UK startup Shicken has raised £4M in funds from Matthew Glover’s Veg Capital, which has tripled its investment in the plant-based meat brand. The financing will go into a manufacturing facility to scale up production of its Asian-inspired meat analogues.
A family-owned brand rooted in the founders’ Indian heritage, Shicken has secured an additional £4M in investment from Veg Capital, taking its total injection into the ready meal company to £6M.
The startup will use the capital as further capital expenditure into its manufacturing facility to increase the production capacity of vegan tikka and curry SKUs. Having recently received accreditation from the British Retail Consortium, the scale-up will make the Kent-based site one of the UK’s only dedicated plant-based, nut-free factories, and enable Shicken to produce a range of both branded and private-label products for retail and foodservice.
The investment will also fuel the expansion of its distribution both domestically and overseas, following Shicken’s launch into 380 Sprouts Farmers Market stores in the US in January, alongside a Teriyaki Kebab Skewer SKU – its first non-Indian product – at Costco in the UK, Iceland, Sweden and France. And in January 2023, the company gained a listing at Tesco, the UK’s largest supermarket, rolling out into 471 stores nationwide. This year, it expects to achieve five times its current growth.
Traditional family recipes for modern Indian food
Courtesy: Shicken
Shicken was founded as a D2C business during the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020 by husband-and-wife duo Parm and Satvinder Bains, who were already experienced campaigners in the food industry. Going back to 2003, the pair launched a vegan chicken breast under a brand called Love Foods, which was bought out by the Co-op and saw its listing cease.
However, the Bains retained the IP for the recipe as they went on other ventures. Parm worked with multinational food manufacturers to develop and launch private-label products for multiple UK retailers, while Satvinder initiated a Punjabi catering business. When they eventually started Shicken out of their family kitchen, the company was discovered by Glover, whose firm made an investment based on the product’s quality and proposition.
“It has been a phenomenal journey for Shicken so far and we’re incredibly excited to see business scale on an international level, both as a brand and as one of the UK’s few dedicated BRC-accredited specialist primary plant-based manufacturers,” said Parm.
“Veg Capital has been the perfect partner, aligning with our commitment to a more ethical and sustainable food system and backing our potential to become a global brand and major plant-based producer within the next five years,” he added.
Shicken’s plant-based chicken is made from a blend of soy, wheat and pea proteins using tech that the brand claims imparts “a succulent chargrilled chicken-like texture”. This is then used in products ranging from tikka kebab skewers and Madras curry to butter chicken and rogan josh, which are based on recipes passed down by Satvinder’s grandmother.
Navigating a tough market by meeting consumer demands
Courtesy: Shicken
“The Shicken range is simply delicious, and their curries and kebabs are flying off the shelves – it was a no-brainer for Veg Capital to reinvest,” said Veg Capital founder and director Matthew Glover. “We’re excited to play our part in helping this family business go global over the coming years.”
In fact, meat-free products were among the worst-performing grocery categories in the UK in 2023, with sales declining by £38.4M, and volumes down by 4.2%. However, one of the brands that did do well was VFC, whose sales exploded by nearly 200% year-on-year. “Whilst it’s a tough trading environment, I do feel like we’re soon to be over the worst of it,” Glover told Green Queen in February. “The signs are that the declines are reducing, and I think we’ll be cheering the news that the categories will be back in growth during this year.”
In a wide-ranging interview with Green Queen, he explained that winning back consumer trust and shifting dietary dynamics are important yet complex tasks that take time. “As we move forward, understanding and addressing these multifaceted consumer needs and concerns will be crucial for the growth and acceptance of vegan food in the broader market,” he said.
In October, a 1,000-person survey revealed that 66% of UK consumers are unhappy with the flavour of vegan meat analogues, and 62% find them too expensive. For 51%, taste and texture are the main reasons for reducing their consumption of these products. Price and health are crucial considerations, as are environmental and ethical factors. “Convenience, too, cannot be overlooked, with the demand for easy, quick-preparation vegan options rising,” said Glover.
That will be encouraging to Shicken, whose entire ethos lies in “restaurant-quality” ready meals that are cheaper than even Tesco’s own-label premium range of Indian dishes. Can Shicken help realise Glover’s prophecy for the plant-based sector this year?
In our weekly column, we round up the latest news and developments in the alternative protein and sustainable food industry. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers IKEA’s cheaper-than-meat vegan hot dogs, a new range of blended dairy products, and plant-based restaurant openings in New York City.
New products and launches
Swedish furniture giant IKEA has rolled out vegan hot dogs in the US as part of its goal to be 50% plant-based by 2025. At 70 cents, it’s cheaper than a conventional meat hot dog (which costs 75 cents).
Courtesy: IKEA
In similar price-related news, Dutch supermarket Jumbo has decided to stop all meat promotions, updating its protein transition commitment to ensure 50% of the protein on its shelves next year is plant-based, rising to 60% by 2030.
French charcuterie company Aoste has expanded into the plant-based meat sector with a new range of products under the Better Balance brand, which includes burgers, sausages, breaded cutlets, original chunks, and chunks with herbs, all with a Nutri-Score of A.
South Korea’s Shinesegae Foods has launched You Are What You Eat under its Better Foods division at last week’s Expo West. The new brand contains 10 new meat analogues and plant-based meal replacement products, and underpins the company’s plans to accelerate entry into the US market.
In New York City, vegan Ethiopian restaurant Ras Plant Based – whose original restaurant is in Crown Heights, Brooklyn – is opening its second location in West Village this May.
That’s not the only new vegan eatery in New York City, with Homemade Vegan Dumpling House, Sen Saigon (both in Chinatown) and Siete (Flatiron) all opening their doors this month.
Courtesy: Neggst/IKEA/Kerry Dairy
In what it terms as a “category first”, Kerry Dairy has introduced a range of blended Smug Dairy range of products made from cow’s milk and oat milk, which includes a milk SKU, a butter, and a Cheddar cheese block. The new offerings will hit retail shelves in the UK by the end of this month.
Californian brand Mikuna has been named the exclusive plant protein supplier at Erewhon‘s Tonic Bars, which will use the former’s regenerative, highly functional chocho protein.
German startup Neggst is developing two plant-based egg products: poached and sunny-side-up eggs with runny yolks. The innovations were unveiled at the Internorga trade fair alongside its existing vegan egg patties and bites.
And in the US, market leader Just Egg is now available at Peet’s Coffee, featuring in a new Southwest Breakfast Burrito with plant-based chorizo, Violife Cheddar, black beans, potatoes, salsa verde and green chiles, as well as an Everything Breakfast Sandwich with vegan Cheddar.
Partnerships and company updates
US flavour and fragrance house IFF has invested in high-moisture extrusion technology from German specialist Coperion to develop improved plant-based meat and seafood products.
Californian startup Triplebar Bio has partnered with ingredients giant FrieslandCampina to create a cost-effective approach to scale up production for its precision-fermented lactoferrin protein.
Courtesy: Cauldron Foods
UK tofu brand Cauldron Foods has announced a complete rebrand that includes colourful packaging and several new products, such as Spinach & Carrot and Pumpkin & Caramelised Onion Veggie Bakes, as well as a new extra-firm tofu block, which will debut at various retailers in April.
In an unexpected twist, Irish shellfish producer Errigal Bay is opening an oat milk factory next to its seafood processing facility in Donegal – which was supposed to be a cold storage plant – citing a growing market for plant-based milk and falling demand for seafood.
In more plant-based beverage production news, DSM-Firmenich has opened a pilot plant in Plainsboro, New Jersey focused on scaling up production of both dairy and vegan drinks like milks, creamers and protein shakes.
Meanwhile, Singapore’s microbial fermentation contract manufacturer ScaleUp Bio – a joint venture company between ADM and Temasek – has signed local startups Allozymes and Algrow Biosciences as new customers, alongside agreements with Terra Bioindustries (Canada) and Argento Labs (UK), weeks ahead of opening its commercial-scale pilot plant.
Policy and finance
The USDA’s National Institute of Cellular Agriculture at Tufts University – the country’s first government-funded centre for cultivated meat – has opened applications for its Seed Grant Program 2024, which will award $25,000 or $50,000 for research into alternative proteins, cellular agriculture and precision fermentation.
Over in the cocoa-free chocolate world, UK startup Nukoko has raised €1.3M in seed funding to support production of its faba-bean-to-bar chocolate offering.
Fellow UK company Clean Food Group, which makes a fermentation-based alternative to palm oil, has secured £2.5M in funding to accelerate its path to commercialisation. It follows a £2.4M round in August, and brings total investment to £13M.
Courtesy: Laurie Lapworth/University of Bath
German cultivated meat producer Innocent Meat has brought in €3M to accelerate development of its biocomponents, scale up its pilot plant, and initiate certification processes.
Students at Harvard University will host an inaugural Food 4 Thought event from April 12-14, with the aim of addressing the food system’s challenges, especially the overconsumption of meat.
Finally, there were a host of vegan wins at Expo West‘s NEXTY Awards 2024, including Macalat, MyForest Foods, Ocean’s Halo, Minor Figures, Burroughs Family Farms, Konscious Foods, GoodPop, The Coconut Cult and Le Grand.
German retail giant the Rewe Group is set to open its first 100% vegan supermarket in Germany, after introducing fully plant-based stores under its Billa supermarket chain in neighbouring Austria in 2022.
Rewe is on the verge of opening its first fully vegan supermarket in Germany this spring, located at the site of the former flagship store of Veganz in the Berlin-Friedrichshain area, according to a report by Supermarktblog.
While the company declined to confirm any plans for a new vegan store, and no trademark registration has been made for the same, the publication claims the name of the store is already attached to the facade. It has been covered during the construction work, but was temporarily visible.
The new concept will reportedly be called Rewe Fully Plant-Based, which ties in with the tagline ‘fully plant-based, totally good’ (this is also displayed in the entrance area that has now been covered up again).
Taking over from a fellow vegan supermarket
Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons/CC
The new Rewe plant-based store takes over from the flagship store of Veganz, which was the first fully vegan supermarket chain in Europe. The company closed this location in December, and has now turned its attention solely to product manufacturing. When announcing the decision to shutter the store, Veganz had indicated that it “successfully sold the last branch location on Warschauer Strasse in Berlin to a subsequent operator”, which has now emerged to be Rewe.
Supermarktblog claims that the establishment of a fully plant-based concept brings with it twofold benefits of familiarity and diversification. For years, people looking for vegan products in this area ended up at Veganz, but that habit will now transfer over to the new Rewe store. Additionally, this will help Rewe propel its new brand towards the mainstream, adding to its growing list of plant-based offerings.
The report also forecasts that if the Rewe Fully Plant-Based concept ends up being successful, the retailer could subsequently launch a corresponding initiative in Rewe Center stores nationwide. This would be in line with the approach it has taken with the vegan Pflanzilla brand under its Austrian subsidiary Billa. Rewe opened the first Billa Pflanzilla store in Vienna in 2022, followed by a pop-up location in Graz last November (which ended its run last month). In addition to this, it has integrated Pflanzilla World as a mini-section in 21 of its Billa Plus stores.
With over 1,400 products on offer, Billa Pflanzilla targets consumers under 30 with its branding and design, but Rewe Fully Plant-Based marks a departure from the puns (Pflanzilla refers to ‘plantilla’) after gaining in sight from the Austrian market and wider discussions about the negative connotations of the word ‘vegan’, instead placing emphasis on plant-based nutrition. Visually, too, the new Rewe store mirrors the monochrome font opted by the preceding Veganz store, but freshly painted bright green tones could dominate points of sale.
Rewe appeals to Germany’s growing plant-based footprint
Courtesy: Rewe Group
The move is the latest in Rewe’s expanding vegan footprint. It launched a plant-based meat counter in a Kaarst store after seeing a 45% hike in vegan sales in 2022, and rolled out vegan meat analogues at service counters in select stores. The company additionally has vegan private-label brands in Rewe Beste Wahl Vegan and Rewe Bio+Vegan, which are likely to lay the foundations for its Rewe Fully Plant-Based. One consumer poll showed that 58% of Rewe customers have bought vegan products previously, and 27% replace animal-derived foods with plant-based alternatives several times a week.
It mirrors Germans’ growing interest in veganism. The country represents Europe’s largest plant-based market, and is home to the most number of flexitarians in the continent, with estimates suggesting 40-55% of its population identifies as such. And a large EU-backed survey last year found that 59% of Germans ate less meat in 2022 than the year before – the joint-highest in the EU.
The government has also expressed support for alternative proteins, earmarking €38M in its 2024 its federal budget to promote the manufacturing and processing of plant-based, cultivated and fermented proteins, support a transition to plant-based farming, and open a Proteins of the Future centre.
And earlier this month, the German Society for Nutrition updated its dietary guidelines to recommend halving meat consumption, limiting dairy intake, and eating more plant-based foods. It suggested that the latter should make up at least 75% of German diets, but stopped short of a full endorsement of plant-based meat, which it said “often differs greatly from that of animal foods” in terms of nutrition. For milk alternatives, however, the organisation stated these can be used as long as they’re fortified with sufficient amounts of calcium, vitamin B12 and iodine.
Rewe, which has dropped the prices of plant-based products to either match or be cheaper than their animal-derived counterparts in Billa and Penny stores, will hope to appeal to Germany’s growing appetite for veganism with the new plant-based store in Berlin.
Vegan entrepreneur Noah Hyams shares his top 10 future of food finds at Expo West 2024, from mycelium bacon rashers to vegan poached eggs to prebiotic candy bars.
Last week, Anaheim, California again lit up with New Hope’s Natural Products Expo West- THE tradeshow for all things natural, organic, and healthy. This year’s event drew a whopping 50,000 attendees and showcased thousands of future food and sustainable brands, both familiar and novel. While the plant-based sector is facing some headwinds, Expo featured countless awesome vegan products. Below, I share my top ten picks from my tasting and discovery tour.
Lion’s Mane Mushroom Steak by OmniFoods
Photo by Noah Hyams
OmniFoods, hailing from Hong Kong, has built a reputation for its innovative plant-based pork offerings, including its renowned ground pork mince. Now, breaking new ground, they present their latest creation: the first-ever vegan steak crafted from Lion’s Mane mushrooms, now available in the US market. The flavor, texture, and smell were unreal. Be sure to try it when you get a chance!
Poached Egg by Yo Egg
Photo by Noah Hyams
Israeli startup Yo Egg creates chicken-free plant-based sunny-side-up and poached eggs. The eggs are made from a blend of soy and chickpea protein and sunflower oil. The yolks are designed to replicate the runny texture of traditional eggs- they are encased within the whites using a film made from alginate. I got to try the just-released poached eggs and I loved it. Ideal for brunch’s classic dish: Eggs Benedict.
Dumplings by Sobo Foods
Photo by Noah Hyams
Californian Sobo Foods makes frozen traditional Asian dumplings with a plant-based twist. At the Expo, Sobo was showing off three meat- and dairy-free varieties: “Pork” & Chive with a Chinese kick, Curry & Potato with a Japanese flair, and Kimchi & Mushroom with a Korean twist. I wasn’t the only fan: co-founder Eric Wu won ‘Best Pitch’ at VEGPRENEUR’s Pitch For The Planet competition, which took place during Expo.
Stuffed Chicken by TiNDLE Foods
Photo by Noah Hyams
Singapore-based TiNDLE Foods, a leading plant-based chicken startup, unveiled its newest offering: its TiNDLE Stuffed Chicken. Featuring initial options like Chicken Parmigiana, this product boasts a crispy breadcrumb coating on the outer layer, while the interior allows for customization with a variety of seasonings and sauces. The company is dedicated to crafting inventive plant-based foods that excel in taste, quality, and convenience, the company remains steadfast in its commitment. This plant-based stuffed chicken is scheduled to be available for order in Spring 2024! PS- we loved TiNDLE’s new oat-based barista milk too!
Cheese by Umyum
Photo by Noah Hyams
UmYum Foods, a Canadian plant-based food tech company, showcased its cashew-based dairy alternatives including its popular ‘Camembert’ at Expo West, marking its first appearance in the US since the company’s inception in early 2021. The brand specializes in artisan, fermented vegan cheeses crafted using traditional cheesemaking techniques. In addition to its cheese lineup, UmYum offers a variety of complementary cashew-based products including milk chocolate, butter, and puff pastry.
Nutty Candy Bar by Harken
Photo by Noah Hyams
Harken Sweets, an emerging ‘better-for-you’ candy brand, has unveiled its latest innovation: plant-based renditions of classic candy bars enriched with the nutritional goodness of dates. The Fair Trade-certified treats boast a remarkable 75% reduction in sugar content, 13 grams of prebiotic fiber, and less than 150 calories. The gluten-free and soy-free bars are slated for release in the US market as early as February. Highly recommend!
Coconut Bacon by Madly Hadley
Photo by Noah Hyams
Based out of San Diego, Chef Madly Hadley is dedicated to building a plant-based future, which led her to create a vegan bacon alternative made from nutrient-rich coconut flesh. The company is committed to sourcing only the finest ingredients for its products, which are certified organic, non-GMO, gluten-free, and soy-free. The coconut rashers are now available nationwide in the United States at Sprouts Farmers Market stores- a must-try for bacon lovers!
Better Cheddar by Eat UNrestricted
Photo by Noah Hyams
Headquartered in Atlanta, Eat UNrestricted makes clean-label vegan sauces that cater to a wide range of dietary restrictions. Founder Dianna King was raised in a traditional Southern household with a dairy allergy so she is well-versed in the challenges faced by families accommodating dietary restrictions. This led her to launch 100% plant-based Creamy Cheddar Cheese sauce and now everyone can enjoy delicious meals without compromise.
MyBacon by MyForest Foods
Photo by Noah Hyams
New York-based MyForest Foods recently unveiled its innovative mycelium-based MyBacon, which I got to taste at Expo and I can confirm that it’s awesome. The company just launched the rashers nationwide at Whole Foods, allowing them to tap a much wider audience, and they are sure to sizzle, given what I tasted!
Ice Cream Bonbons by Eclipse Foods
Photo by Noah Hyams
Based in Alameda, California, Eclipse Foods is an established name in the plant-based dairy world. The company makes ice cream and other dairy alternatives from a blend of non-GMO plants such as cassava, corn, and potato. I got to try their newest creation, Chef-created Eclipse Bonbons, dairy-free ice cream bites enrobed in a decadent chocolate coating and they did not disappoint. Indulgent and addictive!
Described as the “Fortune 500 of agrifood tech”, food tech consultancy Forward Fooding has released its 2023 FoodTech 500 list, with the highest number of companies belonging to the plant-based sector. Other alternative protein startups also had strong representation on the list.
US mycelium fermentation startup Nature’s Fynd has topped Forward Fooding’s FoodTech 500 list for 2023, with four other future food companies joining it in the top 10. These include fellow US mycelium protein company Meati, Spanish plant-based meat maker Heura, US molecular farming pioneer Nobell Foods, and German fermentation tech startup Planet A Foods.
The annual list – which began in 2019 – recognises entrepreneurs addressing challenges throughout the food value chain, highlighting the most innovative businesses at the convergence of food, technology and sustainability. This year, over 1,500 companies submitted applications to be featured on the list, representing 34 domains, including plant-based, ag biotech, protein fermentation, cellular agriculture, and vertical and indoor farming.
Of the 500 companies selected, nearly a third (32.3%) were female-founded, and just over a sixth (17.8%) had Black, Asian or minority ethnic founders. Meanwhile, 95.4% of the finalists had received investment, with two unicorn companies (having raised over $1B without going public) and four publicly traded businesses.
Despite a challenging landscape in terms of both sales and optics, the plant-based industry was the most well-represented domain, with 63 companies (12.6%) appearing on the FoodTech 500 list for 2023. This was followed by farm management and precision farming (55 companies) and vertical and indoor farming (46 companies)
Future food startups innovating with fermentation had a strong presence too, with 33 such businesses on the list, which also had 23 cellular agriculture companies (even without any of their products actually being on the market, which displays their potential).
Courtesy: Forward Fooding
Alt-protein, agtech and next-gen food companies headline FoodTech 500
The ranking combines scores from three key areas – business size, digital footprint, and sustainability. The sustainability scoring framework was based on selected Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from the UN, with SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), and SDG 13 (Climate Action) being the most addressed.
The business size score predicts growth based on financial indicators like the number of employees, funding stage, total funds raised and number of offices, while the digital footprint ranking forecasts digital presence growth based on website traffic, social media performance and follower growth.
The companies are divided into eight macro activities: Agtech, Next-Generation Food and Drinks, Food Processing, Food Delivery, Kitchen and Restaurant Tech, Consumer Apps and Services, Food Safety and Traceability, Surplus and Waste Management. Agtech dominates the rankings, with over a third (34.6%) of companies on the FoodTech 500 list involved in this space. This is followed closely by Next-Gen Food and Drinks, making up 28.6% of the rankings.
It’s the latter category that houses the five alternative protein companies mentioned above, with Nature’s Fynd – a Bill Gates-backed startup that makes breakfast patties, cream cheeses and yoghurts using its Fy protein – leading the overall list and Heura the highest-ranking plant-based startup (at 7th). The only other alternative protein company to surpass Heura is Meati (6th), which uses mycelium to make whole-cut chicken and beef analogues.
Other companies in the future food sector that make up the top 50 include InnovoPro, Algama Foods, The Seaweed Company, BlueNalu, Koa, Arbiom, Biomilq and Voyage Foods.
“Embracing alternative protein technologies (plant-based, cell-cultured, molecularly farmed, and fermentation-derived) is crucial for food security. These can complement culinary tradition while introducing exciting new options for consumers,” said Christian Pichler, managing director of Gerber VC. “But caution is warranted against misinformation spread by traditional lobby groups with vested interests and significant PR resources.”
Forward Fooding is embarking on a global tour to celebrate the release of the list, starting with London (today), and going on to San Francisco (March 21-22), Stockholm (April 9), Berlin (May), Barcelona (June), and Dubai (September).
We spoke to Max Leveau, co-founder and chief operating officer of Forward Fooding, about the 2023 FoodTech 500 list, the plant-based dominance, the biggest surprises, and the importance of female leadership.
This interview has been edited for clarity and concision.
Green Queen: Despite the sales declines and often negative narrative around veganism, why do you think plant-based was the biggest category?
Max Leveau: This year’s FT500 accounts for 63 Plant-based companies, which represents 13% of total companies and the most represented domain within our taxonomy. Our proprietary data tells us that despite the global VC turmoil, there are over 970 plant-based companies currently operating in the global marketplace. Although 47 shut down over the last couple of years, we still see there is strong demand and new companies keep emerging.
Yet, for the first time, in 2021, more capital was cumulatively invested in fermentation and cellular agriculture than plant-based companies. This marked the beginning of a major shift in the alternative proteins sector.
Courtesy: Forward Fooding
GQ: Which plant-based, fermentation, and cell ag companies stood out to you the most, and why?
