Seattle startup Rebellyous Foods has unveiled its Mock 2 Production System, which reduces the cost of manufacturing plant-based meat to reach parity with animal proteins.
In February 2023, Rebellyous Foods closed a $9.4M Series B funding round to build its flagship meat analogue production system, Mock 2, which it promised would deliver products on par with the price and quality of conventional meat.
Less than two years later, it has achieved that goal, announcing the completion of the technology platform, which can produce 2,500-5,000 lbs of different kinds of meat analogues every hour on a single processing line, and deliver 60% cost reductions compared to existing production methods for vegan meat.
Famous for its vegan chicken nuggets, tenders, and patties, the company unveiled the new Mock 2 Production System at RMS Foods’s New Mexico facility. It already offers cost-competitive products – its plant-based tenders go at $61.49 per kg for foodservice customers, versus $60.99 for Tyson’s Red Label Tenders, and $93.49 for Beyond Meat’s version.
But Mock 2 system – a fully continuous, automated, and chilled dough substrate processing system – enables further cost savings, while significantly improving energy efficiency, minimising material waste, slashing its climate footprint, and enhancing employee safety and working conditions.
This is important, considering that 53% of Americans are deterred from buying meat analogues due to their prohibitive prices, and that 45% of consumers are more likely to buy these products if they provided better bang for their buck.
How the Mock 2 system cuts production costs
Courtesy: Rebellyous Foods
“Our Mock 2 technology is the key to meeting the unmet demand for delicious, affordable plant-based options. We’re not just competing on price and volume – we’re setting new standards for texture, flavour and quality,” said Christie Lagally, a former Boeing engineer who founded the business in 2017.
The company has made a major play for the foodservice sector, and has products in universities, restaurants, correctional centres, and event and entertainment venues. The feather in its cap, however, is its partnership with cafeterias in the National School Lunch Program. Rebellyous Foods’s vegan nuggets meet the USDA’s child nutrition standards, and its products reach over four million students nationwide.
Mock 2 will drive the next phase of its growth. It replaces the Mock S1 system and its batch-based process with a “fully automated, labour-free, continuous production system”, Lagally explained.
“The Mock 2 system is an automated, continuous production technology designed for making high-quality plant-based meat,” she told Green Queen. “It integrates temperature control and digital monitoring to precisely hydrate, emulsify, chill and mix ingredients, ensuring consistency and quality.”
She added: “Unlike conventional batch processing, which requires employees to mix the product and move it to different systems, Mock 2 operates continuously, significantly reducing energy and labour requirements. It also maintains the quality that delivers delicious plant-based products.
“The Mock 2 reduces costs by automating the production process, which lowers labour requirements and the equipment-level chilling decreases energy usage. The system also improves consistency, leading to fewer errors and waste and minimizing the need for a cold work environment, which typically adds to operational costs.”
In addition, Lagally noted that the platform “reduces space, energy, and labour demands, providing better worker safety and enhanced food safety due to less human involvement and improved sanitation”.
Rebellyous Foods readies itself for ‘aggressive growth’
Courtesy: Rebellyous Foods
Plant-based meat sales have been on the decline – they were down by 12% in 2023. More recently, dollar sales dipped by 6% in the five weeks ending September 1, compared to the same period a year ago, according to Circana data crunched by 210 Analytics.
But Rebellyous Foods’s sales have gone the opposite way, roughly doubling in each of the last three years, which the company says demonstrates “the need for delicious plant-based meat options” and is a marker of the brand’s differentiation.
It helps that the products taste good. A weeks-long blind taste test last year revealed that Americans prefer vegan nuggets from the leading brands (70%) than they do conventional versions (54%) – and one of these brands was Rebellyous Foods.
That said, Lagally confirmed that the brand has left the retail space for now. “The company is focusing on cost-sensitive, high-volume markets such as schools, hospitals, and correctional facilities where quality is always a priority,” she said, before adding that it “may re-enter” supermarkets in the future.
“Rebellyous will use the Mock 2 system for our products, including plant-based chicken nuggets, patties, and tenders,” confirmed Lagally. It will produce its own offerings with this technology at the RMS Foods facility. “We anticipate that it will help reduce our product prices, maintaining the quality and delicious flavour and texture our customers love. It will also eventually offer additional revenue streams through partnerships and deployments in other facilities,” she said.
The company began inviting proposals for the Mock 2 technology – patented in the US, Canada and Japan, with others pending – from USDA and FDA food processing facilities at the start of the year. And it’s now exploring international partnerships too. “We aim to deploy the Mock 2 in these regions by collaborating with existing food processing facilities,” said Lagally.
“Now that Rebellyous has delivered on the milestones of our Series B – which was nearly two years ago – we are speaking with select investors to support high-margin growth,” she revealed. “Future funds will be used for scaling costs, sales and marketing growth, product development, ingredient optimisation, and Mock 2 deployments.”
Lagally added that the company wants to regain its production technology too in the next 12 months: “Rebellyous plans to continue its aggressive growth strategy, including deploying new Mock 2 systems, expanding into new distribution points, exciting new product development, and entering new product markets.”
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 Upside Foods’ tasting event at a taqueria, Japan Airlines’ sweet protein partnership, and a UK state investment into climate-resilient legumes.
New products and launches
Cultivated meat leader Upside Foodsshowcased its chicken at Chicago taqueria Antique Taco, weeks before a judge will consider its preliminary injunction as part of a lawsuit against Florida’s cultivated meat ban.
Courtesy: Jessica Halper/LinkedIn
You can now eat sweet proteins on the fly, literally. Japan Airlines has partnered with Californian food tech startup Oobli to offer its chocolates on the Tokyo-San Francisco route. They’re made from Oubli Sweet Protein, a sugar alternative that has no impact on blood glucose.
Frozen meat-free brand Amy’s Kitchen has expanded its plant-based footprint, replacing eggs with tofu in its breakfast wraps and scrambles.
Next year, New York City will be host to the first Plant Powered Kids Festival, a fully vegan event that will include family-friendly activities like workshops, cooking classes and yoga sessions, alongside food from plant-based vendors. It will be held at Industry City in Brooklyn on February 2.
Courtesy: Just Salad
US fast-casual chain Just Salad has madeImpossible Foods‘s vegan chicken a permanent menu item with its fall menu launch. The plant-based Unbreaded Chicken Filet is part of a Southwest Crunch salad and a Vegan Chipotle Wrap, and also available as a protein option in Build-Your-Own orders.
Speaking of chains, Slutty Vegan is part of the Pepsi Dig In Restaurant Royalty Residency in Las Vegas. Founder Pinky Cole will be serving up its signature Fussy Hussy burger at Mandalay Bay’s Libertine Social and Luxor’s Public House for four weeks through October 18.
Courtesy: Slutty Vegan
British vegan food producer Marigold Health Foods – maker of Engevita nutritional yeast, vegan boullion cubes, and canned meat analogues – has teamed up with packaging specialist Sonoco to launch fully recyclable packaging for a range of its products. The latter’s EnviroCan is designed with a paper bottom and can be recycled by consumers kerbside.
Also in the UK, The Tofoo Co – recently acquired by Comitis Capital – has introduced a Tofoo Katsu SKU in its added value line, which will be available at Sainsbury’s for £3 per 240g pack.
Shortly after its Swiss launch, artisan vegan cheese brand Julienne Bruno has entered the Republic of Ireland via 65 stores, offering its plant-based Burrella, Crematta and Superstraccia SKUs from €5.29-5.95.
Courtesy: Julienne Bruno
Parisian meat analogue maker La Vie‘s bacon will be on the menu at Picadeli at French retailer Monoprix and in Sweden for the next two months.
German beverage manufacturer Waldemar Behn is making its vodka-based Dooley’s Creamy Liqueur brand entirely vegan. It will relaunch the range in 700ml bottles next month, swapping out the dairy with coconut and soy milk instead.
And ahead of Oktoberfest, German food tech innovator Planteneers is offering manufacturers its fiildMeat S 141501 modular system to make plant-based meats for street food classics, such as bratwrusts as well as hot dog sauces.
Company and financial news
The UK’s Department for Environment, Rural and Social Affairs (Defra) has pumped in £3M towards four research organisations to develop climate-resilient legume crops.
Hollywood star Gal Gadot‘s mac and cheese brand Goodles, which has a vegan SKU, has hired a new CFO in Chris Hall after sales tripled in 2023.
Courtesy: Flora/Warren Goldswain/Getty Images
Dutch alt-dairy leader Upfield has renamed itself to Flora Food Group to reflect its flagship butter range, and acquired a manufacturing facility located in Hugoton, Kansas to produce creams and cream cheeses for the North American market.
Speaking of factories, Thai plant-based cheese company Swees has opened a fully vegan-certified facility for co-manufacturing.
Croatian plant protein producer Nutris has been acquired by Swedish investment firm Summa Equity for an undisclosed sum.
Courtesy: Nutris
Scottish startup MiAlgae has secured $18.5M to produce omega-3 fatty acids via microalgae fermentation. It will use the capital to build an industrial-scale facility in the country.
As it awaits regulatory approval in Singapore, Dutch cultivated meat producer Meatable has received €7.6M ($8.5M) in state funding, under the Netherlands Enterprise Agency‘s Innovation Credit programme.
At Wageningen University, the Bioprocess Engineering Chair Group’s cellular agriculture team has obtained a €1.5M investment from Korean biotech firm Whoniz to work on cultivated meat and seafood.
Courtesy: Odd Burger
Canadian vegan fast-food chain Odd Burger has announced the private placement of $4M of convertible debt after reporting its highest quarterly revenues since going public.
Israel’s MNDL Bio has raised $2M to expand its AI-powered gene optimisation platform, which is said to accelerate R&D, lower costs, and bolter success rates in synthetic biology.
Impact investor Earth First Food Ventures has kickstarted a $10M Series A round to expand its financing portfolio in the alt-dairy segment and introduce a $50M precision fermentation fund.
Policy and research developments
The EU’s regulation requiring manufacturers to produce caps that stay tethered to the plastic bottles has been in place for a couple of months now, and has annoyed manydrinkers. But with the EU set to double down on its plastic waste strategy, the caps are here to stay.
Cultivated meat startups Meatable and Umami Bioworks have joined the APAC Society for Cellular Agriculture, expanding its membership to 12.
Courtesy: The Every Company
Precision fermentation egg maker The Every Company has secured a foundational patent in the US for its animal-free ovalbumin protein.
Food advocacy organisation ProVeg International has taken over the Portuguese Vegetarian Association to open an office in Portugal, joining 12 other locations globally.
Cellular Agriculture Australia has released a report calling for clearer, more verifiable impact claims and metrics from companies in the cultivated meat and cellular ag space.
Courtesy: NYC Health + Hospitals
Across the Pacific, New York University hosted the 2024 Plant-Based Food Festival, where it announced that it has signed on to the city’s Plant-Powered Carbon Challenge.
Scientists at the National University of Singapore have found a way to fortify soy whey with Bifidobacteria strain and propionic acid bacteria to increase vitamin B12 levels in plant-based products.
In an advancement for vegan seafood, researchers in China have created plant-based simulated yellow croaker meat tissues by dual-nozzle 3D printing.
Finally, a new docuseries goes behind the scenes of the plant-based culinary scene in Portland, Oregon. The V Word will be released tomorrow, September 26 on streaming network WaterBear, and explores the lifestyle through a cultural lens via the city’s vegan restaurants.
Fable Foods co-founder and CEO Michael Fox explains why the company has decided to work with meat producers on blended applications.
Climate Week NYC is coinciding with a new era for blended meat, with a major taste test revealing that Americans like part-meat, part-plant burgers and nuggets more than their conventional counterparts.
The survey, carried out by research firm Nectar, revealed that 56% of people liked blended burgers produced by the market-leading brands, versus 42% who liked the taste of 100% beef burgers. They preferred the former’s savouriness and beefy flavour, their juicy texture, and appearance.
One of these leading brands was Fable Foods, the Australian plant protein maker that had made its name with meaty mushroom products. The brand had never indicated a move into the blended category before, so its inclusion in the survey was somewhat of a surprise.
But its new Shiitake Infusion offering – designed to be blended with beef mince – has been two years in the making, reveals co-founder and CEO Michael Fox, who realised that most consumers aren’t interested in absolute veganism, but are more inclined to be flexible.
Plant-based meat still only makes up 1% of the entire meat market, which itself is valued at $2T. “A lot of people do want to reduce their meat consumption, but they don’t want to sacrifice taste, price and convenience in reducing their meat consumption,” Fox tells Green Queen.
Courtesy: Fable Foods
“At the moment, the plant-based options in the market – including ours – require most omnivore consumers to make some sacrifice. And that’s why the plant-based market has remained small,” he adds.
“So we started brainstorming new ways to help consumers who want to reduce their meat consumption. We decided to try and meet those consumers where they are – reducing with smaller portions of meat, and altering recipes by substituting vegetables for some meat.”
Fable Foods, which has so far secured $15M from investors, has already attracted multi-channel interest in the product. “We have partnered with a retailer and a large catering organisation in Australia, who are both using our Shiitake Infusion product,” Fox says. “We’re close to launching with a North American retailer and are in discussions with additional retailers and catering organisations in the US.”
The blended meat has appealed to its foodservice customers too, and the brand is “actively working on product development projects” with the ingredient for those clients.
Fable Foods’ blended meat sells 10 times faster than plant-based SKU
The Shiitake Infusion ingredient is 89% shiitake mushrooms, and is mixed with water, rice, canola and coconut oils, yeast extract, mushroom powder, and salt. Compared to an 80/20 beef mince, the blended meat is 35% lower in saturated fat, has half the cholesterol and 17% fewer calories, and contains 8g of fibre per serving (versus zero).
“We aren’t the first to mix non-meat ingredients with beef – it’s been done for years, primarily at the cheaper end of the market,” Fox points out. In just the last year, 50/50 Foods’ Both Burger has landed on the menu at Disneyland, Mush Foods’s 50Cut Burger has become part of Pat LaFrieda’s portfolio, fellow Aussie company Harvest B has entered the space, and industry giant Quorn has begun offering its mycoprotein to British hospitals for blended burgers and sausages.
“Our focus at Fable is on creating a product that’s not just a compromise, but an improvement that consumers prefer over 100% beef in terms of taste, texture, and experience, [and is] cheaper and also carries the health and environmental benefits we’re striving for,” he says.
“Our new Shiitake Infusion product is resonating with consumers, and the value proposition is incredibly strong. With more advancements and innovation coming to the fore, I do think there will be more brands who explore this path.”
Courtesy: Daniel Hine/Fable Foods
Consumers do seem to be taking to it. In the Nectar taste test, three in four preferred the taste of a blended burger with Shiitake Infusion over a 100% beef version. It’s not just the US, though. Fable Foods partnered with a supermarket in Australia to trial a 1lb pack of blended mince in a 50-50 ratio.
The product was placed alongside ground beef on shelves. Half the people who tasted it during in-store samplings purchased it on the spot. And since launching, it has been selling 50 units per store per week – 10 times higher than the sales of its Pulled Shiitake SKU.
Australians are increasingly cost-conscious, especially when it comes to reducing meat and embracing plant-based food. So it helps that the Fable Foods blended burger could end up being 5% cheaper. Plus, there are the climate benefits: selling 100 of these burgers would cut 270kg of dietary carbon emissions and 110,000 litres of water.
Moving past the ‘all-or-nothing’ approach
When Fable Foods announced the move, it admitted that this could be controversial. A vegan company, making products that end up in meat is contradictory. But as the success of blended meat over the last year has shown, the decision isn’t unfounded.
“At Fable, we believe in supporting people who want to reduce their meat intake as the most effective way to create change. Fable produces the mushrooms rather than the beef, and we recognise the importance of an inclusive approach, which focuses on reducing meat consumption rather than pushing for an all-or-nothing shift,” says Fox.
He calls the black-and-white approach to meat-eating polarising and alienating. “Inclusion and supporting those who want to reduce, but aren’t prepared to eliminate, their consumption of animal products leads to a larger reduction in meat consumption than a polarised ‘vegans vs non-vegans’ mentality,” he suggests.
“We cheer on and celebrate the vegetarians and vegans who have crossed the finish line and changed their habits,” he adds. “But… we believe an inclusive approach will help achieve a larger impact in reducing global meat consumption and in mitigating the harmful outcomes it has on the environment, consumer health, and animal welfare.”
Courtesy: Fable Foods
Even Peter Singer, the noted animal rights pioneer who authored 1975’s Animal Liberation and is known as the father of effective altruism, isn’t against this approach. Speaking to Fox on an episode of his Talking Shiitake podcast, he stated that this would be a good thing for animals and the environment, which would benefit from fewer methane emissions and less land used to grow soy for feed.
“While I would rather we got away from beef and other animal products altogether, this does seem to be something that an ethic that looks towards consequences can support, because the consequences will be better than people just continuing to eat 100% beef,” Singer said. (It should be noted that he is an investor in Fable Foods.)
Fox warns that companies entering the blended meat segment need to ensure these are products that consumers prefer over 100% meat in sensory tests. “If we don’t, we risk those who trial blended products not returning, undoing any of the potential health and planetary gains we are all seeking,” he explains.
“Our next challenge is to effectively communicate this product’s benefits to consumers and drive trial. We’re testing various messaging and marketing activities to determine what works best, because we’ve seen firsthand that when people try it, they love it.”
Investing in a plant-based food system offers much greater emissions cuts per dollar than renewable energy or electric vehicles, shows a new report.
If governments and investors put the same amount of money into plant-based food as they do electric vehicles (EVs) and green energy, the former will offer the greatest returns on investment in terms of reducing emissions.
Every $1B pumped into companies and strategies focused on transitioning to a plant-based food system would result in the mitigation of 28 million tonnes of CO2e, a return five times higher than renewable energy (five million tonnes) and EVs (seven million tonnes).
The emissions savings from financing plant-based progress also far outweigh the returns on investment into improving livestock production practices, the report from Tilt Collective and Systemiq found.
“Shifting to a plant-rich food system represents a spectacular pay-off as a climate investment – the outsized climate benefits are clear,” said Tilt Collective CEO Sarah Lake, who previously co-founded the research firm Madre Brava.
The food system takes up around a third of the world’s emissions – by the UN FAO’s estimate, it was responsible for 13 gigatonnes of emissions in 2019, more than the industry and transportation sectors combined.
Tilt Collective, whose work is centred around the protein transition and addressing the ills of industrial livestock agriculture, has released the report to coincide with the ongoing Climate Week NYC (September 22-29). It underscores the critical underfunding of the plant-based food industry, given its outsized impact on climate change mitigation.
“While we of course need investments in other sectors and food solutions as well, the data is undeniable that investments in plant-rich food systems, and shifting consumption and production patterns, offer exponentially more emissions reductions for the money spent,” said Lake.
Investing in plant-based food more valuable than livestock improvements
Courtesy: Tilt Collective/Systemiq
The report argues that current ways of producing food are highly inefficient, using up 65% of the world’s freshwater and contributing to almost all (90%) of deforestation. This is largely thanks to livestock farming, which alone accounts for 57% of the food system’s emissions, a figure twice as high as that for plant-based food.
Animal agriculture currently occupies 80% of the world’s land, but only provides 18% of its calories and 38% of its protein supply. It’s also leading to a rise in non-communicable diseases, elevated antimicrobial resistance, and pandemic risks, contributing to the $9.3T of hidden costs caused by “unhealthy dietary patterns”, according to the FAO.
Moreover, if meat consumption continues to grow and current livestock production models remain unchanged, we can only feed 3.4 billion people while respecting planetary boundaries, less than half of the eight billion people living across the planet today, and a third of the 10-billion-strong population expected by 2050.
Many meat and dairy producers are looking into ways to lower their methane impact and, subsequently, climate footprint. A lot of money has been poured into this strategy, and it does have some merit, but not nearly as much as the returns you get when you invest in transitioning to plant-forward food system.
Such a shift towards a plant-forward food system offers 2.5 times more emission reductions than improving on-farm livestock and crop production systems – the latter would cut emissions by 11 million tonnes per billion dollars invested.
