperforming big players have “scared” investors interested in the plant-based sector.

    The slow sales progress of leading plant-based companies in recent years has made investment a challenge for the whole vegan category, according to one startup founder.

    “The market growth has slowed and big leading players such as Oatly and Beyond Meat have performed very badly on the stock market. This scares the general investors that were interested in this space before, and with less demand, there are lower valuations and less capital available to raise,” says Tom Johansson, CEO of Swedish plant-based meat startup Hooked Foods.

    “The broader economic climate has indeed impacted investor appetite,” he says. “However, we see sustained interest from forward-thinking investors who recognise the long-term growth potential in sustainable food systems.”

    Johansson is speaking to Green Queen after his firm raised 8.4 million kroner ($830,000) via equity financing, loans, and grants, in support of its new product launches.

    “We’re delighted to have secured capital from a mix of institutional investors and strategic partners, including notable support with loans and grants from EIT Food and the EU Commission, alongside private investors aligned with our vision to transform the protein industry into a more sustainable and healthier system,” he says.

    It takes the startup’s total raised to €6M, and will help it enhance distribution and invest in technology and innovation. “Companies demonstrating product-market fit, efficient operations, and consumer demand, like Hooked Foods, continue to attract investment – even if it is less than before,” notes Johansson.

    Getting hooked on AI

    hooked vegobitar
    Courtesy: Hooked Foods

    Founded in 2019, Hooked Foods rose to fame for its seafood analogues, including salmon and tuna. It announced its expansion into chicken last year, rolling out chicken bites and chicken filets in addition to tuna and salmon bites at ICA Grupen and Coop Sverige in October.

    “Our products are currently available in approximately 500 retail locations across Sweden,” says Johansson. “We’re also expanding our presence in food service, partnering with several popular restaurants and fast-food chains such as 7-Eleven and Swedish kebab restaurant chains.”

    Among the new clean-label analogues is a vegan chicken kebab with 21g of protein per 100g, 7g of fibre, and bioavailable iron. “These products are competitively priced to match traditional protein products, making sustainable choices accessible for everyone. The price is at €14/kg and about €4.5 per pack (400g),” he notes.

    To turbocharge its progress, the company is investing in artificial intelligence, which will help optimise logistics, production, sales and marketing.

    “Specifically, we’re using AI-driven analytics to forecast demand, optimise supply chains, reduce waste, and improve customer communications at high capacity. These steps are critical in enhancing efficiency and profitability as we scale,” says Johansson.

    Hooked Foods teases big year after a challenging 2024

    vegan seafood
    Courtesy: Hooked Foods

    Like much of the alternative protein industry, where investment fell by 27%, 2024 was a challenging year for Hooked Foods. Johansson ascribes this to “a declining market and a production partner that went bankrupt”.

    “Main focus has been to prepare and launch our new portfolio of plant-based chicken and kebab as well as establish a new stable production with good margins and highest quality product and packaging,” Johansson says. “Despite a challenging market environment, we maintained steady monthly revenue, despite one-third of the year without a production. We see indicators of accelerating growth moving forward with our new product portfolio.”

    This is reflective of the larger picture for plant-based meat and seafood, which have suffered from a loss of faith from consumers amid the pushback against ultra-processed foods. Several startups have been forced to shut or come close to it.

    Meanwhile, analysis by the Good Food Institute in 2023 found that alternative seafood takes up just 1% of the overall seafood share in the US. Its 2024 research doesn’t have separate figures for seafood, but suggested that within the plant-based space, vegan seafood only accounts for 1% of the market.

    “Vegan seafood is relatively new compared to plant-based meat alternatives, with consumer awareness still building,” argues Johansson. “Now, when the total plant-based meat market is not growing as strongly, it takes a large amount of resources to grow the vegan seafood market – resources we do not have at the moment.”

    He adds: “At Hooked Foods, we’re skilled at creating healthy plant-based products with our technology and are now refocusing our strengths on product categories that already has a big established consumer base to create a stable profitable revenue base. We will still be offering plant-based seafood products as part of our portfolio as we see these products have a big long-term potential, but it is limited right now.”

    Looking ahead, he teases 2025 as a big year for the company: “We’ll expand our product offerings [and] increase our distribution footprint across Sweden. Our core focus will remain on building a strong case in Sweden with our products, we will keep developing innovative, healthy, and delicious products, backed by enhanced AI-driven efficiencies in our operations.”

    The post Hooked Foods CEO: Underwhelming Sales of Plant-Based Leaders Has ‘Scared Investors’ appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • What Does Cultivated Meat Actually Taste Like? We Asked People Who’ve Tried the Real Thing

    mission barns fda approval
    7 Mins Read

    With a number of cultivated meat startups hosting public tastings of their products, three taste-testers take us behind the scenes of what it’s like to bite into the future.

    It was a typically humid day in Singapore, with some scattered rain bringing respite from the heat. Danai Georgiadou hopped on Grab – aka Uber for the city-state – in search of a comforting Sunday lunch.

    Navigating through the options, she landed on Two Men Bagel House, one of several restaurants that have partnered with Vow, the Australian startup behind cultured quail and foie gras.

    She opted for the Foie King, an S$25.20 ($19) bagel featuring the Forged Gras – as it is branded – combined with sous-vide beef skirt steak, jalapeño relish, smokey honey mustard, and double Cheddar.

    vow lab grown meat
    Courtesy: Danai Georgiadou

    Georgiadou is – as you might have guessed – a meat-eater, but as a stem cell scientist and member of Cellular Agriculture Greece, she is at the heart of the future food movement. She’s also part of a small but growing group of people who have tasted cultivated meat.

    “What stood out to me was that it was genuinely delicious,” she says of Vow’s foie gras. The bagel delivered to her doorstep wasn’t the first time she had tasted it. Georgiadou has previously enjoyed the company’s cultivated meat at Tipping Club, Ryan Clift’s pioneering gastro-cocktail establishment, before it closed in 2024.

    She paid S$250 ($187) for a set dinner menu, and S$150 ($112) for a lunch menu, both featuring Vow. “I’ve tried Forged Gras in many forms/dishes by Ryan Clift. Croquettes, covered in solid duck butter, fluffy texture like whipped cream. In the bagel I got as takeout, it was grilled,” she says.

    “The chefs managed to create some amazing dishes with it. I’ll admit, I’m a bit biased since I work in the field and advocate for cultivated meat, but I really enjoyed it. I’d say Forged Gras has a very versatile texture, which gives you the flexibility to cook it in many different ways.”

    Can you separate the cultivated from the meat?

    wildtype cultivated salmon
    Courtesy: Brian Cooley

    On the other side of the world, Brian Cooley was in Marin County, California, attending a pop-up event at Loveski Deli. It was hosted by Wildtype, a San Francisco-based startup working to commercialise cultivated seafood.

    “I learned about the pop-up by being on a Wildtype waitlist to try their product,” says Cooley, a technology expert who spent nearly three decades as CNET’s tech editor. “A stream of people like me arrived and ordered Wildtype lox on a bagel from a special one-day menu, and we all paid for our orders (about $24 for a bagel with lox as I recall).”