ML: Over the past couple of years, we have witnessed two major ‘forces’ driving the alternative protein sector: increased consolidations and pressing scepticism, mostly driven by media, around companies’ ability to scale up production and overcome regulation hurdles (for example, cultivated meat) and, most of all, to create great-tasting products that will determine consumers’ mass adoption in the long haul. Even though investments in alternative proteins have dropped by 62% since 2021, the sector has reached a tipping point. Despite the negative investment trend, we believe that the current ‘crisis’ will help this industry in the long term.
These factors are forcing entrepreneurs and investors to focus on turning existing companies with strong fundamentals into profitable businesses while forcing smaller and less resilient companies to get consolidated or phased out. For example, we expect to see more ‘hybridisation‘ in product development. This involves creatively combining protein sources and processes (such as plant-based proteins with fermented or cultivated fats). By blending ingredients and technologies, companies can address key product experience elements. These include taste, texture, and nutritional value, but also scalability – think mycelium for umami flavouring of plant-based meat products, serum-free growth medium for cultivated meat, companies focusing on cell cultures, etc. Companies such as Mycorena, The Seaweed Company or Multus Bio come to mind.
Finally, despite reluctance from certain countries (like Italy and France), we do expect cellular agriculture to become regulated by more countries in the next couple of years. Recent approvals from the FDA – and investments from various governments (such as the UK, Canada and the Netherlands) to support the research and growth of the sector, alongside precision fermentation – are paving the way towards more regulatory approvals in the near term.
GQ: Most of the companies on the list have only been founded in the last five to six years. What does it say about the industry?
ML: It tells us three things. As with any tech sector, when a new technology solution is on the path to becoming mature, more ventures get created because the barriers to entry are relatively low.
More entrepreneurs are building ‘enabling solutions’, such as ‘software for vertical farms’ or growth media for cultivated meat/fish for existing industries (like vertical farming or cellular agriculture).
This is also a reflection of how the global agrifood tech investment landscape has evolved in the past two years:
Global Venture Capital is going through difficult times, with AgriFoodTech being no exception to the rule. Since its peak year in 2021, investments in the sector have dropped by 74% to reach $17.1.B in 2023. Many companies have had to shut down operations in the past year. Yet, making a comparison between 2021 and 2023 makes us understand how the investment landscape has been shifting, and we believe there is room for optimism.
Courtesy: Forward Fooding
First of all, not only has the number of deals (-44% from 2021 to 2023) not dropped as much as the capital invested (-74%), but the median deal has actually increased since 2021. Mega-deals have vanished (the average deal size fell from $31.5M to $14.1M), and generalist investors are leaving the space, while specialist and impact-focused ones tend to go ‘beyond the hype’ to invest in a broader range of solutions across the supply chain (such as technologies to fight food waste). This translates into a new distribution of investments, previously dominated by food delivery and alternative proteins (part of our Next-Gen vertical), as well as a growing proportion of early-stage investments towards less mature or ‘hyped’, but nonetheless impactful solutions.
New regional dynamics are also emerging. From 23% in 2021, 36% of total investments in the sector went to European companies in 2023. Europe is becoming a true hotbed for agrifood tech innovation, while Asia-Pacific has seen a drop from 11% to 1% (mostly due to a decline in China). And finally, North America continues to lead the sector, gathering 48% of global investments in 2023.
Overall, it is safe to say that capital is no longer a ‘commodity’. Entrepreneurs have to focus on building ‘healthier’ businesses with a clear path to profitability, and ideally ‘asset-light’ models. They also seem to be able to rely more and more on public funding to support their growth, as shown by the sharp increase in the number of grants allocated to agrifood tech startups (up from 6% to 23%).
More patience and smart capital will be needed to solve the challenges of our food system. Looking at the latest investment figures, this seems to be going in the right direction at the moment.
GQ: Which domain were you most surprised by?
ML: Beyond alternative proteins, there are a few domains that are standing out.
First of all, we are quite amazed to see how ag biotech is currently growing. From 17 companies in 2022, it has almost doubled this year with 36 companies within the finalists, as the topics of soil health and microbiome, and seed genetics-focused technologies like molecular farming are gaining more traction. 2023 finalist companies include the likes of Tropic, Soilsteam and Mozza Foods.
Looking at global investments, the surplus and waste management activity went from representing 3% of global investments in 2021 to 13% in 2023. This is well represented in the FoodTech 500 with food waste tech and food sharing platforms (26 companies), and upcycled ingredients, food surplus and waste efficiency (25 companies), with players such as Winnow, Spoiler Alert, Fazla and Peelpioneers.
Finally, it’s quite impressive to see how resilient the farm management and precision farming domain has been year after year, with the growing impact of remote sensing and AI, and led by companies like CropX, Agrivi and Cropin.
GQ: Do you think there’s still some ways to go in terms of female leadership in food tech?
ML: Yes, definitely. However, we think the agrifood tech space is intrinsically more diverse than other tech industries. As a matter of fact, over the years, we’ve been reporting that the food tech space is rather diverse, and when using FoodTech 500 as a proxy of the overall space, we have witnessed an increase year-on-year of female-founded businesses among FoodTech 500 alumni. On average, we went from X in 2020 to 30%+ in 2023.
GQ: Where is the food tech sector lacking, and what are its biggest challenges going into the rest of 2024?
ML: With more transparency and self-discipline from founders, combined with more thorough due diligence from investors, we think the agrifood tech industry can capitalise on the growing interest in leveraging technology to improve our food and agriculture system to make it more resilient and sustainable for both people and our planet.
As the market is correcting and science is advancing in the right direction, we believe 2024 could be a vintage year to invest in agrifood tech. Valuations are becoming more ‘sensitive’, and entrepreneurs do have to present a clear and solid path to profitability to be in a position to raise capital.
There’s a need for patient capital too. As AgriFood is one of the most slow-moving/resistant industries to change and technology adoption, we think most investors underestimate the pace at which new solutions can be brought to the mass market. A clear example of this is the plant-based category, which has been around for almost a century now through niche products (mostly vegetarian and vegan options), and only in the last decade has started to really get a growing interest as diets are shifting towards more plant-based. Despite all of this, in the US alone – the most mature market for plant-based meat 2.0 – sales reached only 1% of total meat sales in 2022.
Another example is the vertical farming sector currently going through a ‘disillusion phase’, after a few companies went through bankruptcy, despite having raised hundreds of millions in capital. This was mostly due to a misalignment between investors’ expectations, the readiness of the technology, and the validity of the business model of some companies.
With generalist investors leaving the space, and more and more ‘educated’ agrifood-tech-focused funds emerging, we expect to see a big change in that regard. Additionally, the speed of evolution for novel foods and alternative protein regulation around the world will have a key role to play.
GQ: What is your hope for the companies who have made it onto the list?
ML: That they will keep focusing on building ‘cash-positive businesses’ capable of generating real impact at a food system level. They will be able to adapt their business financing needs, as global markets may remain very difficult in the coming years as far as funding is concerned. And they’ll keep focusing on impact and mission-driven businesses that can prove to be a force of good in making our food system more sustainable and resilient.
Check out Forward Fooding’s full 2023 FoodTech 500 list here.
Food tech community FoodHack and ingredient and fragrance giant Givaudan have teamed up to launch a FoodTech World Cup, a global competition aimed at finding disruptive technologies and consumer concepts.
With investment in the agrifood tech sector halving in 2023, and legislators in the US and the EU putting up barriers towards alternative proteins in the form of labelling restrictions and outright bans, food tech startups are in a bit of a dire situation.
What makes it worse, in fact, is that now is when we need these innovators the most, with the world burning down and policymakers – for the large part – not really giving a fuck. Lately, there has been a growing emphasis on trying to find solutions to feed a 10-billion-strong population by mid-century, just as extreme weather events effect crop failures all over the world. We need food tech solutions, and these startups need help.
This is why FoodHack has partnered with Givaudan to establish the inaugural FoodTech World Cup. The global tournament will tap into local networks to unearth the industry’s most talented founders breaking through the ranks, and help accelerate their growth internationally.
“The ultimate goal is to find disruptive technologies and consumer concepts,” says Alexandre Bastos, head of front-end innovation at Givaudan. “Besides the fun part and an analogy with the most famous sports tournament in the world, the thinking behind the World Cup was to ensure global outreach, engagement with thought leaders in each region, make it competitive and look for startups from everywhere around the world.”
Multiple verticals covering everything food tech
Courtesy: FoodHack
Through its partnership with FoodHack and its partner climate conference HackSummit, Givaudan hopes to “uncover never-before-seen solutions created by exceptional, entrepreneurial Founders who are driving real-world impact for a healthier, more sustainable future for all”, explains Bastos.
The applications are open for stealth-to-seed startups across seven verticals. Food Circularity involves sidestreams, upcycling and the circular economy; AI and Digital Tools covers disrupting NPD and consumer understanding; Sustainable Proteins focuses on alternatives to animal-derived foods to feed a growing population; Personalised Nutrition addresses food as medicine; Food Safety and Traceability deals with tech across the value chain; Novel Food Product Concepts encompasses CPG ‘brands of the future’; and New Ingredients and Technologies is concerned with improving sensory experiences, health and nutrition.
There is no cap on the number of applications for the FoodTech World Cup, whose qualifiers will run as six Demo Days – one for each region across Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East and North Africa, North America, and Sub-Saharan Africa. A total of 60 founders will be shortlisted to present their startups’ potential to a lineup of judges from around the world, including E2JDJ’s Stephanie Dorsey, Clear Current Capital’s Steve Molino, Better Bite Ventures’ Michal Klar, the Nestlé R+D Accelerator’s Susana Reber, The Kitchen’s Amir Zaidman, as well as members from Givaudan’s own team.
“It is great to see a food tech competition that highlights not just the solutions from Europe and the US, but also other parts of the world, especially emerging markets. I am looking forward to seeing all the innovations by founders from Asia in particular,” says Klar.
Asked what will make a startup stand out, Bastos responds: “Solid IP and strongly closing an existing consumer or industry gap. Furthermore, a problem or opportunity which is sizeable at a global level.”
“There’s nothing wrong with a traditional pitch competition, but the approach to the FoodTech World Cup is interesting, because instead of three or four judges making all of the decisions, it’s bringing together many judges based on their respective geographies,” adds Molino. “Not only will this better allow for geographic nuances to be taken into account, but it’s also just a fun way to get a global perspective on startups with the highest potential impact. I also love the idea that the winners of each region will be able to pitch live at the summit.”
Collaborative process to give the winner exactly what they need
Hack Group founders Arman Anatürk, Camille Bossell, and Emilie Dellecker | Courtesy: Hack Group
Bastos outlines the FoodTech World Cup’s goal to “create an impact for the winner”. And what might that look like? “We will sit together and decide together what would help them most: a proof of concept, an analytical assessment, a pilot run in biotech/extrusion, regulatory support and guidance, consumer understanding, connection with our innovation centres, access to MISTA (San Francisco), Tropical Lab (Brazil), PIC and/or NURASA (Singapore), etc.” he says.
“Essentially, we will take the winner through a due diligence process to best understand the synergies with Givaudan and how we can create a smart and meaningful impact.”
Bastos believes food tech’s biggest challenge right now is capital, followed by the speed of scaling up tech, given the associated complexity, costs, capacity and adoption challenges. “It is amazing how fast the ‘me too’ appear when a promising technology comes to play,” he says. “It is then very frustrating to see so many, largely at the same level with the same challenge, disputing venture capital means and essentially not getting what they really need to scale and scale it fast.”
Finally, touching upon the decline in investment last year, he states that fundamental economic and industry issues have “moved deep pockets away” from the food tech sector, and slowed down expert investors. “We think there was a correction needed if you compare to the high valuations of 2021, but it feels like the downward swing is a little too severe,” he explains.
“We see some reaction, but it is very difficult to predict how it will play out in 2024. This is the time when we will see true leaders standing out to sustain and drive toward the next curve.”
Applications for the FoodTech World Cup are open until April 11, 2024.
Dutch cultivated meat leader Meatable has cut the production time for its cultivated meat by half, making it the fastest process in the sector. This means its hybrid pork sausages are much cheaper to produce, months before their expected launch in Singapore.
Ahead of its market launch in Singapore later this year, Meatable has achieved a significant breakthrough in its manufacturing capabilities, allowing its patented Opti-ox tech to produce its cultivated pork sausages in just four days, with half as many bioreactors and significantly lower costs.
This means the Dutch startup can make cultivated meat faster than anyone else in the industry, and represents an important step towards the large-scale production and commercialisation of its hybrid pork. Scalability and costs have been the two major barriers to cultivated meat for years, and Meatable says its production milestone – which sees the timeline of the transformation from cell to sausage cut in half – can overcome these challenges.
“The Meatable process centres around the use of pluripotent stem cells [PSCs] with our patented, proprietary opti-ox technology, which enables those cells to differentiate into mature muscle and fat cells – the ingredients for real meat in a fast and cost-efficient process,” Meatable co-founder and chief technology officer Daan Luining told Green Queen. “By reducing cell differentiation time in half, our process now requires nearly half as many bioreactors at scale, cutting both CAPEX and OPEX costs and enabling a more efficient use of production space.
How Meatable makes cultivated meat so quickly
Courtesy: Meatable
In a chat with Green Queen in August – after a Series B funding round that took its total raised to $95M – Meatable co-founder and CEO Krijn de Nood explained that its Opti-ox technology allows the team to make its products by isolating a single animal cell, without the need for fetal bovine serum.
“While immortalised cell lines are more commonly found in the industry, they require an alteration of the cells to allow them to multiply indefinitely,” he said. The PSCs Luining mentioned above “have the natural ability to keep on multiplying and to do so rapidly”, and at the time, could double in just 24 hours. “The difficulty with using PSCs is that it can be more challenging to change them from stem cells into more specialised cells, such as muscle or fat,” said de Nood.
But by combining these cells with its technology, Meatable was able to produce real muscle and fat cells that are fully differentiated in just eight days. “This is coupled with a perfusion process that allows the team to work in a continuous cycle to generate very high cell densities,” he added. “This means we can grow a lot of cells in our bioreactors, and harvest cultured meat from the reactors continuously. This is a great step forward as it increases productivity and makes the process easy to scale.”
Now, that timeline has been halved, allowing Meatable to produce cultivated pork 60 times faster than the time it takes farmers to rear a pig for pork, and significantly quicker than other cultivated meat processes. “We have been able to create high-quality, fully differentiated cultivated meat with the right level of protein, fat accumulation, and key meat flavours in only four days, a significant reduction in a process that typically takes weeks,” noted Luining. “We are constantly working to improve the efficiency of our process, while also increasing the amount and quality of the fat and muscle tissue in our product.”
Crucially, this drives down production costs too, which represent a key bottleneck for cultivated meat companies. According to Leticia Goncalves, global foods president at ADM (an investor in companies like Good Meat and Believer Meats), cultivated meat needs to reach production costs of $2.92 per lb to be cost-competitive with conventional meat. And while producers have managed to reduce costs by 99% in less than a decade, McKinsey forecasts that it will still take until 2030 for it to reach price parity.
“With this breakthrough, we are able to drive down the costs and work towards producing meat at a competitive price point faster than others in our category,” said Luining. “The breakthrough results in less labour, energy, infrastructure, ingredients, and water used in our process, making us more scalable, cost-efficient, and also more sustainable for the planet.”
Asked how its first products will be priced, he added: “At launch, we are confident our price point will match those for high-end organic meats, and then we plan to ultimately match mass-market pricing. We are optimistic that Meatable will reach price parity with traditional farmed meat in the next few years.”
Meatable looking to capitalise on regulatory progress
Courtesy: Meatable
Speaking of market launch, Meatable expects to roll out its cultivated pork sausages in mid-2024 in Singapore, where it filed a dossier for regulatory approval last year. It has conducted several rounds of public tastings. These showcased multiple prototypes of its hybrid meat, which is a blend of cultivated pig cells and plant-based ingredients.
Hybrid meat has been touted by investors as the way cultivated meat will enter the market on a broad scale. Speaking to Green Queen last year, Heather Courtney, general partner at Alwyn Capital, said: “It’s likely the only way to make cultivated commercially feasible… as the chances of being able to economically produce 100% cultivated products that can compete on price with commoditised meat are slim to none in the next 10+ years.”
This is echoed by Luining, who confirmed that Meatable’s eventual hybrid sausages will comprise at least 33% of cultivated meat. “This delivers a truly superior flavour and taste experience over plant-based alternatives to satisfy the quality that meat-eating consumers recognize and expect,” he explained. “While our process can result in fully cultivated meat, the speed and scale of production would be limited, and the hybrid approach results in a game-changing product.’
While it eventually wants to get into retail, Meatable’s initial entry into the market will be through restaurant menus in Singapore – as has been the case with all other cultivated meat companies to have launched their products, such as Good Meat in Singapore and the US, and Upside Foods in the latter. And given the regulatory success of these companies in the US, Meatable is eyeing an expansion there in 2025, and is already in talks with the USDA and FDA over the regulatory process.
As for its home continent, things are a little tricky. The EU has the world’s most robust food safety regulations around novel foods, and so far, no company has filed for approval in the bloc. In fact, some countries have been trying to create further barriers towards regulatory clearance for cultivated meat, with Italy having banned its sale and production, and France and Romania looking to do the same.
The Netherlands, for its part, has been much more progressive in its support for these proteins, facilitating a €60M grant for cellular agriculture in 2022, and expressed its support in the EU meeting about cultivated meat, with food quality and agriculture minister Piet Adema saying: “We believe that it is important to support innovations that create production methods for animal proteins complementary to, and not as a substitute to, conventional sustainable production.”
Putting its money where its mouth is, the Dutch government in January became the first EU nation to develop a framework to allow public tasting events of cultivated meat. Meatable has already filed a dossier and is awaiting the green light to sample its pork sausages to consumers in the country.
“Our ultimate goal is to get our products on the plates of consumers all over the world through our future restaurant and retail partners,” said Luining. “Recent regulatory developments have boosted confidence in the industry… We look forward to capitalising on this momentum.”
Max Elder, founder of former plant-based meat company Nowadays and managing director of Food System Innovations, reflects on the journey of his vegan chicken nugget startup, explains why it was forced to cease trading, talks VC funding in food tech, and reveals if he’d do it all over again.
In August, Californian startup Nowadays announced it was shutting down. The decision came “due to an inability to raise venture funds in this market”, a year after it successfully closed a $7M seed funding round. The news reflected the growing venture capital pains faced by the plant-based industry – and food tech as a whole sector.
Max Elder, who was the co-founder and CEO of the brand, had noted that the nuggets were performing well in D2C and retail channels, with many consumers returning to purchase more too. But the financials associated with frozen food distribution for a startup of Nowaday’s scale were too steep. “The economics only work if you have the capital to really push a multi-year brand building and marketing strategy and it’s really hard to access capital now,” he was quoted as saying.
A highly respected figure in the alternative protein industry – who has been featured in the New York Times, the Guardian, Forbes and Fast Company – had predicted that in the long term, “the headwinds for conventional proteins will only get stronger”, saying: “I think we just need to batten down the hatches and weather the storm, and sometimes that means some companies can’t survive because there’s limited access to capital.”
Since then, he has been working as a managing director at sustainability non-profit Food System Innovations, which supports initiatives taking animals out of the global food system. We spoke to Elder about Nowadays, why it reached the end of its tether, and what the future of this industry looks like.
This interview has been edited for clarity and concision.
Green Queen: Did you see the end coming? What finally made you decide to say that’s it?
Max Elder: Every startup goes through an existential crisis between each round of financing, so all founders see the end frequently. Running a startup is a tricky balancing act of challenges and opportunities, successes and failures, growth and setbacks. There wasn’t one event that ended Nowadays – there were a plethora of factors, many outside of our control, that made it impossible to raise additional capital. We ceased operations when we became insolvent and couldn’t sustain the business any further.
Courtesy: Nowadays
GQ: If you could do it all again, would you?
ME: Absolutely. Founding a mission-driven food company is an extraordinary privilege I don’t take for granted. Building is a formidable challenge and feeding people is insanely rewarding. Most importantly, I’ve never had such a high velocity of learning in my life. I don’t plan on doing it all over again anytime soon.
I currently see a higher impact approach for how I spend my time: I’ve transitioned to work on systems-level change and category-level innovation at a public charity called Food System Innovations, co-founded by David Meyer and Galina Hale. While Nowadays was my shot on goal, I’m most excited these days by redesigning the playing field.
GQ: Do you have any big regrets? What would you do differently?
ME: I honestly don’t have any big regrets. I think there are a few I would do differently next time. The first is being more intentional about the co-founder relationship. That relationship is mission-critical and often ends at some point in a company’s journey, like it did at Nowadays. I also would have shut down Nowadays earlier than I did. It’s an insanely hard choice to make, and it’s hard to find allies in that choice.
Winding down your business is emotionally draining (layoffs, including yourself; liquidation efforts; legal) and can take a long time and cost a lot of money. I now help founders better understand what they need to responsibly wind down their business.
GQ: What are your biggest learnings? And what are you most proud of?
ME: Nowadays accomplished a lot. We built a differentiated brand, patented whole-cut manufacturing processes, launched into retail with Whole Foods Market, secured restaurant partnerships with critically-acclaimed partners, and fed a lot of people. While those are all impressive, I think what I’m most proud of is how I managed the company. Despite some really thorny problems and tough challenges, I always made values-based decisions and communicated honestly.
My biggest learning was that you can feel proud even if you don’t achieve your desired outcome as long as you hold yourself accountable to your own values. Even when I’ve failed, my values have never failed me.
GQ: You were straddling the line of processed plant-based food and ‘clean label’ with a product that had a short ingredient list. We are constantly told that processed products turn people off the plant-based category. Is this what consumers want? What’s your take on all this? Do we need more clean-label products?
ME: Meat is a $1.4T industry globally and a $180B industry in the US. The average American eats 330 lbs of meat (including seafood) annually, and about nine out of 10 Americans eat meat everyday. The market for meat is gigantic.
There are many different consumer segments who have different pain points for different meal occasions across different channels. There is no singular value proposition that consumers want. I believe food products in the US need to taste delicious and be priced competitively. For some consumers during some meal occasions in some channels, cleaner labels matter.
That said, I’m worried about the mis- and disinformation campaigns around ultra-processing and alt-proteins we’re seeing, as I see much of these concerns as industry talking points that eaters use to post-rationalise, more so than real pain points that drive purchase decisions.
Courtesy: Nowadays
GQ: Do you think the vegan nugget market is oversaturated?
ME: Market saturation at a macro level is when the supply of a product becomes higher than its demand. Sometimes this happens because the market has too many competitors offering the same product, or when the product has already reached the entirety of its customer base. While I believe there are many plant-based nugget products competing with each other, I also believe that the product hasn’t reached the entirety of its potential market.
If you think the market for vegan nuggets is only made up of vegan consumers, the vegan nugget market is oversaturated. If you think the market for vegan nuggets is made up of flexitarians, the vegan nugget market is full of blue sky. Chicken nuggets amount to an $8B market in the US; there’s plenty of room for demand capture.
GQ: What advice would you give for existing and new plant-based brands?
ME: I feel like I should be the one taking advice from existing and new plant-based brands! One pivot I made too late at Nowadays that I’d love to see other brands make is a pivot to institutional procurement. Plant-based products offer truly impressive environmental benefits that aren’t accurately priced in the market today.
