The US Department of Energy has invested $9.7M in three alternative protein projects to decarbonise the food sector and improve industrial productivity.
Microbial proteins, fibre-spun vegan meat, and animal-free lactoferrin all became winners of grants totalling $9.7M from the US Department of Energy (DOE) this month.
In its drive to support R&D of future-facing technologies that can reduce energy demand and boost productivity in key industries, the DOE announced an injection of $136M in 66 projects as part of the Technologies for Industrial Emissions Reduction Development (TIEReD) programme.
These sectors – ranging from fuel, iron and building to forest products and food and beverage – represent 75% of America’s industrial energy demand, employ nearly 8% of its workforce, and contribute to $27M of its GDP.
A total of 10 food projects secured funding for novel technologies and process optimisation by the DOE in the final days of Joe Biden’s presidency, and three of them focused specifically on alternative proteins.
NYSE-listed synbio firm Ginkgo Bioworks and partners (including the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign) received $2.42M to develop human lactoferrin via precision fermentation.
A whey protein found in bovine colostrum and human breast milk just after birth, it’s an iron-rich ingredient with a host of functional health benefits – but it doesn’t come cheap, and so its use is largely restricted to infant nutrition and supplements. Lactoferrin is becoming central to the plans of several precision fermentation companies now.
Ginkgo Bioworks’s project plans to produce human lactoferrin through a novel yeast strain that can utilise low-carbon sources for bioproduction. Derived from waste feedstocks, the ingredient could replace bovine lactoferrin, providing a more efficient supplement and robust supply chain for infant nutrition, while valorising sidestreams and lowering the protein’s carbon footprint.
One of the very few companies leveraging fibre-spinning technology to make plant-based meat—Germany’s Project Eaden being the other major player—Tender Food bagged $5.4M from the DOE to design and assemble a pilot-scale fibre-spinning system with high production volumes.
The firm likens its manufacturing process to spinning cotton candy, which can replicate animal muscle fibres to create vegan analogues to beef short rib, pulled pork, chicken breast, and crab. Its proposed research plan to the DOE involves producing whole-cut meats through a method that requires lower energy and carbon intensity than conventional methods.
Advancing the tech would help lower costs and enable price parity with animal-derived meat, as well as lead to a decrease in carbon and energy intensity.
“This grant is a huge validation [of] our technology’s potential to unlock innovation and efficiency in food manufacturing, and we’re excited to partner with the DOE to scale our impact and support industrial decarbonisation,” said Rick Marquardt, head of strategy and corporate development at Tender Food.
Michigan State University
Headquarters: East Lansing, Michigan Funding amount: $1.83M
Courtesy: Michigan State University
A team at Michigan State University won $1.8M to develop a plant protein production platform that leverages microbial processes to replace alkaline extraction (which is chemical- and energy-intensive), and recycles processing residues to generate renewable energy and lower emissions.
The project plans to optimise ultrasound-assisted fermentation and would demonstrate the utility of flexible and scalable microbial processes to extract plant protein from various crops, yielding a protein with high solubility and improved functionality.
Michigan State University is looking to create a plant protein circular economy to decarbonise food production, reduce the carbon intensity of protein isolates, slash water use, and cut waste.
Support for future foods may dwindle under Trump
The DOE’s investment into these future food efforts was among the last instances of federal finance flowing into the sector under the Biden-Harris administration. With Donald Trump back in office, such developments could stall now.
Alternative proteins like cultivated meat have been the target of attacking legislation in states across the US, and these efforts will only ramp up now that a climate sceptic is in the White House. Vice-president JD Vance has already made his disdain for “fake meat” clear, which he called “disgusting”.
Elon Musk, the richest man in the world and the president’s mega-donor best friend has been spreading misinformation about the environmental impact of meat and alternative proteins on The Joe Rogan Experience, America’s most popular podcast.
Trump has already withdrawn the US from the World Health Organization and the Paris Agreement, which are crucial in protecting public and planetary health, respectively. While he hasn’t said much about alternative proteins, given that even Biden’s Department of Defense was forced to back down from funding cultivated meat by the livestock lobby, government investment into this sector could be rare over the next four years.
With Donald Trump having returned to office, 2025 could be a bumper year for cultivated meat bans in the US – here are the countries that could benefit from these policies.
Within a day of returning to the presidency, Donald Trump withdrew the US from the Paris Agreement yet again, promised to “drill, baby, drill” by invoking a national energy emergency (despite being the world’s largest oil and gas producer), promised to end the Green New Deal, and ordered the elimination of government offices that protect vulnerable communities from pollution.
None of this was unexpected, though for many around the world, it was jarring. After an administration that pumped more money into dealing with climate change than ever before, Trump’s complete one-eighty on day one is a harbinger of dark times to come in the climate fight.
One climate-related issue that has sparked a culture war in the country is meat-eating. Americans eat way more meat than recommended, and 99% of it comes from factory farms. Despite that, the backlash against novel proteins like cultivated meat is incendiary.
The states of Florida and Alabama have both officially banned cultivated meat, while lawmakers in a dozen others – including Arizona, Illinois, Nebraska, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas – have attempted to do the same.
Trump hasn’t been shy about his love for meat, nor has his infamous mega donor Elon Musk. Vice-president JD Vance has previously gone on a tirade about “disgusting fake meat”, calling it “highly processed garbage”, and Robert F Kennedy Jr – who could become the next US health secretary – has likened it to the ultra-processed food that he hates.
There are rumours that RFK Jr might ban cultivated meat, though he’s actually more likely to just make it harder for companies to receive approval from the Food and Drug Administration and Department of Agriculture to sell these products in the country.
If Kennedy puts up those barriers, and more states succeed in banning cultivated meat, it would force cultivated meat companies to look away from the US and towards more receptive countries.
The US was the second nation to greenlight these products for sale, with California’s Upside Foods and Eat Just both receiving approval for their cultivated chicken products in 2023. That feels like a long time ago, and it’s worth wondering whether it was an outlier.
The new US administration’s distaste for cultivated meat could bring significant opportunities for other countries that would look to capitalise by offering a friendly regulatory environment for alternative protein producers.
For example, in a recent newsletter, alternative protein think tank the Good Food Institute APAC predicted that 2025 would likely “go in the history books as the year that cultivated meat went from being an exotic dish only available in business hubs like Singapore and Hong Kong, to an emerging technology explored by innovators across Asia-Pacific”.
“Our experts are optimistic that this year will include the first-ever market approvals in South Korea and Australia/New Zealand (which share a regulatory body). It’s possible that Thailand could follow suit,” the think tank suggested.
Here are the nations that could be the biggest winners.
Singapore
Courtesy: Eat Just
Widely recognised as a future food leader, Singapore was the first country to approve the sale of cultivated meat back in 2020 (for Eat Just) and has since granted clearance to cultured quail and foie gras from Australia’s Vow. It’s also assessing applications from a host of other startups, including Mosa Meat, Meatable, Vital Meat, and Aleph Farms.
The city-state’s leadership in this sector has drawn the attention of other countries too, which have floated the idea of using Singapore’s approval as a benchmark to greenlight products within their own borders (the way Hong Kong has done with Vow).
Cultivated meat producers are taking note of this, with Meatable telling Green Queen that it hoped to use this system of international cooperation to obtain approval in five to six countries by the end of the year.
The country’s new Food Safety and Security Bill officially describes novel foods and codifies the existing regulatory framework to make it easier for producers to commercialise. Expect more companies to look to Singapore in the wake of any anti-cultivated-meat legislation in the US.
UK
Courtesy: Ivy Farm Technologies
Long been bound by EU regulations, the UK took major strides last year to break away from pre-Brexit rules and establish itself as a regulatory leader in the sector. The Food Standards Agency has suggested it would establish the international cooperation framework too, working with not just Singapore, but also the likes of Australia, New Zealand and potentially others.
In October, the government poured £1.6M into the FSA to create a first-of-its-kind regulatory ‘sandbox’ for cultivated meat producers, which is built to speed up the timeline and lower the costs related to regulatory clearance.
This year, the FSA will create a new public register for novel food approvals to replace 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. It will also do away with the need for renewals of approvals every 10 years, which currently add to the agency’s crowded backlog.
The EU has been a frustrating market for cultivated meat players. Its novel food regulations – among the strictest and most complex globally – have deterred companies from filing dossiers. Morever, startups have told us that they want to make sure they get their dossier right because timelines are so long. In terms of political and cultural buy-in, the bloc is a bit of a mixed bag. While the world’s first cultivated meat product was born in the EU (Dutch startup Mosa Meat’s 2013 burger), it is home to the first national ban on cultivated meat (in Italy), and has faced several other attempts from the likes of France, Romania and Hungary.