In fact, the return on investment for enhancing production practices is lower than addressing food waste too, which itself accounts for five times more emissions than the entire aviation sector. Project Drawdown has named food waste reduction as the top climate solution to curb emissions in line for a 2°C future – and this report (focused on a 1.5°C target) shows that this can eliminate 23 million tonnes of emissions per $1B.
Tilt Collective and Systemiq outline the potential of a high-ambition scenario – one where over 80% of the population adopts the Planetary Health Diet proposed by the Eat-Lancet Commission by 2050, food waste is halved, up to 30% of livestock interventions for emissions reductions are implemented, and biochar is established as a sequestration strategy.
Business as usual would mean our agricultural emissions rise to 21 gigatonnes by 2050 – but this high-ambition scenario would slash that by 71%. Improved livestock and crop management would help bring emissions down by five gigatonnes, food waste reduction by one gigatonne, and a plant-based transition by eight gigatonnes.
“While advancing all transitions is essential to meeting our climate goals, the investment opportunity in a plant-rich food system is impossible to ignore,” said Christine Delivanis, head of nature and food at Systemiq, which is focused on systems change towards a low-carbon economy.
Courtesy: Tilt Collective/Systemiq
Multi-pronged benefits could be unlocked by philanthropic funding
It’s not just the emissions potential. A plant-based transition would bring co-benefits that other sectors can’t. For starters, there’s the land sparing.
The food system is set to use up 4.1 billion hectares of land by 2050 if things stay the same, but turning to a Planetary Health Diet would free up nearly 1.6 billion hectares. This can slow down biodiversity loss by 40%, and unlock the potential to sequester two to four gigatonnes of carbon by 2050.
This would also save 1,100 cubic km of water by 2050, equivalent to current freshwater withdrawals from the US and China. Essentially, water use could be cut by a third, annual savings from water bills could be down between $140-240B for farmers, and water pollution from nutrient runoff will be slashed by 40%. Likewise, fertiliser use will reduce by 40%, and bring savings equivalent to the annual manure production of 350 cows.
In addition, moving to plant-forward dietary habits would bring a host of health benefits. It would increase 150 million years of healthy lives and save $3.4T in economic productivity annually by 2050 from these gains, since malnutrition, obesity, antimicrobial resistance, and pandemic risks will all fall.
The problem, though, is that the shift towards a sustainable food system is severely underfunded. On average, alternative proteins are currently receiving $3.4B in public and private sector investment every year, versus the $46B sent to improving production systems and $5B to food waste management.
Courtesy: Tilt Collective/Systemiq
To put that into context, investments in renewable energy startups reached $11.6B in 2023 – and that’s just VC money. The Tilt Collective/Systemiq report says the alternative protein transition needs $160B in incremental funding annually until 2050, which means the current yearly total is at a meagre 2%.
Philanthropic organisations can be a catalyst here. An initial investment of $250-500M from this sector could unlock $4-7B of public and private finance. This would also create strong, science-based narratives, break silos between food system pillars and communities, and derisk investment in the sector.
One such organisation is the Bezos Earth Fund, which has set up a $1B Future of Food initiative, through which it’s investing $100M in three alternative protein research hubs globally. Andy Jarvis, director of the Future of Food initiative, said the scale of philanthropic investment is quite small.
“We see this as a high-leverage opportunity for philanthropy to catalyse action by governments, the private sector and civil society to meet climate goals, deliver benefits to nature and boost human health and nutrition,” he added.
In a comprehensive survey about blended meat, Americans were found to prefer half-meat, half-plant burgers and nuggets more than the market-leading, fully animal-derived products.
People prefer the taste of blended meat over most plant-based analogues, as well as some 100% animal meat products, a blind taste test has shown.
Nectar, a new initiative focused on taste-based protein transition, convened 1,192 meat-eaters from across America to analyse their views on blended meat products, which combine conventional meat with plant-based proteins and ingredients.
The Future of the Industry 2024: Plant-Rich Meat report contains insights from sensory panels where participants analysed over 50 sensory attributes for 22 blended meat products across nine categories: burgers, steaks, hot dogs, pork sausages, beef and pork meatballs, chicken sausages, chicken meatballs, chicken nuggets, and unbreaded chicken patties.
Two-thirds of respondents (67%) expressed interest in buying blended meats. While this was (expectedly) much lower than the 90% who would buy conventional meat – given this was a poll of omnivores – fewer people said the same about plant-based analogues (57%).
The results mirror those of Nectar’s Taste of the Industry report from June, where the Both Burger by 50/50 Foods outperformed plant-based meat on taste, and was the only alternative patty that came within one point in average liking of the conventional burger.
50/50 Foods was recognised as one of the leading taste performers in the blended meat category, alongside Fusion Foods’ Duo burgers, Teton Waters Ranch’s Veggie Blends, and Fable Foods, which announced its move into blended meat today.
Teton Waters Ranch was also the leader in the “plant-rich” beef/pork meatball category, while Kidfresh was the top performer for chicken meatballs and nuggets, and Grateful Eats in the chicken patty segment.
Blended meats have been recognised by many in the food industry as a pathway to accelerate emissions reduction from meat consumption in the short term, especially at a time when meat intake is said to increase and plant-based meat sales have suffered. But for greater consumer uptake, several challenges lie ahead.
Blended burgers and nuggets taste better
Courtesy: Nectar
Nearly three-quarters (74%) of Americans were interested or extremely interested in the concept of blended meats (and only 4% showed no intrigue). These products were received better than conventional products in two categories: burgers and chicken nuggets.
The leading plant-rich burger was liked by 56% and nugget by 58%, higher than the 42% and 47% of people who liked the 100% animal products. Even the average blended burgers (42%) and nuggets (51%) were found to be on par or slightly better. In contrast, only 36% liked plant-based burgers, while a similar number of people liked vegan nuggets (47%).
“These two categories performed well for different reasons,” Nectar director Caroline Catto tells Green Queen. “For burgers, I think it was because burgers – like sausages or meatballs – are a format that consumers understand as historically ‘blended’ (includes seasonings, onions, etc.),” she says.
“For the burgers we tested, I also think it was because these products were mostly blended with premium ingredients like caramelised onions, shiitake mushrooms, etc. that are umami and delicious in their own right.”
The report found that blended meat products had a better beef flavour than 100% beef, were juicier, and were adjudged to have a superior look and seared exterior. In fact, conventional burgers were the worst-performing products when it came to savoury flavours, with only 29% of respondents associating them with these tasting notes, versus 32% doing so for plant-based and 38% for blended burgers.
Courtesy: Nectar
Meanwhile, blended chicken nuggets (you know, like the ones McDonald’s sells) were found to hold together better and be much crunchier than conventional nuggets, and performed nearly as well as 100% chicken nuggets on savoury and chicken flavours.
“For nuggets, this was the only breaded category we tested, and I think we’re seeing that breaded products continue to perform highly across plant-based and plant-rich products,” Catto says.
Vegetables > meat analogues
Courtesy: Nectar
Despite the sensory dominance of burgers and nuggets, when asked what plant-rich products appeal to them the most in theory, 79% of Americans said meatballs, followed by sausages (75%) and burgers (73%). On the other end of the spectrum lie steak and cold cuts, which appealed to only 19% and 18%, respectively.
Interestingly, a majority (60%) of respondents said they prefer a 50-50 balance of plant and animal ingredients, while another 30% preferred a mix that contains around 90-95% of animal meat. And as for what these plant-based ingredients could entail mushroom and savoury vegetables (64%) each were much more attractive than plant proteins like pea (52%), mycelium (38%), or plant-based meat (34%).
“This speaks to the importance of consumer education and making sure ingredient labels include things that consumers are either familiar with and can understand, or if not, that companies go above and beyond to help customers understand what their products are made of,” says Catto.
“For blended meat companies, this points to an opportunity to lean into whole-food plant-based ingredients when creating blends,” she adds. “For plant-based alternative meat companies, the focus needs to continue to be on creating taste-forward options that replicate the experience of real meat and exceed consumer expectations on taste, price, and health.”
Motivations, barriers, and entry points
Courtesy: Nectar
Plant-based meat makers have been moving away from the climate-centric messaging that they based their brands on for so long because that argument is no longer moving the needle. Instead, consumers seem more concerned with health, nutrition, taste and price.
But things seem different when it comes to blended meat – environmental sustainability was the top interest driver for these products, cited by 51%. Health (47%) follows closely behind.
“Participants in this study recognised that reducing meat consumption has positive sustainability outcomes,” explains Catto. “Consumers’ understanding of how diet connects to sustainability has grown significantly over the past several years – however, brands must still deliver the personal benefits to consumers (taste, price, and health) in order to drive demand.”
Courtesy: Nectar
The factors holding most Americans back were affordability (45%) and flavour (43%), while another 27% said they were not familiar with the products. That said, nearly a quarter (24%) said they were willing to pay more for blended meat products, while another 43% were happy to buy them if they were priced the same as conventional meat. This suggests that companies should aim for price parity, according to Catto.
“While consumers may be willing to pay a slight premium, the vast majority of flexitarian consumers expect these products to be the same as animal-based meat, or slightly cheaper since they contain half the amount of meat,” she says. “Once ‘taste’ has been solved, price will be the next big hurdle for these companies so they should aim for parity from the start.”
She continues: “In Europe, we’re seeing some white-label plant-based and plant-rich products that are being sold for less than their animal analogues. In these cases, retailers are leading the charge to make these options more affordable and more approachable defaults for consumers.”
Courtesy: Nectar
Moreover, 55% of Americans said they were more likely to try these products in restaurants instead of at home. “The barrier to entry is lower in foodservice,” suggests Catto. “Consumers are more likely to try something novel if they don’t have to cook it themselves or risk cooking something they are unfamiliar with.
“Foodservice presents a real opportunity to show consumers how delicious plant-rich products can be in different menu options and hopefully drive more at-home consumption as familiarity grows. I see this as very akin to why Impossible initially sold into restaurants and foodservice as a way to socialise the products before launching in retail.”
The roadblocks on the path to mainstream adoption
Courtesy: Nectar
Despite the potential interest, blended meat products still trailed behind 100% animal meat in seven out of the nine product segments. “This tells us a few things,” says Catto.
First, further R&D is needed for the blended meat category to hit the mainstream. Secondly, and in that vein, the plant-rich category does have mainstream taste potential, as evidenced by the leading burger and nugget products.
Finally, just as hybrid cars are paving the way to full EV adoption, blended meat “offers a practical solution consumers can adopt today to curb their meat consumption on the way to full plant-based adoption”.
This is the hope of the companies whose products were involved in the taste test. In the last 12 months, the blended meat sector has moved faster than it ever has – the Both Burger is in Disneyland, Mush Foods’s 50Cut Burger is now being sold by Pat LaFrieda, Harvest B is doing blended meat too, and Quorn (one of the largest meat-free companies globally) is offering its mycoprotein to British hospitals for blended solutions.
Several challenges lie ahead. “The first is determining who is the core audience for these products, and once that’s been established, how do you reach that audience and market to those consumers appropriately,” notes Catto.
Food Systems Innovation, the parent organisation of Nectar, has hired Tim Dale as a category innovation director to tackle this research, looking into consumer insights, nomenclature and labelling, and the optimal blend ratios to set to avoid greenwashing.
“Blended products still have work to do to surpass animal-based products in taste, as well as additional marketing challenges that will determine the scale of consumer adoption.”
Where does this leave plant-based companies?
Courtesy: Nectar
Leading blended meat products outperformed plant-based analogues in six out of eight categories (there were no vegan chicken sausage products tested). But when it comes to the average blended meat offering, leading plant-based products had a higher mean liking in four of the eight categories.
“The meat category is large and alternative proteins are just scratching the surface (currently at about 2% of total market share). There’s room for both plant-rich meat and plant-based products to coexist and possible that there will be learnings and synergies between them,” says Catto.
Nectar is now working on its 2025 Taste of the Industry report, where it will test 150 plant-based meat products across 15 categories. Catto suggests that the main takeaways for vegan meat makers from the blended meat poll are similar to those from this year’s Taste of the Industry report. “More R&D is needed if plant-based companies want to win over omnivore consumers,” she explains.
“They need to lean into bolder product profiles that more closely mimic or exceed the taste and experience of animal-based meat. This will require further investment in sensory research as well as development of novel ingredients and technologies.”
In Australia, vEEF has introduced a new range of meat analogues that are priced lower than animal-derived meat, keying into consumer trends.
Nearly a year after its merger with Love Buds, vEEF is rolling out a new range of meat analogues that tackle a key consumer pain point: cost.
Available at Woolworths, the new beef mince and sausages are on par with conventional meat, at AU$4.50 per 300g pack. This is much lower than Woolworths’ own-brand lean beef and beef sausages (ranging from AU$16-22 per kg, versus AU$15 for vEEF).
They are housed in renewed packaging that uses 50% less plastic than previous vEEF products and features a Carbon Neutral label, a reference to the brand’s carbon neutral certification by the eCarbon reductio Institute last year.
“We recognise that high costs have historically deterred many conscious consumers from embracing plant-based alternatives. In these challenging times, we’re committed to striving towards making delicious, nourishing plant-based foods accessible to all Australians,” said co-founder and CEO Alejandro Cancino, who received a Michelin star during his time in Tokyo, as well as three chef’s hats, Australia’s equivalent to the Michelin star.
“By offering vEEF at a fair price, we’re empowering more people to make choices that align with their values and dietary preferences. It’s about making plant-based eating an accessible option for everyone, not just a select few,” he added.
vEEF cuts profit margins to offer cheaper plant-based meats
Courtesy: vEEF
Cancino founded the company as part of Fenn Foods in 2018 with his wife, Paolo Moro, with a range that now includes nuggets, bacon bits, roast chicken, steaks and burgers across chilled and frozen formats.
Last year, vEEF merged with All G Foods’ Love Buds brand to form the Aussie Plant-Based Co. “This union combines our strengths, enabling significant growth in both retail (vEEF) and foodservice (Love BUDS) sectors,” said Cancino.
“Our consolidated resources and shared expertise have positioned us for continued expansion. We remain committed to delivering top-quality plant-based products across both channels, leveraging our enhanced capabilities to meet growing consumer demand,” he added. “This strategic alliance strengthens our market presence, allowing us to better serve our customers and drive innovation in the plant-based food industry.”
The latest soy-protein-based products are vEEF’s first new launches since the merger. They include a beef mince for use in tacos, pasta sauces, and more, as well as three sausages. The classic sausages are ideal for stir-fries and barbecues, the Smokey ones can be added to soups and casseroles, while you can top up pizzas and breakfast scrambles with the Chorizo version (which is much cheaper than conventional branded Chorizo sausages, which range from AU$26-50).
The company has managed to bring down the prices and overcome challenges like high raw material costs and supply chain instability through a multi-faceted approach. Its manufacturing hub streamlines production and reduces reliance on external suppliers to cut intermediary costs, while it has been working on addressing efficiencies in the supply chain.
vEEF has also continued to refine its manufacturing process, allowing it to increase output while maintaining its quality, and the economies of scaling up this way also bring down prices. Notably, it is accepting a lower profit margin to offer competitive pricing, with a long-term focus on market share and consumer accessibility.
Just earlier this month, a survey of 2,000 Australians found that price is the second largest barrier to the consumption of plant-based meat, with 37% deterred from choosing these products due to their high markups. That said, budgetary concerns were also the second most important reason for reducing the amount of meat Australians eat, a factor cited by 54% of respondents.
The price problem for plant-based meat
Courtesy: Food Frontier
The aforementioned poll, commissioned by Sydney-based think tank Food Frontier, suggested that nearly a fifth of Australians (21%) identify as meat reducers, while another 7% are flexitarian. Meanwhile, 15% are vegan or vegetarian – meaning more than two in five consumers are either cutting back on meat, or don’t eat it at all.
This is on the back of a 47% hike in plant-based meats sales in Australia from 2020 to 2023 (across both retail and foodservice). With another 12% of citizens hoping to reduce meat this year, and four in five going meat-free at least once a week, the market for plant-based analogues seems ripe.
But the latter category suffers from a major price premium, carrying a 33% higher markup than animal-derived meat. That said, this gap has narrowed from 49% in 2020, and Australian-made plant-based mince is only 8% more expensive than its cattle-based counterpart. Vegan sausages, on the other hand, have become 27% costlier in this time.
Courtesy: Food Frontier
Food Frontier found that manufacturers are prioritising health and nutrition in plant-based meat, followed by price. “Some Australian manufacturers said they absorbed price hikes whenever feasible to shield consumers from bearing the brunt, recognising the role of pricing in consumer decision-making,” the think tank’s CEO, Simon Eassom, told Green Queen in May.
“And some companies improved efficiencies in their supply chain, while others pursued vertical integration to reduce overall expenses. Another contributor to the narrowing of the price gap is the departure of several imported plant-based meats, which were more expensive per kilo than locally produced products.”
With continued manufacturing efficiencies, expansion in local production capacity, as well as some support from retailers, costs could be driven down even further, added Eassom: “If overseas trends are anything to go by, we think the Australian market, when it can, will see even closer price parity.”
At a food safety summit in New Delhi, India’s health minister JP Nadda underscored the importance of building a regulatory framework for novel foods like cultivated meat.
The Indian government’s support for alternative proteins continues to shore up, with the country’s health minister highlighting the importance of regulatory reform for foods like cultivated meat.
Speaking at the Global Food Regulators Summit 2024 in New Delhi, JP Nadda commended the work of the Food Safety Standards and Authority of India (FSSAI) in the first 100 days of the new coalition administration, putting it in the context of a growing list of food safety advancements needed in India.
“We face a complex array of challenges, from persistent foodborne illness to emerging concerns such as new nutraceutical safety, novel foods, and the microplastics in our food chain, all while striving for sustainability,” said Nadda, the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare.
“In this dynamic environment, the role of food regulators has never been more crucial. This demands continuous collaboration, relentless innovation, and a commitment to constant improvement in our food safety systems,” he added.
India working on novel food regulatory framework
It’s still early doors for technologies like cell cultivation and precision fermentation in India, with only a handful of companies involved in these sectors at present.
But there have been a number of advancements in the last few months, propelled by the FSSAI’s work on developing a regulatory framework for these foods, which would allow companies to apply for and receive clearance to sell their products on the market.
Currently, the FSSAI categorises cultivated meat and precision-fermented foods as ‘non-specified’ products or ‘novel foods’, since they have no history of consumption in the country. But in March, it was reported that the food safety regulator was formulating a framework for these proteins, with a senior official saying: “We are working on drafting regulations for cultured meat products.”
Nadda said that the health ministry and the FSAI have been “playing a pivotal role in developing standards” in line with international trade, evolving food production processes, and changing consumption patterns.
“The rapid globalisation, technological advancements, and evolving consumer preferences are reshaping our food systems at an unprecedented pace,” he explained. “FSSAI has made remarkable strides in reviewing and developing new standards based on cutting-edge advancements in food technology.”
That said, while it is believed that cultivated meat will be regulated under the Approval of Non-Specified Food and Food Ingredients Regulations (NSF Regulations) by the FSSAI, there is currently no specific definition of cultivated meat or guidance provided under these rules.
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, although experts say the framework needs to be more dynamic and align with ongoing innovations.
“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,” Astha Gaur, regulatory policy specialist at alternative protein think tank the Good Food Institute (GFI) India, told Green Queen in March.
Increasing government interest in alternative proteins
Courtesy: Umami Bioworks
Nadda’s comments – which also involved a focus on sustainable packaging – come just a month after India announced its BioE3 policy. The climate-focused bioeconomy strategy counted smart proteins and functional foods as one of its six pillars.
“By providing dedicated R&D and innovation support, the policy will accelerate the development of new technologies and processes that can pave the way towards the nutrition, price, and taste parity of smart protein products, making them a truly competitive alternative to their animal-derived counterparts,” GFI India acting managing director Sneha Singh told Green Queen at the time.
Announcing the country’s latest budget in July, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government will set up 100 accredited food safety labs nationwide. Along similar lines, India has also set up a $5.9M National Research Foundation to expand research across sectors including food safety (Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about lab-grown diamonds at its first board meeting).
Meanwhile, Bengaluru is host to two new alternative protein hubs. The Centre for Smart Protein and Sustainable Material Innovation is focused on incubation, equipment access, and product development, while the Alternative Proteins Innovation Center is an integrated R&D facility for ingredient and product development.