    So, the million-dollar question: did it live up to the ‘real thing’? “You would have to tell someone that the Wildtype lox wasn’t conventional for them to suspect it was anything different,” says Cooley. “That’s the crucial bar to clear for any alt-protein.”

    He adds: “I think it’s actually better than conventional lox because it doesn’t have the occasional gristle or silverskin you find in conventional products.”

    mission barns lab grown meat
    Courtesy: Gustaf Brandberg

    Gustaf Brandberg, founding partner at Swedish VC firm Gullspång Invest, is an investor in Mission Barns. The cultivated pork fat maker recently earned a ‘no questions’ letter from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – the first for a cultivated meat company since 2023 – and aims to launch its products into restaurants and supermarkets later this year.

    “I have tried Mission Barns’s products for several years, and one of the main reasons we invested in the company is the quality of the products,” says Brandberg. “The bacon tastes just like bacon should, and the meatballs and salami could trick just anyone into thinking that they are made of meat, not a hybrid product with pork fat in an otherwise plant-based product.”

    Fat, he says, is the key element: “A lot of the taste is carried through the fat, so what stands out compared to other plant-based alternatives is how closely it mimics meat.”

    Where can cultivated meat improve?

    vow cultured meat
    Courtesy: Danai Georgiadou

    Okay, so cultivated meat has the same – or even – better sensory qualities than the products it’s aiming to replace. Where is it lacking?

    Brandberg, understandably, passed on that question. For Georgiadou’s palate, however, the cultured foie gras was a touch salty. “But that’s just personal preference,” she says.

    “The fact that Forged Gras contains 51% cultivated quail is already incredible, especially considering how expensive it is to produce any cultivated meat product. If there’s one area for improvement – and I’m confident it will get there – it would be increasing the cultivated meat content.”

    As Cooley attested to, the texture of the Wildtype salmon was ideal for him. “But some other tasters mentioned that it was slightly ‘softer’ than conventional lox,” he recalls.

    “It also didn’t smell ‘fishy’, which some people might miss,” he adds. “But when you understand why conventional seafood smells fishy, you don’t miss that ever again.”

    Cultivated meat is like most tech products

    cultivated meat review
    Courtesy: Brian Cooley

    So if cultivated meat tastes so good, what’s stopping it from appearing on our plates? Well, policymakers, for starters – one country and two US states have banned cultivated meat from being sold, with others on the horizon.

    Investors are stepping away from the sector, with funding falling by 75% in 2023, followed by another 40% drop in 2024, reaching just $137M. “I’m not surprised that investors and consumers, for different reasons, are going through phases of the Gartner Hype Cycle with regards to alt-proteins,” says Cooley.

    “But alt protein isn’t one sector: We have a solid sector of plant-based meats, the imminent launch of cultivated meats – Wildtype being one example – and the development of interesting new fermented products, especially in the alt-dairy category.”

    These three product groups have room to grow and take repeated “bites at the apple” of consumer acceptance, just like most tech products whose path was rocky before they became ubiquitous. “I’m also reminded of Rosabeth Moss-Kanter’s maxim that many big ideas seem like a failure in the middle, and Roy Amara’s observation that we tend to overestimate a technology’s impact early and underestimate its impact later,” he says.

    “Yes, food is very different from VR or AI, but both must work from the playbook of getting people to accept unfamiliar manners and methods of doing things to live better tomorrow than today.”

    The ‘right players’ have survived, and things will ‘only go up’

    lab grown meat taste test
    Courtesy: Danai Georgiadou

    For Georgiadou, the shift in the cultivated meat landscape was much needed. “When I joined the research front of cultivated meat in Singapore in 2022, funding was flowing, driven by overpromises, unfeasible milestones, and dream-like deliverables pitched to investors. There were many founders who just wanted to join in the hype without actually having a solid scientific foundation or proper planning,” she suggests.

    “As a researcher in the public sector, I experienced that firsthand – I was contacted by many of them for scientific advice. So, as we all saw, there was a big drop in the years that followed. Companies went bankrupt or got acquired, simply because they couldn’t meet those unrealistic promises. This not only led to a loss of investor trust, but also hurt the cultivated meat field overall.

    “But, because of that drop, I can now see that the right players survived, and anyone stepping in now knows they need to be ready for a fight. Expectations have also been reset. Cultivated meat isn’t just another alternative protein – it’s a novel food, a new technology. So the investors coming in now are better prepared, with more realistic expectations.”

    lab grown meat review
    Courtesy: Gustaf Brandberg

    Brandberg explains that the FDA approval for Mission Barns took much longer than he believed when his firm invested. “It’s good that the FDA is diligent when approving new food production methods, but we hope they can speed up their processes. After all, the end product is normal pork fat, produced in a bioreactor and not in a living creature,” he says.

    “The slow approval processes have hampered the whole industry, and cultivated companies still need to prove that they can produce ingredients at scale cost-efficiently. This is where we think cultivated fat has an advantage over cultivated meat; you only need a few percentages of fat in the end product, dramatically reducing the cost of ingredients.”

    Georgiadou is “pretty confident” that things will now “only go up” for cultivated meat. “And when it comes to political challenges – anything new always causes waves in the beginning. IVF (in vitro fertilisation) faced huge political and ethical resistance when it first emerged, but today it’s one of the most common reproductive assistance procedures,” she says.

    “Why wouldn’t the same happen with cultivated meat? History always repeats itself.”

    The post What Does Cultivated Meat Actually Taste Like? We Asked People Who’ve Tried the Real Thing appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Unilever to Sell Plant-Based Meat Brand The Vegetarian Butcher to JBS-Owned Vivera

    the vegetarian butcher
    6 Mins Read

    Unilever has agreed to sell The Vegetarian Butcher to fellow plant-based meat business Vivera, with the deal expected to be completed by Q3 2025.

    Four months after it first emerged that Unilever was planning to offload The Vegetarian Butcher as part of its portfolio shakeup, it has accepted a non-binding offer to sell the business to fellow Dutch meat-free company Vivera.

    The latter – itself owned by the world’s largest meat company, JBS – submitted a binding offer for an undisclosed sum to acquire The Vegetarian Butcher. The deal is subject to the usual closing conditions, regulatory requirements, and consultation processes, and expected to be completed by Q3 this year.

    Unilever, which bought The Vegetarian Butcher in 2018, said the brand no longer aligned with the requirements of its wider portfolio, and the divergence made a sale the best option. It enlisted Piper Sandler to handle the transaction.

    The wider picture, though, is that this is part of the CPG giant’s Growth Action Plan 2030 (GAP2030). It intends to clear out brands collectively worth around £1B in annual sales, sharpening its focus on its 30 ‘power brands’ – like Hellmann’s, Dove, Knorr, and Surf – which represent over three-quarters of its turnover.

    “I believe that The Vegetarian Butcher is poised for even greater success in the next phase of its journey under new ownership that is dedicated to plant-based meat replacements,” said Unilever Foods president Heiko Schipper. “This focused expertise will support the brand in its ambitious goal to become the ‘Biggest Butcher of the World’.”