Homegrown companies have usually looked to places like Singapore or the US for market entry, but could the developments in the latter finally accelerate progress in the EU? Gourmey became the first to apply for regulatory approval from the European Food Safety Authority in July, and this week, Mosa Meat did so too.
Meanwhile, the EU Commission has rejected Hungary’s argument justifying a ban on cultivated meat, alongside member states like Czechia, Lithuania, Sweden, and the Netherlands – signalling a slightly more positive state of affairs for novel foods in the region.
Israel
Courtesy: Aleph Farms
After Singapore and the US, Israel was the third country to approve cultivated meat, giving the go-ahead to Aleph Farms in December 2023. The nation has been adjudged to be one of the global hotbeds of alternative protein innovation – it’s home to over 70 future food startups, accounted for 10% of investment in the industry in 2023, and is set to generate 10,000 new jobs and $2.5B in economic benefits by 2030.
While progress has been halted due to the current war in Gaza, which is still ongoing, the ceasefire has brought respite and hopes of an end to the long-running dispute. While there’s still a long way to go, it could potentially spark a regulatory revival in Israel for novel foods.
China
Courtesy: Eat Just
Many US politicians have already taken aim at China as one of its major rivals, but the country’s dominance in sectors like manufacturing, electric mobility, and biotechnology has left even Republicans – famously against cultivated meat – wondering whether it’s time to embrace these novel proteins.
Cultivated meat companies benefit from much lower production costs in the East Asian country, compared to Europe or the US, as well as friendly policies. China’s five-year agricultural plan (running until 2026) calls for research into proteins like cultivated meat, while the 2020 Green Biological Manufacturing initiative set aside ¥20M ($3M at the time) in funding for plant-based and cultivated meat research.
This hasn’t gone unnoticed in the US. Nearly a dozen Republican Congress members sent a letter to the director of national intelligence and the USDA’s director of homeland security a few months ago, asking them to analyse the potential impact of China’s advancements on the global food system, and urging the US to take action to maintain leadership and resilience in the biotech sector.
Thailand
Courtesy: Sakchai Lalit/AP
While it may fly under the radar for some, Thailand has been steadily building its cultivated meat ecosystem over the years. Over the last three decades, meat consumption in Thailand has skyrocketed by 180%, doubling the amount of land used for livestock farming, but two-thirds of locals are looking to put less meat on their plates, primarily for health reasons.
And while research suggests that just a quarter of Thailand’s population is aware of cultivated meat, one poll found that 97% of Thai consumers want to try these proteins.
Aleph Farms is already building the country’s first manufacturing facility for cultivated meat and recently held a tasting event for industry professionals in Bangkok. The startup also worked with seafood giant Thai Union to submit a regulatory dossier to the National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in December.
South Korea
Courtesy: Simple Planet
Policy support for cultivated meat has come a long way in South Korea. A year after the opening of the $7M North Gyeongsang Cellular Agriculture Industry Support Center, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety established a framework for regulatory approval of these proteins.
The government also created a regulation-free special zone for the development of cultivated foods. The ₩20B ($14M) project harbours 10 companies working to commercialise these proteins. And the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries is investing ₩29B ($21M) in research funding for plant-based and cultivated seafood technologies.
With 90% of Koreans willing to try cultivated meat, and two in five in favour of it being sold at supermarkets and restaurants, the potential for this industry in South Korea is high. Seoul-based startup Simple Planet has indicated that it aims to obtain the regulatory greenlight for its cultivated meat this year.
Australia and New Zealand
Courtesy: Vow
Another regulatory assessing Vow’s application is Food Standards Australia New Zealand. While the process started in early 2023 and has been protracted, the joint regulator closed a second round of public consultation for its filing just before Christmas, proposing a new standards-based approach. At this stage, it won’t be a surprise if the agency gives the greenlight within the year.
Fellow Australian startup Magic Valley is also working closely with the Antipodean regulator on the compliance and safety of its cultivated pork, and has previously suggested that it could commercially launch the product this year.
These innovations would appeal to the 21% of Australians who describe themselves as ‘meat reducers’. Four in 10 say they are cutting back on meat, or have reduced or eliminated it altogether. And another survey shows that more than half of these consumers are open to trying culrivated meat.
Rebalancing protein offerings to support plant-based diets can help supermarkets reach their climate goals quickly and inexpensively.
A plant-rich food system, more sustainable agricultural practices, and low food waste are the most cost-effective pathways for retailers to meet their emissions targets, a new analysis has found.
Green consultancy Quantis and climate advocacy group Madre Brava looked at 27 separate interventions in these three strategic areas, and selected a mix of nine measures that can help supermarkets in Germany save money in pursuit of their climate goals.
By far, the most impactful strategy is for retailers to replace 30% of their meat and dairy offerings with plant-based alternatives, which use less land, water and resources, and can be sourced at a lower cost.
The Biggest Bang for the Buck report assessed the scope 3 forest, land and agriculture (FLAG) emissions for 64% of German food retail, and revealed that the sector needs to reduce emissions by nearly 74% to meet their targets under the Science-Based Target initiative (SBTi) by 2030.
“The Big Four – Edeka, Rewe, Lidl and Aldi – account for 75% of the market in our country. Shifts from these retailers will have a huge impact on the sector’s emissions as a whole, and help drive our food system towards greater sustainability,” said Florian Wall, a senior associate for Madre Brava in Germany.
“Our analysis is good news for them. It gives them the clearest picture yet of how to meet their emissions reduction targets and the basket of measures we have selected will not only allow them to reduce emissions but also save money,” he added.
Why a plant protein transition is the best climate measure
Courtesy: Madre Brava
The report looked at two plant-rich food scenarios. The first, an accelerated pathway, assumed a linear continuation of the trend of meat reduction in Germany, with the decline slightly accelerating to a 15% reduction by 2030 (for both meat and milk).
The transformative scenario, meanwhile, doubles the pace of that shift, assuming an “ambitious yet realistic” 30% decrease in meat and milk consumption by 2030, compared to 2023 levels.
For both pathways, the consumption was offset by a 1:1 increase in plant-based alternatives. In both cases, the shift to a plant-forward food system was the “most impactful single intervention” in the retail climate playbook, while bringing more cost savings than any other intervention.
The transformative pathway was found to slash emissions by 16 million tonnes, representing two-thirds of the FLAG target under the SBTi. It would also save €156 per tonne of CO2e, totalling €2.5B in cost reductions.
Courtesy: Madre Brava
But rebalancing protein alone won’t be enough to achieve the sector’s climate goals. Supporting farmers to adopt more sustainable agricultural practices is another important measure. The report analysed 18 interventions for livestock and crop production, from crop protection products, reduced and varied fertiliser use, and heat street management, to enhanced animal health, electrifying farm machinery, and nitrification inhibitors.
When all 18 measures are combined, the emissions reduction potential comes to 17 million tonnes of CO2e, at a cost of just under €1.4B.
The third lever of change is food waste and loss, specifically from the meat and milk sectors. Germany threw away 11 million tonnes of food in 2021, but the report only shows limited potential for impact here.
“Consumer education, integrated demand and inventory management promise higher impact in a cost-efficient way, whereas interventions such as new packaging technologies could support at an elevated marginal cost,” it states, outlining that across seven measures to cut food waste, only 340,000 tonnes of emissions are saved, with a cost of €27.2M.
Promote plant proteins with price parity and placement
The nine most effective interventions Madre Brava selected form a “cost-optimum basket” that can help Germany’s supermarkets deliver on their FLAG emissions targets. This basket can cut emissions by 24.4 million tonnes, leading to financial savings of around €2.5B.
These interventions are crucial, too. Meat and dairy alone make up nearly half (47%) of all scope 3 emissions of a food retailer. And with the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive now making it mandatory for supermarkets to publish annual sustainability reports, “strong, plausible and realistic climate transition plans” are critical to meet these requirements and avoid investor scrutiny.
The German government itself plans to reach net zero by 2045, and the new national dietary guidelines encourage a shift away from meat and dairy, recommending that plant-based foods make up at least 75% of citizens’ diets.
Courtesy: Madre Brava
In any case, retailers are eager to lower emissions to make their supply chains and business models more climate-resilient, the report says. And leaders like Lidl are already making big moves to rebalance their protein offerings, pricing plant-based meat and dairy on par with their conventional counterparts, and pledging to increase its ratio of plant protein sales.
To accelerate their climate efforts, retailers must set and prioritise a protein transition strategy, given its benefits for both emissions cuts and cost savings. Setting protein split targets – as Lidl has done – is also a key action, Madre Brava said.
“The food retail sector should also support consumers to adopt plant-rich diets through enabling measures such as price parity, promotions, and placement of alternative products next to animal products,” the report noted, outlining how these strategies have driven greater sales of plant protein for retailers.