Singapore’s Umami Bioworks has partnered with the former to accelerate research and scalability of its cultivated seafood, while also setting up an R&D facility at the Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology in Chennai. Fellow cultivated meat startup Neat Meatt Biotech – based in New Delhi – is working with the government’s ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute to develop cultivated fish too.
These advancements serve as proof that India has a burgeoning cultivated meat sector, but one that needs better consumer awareness. A 2023 survey revealed that the number of Indians familiar with the term (42%) was almost identical to those who weren’t (41%). And while 40% expressed interest in trying cultivated meat, a third of respondents “stayed neutral and didn’t answer the question”, highlighting the industry’s public perception challenges.
Nadda wasn’t the only national government official talking up novel foods last week. In the UK, science secretary Peter Kyle was asked about cultivated meat on Sunday. “I think it’s an exciting area of science. Britain is leading the way on its development,” he responded.
“The market would tell – we’re not going to force anyone to eat it. But let’s see whether this can contribute to the health of our nation, and help with the challenges of climate change. And for those people who have concerns about animal rights, then they may well offer something for them as well.”
Mexico’s Forma Foods is making whole-cut plant-based meat using a 3D printing technique that has impressed Michelin-starred chefs.
What started as a bioprinting firm in 2017 has turned into a full-fledged food tech startup, leveraging its chaotic printing technology to address consumer pain points about the texture of meat analogues.
For 75% of people around the world, the texture of plant-based meat is as important as its animal-derived counterparts – but only about 60% are actually satisfied with it.
In Mexico City, Forma Foods is hoping to give consumers the mouthfeel they want from these products based on a technology that doesn’t just replicate animal muscle fibres, but also adipose and connective tissues, resulting in a well-rounded textural experience for the consumer.
The startup’s beef analogues have impressed investors as well as chefs alike, landing on the menu of Rodrigo Rivera-Rio’s Koli, a recent recipient of a Michelin star. “It’s a protein, obviously, made with all the most cutting-edge technology in a laboratory,” the chef told TecScience in June. “It’s from Monterrey, it’s regia cuisine.”
Courtesy: Forma Foods
How Forma Foods developed its chaotic printing technology
Forma Foods was founded on the back of years of research by Grissel Trujillo de Santiago and Mario Moises Alvarez during their time at Tecnologico de Monterrey. With biotech engineer Li Lu Lam Aguilar joining as co-founder and CEO, the tissue engineering experts initially explored cultivated meat, but pivoted to plant proteins due to the much higher costs involved.
Its chaotic printing technology produces microstructures that mirror the architecture of animal tissues via the use of plant-based pastes: pea protein helps simulate muscle tissue, coconut oil mimics fat tissue, and prebiotic fibre from an Oriental root replicates connective tissue.
“The term ‘chaotic’ might seem counterintuitive, as it’s often associated with disorder,” admits Alvarez, the firm’s CTO. “But in mathematics and physics, chaotic flows are known for their ability to create intricate, highly ordered microstructures efficiently.”
The development of a now-patented specialised printhead in 2019 allowed the company to overcome the challenge of adapting 3D printing to produce meat analogues. “We use static mixers within our printheads to generate chaotic flows, enabling us to produce detailed microarchitecture within each filament. This innovative method allows us to recreate the complex texture of meat in a cost-effective and scalable way,” Alvarez explains.
“Our printing technology replicates the architecture and texture of real meat by precisely organising different components – protein fibres, fat, and connective tissue – at a microscopic scale,” he adds. “In real meat, these elements are not mixed randomly – they are aligned and structured, which gives the meat its distinctive texture. Similarly, we print multi-material filaments that emulate these components.
“While other plant-based meat producers typically create ‘ground meat’ products where all the ingredients are mixed and lack the fibrous structure of real meat, our approach coextrudes three different materials through the same nozzle, achieving a microstructure that mimics the natural alignment of meat at the micron level.”
Courtesy: Forma Foods
Forma Foods outpaces a cow by a factor of 100
Forma Foods has created plant-based versions of arrachera (skirt steak) and carne al pastor (grilled pork) to appeal to local palates. After all, more than half (54%) of Mexicans are swapping meat for plant-based analogues.
In 2022, a study suggested that 9% of the country’s population was vegan, another 19% vegetarian, and 15% identified as flexitarian – making it the largest plant-forward market in Latin America. Even Taylor Swift recognised this, offering Propel Foods’s vegan Bistec steak, Chorizo and Pastor tacos to Eras Tour visitors at the Foro Sol stadium in the capital last year.
As proof of its product potential, Forma Foods has raised over $1M in funding from Tec Ventures and Saya Bio. “We are seeking additional funding to accelerate the development and scaling of our technology,” says Alvarez.
Each of the company’s printers can currently produce 1.8kg of its beef per hour, a rate around 100 times speedier than the time it takes to raise a cow. “Our overall annual production is still limited, as we only have a small number of printers in operation (we design and build our own 3D printers),” he reveals.
“However, our technology is easily scalable by simply adding more printers, which will significantly increase our production capacity to tonnes per month by mid-2025,” notes Alvarez. Another milestone would be reducing the costs of the final product. “Our current market price is above that of traditional beef, but we aim to achieve price parity by 2026,” he adds.
Courtesy: Forma Foods
The startup has outlined a three-pronged strategy as part of its development plan: gain consumer trust, establish strategic partnerships in the market, and offer products that are unique and innovative. On that note, it’s been in talks with some foodservice customers, and currently supplies three cuts of its 3D-printed meat for special events at Tecnológico de Monterrey.
At Koli, Rivera-Rio served its beef as part of a conceptual dish. The story goes: as one beet watched cows eating other beets, it felt lonely and decided to become beef itself. To visualise this, he requested Forma Foods to shape its meat analogue in the form of a beetroot, pairing it with a beet sauce.
“I think it would be very interesting to keep this as an ongoing dish in the menu: the vegetable that wanted to be meat,” the chef said, hinting at an ongoing collaboration with the startup. “This season it would be beet, next it could be a carrot. It can be a thousand things.”
“Looking ahead, we plan to expand into retail stores across Mexico, particularly those specialising in vegan and health-conscious products,” says Alvarez. “We expect this rollout to happen at the beginning of 2025.”
Italian legacy meat producer Gruppo Tonazzo is shuttering its meat business to solely focus on plant-based proteins via its Kioene brand.
Driven by its impact on the environment and people’s health, one of Italy’s oldest meat manufacturers is going vegan.
Padua-based Gruppo Tonazzo, which began as a butcher shop in 1888, has announced that by the end of the year, it will divest its meat business. The company will switch its entire focus on plant proteins through its long-running Kioene brand, which itself has been around since 1988 and is an established leader in the country’s vegan market.
“We are embarking on the third revolution in our company’s history, and – we hope – in the sector as well,” said CEO Stefano Tonazzo, calling it “a gesture of great responsibility towards the environment and the nutritional wellbeing of future generations”.
This was echoed by his brother Albino, who is CEO of Kioene: “This is a choice that we have carefully considered within the family and shared with our collaborators, a decision through which we want to make our contribution to safeguarding the planet and promoting an increasingly conscious diet.”
Francesca Gallelli, public affairs consultant at alternative protein think tank the Good Food Institute (GFI) Europe, told Green Queen: “This decision demonstrates that alternative proteins are not a threat, but rather a chance for the conventional meat sector to diversify, innovate, and enhance its offerings to meet consumers’ demand – especially when backed by deep expertise and the strength of the ‘Made in Italy’ brand.”
Embracing vegetables for people and the planet
Courtesy: Kioene/Gruppo Tonazzo
The makings of the decision can be traced back to the establishment of Kioene all those years ago, the idea for which came about during a trip the Tonazzo brothers took to São Paulo. “We woke up very early and left with one of our suppliers to visit the slaughterhouses outside the city,” Albino recalled in an interview with Nord Est Economia last year.
“On the way, we saw an endless line of trucks stopped on the road. We asked what it was. It was soy, destined for animal feed,” he said. “It was shortly after, during dinner, that my life changed: they explained to me that the energy needed to produce one unit of animal protein was the same as that needed to produce 12 units of plant protein. An absurd ratio.”
It sparked a research effort that ended in Albino and his team creating some of the first soy burgers on Italian supermarket shelves. That lineup has since expanded to include a whole-food focus, using vegetables like aubergines, broccoli, kale and spinach as the base, and these propelled the brand’s market success.
Apart from the veggie burgers, its current portfolio also includes falafels, cutlets, and chicken fillets (though these contain eggs and aren’t vegan) in both fresh and frozen options. Its entire lineup has over 100 SKUs – including alt-dairy offerings – and has penetrated 2.3 million households in Italy (around 10% of the total).
In the last decade, Kioene has become a major money maker for Tonazzo, so much so that the plant-based burgers alone made up €50M of its €80M turnover in 2023 (a 63% share).
“While our family has been involved in the meat industry for five generations, nearly 40 years ago, we began a shift by introducing plant-based protein alternatives,” said Stefano. “With the same spirit of innovation and foresight, we are now closing all meat-related operations to focus entirely on plant-based proteins and our Kioene brand.”
Tonazzo leans into Italy’s fast-growing plant-based market
Courtesy: Kioene/Gruppo Tonazzo
Tonazzo’s factory in Villanova di Camposampiero will continue to produce plant-based products, and employees in the meat business will be offered new roles within the company to ensure a just transition, which is earmarked for December 31.
“As pioneers and key players in this market, we feel a deep responsibility towards future generations, and we want to help protect the Earth from progressive environmental degradation. We are aware of the need to help people take care of their wellbeing, starting with food,” Albino said.
“This is how we aim to contribute to change and collective awareness, and we are convinced that the market and consumers will follow us once again.”
Italians are actively eating less meat. A pan-European survey in 2023 found that the country had the joint-highest share of consumers (59%) looking to cut back on guanciale, vitello, pancetta and the like. This was primarily driven by concerns around health (54%), antibiotic use (17%), and the environment (16%), in line with the reasons Tonazzo is saying arrivederci to meat.
It does seem that the company is following consumer trends: among the Italians reducing meat, most want to replace it with legumes (57%) or legume-based proteins (43%), with the desire for plant-based meat lower at 39%. Kioene’s portfolio plays straight into this trend.
That said, it also comes at a time when meat analogues are the second-fastest-growing segment in Italy’s vegan sector, behind only plant-based cheese. In 2023, retail sales of meatless products in Italy swelled by 13%, nearly reaching €200M – only milk alternatives had higher sales, according to GFI Europe.
This isn’t a one-off. Plant-based meat sales are actually up by 24% from two years ago, and in the first four months of 2024, sales are 10% higher than the corresponding period last year.
“As more Italians incorporate plant-based meat into their diets, it’s inspiring to see a historic meat company embracing the potential of alternative proteins,” said Gallelli.
The UK’s Food Standards Agency has announced it will implement changes to speed up and ‘modernise’ the authorisation process for novel foods. But experts say more needs to be done.
Next year, the UK’s food safety regulator will introduce changes to its regulatory framework for market authorisations in an attempt at “modernising” the process.
In its latest board meeting yesterday, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) ratified changes to the approval process for foods like cultivated meat and precision-fermented products. The move will see the creation of a new public register that replaces the existing system of requiring a statutory instrument, which adds up to six months to a process that already takes over two-and-a-half years.
Following a consultation with industry stakeholders and approval by the new Labour government, the regulator announced it hopes to roll out the reforms in early 2025.
The overhaul could benefit a range of food industry players and consumers while continuing to uphold the FSA’s rigorous safety standards. It also marks a departure from the EU-like regulations the agency had retained post-Brexit, which it said haven’t been designed to operate in a UK context.
“We hope British alternative protein companies will be reassured that the FSA is taking sensible steps to modernise its process while continuing to enforce a gold-standard regulatory system that can give consumers confidence in new products,” Linus Pardoe, UK policy manager at GFI Europe, told Green Queen.
But GFI Europe warned that the UK needs even more ambitious methods to keep up with the global pace, urging the government to draw on inspiration from other progressive regulatory frameworks internationally.
FSA proposals met with broad support
Courtesy: Food Standards Agency
The changes – which affect ‘regulated products’ like feed additives, food flavourings, and alternative proteins – were first proposed by the FSA in March.
The food regulator sought to remove renewal requirements for feed additives, and food or feed containing or produced from GMOs. Currently, products that have been approved need to reapply for clearance every 10 years, which crowds up the FSA’s docket. Around 22% of its current caseload are renewal applications, and it expects a further 300 in 2025 and 2026 as approvals expire.
“Removing the requirements for renewals will promote a more proactive and dynamic approach to maintaining food and feed safety,” the FSA commented, noting that it would mean applications in the system “decrease considerably, releasing resources to focus on new marketing authorisations, including innovative products”.
The second proposal revolved around the new public register. At the moment, the parliament needs to pass statutory instruments before a novel food can go on the market, which is a time-consuming process. The FSA suggested that the removal of this step would speed up approvals by three months, allowing products to be commercialised following a ministerial decision.
Both proposals received broad support from stakeholders, which included cultivated meat startups like Mosa Meat and Meatable – 71% agreed with the plan to scrap renewal requirements, while a similar 70% were in favour of removing the statutory instrument process.
“New UK government ministers have confirmed they are content to proceed with our two initial market authorisation reform proposals to remove renewal requirements for authorised regulated products and allow authorisations to come into effect following ministerial decisions,” the FSA said. “We are now prioritising delivery of this work.”
While the FSA will continue to conduct rigorous assessments of food safety with ministers the final decision-makers, it argued that the changes will release resources to focus on new authorisations: “Consumers will benefit from new, safe products reaching the market more quickly, including novel foods and products which have sustainability and environmental benefits.”
UK government must implement ‘wider-ranging measures’
The regulator has been pushing to move past the inherited EU legislation, which it said was transferred to the UK with minor amendments for operability. It called the EU requirements “prescriptive and, in some cases, not proportionate to the risk”.
Outlining how the caseload is expected to rise from 450 in March 2024 to 570 by March 2026.” Without urgent action, we will be unable to keep pace with this growing caseload. This will affect consumers’ choice and access to new and potentially beneficial products,” it said.
The regulator has also been hoping to win government funding that it would use to create a regulatory ‘sandbox’ for the safety testing of cultivated meat. Alternative protein think tank the Good Food Institute (GFI) Europe – which has welcomed the FSA’s changes – is calling on ministers to approve this bid in next month’s budget. This would ensure “the body can accelerate its understanding of the food safety aspects of cultivated meat.”
“But to send a clear signal to startups, the FSA and UK government must quickly follow these initial steps with more wide-ranging measures to modernise our regulatory system, ensuring it keeps up with the rapid pace of innovation,” said Pardoe.
“The government should implement an ambitious range of reforms to modernise the UK’s novel foods regulatory framework, such as producing clear guidance for companies planning on submitting applications for cultivated meat and precision fermentation products and formalising a process for startups to enter pre-submission consultations,” he explained.
“They should also share information about risk assessments with trusted international partners and should follow the Dutch government by designing a system for pre-market tastings, enabling companies to work closely with consumers to develop products.”
The UK’s Food Standards Agency has announced it will implement changes to speed up and ‘modernise’ the authorisation process for novel foods. But experts say more needs to be done.
Next year, the UK’s food safety regulator will introduce changes to its regulatory framework for market authorisations in an attempt at “modernising” the process.
In its latest board meeting yesterday, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) ratified changes to the approval process for foods like cultivated meat and precision-fermented products. The move will see the creation of a new public register that replaces the existing system of requiring a statutory instrument, which adds up to six months to a process that already takes over two-and-a-half years.
Following a consultation with industry stakeholders and approval by the new Labour government, the regulator announced it hopes to roll out the reforms in early 2025.
The overhaul could benefit a range of food industry players and consumers while continuing to uphold the FSA’s rigorous safety standards. It also marks a departure from the EU-like regulations the agency had retained post-Brexit, which it said haven’t been designed to operate in a UK context.
“We hope British alternative protein companies will be reassured that the FSA is taking sensible steps to modernise its process while continuing to enforce a gold-standard regulatory system that can give consumers confidence in new products,” Linus Pardoe, UK policy manager at GFI Europe, told Green Queen.
But GFI Europe warned that the UK needs even more ambitious methods to keep up with the global pace, urging the government to draw on inspiration from other progressive regulatory frameworks internationally.
FSA proposals met with broad support
Courtesy: Food Standards Agency
The changes – which affect ‘regulated products’ like feed additives, food flavourings, and alternative proteins – were first proposed by the FSA in March.
The food regulator sought to remove renewal requirements for feed additives, and food or feed containing or produced from GMOs. Currently, products that have been approved need to reapply for clearance every 10 years, which crowds up the FSA’s docket. Around 22% of its current caseload are renewal applications, and it expects a further 300 in 2025 and 2026 as approvals expire.
“Removing the requirements for renewals will promote a more proactive and dynamic approach to maintaining food and feed safety,” the FSA commented, noting that it would mean applications in the system “decrease considerably, releasing resources to focus on new marketing authorisations, including innovative products”.
The second proposal revolved around the new public register. At the moment, the parliament needs to pass statutory instruments before a novel food can go on the market, which is a time-consuming process. The FSA suggested that the removal of this step would speed up approvals by three months, allowing products to be commercialised following a ministerial decision.
Both proposals received broad support from stakeholders, which included cultivated meat startups like Mosa Meat and Meatable – 71% agreed with the plan to scrap renewal requirements, while a similar 70% were in favour of removing the statutory instrument process.
“New UK government ministers have confirmed they are content to proceed with our two initial market authorisation reform proposals to remove renewal requirements for authorised regulated products and allow authorisations to come into effect following ministerial decisions,” the FSA said. “We are now prioritising delivery of this work.”
While the FSA will continue to conduct rigorous assessments of food safety with ministers the final decision-makers, it argued that the changes will release resources to focus on new authorisations: “Consumers will benefit from new, safe products reaching the market more quickly, including novel foods and products which have sustainability and environmental benefits.”
UK government must implement ‘wider-ranging measures’
The regulator has been pushing to move past the inherited EU legislation, which it said was transferred to the UK with minor amendments for operability. It called the EU requirements “prescriptive and, in some cases, not proportionate to the risk”.
Outlining how the caseload is expected to rise from 450 in March 2024 to 570 by March 2026.” Without urgent action, we will be unable to keep pace with this growing caseload. This will affect consumers’ choice and access to new and potentially beneficial products,” it said.
The regulator has also been hoping to win government funding that it would use to create a regulatory ‘sandbox’ for the safety testing of cultivated meat. Alternative protein think tank the Good Food Institute (GFI) Europe – which has welcomed the FSA’s changes – is calling on ministers to approve this bid in next month’s budget. This would ensure “the body can accelerate its understanding of the food safety aspects of cultivated meat.”
“But to send a clear signal to startups, the FSA and UK government must quickly follow these initial steps with more wide-ranging measures to modernise our regulatory system, ensuring it keeps up with the rapid pace of innovation,” said Pardoe.
“The government should implement an ambitious range of reforms to modernise the UK’s novel foods regulatory framework, such as producing clear guidance for companies planning on submitting applications for cultivated meat and precision fermentation products and formalising a process for startups to enter pre-submission consultations,” he explained.
“They should also share information about risk assessments with trusted international partners and should follow the Dutch government by designing a system for pre-market tastings, enabling companies to work closely with consumers to develop products.”
A majority of consumers in Spain are open to eating more meat analogues if they offer nutritional and taste parity alongside a lower environmental impact.
In Spain, over half of consumers (56%) have eaten plant-based meat in the last six months, and another 8% are considering trying them. But an even higher share of people would consume these products if they presented key benefits, according to a new survey.
Conducted by Spanish meat analogue leader Heura, the 1,000-person poll sought to examine the perspectives of the country’s residents on the nutritional, taste and environmental credentials of plant-based meat.
It found that consumption of these products skews higher in men, those aged 25-34, and people in the northeast. There was also a significant difference in socioeconomic acceptability, with medium- to high-earners more likely to eat plant-based meat.
But of those who haven’t consumed these products in the last six months, it’s people in the northwest of Spain and the age bracket of 35-54 who are most interested in trying plant-based meat in the short term.