    Unique supply chain and tech needs necessitated sale

    the vegetarian butcher unilever
    Courtesy: The Vegetarian Butcher

    One of the world’s leading plant-based meat makers, The Vegetarian Butcher was established in 2007 by Jaap Korteweg – a ninth-generation livestock farmer – and politician Niko Koffeman. In 2016, it co-produced a line of vegetarian meatballs with Unilever under the Unox soup brand, and was purchased by the CPG behemoth two years later as it looked to capitalise on the boom in meat-free eating.

    The Vegetarian Butcher’s products are available in 55 countries and over 40,000 retail locations, as well as restaurants and chains like Burger King and Subway. According to Unilever – which spent over £8M on a marketing push for the brand in 2019 – the plant-based meat maker has delivered “strong double-digit growth on average” since the acquisition, although Reuters reported that it only records around €50M in annual sales and is loss-making.

    The Vegetarian Butcher’s chilled and frozen products require a “distinct supply chain and sourcing model”, which made it “less scalable” within Unilever’s broader portfolio, the group said. It added that the plant-based business’s innovations were driven by a “unique set of technological and R&D capabilities” that differed significantly from the needs of its broader product range.

    “We are very excited for The Vegetarian Butcher to be joining forces with Vivera, as it will bring the opportunity to combine our strengths and deliver even greater value to our partners and our consumers,” said The Vegetarian Butcher CEO Rutger Rozendaal.

    the vegetarian butcher vivera
    Courtesy: Vivera

    Vivera is one of Europe’s oldest and largest vegan meat producers, having been around since 1990. It was initially part of the Enkco Foodgroup, whose flagship brand was a namesake meat maker. But the group sold the Enkco business to focus solely on the plant-based enterprise in 2017, paving the way for strong growth. This led JBS to acquire Vivera in 2021.

    Today, Vivera’s products are available in over 27,000 supermarket stores across 25 European countries. Its retail and private-label portfolio and in-house technologies are “complementary” to The Vegetarian Butcher, the firm said.

    “We join forces to create a great purpose-driven company with many talented and highly motivated people. Acceleration of the protein transition is more important than ever and we look forward to inspiring more people to eat more plant-based,” said Vivera CEO Willem van Weede.

    The Vegetarian Butcher eyes success as Unilever shakeup continues

    the vegetarian butcher unilever
    Courtesy: The Vegetarian Butcher

    Change has been fast afoot at Unilever in recent months. The group has also begun demerging its ice cream units in India and Indonesia, and will list global brands like Magnum and Ben & Jerry’s on public markets this year. The latter is in a spat with its parent company over the ouster of CEO David Stever last month, with Unilever accused of removing the executive over his political activism.

    The CPG company is also looking to sell a number of its Dutch food brands, including Unox and Conimex. And speculation about the future of brands like Colman’s, Marmite, and Pot Noodle has been rampant since the departure of CEO Hein Schumacher, who only took over in July 2023 and masterminded the GAP2030 strategy focused on “doing fewer things, better and with greater impact”.

    Schumacher, who has been replaced by CFO Fernando Fernandez, said the board was keen to “step up the pace of our strategy execution and realise swift value creation underscored by a change in leadership”.

    Unilever has additionally scaled back a number of its key climate goals, a break from its reputation as one of the world’s ESG leaders. The company recorded a 1.9% hike in turnover in 2024, reaching €60.8B. Its power brands led the way with sales growth of 5.3%. Meanwhile, the group’s food business made up 22% of its 2024 revenue. At €13.4B, this was second only to the personal care segment.

    “Market growth, which slowed throughout 2024, is expected to remain soft in the first half of 2025,” Schumacher said last month. “The steps we have taken in 2024, including the launch of our refreshed GAP2030 strategy, further reinvestment in our brands and strong innovation pipelines leave us better positioned to deliver on our ambitions in the years ahead.”

    unilever plant based
    Courtesy: The Vegetarian Butcher

    There had been scepticism about Unilever’s ability to find buyers for The Vegetarian Butcher at the right price, and some had (correctly) suggested it could appeal to trade buyers like meat producers looking to diversify into plant-based alternatives.

    “This marks a significant step towards becoming one of the largest and most influential companies in the plant-based industry, making us uniquely positioned towards further accelerating the global shift to tasty and healthy plant-based solutions,” said Rozendaal.

    The deal comes amid a downturn in investment in plant-based food (by 75% in 2024) and faltering sales, resulting in a number of mergers and acquisitions in the past year, including Ahimsa Companies’s takeover of Wicked Kitchen, Simulate, and Blackbird Foods, the separate deals for ready meal brand Allplants by Deliciously Ella’s founders and Grubby, and Misha’s Inc’s purchase of vegan cheese producer Vertage, among others.

    The post Unilever to Sell Plant-Based Meat Brand The Vegetarian Butcher to JBS-Owned Vivera appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Korean Muslim Federation Issues Fatwa Ruling Cultivated Meat As Halal

    lab grown meat halal
    4 Mins Read

    South Korea’s largest Muslim organisation has issued a fatwa recognising that cultivated meat can be Halal if it meets certain requirements, with one startup already pursuing the certification.

    Cultivated meat can be considered Halal and consumed by Muslims, provided they’re sourced and produced in accordance with Halal standards, according to the Korean Muslim Federation (KMF).

    The KMF’s Halal Committee recently issued the world’s second fatwa recognising cultivated meat as Halal, following a similar ruling by the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore last year.

    A fatwa is a non-binding legal opinion based on Sharia law, and is an important guideline for Muslims on matters not specifically defined in the Quran.

    Korean startup Simple Planet has been looking to obtain Halal certification for its cell-cultured ingredients, an effort that will now be accelerated thanks to the ruling.

    Simple Planet pursues Halal certification

    lab grown meat korea
    Courtesy: Simple Planet

    Simple Planet produces protein powders and unsaturated fatty acid pastes for cultivated meat products, and has established at least 13 different animal cell lines, including beef, pork, chicken, bluefin tuna, and lobster.

    Last month, it signed an MoU with the Halal Science Center at Chulalongkorn University in Thailand to integrate Halal Good Manufacturing Practices into biotech-powered food solutions, such as Simple Planet’s cell culture production system.

    The two entities will collaborate on Halal science and tech research via resource-sharing, joint academic programmes, and industry-led seminars. In addition, they will support student internships, faculty exchanges, and joint research initiatives to foster a cross-disciplinary approach to Halal certification.

    The startup developed an edible, serum-free culture medium using metabolites derived from probiotics, laying the groundwork for Halal adherence while potentially reducing production costs by 99.8%.

    “By developing cell-based ingredients that can be safely supplied without being affected by environmental factors and establishing a sustainable food production system, we aim to enhance accessibility to cell-based foods, contribute to food security, and help alleviate hunger worldwide,” said Simple Planet co-founder and CEO Dominic Jeong.

    The company has raised $7.5M from private investors and $8M in a government grant and is pursuing regulatory clearance in South Korea, which laid out a framework for the safety approval of these products last year. Working to make its products Halal-certified will open the company up to a bigger audience when it eventually gets to market.

    Halal certification clears a significant market barrier

    simple planet
    Courtesy: Simple Planet

    Halal diets refer to food consumption in accordance with Islamic law. When it comes to meat, this means animals must be slaughtered in a prescribed way, and certain types of meat and byproducts – including pork and blood products – are prohibited.