Improving agricultural practices holds long-term potential too, but requires substantial investment. “For fast adoption of effective measures, food retailers must support farmers financially and clearly commit to specific interventions. By doing so, they will not only align with global climate goals but also enhance the resilience and competitiveness of the agrifood system in Germany,” it added.
“Food retail must also drive further improvements in the reduction of food loss and waste by fostering supply chain innovation, educating consumers, and integrating efficient inventory management.”
In Beijing’s Fengtai District, the New Protein Food Science and Technology Innovation Base is aiming to fill the gap in China’s cultivated meat and microbial protein ecosystem.
China has just opened its first alternative protein centre for cultivated meat and fermentation-derived products, with support from both the public and private sectors.
Located in the China Meat Food Comprehensive Research Center in Beijing, the first-of-a-kind hub has been set up with an ¥80M ($10.9M) investment, in a joint effort by the local Fengtai District government and meat processor Shounong Food Group.
The two entities have worked together on a blueprint to integrate their resources, promote the development of academia, research and industry, and create a future food cluster.
“The New Protein Food Science and Technology Innovation Base will help complete the transformation of laboratory results into engineering and industrialisation, and lay a good development prospect for the commercialisation of cell-cultured meat,” Cui Xulong, Fengati District’s deputy mayor, said at the opening ceremony.
New hub extends Fengtai District’s biotech leadership
Courtesy: Fengtai District Media Integration Center
The alternative protein centre has built an innovative R&D platform and lab for novel foods like cultivated meat. It currently has a 200-litre cell line for cultivated meat, and a 2,000-litre production line for microbial protein, but plans to develop two 2,000-litre cell culture lines, and three microbial protein pilot lines of 2,000 and 5,000 litres.
As the first national-level tech innovation platform for cultivated meat in China, it will bring “unlimited possibilities” to the industry’s development, and will mainly focus on the fields of cell engineering and synthetic biology through breakthrough tech research, engineering application, and an industrial innovation ecosystem.
At the opening ceremony, attendees were shown a glimpse of the kind of products that can be born out of the research centre – think microbial protein bars, microbe-fermented tofu meat, and a cultivated marbled steak.
Fengtai District has emerged as a biomanufacturing leader in the future food industry. In May, it issued a policy measure to integrate resources, increase productivity, and speed up the development of the food industry. This resulted in the establishment of the district’s first future food industrial park, which attracted scientific research institutions, upstream and downstream enterprises, and industry associations.
The newly established Shounong Development and Innovation Science and Technology Industrial Park is now aiming to cultivate a new productivity force in Beijing’s agrifood industry, and become a “model zone” for the future food industry.
The district also intends to use artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technologies to establish a platform for real-time monitoring and traceability of the entire chain of future food production, processing, circulation, and sales, and enhance food safety.
China’s biotech dominance takes effect
Courtesy: CellX
Xulong noted that the new centre supports the development of the national bioeconomy and biomanufacturing industries, and can help boost national food security.
While China is the world’s largest meat consumer – making up 28% of the global consumption growth in the decade to 2023, with intakes set to increase further until 2030 – but experts suggest that half of all protein consumption in the country must come from alternative sources by 2060, if it is to decarbonise.
This can already be seen in current eating patterns – China is already consuming more protein per capita than the US, and more than 60% of this comes from vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts and seeds. Its share of global meat consumption is also set to fall to 11% in the next decade.
A 2024 survey suggests that when Chinese consumers are informed of the benefits of a vegan diet, 98% say they’ll eat more of these foods. This is driven by the country’s large flexitarian population, making up a third of the total.
The government’s current five-year agriculture plan encourages research in cultivated meat and recombinant proteins, while the five-year plan for bioeconomy development highlights an advancement of man-made protein and novel foods. President Xi Jinping, meanwhile, has called for a Grand Food Vision that includes plant-based and microbial protein sources.
“Beijing is actively advancing the development and innovation of the biomanufacturing industry, accelerating the coordination of municipal innovation resources, and increasing support in areas such as the industrial demonstration of cultured meat and the manufacturing of core ingredients for functional foods, fostering the growth of strategic emerging industries,” said Chen Lianwu, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
Companies like CellX, Joes Future Food and Jimi Biotech are already leading the cultivated meat charge in China, something that political leaders in America have also noticed. A group of Congress members have called on the US to step up its alternative protein game in the face of East Asian rival’s biotech dominance.
In Beijing’s Fengtai District, the New Protein Food Science and Technology Innovation Base is aiming to fill the gap in China’s cultivated meat and microbial protein ecosystem.
China has just opened its first alternative protein centre for cultivated meat and fermentation-derived products, with support from both the public and private sectors.
Located in the China Meat Food Comprehensive Research Center in Beijing, the first-of-a-kind hub has been set up with an ¥80M ($10.9M) investment, in a joint effort by the local Fengtai District government and meat processor Shounong Food Group.
The two entities have worked together on a blueprint to integrate their resources, promote the development of academia, research and industry, and create a future food cluster.
“The New Protein Food Science and Technology Innovation Base will help complete the transformation of laboratory results into engineering and industrialisation, and lay a good development prospect for the commercialisation of cell-cultured meat,” Cui Xulong, Fengati District’s deputy mayor, said at the opening ceremony.
New hub extends Fengtai District’s biotech leadership
Courtesy: Fengtai District Media Integration Center
The alternative protein centre has built an innovative R&D platform and lab for novel foods like cultivated meat. It currently has a 200-litre cell line for cultivated meat, and a 2,000-litre production line for microbial protein, but plans to develop two 2,000-litre cell culture lines, and three microbial protein pilot lines of 2,000 and 5,000 litres.
As the first national-level tech innovation platform for cultivated meat in China, it will bring “unlimited possibilities” to the industry’s development, and will mainly focus on the fields of cell engineering and synthetic biology through breakthrough tech research, engineering application, and an industrial innovation ecosystem.
At the opening ceremony, attendees were shown a glimpse of the kind of products that can be born out of the research centre – think microbial protein bars, microbe-fermented tofu meat, and a cultivated marbled steak.
Fengtai District has emerged as a biomanufacturing leader in the future food industry. In May, it issued a policy measure to integrate resources, increase productivity, and speed up the development of the food industry. This resulted in the establishment of the district’s first future food industrial park, which attracted scientific research institutions, upstream and downstream enterprises, and industry associations.
The newly established Shounong Development and Innovation Science and Technology Industrial Park is now aiming to cultivate a new productivity force in Beijing’s agrifood industry, and become a “model zone” for the future food industry.
The district also intends to use artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technologies to establish a platform for real-time monitoring and traceability of the entire chain of future food production, processing, circulation, and sales, and enhance food safety.
China’s biotech dominance takes effect
Courtesy: CellX
Xulong noted that the new centre supports the development of the national bioeconomy and biomanufacturing industries, and can help boost national food security.
While China is the world’s largest meat consumer – making up 28% of the global consumption growth in the decade to 2023, with intakes set to increase further until 2030 – but experts suggest that half of all protein consumption in the country must come from alternative sources by 2060, if it is to decarbonise.
This can already be seen in current eating patterns – China is already consuming more protein per capita than the US, and more than 60% of this comes from vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts and seeds. Its share of global meat consumption is also set to fall to 11% in the next decade.
A 2024 survey suggests that when Chinese consumers are informed of the benefits of a vegan diet, 98% say they’ll eat more of these foods. This is driven by the country’s large flexitarian population, making up a third of the total.
The government’s current five-year agriculture plan encourages research in cultivated meat and recombinant proteins, while the five-year plan for bioeconomy development highlights an advancement of man-made protein and novel foods. President Xi Jinping, meanwhile, has called for a Grand Food Vision that includes plant-based and microbial protein sources.
“Beijing is actively advancing the development and innovation of the biomanufacturing industry, accelerating the coordination of municipal innovation resources, and increasing support in areas such as the industrial demonstration of cultured meat and the manufacturing of core ingredients for functional foods, fostering the growth of strategic emerging industries,” said Chen Lianwu, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
Companies like CellX, Joes Future Food and Jimi Biotech are already leading the cultivated meat charge in China, something that political leaders in America have also noticed. A group of Congress members have called on the US to step up its alternative protein game in the face of East Asian rival’s biotech dominance.
Swiss certification body V-Label has rolled out C-Label, a new accreditation for cell-based products like cultivated meat. But does the industry need it?
To help consumers identify and understand how products like cultivated meat are made, V-Label has introduced a certification system for these novel foods.
Complementing its vegetarian and vegan accreditation marks, C-Label is described by its issuing organization as a globally registered “robust certification system” to ensure the highest standards of cultivated meat production and distribution.