To sway these consumers and take plant-based meat intake to an even higher level, companies need to meet their taste and health requirements while convincing them of the environmental benefits.
UPFs not a barrier, but consumers still unsure about nutrition
Courtesy: Heura
Spain is among Europe’s largest meat consumers and has one of the highest per-capita meat consumption rates globally. Based on data from the UN FAO, the country’s average meat intake per person is five times higher than what’s recommended by the WHO.
But Heura’s survey shows that Spaniards are open to plant-based meats, provided they meet their needs. It underscored the importance of taste and texture when it comes to meat analogues – 85% of consumers say they’d eat these products if they delivered the same sensory experience as their conventional counterparts.
This is particularly important to the 8% of people considering eating more plant-based meat in the near term – of these, 98% of people would be convinced to try vegan analogues if they matched animal proteins on taste. And this would persuade even those currently disinterested in these products, 65% of whom would be open to giving them a shot.
Heura, which saw sales jump by 22% last year (reaching €38.3M), says it has the highest repetition rate on the market, and claims that neurophysiological studies have found that its vegan burgers perform on par or better than conventional beef.
Another major concern surrounding plant-based meats is the health aspect. Red meat has been associated with increased risk of heart disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes, and other conditions, but the (often misleading) narrative around ultra-processing has left many questioning the nutritional value of plant-based meats.
However, only 8% of Spaniards believe that the ultra-processed nature of vegan burgers means they’re not healthier than animal-derived meat. Nearly three-quarters (71%) feel plant-based burgers are better for human health, but the poll also uncovered consumer uncertainty in this regard – only 26% of people strongly agreed with this statement.
Unawareness about plant-based meat’s planetary benefits
Courtesy: Heura
People in Spain remain largely unaware of the environmental potential of plant-based meat. Asked to rank four measures based on their positive planetary impacts, a majority (64%) ranked replacing meat with plant proteins as the least effective action, behind recycling, using renewable energy at home, and reducing water consumption.
Two-thirds (66%) of Spaniards found recycling to be the most effective action to combat climate change, despite the fact that the country’s recycling rates are lower than the EU average. In contrast, only 19% of respondents placed plant-based meat consumption in their top two climate actions.
However, recycling has been found to reduce an average of 5-9% of greenhouse gas emissions, much lower than the 75-90% reduction a plant-based diet can bring, according to the FAO. Independent research has also shown that vegan diets can reduce emissions and water pollution by 75%, while replacing 50% of animal proteins with plant-based analogues can cut agricultural emissions by 31%.
Heura – which closed a €40M Series B funding round earlier this year – says it has also reduced its own climate footprint by 23% per kg of product between 2021 and 2023, while its vegan beef emits 94% fewer greenhouse gases than conventional beef.
But when presented with a plant-based meat option that tastes the same, has a better nutritional value, and has a lower environmental impact, 86% of consumers would be willing to consume it. This is actually twice as high as the willingness to try a vegan burger with such attributes, suggesting that expanding the category is no longer limited to burgers.
“We are solving these challenges in a way that goes beyond what the industry is doing. With cutting-edge technology and new scientific approaches, we create foods that have the same textures and flavours as meat, but are better for your health and the planet,” said Heura co-founder and CEO Marc Coloma.
“We want to satisfy those who are looking for complete and sustainable options, while contributing to the wellbeing of everyone, from society and the planet to animals,” he added. “We don’t make alternatives, we make successors.”
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 Alpro’s new flavoured barista milk, vegan footwear wins, and Violife’s latest marketing campaign.
New products and launches
South Korean vegan cheesemaker Armored Fresh has announced that it will release a vegan grated parmesan made from oat milk in the US this fall.
Courtesy: Alpro/Green Queen
Alpro has released a 750ml caramel-flavoured barista milk made from soy and oats in the UK, which is available at Sainsbury’s for £1.75.
Another flavoured milk comes from Mighty, which has announced a Gingerbread Oat Barista milk as part of the UK’s annual tradition of releasing Christmas-themed products from September.
In more alt-dairy news, Cathedral City has added a Plant-Based Smokey cheese block to its lineup, which will be available at Tesco soon.
Courtesy: Beyond Belief Brewing Co
Also in the UK, Beyond Belief Brewing Co, a subsidiary of pasta supplier Ugo Foods, is launching a line of beers made using waste pasta in grocery, including a Pale Ale, IPA and Vienna Lager, which will be available at Ocado for £8.50-£8.75 this month.
Barefoot shoe maker Vivobarefoot has introduced the Gobi Sneaker Premium Canvas, a Vegan Society-certified sneaker made from 98% natural materials. Instead of plastic, the brand is using a bio-based alt-leather from Natural Fiber Welding called Mirum.
In more footwear news, sheepskin boot manufacturer Ugg has announced a vegan version of its signature shoe, partnering with New York label Collina Strada. The vegan Uggs are made from recycled polyester microfibre and corn leather, and are available in the UK on both brands’ websites.
Courtesy: Stroop Club
Texas-based startup Stroop Club has rolled out its vegan stroopwafels in Europe. Using sunflower oil and cacao fats, the products are available as two- or eight-packs at Ankorstore.com and Faire.com, and on its website.
Speaking of Dutch delights, plant-based giant Vivera has launched Protein Bites in the Netherlands, described as “plant-based meal enrichers” made from vegetables, grains and legumes. The whole-food product line is available in TexMex, Thai and Green flavours, and can be found at Albert Heijn, Jumbo and Plus stores.
Courtesy: Vivera
In the US, TiNDLE Foods‘ chicken tenders are now available on the menu of AI-driven meal kit and grocery solutions platform Hungryroot.
Meanwhile, Rich Products Corporation‘s F’real has debuted the first non-dairy edition of its DIY shakes, an oat-milk-based Choco Choco Chip flavour.
Plant protein company Havredals has expanded its fava bean meats on the US east cost through a distribution partnership with Performance Food Group.
Courtesy: Havredals
And Slovenia’s Juicy Marbles is also hoping to ‘steak’ a claim in the US with a 2025 supermarket launch for its whole-cut meat analogues. It’s working on a more accessible product line to widen its customer reach.
Finance and company updates
Plant-Ex Ingredients, a British supplier of plant-derived flavours, colours and extracts has raised £9M in funding from BGF to expand internationally, with the US a key focus market.
Canadian vegan meal replacement beverage maker Sperri has attracted new funding to spur its US expansion efforts. It has just entered the D2C channel via Amazon.
Swedish investor Kale United has announced a new €50M Kale Growth Fund for alternative protein startups.
Courtesy: MeliBio
Vegan honey maker MeliBio has been granted a utility patent in Germany, which it hopes will fuel its expansion in Europe.
Meanwhile, Copenhagen-based Meat Tomorrow, which is developing pluripotent stem cell lines for cultivated meat, has raised 4.1 million kroner ($610,000) to expand R&D efforts and establish partnerships.
As election season rages on in the US, vegan cheese giant Violife has debuted a new marketing campaign dubbed America Has Voted, after its product was voted the best dairy-free cream cheese. The company will take over bagel shops on election day (November 5) and offer samples in grocery store parking lots in Austin and Miami.
Courtesy: Violife
Givaudan‘s food innovation platform MISTA has chosen biomass fermentation as the central theme for the 2024 Growth Hack event.
Research and policy developments
As US lawmakers continue to find ways to try and ban cultivated meat, a federal judge in Florida has set a date for a hearing about the state’s ban on cultivated meat. In its lawsuit, Californian startup Upside Foods asked the court for a preliminary injunction, which Chief US District Judge Mark Walker will hear arguments for on October 7.
Courtesy: Kevin Martin Galante/Upside Foods
In a new research partnership, Indian cultivated meat startup ClearMeat will join forces with Melbourne’s La Trobe University under the Indo-Australian research corridor. It was announced as ClearMeat unveiled ClearX9, an FBS-free powdered growth medium.
Also in India, the Good Food Institute India and the state-owned CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology have signed a research agreement to advance the country’s alternative protein sector. The latter will provide scientific support and access to state-of-the-art labs and instrumentation facilities for GFI India’s research fellows.
If it manages to meet the taste and nutrition requirements, plant-based dairy could be 10% cheaper than cow’s milk by 2030, a new report shows.
Courtesy: William Shaw/National Trust
Finally, in the UK, conservation agency the National Trust is looking to make half of its food in cafes meatless as part of its net-zero pledge for 2030, with its 2.6 million members set to vote on the proposal. Around 40% of its current catering is plant-based.
In New Zealand, the government has poured NZ$9.6M ($5.95M) into a five-year programme to develop cultivated fish products.
A five-year, government-backed scheme is aiming to develop new fish cell production systems for cultivated seafood products in New Zealand.
The new Endeavour Fund programme is backed by a NZ$9.6M ($5.95M) grant from the central government, allowing Plant & Food Research to create novel seafood products in a local context.
Plant & Food Research is a state-owned research agency focused on futureproofing and enhancing the value of the horticulture, agriculture, fish, food and beverage industries. It noted that cultivated seafood could help New Zealand meet the global demand for more sustainable seafood and marine products (like collagen).
The project will also examine the social and cultural aspects linked with New Zealand’s acceptance of cultivated fish, including Māori perspectives and concerns with respect to taonga species (those that are significant to Māori culture, such as tuna, crayfish and mussels).
Researchers hope to create cultivated fish and collagen
Courtesy: Plant & Food Research
Plant & Food Research aims to “fundamentally change the way” cultivated fish cells are utilised to accelerate the industry’s progress, unlock new applications, and place New Zealand at the “technological forefront in cell line development and media formulation”.
The project will be led by Dr Georgina Dowd, the agency’s cellular aquaculture research lead. “There are so many applications for cell lines,” she said in 2022. “Preventing and monitoring disease is probably the biggest.”
She added: “It’s only a matter of time before one of the detrimental OIE (World Organisation for Animal Health)-notifiable diseases arrives here and impacts our seafood industry. Unless we put systems and pipelines in place, we are really at risk.”
The research agency says cells must be viable and healthy, and multiply rapidly and in large numbers, while media must be defined, animal-free and sustainably produced. Existing fish cell lines and media, it argues, don’t meet these requirements.
While several companies are working on cultivated seafood – from Singapore’s Umami Bioworks to Germany’s Bluu Seafood – nobody has been able to commercialise it yet, a marker of the “unstable foundations” of seafood cellular agriculture and the technology’s lack of commercial viability, according to Plant & Food Research.
With the millions it has received from the government, Dowd’s team hopes to expand the knowledge around fish cell cultures and generate an in-depth understanding of their nutritional needs, leading to enhanced isolation and proliferation. Once the optimal culture requirements have been identified, it can develop natural nutrient sources for two applications: cultivated fish and cell-based collagen.
“It would be great if others could use continuous fish cell lines developed at Plant & Food Research as part of a fish health management strategy that doesn’t involve using whole animals,” Dowd said two years ago. “Or if our cell lines could be used to create lab-grown fish products for human consumption. They could help support a low-impact industry to share our kaimoana with the world.”
Why New Zealand’s seafood sector needs an overhaul
Courtesy: Kim Westerskov
The Plant & Food Research grant is part of the Endeavour Fund, an initiative by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment that has poured in NZ$236M ($146M) this year alone in 19 research programmes and 53 Smart Ideas, which aim to catalyse and test high-potential research innovations.
This included four Smart Idea projects from Plant & Food Research. One is focusing on developing methods for examining soil vulnerability to support sustainable soil management practices, another is looking into the microbiome of vineyards to control grapevine trunk diseases.
Yet another is centred upon investigating if silvervine compounds (a kiwi fruit species) can be used to control feral cat populations. And finally, one of these Smart Idea projects is aimed at developing an epigenetic clock to support the sustainable management of pāua (sea snails) fisheries.
New Zealand’s aquaculture industry is hoping to quadruple sales by 2035, but climate change and rising sea temperatures could result in the loss of millions for the sector. Experts suggest that the impact of overfishing on the country’s fishing trade has been understated.
Just last year, the country’s bottom-trawling industry came under fire after a government-commissioned report focused on the seabed around Aotearoa named the practice one of the biggest threats to releasing carbon from the seabed back into ocean waters. Concerns over stock management also led Seafood NZ to suspend the Marine Stewardship Council certification for orange roughy, blocking exports of the fish to most parts of Europe and North America.
Consumers recognise the impact of climate change on the fishing industry, and vice-versa. A recent 22,000-person global survey found that 30% of people have been eating less seafood in the last two years, with nearly half (48%) concerned about overfishing and 35% worried about climate change impacts.
Over 80% of people have changed their dietary habits in this period, and 43% are doing so for sustainability reasons, highlighting the importance of investments in projects like Plant & Food Research is undertaking.
It’s also an untapped market in New Zealand – only one local company (Opo Bio) is working on cultivated meat, but it focuses on red meat. That said, New Zealanders may be about to get a first taste of cultivated meat, with Australian startup Vow on the verge of receiving clearance from the countries’ joint regulator.
Israeli cultivated meat pioneer Aleph Farms is gearing up for the restaurant launch of its beef steaks through a partnership with Michelin-starred chef Eyal Shani.
At the tail-end of last year, Aleph Farms became the third company to receive regulatory approval for cultivated meat anywhere in the world, with Israel clearing its Black Angus Petit Steak for sale in the country.
Now, nine months on, the launch of the product – under its Aleph Cuts line – is closer than ever, thanks to a collaboration with Eyal Shani, the celebrity chef behind the restaurant chain Miznon.
“Together with Eyal Shani, we will debut Aleph Cuts through a series of thoughtfully curated dining experiences in Israel,” an Aleph Farms spokesperson told Green Queen.
Shani is joining the company as an investor and launch partner, helping it introduce its cultivated beef via roaming dining experiences. But it remains to be seen which of Shani’s eateries debuts the product, and when.
“Eyal’s dedication to using the finest ingredients and raw materials elevates our new category of animal products, ensuring that it is not only sustainable but also of exceptional quality,” said Aleph Farms co-founder and CEO Didier Toubia. “His innovative spirit and focus on connecting people through food make him an invaluable partner as we launch Aleph Cuts globally.”
Eyal Shani makes the argument for cultivated meat
Courtesy: Aleph Farms
A self-proclaimed “re-enchanter” of Israeli cuisine, Shani owns 17 restaurants in Tel Aviv alone, and a total of around 50 globally, from Port Said and Romano to HaSalon. His culinary footprint is spread across the world, including the US, the UK, France, Singapore and Australia. And Shmoné, his New York City eatery, won a Michelin star last year.
“I was born into a vegan family and, until the age of five, was fed only plants and roots. Almost 60 years have passed and today, I have over 50 restaurants across six continents, and I serve meat in all of them. I ask myself constantly: what am I bequeathing to the world?” said Shani.
“Aleph Farms has given me the opportunity to bequeath a future that avoids causing suffering to billions of animals, in which people will be one with nature and not harm it, in which Aleph Cuts are more wonderful than the meat we know today and is so without killing a single animal, and in which our happiness does not require that the animals with which we share the world feel pain,” he added.
The Petit Steak is a hybrid meat product comprising non-modified, non-immortalised cells of a premium Black Angus cow, combined with a plant protein matrix made of soy and wheat. It will be priced similarly to premium beef, the company confirmed.
Before it launches, though, Aleph Farms needs to clear some regulatory hurdles, including the Good Manufacturing Practices assessment for its production plant. “We still need to do the GMP inspection for our pilot facility in Israel and follow the labelling guidelines in Israel before launching with Eyal Shani,” the spokesperson said.
“Before Aleph Cuts become a staple on restaurant menus, it’s important for us to receive feedback from consumers in the initial phase of our launch,” they added. Aleph Farms has previously outlined a long-term goal of making its cultivated beef available in supermarkets.
Aleph Farms in ‘active discussions’ with investors
Courtesy: Aleph Farms
The partnership with Shani comes months after Aleph Farms laid off 30% of its local employees as part of its “asset-light” approach towards scaling up. “We are maintaining R&D and production in Israel while expanding globally through co-manufacturers,” the firm said at the time. “We care for all affected employees and will be supporting them in the new job search.”
There were suggestions that difficulties in securing fresh capital also played a part in the decision. Aleph Farms has raised $118M in funding so far, with its last round coming in 2022. But the wider fundraising struggles of alternative protein and the geopolitical tension with the Israel-Hamas war have impeded its efforts to secure more money.
“We are in active discussions with potential investors who are aligned with our mission,” the spokesperson said, highlighting that the recent changes have been “challenging” but in line with its “capital-efficient, asset-light scale-up approach”.
“Our primary operational focus is on enhancing robust scale-up capabilities for our production process at our pilot production facility in Israel, as well as in Southeast Asia with our partners – a pivotal region for our hub-and-spoke expansion strategy,” they added.
Aside from its pilot plant in Rehovot, Israel, Aleph Farms has entered a partnership to produce cultivated meat in Thailand, and teamed up with a biotech startup to leverage AI to reduce costs and enable scalability. It has previously also acquired a manufacturing facility in Modi’in, and signed a deal with ESCO Aster in Singapore (the world’s first approved industrial manufacturer for cultivated meat).
The startup has additionally filed for regulatory approval in Singapore, Switzerland, the UK and the US, and is looking to do so in other markets too. “Our team has been advancing our regulatory paths towards launch in various countries while responding to queries and submitting data to authorities worldwide,” the representative said.
Following Israel, the company is planning launches in Singapore and Thailand, before expanding into Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, China and Australia. “We want to ensure that we first build the right production and sales support capabilities to ensure steady supply over time, and continuous revenue increase for a successful launch of our products.”
To address concerns about plant-based meat textures, Dutch company Schouten has introduced a chicken schnitzel made from its NewTexture fibre technology.
When it comes to plant-based meat, one of the biggest pain points for consumers is the texture. For years, many meat analogues have been described as dry, crumbly, mushy, or just unappealing in terms of mouthfeel.
It’s why companies are racing to come up with ways to produce meat analogues with whole-muscle structures that better resemble their conventional counterparts. It’s also why this effort is called the “holy grail” of plant-based meat.
Globally, the texture of vegan meat products is as important as their animal-derived versions for 75% of consumers – but only about 60% are actually satisfied with it.
Similarly, a 1,500-person survey this year found that 42% of Americans are deterred from choosing a meat analogue dish at a restaurant because they don’t think they’ll like the texture. And in Germany, 26% of people say they’d pay more for a plant-based product if it has the same taste and texture as the food it’s hoping to replace.
Responding to these needs, Dutch alternative protein pioneer Schouten has come up with a “self-developed” fibre technology, promising enhanced textures in meat analogues. It’s starting with a chicken schnitzel, which is now available for its foodservice customers.
Fibre technology aims to improve texture and reduce emissions
Courtesy: Schouten
Schouten explains that a lot of meat analogues require high amounts of energy and what some feel is “unnecessary processing”.
This is why it has developed a novel fibre technology, dubbed NewTexture, which it describes as a “replacement for textured proteins”. The innovation is aimed at providing a better texture for meat analogues, and it results in lower emissions than existing technologies.
“This new subline within our Classics range is the result of years of research and development,” says Niek-Jan Schouten, CEO of Schouten Europe. “We are confident that Schouten’s NewTextures will be a game changer for both our business partners and end consumers.”
Schouten is showcasing the technology in its new chicken schnitzel, made from soy and wheat proteins. This is said to have a uicy texture and white hue characteristic of conventional chicken. In addition to the visual and textural attributes, the schnitzel also has strong nutritional credentials, clocking in 12g of protein per 100g, nearly 5g of fibre, and only 1.2g of saturated fat.
“Meat substitutes are sometimes prepared incorrectly, which can make them a bit dry. These products retain their juiciness, making them even more appealing,” explains Schouten. “The overall package is spot on, and we are very proud of this launch, which will help elevate the product category to a new level.”
Others innovating with fibres to advance meat analogues include Germany’s Project Eaden and US startup Tender Foods, both of which are using fibre-spinning technologies.
It’s all about product diversity
Courtesy: Schouten
Schouten, a family-owned company, has been making meat analogues since 1990 – one of the earliest movers in the market. It has an extensive product range geared towards customers in over 50 countries, from supermarket private-labels to branded manufacturers and quick-service restaurant chains.