    According to the KMF’s fatwa, a thorough inspection of production facilities and processes is required for final Halal certification. But it’s still a significant development that paves the way for local cultivated meat producers to enter the Halal market and attract Muslim consumers. There are around 200,000 Muslims in South Korea today, and 40% of them live in Seoul, data from the KMF shows.

    Globally, Halal consumers represent a quarter of the population, and the halal meat market is estimated to grow by 7% annually to reach $1.6T by 2032.

    Cultivated meat producers understand the opportunity. A 44-company survey in 2023 revealed that complying with halal requirements was a priority for 87% of the firms. A lack of resources outlining how products can adhere to such religious certifications remain a significant entry barrier, the study added.

    The fatwas in Singapore and South Korea follow similar advice from scholars elsewhere. In 2023, three leading Shariah scholars in Saudi Arabia told cultivated chicken maker Good Meat that cultured meat can be considered halal. A year earlier, the Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America adjudged cultivated meat as provisionally permissible by default, provided Halal criteria are followed.

    “More than a billion people around the world adhere to halal food standards, so for cultivated meat to make the leap from novelty to the norm, it is crucial that there are viable pathways to achieve this certification,” Mirte Gosker, managing director of the Good Food Institute APAC, said last year.

    The post Korean Muslim Federation Issues Fatwa Ruling Cultivated Meat As Halal appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • 5 Minutes with A Future Food VC: Better Bite Ventures’s Simon Newstead

    simon newstead
    3 Mins Read

    In our interview series, we quiz future food investors about the solutions that excite them the most, their favourite climate-forward restaurant, and what they look for in successful founders.

    Simon Newstead is a Founding Partner at Better Bite Ventures.

    What future food technologies most excite you?

    There are many that we’re excited about, a couple of examples are fermentation including for example new types of sustainable ingredients, also interesting coating technologies that help extend the life of food and more.

    What are three future food verticals you are actively looking at for 2025?

    We’re open to anything that brings down emissions within our food system. If it has an impact on making a better food system, we are open to it. That includes reducing food waste, lowering emissions from fertilizer and working on blends that can lower the meat footprint in existing large channels and form factors.

    What do you consider the food tech sector’s greatest achievement in the past five years?

    During the past 5 years, the first cultivated meat was regulated and sold, and whilst there’s plenty of work to be done over the long term to bring the potential to the masses, it will go down as a major milestone and achievement.

    If you could wave a magic wand, how would you fix plant-based meat?

    The basics – price, texture, taste, plus cleaner labels and improved consumer awareness. That said, we see the offerings are improving, and also feel blends are a compelling solution to lower meat emissions in the short term as well.

    What’s the top trait you look for in a founder?

    Several: being open-minded, willing to take innovation risks and try something different, ability to learn (and track record of execution and learning), communicate and bring others along in the journey, build a team. There’s no one silver bullet – many things are important.

    The One That Got Away: What is the deal you wish you had gotten into, but didn’t?

    Perhaps getting involved even earlier. As an early-stage investor, there are companies that we might decide are a bit too far along their journey, but otherwise we might want to have engaged with them even earlier.

    What do you consider your most successful future food investment so far?

    We have several very promising portfolio companies, but as an early-stage investor just a little over three years into our journey, it’s too early to proclaim winners.

    What has been your most disappointing investment so far?

    We try to follow good decision epistemics and judge our investment calls by the quality of the process we ran through (criteria, analysis, projecting possible scenarios). When we do our future reviews each year, we’re trying to understand if we did a good job with those. I’d say on a meta level, we expanded into other areas of the food system including agri and looking back we could have done that a bit earlier to take advantage of opportunities there.

    What do people misunderstand/get wrong most about VC?

    That every VC is different in how they run, what their sweet spot is, and how they engage with startups. I’d encourage founders to ask and get to know what each VC they engage with is after, how they make decisions and run, etc.

    What is the most ‘future food’ thing you have eaten this month?

    Probably the shredded pulled shiitake mushroom filling from Fable Foods in Guzman y Gomez’s taco bowl – that was great! About to travel some more in the coming months, so look forward to adding more entries to the list soon!

    Where is your favourite climate-forward restaurant/dish/place to eat anywhere in the world?

    I haven’t tried yet some of the bioprinted or new fibre-spun whole-cut products (though my partner Michal has tried a bunch) – that would be fun to taste.

    What’s your ‘why’? What motivates you to do what you do?

    Personally, I’m driven by making a better food system for all – better for the people, for the animals, for the climate and for the planet. That’s why I got into impact investing and food projects many years ago. It’s a challenging but fun job, and getting to learn from and support all the founders innovating is the best part.

    The post 5 Minutes with A Future Food VC: Better Bite Ventures’s Simon Newstead appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • McDonald’s New Meat-Free Burger in Canada Is All About the Veggies

    mcveggie canada
    4 Mins Read

    McDonald’s Canada is trialling the McVeggie, featuring a patty that ditches plant-based meat for vegetables.

    After the Beyond Burger failure in Canada, McDonald’s is banking on vegetables for its latest meat-free main.

    The Golden Arches is testing the McVeggie at 37 locations in British Columbia, Ontario and New Brunswick until April 14, gathering feedback from diners to inform a potential national launch.

    It comes six years after the fast-food chain introduced the P.L.T. (Plant, Lettuce, Tomato) sandwich in Canada, featuring a Beyond Burger. The patty was tested in September 2019, before a wider 12-week trial in early 2020 – but it failed to break through and was eventually discontinued.

    Now, McDonald’s is hoping that a vegetable-forward burger will capture consumers who don’t eat meat or are looking to cut back – two in five (39%) of Canadians say they’re eating less red meat, and another quarter would be willing to do so.

    McDonald’s ‘uniquely Canadian’ meat-free burger

    mcdonald's mcveggie burger
    Courtesy: McDonald’s Canada/Green Queen

    If you’ve ever been to a McDonald’s store in India, Brazil, Australia or New Zealand (among other places), you probably know that the McVeggie has been around for a long time.

    Each is distinctly unique to its local market, and the Canadian McVeggie is no different. The breaded, deep-fried patty includes a blend of vegetables like soybeans, carrots, green beans, zucchini, peas, broccoli and corn, mixed with seasonings and topped with lettuce and a mayo-style sauce.

    The latter contains eggs, so the McVeggie isn’t vegan – this was the case with the P.L.T. too, which came with mayo and cheese.

    The McVeggie is available in a spicy habanero variant, which swaps the mayo-based sauce for a creamy habanero spread currently used in the Spicy McCrispy burger (this also contains egg).

    “While our guests may have tried similar sandwiches at McDonald’s globally, our McVeggie is uniquely Canadian,” said Jeff Anderson, senior manager of culinary innovation at McDonald’s Canada. “We’re always looking for new opportunities to innovate and build on our menu, and the McVeggie will give even more guests the opportunity to enjoy that delicious McDonald’s flavour Canadians know and love.”