London-based pet food maker Meatly, the first cultivated meat company to be cleared to sell in the UK, is the inaugural recipient of the certification, with its cultivated chicken set to sport the C-Label upon launch.
“As we move closer and closer towards a world where cultivated meat will become the norm, certification such as the C-Label will be increasingly necessary for consumer confidence in this new and revolutionary product,” said Meatly co-founder and CEO Owen Ensor.
The label isn’t restricted to just retail products, reveals V-Label founder Renato Pichler. “We certify producers of the cells, but also the producers of the end product,” he tells Green Queen. “Everything has to start with the production of the cells. But you can’t certify an end product if you haven’t already certified the actual cell production behind it.”
Pichler argues that the market for these products is developing “very quickly”, and the C-Label can help “increase the transparency of the whole cultured sector”.
Courtesy: Meatly
No C-Label for cell-based chocolate or coffee
The Swiss organisation has laid out several criteria for the C-Label. No animals can be slaughtered in the process, and any interventions or procedures must be demonstrably necessary, painless and stress-free. The products should be free from pathogens, antibiotics, heavy metals, plastics and GMOs, and must use animal-free cell media.
Since C-Label encourages the use of animal-free tech wherever possible, it only permits immortalised cells for now, which does away with the need for constant cell extraction.
So what kind of products can apply for the certification? “From a food perspective, where the majority of current development is focused, this can include products made entirely out of cultivated meat (e.g. beef burgers), as well as hybrid products that combine cultivated meat with plant-based ingredients, such as cultivated beef patties with plant-based binders or cultivated chicken dumplings with vegan dough,” says Pichler.
He adds that all non-cultivated components must meet vegan criteria. “The technology can also be used in non-food applications such as leather, where our certification will be available as long as our criteria are met and the underlying technology remains the same,” he says.
However, innovations like cell-based chocolate or coffee aren’t covered by the C-Label just yet. “The C-label was developed specifically for products grown from a cell of animal origin, which could be considered close to vegan, but not quite strictly vegan,” notes Pichler.
“We do not rule out such a cooperation in principle, as production methods are also evolving fast, and we remain to see what technologies the future holds. However, this is not the primary intention of the C-Label.”
Courtesy: Kokomodo
Amid industry uncertainty, C-Label ‘prepares for the future’
That debate around whether cultivated meat can be considered vegan has split opinion, and prompted The Vegan Society to publish a briefing that decidedly said these proteins can never be vegan. V-Label reiterates that stance, and hence sees the need for the C-Label.
“We do not consider cultivated meat vegan, as it is molecularly identical to conventional meat and by definition cannot entirely exclude animal sourcing from the production process (only tremendously minimise it). While C-Label licensed products guarantee that all production materials outside the original sourcing are vegan, the original cell sourcing comes from an animal,” says Pichler.
“We have been monitoring this technology for a long time, and it has been clear to us from the beginning, that we would not consider it vegan,” he adds. “However, we also see a huge potential to reduce animal suffering, which is why we consider its promotion relevant. V-Label would not have been the right channel for this, as the target group is fundamentally different.”
Courtesy: C-Label
The biggest impact certification logos like C-Label would have is on the consumer front. But to date, only one company has sold cultivated meat in retail – but Eat Just’s Good Meat chicken is no longer available at Huber’s Butchery in Singapore. And any new launches feel few and far in between. So does the industry need an accreditation logo?
“Launching the C-Label now is about preparing for the future and building trust early. While retail products may feel distant, cultivated meat is already available in the US and Singapore, and well in the pipeline in other regions such as Europe,” says Pichler.
“As a global label, C-Label needs to take the different levels of development around the world into consideration. With over $3B invested in this technology and hundreds of companies involved, the market is developing rapidly. Furthermore, the public is still lacking foundational understanding when it comes to cultivated meat, creating an important need for information,” he adds.
“The C-Label establishes clear standards, supports industry collaboration, and helps educate consumers, ensuring the industry develops responsibly and is ready to scale when approval is gained in each region. Acting now positions us to guide this emerging technology toward a more ethical and sustainable future.”
Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Lidl’s new plant-based range, a vegan workplace canteen, and the UK House of Lords’s nod to cultivated meat.
New products and launches
Discount retailer Lidl has unveiled 28 new affordable plant-based products in the UK, which include Meat Free Cordon Bleu, Barista Oat Milk, and Smoked Tofu. The range starts from £1.09.
Courtesy: Lidl
Also in the UK, plant-based milk brand Mighty has added caramel and chocolate flavours to its oat milk powder range.
British foodservice wholesaler Brakes has extended its plant-based range with nearly 40 new products and created a Vegan Hub for Veganuary.
London-based Tofu Vegan, a popular Chinese restaurant chain, has opened its fifth location on Gloucester Road.
Across the Atlantic, tofu maker Hodo has announced a retail expansion into Meijer, Harris Teeter, and Giant Martin’s.
New York-based Edenesque has launched a barista edition of its pistachio milk, which is available at Whole Foods Market, on its webstore, and at Joe Coffee for $7.99 per carton.
AI-led ingredient discovery company Shiru has put out a partnership call to beverage manufacturers for the development and scale-up of a natural sugar replacer.
Popular fast-food chain Slutty Vegan has opened a new Bar Vegan location in Baltimore’s Rye Street Market, which is part of the Baltimore Peninsula District development.
Ingredients giant Griffith Foods has launched an Alternative Proteins Portfolio to complement its range of plant-based seasonings, sauces, dressings, binders, coatings, and all-in-one mixes.
Dutch vegan food distributor GreenPro International has rebranded to Plantitude to solidify its role as the “connecting factor in the protein transition”.
Crafty Counter has introducedEggless Salad under its vegan Wundereggs brand, which is available at all Safeway and Albertsons stores across Idaho and Washington state.
Meanwhile, Emirates Airlines has introduced a range of vegan meals for children, including pizza, vegetable fajitas, cauliflower bites and strawberry crumble. It adds to the carrier’s 300-plus plant-based options.
Aussie plant-based player v2food has unveiled a new identity for Soulara, the ready meal brand it acquired in January.
Courtesy: Soulara
And in India, vegan startup Blue Tribe Foods – backed by cricketer Virat Kohli and actor Anushka Sharma – has rolled out sweet potato fries, which are available at online retailers like Zepto, Swiggy Instamart, and Blinkit.
Company and finance updates
Belgian agrifood company Arvesta has opened Nuverta, a plant-based protein facility in Mettet, which will initially produce pea protein concentrate.
British green energy innovator Ecotricity, owned by Dale Vince, has opened what it says is the country’s first fully vegan workplace canteen.
The University of Nottingham has partnered with UK plant-based food company Jampa’s and Canadian manufacturer Tartistes to develop next-gen vegan products, receiving funding from the UK-Canada Innovate UK scheme.
Courtesy: Heura
Spanish vegan meat startup Heura has opened a new innovation lab in Barcelona’s 22@ tech district, and plans to register six more patents over the next nine months, adding to the innovations it announced late last year.
Slovenian plant-based food producer Narayan Group is set to be acquired by Edible Garden AG Incorporated, having signed a letter of intent to enter a share purchase agreement.
In the US, animal-free component producer Nexture Bio has acquiredMatrix Food Technologies, which makes plant-based, edible nanofibre scaffolds and microbeads for cultivated meat.
Courtesy: Tender Food
Boston-based Tender Food‘s co-founder Christophe Chantre has announced that he stepped down from his role as CEO last fall.
Tender Food also received $5.1M as part of the US Department of Energy‘s Technologies for Industrial Emissions Reduction Development (TIEReD) Program, while fellow Boston company Ginkgo Bioworks earned $2.4M.
Superlatus, the parent company of The Urgent Company, has been sued by Eat Well Investment Group, which has accused the former of fraudulently selling its plant-based food tech platform to avoid contractual obligations and cheating it out of $10M.
Research and policy developments
In the UK, the House of Lords has recognised cultivated meat as a key engineering biology opportunity and is calling for improved regulation of these products in a report published by its Science and Technology Committee.
Vegan seafood startup BettaF!sh and upcycled apricot kernel company Kern Tec have each won a €5,000 award as part of EIT Food’s Marketed Innovation Prize.
Courtesy: Kern Tec
The University of Galway in Ireland has introduced a 12-week course on Animal Law for undergraduate law students, which starts this month.
In their attempt to bring vegan cheese closer to what consumers expect, researchers from the University of Guelph and Canadian Light Source have found that blending coconut oil with pea protein provides better melting and stretching, and mixing it with sunflowerr oil lowers the saturated fat content without compromising functionality.