While the climate crisis hasn’t quite yet become a consumer problem, it’s increasingly becoming an ESG problem. If consumer demand signals are weakening, institutional ESG commitments are getting stronger. The downside is that institutional sales cycles can be long and opaque, distribution hard to secure, and prices relatively low, but the upside is the potential for high, consistent volumes at a better margin than retail.
GQ: There’s a lot of talk about whether VC funding is the right choice for founders/startups. What’s your take? Would you take VC money again?
ME: I think the funding model you pursue needs to depend on the business you want to build. If you want to build for impact on a short-time horizon, you need a higher-risk capital source to support growth. It’s hard to imagine other sources of capital to underwrite innovative startups trying to solve big challenges quicker than venture.
GQ: Can you describe what a day in the life of a plant-based founder was like? Take us through your mental state on the average day.
ME: I think the founder role is overly romanticised. There are a lot of fun parts of the job, but a lot of the role is administrative work and constant problem-solving and making sure things get done. My days typically rotated through a cycle of strategy, fundraising, and capacity-building. I would build a strategic vision supported by core enabling milestones we planned to achieve; sell part of the company to secure the capital required to execute on that vision; and then build capacity to hit those milestones.
Throughout those cycles, my mental states fluctuated highly based on the frequency and scale of opportunities versus the frequency and scale of challenges. Some days, my mental state was calm, confident and proud. Other days, I’d be insanely stressed and not my best self. I’m so impressed with and inspired by people who build.
Courtesy: Nowadays
GQ: Do you still believe in the category? What needs to change?
ME: The more time I spend in the food and climate worlds, the more deeply I believe in alternative proteins. The problem of industrialised animal farming is only getting worse, and the alternatives are only getting better. I see truly mind-blowing innovation at a pretty fast pace for the food industry addressing an incredibly complex problem. Farmed animals are all complex living beings, so replicating their bodies with plants is a formidable task.
The industry is nascent. I see some opportunities to accelerate the protein transition across both supply and demand. On the supply side, I’m excited by the impact of choice architecture and default shifts at institutions. I’m inspired by market shaping efforts to accelerate alt-protein value chains and the potential of offtakes and advance market commitments. I’m also seeing some big improvements in taste and texture, which I hope continues, and I’m increasingly growing bullish on blended/hybrid meats (new category-level nomenclature to come).
On the demand side, I’m eager to see more category-level demand campaigns (they need funding!) and efforts to combat mis- and dis-information campaigns. Price, taste and nutrition are all necessary but not sufficient for plant-based products to break into the mainstream; we also need to understand and engage the social, cultural and political elephants in the room. All that said, I believe the alternative protein category is not a question of if, but when.
A majority of Americans recognise the health and environmental benefits of vegan food, yet only a quarter are willing to adopt plant-rich diets. Plus, there has been an increase in red meat consumption over the years, according to a new review.
Over the last year, multiple studies have highlighted the disconnect between Americans’ eating patterns and their attitudes towards climate change. For example, one survey suggested that 74% of them didn’t think eating meat was bad for the planet, while another found that the number of vegans was at a 10-year low. US consumers also eat way more meat than is recommended, and one study noted that meat consumption needs to come down by 82% if the country is to avoid more climate disasters.
Things become interesting when you look at longer-term trends, though. That’s exactly what researchers at Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences did, perusing national surveys from the International Food Information Council spanning 2012 to 2022 and examining how Americans eat. Published in the Nutrients journal, the analysis covered over 1,000 consumers, and found that they had a paradoxical view of meat and plant-based food consumption.
“US consumers have favourable perceptions of foods and beverages that support human and environmental health, but that’s not translating into what they’re purchasing and consuming,” explained lead researcher Katherine Consavage Stanley.
More plants, yet more meat
Courtesy: Nutrients
The review of the surveys found that 74% of Americans find plant proteins healthy, a number that drops sharply to 39% for animal protein. Between 2016 and 2019, the percentage of consumers believing that animal proteins were unhealthy increased from 10.3% to 16.4%, before falling to 15.4% in 2020. Meanwhile, between 2019 and 2020, 24% of respondents actively tried to consume animal proteins, and 23% attempted to limit or avoid them. More than a third (38%) looked to eat plant-based proteins in this time.
But despite the percentage of Americans following plant-rich diets more than doubling across the years surveyed, it still only made up about a quarter (26%) of the total. Gen Z and millennials were more likely to adopt these eating patterns than older consumers like Gen X, baby boomers and the silent generation. That said, adoption of plant-forward diets has risen across generations over time, reaching 37% for young consumers and 17% for older Americans.
However, this has coincided with a rise in red meat consumption too, with the number of people who reported eating more red meat increasing from 13% in 2020 to 19% in 2022, and those who reduced their intake dipping from 31% to 27%. Surprisingly, younger Americans were much more likely to report greater red meat consumption (25%) than older respondents (10%). There has been a shift around wealth too, with lower-income Americans likely to report eating more red meat until 2021, before being eclipsed by those with higher incomes.
As for the number of people eating meatless diets, this amounts to an average of 5% over the years, while flexitarians have increased from 2% to 7% from 2019-22. “Low adoption of plant-rich dietary patterns may be due to a lack of consumer awareness of these dietary patterns or knowledge of their health benefits,” the study suggested, adding that taste disparities and food access also play a role here.
The researchers highlight a need for “the provision of greater consumer education by nutrition and health professionals regarding the health, environmental, and animal welfare benefits of adopting such pattern”, pointing to campaigns like Veganuary and Have a Plant, which encourage increased plant-based eating.
Sustainability the lowest food priority for Americans
Courtesy: Nutrients
The report puts a further spotlight on the disconnect between food and climate change in the US. Between 2012 and 2018, sustainability was the least important factor influencing purchasing decisions, behind taste, health, price and convenience. Only 37% of Americans chose it – and this fell even further when the wording was changed to ‘environmental sustainability’, affecting just 32% of consumers.
About 65% of consumers said they give some thought to sustainability in 2022, but only half (51%) believe their food purchases have an impact on the climate – this increased with younger generations. When asked explicitly whether buying sustainably produced products was important, 75% said yes in 2016, but this dropped to 58% by 2021.
The findings display a lack of awareness around food sustainability in the US. About 64% said it’s hard for consumers to know whether their food choices were sustainable, and 61% agreed that this information would have a greater influence on their choices if it were easier to find. About a quarter of Americans said they purposely purchased foods labelled ‘organic’ (27%) or ‘locally sourced’ (26%), which declined to 20% for ‘environmentally friendly’ and just 16% for ‘plant-based’.
Among the respondents identifying sustainable food production as important, recyclable packaging (46%) and labels that indicated products are sustainably sourced (44%), locally grown (42%), and non-GMO (38%) were the most influential characteristics. Additionally, consumers believed a product labelled as having a ‘small carbon footprint’ (33%) or one produced in a sustainable way (38%) is healthier than a non-sustainable counterpart. Likewise, 43% felt a food labelled ‘plant-based’ was healthier than an identical alternative.
“Nutrition and health professionals, advocates, and civil society should encourage the food and beverage industry to adopt independent sustainability labelling schemes based on clearly defined criteria certified by third-party organisations,” the study noted, adding that taxes on red and processed meats, subsidies for low-carbon and whole-plant foods, and making planet-friendly options the default at food outlets could nudge consumers towards more sustainable diets.
The authors said greater action was needed from government leaders, health and nutrition professionals, as well as the food and beverage industry itself to adopt plant-rich diets and reduce red and processed meat consumption. Stanley is now examining the media narrative around plant-based diets, including those that encourage or discourage these foods. “Too often corporations will place the responsibility on individuals, but Americans need a supportive food and beverage environment to make changes,” she said.
“We can’t expect consumers to make sustainable choices if they don’t know the impacts of their purchases. We need to be doing more collectively to educate Americans on the benefits of plant-rich dietary patterns and to provide an environment where making healthy and sustainable purchases is the default choice.”
Parisian plant-based whole-cut meat producer Umiami has opened a commercial-scale facility in the Alsace region, backed by financing from the French government, the Grand Est area, as well as the EU. It plans to launch its chicken fillet on supermarket shelves in France this year.
In the presence of government officials, regional representatives and local leaders, Umiami this week inaugurated its new 14,000 sq m facility to produce whole-cut meat alternatives on a commercial scale and enable its European and North American expansion.
It comes 14 months after the startup announced the takeover of the former Unilever factory near Strasbourg in France’s Alsace region, which has been rehabilitated through a €38M ($41.3M) investment. This includes €7.5M ($8.2M) in financing from the Sociétés de Projets Industriels (SPI) fund – overseen by Bpifrance for the French government as part of the France 2030 economic investment plan – as well as €1.5M ($1.6M) each from the Grand Est Region and the EU’s European Regional Development Fund.
The result of three years of development and scaling up, the factory employs 53 people and can produce 7,500 tonnes of plant-based meat annually, which is slated to increase to 20,000 tonnes eventually. It will allow Umiami to expand its presence in Europe and North America, with plans to launch its soy-protein-based whole-cut chicken into French retail this year.
“The opening of our factory in Alsace represents the culmination of years of innovation, research and dedication to transforming the food industry,” co-founders Tristan Maurel, Martin Habfast and Clémence Pedraza said in a joint statement. “We sincerely thank our partners, teams, and communities for their support as we work towards a more sustainable and ethical future in food.”
Creating local jobs with clean-label vegan chicken
Courtesy: Umiami
Umiami, which has raised €100M ($107M) in total investment to date, had been operating in an R&D pilot plant in the Paris region since 2022, which is now a “centre of innovation that allows our R&D team to innovate and work on new projects”, Maurel and Habfast told Green Queen. Having previously outlined its goal to be at the centre of the region’s reindustrialisation and creation of local jobs, the startup says the new facility is “strategically positioned in the heart of Europe”.
“The inauguration of this first factory marks a pivotal moment in Umiami’s journey, following years of development of a unique technology, and illustrates the ambitions of the SME and industrial startups plan that we are supporting,” said Nicolas Dufourcq, executive director of Bpifrance. “Over and above the challenges of reindustrialisation in the Alsace region, the company is developing innovations that will help to promote our agri-food expertise, taking into account the challenges of a low-carbon transition, and we are proud to have supported it throughout the various phases of its development.”
Franck Leroy, president of the Grand Est region, added: “The establishment of the UMIAMI factory in the Grand Est region represents a substantial uplift for our area. Beyond job creation, this initiative showcases our commitment to fostering economic growth in our communities and driving forward the ecological transition.”
Umami makes whole-cut meat and fish alternatives through its proprietary plant-based meat texturising tech, called “umisation”. The brand previously told Green Queen that this technology “perfectly mimics the taste and texture of meat and fish, with equivalent nutritional value”, with the resulting meat product containing fewer than 10 ingredients.
“Umisation is an innovative protein texturing technology that is unique and specific to Umiami. It is the world’s first-ever process to be able to create – on a large scale – plant-based fillets that resemble pieces of animal meat: both in taste and texture,” a spokesperson said in October. “This technology is the result of several years’ research and development, and uses plant matrices to produce a fibrous texture and control the size, direction and thickness of the resulting fibres.”
They added: “As well as producing better texture, umisation has the advantage of offering a minimally processed product from a very short list of ingredients. The procedure now makes it possible to produce a whole, 100% plant-based thick fillet, with fibres resembling those of meat and reproducing that unique, gourmet sensation mouthfeel.”
International expansion amid a tough climate for plant-based
Courtesy: Umiami
Umiami’s product is already available in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy under a white label. And in August, it launched under its own brand name for the first time at 120 Coop stores in Switzerland. This year, it plans to move into retail in its home market, and expand into the US, which it has referred to as a “more developed market for plant-based meat alternatives”.
Whole cuts are touted as the “holy grail” of plant-based meat, delivering a more realistic texture by recreating animal muscle fibres, as well as a more rounded flavour. There are many companies creating such products, including Chunk Foods (US), Juicy Marbles (Slovenia), Redefine Meat (Israel), Libre Foods (Spain), Green Rebel (Indonesia) and Revo Foods (Austria), among others.
These products will appeal to the 57% of French consumers reducing their meat consumption, as a large EU-backed survey last year found. For these people, health is the primary motivator for cutting back on meat, and it’s also their main barrier towards eating more plant-based meat – this is a hurdle Umiami will be hoping to overcome through its texturising tech, which removes the need for any texturising agents or “controversial additives” to make a clean-label product. Shorter ingredient lists and minimal processing are important to consumers, given that 57% of Europeans avoid plant-based meats due to their ultra-processed nature.
According to alternative protein think tank the Good Food Institute Europe, France is Europe’s fifth-largest plant-based market, with sales of meat alternatives growing by 17% from 2020-22. One survey from 2022 showed that 22% more consumers included more plant proteins in their diets from 2021-22, while 41% considered vegan food the third most important protein source, after meat and eggs (but above fish). Plus, a 2021 Kantar World Panel study revealed that flexitarians had nearly doubled in France, accounting for 25% in 2015, and 49% in 2021.
Umiami’s progress also comes on the backdrop of wider challenges for the plant-based industry, where sales have declined and companies have ceased operations in the last couple of years. In fact, global funding for food tech halved in 2023 from the year before. Asked about the plant-based industry’s challenges and future, Maurel and Habfast reiterated the importance of health.
“The biggest challenge is to provide good products to consumers by understanding their needs,” they said. “We are in a new area for plant-based products and it’s very important to provide a transparent list of ingredients and clean-label products.”
Australian hyper-fermentation company Cauldron Ferm has secured AU$9.5M ($6.25M) in Series A funding to build a large-scale facility to manufacture high-value ingredients through precision fermentation.
A year after closing a large AU$10.5M ($7M) seed financing round, Cauldron Ferm has raised a further AU$9.5M ($6.25M) in its Series A round, which was led by Horizons Ventures, with participation from existing investor Main Sequence, alongside SOSV and In-Q-Tel (IQT).
The startup’s manufacturing platform enables partners to produce high-value ingredients using precision fermentation in a continuous, more efficient process. It is the only business approved to manufacture precision-fermented protein ingredients at scale in Australia. The latest investment will enable the company to support “faster-than-expected customer growth, build robust proof cases around the application of its hyper-fermentation technology, and finalise partners and plans for a 500,000-litre facility”.
“Precision fermentation is an amazing technology, because it enables bio-based production of a wide range of products with diverse applications,” said Horizons Ventures’ Chis Liu. “To date, the technology has been hamstrung by its costs compared to conventional production methods, but Cauldron’s unique solution significantly improves the competitiveness of precision fermentation both in capital and operating expenditure.”
Continuous fermentation produces more proteins for cheaper
Courtesy: Cauldron Ferm
Founded in 2022, Cauldron’s hyper-fermentation tech is built on 35 years of R&D from Agritechnology, where co-founder and CEO Michele Stansfield worked for over a decade. In fact, the reason why its seed round was larger than the Series A is because it was used to buy out Agritechnology’s precision fermentation IP last year. The company’s tech involves a novel bioreactor design and proprietary growth medium formulation, which improve the economics of large-scale fermentation production by five times compared to the current industry standard.
The key is that this technology can run continuous fermentation, compared to the short-term batch production that’s widely in use. The company has successfully run a 10,000-litre production system for protein ingredients continuously for eight months without any contamination or any “genetic drift” of microbes, which are two of the biggest challenges of running long-term fermentation. This was facilitated by approval from Australia’s Office of the Gene Technology Regulatory.
This hyper-fermentation process allows the startup to outproduce batch systems that are five times larger with its smaller, cheaper bioreactors. It is currently operating out of a facility with a 25,000-litre fermentation capacity in Orange, New South Wales, but the latest capital injection will accelerate its plans for a 500,000-litre site. The longer-term plan is to build a large network of precision fermentation facilities globally for bio-based product manufacturing.
“Cauldron has proven its precision fermentation at an industrially relevant scale, unlocking a significant decrease – between 30% and 50% – in the cost of goods for our customers vs traditional batch fermentation,” said Stansfield. “From biofuels and agriculture to cosmetics and chemicals, the opportunities are immense, and with the support of our incredible investors, we’re poised to capitalise on them.”
Olivia Jones, director at IQT, said: “Food insecurity and competition among countries to control resources is a real risk. The technology Cauldron has created in enabling alternative ways of producing food, proteins, and materials on an industrial scale will be game-changing.”
Cauldron is already working with global commercial partners through its current plant in Orange, but plans to raise more funds as part of a Series B round by the end of the year to fund the new facility. It will help the company offer dairy ingredients to food manufacturers that could eventually satisfy the growing demand for dairy proteins globally at a competitive price, according to Australian alternative protein think tank Food Frontier.
“This development is not a new project or R&D experiment, it is a pathway to market success for Australia’s precision fermentation food companies who have needed access to larger facilities,” explained Food Frontier CEO Simon Eassom. “This not only opens the door for Australian food ingredient manufacturers, but also opens the door for Australia to exploit brand new industry growth and become a world leader in the precision fermentation field.”
Po Bronson, general partner at SOSV and managing director of IndieBio, called Stansfield and Cauldron’s long-run fermentation prowess “unparalleled”. She added: “The benefits of the technology – the ability to continuously produce, up to 50% lower net unit costs, and 20% more output with 45% less capex – dismantle a major obstacle for the industry and position the company as a critical manufacturing partner for companies building a more sustainable future.”
There are only a handful of precision fermentation companies in Australia and New Zealand, including Eden Brew, Daisy Lab and All G Foods. So while it’s still a young industry, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation – Australia’s science agency – forecasts that it will reach a value of $1.45B by the end of the decade.
Food Frontier believes Cauldron’s new infrastructure will only go on to help the country’s sector realise this potential, noting that if Australia has enough capability and capacity, international manufacturers will have the option of sourcing ingredients from down under.
“Food ingredients made from precision fermentation might be new now, but they will become the norm around the world for producing foods using dairy proteins and fats without the animal to improve performance and flavour in milk derivatives, cheeses, and products like plant-based meats,” said Eassom. “Cauldron Ferm has enabled the path forward for producing ingredients made from precision fermentation to be cheaper to use in food production than their animal-based counterparts and meet future protein demand in a much more environmentally sustainable way.”
In our weekly column, we round up the latest news and developments in the alternative protein and sustainable food industry. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers a new vegan nail brand by Nicki Minaj, cocoa-free easter eggs, and next-gen plant-based fur.
New products and launches
Rapper Nicki Minaj has launched a luxurious vegan press-on nail brand, Pink Friday Nails, which can be customised for shapes and lengths. The products retail between $19.99 and $24.99, and are available both in the US and internationally through the e-commerce site.
Courtesy: Bored Cow | Composite by Green Queen
US animal-free dairy brand Bored Cow has rolled out a line of drinkable yoghurts made from Perfect Day’s precision-fermented whey protein. Coming in vanilla, passionfruit-mango and strawberry flavours, these will be on shelves in New York City this month, priced at $2.99 to $3.99 per 7oz bottle.
Also in the US, cream cheese giant Franklin Foods’ vegan SimplyV range has entered retail stores in original, strawberry, and onion and chive flavours, starting with independent grocers nationwide.
After announcing the deal during its Q4 earnings call, Oatly has partnered with fitness company Barry’s, whose Fuel Bars will carry the oat milk maker’s Unsweetened Oatmilk across the US until April 22.
Fellow Swedish plant-based milk maker Sproud is sponsoring the Latte Art Live competition at this year’s London Coffee Festival (April 11-14), where baristas will pour latte art with its barista pea milk.
Baby oat milk, anyone? New Zealand nutrition brand Haven has unveiled what it claims is the world’s first oat milk for toddlers. Comprising the same amount of protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals as its other A2 cow and goat milk protein formulations, the product will roll out in Australia this month, and in the US in Q3 2024.
Meanwhile, discount retailer Aldi has introduced its own-label My Vay brand of plant-based dairy products to the Netherlands, unveiling them during the country’s Week Without Meat and Dairy (March 4-10).
In Finland, vegan dairy brand Ilo has rolled out high-protein versions of its cashew pudding in chocolate-caramel and vanilla flavours, with each 200g boasting nearly 20g of protein.
Following the launch of its vegan Snickers- and Milky Way-inspired chocolate bars in January, Harken Sweets has rolled out a high-fibre, better-for-you oat milk chocolate with salted pretzels, called The Crunchy One. It’s available on its e-commerce sites and retailers including ShopRite and Fairway, with a “significant national retailer launch” slated for Q2 2024.
Courtesy: Foreverland
Speaking of chocolate, Italian cocoa-free chocolate brand Foreverland has launched its carob-based Freecao Easter Eggs in hazelnut and pistachio flavours, alongside a collaboration with local startup Nebra Skay Studios on a 3D-printed, low-waste pouch called Beggs. Get it?
Eleven Madison Park‘s Daniel Humm is reuniting with his former chef de cuisine James Kent with a one-night-only vegan menu at the latter’s Michelin-starred Crown Shy eatery in New York City on March 25.
The UK, meanwhile, just witnessed the opening of its first vegan theatre on an organic farm near Canterbury. Only plant-based food will be available at the 300-capacity Garlinge Theatre, where firs productions will start next month.
Belgian biomimetic vegan collagen maker VeCollal has entered the functional snacking sector with a white-label, high-protein bar for the beauty and active nutrition markets, made in partnership with Dutch health startup CollaVegan and German manufacturer Alphacaps.
French materials startup Ecopel has launched a 100% plant-based, chemical-free fur called Flur, which uses natural dyes and is being positioned as an evolution out of the traditional faux fur category.
And in India, pharmaceutical giant Mankind has introduced a vegan and cruelty-free condom range as part of its new Manforce Epic brand
Finance and company updates
In Germany, conventional and plant-based meat manufacturer Rügenwalder Mühle has inked a sponsorship deal with the Hamburg SV, following its partnership with another Bundesliga club, Borussia Dortmund, in January.
Barcelona-based food tech startup Poisedona has secured over €1M in pre-seed funding led by Faber, which will help advance the development of its protein ingredients made from algal sidestreams and invasive seaweeds.
California’s Tierra Biosciences, which develops AI-led cell-free technology for high-throughput custom protein synthesis, has raised $11.4M in a Series A round.
Courtesy: Steakholder Foods
Israeli 3D-printed meat producer Steakholder Foods has received a payment of $220,000 from the Singapore-Israel Industrial R&D Foundation (SIIRD), the first phase of a maximum $1M SIIRD grant.
In New Zealand, Andfoods – a spinout from Massey University and the Riddet Institute – has raised $2.7M in a seed financing round to accelerate R&D and market launch plans for its fermentation-derived dairy alternatives made from legume seeds.
Andfoods will also be part of Future Food Aotearoa‘s delegation at the Future Food-Tech Conference in San Francisco this week (March 21-22), alongside fellow New Zealand companies Daisy Lab, Opo Bio, NewFish, Mirüku and Ārepa.
In some sad news, popular San Francisco vegan eatery Baia will be closing its doors on March 30, but the company hasn’t yet provided an explanation why.