    McDonald’s Canada CMO Francesca Cardarelli added: “We know more people in Canada than ever before are looking for new flavours and for variety on our menus. Our goal is to continue to offer new and exciting choices to meet these needs. And the McVeggie does just that.”

    Can the McVeggie help McDonald’s attract meat reducers?

    mcplant canada
    Courtesy: McDonald’s Canada

    The launch of the McVeggie stemmed from McDonald’s internal research, which revealed that around 35% of Canadians have food limitations – whether due to an allergy or personal preference – and about half of the time, it’s these consumers who decide where the group they’re dining with go to eat.

    “The market is evolving and we’re listening to what guests are telling us,” Anderson told the Toronto Star. “So you’ll see this is a veggie-first patty. It’s one of the things we’re getting to learn. What we found from the McDonald’s consumer is that they might not be able to come to us for religious reasons or cultural reasons, and we’re looking at something that fits within that.”

    Cardarelli told The Canadian Press that the Beyond Meat burger “wasn’t quite what consumers are looking for”, echoing comments from McDonald’s US president Joe Erlinger last summer.

    The American executive had said the McPlant – as the Beyond Meat sandwich is known outside Canada – was “not successful” in the markets it was tested in, and that there were no plans on bringing it back. Experts, however, have called it an issue of “marketing malpractice”, rather than a lack of consumer demand.

    This can be evidenced in Europe, where the McPlant has shone. When it was launched in the UK and Ireland in 2022, it was so popular, that McDonald’s introduced a Double McPlant months later. Successful trials in Germany and the Netherlands also led to a nationwide rollout, with the latter adding four new vegan products in 2023 (including a McPlant variant).

    That said, meat alternatives are still low on the priority list for Canadians, 60% of whom don’t consume these products; though with more consumers looking to reduce red meat, and McDonald’s Canada receiving an F grade in a ranking of vegan-friendly restaurant chain menus, veggie burgers may be a shrewd move.

    “As this is our first test of the McVeggie, we’re using this opportunity to gather insights and guests’ feedback so we can continue delivering on our commitment to serving great tasting, quality food we know Canadians will love and enjoy,” said Cardarelli.

    The post McDonald’s New Meat-Free Burger in Canada Is All About the Veggies appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Future Food Quick Bites: Chia Seed Milk, Healthy Ham & Vegan Calcium

    chia seed milk
    5 Mins Read

    Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Benexia’s new chia seed milk, Violife’s campaign with Chrishell Stause, and Holy Carrot’s upcoming restaurant in London.

    New products and launches

    Chilean company Benexia has launched what it says is the first milk alternative made from whole chia seeds. Launched under its Seeds of Wellness brand, the Chia Milk is available at Costco and on Amazon in the US for $27.99 for a six-pack.

    chia milk
    Courtesy: Benexia

    Speaking of the US, Kate Farms‘s Kids Nutrition shakes are making their national retail debut at Target. The pea-milk-based products come in chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla flavours, and contain 27 vitamins and minerals.

    Alt-dairy giant Violife has launched a Creamy Confessions campaign to support the launch of its lentil-based Supreme Coffee Creamers, featuring celebrities like Chrishell Stause (Selling Sunset, The Traitors), Bozoma Saint John (The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills), Sasha Farber (Dancing with the Stars), and more.

    chrishell stause
    Courtesy: Violife

    The Plant Based Seafood Co. – known for its Mind Blown label – has launched two new brands. Hills Bay Classics focuses on crab cakes and a ‘seafood extender’, while Smash It is centred around health and GLP-1 support.

    Speaking of marine products, New Zealand-based Nutrition from Water has released Marine Whey Golden 35, a clean-label algae protein designed for bakery and dairy applications.

    vegan minerals
    Courtesy: Vegan Minerals

    Likewise, Los Angeles-based Vegan Minerals has introduced Calcea, a plant-based calcium ingredient sourced from red algae. Apart from the bioavailable calcium, it provides magnesium, over 70 essential trace minerals, and 16 amino acids, while offering superior absorption thanks to a natural honeycomb structure.

    France’s HappyVore has released a vegan ham with a Nutri-Score A rating, and a score of 84 out of 100 on nutrition product scanning app Yuka. A Saveur de l’Année (Taste of the Year) 2025 recipient, it contains 20g of protein per 100g from peas and beans and is available at Carrefour.

    the raging pig company
    Courtesy: The Raging Pig Company

    In Germany, The Raging Pig Company is leaning into the smash burger trend with a new plant-based patty for restaurants. It’s made from peas and mushrooms and is available via select foodservice distributors.

    In a bid to revitalise plant-based meat and seafood, Dutch family business Schouten Europe has rolled out Power Bites and Sea Bites as its latest product innovations.

    better nature tempeh
    Courtesy: Better Nature Tempeh

    Meanwhile, UK-based Better Nature has enhanced its tempeh recipe to boost the protein content from 19g to 22g per 100g serving, which is the same as three eggs, up to 400g of butter beans, or two-thirds of a chicken breast.

    Chinese vegan protein brand Starfield is showcasing its diverse range of products, including the Poki Salad Bar, vegan bacon strips, and dairy-free cheese at the 2025 International Food & Drink Event (IFE) in London.

    holy carrot london
    Courtesy: Holy Carrot

    And London-based vegan restaurant Holy Carrot is bringing its Michelin Guide-approved vegetable-forward concept to the East End with a new location in Old Spitalfields Market, which is set to open by the end of the year.

    Company and finance updates

    Solar Foods, the Finnish company known for its gas-based Solein protein, has signed two MoUs with international customers to supply 6,000 tonnes of the ingredient per year. Additionally, it has announced a factory investment plan that could be Europe’s largest emission reduction project.

    solein protein
    Courtesy: Solar Foods

    Finnish precision fermentation firm Onego Bio has completed the purchase of a 25.9-acre piece of land in Jefferson, Wisconsin for $777,000. Located at the Food and Beverage Innovation Campus, it will build a facility that will produce animal-free egg proteins equivalent to six million hens, and be operational in 2028.

    Germany’s Formo, a fellow precision fermentation player working on dairy and egg proteins, has received a €1M ($1.1M) bioeconomy grant from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), and partnered with Brain Biotech to advance strain development and bioprocess optimisation.

    formo frischhain
    Courtesy: Formo

    In Portugal, cultivated seafood maker Cell4Food has partnered with agrifood R&D specialist CoLab4Food to co-develop products and enhance their safety and nutritional values.

    Meanwhile, Swedish cultivated meat startup Cellevate has appointed biopharma veteran Christel Fenge at CTO to turbo-charge its effort to commercialise its Cellevat3d nanofibre cell culture solutions.

    meatable lab grown meat
    Courtesy: Meatable

    Another cultivated meat company, Meatable, has hired two more meat industry veterans. Former Tyson Foods executive Maiko van der Meer has joined as the director of commerce, and Cargill and McCormick alum will join Eugene Leong as its Asia head in May.

    AI protein discovery platform Shiru and plant biotech platform GreenLab have teamed up to commercialise novel food proteins for CPG applications using the latter’s corn expression system.

    Policy developments

    Peet’s Coffee has become the latest coffee chain to remove the surcharge on non-dairy milk, joining the likes of Starbucks, Dunkin’, Tim Hortons and others after campaigning from Sir Paul McCartney and charities like Peta.