Finally, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has approved a motion to ramp up the procurement of plant-based foods to lower emissions and improve public health, with county food services now encouraged to adopt a 2:1 ratio of plant- to animal-based mains.
German startup Project Eaden has secured €15M ($15.6M) in a Series A funding round to launch its fibre-spun whole-cut in retail, starting with REWE supermarkets nationwide.
Using textile technology to modernise and futureproof the $35B ham market, Berlin-based Project Eaden has raised €15M ($15.6M) in an oversubscribed Series A fundraiser.
The startup, which makes whole-cut plant-based meat with fibre-spinning tech, secured lead investors Planet A Ventures and REWE Group, with support from DeepTech & Climate Fonds, Happiness Capital, AgriFoodTech Venture Alliance, and existing backers Creandum and FoodLabs. This takes Project Eaden’s total funding to date to €27M ($28M), just three years since being established.
Christoph Gras, General Partner of Planet A, said: “Research suggests that plant-based products could replace 11–22% of global meat consumption by 2035—but only if improvements are made in taste and texture. Project Eaden is leading this shift with its new fiber technology, which delivers a meat alternative that will appeal even to the most skeptical consumers. This first-of-a-kind approach is a crucial step toward decarbonizing the food sector.”
The fresh capital will support scale-up efforts and a European retail launch. Its ham products will debut at 3,800 REWE supermarkets across Germany in early 2025, providing an alternative to the country’s favourite meat (pork). The company will follow this with entry into several other EU markets by the middle of the year.
According to the company, the retailer was won over by Eaden’s ultra-realistic texture and taste. “Project Eaden is setting a new standard in alternative meat by delivering the meat-like experience that today’s consumers crave. As a launch partner, we’re excited to bring their innovative products to our stores,” said Hans-Jürgen Moog, chief procurement officer of REWE Group.
Modern meat inspired by the textile industry
Courtesy: Project Eaden
Founded by Dr David Schmelzeisen, Jan Wilmking and Hubertus Bessau in 2022, Project Eaden went viral on the internet when it unveiled its whole-muscle steak and placed it next to conventional beef, with online commentators wondering if the image was doctored.
The Berlin-based company has since expanded its portfolio to create whole-cut sausages, pork loin and, of course, ham. These meat alternatives are derived from an age-old fibre-spinning technology employed by the textile industry. This allows Project Eaden to meet technical requirements like elasticity, water-binding ability and strength to closely mimic animal muscle fibres.
To get here, plant proteins are bundled into strands, and then unfolded in a solution to create a homogenous liquid. This is spun to form ultra-thin fibres, which get integrated into a compound to replicate the collagen-based connective tissues found in animals.
Wilmking, the firm’s managing director, has previously explained that the tech uses two types of fibres. “First, we use strong and thin fibres for connective tissue, which don’t stick together much, but help make the meat structure and bite experience feel real,” he told Green Queen in July.
“Then, a large part of our product is made from a cheaper, juicier fibre that sticks together just enough to hold meat juice in small spaces, making it taste tender and yummy, like real meat,” he added.
Project Eaden’s ultra-realistic Serrano ham. Courtesy: Project Eaden
The resulting products have been endorsed by butchers, Michelin-starred chefs, and retail buyers. “Our proprietary tech is versatile across meat types, cheap and highly scalable,” said Schmelzeisen, who has a PhD in textile engineering and is also a managing director at the company.
The funding round comes at a challenging time for alternative protein startups, which have suffered from a lack of investor interest. Financing for plant-based companies fell by 24% in 2023, reaching $908M. The fall was even sharper in the first nine months of 2024, when the sector raised a mere $194M.
That said, investors have shown they’re willing to back challenger brands with well-executed products in niche, underserved categories. Paris-based La Vie, for example, closed a €25M ($27.4M) round in October, while Spain’s Heura brought in €40M ($43M) – and both only launched their pork-free ham products in the last 18 monts.
Alongside Project Eaden, these brands also benefit from what is a relatively competition-free space, with only Prime Roots, Squeaky Bean and Quorn the other prominent players making vegan ham.
Germans turn away from meat amid health concerns
Source: Pig Progress
Much has been said about the slow sales of meat alternatives globally, but Germany has remained a high-performing outlier. It is the largest market for plant-based meat outside the US, and accounted for 46% of meat alternative sales in Europe’s biggest regions in 2023. These products witnessed a 6% hike in sales to reach €990M and entered over 37% of households.
At the same time, 46% of Germans are cutting back on meat, particularly pork, just as plant-based meat production rises and the new national dietary guidelines recommend a shift away from animal proteins and towards plant-based foods. This is being driven by younger cohorts like Gen Zers, who have been found to be more receptive to meat alternatives than older demographics.
Health is another key factor challenging pork consumption. Processed deli meats such as ham are often packed with nitrates, and the World Health Organization classifies such foods as Type 1 carcinogens. Eaden’s ham products are nitrate-free, as well as free of antibiotics and hormones.
Still, several barriers remain, chief among them palatability. More than 60% of Gen Z consumers in Germany are unsatisfied with the taste and texture of plant-based meat, a number that rises to 80% for Gen Xers and 88% for those aged 69 and above.
Wilmking believes Project Eaden’s whole cuts are solving that: “We are here to make the switch away from animal meat consumption a no-brainer. Our products deliver on taste, texture and nutrition.”
Tackling climate narratives
Courtesy: Project Eaden
The other issue is climate. Nearly two in five Germans think the country eats too much meat, and 30% want to increase their plant-based meat intake, though more than half don’t believe meat is a major problem for the climate – despite animal proteins being responsible for 57% of food system emissions (twice as high as plant-based foods).
Project Eaden hopes to change this narrative – each kg of its products reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to 20kg of CO2e, cuts water use by as much as 56 cubic metres, and lowers land use by up to 20 sq m.
The company will now expand its team across sales, marketing, operations and engineering, and is also working on broadening its range to more cuts, including Serrano and cooked ham, bratwurst, bacon, chicken breast, pastrami, and beef and pork flank steaks.
Another startup making fibre-spun meat analogues is Massachusetts-based Tender Foods, which likens its production process to spinning cotton candy. The company has raised $23M since it launched in 2020, and its fried chicken and pork are on the menu at meat-free chain Clover Food Lab.
Dutch startup Mosa Meat has filed a novel food regulatory application for its cultivated beef fat in the European Union.
The maker of the world’s first cultivated beef burger has applied for market authorisation in its home region.
Mosa Meat has submitted a dossier in the EU for a cultivated beef fat ingredient, which can be mixed with plant-based ingredients for use in hybrid meat products like hamburgers, meatballs, empanadas, or bolognese.
It is only the second company filing for approval for cultivated meat from the EU Commission and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), following French startup Gourmey‘s application in July. The two bodies will now evaluate the dossier in a process that’s expected to take 18 months. If successful, Mosa Meat would be able to sell the ingredient in all 27 member states and the three EEA countries.
The development comes months after Mosa Meat held a public tasting for cattle farmers, product developers and other industry representatives at its headquarters in Maastricht, where it dished out hybrid beef burgers. “The burgers in our public tastings were produced with a very similar blend, using our cultivated fat,” CEO Maarten Bosch tells Green Queen.
Eyeing regulatory success in multiple countries
Courtesy: Mosa Meat
The EU has been the toughest regulatory nut to crack for cultivated meat companies, thanks to a complex and stringent novel food framework that Mosa Meat describes as the “global gold standard for food safety”.
The approval process involves the EU Commission as well as its member states, alongside input from scientific experts at the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which ensures that the authorisation retains the buy-in of all stakeholders.
Unlike regulators in other countries (like Singapore), the EU’s regulatory process requires cultivated ingredients to be submitted individually, instead of full products. While Mosa Meat chose its fat as the first ingredient for submission, Bosch reveals that it also has a dedicated team working on cultivating muscle tissue.
Speaking of Singapore, this was the first market Mosa Meat had applied for approval, though the original nine- to 12-month timeline the country has touted has been hard to realise. “We remain in communication with the regulators in Singapore but, at this time, we don’t have any new updates or timelines to share regarding the process,” says Bosch.
A new Food Safety and Security Bill, which codifies the assessment framework, can break the deadlock and speed up the process.
Beyond Europe and Singapore, Bosch teased submissions in “two other geographies” imminently. The company has previously indicated interest in the UK, Switzerland and the US – though the new Trump administration could derail progress in the latter.
“We are eager to collaborate closely with regulatory authorities to ensure full compliance with safety requirements,” he says.
Why Mosa Meat decided to start with cultivated fat
Courtesy: Mosa Meat
Blending cultivated fat with plant-based ingredients would allow Mosa Meat to introduce its initial burgers to customers while “staying true to our long-term vision, Bosch says.