Danonesays that last year, it discontinued the Silk Nextmilk and So Delicious Wondermilk lines it introduced in North America in 2021, although the products have been spotted in stores this year.
Courtesy: Danone
Meanwhile, Belgian brand Nomet, which makes seaweed-based croquettes, has brought in An-Sofie Geerardyn as a co-founder.
Policy, manufacturing and awards
The students’ council at Newcastle University has voted to move towards 100% plant-based catering, starting with at least half of all food at ticketed events being vegan. It’s part of the Plant-Based Universities campaign, which has seen 10 other institutes make similar moves.
The governments of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have announced the Shared Island Bioeconomy Demonstration Initiative, a €9M funding scheme to support bioeconomy innovation and solutions in the agriculture and marine sectors.
At the Green Horizons Summit 2024, government body Innovation Agency Lithuaniasigned an MoU with trade association Cellular Agriculture Europe to support the Baltic country’s efforts to build a “robust complementary protein ecosystem”.
Scientists at California’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have developed a way to genetically modify koji mould to produce compounds that recreate the taste and texture of meat.
Courtesy: Prime Roots
Speaking of which, Prime Roots, which makes charcuterie and deli meats from koji, has won a National Restaurant Association FABI Favorite Award for its Prime Roots + Fabrique Delices Black Truffle and Harvest Apple Koji-Pates, as well as a second recognition for its Koji-Foie Gras.
Finally, Crafty Counter’s WunderEggs range of plant-based eggs has won the first prize at the 2024 Albertsons Companies Innovation Launchpad competition, beating out 59 other companies and receiving a $163,000 cheque in the process.
India is joining the ranks of other southeast Asian companies to establish a regulatory framework for cultivated meat and seafood companies, who can then file a dossier to receive approval from its food safety authority to sell their products.
First it was Japan. Then South Korea. Now, India has joined the bandwagon.
Policy support for alternative proteins in Asia has been accelerating of late, with new regulatory frameworks soon to launch or already in place in Japan and South Korea this year itself, respectively, and India now exploring its own path for companies to earn regulatory clearance to sell cultivated meat.
Indian newspaper The Economic Times has reported that the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) is formulating regulations for cultivated meat, just as a government agency works with a local startup to produce cultivated seafood products.
“We are working on drafting regulations for cultured meat products,” a senior FSSAI official confirmed to the publication, adding that the scientific panel of the regulatory committee is evaluating regulations from other countries that have approved cultivated meat.
“Establishing regulations that are rooted in rigorous scientific inquiry and a comprehensive understanding of the technology as well as the choice it seeks to provide to the Indian consumers would be essential to ensure a clear regulatory framework for safe consumption of smart proteins,” Astha Gaur, regulatory policy specialist at alternative protein think tank the Good Food Institute (GFI) India, told Green Queen.
“Technological developments are happening in the sector that are simultaneously revolutionising the ingredients and technology that go into the cultivation of meat from animal cells. Moreover, products that come to market in the near future might not rely on one individual technology,” she added.
“The FSSAI’s guidance on hybrid products and other future innovations in smart proteins, such as low-cost serum-free media, etc. would be critical to determining the scalability and price parity of the category in India. Developing a regulatory framework that adapts to scientific advancements and is not rigid but accommodates the innovations in this sector would be essential to India setting an example for a dynamic and effective regulatory framework on cultivated meat.”
A more dynamic regulatory framework needed
Courtesy: Langan/Canva
So far, only three countries have approved the sale of cultivated meat: Singapore, the US and Israel. Australia and New Zealand’s joint regulatory body is being tipped as the next, with Vow Foods’ application currently in advanced stages. Last month, South Korea announced its regulatory framework to invite companies to file dossiers for approval. And next month, Japan will rejig its framework, which will mean companies will liaise with two agencies on regulatory conversations, but prime minister Fumio Kishida will be the the ultimate authority on these matters.
In India, the FSSAI currently classes cultivated meat as a ‘non-specified food or ingredient’ or ‘novel food’ – much like the EU’s regulations – as there is no history of consumption of these proteins in the country. It means that companies need approval from the food safety regulator to manufacture, produce, import or sell cultivated meat products.
Despite having a major vegetarian population, India is the world’s largest producer of buffalo meat, ranks second on the production list for goat meat, and is the third-largest seafood consumer. But while the cultivated meat sector is still in its infancy in the country, a number of startups are working to advance the development of these proteins, covering cell lines (Neat Meatt, Klevermeat, Clear Meat), media formulations (Clear Meat), and scaffolds (MyoWorks).
Chandana Tekkatte, science and technology specialist at GFI India, told Green Queen earlier this year that the country’s nascent cultivated meat and seafood industry will benefit from its thriving pharmaceutical sector (tipped to reach $150B next year). “This sector has a proven track record in affordable, high-quality manufacturing, and cultivated meat companies have the opportunity to tap into its vast infrastructure and resources,” she explained.
The FSSAI had previously formed a Working Group on Cultured Meat with regulatory and scientific experts to study the possible regulatory pathways for cultivated meat in India, but Tekkatte stated that the framework “needs to be made more dynamic and evolve in tandem with innovations”.
“Early engagement with cultivated meat companies intending to apply for pre-market approvals under the Non-Specified Foods Regulations during the development process would enable the regulatory body to have oversight of the development process, leading to effective, timely guidance to the companies to ensure regulatory compliance and appropriate data submission to reduce approval timelines,” she said.
Cultivated meat and seafood’s potential in India
Courtesy: vm2002/Canva
As those startups continue to chip away at market entry hurdles, there have been strong signs of government support as well as potential consumer acceptance for cultivated meat in India.
Within India’s Ministry of Science and Technology, the Science and Engineering Research Board has included cultivated meat research under its Competitive Research Grant Programmes, while the Department of Biotechnology has granted funds to Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology and the National Research Centre on Meat for cultivated meat research projects.
And in January, it was announced that the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) signed an MoU with Neat Meatt to develop cultivated seafood, focusing on high-value species popular among India’s coastal belts, such as kingfish, pomfret and seer fish. The project will combine CMFRI’s capabilities into early cell line development – equipped with a cell culture laboratory – and Neat Meatt’s expertise in optimising cell growth media, developing scaffolds or micro-carriers for cell attachment, and scaling up production through bioreactors.
“This public-private partnership marks a crucial step in bridging the gap between India and other nations like Singapore, Israel, and the USA, who are already advancing cultured seafood research,” said CMFRI director A Gopalakrishnan. “This collaboration leverages CMFRI’s marine research expertise with Neat Meatt’s technological know-how in this field, paving the way for a sustainable and secure future for seafood production in India.”
Contextualising the partnership, Tekkatte said: “There is a growing recognition that by enabling more large-scale international scientific and industrial collaborations (leveraging our decades-old bioeconomy expertise), India could become a production powerhouse in the emerging cultivated meat industry and pave the way for other emerging economies.”
In 2019, a three-country study revealed that 56% of Indians are “very or extremely likely” to buy cultivated meat regularly. “Consumer education and perceptions will play an important role in advertising, marketing, and sale of cultivated meat,” she said. Additionally, research conducted by GFI India and Deloitte in 2022 found that by the end of the decade, the country’s cultivated meat industry could have economic benefits worth between ₹1,233 crore ($150M) to ₹3,909 crore ($473M). Meanwhile, the sector could create between 15,590 to 49,420 jobs by 2030 too. But this will depend on production scaling up and costs coming down.
Formulating regulations for smart protein based on reliable scientific research is pivotal for their effective integration into the market. The dynamic attributes of these proteins require a comprehensive understanding that would best be achieved through rigorous scientific inquiry. Currently, the understanding is that cultivated meat will be regulated under the Approval of Non-Specified Food and Food Ingredients Regulations (NSF Regulations) by the FSSAI, however, there is no specific definition of cultivated meat or guidance provided under the regulations.
“The significance of channelling resources into the cultivated meat industry is particularly relevant in India, with our unique vulnerability to climate change and public health crises. With this massive decrease in land use, additional opportunities arise for the diversification of crops towards direct food consumption,” said Tekkatte. “As we funnel more investment towards R&D and infrastructure, there’s no doubt that the cultivated meat sector can grow exponentially in India and help cater to the increasing protein needs of the global population.”
At COP28, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) produced its much-awaited roadmap to cut emissions from the food system in line with the 1.5°C goal – but it didn’t address reducing meat and dairy consumption as a solution. Now, academics and experts are asking why.
What will it take for the FAO to talk about the impact of meat? That’s the question on the minds of eight experts who have published a comment in the Nature Food journal, criticising the UN body’s failure to include the reduction of meat and dairy and dismissing alternative proteins in the food systems roadmap it presented at the climate summit in Dubai late last year.
The FAO had outlined 120 actions to meet 20 key targets, with measures including cutting methane emissions from livestock by 25% and halving food waste by 2030. While the report acknowledged that we “absolutely must” change diets to reduce emissions, it suggested that plant-based foods can’t be an adequate source of certain nutrients. It actually promoted the increase of aquaculture by 75%, and said meat production needs to be increased in lower-income countries to address health challenges.
Before the conference, there was talk that the roadmap would ask rich nations to eat less meat. But ultimately, the report did not call on higher-income countries – which already consume way more meat than recommended – to cut their meat intake. In response, a group of organisations including ProVeg International, Mercy for Animals, Friends of the Earth, Changing Markets Foundation, as well as Green Queen, highlighted the gaps in a joint letter.
“The roadmap falls short of highlighting the specific benefits of transitioning towards more healthy, plant-based diets, especially in regions with excessive consumption of animal-based foods,” said Stephanie Maw, policy manager at ProVeg.
“I call this approach guillotine syndrome. There might be a slight improvement in efficiency, but it’s still decapitation,” climate journalist George Monbiot wrote in his Guardian column. “Following the report it published this week, I feel I can state with confidence that the FAO is a major cog in the meat misinformation machine.”
Now, four months on, academics from the Stockholm Environment Institute, Pratt Institute and New York University in the US, the Institute of Environmental Sciences and Utrecht University in the Netherlands, and the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina in Brazil have questioned the FAO’s disregard for alternative proteins and ignorance of meat and dairy consumption in its climate messaging.
Meat and dairy reduction among the most ‘obvious’ climate solutions
Courtesy: AI-Generated Image via Canva
“The FAO roadmap neglects one of the most obvious and urgent interventions to reduce emissions from the food system: shifting away from the production and consumption of animal-sourced foods,” writes the letter. Estimates suggest that animal agriculture accounts for about 11-19.6% of all greenhouse gas emissions. It’s a point of contention, and one that the FAO has been under heavy fire for after it emerged that it has historically watered down the impact of livestock farming in its emissions reporting due to pressure from lobby groups.
While the food system is responsible for over a third of all emissions – the FAO’s latest figures put this at about 40% – meat alone is responsible for 60% of this share, which is twice as high as the emissions of plant-based foods. “The roadmap does not offer measures or milestones for lowering production and consumption of animal-sourced foods, which could yield meaningful emission reductions, particularly in regions where the consumption of such foods is currently high,” the authors write.
They point to research revealing that a shift to plant-based diets that reduce animal consumption can substantially help us meet our climate goals. The roadmap calls for a 1.7% annual growth in the total factor productivity of livestock by 2050, but recent analysis has shown that even ambitious technological improvements to farmed animal management won’t be enough to meet methane reduction targets.
Plus, eating and producing fewer animal-sourced foods can free up land for reforestation and carbon capture and storage. “If freed-up land from a protein transition was used for reforestation, it could remove carbon while generating wider environmental benefits, such as reduced pollution and additional land for biodiversity preservation and restoration,” the experts state, adding that using this land for carbon capture can help avoid “agricultural expansion into natural areas as well as food competition, while removing even more carbon than reforestation in many locations”.
The roadmap suggests that the GHG footprint of aquatic food systems is low, despite the emissions of farmed shrimp being higher than the same amount of chicken. “Any expansion in the sector must be approached with nuance, differentiating between sustainable approaches and approaches that may need curtailing to meet climate goals,” note the authors.
“By failing to recognize the need to reduce the production and consumption of animal-sourced foods, the FAO misses a central element of a climate-friendly food system,” said lead author Cleo Verkuijl, who is a researcher at the Stockholm Environment Institute. “It’s like publishing a 1.5°C roadmap for the energy sector that ignores the need to scale back fossil fuels.”
Concerns about the One Health approach
Courtesy: AI-Generated Image via Canva
The experts also criticised the FAO’s failure to acknowledge the One Health approach – which combines human, animal and environmental health – despite the FAO supporting its implementation alongside bodies like the World Health Organization, the World Organisation for Animal Health, and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
“Notably, some of the roadmap’s proposed interventions, such as transitioning from beef to chicken and intensifying animal agriculture, could maintain or even substantially increase risks of anti-microbial resistance and/or zoonotic disease,” the comment notes. “This is because farmed land animals are fed high levels of antibiotics, can harbour and transmit potentially highly pathogenic viruses, are bred and kept in large populations, and are kept in close proximity to humans: some of these risk factors are likely more pronounced for conventional poultry farming than cattle farming. Additionally, keeping farmed animals in close quarters can contribute to infectious disease emergence.”
Research has shown that around 94% of all animals on the planet live on factory farms, with at least 100 billion animals killed each year for meat and other animal-derived products for humans. In the US alone, nearly all chickens, turkeys and pigs are kept in concentrated animal feeding operations, as are 70% of cows.
“One Health also includes animal welfare as an important component,” the authors say. “Intensifying animal farming, as recommended in the report, can potentially lead to overcrowding and restrict natural behaviour, which could harm animal welfare. Furthermore, substituting beef with chicken and expanding aquaculture is expected to increase the number of terrestrial and aquatic animals in intensive farming.”
While the roadmap does recognise these risks and emphasises that productivity should be boosted while avoiding “adverse consequences… stemming from the concentrated housing of animals coupled with excessive antibiotic use”, but this may prove challenging and present trade-offs. “The FAO fails to present any methods or concrete data behind their claim that incremental tweaks in farmed animal management alone can meet our climate goals,” said co-author Matthew Hayek.
“Shifting to more plant-based foods, including alternative proteins, is a promising solution to help reduce the risks of zoonotic disease emergence and antimicrobial resistance associated with conventional animal-sourced food,” the commentary suggests.
Experts ask the FAO to embrace alternative proteins
Courtesy: Planted
That last bit is a key focus for the authors. Estimates suggest that vegan diets can cut emissions, water pollution and land use by 75%, and that replacing half the amount of meat and dairy with plant-based alternatives can halt deforestation, improve food security and double overall climate benefits.
The academics mention the EAT-Lancet Commission’s planetary health diet recommendations, which suggest a 50% cut in meat consumption globally, and a higher intake of legumes, nuts and whole grains in countries across all income scales. “These under-consumed plant-based foods are associated with improved food security and nutritional outcomes and have far lower GHG emissions per unit kilogram, calorie and protein than meat,” they note.
But Verkuijl said it’s “really surprising” that the FAO roadmap “completely dismisses” alternative proteins like plant-based meats, which it says “have nutritional deficiencies” without any supporting evidence. The authors suggest that the next instalments of the organisation’s plan should incorporate the EAT-Lancet Commision’s recommendations or outline the changes needed globally for healthier, low-emission diets “to explore the nuance of these shifts at a regional and country level”.
The commentary also notes the impact of a shift to plant-based eating on the 1.5°C gal. “Across all GHGs, global adoption of a healthy plant-rich diet could reduce emissions enough to bring global average temperatures down by between 0.19°C and 0.36°C cumulatively through to 2100.”
This is why it’s imperative the FAO acknowledge the importance of alternative proteins for a planet-friendly future. Its colleagues at the UNEP have already done so, producing a landmark report during COP28 that endorsed these novel foods’ potential to reduce emissions, land degradation, water and soil pollution biodiversity loss, and zoonotic disease and anti-microbial resistance risks, in direct comparison to animal-derived foods.
And just last week, a survey of over 200 climate scientists and food experts found that a majority think livestock emissions must peak by next year, and be halved by 2030 to align with our climate goals, and to do that, countries of all income levels need to eat more plant-based foods, which were outlined as a ‘best available food’ for better health and climate outcome.
The FAO hits back at criticism
Courtesy: Ivan Radic/CC
The authors call for the next instalments of the FAO roadmap to be more transparent and vetted by environmental and health experts, which would allow for its recommendations to be assessed against scientific research that has proven reducing meat consumption in rich countries is beneficial for human and planetary health. They note that achieving a climate-friendly food system will require an “unprecedented amount of ambition involving the scaling down of emissions-intensive activities and increased investment in more sustainable approaches”.
“This includes a deep exploration of the opportunities to decrease both the production and consumption of animal-sourced foods. This can include the investigation of solutions like alternative proteins, or scaling up behavioural interventions that improve the accessibility and desirability of culturally appropriate, plant-rich diets. These approaches could offer meaningful emission reductions while presenting other co-benefits, analogous to renewable energy investments in the energy sector,” the comment suggests.
The FAO, for its part, has hit back at the scrutiny, alleging that the authors didn’t make “a proper assessment of the report and its ideas”. David Laborde, director of the FAO’s agrifood economics and policy division, told the Guardian: “We stress the importance of dietary shifts from the first pages of the report, underscoring how this issue is often overlooked.” However, while dietary change is mentioned eight times in the 50-page summary report, reducing meat or dairy consumption is not addressed.
“The changes in diets should not be oversimplified but based on science and evidence. Importantly, meat is only one of the elements in the evolution of diets and limiting discussions to the meat issue is not helpful,” Laborde said. He explained that a methodology, authors’ list and the term ‘One Health’ were all mentioned in the full report, which is not available online. He also suggested that the report didn’t dismiss alternative proteins: “We just firmly believe that betting on one miracle solution to solve the problem is not realistic.”
But Hayek summed the issue up. “With all that food systems are trying to accomplish in the next couple of decades, there are a lot of needles that need to be threaded: increasing food provision while decreasing greenhouse gas emissions, and increasing health and nutrition while decreasing disease risks, foodborne illnesses and pandemics,” he told the Guardian.
“Across the board, [cutting animal product consumption] widens the eye of those needles. To disregard that major opportunity for multiple co-benefits across climate, food security and health is just bewildering, and their reasons for omitting that are opaque.”
The FAO has a long history of downplaying the effects of animal agriculture. But due to its impact, the world is burning, the demand for food is growing, and humans are dying – how long can the food organisation of the United Nations ignore it?
Swedish food tech startup Melt&Marble has moved into new headquarters and scaled up production of its precision-fermented fat, which can be used in alternative meat and dairy applications. The company is aiming for a 2025 launch in the US.
Melt&Marble, which makes yeast-derived fats from precision fermentation, has scaled up its production to a cubic-metre bioreactor scale, as it eyes a market launch in the US next year.
To support its scale-up efforts further, the Swedish startup has expanded into a new headquarters facility in Gothenburg, which boasts state-of-the-art molecular biology and microbiology labs, pilot-scale bioreactors, and a test kitchen to explore food applications for its fat.
With the latest scaling achievement, it can produce a few kgs of product per batch, but the company plans to increase its bioreactor capacity to tens of cubic metres in the coming months, which would yield hundreds of kgs in each run. Melt&Marble has inked a partnership with a European production partner to reach commercial scale, which will eventually enable it to manufacture tens of tonnes of product per batch.
“We are excited about the achievements to date,” says co-founder and CEO Anastasia Krivoruchko. “In the last months, we constantly improved key performance indicators related to rate, titre and yield, successfully achieving metrics relevant for commercial-scale and demonstrating the scalability of our process.”
How Melt&Marble ferments yeast to make fats for alt-protein
Courtesy: Melt&Marble
Founded in 2016, Melt&Marble has raised €5.75M in total funding so far. The company’s first product, MeatyMarble, is similar to beef and pork fats in terms of composition and properties, and has been designed to replace plant-based fats like coconut oil in meat alternatives to enhance their flavour profile and sustainability credentials, explains Krivoruchko.
“It is currently very difficult to source fats in a sustainable way as most plant-based sources are grown in tropical regions, where they’re often associated with massive deforestation and loss of biodiversity, while animal-based fats are associated with factory farming and the massive sustainability challenges of that industry,” she says. “At the same time, the demand for fats is increasing, so new production technologies are desperately needed. Precision fermentation provides a method of sourcing many types of fats in a way that is deforestation free, sustainable, and localised.”
To produce the yeast-derived fat, the company employs precision fermentation processes through its tech platform, which can engineer the fat metabolism of yeasts to get them to produce any fats desired. “We do this by tweaking the fat synthesis pathways of these yeasts to produce specific types of fatty acids and assemble these fatty acids into fat structures in specific ways inside the yeast,” says Krivruchko. “With this technology, we can create yeasts that produce fats similar to meat fats, dairy fats, cocoa butter, palm oil, or completely new fats with new properties.”
The yeast is grown in a bioreactor with sugars and minerals over a few days, which is then harvested to extract the fat. “Right now, we’re using sugars that can be derived from various sources depending on where we set up commercial production (like corn, sugarcane, sugar beet, etc.),” she says. “We’re also experimenting with some circular feedstocks (e.g. side/waste streams from different industries).”
As for the yeast species, she reveals it is one that’s already commonly used in the food industry and recognised as an ingredient safe for human consumption. “Once we create a production yeast strain with desired properties (such as desired fat composition and performance parameters), we can use this strain over and over again to produce the fat,” she notes. “The same type of process can be used with different yeast strains (producing different fats) and over different scales and geographies.”
Price parity crucial as Melt&Marble tests fat with partners
Courtesy: Melt&Marble
For meat alternatives, texture is crucial – in the US, this is the element of vegan food that consumers dislike the most, while in the UK, 51% of people call taste/texture the biggest factor for eating fewer plant-based meat products. Even globally, texture is as important as their conventional counterparts for 75% of consumers, but only about 60% are actually satisfied with the former.
“Palatability remains a challenge in the animal-free food space and our fats are an extremely effective way to address that by replicating the taste experience consumers crave,” says Melt&Marble chief business officer Thomas Cresswell. And when it comes to using precision-fermented ingredients in vegan meat analogues, there is already precedent for success here. Californian producer Impossible Foods, which claims it is the fastest-growing plant-based meat brand in the US, employs precision fermentation to produce its heme ingredient, which gives its burgers the ‘bleeding’ effect.
“We see a great deal of interest from industry players in our technology both in Europe and in the US, because it allows us to tune the composition and properties of our fats and create animal-free ingredients that are both delicious and sustainable,” says Cresswell.
But apart from just meat analogues, Melt&Marble is also testing its fat in alt-dairy and personal care applications with different partners to gain a “more granular understanding” of the most suitable formualtions and applications for its products. “Once these tests are complete, we expect some of them to be converted to offtake agreements,” reveals Krivoruchko.
“Within the alternative protein sectors, precision fermented fats provide opportunities to mimic the functionalities of animal fats without using animals, and impart better sensory properties to these products,” she says. “Achieving taste parity with conventional products like meat and dairy will be key to expanding the market for animal-free alternatives and making our food system more sustainable overall.”