    Californian alternative protein pioneer Eat Just and its cultivated meat subsidiary, Good Meat, has agreed to pay $4.4M as part of its legal settlement with bioreactor supplier ABEC.

    eat just facility
    Courtesy: Eat Just

    UK supermarket Morrisons has switched suppliers for its own-label coconut milk after a Peta Asia investigation exposed forced monkey labour in Thailand’s coconut industry. The product will now be sourced from Peta-verified Merit Food Products.

    EIT Food and Mars Petcare have selected BioscienZ and Cremer Sustainable Nutrition as the winners of their Fiber Valorisation for Pet Food Challenge. They will now develop proof-of-concept studies to drive sustainable ingredient innovations, with the potential to develop long-term collaborations.

    Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.

    The post Future Food Quick Bites: Chia Seed Milk, Healthy Ham & Vegan Calcium appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • In the World’s Most Populous Country, Health is Putting Plants on the Plate

    is virat kohli vegan
    6 Mins Read

    A nation known for its meat-free culture, India’s plant-based food market is on the “brink of transformation” as healthy eating and protein intake take centre stage.

    While many have spelt doom on the vegan food industry, its most populous nation is getting hungrier for plants.

    India’s plant-based sector grew by 18% in the last three years, reaching ₹300 crores ($36M) in 2024. While this is still in its infancy compared to the more developed markets in other countries, and makes up less than 0.1% of the domestic animal protein sector, it’s catching up fast.

    Over the next decade, vegan proteins in India are “set to be woven into everyday meals and snacks, attracting a wider audience beyond vegans”, according to a new report by market research firm Ipsos. By 2034, the market could be valued at ₹5,500 crores ($690M), an 18-fold increase.

    This is thanks to rampant urbanisation, rising disposable incomes, e-commerce growth, and greater health consciousness, built upon a culture rooted in meat-free eating and where awareness of lactose intolerance and dairy industry harms is more prominent.

    Still, several challenges persist, from the taste and price gap for plant proteins to cold supply chain issues and a lack of VC interest.

    “Most startups are bootstrapped,” noted Abhishek Sinha, co-founder of meat alternative startup GoodDot, which has raised $7M, mostly for its production infrastructure. “A lot more capital is required to drive the necessary education and awareness in this industry. Thus, we are utilising innovative and capital-efficient methods to drive awareness.”

    The industry, however, is rapidly evolving, driven by “innovation and strong interest from businesses, investors, and policymakers”, according to Praveer Srivastava, executive director of the Plant Based Foods Industry Association (PBFIA), which co-published the report. “India, with its deep-rooted traditions in plant-based diets, is uniquely positioned to lead this shift,” he said.

    Dairy the leading plant-based growth driver in India

    plant based milk india
    Courtesy: Ipsos

    Ipsos’s analysis found that leading plant-based dairy players posted over 20% growth in 2024, spearheading the sector’s growth. Plant-based protein and meat leaders experienced either single-digit hikes, or declines.

    Soy milk seems to be Indians’ favourite non-dairy alternative (with a 45% share), followed by almond milk (31%) and oat milk (12%) – the latter, however, is gaining traction quickly. However, 64% of almond milk drinkers find it ‘very good’, compared to 49% who say the same for soy milk, and 40% for oat milk.

    india plant based market
    Courtesy: Ipsos

    Plant-based milk has also been embraced by the hospitality industry, with most major coffee chains and scores of independent shops offering these products (usually at a charge). But they’re most popular for at-home, with retail making up 80% of the market. In fact, unlike Western countries, half of all plant-based milk is bought online in India.

    Further accentuating the dairy dominance, nearly half (49%) of Indian households are familiar with plant-based milk, and almost a quarter (23%) have tried it. In contrast, only 28% know about meat alternatives, and one in 10 have actually tried these proteins.

    “Of the households who have tried plant-based dairy, 10% of them have also purchased plant-based meat. This indicates that plant-based dairy is the strongest entry point into the consumer’s household,” the report states.

    Consumers show appetite for plants over animals

    oat milk india
    Courtesy: Kingdom & Sparrow/Alt Co

    Despite the above, only 7-8% of Indians drink plant-based milk every day, according to polling by Ipsos. Interest in these products is driven by health, with a third of consumer valuing their nutritional credentials, and 11% choosing them due to lactose intolerance. Only 9% pick them for their taste, highlighting the flavour gap companies need to fill.

    Additionally, 37% of consumers say milk alternatives are too expensive, and 35% can’t find it easily. This isn’t restricted to just dairy, though – about a third of Indians have the same problems with meat analogues. There’s also a feeling that these products aren’t needed, unless they tend to a health problem.

    But in an encouraging finding for the industry, more people want to increase their consumption of plant-based over animal proteins. In the next six to 12 months, 51% of Indians say they’re likely to drink more non-dairy milk, versus 41% who will increase their cow’s milk intake.

    Similarly, 43% want to eat more plant-based meat, a share that only reaches 36% for conventional meat. Moreover, two in five Indians (21%) are looking to cut back on animal meat, and 11% want to do the same for dairy, versus the 11% and 9% who want to reduce vegan meat and milk consumption, respectively.

    india vegan market
    Courtesy: Ipsos

    This has left India’s alternative protein ecosystem “on the brink of transformation”, complemented by more awareness around lactose intolerance (which 60% of Indians suffer from) and a concerted effort to eat more protein. Research suggests that 80% of the adult population in India is protein-deficient, although some argue there’s more than meets the eye.

    To capitalise on this shift, companies are prioritising protein-rich plant-based foods over meat analogues, expanding into the ambient category to drive growth in tier 1 and 2 cities and the export market, doubling down on product innovation for barista milk and localised ingredients, and offering clean-label products.

    Government support critical for vegan sector

    plant based meat india
    Courtesy: Greenest Foods

    Ipsos says India could become a leading export hub for plant protein concentrates, isolates, and alternatives. But government support is crucial here.

    The report recommends launching a National Plant Protein Mission to scale the sector through infrastructure development and investment incentives, and building a plant protein cluster to facilitate collaboration and speed up commercialisation.

    Policymakers must also level the playing field for plant proteins, which face “regulatory and tax-related disadvantages” – for example, plant-based foods have a much higher VAT (18%) than animal proteins (5%), while terms like ‘milk’ and even ‘mylk’ are barred from vegan product labels.

    Plus, the industry would benefit from a dedicated policy framework for plant-based foods, under the Ministry of Food Processing Industries. These products should further be integrated into the Priority Sector Lending guidelines to enable easier credit access for startups and manufacturers.

    Speaking of whom, industry players need to ramp up collaborations with restaurants, caterers, and airlines; improve their pricing and explore smaller pack sizes; double down on health messaging; and offer promotions on vegetarian-focused festivals like Navratri and Shravan.

    “The burgeoning interest in health and wellness, coupled with increasing awareness of lactose intolerance and protein deficiency, further fuels the demand for plant-based alternatives,” said Deepak H, India head at Ipsos Strategy3. “By fostering innovation, ensuring affordability, and promoting greater awareness, India can unlock the full potential of its plant-based foods sector.”