“Fat is the primary driver of flavour in meat, influencing taste, aroma, and mouthfeel. Of the main components of meat – muscle, fat, and connective tissue – fat has the most significant culinary impact,’ he explains.
“Many plant-based products struggle to replicate this experience, as oils like coconut behave very differently from beef fat in terms of melting, taste, and aroma. Cultivated fat helps bridge this gap, delivering the authentic beefy experience that consumers crave.”
So how does Mosa Meat make it? “We start by taking a small sample of cells from a cow. This sample contains cells that could become either muscle or fat,” says Bosch.
“For this product, we isolate and focus on nurturing the fatty potential of the cells in a nutrient-rich and serum-free medium. This process mimics their natural growth cycle, allowing them to duplicate by orders of magnitude and take on that beefy quality. Once harvested from the cultivator, the final product can be combined with our in-house plant-based mix for any dish that uses a beef mince,” he describes.
Its innovations impressed taste testers at the public event last year, as well as chefs like Hans van Wolde – owner of the two-Michelin-starred eatery Brut 172 – who formally joined its product development team in 2023.
“When I first tried a Mosa Burger as part of the internal development team, I was blown away by the beefy taste and the amazing mouthfeel of the beef fat,” he says. “It gave me goosebumps. I genuinely believe this new way of making beef can delight connoisseurs and casual beef lovers alike while enjoying the positive benefits of cultivated beef from a sustainability perspective.”
The promise of hybrid meat
Courtesy: Mosa Meat
Bosch suggests that the exact composition of its burgers is being refined right now, but adds: “Our immediate focus is on using cultivated fat in our own Mosa burgers, but we’re also in discussions with several plant-based product producers about potential collaborations.”
Hybrid meat has been described by investors as the most viable way of commercialising cultivated meat at the moment, thanks to the high costs and scalability challenges. Most cultivated meat products that have come to market have been in hybrid format – Eat Just, the only company to sell these proteins in a supermarket, uses only 3% of cultivated cells in its Good Meat chicken for retail.
When Mosa Meat co-founder Dr Mark Post first unveiled a cultivated meat burger in 2013, the two proof-of-concept patties cost $330,000. The firm has since managed to slash costs repeatedly. In 2020, it cut the price of its growth medium by 80-fold, and a year later, reduced the cost of its fat medium by 66 times.
In May 2023, it opened what it claims is currently the world’s largest cultivated meat facility in Maastricht. This “cultivated meat campus” is its fourth plant, expanding its footprint to 7,340 sq m (79,007 sq ft), and has a 1,000-litre bioreactor scale that can produce “tens of thousands of cultivated hamburgers”.
Could cultivated beef fat take on tallow?
Courtesy: Mosa Meat
It’s been a tough time for the cultivated meat industry, both from a policy and financial perspective. In the EU, Italy has banned these proteins, and countries like France and Hungary have tried to do so too. Across the pond, policymakers in over a dozen states have proposed a ban, with Florida and Alabama being successful.
But with efforts to greenify the EU’s food system on the rise, and the EU Commission batting away arguments to justify a cultivated meat ban, there are signs that regulatory progress could accelerate here. A 2024 survey of 16,000 citizens from 15 EU countries found that Europeans are largely in favour of cultivated meat if it passes safety assessments from food regulators, and a majority are willing to try it.
And while investment in cultivated meat has been decreasing (dropping by 75% in 2023, followed by another decline in 2024), Mosa Meat was one of the outliers, raising €40M ($42.4M) in a funding round in April. It took total investment in the company to over $135M, with backers including Mitsubishi Corporation, Dutch state investor Invest-NL, and Leonardo DiCaprio.
The other reason why Europe needs cultivated meat is the climate impact. Livestock farming takes up 71% of the EU’s agricultural land and contributes to 84% of its food system emissions, but meat and dairy only provide 35% of calories and 65% of proteins in the region.
According to an independent life-cycle assessment, cultivated beef can cut emissions by 93%, use 95% less land, and consume 78% less water than its conventional protein.
Another beef product bad for the planet is tallow, which has exploded in popularity thanks to skincare influencers on TikTok and brands looking to move away from seed oils. Does Mosa Meat see an opportunity to tap into the consumer market for this fat too?
Bosch isn’t ruling anything out. “While our current focus is on developing complete products, such as our Mosa burgers, we remain open to exploring creative culinary applications for our cultivated fat in the future,” he says.
Consumers in Switzerland are reducing their meat consumption, but also buying fewer plant-based analogues, with vegetables and legumes taking precedence among flexitarians.
The influence of health on food choices continues to increase in 2025, while climate change worryingly becomes less of a priority for many consumers.
This is true in Switzerland too, where a 2,200-person survey by retailer Coop has found that the importance of environmental benefits has diminished among flexitarians, vegetarians and vegans alike.
The 2025 Plant Based Food Report suggests that climate change is still the main reason for flexitarians – who make up 57% of the Swiss population – reducing their animal product consumption, but its significance has decreased by six points from the corresponding poll last year. Health, meanwhile, has gained ground, now outshining animal welfare.
For vegans, environmental benefits fell by eight points from first place to third in their list of dietary motivations, with ethics taking the lead. While health is fourth on the list, it jumped by 15 percentage points from 2024.
Meanwhile, substitarians – a subset of flexitarians identified by Coop who eat plant-based meat products several times a month – are placing less emphasis on benefits for the environment (a 10-point drop), health (down by two points) and animal welfare (four points lower) compared to 2024.
Swiss interest in plant-based meat falls
Courtesy: Coop
Encouragingly for public and planetary health, Swiss people are eating fewer animal proteins, reducing frequent consumption of meat, milk, and cheese by two, three and six percentage points, respectively.
This is thanks to the high number of flexitarians, which has remained steady after explosive growth in 2022. This demographic is dominated by older populations and women, who are significantly more likely to give up animal proteins than younger and male consumers.
Meanwhile, 30% are classed as ‘substitarians’, a two-point increase from 2024. Overall, the number of people who have tried plant-based alternatives has remained steady since 2022, growing by one percentage point.
Substitarians mainly live in German-speaking parts of Switzerland. Interestingly, 41% of people under 29 eat vegan meat and dairy products several times a month, much higher than the 19% of older Swiss consumers that do so – a complete opposite of the trends among the overall flexitarian category.
Likewise, men buy more plant-based meat than women, with the former group’s purchases increasing across all vegan categories in the last five years.
But the number of new substitarians remains low, with only 4% of participants saying they’ve been eating plant-based alternatives for less than a year. More than half (54%) have been consuming these products for four years or more. This highlights how onboarding new consumers is tough, but retention seems easier for plant-based brands.
Looking to the future, 26% of flexitarians want to eat animal-free meat and dairy products more often in the next five years – a 10-point decrease from last year – and 35% want to continue their current consumption rates. Likewise, only 37% of substitarians now want to increase their intake of these foods, a 21-point drop from 2024.
Health a major driver of plant-based consumption
Courtesy: Coop
While flexitarians’ favourite substitutes for meat and fish are actually dairy products like cheese, mushrooms and vegetables are second on the list, followed by legumes like peas, lentils and beans (all favoured by over 40% of respondents). Plant-based meats are almost an afterthought, attracting only 15% of Swiss flexitarians, behind tofu and tempeh (21%).
That whole foods and traditional plant proteins are above meat analogues is a reflection of the latter’s reputation hit amid the ultra-processed food (UPF) debate – despite their advantages over conventional meat.
In fact, when it comes to health, over four in 10 Swiss consumers reducing meat consumption are most concerned about their cardiovascular impact, followed by the presence of hormones or antibiotics, cholesterol, saturated fats, and calorie content. Health concerns are also why the northeastern canton of St Gallen banned meat and dairy with excessive levels of ‘forever chemicals’.
In fact, Switzerland’s new dietary guidelines – published in September – call on its citizens to eat more whole foods and plant proteins, taking into account both health and climate considerations. Climate experts are now calling on Swiss consumers to follow the recommendations to help achieve the government’s environmental goals.
However, sales of plant-based meat in the country decreased by 10% in 2024, with vegan seafood falling even further (15%). That said, dairy alternatives enjoyed a 5.2% hike in sales, representing nearly 4% of the overall milk market.
Within Coop, though, plant-based milk has continued to encroach upon the overall sector’s sales, taking a 17% market share. Here, oat milk is by far the favourite, accounting for 58% of alt-milk sales, followed by soy milk (18%).
In contrast, Germany is Europe’s largest market for plant-based food, with 30% of locals wanting to increase their consumption of meat analogues over the next year. In France, people are eating 6% less meat than they were two decades ago, and 28% consume vegan alternatives weekly. Across the EU, meanwhile, 51% of people have cut back on meat, with health the biggest factor.