Krivoruchko adds that initially, its fat will be “a bit more expensive to produce” than typical plant-based fats. “However, in the long term, and as we achieve economics of scale, it will be possible to achieve price parity even with commodity plant-based fats.” She explains that despite its yeast strain already being used in food applications in the US and the EU, Melt&Marble requires regulatory approval as it has modified its host organism’s metabolism to produce specific fats, and because it’s a novel way of producing fats.
The company is now in the process of assembling a regulatory dossier for the US, and expects to be market-ready by early 2025. Europe, however, will take a little longer “due to a more complex regulatory process”. Krivoruchko also confirms that the company is currently fundraising. “The capital would be used for further scale-up, further improving unit economics, and preparation for market launch,” she says.
Melt&Marble is among a host of startups innovating with fats for better alternative proteins. Australia’s Nourish Ingredients and California’s Yali Bio both use precision fermentation to produce fats and lipids. Others innovations in this space include San Francisco-based Lypid‘s PhytoFat for plant-based meat, (which is the star of its new meatballs), Swedish startup Mycorena‘s fermented fungi-based fat, Barcelona-based Cubiq Foods‘s omega-3, Hong Kong-headquartered OmniFoods‘ vegan OmniNano fat (which mimics the juiciness of conventional meat), and Californian AI-led startup Shiru‘s OleoPro plant fat for alt-protein applications.
Nearly six in 10 consumers in Germany and Austria believe meat consumption is too high, but less than half think these foods are bad for the climate and plan to reduce their intake of animal products, according to new surveys. Even fewer want to eat more plant-based alternatives in the next two years, but there are indications of support for cultivated meat.
Despite being Europe’s largest plant-based market, only 30% of Germans want to up their intake of vegan meat analogues, and just 46% want to eat fewer animal products over the next two years. This is ditto for neighbouring Austria too, despite 59% of consumers (and 58% in Germany) thinking meat consumption is too high.
This is according to two surveys by YouGov on behalf of the Good Food Institute (GFI) Europe, which covered over 1,000 Austrian and more than 2,000 German consumers. Ivo Rzegotta, senior public affairs manager for Germany at GFI Europe, argues that the results are still positive. “Overall, the market for plant-based foods in Germany has expanded by 42% since 2020, solidifying the country’s position as a leader in embracing plant-based foods in Europe,” he told Green Queen.
“The fact that 30% of respondents are keen to further increase their consumption of plant-based meat and dairy products is a promising indicator, especially considering the already significant portion of the population favouring plant-based options.”
The polls revealed that 57% of the former and 51% of the latter don’t think meat and animal products are a major problem for the climate – animal agriculture emits twice as many emissions as plant-based foods, with meat accounting for 60% of the entire food system’s carbon footprint.
“People choose alternative proteins for various reasons, including concerns about climate change. However, health and animal welfare are often cited as primary motivations for reducing meat consumption, in line with existing consumer research,” said Rzegotta. “The science is clear on the role of industrial farming in driving climate change and it’s up to policymakers to facilitate the transition to more sustainable food production.”
There is some optimism around cultivated meat too, with 42% of Austrians and 47% of Germans willing to try these novel proteins at least once – a separate in-market survey published last week showed that eating cultivated meat significantly boosts people’s acceptance of it, with a majority indicating they’d buy it again.
Germans and Austrians split on plant-based foods
Courtesy: GFI Europe
In both countries, the interest in upping plant-based meat consumption was slightly higher in men than women, and reduced proportionally with age, with 41% of Austrians and 38% of Germans aged 35 or under planning on eating more meat alternatives, versus 24% for over-55s.
The results are similar for plant-based dairy consumption too, with 28% of Austrians and 27% of Germans wanting to consume more of these foods in the next two years, and the same trend in age demographics. However, men are more interested in doing so in Austria, while the opposite is true in Germany. Overall, just under half of respondents in Austria (47%) and Germany (49%) believe that alternatives to animal products are needed.
“Germany and Austria stand out in Europe for imposing a higher tax rate on plant-based dairy compared to animal-based dairy, which undoubtedly impacts consumption patterns,” explained Rzegotta. “Establishing a level playing field in terms of taxation is crucial to facilitate consumer choice in favour of plant-based options. By addressing disparities in pricing, policymakers can encourage broader adoption of plant-based dairy products, aligning with consumer preferences and advancing sustainability goals.”
Both countries also have 53% of consumers expressing support for policies that would allow farmers to produce more plant-based foods, which is something the German government is already doing. But Austrians are evenly split on whether lawmakers should increase the range of vegan food in public canteens, while 44% believe governments should support research into foods that can replace animal-derived foods. In Germany, support for both these policy moves lies at 47%.
If deemed to be safe, cultivated meat should be a consumer choice
Courtesy: GFI Europe
Acceptance for cultivated meat is slightly more encouraging in both Austria and Germany, where 59% and 53% of consumers are familiar with these foods, respectively. In fact, 47% of Germans said they’re willing to try cultivated meat once, as did 42% of Austrians. Here, too, men expressed a greater interest in both countries, and for flexitarians, this number rose to 58% in Germany and 58% in Austria.
Interestingly, though, only about a third of consumers in the two nations said cultivated meat appealed more to them than plant-based options. “There will always be a share of consumers who don’t find plant-based meat appealing for a number of reasons. If 34% of respondents say that cultivated meat is more appealing to them than the current generation of plant-based options, this suggests that this new option could reach a significant group of people who aren’t interested in plant-based meat,” noted Rzegotta. “Overall, the fact that nearly half of consumers in both countries are willing to try cultivated meat – a novel product unfamiliar to many and not yet available in Europe – highlights a promising market demand.
Two-thirds of respondents from both countries believe if cultivated meat does come to market, it should be produced locally to benefit the economy. When it comes to public investment, 42% of Austrians and 47% of Germans think governments should advance the development of cultivated meat and help farmers capitalise on the opportunities.
This industry has been the subject of intense debate in policy circles lately. Whereas the discourse in the US has stemmed from Florida’s impending ban, in Europe, Italy already became the first country to prohibit the sale of cultivated meat, with France and Romania attempting to do so too. In January, a delegation led by Austria, Italy and France brought a note to the EU’s Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting, raising concerns about the bloc’s cultivated meat policies and calling for an overhaul to the regulatory framework, as well as a ban of meat-related terms.
While it was eventually tabled, the note was presented by Austria’s agriculture minister, Norbert Totschnig, but the country’s health ministry – which is responsible for food safety – said the move did not reflect the government’s position. Judging from the YouGov polls, it did not reflect the public’s position either.
Courtesy: GFI Europe
Seven in 10 Austrians say only food safety and consumer protection should be decisive for the authorisation of cultivated meat, which 63% think should happen if the food safety authority deems it safe and nutritious. For 64%, the decision to clear the sale of these products should be independent of the food industry’s economic interests, and 66% feel policymakers should adhere closely to the food regulators’ recommendations when deciding to authorise cultivated meat.
Similarly, in Germany, 69% agree with that statement about food safety and consumer protection being the only decisive factors, 65% think a regulator’s assessment of safety should be enough for authorisation, and 66% believe politicians should stick to that advice. Meanwhile, 61% think the decision shouldn’t rely on the economic interests of the food sector.
In other words, if the country’s food safety authority greenlights cultivated meat, that’s the only decision the government should and must take into account. “Cultivated meat must go through one of the world’s most robust food regulatory processes before it will be available in the EU. Once it’s been approved, Germans and Austrians believe it should be up to consumers themselves to decide whether or not to eat cultivated meat,” said Seth Roberts, policy manager at GFI Europe.
“In the wake of the Italian ban, policymakers should note that people who responded to this survey – regardless of their political views – are increasingly aware of the economic opportunities offered by cultivated meat and are more interested in consumer choice than ideological debates.”
Globally, greenhouse gas emissions from livestock farming must peak next year, and be reduced by 50% by 2030 to align with our climate goals, scientists suggest in a new survey. And to do this, we need to replace meat and dairy consumption with more plant-based foods.
To meet our climate goals, we need to stop eating so much meat and dairy, and start consuming more plant-based food, bringing the livestock sector’s emissions down by 61% by 2036, according to a survey of 210 global climate scientists and agrifood experts.
Carried out by researchers from Harvard University, New York University, Leiden University and Oregon State University, the report highlights the contribution of livestock farming to climate change, and the need to shift away from it, especially in high- and middle-income nations.
The food system accounts for a third of all greenhouse gas emissions, with meat responsible for 60% of that figure, despite only delivering 18% of calories and 37% of protein globally. At the current trajectory, the livestock sector is on track to taking almost 50% of our GHG budget in line with the 1.5°C postindustrial temperature rise goal. Plus, land use represents a quarter of emissions mitigation potential between now and 2050, and this industry occupies 78% of agricultural land and 39% of all habitable land.
The full implementation of all pledges to cut emissions under the Paris Agreement for 2030 aligns with a global temperature rise of 2.5°C this century, which will exacerbate the impact of climate change across the world, some of which will be irreversible. This is perhaps why 92% of experts agree that reducing livestock emissions is key to limiting temperature rises to 2°C, and 85% state that it’s important for human diets to shift from “livestock-derived foods to livestock replacement foods”.
“The report essentially provides the first articulation of a Paris-compliant livestock sector. The reduction targets for livestock suggested by the survey results are in line with what the IPCC show is needed globally for all emissions and sectors, so it appears that the experts are suggesting a reasonable pathway for the livestock sector,” said study lead Helen Harwatt, a food and climate policy fellow at Harvard Law School.
Courtesy: Fokusiert/Getty Images
Plant-based products should be considered ‘best available foods’
Harwatt noted that this is not a one-size-fits-all approach, with different emissions reduction strategies outlined for countries with varying income levels. “High-producing and consuming countries must do the most the soonest, and have the most ability and potential to achieve this,” she said. “This doesn’t allow for high consuming nations to continue their ways by increasing imports from other countries while reducing their own farming emissions.”
The survey suggests that livestock emissions must peak in high-income (HICs) and middle-income countries (MICs) before 2025, but after 2030 in low-income nations. Over three-quarters (78%) also think global absolute livestock numbers should reach a peak by 2025. Following this peak, 89% and 75% of respondents believe these emissions should fall rapidly in HICs and MICs, respectively.
A majority (87%) of climate scientists and agrifood experts agree that all countries should have a GHG reduction target for animal agriculture in line with an overall emissions goal, with the most commonly agreed target being a 50% cut by 2030. In fact, respondents note that livestock emissions should be reduced as much as possible to reduce the risk of temperatures exceeding 1.5°C (87%) or 2°C (85%) by the end of the century.
Courtesy: Harvard University
Eating fewer livestock-derived foods (like meat and dairy) and reducing the number of farmed animals were earmarked to be by far the most effective actions for GHG reduction, with about three-quarters of experts saying they have a large or very large contribution to emissions targets. The most substantial shift needs to occur in richer countries, with diets needing to shift from current patterns to “more plant-based” in MICs, and “much more plant-based” in HICs. In LICs, too, a slight shift to more plant-based eating is required.
The majority of experts say achieving these GHG reductions should not come at the cost of animal welfare – referring to a greater number of animals occupying a given space and increasing the confinement of animals. And most agree that where plant-sourced alternatives to animal foods provide comparable or better health outcomes and lower GHGs, they should be considered a ‘best available food’ and given preference in climate (83%), agriculture (78%) and food purchasing policies (82%).
Meanwhile, 82% think it’s important to restore carbon sinks and native vegetation cover on land currently occupied by the livestock sector, which could remove the equivalent of 16 years of global carbon emissions from the atmosphere over a 30-year period. Moreover, 76% of respondents say climate finance mechanisms, where required, should include assistance for farmers to transition their practices away from livestock production.
Climate policies are lacking – here’s what governments should do
The researchers outline that while we need to significantly reduce our livestock emissions to meet the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement, country-level commitments to do so are severely lacking. “Much of the political focus has been on the energy transition; however, a food transition is also needed – especially for highly emitting animal products,” said Harwatt.
Courtesy: Unsplash
The report makes several recommendations for national climate policies to implement a livestock sector compliant with our emissions goals:
Declare a peak livestock timeline: This would “ready the market” and enable suitable preparation by governments, businesses, investors and consumers. This time frame varies across countries with different incomes, as does the level of change required.
Revise NDCs and prepare to meet other relevant pledges: This includes multilateral processes like the relevant targets for 2030 under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
Use finance streams for mitigation, adaptation and biodiversity: In HICs, this can incentivise the restoration of carbon sinks on land currently used for livestock agriculture, while in LICs, it could help implement more climate-resilient, low-carbon agriculture sectors, as well as help prevent further land use change.
Align agricultural subsidies with climate goals: This involves taking a broader planetary health lens to ensure the maximum delivery of “public goods”.
Invest in a plant-based transition: Financing agricultural alternatives to livestock for a transition to more plant-based food systems is key. This includes diversifying and increasing the production of pulses, and increasing R&D efforts.
Undertake a national food system assessment: This is key to aligning policies and planning transitions to a livestock sector compliant with the Paris Agreement. It should include GHGs, land use, biodiversity and public health criteria, as well as the impacts of food and agricultural imports.
“How much and when livestock reduction should contribute to climate goals has until now been unclear – but these findings provide some clarity for policymakers grappling with these issues, and can help with the formation of plans to tackle climate change,” said Harwatt. “We’re way behind schedule on this, and technological solutions alone are inadequate. Difficult decisions are inevitable – and well-designed policy, communicated effectively, is essential.”
A leader in the European plant-based meat sector, Sweden’s Planted has launched a clean-label whole-cut steak leveraging a proprietary fermentation process, hitting flavour, health and climate touchpoints all at the same time.
Swiss vegan startup Planted has launched what it describes as a first-of-its-kind fermented steak alternative, after making a multimillion-dollar investment in a new fermentation facility in Kemptthal, Switzerland, which has created 30 technical and operational jobs.
The clean-label steak is the first product born out of the company’s whole-muscle platform, which facilitates the growth of muscle-like fibres through proprietary fermentation processes, and was the result of a CHF 2 million ($2.3M) injection by state-backed innovation agency Innosuisse, as part of the Swiss Accelerator Program.
A year on, Planted is rolling out its vegan steak in European foodservice, including in restaurants in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The brand has plans to launch the product in retail as well as D2C channels later this year.
“In the research and development process, we have worked with over 50 gastronomy professionals to achieve a steak that is literally unreal, in taste, texture, application and overall eating experience,” said Planted co-founder Lukas Böni. “We are very proud that so many restaurants have added it to their menus already.”
Delivering on taste and health
Courtesy: Planted
The fermentation-derived steak is an extension of Planted’s range of clean-label meat alternatives, made from soy protein, rapeseed oil, bean and rice flours, and a blend of microbial cultures. However, it does mark a departure from the high-moisture extrusion process it employs to make its chicken, pork and duck analogues, instead leveraging a patent-pending solid-state fermentation process that lasts 30-40 hours.
“It’s a true game changer – not only for us, but also for the whole category,” said Böni. “No other plant-based steak on the market uses only natural ingredients, zero additives and displays features such as juiciness as well as tenderness.” Planted’s steak has 17g of protein (versus 25g for conventional steak), 182 calories (vs 271 calories), 0.9g saturated fat (vs 8g) and 5.8g dietary fibre (vs 0g), while containing 25% of the daily recommended value for iron, and 72% for vitamin B12.
This will appeal to consumers who are growing increasingly concerned about the health credentials and ultra-processing of plant-based meat products. A large pan-European survey last year found that health was the primary reason more than half of consumers were eating less meat, and the second biggest factor influencing their plant-based meat purchasing decisions, with 46% citing this consideration.
Meanwhile, meat alternatives are being linked to ill health as a result of their status as ultra-processed foods, which is also why 54% of Europeans avoid them, a separate poll has shown. It’s why brands are increasingly focusing on shorter ingredient lists and whole-food compositions in this sector.
But the health skew hasn’t taken away the limelight from taste – the most influential factor for purchasing plant-based meat – either. The fermentation process enables Planted to produce a meaty steak with “juicy tenderness”.
“Fulfilling very demanding culinary requirements, the Planted steak allows us chefs to focus on what we are best at: creating and sharing emotions,” noted Peter Schärer, executive head chef at Zürich restaurant Kronenhalle. “The Planted steak reacts beautifully to different cooking styles, already delighting and surprising our guests.”
This comment reflects why the brand is taking the foodservice-first approach, which enables it to fine-tune the product based on feedback from professional chefs before entering the retail market. “We’ve always worked this way,” Planted co-founder and CEO Pascal Bieri told AgFunderNews. “When we started, we were selling our chicken in foodservice channels and we were approached by [leading Swiss retailer] Coop. Shortly after that, Covid hit and basically all of our restaurant customers were temporarily out of business, but we were able to scale through Coop.”
Having secured $131M in total funding, the brand’s products are now in more than 8,000 foodservice and 8,700 retail locations across Europe, and it has emerged as the market leader in its home country, ranked number two in Austria, and is in the top five in Italy, and top 10 in Germany.
Planted to expand fermentation tech to other product categories
Courtesy: Planted
Planted ascribes these advances in flavour and nutrition to its fermentation technology. The company has laid out its aim to create multiple different product categories using its whole-muscle platform, and describes the steak as comparable to a full tenderloin.
Currently, it can produce 15 tons of steak per day, but is now scaling up its capabilities through the Kemptthal facility. “This investment in our expansion stems from a strategic decision to enhance our biotechnology footprint in Kemptthal – from labs to production,” said Böni. “We are proud to be one of the few innovators of plant-based meat that takes on all steps in the production process, from R&D to industrial production. The additional and new production site allows Planted a very fast turnaround from pilot stage to industrial production, significantly closing the time gap to market launch.”
He added: “Our aim is to introduce innovative products from our fermentation platform to the market fast, particularly our Planted steak, which utilises the most advanced and disruptive fermentation technology today in terms of scalability, taste and product quality.
Whole cuts have long been touted as the “holy grail” of plant-based meat, with a host of companies working on such meat alternatives around the world. This includes mycelium chicken and beef maker Meati, fermented steak company Chunk Foods (both US), alt-salmon startups Esencia Foods (Germany), Revo Foods (Austria) and New School Foods (Canada), mycelium chicken breast maker Libre Foods (Spain), and plant-based beef filet producer Juicy Marbles (Slovenia).
But even with the importance laid upon taste, texture and nutrition, Planted isn’t sidelining the sustainability aspect either. Its internal calculations show that the whole-cut steak analogue emits 97% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than a conventional steak product, while consuming 81% less freshwater as well.
Additionally, the new production site is shared by various food tech companies, and leverages ambient air as an energy source, which feeds the heat pumps to provide heating and cooling capabilities. This is estimated to save over 44,000 tonnes of CO2 over a 30-year period.
The fermentation-derived alternative protein sector outfinanced both plant-based and cultivated meat in the first half of 2023, and has breached the $4B threshold in all-time funding. With technologies like Planted’s, which can address multiple consumer pain points at the same time, the industry is poised to continue its rapid growth.
In a first-of-its-kind in-market study of cultivated meat, a majority of consumers who have tasted Eat Just’s Good Meat chicken say they’d do it again. However, delivering on flavour and bringing down costs are the most important factors influencing consumption, highlighting the industry’s primary challenges.
For many diners headed to Huber’s Butchery and Bistro in Singapore last spring, conventional meat wasn’t on their mind. Instead, they were hoping to join an exclusive club of people who have tried cultivated meat globally.
At the time, Singapore was the only country to have approved the sale of these products (the US would follow soon in the summer). Huber’s, for its part, was the world’s first butchery to offer cultivated meat to customers, serving Good Meat’s chicken in the form of kebabs and as part of salads and pastas.
Today, as Eat Just works on restarting its production run in Singapore to be able to manufacture larger amounts of cultivated chicken, these novel proteins aren’t currently available at Huber’s, or any other restaurant in the world, for that matter (though that will change soon). In the face of increased political challenges, high costs, and production bottlenecks, the industry stands at a crossroads.
Many have written cultivated meat off, including figures in the media as well as government, despite most of them never actually having eaten the food themselves. That’s a huge problem: how can you truly make your mind up on something you haven’t done? And for companies in the space, the only way to find out how these products are performing is to ask the people who’ve tried them.
This is exactly what researchers from the Singapore Management University (SMU) did last year, surveying 107 diners at Huber’s between April and June, who had tasted one of its dishes contained Good Meat’s cultivated chicken. Published in the peer-reviewed journal Future Foods this week, the study sought to assess if presenting the chicken in the context of a familiar meal, in a familiar setting, would influence them to buy it again, and recommend it to others.
Here’s what they found.
A majority of cultivated chicken tasters would eat it again
Courtesy: Eat Just
The survey found that 88% of people were first-time tasters of cultivated chicken, with the rest having done so either at a Good Meat trial, at Huber’s or fellow eatery 1880, or via a Foodpanda delivery. On a scale of 1 to 5, the poll revealed that the acceptance of cultivated meat was high (4.19), while scores of their knowledge about the production (3.5) and benefits (3.53), as well as familiarity (3.58) were similar.
But the striking results were in the post-consumption stage, with the researchers finding that buying and eating cultivated meat “significantly boosted” people’s acceptance of it, with diners expressing a strong willingness to try it again (a score of 4.41/5) and recommended it to loved ones (4.45/5). In terms of flavour, survey participants scored Good Meat’s chicken with 4.21 out of 5, but fewer consumers believed others would order cultivated meat at restaurants (3.67/5).
The research also explored consumption drivers and barriers. As is the case with plant-based meat, taste stood out as the factor most important for people to consume cultivated meat again, with 58% saying so. This was followed closely by price (50.5%) and health (49.5%). However, only 35.5% of consumers said safety would play a role in determining whether they repurchase cultivated meat.
“This particular finding may simply demonstrate a trust in regulatory agencies to ensure the safety of food that is approved for sale and consumption,” Eat Just’s head of global communications, Carrie Kabat, tells Green Queen. “In both countries, where [Good Meat’s] cultivated meat has been approved, we have worked closely with regulatory agencies over multiple years to create a rigorous and transparent safety review process, and we are glad to see consumers demonstrating trust in that framework.”
Interestingly, it seems that putting cultivated meat in a familiar dish doesn’t matter much to people, with only 17% finding this important.
Cultivated meat needs to be cheaper
Credit: Eat Just
In terms of deterrents, however, cost is overwhelmingly the biggest issue with cultivated meat. While Kabat says Eat Just prices its chicken similarly to conventional chicken dishes on menus (between S$4 and S$23, or $3-17), 63.5% of diners would find high markups a turnoff. All other factors are less important here, including safety (33%), flavour (30%), texture (25%) and health (16%).
Reflecting on taste as a factor for repeat consumption and price as a potential barrier, Kabat notes: “This demonstrates that while we’ve been able to create a delicious product with similar protein content to conventional chicken, our sharp focus on reducing costs and increasing efficiencies in production is also a crucial element to driving consumer acceptance and adoption.”