Outside its Classics line of meat analogues, the company also has a range called Variations, which involves products that aren’t meant to resemble meat. “Ultimately, we believe that meat substitutes don’t always need to mimic meat,” Schouten said. “With legumes and vegetables, we can develop excellent protein-rich products that don’t have a meat equivalent.”
He added: “However, to convince true meat lovers to buy meat substitutes more often, the classics are still essential. It’s important that we continue to improve the quality of these products. That’s why we keep investing in our Classics.”
It was with this line of thinking that the company announced a portfolio of mycoprotein products, through which it also aims to “market products with a lower footprint and less processing”.
These moves have legs, and are being replicated elsewhere too. Beyond Meat, one of the world’s largest plant-based meat companies, recently brought out Sun Sausages in response to consumer demands for whole foods – these links aren’t meant to resemble meat, and are instead made from vegetables and legumes. And just last week, the company said it would soon launch a mycelium-based steak as a clean-label option.
Spain’s Novameat has attracted €17.4M in a Series A funding round to expand its plant-based meat range based on MicroForce technology, starting with a revamped shredded beef offering.
Catalan food tech startup Novameat has received €17.4M ($19.2M) in an oversubscribed Series A investment round, taking its total raised to $25.6M.
The capital injection was led by Sofinnova Partners and Forbion via its BioEconomy Fund, and included follow-on investments from Unovis Asset Management, Praesidium, and Rubio Impact Ventures.
Novameat aims to use the funds to expand to new markets, scale up its production capacity, and introduce new products – for the latter, it is starting by reformulating its Shredded Nova-b*ef, which has an improved taste and texture with a competitive price tag.
“We will be expanding our commercial presence across Europe, with an initial focus on regions where we are seeing strong traction from foodservice and manufacturing partners seeking superior products in terms of taste and nutrition,” Novameat founder and CEO Giuseppe Scionti told Green Queen.
“Once we establish a solid foothold in Europe, our strategy includes expanding into North America and the Asia-Pacific, where we plan to leverage our unique technology and product offerings to build key distribution and production partnerships,” he added.
How Novameat is delivering on texture with MicroForce technology
Courtesy: Novameat
Novameat burst onto the scene in 2018 with a 3D-printed whole-cut vegan steak, and showcased an improved version two years later that featured a combination of tissue engineering and technology that enabled micro-structured tridimensional 3D printing.
But its current lineup – sold to foodservice operators in Spain, the UK, and the Netherlands – includes a chicken fillet, pulled chicken, deli-style turkey, and the aforementioned shredded beef. It is among a number of startups producing whole-muscle meat analogues, often described as the “holy grail” of plant-based meat.
The company’s manufacturing process is based on its MicroForce technology, an iteration of 3D printing adapted for large-scale food production. “We use standard food industry equipment with some patented tweaks to achieve the same fibrous texture as 3D printing, but on a much bigger scale,” explained Scionti.
“Unlike many other plant-based meats, we don’t need to use additives like methylcellulose or carrageenans to get the right texture and our process builds the texture. Plus, all our ingredients are natural and retain their full quality due to the low temperature and pressure during production,” he added. “This gentle process, along with our premium ingredients, means there’s no bitter aftertaste, offering a clean, satisfying experience every time.”
This plays to an important trend – globally, the texture of plant-based meat is as important as their conventional counterparts for 75% of consumers, but only about 60% are actually satisfied with it.
This technology has also been fine-tuned to enhance the texture and mouthfeel of Novameat’s shredded beef offering. “The fibrous structure has been upgraded to deliver an authentic ‘pulled’ consistency. We’ve also optimised the natural flavour profile, making it a versatile meat alternative suitable for a wide range of dishes,” said Scionti.
“Additionally, we’ve improved production efficiency, allowing us to scale up and meet increasing demand while keeping our competitive pricing intact. Feedback from tastings has been overwhelmingly positive, and this version of Nova-b*ef is free from allergens, soy, gluten, methylcellulose, carrageenan, and added sugars,” he added.
This proprietary technology is also what has attracted investors. Alex Hoffmann, general partner at Forbion’s BioEconomy Fund, called it “truly groundbreaking”. “We see significant potential not only in their current products, but also in the pipeline of innovations they are developing,” he said.
Investors focused on scalable solutions backed by strong tech
Courtesy: Novameat
Novameat’s current capabilities allow it to produce 500 kgs of whole-muscle plant protein per hour, allowing it to supply its meat analogues to caterers like The New Standard and restaurants such as Taquería in London and Disfrutar in Barcelona, voted the world’s best restaurant in 2024.
The fresh funds will take things a step further. “The capital raised will be instrumental in scaling our production capacity, both at our existing facility in Barcelona and through new production partnerships, to meet the growing demand for our products,” Scionti said.
“A significant portion of the funds will also be allocated to accelerating our research and development initiatives, ensuring we continue pushing the boundaries of innovation in creating healthy, high-quality plant-based meats.”
He confirmed that Novameat has no plans to enter retail anytime soon, since B2B offers a “bigger opportunity” at the moment. “We’re witnessing a strong demand from the foodservice and food manufacturing sectors for premium, differentiated plant-based offerings tailored specifically to their unique needs,” he stated. “These industries are seeking high-quality products that deliver on taste, texture, and nutrition while meeting operational and scalability requirements.”
That said, he added: “While we focus on serving these sectors, we will also offer our products through select direct-to-consumer partners.” Novameat recently began selling its products on UK e-tailer Mighty Plants.
The Series A round comes amid an investment slump for plant-based foods – last year, funding in this sector was down by 24% globally, reaching $908M. But while fermentation startups are gaining ground, and cultivated meat is keeping pace, plant-based protein makers are finding it hard to keep investors interested, raising only $138M in the first half of this year.
“Securing investment has undoubtedly become more challenging in today’s plant-based meat market, with a surge of brands launching similar plant-based products that often lack meaningful differentiation,” said Scionti. “Additionally, consumers are increasingly health-conscious, seeking innovative products that offer both superior taste and clear nutritional benefits.”
So how did Novameat overcome these challenges to raise $19.2M? “Investors remain focused on scalable solutions backed by strong technology, like our MicroForce Technology, along with proven consumer acceptance and sound unit economics,” its CEO explained.
“The key to driving the next wave of growth lies in continuously developing products that surpass current offerings in taste, texture, and nutrition, while achieving price parity with traditional meats,” Scionti added.
Swiss meat analogue maker Planted will open its second manufacturing facility in Germany, Europe’s leading market for vegan food.
Planted, the Switzerland-based producer of meat analogues, has announced plans to open a new factory in Germany, its main market for exports.
The company, which recently unveiled a fermentation-derived whole-cut steak, already has a plant at its headquarters in Kemptthal, Switzerland. For the second site, it is reviving an old brewery in Memmingen, Bavaria to create a modern production hub for vegan meat.
The new facility is expected to begin production by the first quarter of 2025. At full capacity, it would be able to produce 20 tonnes of meat analogues every day, and around 5,000 tonnes annually. The facility in Germany – which accounts for 75% of Planted’s exports from Kemptthal – is set to create over 50 obs, adding to its 200-strong staff.
“Our international expansion follows the strategic decision to bolster our biotechnological expertise and locations abroad, closer to our consumers,” said Planted co-founder Lukas Böni.
Planted powered by a new whole-muscle platform
Courtesy: Planted
In April, Planted released its whole-cut steak, which has since made its way into restaurants and retailers in various countries, including Switzerland and Germany.
This is the first product resulting from its whole-muscle innovation platform, where it uses proprietary microbial fermentation processes to grow what it calls “biostructured proteins”. The startup says it’s “convinced that biostructured proteins will surpass animal meat in the future, in terms of flavour, sustainability, health, productivity and price”.
Planted began the strategic expansion of its production capacity at Kemptthal this spring via a state-of-the-art fermentation plant, and this effort will now continue at the new site in Germany.
For the Memmingen factory, Planted has partnered with green infrastructure firm Alois Müller Group. It will be entirely free of fossil fuels and “almost completely” carbon-neutral, making use of a well cooling system, regionally generated district heating from wood burning, and photovoltaics to ensure all energy at the plant comes from renewable sources.
“We are proud to be one of the few innovators of plant-based meat who covers as many steps as possible in the value chain – from research and development to industrial production,” said Böni.
“This depth of value creation allows us to develop our vision of ‘better proteins’ even more strongly and will be implemented at the new plant in Memmingen, for example, when it comes to green technology and sustainable production.”
The company noted that the Kemptthal facility will continue to “maintain its production and importance”, particularly for local consumers in Switzerland, where it is the market leader.
Planted bets on Germany’s growing appetite for plant-based meat
Courtesy: Planted
Planted’s whole-muscle steak is made from soy protein, rapeseed oil, bean and rice flours, and a blend of microbial cultures, and leverages a solid-state fermentation process that lasts 30 to 40 hours. It’s a departure from the high-moisture extrusion it uses to make its plant-based meat products like chicken, kebabs, duck and pulled pork.
The development of the steak was facilitated by a $2.3M injection by state-backed innovation agency Innosuisse, as part of the Swiss Accelerator Program. The company has secured $131M in total funding to date, helping it breach over 8,000 foodservice and 8,700 retail locations across Europe.
“Our goal is to quickly bring innovative products from our fermentation platform to the market – in particular the Planted steak, which currently uses our most advanced and disruptive fermentation technology in terms of scalability, flavour and product quality,” said Böni.
“The investment in the additional production site enables us to meet the rapidly growing market demand and produce even closer to our German consumers,” Böni added. In Germany, the company is one of the top 10 best-selling meat analogue makers.
The production of each Planted steak produces 97% fewer emissions and requires 81% less water per kg than conventional beef. At the new factory in Memmingen, this will bring savings equivalent to the annual emissions of half the city’s residents.
Germany is Europe’s leading vegan market in terms of sales, with the sector growing in value by 42% since 2022. In 2023, production of plant-based meat expanded by 17% from the year before amid increasing consumer demand for these analogues. A survey earlier this year revealed that 30% of Germans want to eat more plant-based meat in the next couple of years, just as meat consumption fell to record lows in 2023.
In March, Germany updated its dietary guidelines to recommend slashing meat consumption by half and making 75% of diets plant-based. Only two months later, the German Nutrition Society doubled down on this by acknowledging that veganism is a “health-promoting diet” with proper supplementation.
Moreover, Germany’s government allocated €38M in its 2024 budget to promote alternative protein consumption and a switch to plant-based farming, as well as open a Proteins of the Future centre.
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 Fry’s Family Foods’ formable mince, Domino’s vegan cheese collaboration in Australia, and upcycled food startup Reduced’s Series A fundraise.
New products and launches
Fry’s Family Foods has launched what it says is the UK plant-based industry’s first ‘formable’ mince. The Shape and Sizzle SKU can be made into meatballs, koftas, burgers and sausages, and is available at Tesco for £2.50 per 300g.
Mondelēz International has released a plant-based version of its Dairylea cheese Dunkers in Morrisons in the UK, with the garlic- and onion-flavoured crunchy tubes now accompanied by a coconut- and oat-based cheese dip.
Mycoprotein giant Quorn has rolled out a new foodservice menu solutions department called QuornPro, launching through a partnership with Good It’s Gluten Free to include gluten-free meals in foodservice.
Also in the UK, vegan chocolate brand Buttermilk has introduced the Choccy Wafer Bar, a dairy- and gluten-free replica of KitKat Chunky made from rice. It’s available online and at Sainsbury’s for £1.70.
Courtesy: Buttermilk
Speaking of replicating famous chocolates, fellow British brand NOMO has released a vegan coconut-chocolate bar in the style of Mars’ popular Bounty offering.
Canada’s Else Nutrition has rolled out vegan Ready-to-Drink Kids Shakes in chocolate and vanilla flavours at 19 Bristol Farms locations in Southern California. Suitable for ages two to 13, they’re made from a base of almond butter and buckwheat flour.
Icelandic brand Good Good has launched a vegan lemon curd with no added sugar in the US, which is available on its website and on Amazon for $9.99 per 330g jar.
Courtesy: Made With Plants/Domino’
And in Australia, Domino’s has partnered with local startup Made With Plants to introduce vegan and gluten-free mozzarella cheese for its plant-based pizzas.
Finance and company developments
Swedish precision fermentation startup Melt&Marble has achieved a manufacturing milestone, completing a demo-scale production of 10,000 litres of fermentation for its animal-free fat.
Swedish agrifood company Lantmännen has poured in 1.2 billion Swedish kronor ($116M) towards a new plant protein factory in Lidköping, which will be able to produce 7,000 tonnes of concentrated protein from peas and fava beans annually.
Courtesy: Martin Kaufmann/Reduced
Also in the Nordics, Copenhagen-based food waste startup Reduced, which creates upcycled food ingredients, has announced the second closing of its Series A funding round, which now totals €8M ($8.8M).
The Climate Bonds Standard, a certification scheme for green debt instruments, has added alternative proteins to its criteria to help drive investment into the sector.
Artisanal vegan cheesemaker Climax Foods has secured bridge funding from existing investors to extend its runway for the rest of the year, after a challenging few months that has seen a majority of employees furloughed, given unpaid leave, or take voluntary salary cuts.
Courtesy: Climax Foods
In England, the Stroud Farmers’ Market has closed its monthly vegan market, citing a lack of footfall and decreasing stalls each month.
Policy, research and awards
South Korea’s TissenBioFarm has received the Cultured Meat Product of the Year honour at the 2024 AgTech Breakthrough Awards for its marbled cultivated steak.
Courtesy: TissenBioFarm
In India, 69% of consumers find plant-based proteins to be as effective as meat, according to a survey by Wonderful Pistachios.
The Newcastle City Council in the UK has introduced a trial to generate renewable energy and fertilisers from food waste. Households will receive two new containers and caddy bags for food waste, which will then be recycled.
Another local government in the UK, the Nottingham City Council, has announced it will only serve vegan food and drinks at internal meetings from the end of September.
Courtesy: Oshi
Finally, Israeli alt-seafood player Oshi has received its trademark in the US, weeks after partnering with Lewis Hamilton-backed vegan chain Neat. It recently relocated production to California, spotting a bigger market for its plant-based fish in the US.
Backed by the Thai government, Sangtuptim Inter Co., a manufacturer of coconut-based products, has developed a plant-based pork analogue from coconut water.
A Thai company known for its coconut vermicelli has created plant-based meat using coconut water, as part of a government-led programme to promote the industrial economy.
Sangtuptim Inter Co. has developed the meat analogue under the Department of Industrial Promotion’s (Diprom) Reshape the Future policy. The product has won an award in the UK, and is said to represent a prototype for using innovation to increase the value of local food products.
Thailand is the 10th largest producer of coconuts globally, and has a burgeoning alternative protein sector marked by consumer enthusiasm for healthier products. According to Orasa Sangtuptim, managing director of Sangtuptim Inter Co., plant-based food has become popular in the country, with food safety, sourcing, and environmental impact being key considerations.
Treading international (coconut) waters
Courtesy: Sangtubtim Inter Co.
Diprom announced its Reshape the Future policy in January, with a view to keeping up with the changing economy, reshaping the country’s economic corridors, and increasing access to opportunities through investment. For 2024, the goal is to help over 18,000 entrepreneurs and create over ฿10B ($293.5M) in added economic value.
When it comes to the agriculture sector, the government agency plans to do so by promoting access to production technology, boosting value-added processing, and helping develop products that meet consumer needs – especially health-promoting plant-based foods.
Specialising in coconut products, Sangtuptim Inter Co. joined the Industrial Promotion Center, Region 8 scheme that looks to develop small and medium-sized enterprises, beginning with a coconut jelly and further innovating with fresh non-fat, sugar-free noodles made from coconut water, which can be served cold and hot.
The plant-based pork, meanwhile, is a mix of coconut water and king oyster mushrooms, and has recently been patented. As part of its international recognition, the product has received vegan certification in Italy, alongside the gold award at the International Invention and Trade Expo 2022 in London.
These products capitalise on the strength of local farmers in the Samut Songkhram Province, and elevate an agricultural raw material to a higher-value product through tech innovation. Currently, Sangtuptim Inter Co.’s products are sold locally, as well as in the US, Germany, New Zealand, Canada, and Norway.
Plant-based demand strong in Thailand
Courtesy: Sangtubtim Inter Co.
“Throughout our participation in the DIPROM programme, we have gained practical knowledge that can be effectively applied,” said Sangtuptim. “We received in-depth advice from experts that has been beneficial to our business, resulting in an annual revenue increase of over ฿2M ($59,000).”
While the Thai plant-based sector has grown by 61% in the last five years – expected to reach 45B in 2024 – it still faces its challenges. In June, the country’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published draft regulations suggesting a ban on meat- and dairy-related terms (such as ‘almond milk’, ‘plant-based chicken nuggets’, ‘Angus’ and even ‘clean meat’) on plant-based analogues.
But this comes amid increased willingness to shift to alternative proteins in Thailand. According to a 1,500-person survey published in January by Madre Brava, two-thirds of Thai consumers plan to stop eating meat in the next two years, and only 9% say they wouldn’t consume alternative proteins in that period.
Health and nutrition concerns are both the main consumption drivers and barriers – 57% find alternative proteins healthier than meat, but 47% say they’d rather eat whole foods given the amount of processing meat analogues go through.
Price is another major concern, with 47% also finding plant-based alternatives too expensive. That said, two in five Thai consumers are willing to swap half their meat intake with alternative proteins, while 51% would swap half their meat consumption with traditional plant proteins.
Courtesy: Madre Brava
Meanwhile, Thai citizens want government action to support farmer transitions with new jobs (72%) and eco-friendly practices (69%). “If the government has a policy to seriously support the production of plant-based protein and alternative protein, both for domestic consumption and export, it would be able to correspond with the direction of both the domestic and export markets,” said Jacques-Chai Chomthongdi, Southeast Asia director at Madre Brava.
A product like Sangtuptim Inter Co.’s vegan pork – which uses locally farmed coconuts, offers health benefits, and promotes food security in a country where 10.5% of people face severe hunger every day – fits the bill.
As inflation eases, food tech investments are showing signs of recovery, but companies within the alternative protein ecosystem are treading different paths.
While food tech venture capital dipped by 48% in 2023 (reaching $15.3B), investor interest in this sector is bouncing back, according to a new report by French strategy consultants DigitalFoodLab.
In the first half of 2024, food tech startups already attracted $7.9B – just over 50% of the 2023 total, indicating that the industry is no longer suffering from the funding declines of the last two years.
“The slight bounce back that we observed in the first half of the year is mostly due to a handful of larger deals in delivery startups,” says Matthieu Vincent, co-founder and partner at DigitalFoodLab. “At the end of the day, it shows that there is renewed trust in this ecosystem (delivery) as inflation is slowing down.”
Courtesy: DigitalFoodLab
Despite early-stage investments remaining strong in 2022 and 2023, the first six months of this year saw seed funding rounds fall dramatically from $2B in 2023 to less than $700,000. The wave of food tech financing driven by late-stage deals – at $3B, Series D+ and private equity deals nearly matched last year’s total of $3.3B.
“This is only a point of attention, but it could become worrying if it continues, as early-stage investments are fundamental in developing a healthy ecosystem,” the report notes.
Alternative proteins charting different courses
Courtesy: DigitalFoodLab
After the 2020-21 peak, when funding was at record levels, inflationary concerns and high interest rates combined to lower investor interest. But now, as the situation normalises, investment activity has reached a “new plateau”.
While delivery is still king, upstream and midstream technologies are taking centre stage. This includes AgTech and Food Science startups (the latter comprises alternative proteins and new food products) – and there has also been a surge in collaborations between companies in these two segments.
Food Science players made up 28% of the industry’s investments last year, reaching $4.7B. In the first half of 2024, these startups have already raised $2B, thanks to large rounds like Meati‘s $100M Series C and Perfect Day‘s $90M pre-Series E.
Investments into brands showcasing new food and drink products are helping the overall category, but “there is a wave of doubts about the ability of alternative protein startups to deliver results in the short term”, according to the report.
Vincent explains that the alternative protein ecosystem is encompassing three “increasingly different paths”. For brands making plant-based analogues, sales have decreased despite consolidation in the category. “We can’t have a call with an investor without hearing: ‘We don’t want to look at that space,’” says Vincent.