The French government’s proposed labelling ban on plant-based meat products has been cancelled by its top court, echoing a similar decision by its EU counterpart.
Veggie burgers are here to stay – yet again.
A long-running saga in Europe’s food tech industry, the war on plant-based meat labels has taken another turn in favour of vegan producers, as France’s Conseil d’État has rejected two decrees proposing a ban on terms like ‘plant-based bacon’ on, well, plant-based bacon.
In a ruling yesterday, the country’s top court called the decrees “illegal and contrary to European regulation”, noting that EU member states cannot independently regulate food labelling.
The decision comes just over a week after the court held its final hearing on the matter, where its advocate-general – who assists the court and presents opinions on cases with full impartiality and independence – recommended cancelling both decrees.
The advice argued that the decrees are not fit for purpose and that the government should pay legal costs to the plaintiffs, namely the European Vegetarian Association (EVU), the Association Végétarienne de France (AVF), and industry giant Beyond Meat.
By throwing out the attempt to prohibit meat-like phrases on vegan products, the Conseil d’État has delivered a landslide victory for the plant-based industry, and agreed with a similar ruling from the European Court of Justice (ECJ) last year.
A swing of victories for plant-based meat labels
Courtesy: La Vie
France’s first attempt to ban meaty terms on plant-based products came in 2022, when it issued a decree to prohibit all such descriptors except ‘burger’. The Conseil d’État suspended the decree after complaints from meat-free companies and associations, calling the wording too vague.
The second decree – proposed in September 2023 – was nearly identical, co-signed by then Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne. It aimed to outlaw 21 terms like ‘steak’, ‘ham’ and even ‘grilled’, threatening a non-compliance fine of up to €1,500 for individuals and €7,500 for companies.
This second decree listed a further 120 more phrases – like ‘bacon’, ‘sausage’, and ‘nuggets’ – that companies could use only if the amount of plant protein didn’t exceed a maximum limit ranging from 0.5% to 6%. This, of course, meant that no fully plant-based products could use these terms.
The Conseil d’État suspended this too, following the complaint from the EVU, AVF and Beyond Meat. It referred parts of the case to the ECJ, which also rejected the ban and returned the case to the French court for a final decision.
The EU’s highest court ruled that the only way a member state can implement such a ban is to legally define meat products and descriptive terms first, and even then, such a ban would only apply to products manufactured within that country (creating an unfair environment for local companies). It also said countries can’t adopt national measures that determine minimum inclusion levels of plant proteins for labelling purposes.
It’s not the first time the EU has ruled in favour of plant-based companies on this issue – the parliament voted to reject such a ban in 2021 as well, though choosing to enforce it on non-dairy products.
Lawmakers should stop politicising ‘non-issue’
Courtesy: Beyond Meat/Green Queen
France is far from the only country targeting vegan product labels. These legislative proposals are common across the world – as recently as last month, the Czech government was floating a similar move.
The major argument behind these proposed bans is that consumers are confused when they see a product labelled ‘veggie burger’ or ‘vegan chicken’. But this has been dispelled by numerous studies, with most consumers knowing the difference between plant- and animal-derived proteins.
Rafael Pinto, senior policy manager at the EVU, argued that these attempts “do nothing but confuse consumers”, hindering the region’s shift to a more sustainable food system. “The data is clear, consumers are not confused by the use of traditional denominations for plant-based products,” he said.
“Policymakers should be focused on promoting better conditions for farmers, citizens and innovation, instead of politicising a non-issue,” he added.
In a positive sign, these efforts are increasingly being thwarted. Italy is reconsidering its ban after pushback from the country’s leading union of food manufacturers. A South African court ruled against upholding a ban last year too. And Turkey’s latest labelling laws allow companies to use such terms on packaging.
Plant-based companies like Tofurky, Miyoko’s Creamery, Planted, Oatly and NotCo have all won legal battles over product labels – and Beyond Meat has now joined them.
This story was updated on January 29 to reflect the French court’s final decision.
Singapore-based cellular agriculture pioneer Umami Bioworks has introduced its latest product, cultivated caviar, for high-end restaurants, retailers and consumers.
Joining the cultivated meat companies targeting premium markets, Umami Bioworks has a hybrid caviar alternative, made from a blend of cultured sturgeon cells and plant-based ingredients.
The Singaporean startup – one of the most well-known players in the cultivated seafood pace – is targeting Gen Z and millennials with its latest offering, who are driving the global demand for caviar, but at the same time also prioritise sustainability and ethical sourcing.
With the new innovation, Umami Bioworks is aiming to decarbonise one of the most highly sought-after foods. Also known as salted roe, caviar is acquired from slaughtered sturgeons and has always come at a high price, both ethically and environmentally. And overfishing has made sturgeons the most critically endangered species on Earth, according to the WWF, with 90% facing the threat.
“By combining cutting-edge science with a deep respect for oceanic heritage, we are offering connoisseurs an indulgence that delivers exceptional taste and texture without compromise,” said Mihir Pershad, founder and CEO of Umami Bioworks.
Why we need cultivated caviar
Courtesy: Alla Machutt/Getty Images
Research has linked caviar farming with a host of environmental detriments, such as natural habitat destruction, waste pollution, and biodiversity loss due to illegal overfishing. At the same time, high temperatures, water pollution, and rising sea levels are disrupting sturgeon populations, causing shifts in behaviour, reproduction, breeding cycles, and oxygen levels.
Still, it’s a $402M market, and its sales have been exploding thanks to TikTok. Gen Z influencers have driven the #CaviarTok trend, which has received millions of views, and contributed to the 74% hike in caviar sales since 2020. The market is set to further expand by 40%.
But given the environmental and ethical issues, this is unsustainable. As of 2024, 30% of people had been eating less seafood globally in the past two years, with nearly half (48%) concerned about overfishing and 35% worried about climate change impacts. Meanwhile, over 80% of people changed their dietary habits in this period, and 43% did so for sustainability reasons.
Umami Bioworks is aiming to cater to that demographic by addressing the sustainability and ethics debate, while offering an alternative to the currently strained supply chain. The firm is using its proprietary cultivated meat technology and blending it with certain plant-based to derive the indulgent taste and texture typical of conventional caviar.
The startup says it’s packed with omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, and essential micronutrients, and is geared towards high-end restaurants, chefs, and premium retailers.
“We’re thrilled to introduce a product that resonates with ethically conscious, younger consumers, who are reshaping the definition of luxury,” said product manager Gayathri Mani. “We will partner with leading brands and leverage Umami’s solution to develop a wide range of customised, culinary offerings for diverse applications.”
Premium products provide better margins for cultivated meat startups
Courtesy: CellMEAT
There are several companies working to create more planet- and wallet-friendly versions of caviar. Some – like Cavi-Art, Zeroe, and Cavinoir – are offering plant-based alternatives, made from seaweed, sodium alginate, or agar-agar.
And like Umami Bioworks, others are working on cultivated caviar. These include CellMeat (South Korea), Marinas Bio (California), and Caviar Biotec.
They’re among a growing crop of cultivated meat status focusing on high-end species, which offer better margins and a product closer to price parity than their conventional counterparts, compared to innovations like cultivated chicken or beef.
Speaking of which, Umami Bioworks has submitted regulatory dossiers in “major markets across America, Europe, and Asia”, Pershad told Green Queen last November. It’s also in active discussions with the UK’s Food Standards Agency, and working with a pet food company to bring cultivated fish treats for cats to the US this year.
Green Queen has contacted Umami Bioworks for further details will update the story once we hear back.
With hopes of a European launch growing, Californian plant-based meat leader Impossible Foods has had a patent for its heme protein reinstated in the EU.
Two years after the European Patent Office (EPO) revoked a key patent it granted to Impossible Foods, the decision has been overturned by the agency’s Board of Appeals.
A culmination of a protracted process that faced significant opposition, the patent concerned the plant-based company’s use of heme protein and flavour precursors in its flagship burger, which allow it to ‘bleed’, smell and taste like conventional beef.
The heme ingredient – derived from soy and genetically engineered yeast – has been at the centre of a legal dispute in its home country, where the Californian firm triumphed over a long-running legal battle with Motif Foodworks, taking over its heme business. The latter ceased operations soon after the case came to an end.
Why Impossible Foods’s EU patent was reinstated
Courtesy: Impossible Foods
The EU patent was first granted in 2017, covering a meat alternative compromising heme proteins and “at least two flavour precursor molecules”. Impossible Foods inserts the DNA from soy plants into a genetically engineered yeast strain called Komagataella phaffii to produce soy leghemoglobin via a process similar to how Belgian beer is brewed.