Production costs and capacities are consistently the two biggest obstacles to the commercialisation of cultivated meat. Eat Just itself had a challenging 2023 with legal and financial battles, and has currently frozen mass production plans, explaining that factory prices need to halve. Speaking to Axios earlier this week, co-founder and CEO Josh Tetrick said bringing down production costs “will require new thinking in how these facilities are built”, and that the company has “not solved for that”. Confirming that Eat Just is sticking to low levels of production, he added: “I can’t emphasise enough just how small the volumes are.”
When asked how Eat Just can overcome this issue, Kabat says: “Our Good Meat team is focused on process development work to bring down costs and increase efficiencies. This includes things like increasing cell densities and finding ways to reduce the cost of our growth media, as well as rethinking how to build large-scale manufacturing facilities for a much lower price tag.”
This is an issue illustrated by Elliot Schwartz, a principal scientist at alternative protein think tank the Good Food Institute (GFI). “The question is: how do we increase cell density while simultaneously decreasing media costs?” he said in a webinar on Wednesday. “I don’t think we actually know the cost of cultivated meat production. There are a lot of different production scenarios and approaches being pursued, and so a single number really is hard to provide.”
Schwartz noted that context is important when discussing costs in comparison to conventional meat, given that many cultivated meat companies enter the market through hybrid meat (which combines cultivated meat with plant-based ingredients). Good Meat’s chicken, for example, mixes its cultivated product with wheat gluten, soy protein, sunflower and coconut oils (among other natural flavours and binders).
“If companies are pursuing commodity meats such as chicken, pork, beef, and certain seafoods, then hybrid products at low inclusion rates offer the most tractable way to approach cost-competitiveness,” said Schwartz. “However, the timeline is uncertain.”
On its website, Good Meat says it has reduced production costs by 90% since 2018, when operating a built-for-purpose plant. Previous analysis by Reuters has claimed that cultivated meat needs to reach production costs of $2.92 per pound to compete on price with conventional meat. And while startups have cut manufacturing costs by 99% in less than a decade, McKinsey estimates that it will still take until 2030 for it to reach price parity.
‘Socialise’ cultivated meat to influencers and expats
Courtesy: Eat Just
The researchers suggested that cultivated meat startups could benefit from conducting tasting trials with selected restaurants “to socialise cultivated meat to innovators and early adopters such as food neophiles and social media influencers”, and targeting expats and well-travelled natives, who are likely to be more global and open in their outlook and consumption preferences.
Additionally, they advised companies to focus their brand messaging on flavour, both on its own as well as part of familiar meals and dishes. “While a familiar meal preparation could increase willingness to try, the good taste (i.e. gustation) of a product is essential for fostering its regular consumption,” they wrote.
“We undertook this study because it represented an unprecedented opportunity to study consumer reactions in an actual consumption setting,” said Mark Chong, a professor of communication management at SMU and co-author of the study. “Our findings scientifically validate the importance of sensory experience (e.g. through product trials) and tastiness to consumers’ repeat consumption of cultivated meat.”
GFI APAC managing director Mirte Gosker concurred, highlighting that flavour has to hit the mark. “This data shows that cultivated meat can pass that high bar and turn sceptics into enthusiasts, so now we need costs to come down enough to enable such products to reach the masses,” she said. “That’s going to require greater global collaboration, market access, and investment, but Singapore has made clear that it’s open for business and ready to meet this moment.”
This will likely benefit Eat Just, which remains “singularly focused on achieving cash flow break-even in 2024”, according to Kabat. The city-state will also provide more openness and freedom compared to the US, the other country where it is approved to sell its cultivated chicken, where legislators have been trying to ban these foods.
With just one signature away from governor Ron DeSantis, Florida is very close to doing so. But it has met with pushback from not just cultivated meat companies, but even traditional meat groups, with the largest trade association in the US labelling it as “bad policy” that “limits consumer choice”. Kabat and Eat Just have a similar view. “Restricting consumer choice because of a desire to avoid competition is about as un-American as it gets,” she says.
“Our biggest learning from the study is that when consumers are free to buy and eat cultivated meat, they are much more likely to accept it and suggest it to their friends and family,” she adds. “We have seen over and over again that when people try cultivated meat, they realise it’s just like the chicken they’ve eaten many times before. We’ll continue our work to improve our processes and make more cultivated meat so that even more people have a chance to discover this for themselves.”
Californian B2B cultivated meat producer Orbillion Bio has secured additional funding to scale up production and develop its biotech platform, which completed a 200-litre production run in September.
The latest round of funding takes Orbillion’s total capital raised to $15M, and was co-led by The Venture Collective and At One Ventures, with participation from YCombinator, Metaplanet and other strategic investors, alongside university endowments.
The Californian startup will use the money to scale up its manufacturing, further develop its technology and premium cultivated beef product, as well as advance its regulatory path. It comes on the back of a successful 200-litre scale-up run of its cultivated meat in September, which it claims is the largest production run undertaken by a pre-Series A company in the sector. This will enable the production of more than four million lbs of cultivated meat annually.
The achievement will allow Orbilion to demonstrate “a new level of capital efficiency” in the industry, and it demonstrates the power of the startup’s algorithm to transform 2D culture into 3D culture in record time and at low costs – which are two of the industry’s tallest barriers towards commercialisation.
An algorithm to make cultivated Wagyu beef cheaper and faster
Courtesy: Orbillion Bio
Founded in 2020 by Patricia Bubner, Gabriel Levesque-Tremblay and Samet Yildirim, Orbillion is known for its cultivated premium Wagyu beef. The company’s B2B model means its primary focus has been scaling up bioprocessing methods for commercial-scale production of cultivated meat, for which it has developed an algorithm that can make low-cost manufacturing possible.
The company describes the algorithm as “a predictive modelling platform to reliably simulate key media and bioprocess parameters that allow mammalian cell cultures to scale from 2D to 3D environments at unmatched speed”. This allows it to de-risk commercial scale-up in several ways.
First, in terms of predictability, the algorithm predicts how 2D cultured cells perform in a 3D environment, which helps establish the nutrient needs and growth environments cells need for successful suspension. The second aspect has to do with the yield – instead of relying on a single flat surface, Orbillion cultures cells in three dimensions (aka suspension), which increases the growing environment, cell density and yield exponentially.
Then there’s the speed. As fewer runs are required to refine its scaled-up bioprocessing, and its growing environments are high-density, the company says it can produce more cultivated meat in 10% of the time it typically takes.
“Adapting cells from 2D to 3D cell culture often falls short because of a failure to understand how media, bioprocess and cells work in harmony, and getting to this understanding typically requires expensive and time-consuming buildouts,” explains Yildirim, who is the company’s COO. “With our bioware and computational platform for cultivated meat, we can scale up in a fraction of the time. Our 200-litre run demonstrates that we can achieve in a few weeks, what takes most companies a full year.”
Rapid development and production, alongside well-honed media inputs, mean this can be done at a fraction of the usual cost. “We identified premium meats with a high price per kg as the breakthrough market to build a profitable business and to eventually achieve price parity at mass scale,” Bubner, who is the CEO, tells Green Queen. “Scalability, while critical for price parity, is not the only important criteria. It has to be hand in hand with intensification. Orbillion’s intensified process platform allows us to scale and hit the cost parity sooner than anyone else.”
Collaborations on the way to bring hybrid meat to market
Courtesy: Orbillion Bio
Finally, there’s Orbillion’s asset-light strategy, which eschews capital-intensive, custom-built equipment for scaling up on pre-existing infrastructure. To facilitate this approach, the producer has collaborated with bioproducts and tech development startup Solar Biotech.
In 2022, Orbillion also teamed up with Dutch premium meats company Luiten Food, giving it access to the latter’s 1,200 distribution points across foodservice, specialty retailers and butchers. But Bubner hinted that this is just one of a number of commercial partnerships it has entered, with more information to come later this year.
“We are a B2B company, and our goals are a fast path to market for a cultivated meat product; to supply the market consistently; and to produce what customers want: tasty, nutritious product at the price of conventionally produced meat,” she says. “We aim to provide delicious products that fulfil our customer’s needs: products that are consistent in quality, high performing, and easy to integrate.”
For many companies in the space, the viable path to market involves combining cultivated animal cells with plant-based ingredients to create what is called hybrid meat. This further helps with driving down costs, and is the approach being taken by the likes of Eat Just, Aleph Farms, Meatable and Umami Meats.
Bubner confirmed her company will go down the same route. “Currently, Orbillion is focused on cultivated ingredients and a ground beef product that has been formulated with cultivated meat and plant-based ingredients to satisfy the high standards of meat-eaters and provide a product that tastes, looks and feels like traditionally harvested beef,” she said.
‘Technology cannot be uninvented’
Courtesy: Orbillion Bio
The funding comes at a pivotal time for cultivated meat and food tech. Globally, the agrifood tech sector saw VC funding cut in half and reach a six-year low in 2023, according to a report by AgFunder this week, which earmarked cultivated meat as a sector to watch, given that it attracted just $177M in funding last year. And while industry leaders Upside Foods and Eat Just made history by receiving the first US regulatory approval of cultivated meat, which meant their chicken was available in restaurants, both have faced challenges too, from manufacturing and financial challenges to negative media coverage.
Within this difficult environment, Bubner says Orbillion has been able to raise fresh capital as it has consistently demonstrated to investors its ability to achieve and exceed milestones. “They have seen how our approach allows us to be fast and cost-effective,” she says. “So we feel incredibly fortunate to be in a position to put these resources to work, we’ll do so in the year ahead.”
The move has faced backlash not just from cultivated meat companies, but even the meat industry itself, with the largest trade association for meat in the US labelling it “bad policy” that “limits consumer choice”. How does Bubner view it? “Technology, once invented, cannot be uninvented; how we use it is critical,” she says.
She compares this to insulin production, which used to be highly controversial at one point. “It used to be harvested from cows and pigs. It used to cause allergic reactions, infections, there were rampant impurities, then scientists discovered how to produce biosynthetic insulin by fermentation of microbes, and it’s higher quality, more readily available, and ditched the downsides. At one point, this was controversial; now, there’s no way we’re going back,” notes Bubner.
“Cultivated meat is an opportunity for current and future generations to make food independent of land, animals, and without the downsides of intensified animal agriculture. It’s a technology we owe our children to build,” she adds. “A cultivated meat ban is not going to stop science, or the way that climate change is affecting our food system or the need for other countries to gain food sovereignty.”
Plant-based meat leader Impossible Foods has unveiled a complete brand refresh, with striking red packaging putting flavour and nutrition front and centre of its products.
A greater spotlight on taste descriptors, saturated fat and sodium; larger imagery and typography; and a bright-red aesthetic headline the new packaging of Impossible Foods’ meat alternatives.
At Expo West, the Californian company is relaunching its brand identity that puts the spotlight on flavour and nutrition more than ever before, leaning into the results of countless consumer surveys about their plant-based meat preferences. The idea is to appeal to meat-eaters and flexitarians, who make up 90% of Impossible Foods’ customer base, instead of “vegans, vegetarians or those already eating sustainable diets”, as a brand spokesperson explained to Green Queen in December.
The refresh was teased by Impossible Foods CEO Peter McGuinness that month at an Adweek X conference, where he alluded to the fact that existing marketing strategies have pissed Americans off with their “elitism” and “wokeness”. “The way to get meat-eaters to actually buy your product is not to piss them off, vilify them, insult them and judge them,” he explained. “We need to go from insulting to inviting, which is a hell of a journey.”
Courtesy: Impossible Foods/Green Queen
And inviting is exactly the theme of its new packaging, which features more appetising-looking imagery, such as sausages with clearer grill marks and a single meatball showing off more of the product and less of the sauce. Through all this, Impossible Foods wants to push the message that “meat from plants is just as satisfying”.
“We want to be inclusive to anyone who enjoys great food. It doesn’t matter if you’re a vegan, a vegetarian, an animal meat-lover, or somewhere in between,” says McGuinness. “What we want to do is educate consumers that they can still enjoy meat by incorporating into their diet a version that’s made from plants instead of animals.”
If it ain’t broke…
The new brand identity is a result of a collaboration between Impossible Foods’ in-house marketing and creative teams, and global creative agency Jones Knowles Ritchie. The company says it intends to appeal to the “carnivorous cravings of meat-eaters” across the full consumer journey, from the digital experience to the brand’s first impression through packaging.
“We’re not just growing a brand, we’re growing an entire category,” said Leslie Sims, the brand’s chief marketing and creative officer. “For a long time, meat eaters didn’t see us as something for them. But our mission relies on attracting meat eaters, so we wanted to do what we could to be more inviting in our approach and messaging. We’re confident that once they try us, they’ll be in.”
Impossible Foods says it is the fastest-growing plant-based company in the US, which it ascribes to a multitude of factors, including consistently outperforming plant-based competitors on taste, being present in more than 30,000 retail and 45,000 foodservice locations, and having a broad variety of products with nutritional diversities (its portfolio includes an Indulgent Burger as well as ground Beef Lite). Its beef mince is the top-selling plant-based beef in the US across both retail and foodservice, while its meatballs and chicken nuggets are the bestsellers in their respective categories too.
Courtesy: Impossible Foods
So the question then is: why change what’s working? “Historically, this industry hasn’t spoken directly to meat-eaters, and something as simple as a green brand aesthetic visually reinforced a niche message. As a result, meat from plants has been written off as a vegetarian and vegan phenomenon,” a company spokesperson tells Green Queen.
“That’s why we’re taking this opportunity to expand the public perception and be more inclusive to flexitarian and meat-eating consumers – after all, the more people eating plant-based, the better the planet will be,” they add. “People might be surprised to know that 90% of Impossible consumers also eat meat, and more than one in two who try us for the first time intend to do so again. That means we’re already doing something right, and this evolution of our brand identity is a way for us to build on that success.”
Why Impossible Foods chose red
The company says the bold red colour is designed to “directly mirror the meatiness of our products and the fact they taste, cook and satisfy like meat from animals. It cites a recent ProVeg International study that found 54% of Americans and 56% of Brits associate red packaging for plant-based meat with superior taste.
Alongside green and purple, the research noted that red conveys “delicious flavours and culinary satisfaction”, and showcases “mouthwatering dishes, flavourful ingredients, or chefs’ endorsements”. But while there was a strong association of the colour green with plant-based meat (72% in the UK, 62% in the US), this was down to just 6% and 13%, respectively, for red.
Moreover, green outperformed red in almost all aspects, including health, nutrition and naturalness – crucially, red was the top colour linked with the perception that plant-based meats are tasty in both the UK and the US. However, ProVeg concluded that while packaging influences 65% of consumers’ willingness to buy meat alternatives at least some of the time, red was among the colours that didn’t excite them as much when thinking positively about these products.
Courtesy: Impossible Foods
But that could exactly be Impossible Foods’ point here. As one of the leaders in the plant-based sector, its brand identity is strong enough that a person in a supermarket sees the word ‘Impossible’, and knows it’s plant-based. As the brand has consistently said, though, it wants that person to be a meat-eater. And if they don’t associate red with plant-based meat, that’s a good way to sidestep any preconceptions they may have about the product.
McGuiness expands on this thinking, noting that “it’s a good time to evolve from a position of strength”. “We wanted packaging that lived up to and reflected the deliciousness of our products while really popping on the shelf,” he says.
Taste and nutrition top of mind for Impossible Foods
The new packaging doubles down on the flavour and health credentials of Impossible Foods. As a company that has always been steeped in the environmental benefits of meat alternatives – which is still a huge part of its brand – this reflects its willingness to adapt to consumer trends.
According to a Mintel survey from last year, the top two attributes discouraging Americans from trying plant-based meat are flavour (48%) and nutrition (35%). “Taste is the #1 reason why consumers will decide to purchase a product again or not,” the company told Green Queen in December. That said, health is becoming increasingly crucial, being the main reason six in 10 Americans adopt a meatless diet.
“Our intent with the new packaging – and the overall design of our new brand identity – is to lean into the craveability of meat,” reiterates the spokesperson. “Taste is, of course, a big part of this. Between the bold red aesthetic and new food photography highlighted on the front of each product, we’re deliberately putting the deliciousness of our meat from plants front and centre.”
Courtesy: Impossible Foods
They added that it’s equally important to Impossible Foods that meat-eaters understand its products are nutritionally competitive with animal-derived meat. “That’s why you’ll see we proudly display on the front of our packaging that Impossible products contain high-quality protein, 0mg cholesterol, and most have at least 25% less saturated fat than their animal counterparts,” they point out.
However, this doesn’t mean the brand is backing away from the sustainability message. “This is and always will be our reason for being, and it’s still featured on our packaging and across various touchpoints of the consumer journey,” the company explains. “However, we realised we can get even more consumers in the door by leading with our incredible taste and nutritional quality – then, we can seal the deal with the environmental benefits. With every converted consumer, we’re able to maximise our positive impact on the planet.”
New packaging aims to be inclusive
The new packaging will hit retail shelves across the US in the coming weeks, before expanding overseas later this year. The first new product to feature the updated red aesthetic will be the soon-to-launch Beef Hot Dog. Asked if this will be accompanied by a marketing campaign, the representative said: “Today is a big step for us, but the work is just beginning.”
The company has been in talks about a Got Milk?-style coalition of plant-based brands to amp up messaging and respond to criticism and negative coverage. Originally slated to launch this year, the plan has suffered setbacks. While there are no updates yet, McGuinness did recently say in a podcast that he believes “there is a collective opportunity to extol the benefits of the category”.
Courtesy: Impossible Foods
Impossible Foods’ immediate focus will continue to be on luring in new consumers and increasing brand awareness. Currently, only 15% of American households know about the company and its products. “The more welcoming we can be to consumers, the more we and the category stand to grow. That’s where this new brand approach comes into play, and our investment in marketing and advertising more broadly,” the spokesperson explains.
“With every move we make, we want to set the tone that we’re an inclusive brand. We don’t want people to feel judged for loving meat, and we need to show them they don’t have to change their lifestyle in order to help the planet or their health.”
One of 2024’s biggest plant-based trends continues to blossom, with Lightlife Foods launching Tempeh Protein Crumbles to rival its own vegan mince range amid a larger shift towards cleaner labels.
Long-standing plant protein maker Lightlife Foods has expanded its tempeh range with a crumble product as it seeks to take a slice of the red-hot whole-food plant-based meat market.
The new tempeh crumbles will complement Lightlife’s current lineup of tempeh strips and chunks, as well as its alternatives to sausages, hot dogs, bacon, deli slices, chicken tenders and ground beef. They’ll be available in two flavours: original and smoked chipotle.
“We’re excited to introduce more consumers to tempeh with our new Tempeh Protein Crumbles, a convenient and familiar form that can be used as a clean, vegan alternative to ground meat in any meal,” said Casey Richards, president of Lightlife’s parent company, meat giant Maple Leaf Foods USA.
Lightlife’s tempeh crumbles have more protein than its Smart Ground
Courtesy: Lightlife
Lightlife has been selling tempeh since 1979, and claims to be the top-selling tempeh brand in North America. This latest launch is in direct response to the ballooning demand for cleaner-label plant-based products, which is born out of consumer concerns about ultra-processed foods (which many plant-based meats are) and more nutritious meat alternatives.
“More and more consumers are seeking nutritionally dense, protein-rich foods that don’t rely on meat mimicry to delight them,” Richards said, and he’s not wrong. A poll by Mintel last year revealed that nutrition is the second-biggest reason (35%) for Americans’ unwillingness to eat plant-based meat (behind taste).
Likewise, a 1,022-person survey by the International Food Information Council (IFIC) found that health is the main reason Americans are vegan or vegetarian, with six in 10 choosing it. When it comes to alt-meat products, ‘healthy’ is the most appealing labelling description. Further research by ingredients giant Ingredion found that 78% of consumers are willing to spend more money on products with ‘natural’ or ‘all-natural’ packaging claims.
This is what Lightlife is banking on. Its own plant-based beef mince is made from soy protein, so with the new tempeh crumbles, it will hope to lure in consumers who are wary of the former’s ingredient list. The brand has previously attracted controversy over a marketing campaign called Clean Break, where it attacked Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods’ long ingredient lists to promote its own 11-ingredient burger – it was a move considered by many as unwise, given that this rhetoric was reminiscent of the narrative pushed by the conventional meat industry, which is where Lightlife’s parent company lies.
Its plain Smart Ground beef analogue, meanwhile, has 14 ingredients, but the original tempeh crumbles only have four: soybeans, water, lactic acid and brown rice. The latter also has more protein (16g per serving vs 11g) and fibre (6g vs 3g), which is sure to appeal to consumers – although how this affects Lightlife’s existing beef mince analogue range will be interesting to see.
Lightlife plays into exploding whole-food trend
Courtesy: OMNI
Tempeh was one of the ingredients mentioned in Whole Foods’ top food trends for 2024, alongside walnuts and legumes in a section titled Put the ‘Plant’ Back in ‘Plant-Based. Lightlife’s Tempeh Protein Crumbles are certainly on trend.
That IFIC poll mentioned above found that among different protein sources, those from whole-plant sources saw the biggest hike in consumption, with 28% of Americans eating them ‘somewhat’ or ‘much more’. Moreover, these foods had the second-lowest decrease (11%) in intake, behind plant-based meat and seafood analogues (10%).
It has led to a surge in whole-food plant-based product launches. Beyond Meat itself revamped its vegan beef recipe to include fava beans and red lentils in a recipe accredited by the Clean Label Project (though that initiative is more focused on screening products for environmental toxins and ingredient quality).
Last month, fast-casual restaurant chain Smashburger teamed up with jackfruit meat startup Jack & Annie’s to launch a new whole-food plant-based burger. Chipotle’s braised tofu (Sofritas) and Shake Shack’s veggie burger are other examples of popular restaurants embracing whole foods. The menu of Chipotle founder Steve Ells’ new vegan chain Kernel is also focused on whole foods.
And for Veganuary, Dave’s Hot Chicken released its first meatless options in the form of cauliflower sliders and bites, while Hard Rock Cafe in Broadway rolled out a menu with cauliflower wings and a mushroom primavera pasta. Even across the Atlantic, Veganuary brought about the return of Burger King’s black bean burger, while Leon launched a gut-healthy bhaji wrap with courgettes, peas and broad beans.
Pizza Express, meanwhile, introduced a new calzone packed with vegetables, and fellow pizzeria Zizzi focused on Fable Foods’ pulled shiitake mushroom meat for its Rustic pizza. Pret A Manger spotlit mushrooms too, with a VLT featuring mushroom bacon rashers and a bánh mì championing sticky BBQ roasted mushrooms as the meat, just as Wagamama released a lion’s mane steak. In all these cases, whole-food options were their only new offerings for Veganuary.
And just this week, Hong Kong-based OmniFoods kickstarted the launch of its own whole-food plant-based OMNI Garden line, starting with a lion’s mane mushroom steak. With an increasing number of innovations in this space, can Lighlife’s tempeh crumble the negative sentiment towards plant proteins?
The first risk assessment of the impact of climate change on Europe puts the urgency of action into sharp focus – but the lack of a spotlight on livestock farming is a huge miss.
2023 was the warmest year on record, and last month was the hottest February ever recorded. In fact, between February 2023 and January 2024, the average global temperature exceeded preindustrial levels by 1.5°C.