“However, we still feel optimistic about this space and expect that as inflation decreases, consumers will go back to experiment with these products, but maybe not before mid-2025.”
Then there are the companies dealing with precision fermentation or cultivated meat. “Doubts are still running high on the ability of the startups to ever reach price parity, and more importantly on their ability to fund their scale-up (or build the facilities),” Vincent explains.
But on the positive side, functional ingredient makers – innovating with sugar, fats, egg proteins, and more – are enjoying sustained interest. “This category is actually doing really well with increased investment, lots of partnerships with large companies and a significant appetite from investors,” says Vincent.
“That’s why we see more and more startups rebranding themselves from ‘protein producer’ to ‘specialty or functional ingredient manufacturer’,” he adds.
Investors eye Europe as Asia suffers
Courtesy: DigitalFoodLab
No region was spared from the investment declines over the last couple of years, but this year, Europe is surging forward. According to the report, the region was “slightly less affected” by the challenges.
This builds on previous research focused on climate-centric food tech companies, which found that Europe overtook the US in funding for the first time last year, making up 58% of global investments. This is also seen in the alternative protein world – Europe has accounted for 48% of all venture capital in this space in the first half of 2024.
“Europe had been ignored for some time, maybe due to the old continent being slow to structure its innovation ecosystem (incubators, business angels, etc.),” says Vincent. But the emergence of large delivery startups with an international focus has “definitely helped put the continent on the global food tech map”.
Meanwhile, despite India receiving the second-largest sum of money between the start of 2023 and the first half of 2024 (behind only the US), Asia – once the leader in food tech investments – is witnessing a decline in its share of funding.
Vincent ascribes this to two factors: a strong decline in delivery investments, where Asian (and specifically Chinese) startups were among the first to raise huge amounts of money; and “doubts from foreign investors about their ability to invest in China”. He adds: “We should note that there are many bright spots in Asia, from Singapore to Indonesia.”
Despite the global trends this year, Vincent is exercising caution. “We expect the same levels of investments, maybe slightly lower, due to the current economic and political situation,” he says. “However, we expect a visible bounce back for 2025.”
According to the report, this revival will begin in the US and eventually materialise in Europe, though the speed of movement will be slow as the number of “fundable startups” has decreased and investors have upped their requirements. “We may have to wait for 2026 (at least) to see a substantial uptick where we could come back to the levels of funding of 2020,” the report says.
German food tech startup Formo has closed a $61M Series B fundraise and launched animal-free cheeses made from microbial fermentation in supermarkets.
If you’re in Germany or Austria, you can now walk to one of 2,000+ Rewe, Billa and Metro stores and buy a first-of-its-kind vegan cheese made from mould.
Berlin-based startup Formo, known for its exploits in fermentation, has debuted its first products on the market. Frischhain, a cream cheese analogue made from koji protein, is now available in the aforementioned grocery stores in plain and herb flavours. A tomato version is to follow in the coming weeks, alongside Camembritz (a Camembert replica).
The launch coincides with the closing of Formo’s Series B funding round, in which it bagged $61M from investors including existing backers FoodLabs, EQT Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, and welcomed new financiers in The Nature Conservancy and Rewe Group, among a host of others.
The third-largest alternative protein investment round of this year, it takes Formo’s total raised to $117M, and will enable the startup to scale up production, expand its operations internationally, diversify its product portfolio, and push for net profitability.
The company continues to advance its precision fermentation technology platform for animal-free casein, with an eye to launching cheeses made with the protein in the first half of 2025. Next year will also see Formo introduce two more cheeses from its koji protein lineup: Frankoforte and Hellasdorf.
“Frankoforte is a rich, bold blue cheese made from koji protein, offering an intense flavour punch while maintaining a beautifully smooth, creamy texture. Hellasdorf, inspired by classic Greek feta, delivers a tangy, savoury flavour with a perfect crumbly texture,” Christian Poppe, Formo’s public affairs and sustainability director, tells Green Queen.
How Formo makes its koji protein cheese
Courtesy: Formo
To make its cheese, Formo uses a microbe called Aspergillus oryzae, a type of koji mould. This is a filamentous fungus that has been used for centuries in Japan, forming the base for fermented foods and beverages like miso, mirin, shoyu and sake. “Koji protein resembles whey protein, making it the perfect foundation for our cheese alternatives,” says Sandra Wilde, VP of Food at Formo.
The startup’s process mirrors traditional brewing techniques. It starts by cultivating the koji mould in steel tanks, where the microbes grow in a “nutrient-rich bath” containing sugars and micronutrients, as well as wheat flour or other carbohydrates.
As the fungi consume these nutrients, they produce protein. Once the fermentation is complete, Formo separates the biomass from the liquid (which contains the protein). This is then dehydrated using spray dryers to create a fine protein powder, which becomes the foundation of the company’s cheese products.
Once the powder has been extracted, Formo collaborates with family-owned traditional cheesemaking businesses, who use its recipe to create the end product. “These experts apply – just as we do in our pilot plant – conventional cheesemaking techniques, which include coagulation, curdling, draining, pressing, and ageing,” explains Poppe.
Courtesy: Formo
Partnering with traditional artisans allows Formo to “replicate the familiar taste, texture, and mouthfeel of cheese while leveraging centuries-old cheesemaking expertise”, while providing an alternative source of income for producers in a carbon-heavy industry.
The koi protein makes up 6.7% of the Frischhain cheese – the rest is made up of shea fat, sunflower oil, soluble corn fibre, salt, sugar, carrageenan, lecithins, and ripening cultures (plus flavourings for the other variants).
So while the combination of koji and time-honoured cheesemaking ensures that Formo’s cheeses deliver on taste, how does it fare on the nutrition front? The plain Frischhain has more fat (27.6g per 100g) than the Philadelphia Original cream cheese (21g), but the koji cheese has much lower saturated fat (10.1g vs 14g) and is higher in protein (6.1g vs 5.4g).
It even outperforms plant-based cream cheese on the latter two metrics. Simply V’s almond-based spreadable cream cheese, for example, has 13g of saturated fat per 100g, and 4.8g of protein.
Formo targets late-2025 launch for precision-fermented cheese
Courtesy: Formo
The potential of fermentation extends to sustainability as well. Formo says it’s using production partners and contract manufacturers that “fulfil the highest environmental standards”. According to an ISO-compliant life-cycle assessment (LCA) conducted by CarbonCloud, Frischhain production generates 65% fewer emissions, uses 83% less land, and consumes 96% less water than conventional cream cheese.
To go a step further, Formo is also donating any surplus food to organisations like the Red Cross or through food waste platforms like Too Good To Go. Additionally, its packaging is fully recyclable and is said to follow “eco-design principles”.
The company is currently capable of producing “triple-digit tonnes” of its cheese each month, but plans to triple its capacity in the coming year.
“Our current focus for the Micro Fermentation product line is on Europe, particularly the DACH region (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland), where we aim to establish a strong presence first,” reveals Pappe. Frischhain has already been available for foodservice consumers at Metro since August, with each 1.5kg container priced at €25.99.
Courtesy: Formo
He says the microbial fermentation products being launched now complement its ongoing precision fermentation efforts, allowing the business to build consumer relationships and brand recognition.
“Our precision fermentation operations are going great, and we’re making significant strides with our second-generation cheese product line,” he says. “The technology is advancing rapidly, and we’re excited about the potential of creating bioidentical dairy proteins.”
While declining to share specific launch dates, Pappe says the precision-fermented products – which include hard cheeses made with bioidentical casein – will be initially targeted towards the US, with a rollout around late 2025.
“Everything is coming together – the launch of our first products, the positive results of our environmental analyses, and the successful funding round,” says Formo co-founder and CEO Raffael Wohlgensinger. “This is the result of five years of intensive research and product development, as well as the work of an incredibly passionate team. Game on.”
Investors bet on fermentation amid alternative protein struggles
Courtesy: Formo
Sandra Malmber, a partner at EQT Ventures, raises an important point. “Few European companies are raising such large rounds within climate tech,” she says. “A key success factor was proving commercial traction, which is a rarity for this type of company at this point in its lifetime.”
Alternative protein investments have slowed down. They fell by 44% in 2023, and while the decline appears to be halting this year, the amount of capital put into this sector is a far cry from the highs of 2021.
Amid this macroeconomic environment, Formo credits its $61M round to technological advancements it has made in the last 18 months, allowing it to come to market at competitive prices with “strong profitable product margins”.
“While our technology was already advanced, the real leap was how quickly we were able to scale it and build robust operations,” notes Pappe. “We moved from lab-scale development to large-scale production at an impressive speed, proving not only the strength of our technology but also our ability to establish strong commercial capabilities.”
Another factor that may have attracted investors was that Formo deals with fermentation. Alternative protein startups working in this space have received around twice as much funding as plant-based or cultivated meat players this year. In the first half of 2024, the fermentation segment has already obtained 90% of the money it did in all of 2023.
Courtesy: GFI
So perhaps it’s no surprise that the top four funding rounds in alternative proteins this year belong to fermentation companies – Meati leads with its $100M Series C, followed by Perfect Day‘s $90M pre-Series E, Formo’s $61M Series B, and Infinite Roots‘ $58M Series B.
“What makes fermentation especially exciting is that it builds on ancient food manufacturing techniques – like those used to make cheese, beer, and bread. Because it’s not entirely new to consumers, it holds great promise for rapid consumer acceptance and uptake,” suggests Pappe.
“Additionally, fermentation is easier to scale compared to other alternative protein technologies, helping us move faster toward price parity with conventional animal products, which is a major driver of investor confidence,” he adds.
Pappe believes investment levels will rise again as companies “prove their ability to scale, reach price parity, and win over consumers”.
“Fermentation is already leading the way, and as more companies hit these key milestones, the entire industry will gain momentum,” he says.” The future is incredibly bright – we’re combining cutting-edge science with tried-and-true methods to transform the food system and make sustainable, affordable alternatives widely accessible.
More than two in five Australians are reducing meat or don’t eat it at all, with health a major consumption driver. But taste and price remain key challenges for plant-based meats.
Australians are cutting back on meat due to health and price concerns, but adoption of plant-based meats remains low, and their taste is a big reason why.
One in five (21%) of citizens are ‘meat reducers’ – people who are eating less meat but don’t identify as flexitarians – making it the most popular diet in the country, according to a 2,000-person survey conducted by Toluna for think tank Food Frontier.
Respondents were asked to choose from 13 different dietary patterns – 10% said they were vegetarian, 7% flexitarian, and another 5% vegan, meaning that 42% of Australians are either reducing meat or not consuming it at all.
Courtesy: Food Frontier
This year, a quarter of respondents have reduced their meat consumption, while 12% are planning to do so, and 2% have eliminated it altogether. The top three reasons for this were health concerns (61%), budgetary constraints (54%), and climate change (37%) – the latter is a welcome surprise, given the country has one of the largest climate denial rates in the world.
“The cost-of-living crisis may be affecting meat consumption,” suggests Food Frontier CEO Simon Eassom. “Over the past four years, the importance of budget as a motivator for reduced meat consumption has increased significantly, rising from 40% in 2021 to 54% in 2024.”
Plant-based meat needs a taste kick
Courtesy: Food Frontier
The dietary drivers in Australia remain similar across the spectrum. For example, 54% of meat reducers said they were doing so for health, 28% also picked medical reasons, and a third (34%) pointed to climate concerns. In the same vein, flexitarian diets are driven by health considerations (58%), medical reasons (34%) and environmental worries (24%).
Similar to the results in 2021, 79% of Australians go meat-free at least one day a week, with a quarter (24%) doing so for three to four days.
But while meat reduction is popular, plant-based analogues to meat still have some way to go – only 35% of Australians have tried these products (up from 25% three years ago), and just 16% eat them regularly.
Australians are most attracted by plant-based meats’ health benefits (53%). Nearly half (45%) enjoy their taste, 38% recognise their environmental advantages, and 36% do so for ethical reasons. However, this is in contrast with the 70% and 54% of Australians who chose health and environment, respectively, as reasons for liking meat analogues.
Courtesy: Food Frontier
But these products have low repeat purchase rates, with only 22% of Aussies saying they’d buy them again. Poor taste was cited as a barrier by 46% (down from 52% in 2021), followed by their high price (37%, versus 39% three years ago) – this is despite the price premium of plant-based meats narrowing from 49% in 2020 to 33% last year, according to Food Frontier’s 2023 State of the Industry report.
That study also revealed that plant-based meat sales in Australia increased by 47% between 2020 and 2023, with per capita consumption up by 28%.
Meanwhile, 28% of Australians buy both plant-based meats and traditional plant proteins like tofu and lentils, and one in five prefer the former because they don’t know how to cook the latter.
Milk analogues popular in Australia, but climate connection remains low
Courtesy: Food Frontier
Mirroring global trends, plant-based milk seems to be the leader in Australia’s alternative protein space, with two in five respondents (41%) having tried these analogues, and a third (34%) drinking them on the regular.
A similar number of consumers (36%) are likely to repurchase plant-based milk after trying it, the higher among the rest of the foods in the survey. Meanwhile, more consumers have tried vegan ice cream (37%) and would buy them again (25%) compared to meat analogues. But vegan cheese leaves a lot to be desired – only 13% who’ve bought it would do so again.
“The study also aimed to understand Australians’ perceptions of climate change contributors and how these considerations are influencing their dietary choices,” said Eassom. Agriculture makes up 13% of Australia’s emissions, and at least 66% of this comes from livestock farming.
But while 66% of Australians realise that fossil fuels contribute to climate change, less than half said so for food waste (45%) and animal agriculture (44%). And when asked what actions they take to reduce their impact on the planet, 76% noted that they recycle – by far the most popular act. Only 22% and 16% have been cutting out meat and dairy, respectively, to fight the climate crisis.
Courtesy: Food Frontier
“It appears that some Australians are making a connection between animal agriculture and climate change; however, from a list of perceived key contributors to climate change, animal agriculture was selected by the least number of study participants,” said Eassom.
“This would indicate that, despite growing awareness amongst some consumers, more than half of Australians are either unaware or not concerned about the relationship between food production and climate change.”
The survey also looked at Aussie attitudes towards pet food, finding that consumers are split on their willingness to change their furry friends’ diets. More pet owners would buy wet pet food with ethically raised meat (49%) or minimal animal ingredients (44%) than products with no animal inputs (38%).
“That pet owners are interested in switching to other foods as long as they are nutritionally sufficient demonstrates a market for sustainable and innovative pet food options, mirroring the growing interest in diverse protein sources in human diets,” Eassom said. “In response to this, we are seeing a number of companies exploring alternative proteins, including cultivated meat, in pet food production.
Motif FoodWorks, the Boston-based startup known for its Hemami ingredient for meat analogues, is shutting down, days after it settled a long-running IP dispute with Impossible Foods.
Last week, Motif FoodWorks announced it had sold off its heme business to Impossible Foods, as part of a settlement of an IP dispute dating back to 2022.
Just a few days later, the Boston-based maker of Hemami protein told employees the business was winding down. According to AgFunderNews, which first broke the news, a skeleton staff is staying on to help shut shop.
The decision was heavily influenced by the Impossible Foods lawsuit – in which both companies agreed to cover their own legal costs – as well as the sales and investment declines in the meat analogue category post-2021, when Motif FoodWorks raised a $226M Series B round, according to one VC manager with knowledge of the situation.
Motif FoodWorks, which spun off from Boston-based synbio firm Ginkgo Bioworks in 2019, has to date secured $345M worth of capital from various investors, making it one of the most well-funded companies in the fermentation protein space.
Its massive Series B came amid a record year for alternative protein investments, which reached $5.6B at a time when big rounds were the norm – Impossible Foods received $500M, for example, while Nature’s Fynd bagged $350M.
However, this fell dramatically over the next two years, with companies attracting $2.9B in 2022 and $1.6B in 2023 – for context, fermentation players alone raised $1.7B in 2021. While there are signs of recovery, with the sector raising $666M in the first half of this year, it’s still a far cry from 2021 levels.
Courtesy: GFI
The Series B was a “sign of the times”, according to the source familiar with Motif FoodWorks’ business, who spoke to Green Queen on the condition of anonymity. But the “completely unrealistic cagers for the alternative protein market” drove this raise. “When you think back to 2020 and 2021, people really thought that alternative protein could capture 5% of global meat capacity,” they said.
But the subsequent struggles of the industry meant that this potential hasn’t yet materialised. And then there was the lawsuit. Impossible Foods accused Motif FoodWorks of patent infringement: both companies make bioidentical versions of heme protein, an ingredient that gives meat analogues their meaty taste and colour.
Impossible Foods’ version is identical to soy leghemoglobin, while Motif FoodWorks’ Hemami is identical to bovine myoglobin. The lawsuit – which began in 2022 – “absolutely did hurt”, claimed the source.
“Even though ultimately it was settled, it achieved commercially what it wanted to achieve – which is that large companies, which are, generally speaking, quite risk averse, didn’t want to necessarily work with Motif’s heme,” they said. “Motif couldn’t sell that heme as an ingredient because of this pending lawsuit.”
They added: “So from a commercial standpoint, Impossible was able to [hinder] Motif from going to market. Even if the lawsuit was partially frivolous and Motif had a case, it still stopped the commercial viability of Motif’s heme product.”
The big question for precision fermentation
Courtesy: Motif FoodWorks
Hemami isn’t Motif FoodWorks’ only ingredient. It has also devised a hydrogel called Appetex, which combines plant proteins and carbohydrates to improve the texture of meat analogues.
It has previously also released finished products. The MoBeef, MoPork, and MoChicken products catered to foodservice and private-label clients, while a direct-to-consumer lineup comprised of Motif PorkWorks, Motif BeefWorks, and Motif ChickenWorks debuted last year.
The company also has exclusive access to Prolamin technology from the University of Guelph, which uses plant-based ingredients to enhance the texture of vegan cheese products, enabling them to melt, bubble and stretch like their conventional counterparts.
Motif FoodWorks opened a 10,600 sq ft R&D lab in Boston in 2021, followed by a 65,000 sq ft market development and research centre last year, dubbed Motif’s Plant Base. But amid the market challenges and the lawsuit, it also engaged in multiple rounds of layoffs.
While the heme business has been taken over by Impossible Foods, what happens to the rest of its ingredients, licences and the facilities remains to be seen.
Courtesy: Motif FoodWorks
“Ultimately, this was more of a market challenge and a landscape challenge, in the sense that customer demand just wasn’t there – primarily prevented from the lawsuit itself,” the source told Green Queen.
But it also pointed to “the challenges of bringing other ingredients to market”, they added. “This is a bigger question about precision fermentation, and its ability to move from Ginkgo – which is basically creating a strain – to then actually commercialising that strain for the right titer, the right yield, and the right application, and whether or not there’s a customer for that.”
They continued: “That is the big question that much of the industry is still grappling with. So whether or not Motif is able to grasp it or not, we’re still looking for: what is the right application, what is the right cost, and can that be commercially viable in precision fermentation?”
Beyond Meat will soon launch a fermentation-derived mycelium steak to address consumer demand for clean-label products, with a likely launch through a health-focused restaurant chain.
One of the world’s most famous meat analogue makers is turning to fungi to attract health-conscious consumers and revitalise its faltering sales.
As misinformation about the health impacts of plant-based meat takes hold of consumer wallets – with messaging around ultra-processing and long ingredient lists particularly successful – Beyond Meat is responding by venturing into an entirely new product category.
The Californian company will roll out a clean-label, whole-muscle steak product made from mycelium, which will likely be launched via a partnership with a restaurant chain known for serving healthy food, according to CNBC, which first reported the news.
Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Brown said he imagined the mycelium steak as an alternative to chicken, a salad topping, and a burrito filling. “The focus on this has been a very small number of ingredients, very high protein, very low saturated fat,” he explained.
The company is also introducing a reformulated version of its chicken analogue, in line with the recent health-forward changes made to its beef and sausage ranges. While the company looks to turn around its fortunes – having suffered nine consecutive quarters of year-on-year revenue declines – Brown confirmed to CNBC that the vegan pioneer isn’t open to an acquisition.