    The post In the World’s Most Populous Country, Health is Putting Plants on the Plate appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • ‘Rivalling Tofu’? Plant-Based Innovator Juicy Marbles Rolls Out Whole-Cut Pork with Nutri-Score A

    juicy marbles pork
    4 Mins Read

    Slovenian whole-cut meat analogue maker Juicy Marbles has released Pork-ish, the second product in its Meaty Meat lineup, its cheapest offering ever.

    Building on its new Meaty Meat range, Juicy Marbles has released a whole-cut pork analogue that boasts a Nutri-Score A rating and high protein and fibre content.

    Available on the company’s website, it’s said to be the “first whole cut of pork in the plant-based category”, and is a follow-up to Lamb-ish, which was launched last month as the first offering in the Meaty Meat lineup. They are precursors to the brand’s retail launch in the US.

    Both products are 26% cheaper than Juicy Marbles’s most accessible cut of plant-based meat yet, priced at $10 per 180g pack. While the whole-cut aspect would speak to consumers looking for better-tasting meat alternatives, it’s also keying into demand for more nutritious products, with 36g of protein per serving.

    ‘Deliberately ambiguous’ product to take on tofu

    juicy marbles meaty meat
    Courtesy: Juicy Marbles

    Founded in 2019 by Luka Sinček, Maj Hrovat, Tilen Travnik and Vladimir Mićković, Juicy Marbles began with whole-cut beef steaks made using patent-pending ‘reverse grinder’ tech that mimics the muscle texture and marbling of conventional steak.

    It layers plant protein fibres on top of each other to replicate animal tissue, helped by deposits of hardened sunflower oil. The effort aims to solve two of plant-based meat’s biggest pain points: taste and texture. A recent survey saw meat-eaters describe vegan alternatives as juicy 62% less often than conventional meat, while only 30% like the average meat-free product.

    Notably, that research did not include whole cuts like the ones offered by Juicy Marbles. With the Meaty Meat range, it is hoping to build on the hype created by its initial products (such as a whole-cut lion, a thick-cut filet, and bone-in ribs).

    The range is positioned as a “new kind of kitchen staple” to rival tofu as a go-to option for home cooks. The company suggests that, like tofu, the products have a “deliberately ambiguous shape”. The Meaty Meat lineup can be sliced, chunked, shredded or cooked whole to add juiciness and up to 2.5 times more protein than tofu to any dish.

    “Mimicking real cuts too closely can limit their perceived versatility in the kitchen. That’s why we went deliberately ambiguous with Meaty Meat’s shape. We wanted to give our customers more freedom while shifting the perception of plant-based whole cuts in general,” said Sinček.

    “By focusing only on what people love most about Marbles: meaty texture and flavour, and nothing else – we hope we can give people permission to experiment with whole cuts in all kinds of recipes.”

    Juicy Marbles looks for a cleaner label

    vegan pork
    Courtesy: Juicy Marbles

    The new range is also reflective of Juicy Marbles’s commitment to shifting its portfolio to a cleaner-label recipe, called Marble 3.0.

    Pork-ish has a base of water and soy protein, natural flavours, and sunflower oil, with small amounts of pea protein isolate, red beet juice, yeast extract, salt, apple extract, and vitamins and minerals. It has a complete amino acid profile, 11g of fibre (nearly 40% of the daily recommended value) per slab, and is fortified with iron, zinc, selenium, and B vitamins.

    “We’ve always been frustrated by how light plant-based ‘alternatives’ can be on essential nutrients, like protein, iron, and B12. Beyond taste and texture, people want nutritionally sensible food that helps them reach their daily nutrition goals and that they can cook for their families with confidence,” said Maj Hrovat, who is the R&D chief.

    “If we want plant-based meats to be a viable alternative, they have to get close to matching the nutritional profile of meat – with a sensible ingredients list. Marble 3.0 is our cleanest, most nutritious recipe yet, and will be our standard going forward.”

    According to the company, the Lamb-ish product was sold out in 24 hours in the US, and the newest innovation is “quickly flying off the shelves”. It now plans a retail release in the EU and the UK too, alongside a supermarket rollout stateside.

    Juicy Marbles is one of several companies working on whole-cut meat analogues, which experts say offer a more attractive gateway into plant-based eating for omnivores. These firms include Chunk Foods, Prime Roots, Redefine Meat, Project Eaden, Meati Foods, and Planted.

    The post ‘Rivalling Tofu’? Plant-Based Innovator Juicy Marbles Rolls Out Whole-Cut Pork with Nutri-Score A appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • 5 Minutes with A Future Food VC: McWin Capital Partners’s Martin Davalos

    martin davalos
    4 Mins Read

    In our interview series, we quiz future food investors about the solutions that excite them the most, their favourite climate-forward restaurant, and what they look for in successful founders.

    Martin Davalos is a Partner and Head of Food Tech at McWin Capital Partners.

    What future food technologies most excite you?

    Precision fermentation, AI-driven food tech, and sustainable packaging solutions. Precision fermentation, in particular, has the potential to revolutionise the production of alternative proteins and other food ingredients by making them more efficient and scalable.

    Additionally, gene editing for crops is gaining traction as the market seeks improved crop resilience, yield, and nutrition while reducing environmental impact.

    What are the future food verticals you are actively looking at for 2025?

    For 2025, I am actively looking at the following four future food verticals:

    1. Alternative fats and oils: Fats and oils have seen substantial inflation in the last year. I think that long-term demand growth will run up against decreasingly predictable crop yields and other environmental challenges, adding to the inflationary pressure on this category. Additionally, Robert F Kennedy Jr has specifically designated seed oils as a category that he intends to attack.
    2. Gene editing for crops: Gene editing for crops is gaining traction as the market seeks improved crop resilience, yield, and nutrition while reducing environmental impact.
    3. Food as Medicine: I remain optimistic about this trend, and our investment in Nuritas may cover part of it. We see more value here and possibly an opportunity in functional drinks. There’s potential for hyper-personalisation, particularly with AI-powered recommendations. However, this area may face low barriers to defensibility.
    4. Precision spraying: It seems like startups have understood they need to propose actionable solutions to retain customers. Reducing and regulating the use of pesticides are major pillars of RFK Jr’s plan for the FDA. We think precision spraying companies are well positioned to benefit from the advances in AI and machine vision over the past couple of years, and can offer meaningful cost savings to customers.

    What do you consider the food tech sector’s greatest achievement in the past five years?

    The greatest achievement in the food tech sector over the past five years has been the commercialisation of cultivated meat and precision fermentation products. Companies like Upside Foods and The Every Company have made significant strides in bringing lab-grown meat and animal-free egg proteins to market, which are monumental steps towards a more sustainable food system.

    If you could wave a magic wand, how would you fix plant-based meat?

    I would focus on improving the taste and texture of plant-based meat to make it indistinguishable from conventional meat. Additionally, I would work on reducing the cost of production to make plant-based meat more accessible to a broader audience.

    What’s the top trait you look for in a founder?

    The top trait I look for in a founder is resilience. Building a startup is incredibly challenging, and the ability to persevere through setbacks and adapt to changing circumstances is crucial for success.