We’re way past 1.5°C as a climate target now, especially given that even if we manage to somehow stick to that limit by the end of the century, the climate risks faced by Europe will not diminish. The continent is the fastest-heated in the world, with temperatures rising more than any other continent since the Industrial Revolution – its heating rate is actually twice as fast as the global average since the 1980s.
With extreme heat causing between 60,000 and 70,000 premature deaths in Europe in 2022 alone, that number could proliferate greatly as climate change is a risk multiplier. The continent is not prepared to deal with the consequences, which could mean hundreds of thousands of deaths, and €1T in annual economic losses just from coastal floods.
That’s the consensus of the European Environment Agency’s (EEA) first major risk assessment report, which warns that most climate hazards will continue to increase in Europe, even under the most optimistic scenarios of the 2015 Paris Agreement.
“Our new analysis shows that Europe faces urgent climate risks that are growing faster than our societal preparedness,” said EEA executive director Leena Ylä-Mononen. “To ensure the resilience of our societies, European and national policymakers must act now to reduce climate risks both by rapid emission cuts and by strong adaptation policies and actions.”
Europe faces multitudes of climate risks
Courtesy: European Environment Agency
The report identifies 36 significant climate risks, grouped into five broad clusters: ecosystems, food, health, infrastructure, and economy and finance. These are also classed as cascades – climate impacts can cascade from one region to another, and the risks they represent can bring system-wide challenges that affect entire societies, particularly vulnerable social groups.
For example, climate impacts on food production can cascade to rural and coastal livelihoods, land use and the health of vulnerable people, which itself can affect labour productivity and resource needs of the medical system. Damages to terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems could spell trouble for food production and security, animal and human health, land use, and infrastructure – impacts on the latter affect nearly all aspects of society, the report argues.
“If decisive action is not taken now, most climate risks identified could reach critical or catastrophic levels by the end of this century,” the report reads.
Of those 36 risks, 21 are associated with “potentially severe consequences across Europe” and need more action now, while eight need particularly urgent attention. There are regional discrepancies too – three of these eight urgent risks are evaluated because of their high severity in southern Europe, which is one of the hotspots of climate change impacts in Europe, alongside low-lying coastal areas and the outermost regions of the EU.
The highest number of urgent risks belongs to the ecosystems cluster, concerned with coastal and marine ecosystems and threats to biodiversity and carbon sinks due to wildfires. In the health cluster, heat stress and wildfire-related risks to the general and built environments (particularly in southern Europe) are the most pressing, while flooding caused by rain or rivers is the most urgent infrastructural threat. The EU’s solidarity mechanisms face the biggest risk in terms of the economy and finance, with its solidarity fund for recovery already being oversubscribed in recent years.
EU urges ‘partial’ plant-based shift, but fails to call out livestock farming
Courtesy: European Environment Agency
Meanwhile, risks to crop production (especially in southern Europe) are the most urgent and severe in the food cluster. Climate impacts outside Europe and higher prices mean more action is needed to address food security too, which has a ‘substantial’ risk severity, as do fisheries and aquaculture. However, the EEA’s report fails to highlight the impact of livestock farming, which it brushes aside as a ‘watching brief’ with no urgency to act and limited risk severity at present. Even at mid- and late-century levels, the risk intensity is described as substantial, instead of critical or catastrophic.
This is surprising given that animal agriculture is responsible for 11-19.6% of global greenhouse gas emissions, with the UN FAO revealing last year that livestock farming makes up about 40% of the food system’s emissions. Another UN body, the UNEP, published a landmark report during COP28, which touched upon how the livestock industry contributes significantly to human-caused climate change, widespread water and air pollution, loss of soil structure and nutrients, and loss of terrestrial, freshwater and coastal biodiversity.
The EEA notes how megadroughts, late frosts, heavy rain, excessive heat, pests and diseases can lead and have already led to crop failures and reduced yields, critically impacting food production in southern Europe in particular. Italy and Spain, for example, experienced lower yields of tomatoes, peaches and nectarines.
The report outlines the need to support drought-resilient and less water-intensive crops, with more efforts required to raise awareness about the risks of water-heavy food production. It’s a little ironic considering that the EU itself could do with greater awareness here: animal-derived meat like farmed seafood, beef, lamb and mutton have some of the highest water footprints among foods, while cheese tops the list (followed by nuts).
Courtesy: Our World in Data
It must be noted that the EEA does identify shortcomings in the EU’s food policies, noting how its common agricultural policy and common fisheries policy don’t address climate risks and adaptation needs adequately. “The transition to more climate-resilient and sustainable food systems in Europe requires actions at many levels, from farms to national and EU policies,” it states. “EU policy and governance has a critical role to play to support and accelerate this transition, such as by better coordinating actions at territorial level.”
The report addresses that a “partial shift” from animal- to plant-based foods can reduce freshwater consumption, in line with the Farm to Fork Strategy and in line with international dietary guidelines. Separate studies have shown that veganism can reduce emissions, water pollution and land use by 75% compared to a meat-rich diet, and swapping just half of your meat and dairy consumption can slash water use by 10%.
The lack of focus on the impact of livestock is a glaring issue, though hardly surprising. The EU injects 1,200 times more funding into animal agriculture than alternative proteins, with cattle farmers receiving 50% of their income through direct subsidies from the bloc. It has also U-turned on its promised caged farming ban. Meanwhile, the EEA report mentions “eutrophication from agricultural fertilisers and livestock” as an important stressor in certain hotspots, but the EU itself has been influenced by lobby groups to push back on its green agriculture reforms around pesticide use and Farm to Fork strategy.
To curb the impact of climate change, the report suggests a systems-based approach to adaptation and resilience-building, notes the importance of addressing underlying social drivers of climate risks, outlines the need for collaboration between member states, and states that strong policy action is urgently needed, alongside improved risk analysis through legislation, monitoring, funding and technical support.
But there’s nothing about livestock agriculture – or food systems, for that matter. That is potentially catastrophic in itself.
The global agrifood tech financial landscape remains grim, with funding in the sector down by 49.2% from 2022-23, reaching $15.6B – the lowest it has been in six years – according to a new report by AgFunder.
A lot has been written about the VC fallout with food tech in 2023, with investment seeing shape declines as the financial landscape attempts to recover from post-pandemic windfalls. Now, a new report has revealed that funding in agrifood tech startups reached a six-year low, with companies in the sector only receiving $15.6B. This represents a fall of 49.2% from the $30.5B injected in 2022.
And while the 2018-2021 deals with sky-high valuations were never likely to sustain, investment in agrifood tech companies isn’t just lower than the previous years, its share in the overall VC landscape has also declined, representing just 5.5% of total VC dollars, versus 6.7% in 2022 and 7.6% in 2021. The annual decrease in funding is a result of fewer and smaller deals – average deal sizes were down by nearly 30% from 2022, while the median deal size also dipped by 9%. Meanwhile, the deal count shrunk by 26%.
“While some deals have been down rounds, dramatically shrinking startup valuations, deal averages and medians, there’s also been a halt to dealmaking in many instances at the early stages,” writes Louisa Burwood-Taylor, managing editor and head of media and research at AgFunder. “This is in part down to some founders’ refusals to lower their company valuation expectations but in some cases, the correction has gone too far.”
Cultivated meat a ‘category to watch’
Courtesy: AgFunder
All but two categories saw funding fall last year – the two exceptions were bioenergy and biomaterials (the biggest subgroup, bringing in $3B at a 20% hike from 2022), and farm robotics, mechanisation and equipment (where investment was up by 9% to $760M).
After bioenergy and biomaterials, ag biotechnology was the second-largest category, raking in $1.9B at a 34% drop from the year before, followed closely by innovative food (which includes alternative proteins and novel food), where investment dropped by 51% to $1.9B. The latter was also home to the highest number of deals (289), representing a shift from the big checks going to alternative protein startups in 2021 and early 2022 to smaller sums across a broader range of firms.
The biggest sums were raised by meal replacement startups YFood Labs ($229M) and Huel ($83M), pea milk maker Ripple Foods ($49M), and Japanese plant-based meat company Daiz ($48M).
The report points out that cultivated meat is a sector to watch, given that it attracted just $177M in funding last year, with the top three checks going to Meatable ($35M), BlueNalu ($33.5M) and Uncommon ($30M). The most well-funded startup in this space, UPSIDE Foods, has hit pause on its plans for a large-scale commercial facility, while Eat Just similarly halted mass production plans for its GOOD Meat chicken.
The latter has been embroiled in legal battles with suppliers, and its co-founder and CEO Josh Tetrick told Axios earlier this week that reducing production costs “will require new thinking in how these facilities are built”, and that the company has “not solved for that”. He added that Eat Just is sticking to low levels of production: “I can’t emphasise enough just how small the volumes are.”
Upstream dominates downstream, while US loses global share
Courtesy: AgFunder
VC investment in agrifood tech was down across all global regions, although the drop in Europe was the lowest (14%). The continent was still second to the Americas in terms of absolute capital ($5.1B vs $6.1B, respectively). The US itself accounted for $5.4B of that, representing only 30% of the total (it usually has a 40% share).
Africa’s figures also fell to $260M from $752M in 2022, though this is still higher than the $193M its agrifood tech companies attracted in 2021. Asia, meanwhile, brought in $3.8B last year, a 35.5% drop from 2022, and Oceania saw a 25% year-over-year decline to $260M.
When it comes to emerging markets, India and China have lost their market share to countries like Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Brazil and Singapore, with the two countries making up 40% of Asia’s total in 2023, versus 55% in 2021. But despite agrifood tech investment dropping by 14% in China and 78% in India, they’re still only surpassed by the UK and the US in total sums. The bright spots are in Europe, with Germany (+59%) and Spain (+348%) seeing a hike in financing in this sector.
The share of funding going to upstream startups – those operating on the farm or in primary food production – has increased in the last few years, making up 62% of the total, compared to 51% in 2022 and 30% in 2021. This includes categories like innovative food, ag biotech, bioenergy and biomaterials, as well as novel farming systems.
Consequently, downstream startups – which involve technologies removed from farms and primary production – have seen funding slow down rapidly. In 2021, companies in the food delivery, e-grocery, retail and restaurant tech, and home and cooking sectors attracted 63% of agrifood tech funding, but they now only account for 31%.
What do VC investors make of this?
Courtesy: AgFunder
AgFunder polled 27 agrifood-focused VC firms about the funding landscape, finding that 15% believe alternative protein will garner the most funding in 2024, particularly cultivated meat and precision fermentation. “The caveat is that most of those respondents are deeply invested in alt-protein,” adds the report. Biotech and biological inputs (15%), health and nutrition (14%), and food delivery (12%) were the other popular choices.
“Too many people celebrated failures rather than learning from them, and in the end, we – the planet, humanity – actually need to be collectively successful,” Yoni Glickman, managing director of FoodSparks, PeakBridge and EIT’s agrifood tech seed fund, when asked what was most frustrating about the sector in 2023. “Perhaps a more controversial take is on founders, who are still not realistic about valuations.”
Investors are worried about the impact of conflicts around the world, including the Israel-Hamas war and escalating tensions between China and Taiwan, as well as climate change, the direction of political discourse, and the economy. “Several global factors are all contributing to one central concern: food security. Climate change, geopolitical shifts and conflict all remind us how crucial an issue this is and will continue to be, and it’s one we are deeply driven by,” said Peakbridge founding general partner Nadav Berger. “Democratising food sources, mainly with local production, is one key to addressing this on a practical level.”
Matilda Ho, founder and managing director of Shanghai-based VC firm Bits x Bites, outlined the need to transition from disruptive to transitional, sustainable innovation. “In 2024, you can’t keep losing money and expect to stay in business. We need to set a more realistic expectation and go back to the fundamentals,” she said. “True innovations for food come in step changes, and take time to build.”
Expanding on this, she added: “At the end of the day, the innovation that transforms the food industry doesn’t need to be fast and furious/quick and dramatic. We’d prefer to take a more humble mindset, and make it more gradual and less obvious.”
Reflecting on the overall figures, Burwood-Taylor acknowledged: “This might read as depressing news, and it should.” She warned that we’ll be seeing more companies shut down over the next few months. Within the alternative protein sector alone, for example, New Wave Foods, Ordinary Seafood, New Age Eats, Nowadays and Plant & Bean were forced to cease trading over the last 12 months.
“2024 is going to be a painful year for many, especially the more mature agrifood tech companies,” she said, before adding: “But it will also be an incredible year to invest in new companies that have been forced to rethink their business models and take a leaner approach; that’s healthy for the market and for valuations.”
The Bezos Earth Fund has earmarked $60M to establish the Centers for Sustainable Protein, which will target tech barriers to reduce production costs, enhance taste profiles, and improve the nutritional benefits of alternative proteins.
As part of its $1B pledge to transform the food system’s impact on climate change, the Bezos Earth Fund is investing an initial $60M in alternative protein centres that will work to make plant-based, fermentation-derived and cultivated meat products cheaper, healthier and tastier.
The Bezos Centers for Sustainable Protein was announced at the Aspen Ideas: Climate conference in Miami, Florida by the fund’s vice-chair Lauren Sánchez. “We need to invent our way out of climate change. And we’re going to do it,” she told an audience at the event. “Trust me, I’ve had them and you can hardly tell the difference. I really like ‘em,” she added, referring to meat analogues.
Making alt-meat cheaper, healthier and better
Courtesy: Rocío Lower/Bezos Earth Fund
The Bezos Earth Fund was launched in 2020 through a $10B grant by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (who is also Sánchez’s fiancé and the third-richest man in the world). Last year, the fund committed $1B towards a transformation of the food system, which accounts for a third of all emissions. The first investment from this sum came during COP28 in December, when it set aside $57M in food-related grants to tackle the threats of climate change and biodiversity loss and preserve food security.
More than half of this money ($30M) went to making livestock more sustainable – animal agriculture is currently responsible for 11-19.5% of all global emissions. Now, the Earth Fund’s second funding commitment for food touches upon a similar aspect of the industry. Plant-based and cultivated meat are much more planet-friendly than industrially farmed meat, a fact that even the UN recognised in a landmark report published during COP28, where food systems were prioritised, but solutions were middling.
One study has found that replacing half of our meat and dairy intake with plant-based alternatives can reduce agricultural and land use emissions by 31%, cut water consumption by 10%, and halt deforestation. Similarly, vegan diets have been found to cut emissions, land use and water pollution by 65% compared to meat-heavy eating habits. And one life-cycle assessment suggests that cultivated meat requires 92% lower emissions, 95% less land and 78% less water than conventional beef.
This is why the Bezos Earth Fund is backing alternative proteins, which have had a dip in sales over the last couple of years as Big Meat-backed misinformation campaigns, the cost-of-living crisis and concerns about ultra-processed foods have discouraged many consumers from these products. In fact, global VC funding in this sector halved last year.
The fact that one of the world’s richest people is backing these proteins, however, is a sign of their huge potential. The new university research centres will use science and technology to improve on what’s currently out there – taste, health and price have constantly been cited as consumers’ biggest concerns about plant-based meat, and it’s these aspects that the new facilities will focus on. “They need to cost less, they need to be more flavorful,” Andy Jarvis, director of future food at the Bezos Earth Fund, told Bloomberg.
The Earth Fund states that current biomanufacturing challenges lead to high costs and limited quality, but notes that there are “enormous opportunities” to enhance the flavour and texture through innovations in cell biology and engineering. In that vein, the centres – which will be set up over the next five years – will work on driving down manufacturing costs and discovering new ingredients for alternative protein.
“Alternative proteins are an imperative if we are to stay within planetary boundaries, if we are to feed 10 billion people within those boundaries,” said Jarvis. “We’re investing in alternative proteins because they need to be successful.”
Why the Bezos Earth Fund announcement was ironic
Courtesy: UPSIDE Foods/Canva AI
There was a certain irony in the location of Sánchez’s announcement. The event was in Florida, which has been making headlines ever since it first proposed a ban on cultivated meat late last year. Just last week, its lawmakers approved a bill to prohibit the sale and production of these proteins in the state, which is now headed to governor Ron DeSantis, who – if his past comments about “fake meat” are anything to go by – is expected to greenlight it.
Florida’s decision has been slammed by many quarters. But while backlash from the alternative protein industry is obviously expected, it’s perhaps telling how divisive and baseless this ban is when even the conventional meat industry – you know, the same one DeSantis and his Republican-controlled state chambers are attempting to safeguard – is opposed to it.
In a letter to DeSantis, the North American Meat Institute – the country’s oldest and largest trade association (representing 95% of the US’s meat output), – called the ban “bad public policy”. Its COO and general counsel Mark Dopp wrote: “Legislators and others who beat the ‘food safety’ drum in support of HB 1071 and SB 1084 do so at their peril, and the peril of others, because these bills establish a precedent for adopting policies and regulatory requirements that could one day adversely affect the bills’ supporters.”
He suggested that the bill could set a precedent for climate or health policies in other states that could ban conventional meat. “Restricting the sale and manufacture of cell-cultivated meat products limits consumer choice and denies Floridians access to food options,” he added. “Decisions about what to consume or purchase should be left to the market and consumers, not dictated by legislation that hampers progress and competition.”
That is exactly what the Bezos Earth Fund’s latest investment is trying to protect. The company has already backed Chilean plant-based pioneer NotCo – whose joint venture with Kraft Heinz has yielded vegan versions of Kraft dinner, Oscar Mayer hot dogs and most recently, KD mac and cheese. Bezos himself, meanwhile, was part of a group that has invested in Nature’s Fynd, which makes sausage patties, cream cheeses and yoghurts using mycelium fermentation. It has previously invested $5.5M in R&D projects for alternative proteins, in partnership with industry think-tank the Good Food Institute.
Sánchez reiterated Jarvis’s point about feeding 10 billion people – the estimated world population by 2050 – with healthy food while protecting the planet. “We can do it, and it will require a ton of innovation,” she said in a statement. “Our world is poised for transformation, for a future not constrained by compromise. Solutions to our greatest challenges often come from the quiet persistence of those willing to question, reimagine, and innovate.”
In our weekly column, we round up the latest news and developments in the alternative protein and sustainable food industry. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers nutrition wins for plant-based meat, a ton of alt-dairy announcements, and an all-vegan fest coming to the UK.
New products and launches
A week after announcing the launch of plant-based Oscar Mayer hot dogs, the Kraft Heinz Not Company is now bringing its vegan Kraft mac and cheese to Canada under the KD brand. It’s available in original, white Cheddar, and gluten-free variants.
Courtesy: Oatly
As outlined in its year-end earnings report, Oatly‘s revamped Oatgurts are now on shelves in German supermarkets. The lineup includes unsweetened vanilla, blueberry, strawberry, and mango-peach-passionfruit, and the 350g pots can be found at Rewe, Edeka and Kaufland stores.
It’s a big week for alt-dairy launches. Canadian plant-based cheesemaker Daiya has announced a range of powdered vegan and gluten-free mac and cheese in Cheddar, white Cheddar and aged Cheddar variants, which will be rolled out to Walmart, The Fresh Market, Loblaws and Metro ON from April (the latter flavour is only available in the US).
Meanwhile, Califia Farms has rolled out a line of organic almond milk coffee creamers in lavender, brown sugar and cinnamon flavours at Whole Foods, Sprouts Farmers Market, and specialty stores at $7.99.
British oat milk maker Minor Figures has expanded its North American presence, with its gluten-free milk now available at all Whole Foods stores in the US and Canada, and over 280 Sprouts locations.
In yet more North American alt-dairy news, plant-based milk brand MALK Organics is launching a cashew milk and shelf-stable oat and almond milk SKUs this quarter, after closing an internal investment round. They’ll be rolled out at Whole Foods exclusively in March, and are being previewed at Expo West this week.
Courtesy: Malk Organics
The Students’ Union of the University of Cambridge – which has already removed beef and lamb from its catering menus in 2016 – has voted to make all catering options across the institute fully plant-based, following a similar move for certain catering services last year.
Speaking of universities, Beyond Meat is debuting at the University of Massachusetts, which has one of the country’s largest plant-based dining initiatives in the country. Its burger and mince products will be offered across all UMass campuses.
Meanwhile, Beyond Steak is coming to Belgium, with the ‘heart-healthy’ beef analogue now stocked at over 250+ Delhaize stores nationwide.
In the US, whole-food plant-based meat company Abbot’s has launched a mushroom-based Whole Burger SKU to its lineup, containing superfoods like spinach, chia and flaxseeds, and boasting 22g of protein per patty. It’s available at select Whole Foods stores nationwide.
Courtesy: 7th Heaven
Hershey’s-owned dairy-free chocolate company 7th Heaven, meanwhile, has unveiled its take on Reese’s with new oat-milk-based peanut butter cups, which you can buy from its website from March 25.
US cult-favourite plant-based burger chain Slutty Vegan is opening a store in New York City, which will be its third location. The 1,870 sq ft Bleecker Street eatery will open on March 23.
Next Level Burger and Veggie Grill are launching limited-edition vegan truffle honey chicken sandwiches and burgers to raise awareness about bees and pollination, with the companies making a donation to the Pollinator Partnership.
Fancy a Falafacini? UK plant-based small bites maker Gosh! has introduced a falafel-arancini hybrid in basil pesto and vegan ‘nduja flavours as part of its new Street Food range. They will retail at Ocado and Tesco for £3.50 per 240g pack. (Although I think ‘falancini’ is a far better name.)
Chinese company Marvelous Foods has launched its Yeyo coconut yoghurt range in Ole, the country’s biggest supermarket chain, with 100 stores across 31 key cities and over 10 million members.
Courtesy: Marvelous Foods
In the cosmetics world, American actress and Masked Singer host Jenny McCarthy has launched a new line of cruelty-free 3D Faux Mink Lashes under her Formless Beauty label.
Likewsie, Canadian cosmetics company Druide Laboratory has rolled out a vegan Druide Biolove personal care collection for babies and young children.
And US-based vegan festival Vegandale is launching in the UK, with events in London’s Clapham Common as well as Manchester in July. It has also expanded its stateside presence to Philadelphia. Early bird tickets are available now.
Finance and manufacturing developments
CPG giant Nestlé is investing CHF 80 million ($91M) to open a new factory dedicated to plant-based food production in Serbia, which will sit next to its existing 18,440 sq m facility. The plant will create 220 new jobs and support the manufacturing of Garden Gourmet products.
Meanwhile, Illinois-headquartered food producer Primient has committed $700M across five years to bolster its plant-based ingredient manufacturing capabilities and strengthen its market position.
Researchers in Italy have embarked on a project to produce meat alternatives from wood, leveraging byproducts like lignin (from the paper industry) and wheat bran, and converting them into amino acids.
German biotech company ProteinDistillery has raised $15M in a seed funding round to support the production of its biomass-fermented Prew:tein ingredient – which is made from upcycled brewer’s yeast and can replace the properties of egg whites – and set up an industrial-scale facility.
Copenhagen-based Swan Neck Bio, a spinoff from White Labs, has gone live. The startup provides fermentation solutions to food companies facing high costs and congestion in traditional biomanufacturing channels, with its FlexCell tech able to run controlled fermentations from five to 1,000 litres.