Latest example of Beyond Meat’s health spotlight
Courtesy: Beyond Meat
Beyond Meat’s move into mycelium is a surprise pivot, but there have been signs all along. Ever since the company switched its marketing focus from planetary to human health, it has dug deep into R&D to come out with products better suited to what consumers want today.
And what they’re asking for are foods with shorter ingredient lists and better health credentials. Research shows that clean-label and natural ingredients were the factors that gained the most importance for CPG purchases between 2020 and 2022. And after the brand itself, the most important on-pack details driving food purchases are the ingredient list, ingredient claims, nutritional information, and health claims.
Beyond Meat based an entire marketing campaign on the heart-healthy certification of its existing Beyond Steak portfolio by the American Heart Association (AHA) last year. This has since extended to its Beef Lite and Beef Crumbles.
The company also unveiled a major recipe change for its flagship beef and burger as part of the Beyond IV platform, which swapped coconut and canola oils for avocado fat, and added fava beans and red lentils to the ingredient list. Compared to its predecessor, the new Beyond Burger features 60% less saturated fat, 20% less sodium, and 20% more calcium per serving.
Courtesy: Beyond Meat
So diving headfirst into health has been intentional: after all, 55% of Americans eat meatless diets out of health concerns. Polling shows that health is also the most important driver of plant-based meat consumption in the country.
This is also why Beyond Meat debuted a new kind of sausage – one that isn’t meant to replicate meat, a first for the company. The Sun Sausage lineup is comprised of vegetables, grains and pulses, and contains 46% less fat (and 70% less saturated fat) than the pork-imitating Beyond Sausages, and that’s after the latter was revamped to the Beyond IV standard.
Mycelium, meanwhile, is low in fat and high in fibre (a nutrient Americans are underconsuming), and has 20-30% of protein content in dry matter, alongside all essential amino acids. It’s also a source of essential micronutrients like iron, zinc and vitamin B12, which are typically found in animal-sourced foods. A three-week early intervention trial has suggested that 190g of mycelium per day can lower LDL cholesterol by 21% on average versus animal protein.
Brown encapsulated the health strategy to investors in the Q2 earnings call, saying: “I believe it will be arguable whether Beyond Meat is, at its core, a plant-based meat company that delivers health and wellness, or a health and wellness company that makes plant-based meat.”
Fermentation has also represented the bulk of investor interest in alternative proteins this year. While plant-based proteins and cultivated meat have been slow to recover from last year’s funding slump, fermentation startups have brought in $398M in the first half of this year, an amount three times higher than the former two sectors. This is also only $45M short of the segment’s 2023 total.
Investors’ waning interest in the market also coincided with a sales decline, with Americans spending 19% less money on refrigerated meat analogues in the 52 weeks to May 19, compared to the same period a year ago.
Beyond Meat, which accounts for a 7% share in refrigerated meat analogue sales in the US, suffered simultaneously. To enable a turnabout, it withdrew its poor-selling jerky line, brought production in-house, and hiked the prices of its products. The result? A 23% sales increase, a 10-point gross margin improvement, and 40% lower operating expenses from Q1 to Q2 this year.
So the higher markups are showing signs of working for the business, although whether it continues to attract consumers, only time will tell. Research has shown that cost is the biggest detractor of plant-based meat consumption in the US, driving away 53% of Americans.
Courtesy: 84.51°
At the same time, around half of global consumers say they’d pay more for clean-label products, prompting products like Elmhurst 1925’s single-ingredient TerraMeat chicken and Nosh.bio’s upcoming Koji Chunks, also made from just one (fermented) ingredient).
Despite doing well in Europe, Beyond Meat’s partnership with McDonald’s, which saw the fast-food giant sell its alt-beef patty in the McPlant burger, has failed to live up to expectations in the US. So partnering with a health-focused restaurant chain to launch its mycelium steak represents a concerted effort to revive its foodservice performance, where sales dipped by 19% in Q2 2024, compared to the same period in 2023.
“Our strategy today is to offer a somewhat more premium product, and that’s generating the restoration margins,” Brown told CNBC about the company’s recent moves. “It’s clear messaging around health. So it’s not a direct route, it’s not linear, but we’ll get there.”
Timo Recker, CEO of plant-based startup TiNDLE Foods, talks evolving consumer attitudes, sales and funding declines, the importance of taste, and his admiration for Beyond Meat.
It’s been nine months since Timo Recker took over the reins of TiNDLE Foods from his fellow co-founder Andre Menezes. The leadership change came at the end of a big year for the Singapore-headquartered startup, and that momentum hasn’t halted in 2024.
A year ago, the company rebranded itself from Next Gen Foods to align with its flagship plant-based meat brand TiNDLE, months after acquiring London-based alt-dairy startup Mwah! This was followed by the launch of a domestically produced breakfast sausage in the US, and the brand’s stateside retail debut months later.
All the while, TiNDLE Foods was making major strides in Europe, especially the UK and Germany, Recker’s home country. Under his leadership, the company has debuted in Switzerland, unveiled a crop of new stuffed chicken range – which were rolled out in August – introduced a new bratwurst line, and is diversifying its portfolio with a forthcoming barista oat milk.
Courtesy: TiNDLE Foods
It has also been forming partnerships with physical and e-commerce retailers in the US, recently launching its products into 160 Giant/Martin’s stores on the East Coast. And oh, it was at the Met Gala.
Recker, the former founder and CEO of LikeMeat (now part of the Livekindly Collective), is now back in Germany, overseeing TiNDLE Foods’ additional growth plans for Europe. This isn’t the first time he’s at the helm – having co-founded the startup with Menezes, he served as CEO from July 2020 to May 2021.
Now, as the plant-based sector suffers from faltering sales, lower investment, and misguided media coverage, Recker speaks to Green Queen in a wide-ranging interview. He explains how the role of a CEO has changed since he was last in it, what the industry is missing currently, why a host of startups have been forced to shut down, and what governments can do better.
This interview has been edited for clarity and concision.
Green Queen: You were previously CEO for a year. Why did you decide to return to this position?
Timo Recker: I held the role of CEO in 2020 through the first part of 2021, while we were still in the early stages of R&D and without a consumer product available yet. Andre Menezes took the helm as CEO at the start of 2021 to bring our first product, TiNDLE Chicken, to market, and he led the company through a period of rapid growth, establishing a name for the brand globally first in foodservice – by working with many recognised and trendsetting partners in the space.
At the start of this year, our focus was to grow the distribution of our products, especially in retail, where I have experience from my time leading LikeMeat. Foodservice will always be an important and influential channel for us, as that’s where many consumers have first tried TiNDLE products or will be introduced to new brands. But our goal was always to be available in both channels and make great-tasting plant-based products accessible to consumers wherever they shop.
We’re in grocery stores today across Germany, Switzerland, the UK, and the US – many of which are some of the biggest and most challenging retail markets in the world. This year, we’ve been focused on introducing TiNDLE Foods to new retailers, but also growing and diversifying the product range to fit wider consumer needs.
Courtesy: TiNDLE Foods
GQ: How has the role changed at TiNDLE Foods from then to now?
TR: We’re working within a very different context today – both operationally with the addition of wider grocery distribution and in terms of the global economic situation.
As we’re available in retail both in Europe and the US today, our go-to-market approach needs to consider the grocery customer, whereas before we were targeted on restaurants and operators. The path to purchase is different here and a lot of work [is required] to understand the consumer needs to drive category growth.
We’ve had to update or develop new workstreams internally to address those needs, while maintaining our commitment to using high-quality and simple ingredients – which we’ve been doing since the very start.
Plant-based sales have also declined, but at the same time, we’re seeing moves within the space that indicate it’s not necessarily going away. A number of mergers and consolidation efforts have occurred over the last few years, and major global retailers are adding plant-based products to their private labels. To me, these are positive signals – and while organic growth may be slower than anticipated, our industry is adapting and actually getting closer to understanding the needs of our shoppers.
This doesn’t impact our category alone, as we’re seeing ripple effects of market factors like inflation, high interest rates, and global conflict and unease hit many industries and businesses. Part of my role today is navigating this market and making sure TiNDLE remains nimble as we keep an eye on achieving our mission of reducing humanity’s reliance on animals as a food source.
GQ: Building on that, how has the industry changed since the last time you were CEO?
TR: There’s now a wider understanding and acceptance of plant-based foods. Especially in Europe, where LikeMeat started, it’s become increasingly popular and frankly, the norm, to eat plant-based foods on a regular basis. It’s no longer a sustainability ‘fad’ or occasional dining habit, but one that’s rooted in the lifestyle and culture now.
Germany is the biggest market for plant-based foods, with the UK following behind as second. In Germany, where we have widespread distribution of our retail products with the Edeka Group, sales of plant-based foods have grown year-on-year – up by 42% since 2020. There’s generally a wider acceptance and willingness to try plant-based foods, which wasn’t the case when I started LikeMeat in 2013.
That also means there are more players and diversity of offerings in the market today. TiNDLE is not the only company making plant-based foods, so we do have the challenge of educating consumers about our products and what makes them different. While we’ve always focused on R&D and product innovation, we are also doing so now with a lens on home cooks and the retail experience.
Courtesy: TiNDLE Foods | Composite by Green Queen
GQ: TiNDLE Foods recently made a move into plant-based milk, a year after acquiring Mwah – can you tell us more about the product’s development and applications? When and where are you launching the milk and the gelato?
TR: We previewed our barista oat milk earlier this year at the Natural Products Expo West show, where we were able to gather product feedback from a wide range of consumers and retailers. With that helpful feedback, we’ve been working on finalising the final formulation for different regions.
We are happy with the innovation and product quality so far and have developed what we believe is a differentiated product in the barista milk category. We will share more once we have a rollout date and launch details confirmed.
Our acquisition of Mwah! last year allowed us to incorporate their dairy technology platform and capabilities, which will serve as a basis for future dairy foods. The platform will allow us to create gelato in the future, but for now, we’re focused on the development of our barista milk product.
GQ: You’ve always talked about being a multi-category company. Is TiNDLE Foods working on other meats like beef, pork or seafood too?
TR: Our current focus is widening the reach of our current products, which includes the complete TiNDLE Chicken range (for both foodservice and retail) and TiNDLE Bratwursts (in Germany), and continued development of our dairy products.
With the market for plant-based milks being established and performing well, we have the opportunity to use that cross-aisle promotion for our chicken and sausage products – bringing those active customers into the plant-based meat category.
We have the competence and know-how to do beef, seafood, other meats, etc., but don’t have plans right now to enter other categories. Our model and consolidation of all brands under the TiNDLE Foods umbrella would allow us to do so in the future.
Courtesy: TiNDLE Foods
GQ: What do you feel is missing in the plant-based industry right now?
TR: We’re missing the taste factor and culinary experience on the consumer side in the plant-based industry right now. Food is meant to be enjoyed and is behind so many of life’s greatest moments. We see that a lot of the backlash against the industry hits on that point, and particularly on taste – we feel that’s somewhat accurate when it comes to the overall experience consumers are getting from start to finish when trying a new plant-based product.
This is partly why we launched the stuffed chicken line now. Not only is it easy to prepare at home, but we’re paying tribute to our roots in the gastronomy world and bringing some of those chef-inspired flavours into people’s homes. We want to elevate the plant-based meat experience to that of animal meat.
You might plan your whole meal around a steak or roast chicken – or look up the menu at a new restaurant you’re trying and build anticipation – and we want to do the same with a centre-of-the-plate item like TiNDLE Chicken, whether it’s at home around the dinner table or a great restaurant.
What we also need to see are more products that bridge great taste and experience with great nutrition and clean labels. It’s important to have taste together with short, clean recipes that are also nutritious for the consumer. We’re seeing a move in this direction, but it needs to be coupled with what we mentioned earlier on taste/culinary experience.
GQ: As a CEO, how do you view the sales declines of plant-based meat over the last couple of years?
TR: What we’re seeing today is similar to what we’ve seen in past tough market waves. When times are tough, costs of goods go up and, so we’re seeing many people go back to animal meat, as it’s more affordable when compared to some of the premium plant-based meat options out there.
Our industry is under pressure and we’re seeing a number of players struggle and compete against the cost of conventional meat.
However, the sales dip is not necessarily negative to me, as it feels like a natural progression for any industry. The modern industry of plant-based meats is still quite young, having only been around for 15 years or so and having taken off in the last five to six years. On the other hand, the modern meat industry and factory farming have been around for decades.
The dips also show that there isn’t a lack of interest, but rather that demand was not as strong as our optimistic projections thought it would be. Consumers are still buying plant-based meats, and what we’ve seen specifically in our category of chicken is that there’s an appetite for new products and brands.
Customers are largely unhappy with the status quo items they’ve had on shelves for the last decade or more, and they want new and innovative selections to choose from. We’re seeing that chicken remains the #1 seller in the frozen plant-based category, ahead of beef and pork, with 37% of the total plant-based meat market share today [according to SPINS data].
TR: I think some investors were disappointed with the slower growth and adoption in plant-based, as their expectations were that there’d be more exponential growth. However, a dip in investment in the category doesn’t necessarily mean there is a lack of opportunity for plant-based companies.
Many investors are choosing to evaluate the current environment before taking additional risks. Some investors might actually want to invest right now and take advantage of the opportunities. In the next couple of months, I think there may be some interesting deals in our sector because of the downturn.
For TiNDLE, we have been able to preserve our runway longer and use it to focus on organically growing the business. While we’re not focused on fundraising or seeking out new investors right now, we are still dedicated to our mission and finding ways to solve the climate crisis.
Many of our customers and partners also are committed to finding sustainable solutions to our broader food system and ensuring food security and safety for future generations. We can continue to build this network, expanding the reach of products and continuing to innovate for our customers.
GQ: Quite a few companies have been forced to shut in the last 18 months. What do you think are the root causes of these developments, and how can they be addressed?
TR: Overall, we’re seeing that funding has declined with growth slowing. On top of that, there is difficulty in creating products that break through and can tap into unmet consumer needs.
One issue is also high overhead costs, typically coming from manufacturing or ingredients production. Our space is rooted in innovation and technology, which is fantastic and inspiring for the food industry in general – but the costs of maintaining extensive R&D or production facilities are high, especially today.
Labour, raw materials, infrastructure – all of that adds up and can be difficult to balance when growth over the last year plus has been slower than anticipated.
We’re always looking for efficiencies in the business and one way we’ve been able to do that is by working with co-manufacturers instead of owning and operating our own facilities. Our co-manufacturing partners are seasoned and understand the art of production a lot better than we do, so they’re able to take on the full workflow of food manufacturing on their end. It requires trust and a bit of a learning curve, but it’s been beneficial for us to reduce those high overhead costs.
We have also chosen to develop unique product recipes with simple ingredient lists, so availability and efficient production is not a problem for us.
Like I mentioned earlier, a number of mergers and acquisitions have taken place in recent years. These types of strategic partnerships and consolidation efforts can allow companies in our category to band together and strengthen the impact we can make on the food system and supply chain, as we ultimately share the same mission and long-term goals.
Courtesy: TiNDLE Foods
GQ: Do you believe governments need to invest more in the sector? How can they be persuaded to do so?
TR: Yes, I do believe they can do more. Governments can help stimulate production and promote widespread awareness of plant-based diets – ideally making it more transparent for consumers why shifting away from animal-based foods can be beneficial across so many areas of our daily lives.
Plant-based foods have to compete with the long-standing relationships that animal meat and food producers have with policymakers and governments. This has long allowed prices of animal food products to remain affordable, thanks to government subsidies.
The plant-based food industry does not have this type of support and to consumers – it looks like our prices are unfairly high when compared to their animal-based counterparts. Price is not the sole reason why consumers do not purchase plant-based products, but it is increasingly a factor of consideration for people today when doing their grocery shopping or choosing to dine out (especially with inflation concerns).
Governments are aware of food security concerns – particularly when it comes to feeding growing populations, overall global supply chain uncertainty and increased tensions internationally, and the climate and global warming threats impacting our natural resources. The awareness is there, but the persuasion needs to come with mass popularity of the issue with populations.
GQ: Which companies in the space are inspiring you the most right now, and why?
TR: The companies inspiring us today are those that are addressing broad consumer needs by innovating on ingredients. We are seeing really great innovation happening in the space of health and clean ingredients today.
To the majority of consumers, they still perceive animal meat as ‘healthier’ and ‘cleaner’ than plant-based meat. But the truth is that while animal meat may appear to offer certain nutritional benefits, there are still a large amount of additives and processing when you look closely at the full cycle of how that meat arrives from the animal to your kitchen. Whether it’s hormones, antibiotics, GMO crop feed, the animal meat is not as ‘clean’ and ‘unprocessed’ as it appears.
Companies in our space that are moving toward clean recipes and health-focused ingredients are inspiring to me. I admire Beyond Meat’s resilience and innovative power over the last year, as they pivot to wholesome ingredients. I’m also inspired by the ingredient innovation play from Meati and their use of mycelium – it’s really fascinating how they’ve been able to create a product with good taste and texture, but also hit on core nutritional needs.
I’m also impressed by the team at LikeMeat. After I left the company, they have more than doubled their revenue and grown significantly, becoming a household name in many countries.
Courtesy: Beyond Meat
GQ: What’s in store for TiNDLE Foods over the next 12 months?
TR: You will continue to see TiNDLE bring new innovation – including a new technology platform – adding on to the popular offerings we’re already selling today. We feel what we’ve done well is bring excellence in taste and experience to the plant-based category, so we’ll continue to grow and improve on that over the next year.
We also plan to make TiNDLE products more widely available – whether in local grocery stores or different retail channels (e-commerce, meal kits, etc.), and also with foodservice groups and chains.
GQ: Where do you see the brand in five years’ time?
TR: In five years, TiNDLE will evolve into a driving force in the category – supporting the jump from capturing 1% to 10% of the global meat market. In that time, we’d like to see people have closer and easier access to excellent plant-based products, thanks to increasing education around the power of a plant-based diet coupled with lower prices.
With the TiNDLE brand, we would help spark that shift by contributing the best-tasting and high-quality, clean products – continuing to innovate, grow efficiencies, and support broad consumer awareness in that time.
Impossible Foods has settled its patent infringement dispute with Motif Foodworks, taking over the latter’s heme business.
Plant-based meat maker Impossible Foods and food tech company Motif Foodworks, a spinoff of Boston-based Ginkgo Bioworks, have settled their bitter dispute over heme protein, two-and-a-half years after the litigation began.
According to a filing in the US District Court for the District of Delaware – first reported by Bloomberg Law – Impossible Foods has agreed to take over Motif FoodWorks’ heme business. The ingredient gives plant-based analogues a meaty taste and appearance, and is used by Impossible Foods to help make its burgers ‘bleed’.
Judge William C Bryson approved the settlement in a dismissal order on Tuesday.
What the lawsuit was about
Courtesy: Impossible Foods
Heme is the USP in Impossible Foods’ beef products. Its version of the protein is bioidentical to soy leghemoglobin, which is found in the roots of specific plants. The company employs precision fermentation to produce the ingredient. It inserts the DNA from soy plants into a genetically engineered yeast strain called K. phaffii, which is then fermented in a similar way to how Belgian beer is made. It then isolates the soy leghemoglobin from the yeast and adds it to its plant-based beef.
This gives the burger a reddish-brown hue that changes when heated, and imparts an iron-rich flavour and mouthfeel. It’s also been a roadblock for Impossible Foods’ flagship product in markets like the EU, which has more stringent regulations around novel foods.
Motif Foodworks, meanwhile, uses precision fermentation to make a heme protein identical to bovine myoglobin, called Hemami. Found in the muscle tissue of cows, this is a protein responsible for the colour and iron content of meat and seafood. While the latter isn’t a CPG company, its ingredient has been part of burgers through distribution partners like Coolgreens.
Impossible Foods filed a lawsuit in March 2022, accusing Motif Foodworks of patent infringement. But Motif Foodwords denied any wrongdoing, suggesting that the action was an attempt to stifle competition and limit consumer choice.
After Motif Foodworks filed an appeal in 2023, the US Patent Trial and Appeal Board invalidated one of Impossible Foods’ heme patents in June, covering a plant-based “ground beef-like food product” that “results in the production of at least two volatile compounds which have a beef-associated aroma” when cooked. However, it declined Motif Foodworks’ reqrest to review six other patents part of the lawsuit.