    The One That Got Away: What is the deal you wish you had gotten into, but didn’t?

    It involves a company that has made significant strides in precision spraying technology. Their innovative approach leverages AI and machine vision to offer meaningful cost savings to customers, while also aligning with broader goals of reducing and regulating pesticide use.

    What do you consider your most successful future food investment so far?

    CookUnity. They have revolutionised the meal delivery space by connecting talented chefs with consumers, creating an elevated at-home dining experience. Their growth and market penetration have been impressive. Most recently, they have announced their upcoming launch in Toronto for the next quarter.

    What has been your most disappointing investment so far?

    It’s a company that did not meet its growth projections and struggled with market adoption. Despite the initial promise, the company faced significant challenges that hindered its success.

    What do people misunderstand/get wrong most about VC?

    One common misunderstanding is that securing funding guarantees success in itself. While funding is crucial, other factors are equally important, such as building a sustainable business model, a solid team, and a compelling value proposition.

    What is the most ‘future food’ thing you have eaten this month?

    A dish made with precision-fermented egg protein from The Every Company. It was fascinating to see how closely it mimicked the taste and texture of traditional eggs.

    Where is your favourite climate-forward restaurant/dish/place to eat anywhere in the world?

    Pink Mamma, one of the Big Mamma Group restaurants in Paris. They focus on using locally sourced, sustainable ingredients to create delicious and innovative dishes.

    What’s your ‘why’? What motivates you to do what you do?

    My motivation comes from the desire to create a more sustainable and equitable food system. I believe that through innovation and investment in food tech, we can address some of the most pressing challenges facing our planet and improve the health and well-being of people around the world.

    The post 5 Minutes with A Future Food VC: McWin Capital Partners’s Martin Davalos appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • No Supermarket Has A Methane Plan, But US Retailers Are the Worst Climate Offenders

    supermarket emissions
    5 Mins Read

    None of the world’s 20 largest retailers have set methane reduction targets, despite meat and dairy making up a third of their emissions, a new analysis has found.

    According to a new report focused on methane emissions, the world’s biggest supermarkets are failing us on climate action, with the situation particularly bad in the US.

    None of the top 20 retailers – from Lidl, Rewe Group and Tesco in Europe to Walmart, Kroger and Costco in the US – report how much methane they produce, or have targets to reduce their emissions of the harmful gas.

    Methane is 86 times more potent than CO2 over a 20-year period, and is the primary contributor to the formation of ground-level ozone, a greenhouse gas linked to a million premature deaths every year. Agriculture is the main source of human-caused methane emissions, with livestock farming responsible for the majority of this share.

    livestock methane emissions
    Graphic by Green Queen

    Meat and dairy also make up a third of retailers’ emissions, though in an assessment of their methane contributions across 18 indicators, the Changing Markets Foundation and Mighty Earth found that only one of these supermarkets – Tesco – scored higher than half of the points available (51 out of 100). In fact, the average score was just 20.

    “Methane emissions are a major blindspot of supermarkets. Our scorecard reveals a complete lack of action, with the most powerful players in the food supply chains completely ignoring their government’s commitments to cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030. This must change urgently,” said Maddy Haughton-Boakes, senior campaigner at the Changing Markets Foundation.

    “Some retailers acknowledge the problem and have taken small steps, but none are treating it with the urgency it demands – there are no real leaders here,” she added.

    Retailer net-zero commitments ’empty words’

    methane action tracker
    Courtesy: Changing Markets Foundation/Mighty Earth

    The Methane Action Tracker report assessed each retailer’s climate action based on five broad categories: acknowledgement of methane and livestock farming on climate change, emissions reporting, reduction targets, food waste and landfill, and transition to alternative proteins.

    Its authors noted that Scope 3 emissions (from across the supply chain) make up 93% of retailers’ emissions, and half of this share comes from meat and dairy. However, the focus is often on Scope 1 and 2 emissions instead – only six of the 20 retailers report on their Scope 3 impact, led by Ahold Delhaize’s goal to cut these emissions by 37% by 2030.

    And while nine of these supermarket groups have net-zero commitments for 2050, these are just “empty words when meat and dairy emissions remain a blindspot”, the report states.

    Broadly, there’s a large gap between European and American retailers, with the latter consistently lagging behind the former on all fronts. While Albertsons (US) and Mercadona (Spain) failed to score a single point, all five US retailers ranked in the bottom seven, with Kroger’s 9.5 score being the highest.

    While 11 of the supermarkets acknowledged that livestock emissions significantly drive climate change, and many suggest that increasing plant-based sales could help, they “typically fail to implement specific, measurable actions to address their role in the problem”.

    The retail sector also accounts for 12% of global food waste, and their influence on consumer behaviour means their role is “likely much greater”, according to the authors. Efforts to cut food waste are ongoing in places like the UK, the EU, and the US – yet several retailers scored zero on their food waste reduction policies, including Rewe Group, Migros, Edeka, Intermarche, and Costco.

    That said, food waste is the area where retailers are performing best, with Carrefour, Leclerc and Tesco scoring full points on this specific metric. “This is often an area retailers hold up to illustrate their commitment to sustainability. However, in terms of methane emissions, it only accounts for a small piece of the puzzle,” the report reads.

    Plant-based ‘protein split’ targets crucial

    supermarkets and climate change
    Courtesy: Changing Markets Foundation/Mighty Earth

    Experts have found that shifting sales in favour of plant-based proteins can have a massive impact on retail emissions, given the outsized methane and climate impact of meat and dairy. This has led some European retailers – like Lidl, Rewe Group and Ahold Delhaize – to set ‘protein split’ targets in favour of plant-based products. Others (including Tesco, Asda and Carrefour) have pledged to increase vegan sales.

    Thanks to Lidl’s exploits in the protein transition – apart from the protein split target, it has expanded its private-label offerings of meat and dairy alternatives, and put them at price parity with animal proteins in some markets – parent company Schwarz Group scored the highest on the analysis’s plant-based protein category (12.5 out of 15).

    However, others didn’t do as well. Costco, Kroger, Edeka and Migros are among those who acknowledge that plant-based products can reduce emissions while still having no targets for increasing their sales.

    supermarkets plant protein transition
    Courtesy: Madre Brava

    “Food retailers are ignoring the methane problem hidden in the meat and dairy aisles and risk losing consumer trust,” warned Gemma Hoskins, global methane lead at Mighty Earth. “Retailers are uniquely positioned to urgently drive down agricultural methane emissions in their supply chains. That starts with being honest about the impact of the products they sell and working harder and faster to reduce that impact.”

    The report suggests that supermarket groups must develop plans to report and slash methane emissions from meat and dairy, set a collective net-zero target for 2040 or earlier, invest in alternative proteins to increase product offering and reach price parity, and aim to make at least 60% of their protein sales plant-based by the end of the decade.

    “Cutting methane this decade is our emergency brake on runaway global heating, yet retailers are barely pressing it,” said Haughton-Boakes. “The companies that dominate our food system must step up now and take real action to slash their methane emissions.”

    The post No Supermarket Has A Methane Plan, But US Retailers Are the Worst Climate Offenders appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.