Courtesy: Koralo
In yet more fermentation news, German alt-seafood startup Koralo has scaled up its co-fermentation technology to a 5,000-litre industrial scale in South Korea – three months after launching in the country. It has also partnered with the Korean government on the latter’s plant-based national plan.
Montreal-based cultivated milk startup Opalia has received C$2M ($1.48M) in financing to support the launch of its first product.
As for cultivated meat, by the way, there’s a new company in this space from Slovenia, established by the founder and former CEO of aircraft maker Pipistrel and biotech firm CO BIK Institute. Called Tech4Meat, it hopes to bring its products to market in the next few years.
UK companies BSF Enterprise (parent of cellular agriculture business 3D Bio-Tissues) and Ivy Farm Technologies have teamed up to help the latter fundraise, launch and scale its cultivated meat in China.
In another alt-protein partnership, Indian plant-based meat maker GoodDot has linked up with Dubai culinary school the International Centre for Culinary Arts, to help chefs gain specialised certifications in vegan dishes.
In the UK, Borough Broth has acquired vegan curry startup SpiceBox, with all of the latter’s products to now be developed in the former’s organic production kitchen in west London.
Courtesy: OGGS
Having witnessed a 42% year-on-year growth, UK plant-based egg startup OGGS has now launched a crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs, which is open for pre-registration.
Policy and awards
Meanwhile, Aussie precision fermentation producer Fermify is now offering samples to B2B partners for its liquid animal-free casein, which can be used to make dairy alternative products.
Germany’s MicroHarvest has become the first biomass fermentation company to join the Food Fermentation Europe alliance.
In India, Supplant Foods has received a patent for its novel chickpea flour processing technology, which enhances the functionality of chickpea protein that can be used in plant-based dairy, meat and bakery products.
Courtesy: Superbrewed Food
In yet more regulatory news for fermentation-derived protein, Superbrewed Food has received a ‘no further questions’ letter from the US FDA. The GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) status allows it to sell its bacteria-derived biomass ingredient, called Postbiotic Cultured Protein. The company has also filed for approval in the EU, UK and Canada.
In Singapore, some hospitals are offering plant-based options for patients after evaluating them to be healthy and nutritionally balanced, with Alexandra Hospital and Ng Teng Fong General Hospital having completely replaced beef and mutton with soy protein, and KK Women’s, Children’s Hospital and National University Hospital too providing vegan food for some time now.
Finally, there were a few vegan wins at this year’s Men’s Health Food Awards, in a nod to the category’s growing health focus. Impossible Foods‘ BBQ Pork Bowls was named the Best Plant-Based Meal, Beyond Meat‘s Italian-Style Meatballs the Best Meatless Meatballs, and Wholly Veggie‘s Buffalo Cauliflower Wings the Best Plant-Based Wings.
With more and more people leaving their jobs or turning down new ones because of their companies’ climate actions (or the lack of it), a new podcast focuses on how alternative protein careers can help people who are climate quitting.
2023 was the year of quiet quitting. Can 2024 be the year of climate quitting?
That’s what Alt Protein Careers, a career services and recruiting firm, is suggesting. Climate quitters are people who leave or turn down a job because they’re unsatisfied with the company’s environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) record.
It’s a trend concentrated among youth – a 6,000-person KPMG study last year found that ESG factors influence employment decisions for almost half of UK office workers, and one in three of Brits aged 18-24 have rejected job offers based on ESG records. Of the latter demographic, 14% are most likely seeking a job linked to ESG.
With animal agriculture making up between 11-19.5% of the world’s total emissions, and meat accounting for 60% of the food system’s emissions, the importance of alternative proteins in the climate fight has never been more apparent. In fact, a landmark study last year revealed that veganism can reduce emissions, water pollution and land use by 75% compared to a meat-rich diet.
“There wasn’t always this level of awareness of how fundamental alternative protein solutions are to solving the climate crisis,” says Noga Golan, founder and managing director of Alt Protein Careers. “People used to think that if they didn’t have a degree in renewable energy or climate science, there was no way to meaningfully contribute. But that’s no longer the case.”
Meaningful careers are becoming increasingly important
Courtesy: Paul Polman
Alt Protein Careers argues that the values and definitions of a prestigious job have shifted from compensation and big-name employers to making a tangible impact through careers. This is evident in consumer research going as far back as 2018, when the Harvard Business Review reported that people are willing to accept a lower-paying job if it means they’re doing meaningful work.
“People don’t want to be sitting on the sidelines anymore,” explains Caroline Colwell, the firm’s marketing manager. “Individuals are increasingly drawn to jobs where they can be part of the solution.”
The KPMG study isn’t the only research highlighting this change in thinking. A 4,000-person survey last year by former Unilever CEO Paul Polman found that 76% of Americans and 66% of Brits want to work for companies that make a positive impact on the world, while over 60% said they’d like to see their employers take a stronger stance on the environment. In fact, half of respondents would consider resigning from their positions if their workplace’s values didn’t align with theirs, and a third have already done so.
While ESG used to be a strong selling point, Alt Protein Careers thinks this is no longer enough. Mission-driven individuals are tired of the lip service, and want to work in places that are actively making a difference. Recognising this need, the firm had launched a dedicated jobs board and resource centre to help people find such roles.
“The alt-protein industry has experienced some volatility: we’ve seen a few companies downsizing, but in general, we’re still seeing a lot of companies eager to hire strong talent,” says Golan. “Protein alternatives that don’t involve large-scale factory farming are the only way for us to achieve global food security.”
But are climate quitters making the connection between the food industry and the climate crisis? “Some are, and some aren’t,” she tells Green Queen. “For a long time, it wasn’t an obvious connection (when people thought of working on climate, they often mostly thought of the renewable energy industry), but we’re seeing a surge in the amount of professionals that are making the connection, and that are starting to really care and want to make a difference.
“Professionals from pharma and biotech are also realising that their skills are highly transferable and impactful in the alt protein industry, so we’re seeing a lot of professionals from those industries, as well as from big food corporations like Danone, Tyson, and Cargill, make the switch.”
This is why businesses outside the alt-protein space – especially tech companies and large corporations – are realising the need to show their employees that they care about climate change and making positive impact. “Oftentimes, this isn’t sufficient, but it definitely helps,” she says. “They also need to compensate their employees more in order to retain them.”
A new podcast for alt-protein careers
Courtesy: Alt Protein Careers
To push its goal further, Alt Protein Careers has updated its public job board, and today launched a new eponymous podcast dedicated to jobs in this industry. The limited series explores the varying career paths people have taken in the alternative protein and sustainable food industries, in the search for something meaningful to them.
The podcast is hosted by Sam Fisher, a Stanford business graduate who is an executive coach with expertise in the alt-protein sector. He works to help people in high-level positions enhance their leadership skills, increase their productivity, and achieve their goals while prioritising their overall wellbeing.
In each episode of the podcast, Fisher speaks to guests from varying levels of seniority, as well as different kinds and sizes of alternative protein companies (the first episode features The Every Company’s chief of staff, Eitan Darwish). The conversations delve into the current state of the industry and offer guidance to people looking to have a tangible positive impact through their careers.
“So many people want to make an impact, but they’re not sure how to do it. This podcast was created to help inspire and provide tangible advice on how to make an impact through your career,” says Fisher. “Stories are such a great way to learn and get inspired – I hope the stories shared throughout this podcast series will help people find ways to make an impact through their careers.”
Alongside the new podcast and updated jobs board, Alt Protein Careers will also host job fairs at SF Climate Week, the Future Food Tech Conference, and at Duke, Harvard, and Stanford Universities. “There are a lot of great websites like Climatebase and Terra.do that help people find jobs in the general climate space, but we wanted to focus specifically on careers in alternative protein and food system transformation,” says Golan.
The alternative protein career recruitment space is very niche, and apart from Tälist, VeganJobs.com, the Good Food Institute, and Alt Protein Careers, there aren’t many others offering such services. But according to Golan, it’s a burgeoning sector anyway. “The alt-protein industry is benefitting from having access to more mission-driven professionals who are excited to work in the industry.”
With tens of thousands of people flocking to the Anaheim Convention Center this week for Natural Products Expo West, we look at some of the standout plant-based and future food products being unveiled at the trade show.
Tuesday marked the start of Expo West, one of the world’s largest trade events for the food industry. Over five days, thousands of companies will exhibit new innovations and offerings to attendees in Anaheim, California, with the event serving as a launchpad for many products’ routes to market.
Last year, over 3,000 brands participated in the show, with more than 65,000 visitors. Needless to say, it’s a big deal for companies hoping to gauge consumer sentiment about upcoming launches. With that in mind, here are some of the most exciting plant-based and future food products on display at Expo West 2024.
Plant-based milk and cheese go big
Courtesy: Armored Fresh
Non-dairy products have an expansive presence at Expo West 2024. At booth #3994 in Hall D, vegan cheese giant Violife is exhibiting what it says is the ‘first-ever’ bakeable non-dairy cream cheese as part of a build-your-own bagel stall and cheesecake offering, while booth #3899 will see Armored Fresh sample its oat-milk-based Cheddar and Pepper Jack slices in grilled cheese sandwiches. In the North Hall, meanwhile, olive oil cheese producer Good Planet Foods will be showcasing new vegan sharp Cheddar and smoked Gouda slices at booth #507.
Plant-based milk brand MALK Organics is launching a cashew milk and shelf-stable oat and almond milk SKUs this quarter, which will be previewed at booth #335 in the North Hall as well. Another milk launch comes from TiNDLE Foods, marking its alt-dairy debut with a barista oat milk at booth #4905 in Hall E.
Likewise, Milkadamia (booth #691 in Hall A) and THIS PKN (#100 in the North Hall) will showcase their launch macadamia- and pecan-based creamers, respectively.
In the precision fermentation dairy sector, Bored Cow (#1249 in the North Hall) will unveil a new product made using Perfect Day’s animal-free whey protein, while Vivici (booth #4495 in Hall D) will be promoting its beta-lactoglobulin protein.
Breakfast in the spotlight with vegan eggs and meat alternatives
Courtesy: Yo Egg
This year, breakfast foods are in. Fresh from announcing its retail launch, Yo Egg will be exhibiting its vegan sunny-side-up and poached eggs at booth #609 in the North Hall. In the same area, AcreMade will showcase its plant-based scrambled eggs made from pea protein at booth #1336.
It’s a big year for vegan bacon too. Expo West attendees will be able to taste the seaweed bacon from Umaro Foods, which just closed a $3.8M funding round and will present its bacon bits and a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich at booth #211 near the entrance arena. Likewise, MyForest Foods will be sampling its bacon (made from oyster mushroom mycelium) at #1123 in the North Hall, and Prime Roots will offer its koji mycelium bacon at #4695 in Hall D.
Dinner favourites shine with mushrooms
Courtesy: Konscious Foods
Apart from its brand-new oat milk, TiNDLE Foods is also launching its vegan stuffed chicken at its Expo West stall. And Hong Kong-based OMNI is unveiling the US’s first lion’s mane mushroom steak product to kickstart its new whole-food OMNI Garden range at booth #2101 in the North Hall.
Mycelium meat maker Meati, meanwhile, is showcasing its carne asada and chicken analogues at #4981 in Hall E. Shroomeats will be doing the same with its mushroom-based burgers and meatballs at #4199A in Hall D, and Pan’s will exhibit its mushroom jerky at North Hall booth #333.
If you’re looking for sushi, by the way, Konscious Foods is launching three new products at Expo West: a salmon avocado roll, a kimbap, and smoked salmon (a Nexty Award Finalist at the event). You can find the brand in Hall E at booth #5679.
Sweet treats and future foods show promise
Courtesy: MeliBio
In the dessert realm, OMNI is introducing a new line of dessert-themed baos in four flavours at its booth. Voyage Foods, meanwhile, has partnered with Rudi’s Rocky Mountain Bakery to offer allergen-free PB&J sandwiches with its peanut-free peanut butter at both #2338 in the North Hall.
Mid-Day Squares will demo its newest functional plant-protein-powered chocolate in the form of a crunchy peanut bar, which visitors can taste at booth #5783 in Hall E. While you’re there, check out Minus‘s beanless coffee cans in cold brew and vanilla oat milk latte flavours at LA Libations’ booth #5535.
Finally, MeliBio is launching a new flavour of its plant-based Mellody honey, keying into the ultra-popular hot honey trend with a Spicy Habanero variant at its North Hallbooth #445.
These are just a handful of plant-based and future food innovations being spotlit at Expo West – check out the full list of exhibitors here.
Natural Products Expo West 2024 is running from March 12-16 at the Anaheim Convention Center in California.
In a major shift in the cultivated seafood space, Singaporean startups Umami Bioworks and Shiok Meats have announced plans to merge. Once finalised, Umami Bioworks CEO Mihir Pershad will lead the combined entity, and Shiok Meats CEO Sandhya Sriram will exit the company.
Singapore-based cultivated seafood startups Umami Bioworks and Shiok Meats have agreed to merge, establishing the entity as a global leader in the cellular agriculture industry.
The combined entity will retain the Umami Bioworks name and be led by existing CEO Mihir Pershad, while the leadership will explore how best to leverage the Shiok Meats brand – which will be retained – in the near future.
Green Queen understands that Shiok Meats co-founder and CEO Sandhya Sriram will leave the company after six years at the helm. As for other employees, they will be joining the Umami Bioworks team to support its work on the development of crustacean cell lines and media.
The impending merger is a major development in the cultivated seafood industry, with two of the most well-known companies joining forces at a time when cultivated meat is making progress with regulation and commercialisation. Umami Bioworks itself began submitting its first regulatory dossiers and signed initial customers for its production facilities in Q4 2023. “We are currently actively engaged with multiple regulators worldwide and are planning several regulatory dossier submissions this year.
The company – whose board of directors will include global seafood investment leaders Hatch Blue and Aqua-Spark – intends to continue its ongoing product development with strategic partners for cultivated eel, grouper fish, and pet treats, which will be its lead priorities for market entry. Umami Bioworks will follow a similar approach for additional products and species, including crustaceans, which have been the focus of Shiok Meats’ work.
“Cultivated seafood as a sector is now on the cusp of commercialisation and initial scale-up,” Pershad told Green Queen. “We felt it was a good time to take a more strategic look at how the industry may evolve in the next few years and how we could position the company to be the partner of choice for incumbents looking to adopt a more sustainable production technology. The merger with Shiok Meats stood out as an opportunity to bring together the IP, resources, and commercial progress of two pioneers in the sector to establish a leading platform for cultivated seafood.”
In an exclusive conversation with Green Queen, Sriram – who is still working with Umami Bioworks on a smooth transition and handover – outlined that in a novel industry like cultivated meat, “consolidation is progress”, stating: “For Shiok Meats, it was the right time to do an M&A with the shift in the alternative protein industry and the merger was put in place.” She added that her hope was that the merged company “becomes the leading global cultivated seafood platform”.
Courtesy: Umami Bioworks
Umami Meats will continue Shiok Meats’ work on crustaceans
The merger announcement has been about eight to nine months in the making, and is aimed at expediting the path to salable production of cultivated seafood. With the deal tipped to be completed soon, both startups believe joining forces will help enhance go-to-market efficiencies, expand commercial opportunities, and accelerate regulatory approvals and market entry.
“We are currently working through the integration process to determine the right combination of facilities to fuel our next stage of growth. We will be consolidating our resources and assets and establishing integrated centres to optimise resource allocation toward cell line, media and bioprocess R&D,” explained Pershad.
Shiok Meats has been working on scaling up cell lines for three crustacean species: lobster, shrimp and crab. Pershad confirmed that the new entity will continue this work. “We have seen strong pull from the market, including our existing strategic partners, for cultivated crustacean options,” he said. “Further, UMAMI’s priority has always been ETP (endangered, threatened, and protected) species that are unsuited to large-scale commercial farming and facing growing demand. Crustaceans like lobster and crab are clearly aligned with our strategic mandate.”
The approach will mirror Umami Bioworks’ existing strategy of “securing commercial interest from an industry incumbent and working through a development programme in parallel with production scale-up”. This will result in finished products ready to sell under its partners’ brands, with Umami Bioworks’ ‘plug-and-play’ biomanufacturing system anchoring the production line.
“Cell line work on finfish and crustaceans will continue at these integrated R&D centres,” added Pershad. “The Shiok facilities established for production scale-up will also be an essential part of our next phase of technical validation, as we are now scaling up unagi and grouper.”
Courtesy: Shiok Meats
Hybrid seafood products will pave way for market launch
Umami Meats will follow the same path taken by counterparts like Eat Just, Aleph Farms and Meatable, mixing cultivated animal cells (fish, in this case) with plant-based ingredients for its first products. This helps bring down the costs of cultivated meat, which are currently much higher than both conventional and plant-based meat products.
“We are initially planning to bring cultivated unagi (eel) and white fish (grouper) to the market via hybrid product applications, as these are the most advanced species in our pipeline and those for which we already have commitments from existing strategic partners.”
So far, only Upside Foods (US), Eat Just (Singapore and US) and Aleph Farms (Israel) have received regulatory approval to sell cultivated meat. Within Singapore, which granted the world’s first such greenlight in 2020, Vital Meat and Meatable expect clearance to be imminent for their chicken and pork, respectively. But Australia’s Vow Food could beat them to it, with its application for a cultivated quail product in Australia and New Zealand in advanced stages.
“Umami will initially focus on Singapore and the US due to clear regulatory frameworks and established regulatory review processes,” Pershad said. “However, Umami sees multiple key markets in Asia, including Japan, South Korea, and China, which have tremendous appetite for priority species and growing seafood demand.
“Once we have completed the integration, we will also establish a clear roadmap for crustacean approvals in line with market priorities of our customers.
Courtesy: Umami Bioworks
Why Shiok Meats founder Sandhya Sriram is leaving, and what’s next
Sriram told Green Queen that she had chosen to step down as CEO to take “a well-deserved break”, but next up, she wants to “be part of the more democratised space of agrifood tech.”
Asked if she had any regrets about her journey with Shiok Meats, Sriram said she no, but added that if she could do things over, she “would have done more due diligence on some investors” and she “would not have grown the team so aggressively”. “The biggest learnings are that if you set your mind to do something, you have to work towards that goal, whatever happens. That means more tides against you – and you have to fight harder,” she explained.
Still, Sriram said she was proud of “being the first and a pioneer for the cultivated food space in Singapore and southeast Asia”, adding that as a first mover in the space, the company had opened up the path for others. “That also meant things were much harder than for the rest,” she added.
The cultivated meat category is facing headwinds of late, with a sceptical mainstream media landscape and political obstacles in Europe and the US. Does Sriram still believe in the industry? “For sure, yes!” she exclaimed, adding that companies need to be far more transparent and more upfront about the challenges, particularly when it comes to scaling, and that investors need to be far more patient and supportive.
She concluded: “I am excited for the future of cultivated protein and hope to be around in this industry for much longer and make further impact.”
Hong Kong-based OMNI is exhibiting two new products at this week’s Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California (March 12-16): a lion’s mane mushroom steak that’s part of its new whole-food OMNI Garden range, and a line of dessert-themed baos.
OMNI is the latest brand to lean into the thriving whole-food plant-based trend, with the company ready to showcase its new OMNI Garden range. It will be part of its participation at Expo West, which starts today and features a large plant-based presence.
At the trade fair, it will unveil a vegan steak made from lion’s mane mushrooms as the first OMNI Garden offering, marking the first new product launched by OMNI since the debut of its Luncheon 2.0 SKU in Hong Kong. In the US, this will be its first new offering since it introduced savoury baos in early 2023. Following that theme, OMNI will also exhibit a range of dessert baos in four flavours alongside the new steak.
“OMNI is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of plant-based food and delivering remarkable culinary experiences,” said OMNI co-founder and CEO David Yeung. “We are thrilled to unveil the Lion Mane’s Mushroom Steak at Expo West, and we believe it will become the new generation of fungi innovation and revolutionise the way people perceive plant-based alternatives.”
Expo West gets a taste of OMNI’s lion’s mane steak and sweet baos
Courtesy: OMNI
The OMNI Garden series celebrates vegetables through a range of bowls, patties and other products, with the brand hoping to provide “an exceptional gastronomic experience” that boasts natural flavours and nutritional benefits.
While Big Mountain Foods makes lion’s mane burgers and crumbles, OMNI’s offering would mark the first vegan steak product made from these mushrooms in the US. It follows the launch of Wagamama’s limited-edition lion’s mane steak in the UK for Veganuary this year.
“The OMNI Garden series is a testament to our commitment to innovation and our mission to create exceptional plant-based products,” said Yeung.
OMNI’s sweet bao series, meanwhile, features four flavours: molten chocolate, matcha, red bean, and black sesame. And the company will hope this launch can build on the success of its savoury Teriyaki and Korean BBQ baos, which are now available at over 1,200 Albertsons banner stores.
Apart from the new products, the plant-based startup is collaborating with chefs from vegan eatery MANEATINGPLANT Los Angeles, who will take over its tasting booth to showcase dishes using OMNI’s products.
It caps off a year where the Hong Kong-headquartered company strengthened its market foothold, most notably with a partnership with Neat for its vegan fish, which won a gold award for Best Vegan Fish in Vegan Food & Living’s Product Awards 2023. OMNI also revamped its packaging design and received two Best In Class honours from PAC Global Awards in New York.
OMNI leans into growing whole-food plant-based trend
Courtesy: Burger King
This year has seen a magnified focus on whole foods in the plant-based sector. Last year, a survey showed that, among different protein sources, those originating from whole plants experienced the sharpest rise in consumption among Americans between 2022 and 2023, with 28% eating them ‘somewhat’ or ‘much more’. Additionally, these foods had the second-lowest drop (11%) in intake, behind plant-based meat and seafood analogues (10%).
Just earlier this year, fast-casual chain Smashburger partnered with jackfruit meat producer Jack & Annie’s to debut a new burger, while for Veganuary, Dave’s Hot Chicken released its first meat-free options with cauliflower sliders and bites, and Hard Rock Cafe in Broadway introduced a menu with cauliflower wings and a mushroom primavera pasta.
Chipotle’s braised tofu (Sofritas) and Shake Shack’s veggie burger are further examples of popular restaurants embracing whole foods, as is Chipotle founder Steve Ells’ new vegan chain Kernel, whose menu is focused on whole foods too. Meanwhile, Beyond Meat has revamped its recipe to include fava beans and red lentils.
In the UK, too, Veganuary was all about whole foods. Burger King relaunched its black bean burger, Leon went for a gut-healthy bhaji wrap with courgettes, peas and broad beans, Pizza Express presented a new calzone packed with vegetables, and Marugamu Udon unveiled a pumpkin katsu curry option to its menu.
Additionally, as mentioned above, Wagamama highlighted lion’s mane mushrooms – but it was far from the only company doing so. Pret A Manger rolled out a VLT with vegan bacon rashers made from roasted shiitake and chestnut mushrooms, as well as a bánh mì featuring sticky BBQ roasted mushrooms as the meat. Also taking to the mushroom meat trend was Zizzi, whose new Rustic pizza featured Fable Foods’ pulled shiitake mushrooms.