Case dismissed with prejudice
Courtesy: Motif Foodworks
Now, the case has finally come to a close, a welcome result for both parties. At times, things got incredibly bitter, with Motif Foodworks accusing Impossible Foods of hiring private investigators who took on fake identities to obtain information about its products.
The court filing noted that Impossible Foods, Motif Foodworks, and Ginkgo Bioworks “hereby stipulate and agree that all claims, defenses, and counterclaims asserted by any party in the above-captioned action are dismissed with prejudice”, meaning the same legal claim cannot be filed again.
Additionally, the filing stated that each of the companies would bear their own “costs, expenses, and attorneys’ fees”.
In a joint statement sent to Bloomberg Law on Wednesday, the companies said: “This resolution affirms Impossible Foods’ category leadership and the strength of its product portfolio related to heme.”
They added: “Motif FoodWorks and Ginkgo Bioworks look forward to supporting continued growth and innovation within the plant-based sector, recognising the massive potential for progress in the industry for consumers and the environment.”
Impossible Foods has previously won a court ruling for its heme ingredient, after objections made by the Center for Food Safety about the use of the genetically modified ingredient were struck down. It also came out on top in a trademark infringement claim against Nestlé, whose Garden Gourmet brand was forced to change the name of its Incredible Burger.
And in August, the European Food Safety Authority ruled that Impossible Foods’ heme doesn’t raise any safety concerns, bringing it a step closer to entering the EU market. The company now needs to pass a safety assessment by the Panel on Genetically Modified Organisms – but this process hasn’t progressed since December 2021, with Impossible Foods needing to submit more information.
The Bezos Earth Fund has inaugurated its third Centre for Sustainable Protein at the National University of Singapore, labelled as an “absolute powerhouse” of alternative proteins.
Biomass fermentation, microalgae innovations, and hybrid meats are all on the menu at Bezos Earth Fund’s latest Centre for Sustainable Protein.
The third of its kind, this site was always going to be in Asia, as reported by Green Queen in June. And today, the fund inaugurated the research hub at the National University of Singapore (NUS).
“The decision to do this in Singapore was a simple one,” Andy Jarvis, director of Bezos Earth Fund’s $1B Future of Food initiative, tells Green Queen. “Singapore is an absolute powerhouse when it comes to alternative proteins – it was way ahead of so many other countries in the world.”
“The government has made the strategic decision to focus on this and [has] invested. You have an incredibly dynamic innovation ecosystem on alternative proteins, and you had the government take the lead in regulating cultivated meat two years before the rest of the year of the world,” he adds.
It follows the establishment of its sister centres at North Carolina State University in May and Imperial College London in June. Like the other two hubs, the Singapore Centre for Sustainable Protein has been set up with a $30M investment, as part of a total commitment of $100M for alternative proteins. The remaining $10M will go towards an ancillary grant.
Courtesy: Rocío Lower/Bezos Earth Fund
The Singapore Centre for Sustainable Protein will primarily focus on microalgae and biomass fermentation, alongside research into cultivated meat and plant-based tech, with a view to creating what the fund calls “ultimate proteins”: hybrid meats that combine cultivated cells with plant- and fermentation-derived ingredients to match conventional proteins on taste, price and nutrition.
The hub at NUS – a top 10 university globally – will also integrate cross-cutting platforms covering nutrition science, safety, and consumer acceptance in its research.
“The decision particularly to fund the NUS was through a process where we invited a number of proposals from a number of different institutions, and those were evaluated,” says Jarvis. “We went in total around the world to 14 different universities, and we felt this proposal from the National University of Singapore’s absolutely first class.”
Nutrition and consumer research at the forefront
Courtesy: NUS FST
Bezos Earth Fund’s latest alternative protein centre will zero in on regional preferences and battle food insecurity – globally, nearly 10% of people go hungry every day – amidst a population that will number 10 billion by 2050.
To do so, it will work closely with industry, government and academic partners. One of these is alternative protein think tank the Good Food Institute (GFI), which played a key role in helping the fund develop its vision for the alternative protein centres.
“By connecting Singapore’s brightest scientific minds with their counterparts in other global innovation hubs, the Bezos Centre at NUS has the capacity to fully unlock the enormous economic and ecological potential of sustainable proteins,” said Mirte Gosker, managing director of GFI APAC.
The NUS centre aims to conduct clinical trials to evaluate the metabolic and health benefits of alternative proteins, particularly in Asian populations. Researchers will also develop cell- and computer-based technologies to explore these foods’ effect on humans, with the ultimate aim of building a next-generation risk assessment framework in collaboration with regulators and industry stakeholders.
Courtesy: Rocío Lower/Bezos Earth Fund
Consumer acceptance is another key aim, spanning risk communication and behavioural research to help encourage the adoption of sustainable proteins. The centre will analyse methods to incorporate scientific rigour in public communications on novel foods, understand the current demand for these proteins, and amp up their preference over conventional meat.
“NUS and the Bezos Earth Fund are united by a shared commitment to actively combat climate change. The world’s growing appetite for meat has put a huge strain on our global food system, and we need to develop sustainable food solutions with researchers, government and industry,” said NUS president Tan Eng Chye.
Sir Andrew Steer, president of the Bezos Earth Fund, stated that Asia is “pivotal to the future of sustainable proteins”, and Singapore leads the way: “The new Centre at NUS harnesses the region’s influence and expertise to drive solutions that can reshape food systems globally, with significant potential impact for East and South-East Asia’s 2.3 billion consumers.”
Biomass fermentation and hybrid meat research go hand-in-hand
Courtesy: NUS FST
Asked why biomass fermentation is a central focus area, Jarvis says it’s an area that represents “enormous opportunity”, since it often uses biomass sourced from food industry sidestreams. “It has the promise to be an incredibly cost-effective way of producing high-quality proteins for this market,” he notes.
One example of this promise is the NUS hub’s research on using soy whey from tofu waste to feed algae and create proteins. “It’s a fascinating idea,” says Jarvis. “How can we use a byproduct from tofu – that liquid – and then use particular strains of microalgae that can make use of that liquid and produce a high-quality protein?
“The university has been looking at this and is ahead of the game. They have some strains that they believe are really promising and the work of the centre will really go in and comprehensively analyse those processes.
“The idea, as with all of these Bezos Centres for Sustainable Protein, is to make this research and this knowledge open-access, and then any company or startup can take that knowledge and process, and put it into products they take to market.”
Hybrid meat skewers with cultivated pork | Courtesy: Ants Innovate
But this is among a number of other things the centre is doing. “We’re not only focused on biomass fermentation – that alone is unlikely to solve all of these problems,” explains Jarvis. This is why the centre will look into creating microbial proteins that can be further developed into hybrid meat, combining them with plant and/or cultivated proteins to enhance their taste, affordability and health credentials.
“Hybrid proteins, I think, are important more and more,” says Jarvis, echoing what many investors feel. “We’re seeing you can reach cost parity when you develop these hybrid proteins, and so that will be an additional focus.”
It’s why the hub will explore cost-effective methods to produce cultivated meat in the kgs for hybrid applications, as well as extract specific plant-based proteins from industry sidestreams to use as cultivated meat scaffolds or be turned into meat analogues via 3D printing and other technologies.
“I don’t think it’s kind of one over the other,” Jarvis says. “Let’s look at biomass fermentation, and let’s look at how those also combine with other types of sources of protein – cultivated and plant-based – to boost those products.”
Asia ‘absolutely critical’ for alternative proteins
Zhou Weibiao, head of the NUS Department of Food Science and Technology | Courtesy: NUS FST
There are 23 principal investigators who will lead research at the new Centre for Sustainable Protein, from institutions including NUS, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Institute of Technology, and ETH Zurich.
They will also focus on talent development via education schemes, and venture-building programmes at NUS Enterprise, which will translate research into practical solutions. Doing so will help accelerate the adoption of alternative proteins across Asia-Pacific.
Zhou Weibiao, head of NUS’s food science and tech department, said the university is well-positioned to host the new Centre, thanks to its extensive research expertise, strong alternative protein partnerships, and its deep understanding of areas like nutrition, safety, and consumer perceptions.
The first two hubs at NC State and Imperial received co-funding from a range of partners – for example, in addition to the $30M poured in by the Bezos Earth Fund, the London centre benefitted from another $20M from the university as well as other organisations and companies.
“We’re also looking for co-funding and co-investment from the ecosystem itself here in Singapore,” reveals Jarvis. “It’s no exception, and we continue to dialogue about how to maximise this so that the centre has real buy-in both from within Singapore and around the ecosystem.”
Courtesy: Timo Volz/Pexels
In a wide-ranging interview with Green Queen in June, Jarvis had outlined the intention to make all three centres complementary to each other. Expanding on that, he says the idea is to cover many parts of the industry’s challenges and “complete the puzzle of what’s needed to make alternative proteins much better as a technology”.
NC State had a biomanufacturing focus, while Imperial looked at engineering biology. NUS’s spotlight on biomass fermentation and hybrid proteins aligns with its sister sites, according to Jarvis.
“It’s also geographically complementary here in Asia. Asia is an absolutely critical market for alternative proteins,” he adds, echoing Steer’s point about East and Southeast Asia being home to 2.3 billion people, making them the two most populous regions in the world.
“This is where we are seeing enormous growth in the demand for animal-sourced foods,” says Jarvis. “What happens in Asia has global implications, and so having a centre based in Singapore is also very complementary and very important as a geographic hub.”
An EU-funded report by agrifood lobbies has recognised the need to eat less meat and shift towards more sustainable diets, asking the EU Commission to create a plant-based action plan by 2026.
We’re eating too much meat, and we need to shift to plant-based proteins to save the future of food and farming in the face of climate disaster.
That may sound like an impassioned call from a climate advocacy group, but this was actually a conclusion made with lobby groups that represent Europe’s farmers.
In a joint report presented to EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, 29 organisations agreed on the findings after a fraught seven-month process, as part of the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture.
The shared vision stated that business as usual is not an option for EU farmers – they need bold, swift and timely policy intervention to progress towards more sustainable practices and tackle the climate emergency, biodiversity loss, soil degradation, inflation, and consumer health.
“We must do more – and we will do more – to protect our farmers and to make the agrifood system more resilient, more competitive, but most importantly also more sustainable,” von der Leyen told reporters after accepting the report.
Grateful to the Strategic Dialogue & Chair Prof. Strohschneider.
For their vision and concrete recommendations for an agriculture that works with and for nature.
And that promotes a competitive European food value chain.
The stakeholders – involving everyone from farm lobbies to green groups – had five broad recommendations to advance the EU’s food system: creating a more competitive future, advancing towards a sustainable agrifood sector, promoting climate resilience, building agricultural diversity, and broadening access to knowledge and innovation.
As part of these, the Strategic Dialogue acknowledged that it was vital to support ongoing efforts to transition from animal proteins to plant-based options. “The sustainable choice needs to become the choice by default,” the report said, asking the EU Commission to develop an EU Action Plan for Plant-Based Foods by 2026 to “strengthen the plant-based agrifood chains from farmers all the way to consumers”.
It also namechecked other alternative protein technologies like precision fermentation and products such as cultivated meat, as part of a range of “concrete technological innovations” that stakeholders debate over – whether to call for faster approval or raise questions about their potential safety risks.
Whether these recommendations turn into policy is another question, with von der Leyen suggesting these will feed into an agrifood roadmap that she’ll present within the first 100 days of her new mandate. While the report’s findings were welcomed by green advocacy groups, they’re also exercising caution, given the EU’s recent track record with environmental policies.
How the EU can nudge greener consumer diets
Courtesy: Lidl Nederland
The report noted how average protein consumption – in the EU particularly from animal sources – exceeds dietary recommendations by public and scientific bodies.
This is why consumer organisations, NGOs, health and education services, EU member states, and local authorities should work together to encourage “sustainable, balanced, and healthy diets” by developing people’s interest in planet-friendly eating patterns.
Providing free meals for children in primary schools is a key measure, as is initiating education programmes at these ages to enhance nutrition education and food literacy. The EU Commission was asked to consider if the bloc’s school scheme – which promotes produce, milk and dairy products – could be upgraded to help the transition towards healthier and less resource-intensive diets.
The EU and its member states were also urged to update their food-based dietary guidelines to integrate sustainability and develop strategies to increase consumption of climate-friendly food – this year, neighbours Germany and Austria have already done so.
Stakeholders should also implement policies and collaborative initiatives to encourage the use of a diversity of varieties, breeds, food processing techniques and food cultures, while coherence between the EU’s agrifood promotion policy and other objectives like healthy eating guidelines and sustainability goals is a must.
Courtesy: Canva
The focus on sustainable diets didn’t set any targets for cutting back meat production, but the report advised the EU Commission to update food labelling regulations to let consumers make informed food choices around sustainability and animal welfare. The EU currently doesn’t allow food producers to use terms like ‘milk’ and ‘cheese’ on alt-dairy labels.
The Commission was also asked to publish a report and accompanying legislation on national measures over the marketing of food high in fat, sugars and salt to children, as well as provide tax reductions (like VAT) to ensure consumers have equitable access to choice. Food producers, meanwhile, should step up their efforts to reformulate and create new products with better nutritional composition and environmental value.
Just transition for farmers central to a sustainable food system
Courtesy: AI-Generated Image via Canva
Agriculture is responsible for 11% of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions, but 84% of these come from livestock, despite animal-based foods providing 35% of calories and 65% of proteins in the EU. The sector is also heavily subsidised, receiving four times as much public money as plant-based farming, and around 82% of the subsidies under the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP).
The CAP’s environmental controls were further weakened this year after intense lobbying, but the report said the policy shouldn’t depend on whether farmers comply with environmental rules beyond existing EU law.
Instead, it recommended separate payments to farmers that use sustainable practices, to be handled by agricultural and environmental authorities. This came after farmers asked for a “substantial annual increase” in climate finance.
Farmers are among the groups most heavily affected by the climate crisis, as well as a shift away from animal agriculture. This is why the report called for a temporary Agrifood Just Transition Fund (separate from the CAP) to dole out one-off grants and loans to help farmers move towards sustainable agriculture.
“While also reinforcing the positive externalities that the sector already provides, this support should facilitate a smooth adaptation process, helping farmers, producers, and workers,” it said.
“Farmers have to be rewarded for good practices and incentivised to produce healthier, more sustainable products,” said Rafael Pinto, policy manager at the European Vegetarian Union (EVU), which published a Plant-Based Manifesto ahead of the June elections that laid out several of the policies recommended in the Strategic Dialogue report, including public procurement, lower VAT rates, and adhering to the One Health approach.
“The transition to these types of productions must also be supported with both funding and training. It’s essential to make sure nobody is left behind,” Pinto told Green Queen. “Producing more plant-based products is not only an opportunity for farmers to diversify their portfolios but also to build more climate resilient productions, ensuring long-term sustainability and adaptation to new consumer trends.”
Actions will speak louder than words
Courtesy: European Vegetarian Union
One of the EVU’s recommendations was to devise an action plan for plant-based food, echoing the recommendation from this report. In a questionnaire it sent to 60 Europarties and national parties, 56% indicated support for such a strategy.
If implemented, such an action plan would represent a “seismic shift for the plant-based food sector”, according to Jasmijn de Boo, global CEO of ProVeg International. “It is heartening to know that a serious recommendation has been made to promote climate-friendly, plant-based foods and give nature a fighting chance to recover,” she said.
“We can expect more funding to flow into the plant-based sector under this plan, be that for research, farming and public procurement,” added Lucia Hortelano, senior EU policy manager at ProVeg.
But while it’s a positive sign that von der Leyen will consider a plant-based strategy in her agrifood vision, the true impact will only be dependant on its actual content, warned Pinto.
“A simple report or a vision without concrete measures, targets and funding will not do much for EU farming, the planet or people’s health,” he said. “The conclusions from the Strategic Dialogue are still recommendations for the European Commission. So first, it’s important for Ursula von der Leyen to uphold them.”
Courtesy: AI-Generated Image via Canva
Pinto touched upon the EU’s tendency to flip-flop on its own proposals – for example, the Commission was set to unveil a sustainable food systems framework to support the protein transition at the end of its previous mandate, but ended up abandoning the plan after backlash from interest groups.
“We’ve had great recommendations and even proposals from the Commission in the past that didn’t make it outside the cabinets, so it’s essential to keep highlighting the pivotal role this Action Plan could have for Europe’s farmers, climate transition and citizen’s health,” he said.
“We hope the recommendations in this report and proposals do not go the same route as the Farm to Fork strategy that ended up being almost completely blocked in the process,” he added. Denmark – the first country to devise a national action plan for plant-based food, and impose a tax on meat and dairy production – would be a useful “source of inspiration”,
Pinto outlined the importance of setting targets around a ratio of plant and animal protein, sustainability in public procurement, and the share of funds allocated to plant-based products. It’s also crucial to ensure a level playing field in terms of the disbursement of public subsidies, and support of traditional and innovative vegan proteins.
“The Action Plan must tackle several challenges such as promoting diet changes from the demand-side, creating a more level-playing field for plant-based producers, and ensuring farmers are well compensated for their work,” said Pinto. “Furthermore, significant support must be dedicated to training, promotion and R&D for plant-based products.”
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 first-of-its-kind alt-butter, the popularity of Silk plant-based milk, and the transformation of a former chicken farm.
Dutch CPG giant Upfield has expanded its Flora Plant B+tter range in the UK with a limited-edition Smoked Garlic-flavoured vegan block butter, which it describes as an “industry-first”. It will be available at 250 Sainsbury’s stores from September 29.
Swiss plant-based meat pioneer Planted has announced it will showcase its vegan steak at SIAL Paris (October 19-23). The product will also into French foodservice and retail in the coming weeks.
In the UK, vegan egg startup OGGS has rolled out a lemon loaf cake topped with aquafaba meringues. They’re available at Tesco and on Ocado.
Doughnut chain Krispy Kreme has added three new flavours to its vegan range in the UK: Salted Caramel Sensation, Blueberry Bubble Bliss and Cinnamon Swirl.
Courtesy: Bademiyan
In India, Mumbai restaurant Bademiya has introduced a range of plant-based meat dishes using GoodDot‘s meat analogues. Menu highlights include Soya Bhuna Masala, Soya Kadhai, and Soya Chilli.
Israel’s SimpliiGood has announced it will launch its spirulina-based smoked salmon in Europe early next year, featuring 40% protein and fewer than 10 ingredients.
And Sigma-owned meat analogue brand Better Balance has launched its new pea-protein-based Better Dog at all 27 Gelson’s Markets locations across Los Angeles County.
Company and finance updates
After Swedish mycoprotein producer Mycorena was rescued from bankruptcy by Nalpasol, there were questions about what this would mean for its employees. Mycorena founder and CEO Ram Nair has now confirmed that he has left the company.
Courtesy: Mycorena
ProVeg International has launched its Food Innovation Challenge for students in Asia to develop an innovative plant-based food product for the Asia-Pacific market. Winners will get a portion of the $10,000 prize money and the chance to partner with brands like Beyond Meat, Mars, Unilever and Monde Nissin.
Scottish food tech startup Nandi Proteins, which is developing an egg white replacer for gluten-free bakes and mycoprotein-based meat alternatives, has attracted €500,000 via a convertible loan, with participation from state investors like UK social innovation agency Nesta and Scottish Enterprise. This comes ahead of a £1M equity funding expected to close later this year.
Research and manufacturing developments
Derek Sarno, co-founder of Wicked Kitchen, has converted a chicken farm in Norfolk, England to a sustainable mushroom farm, in collaboration with The Little Mushroom Co. and Smithy Mushrooms.
The world’s largest dairy producer is also the world’s largest alt-dairy consumer, according to Statista. Nearly a third (32%) of Indians regularly drink oat milk and eat almond yoghurts – followed by Thais and Emiratis (both 29%).
Courtesy: Statista
Statista also found that Silk is the leading milk alternative in the US, with 34% of Americans having tried it, followed by Almond Breeze (30%). These two are also the most likely to make people come back for more, with 86% saying they’d purchase Silk again, and 84% saying so for Almond Breeze.