But it was challenged by a straw man (or anonymous) opponent a year later, which argued that the patent was invalid due to a lack of novelty or an inventive step (when an invention is not obvious to a person skilled in the field), and insufficient disclosure.
The EPO’s Opposition Division agreed that the patent was invalid for the latter reason. And while it believed that Impossible Foods’s heme protein was a novel invention, it lacked an inventive step.
In its decision on December 20, the Board of Appeals said it was “readily apparent” the case was complex. “The proprietor had to address numerous and increasingly expanded attacks raised by the opponent and third parties during the opposition proceedings. More than 100 documents were filed, most of them after the filing of the notice of opposition,” it stated.
The appeals body found that the requirement that the heme-containing protein be ‘isolated; was directly and unambiguously disclosed in the patent application, as were the combinations of three flavour precursors.
Impossible Foods had also communicated how the heme protein and flavour molecules give its plant-based analogues the taste and smell of meat during the cooking process, the Board of Appeals noted. It additionally found that the company had made sufficient disclosures about its invention, which it said contained an inventive step.
Impossible Burger inching closer to European plates
Courtesy: Impossible Foods
The EPO Board of Appeals’s decision ended a year of significant regulatory progress for Impossible Foods in Europe. The company already sells its beef in the US, Canada, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, the UAE, Australia, and New Zealand – but has faced several hurdles in the EU and the UK for its precision fermentation process.
But in June, the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) food additives panel issued a positive safety assessment of LegH Prep, a liquid preparation containing the company’s soy leghemoglobin and other ingredients. This was provisional, as it was subject to an assessment from the regulator’s GMO panel.
That came months later in November, when the GMO body ruled that the ingredient was “safe for human consumption with regard to the effects of the genetic modification”. It ended a Clock Stop – a period when evaluation is officially stopped pending further information from the company – that had hampered the process since December 2021.
This then followed a 30-day consultation period, allowing the submission of purely scientific comments and questions to be addressed by the EFSA and the EU Commission. Following that, the Commission will draft approval decisions to be brought to the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed, which will discuss and then vote on them.
“The agency’s comprehensive, scientific assessment of the safety of soy Leghemoglobin (heme) across two applications reinforces the overall quality and safety of our food, echoing similar approvals from regulators in the United States, Canada, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand,” an Impossible Foods spokesperson told Green Queen in November.
They noted that the GMO approval was “an important step toward bringing Impossible products to Europe”, adding: “We’re excited to continue our work with EU decision-makers to bring Impossible Foods products to European consumers.”
Impossible Foods’s patent victory comes at a testy time for plant-based meat in Europe, where it has faced renewed attacks over the use of meat-related terms on product labels. But in a positive sign for the industry, the EU’s top court rejected the French government’s attempt to instate a labelling ban, a decision that is set to be finalised by France’s top court.
Indy Kaur, founder and CEO of Plant Futures Collective, tells us why ‘open omnivores’ – meat-eaters open to eating plant-based alternatives – will lead the future food revolution.
What segment of consumers will drive the vegan category forward?
Indy Kaur, founder and CEO of UK consultancy Plant Futures Collective, is betting on meat-eaters. That is, meat-eaters who are happy to try plant-based meats, a group she calls “open omnivores”. Kaur believes they are the future of flexitarianism and represent the largest addressable market for plant-based meat.
Open omnivores are stuck, and need more information – and there lies the opportunity for brands and their marketing strategies. Speaking of which, Kaur is working with industry figures to develop a checkoff programme that involves brands raising a collective fund that goes towards promotional campaigns for the entire industry.
We spoke to Kaur about open omnivores and the potential they bring to the plant-based market, whether Meat Free Mondays really work, and what a future food checkoff programme could entail.
This interview has been edited for clarity and concision.
Green Queen: How would you describe Plant Futures Collective and its work?
Indy Kaur: Plant Futures Collective is dedicated to addressing the critical challenges faced by businesses in the plant-based and alternative protein sectors. We prioritise the challenges that have the most impact on businesses and identify opportunities to get behind.
Currently, these challenges are too complex for any single brand or retailer to solve alone.
During my time working with Tesco – the UK’s largest retailer – there was only so much in our control. Ultimately, we face a consumer demand issue and it’s hard to create ‘demand’ in retail. A systems change approach is necessary; that is, all actors move together, in the same direction, at the same pace. There are no quick fixes of ‘silver bullets’, only one North Star we all must align on.
GQ: How would you define the ‘open omnivore’ consumers and their importance to the plant-based sector?
Courtesy: Plant Futures Collective
IK: Open omnivores are my favourite group because we have the ability to help them. This group can also be seen as the future of flexitarians.
Our 2021 research revealed a segment that is nearly twice the size of today’s flexitarians, making up around 30% of the population. It’s a huge opportunity and an incredibly important group. In the UK alone, this could bring in up to 16 million new people, based on the current adult population.
GQ: You mentioned you used the Smart Protein survey data to differentiate between the two types of omnivores. Can you give us more insight into what you found?
IK: Omnivores, those who primarily eat meat, make up the largest dietary group, around 70%. However, we’ve found that this isn’t a single, uniform group; it can be split. In 2021, we discovered that 55% of meat eaters are ‘closed omnivores’. These individuals are simply not interested in changing their eating habits, and they’re content with the status quo.
The real opportunity, however, lies with open omnivores – meat eaters who are open to trying plant-based foods, especially plant-based meat, and are actively seeking to reduce their meat consumption. What’s particularly exciting is that if someone is interested in reducing meat consumption, they are also more likely to reduce their dairy consumption, and vice versa.
This insight suggests that the plant-based meat and plant-based dairy categories complement each other, which is great news for both sectors. For the success of the entire category, it’s crucial that both are successful.
GQ: How is an open omnivore different from a flexitarian? Would you say the former is a precursor to the latter?
Courtesy: Plant Futures Collective
IK: It’s fascinating. The easiest way to understand it is this: flexitarians tend to believe more that consuming too much meat can be harmful to health and/or the environment. Whereas, closed omnivores believe more that “lots of meat” is nutritionally necessary and that a meal is not complete without meat.
Open omnivores are caught somewhere in between. They believe that meat is necessary but also recognise that too much meat can be harmful to health and/or the planet. They’re unsure which direction to take, and are essentially just a bit stuck and needing more information – though we’re still uncertain about exactly what they need (we’ll learn more about this in March after an insights study).
GQ: Do you believe these consumers exist in the EU as well as across the world?
IK: Absolutely! In 2024, I spent time in the EU, the US, and Australia presenting insights to businesses, and it’s incredible to see the consistency between these markets. At the core of it all is the fact that meat and dairy have been deeply embedded in cultures and social norms for generations.
As people across various regions become more aware of the health and environmental impacts of high meat and dairy consumption, we will see a greater shift and necessity towards plant-rich diets and foods.
GQ: Your insights suggest Meat Free Mondays can have commercial cut-through. Why do you believe campaigns like these work? How do they encourage consumers to gradually eat more plant-based food?
Courtesy: Plant Futures Collective
IK: In February 2024, businesses told us they wanted to get behind Meat Free Monday. We partnered with research agency Harris X and went on to uncover some fascinating insights, those taking part in Meat Free Monday are forming healthier eating habits throughout the week, such as eating more fruits and vegetables, trying new plant-based foods, and opting for more meat-free meals when eating out.
We also found those who are aware of Meat Free Monday, 50% take part regularly meaning if we can reach the 72% of the UK population who aren’t yet aware, we could potentially bring in over 20 million new people into the category.
GQ: Can you tell us more about the UK-centric Meat Free Monday experiment you’re planning this year?
IK: Over 30 businesses in the UK’s meat alternative sector are involved, including all major plant-based meat brands and many startups. A world first?!
We’re collaborating closely with Meat Free Monday, M&C Saatchi on the creative, Studio Biggie supporting, and System 1 on research to identify the most effective message to engage consumers. The launch is set for Spring 2025, with growing interest from international markets.
Courtesy: Plant Futures Collective
GQ: Could you walk us through the thinking behind the checkoff programme you’re working on and why it’s needed?
IK: In the UK, we don’t have a direct equivalent to the US’s ‘checkoff’ programmes, but we follow a similar model through the Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board (AHDB). Both systems operate as centralised marketing and research funds, funded by levies in the UK. The plant-based sector, however, doesn’t yet have this kind of infrastructure, which would be incredibly valuable.
Campaigns like the US’s famous ‘Got Milk?’ and the UK’s recent ‘We Eat Balanced’ are good examples of how centralised funds can be used effectively to support entire sectors and protect their reputations. These systems work, and the plant-based sector could benefit greatly from a similar approach. [Vegan Food Group and Veganuary co-founder] Matthew Glover has been a key enabler here, and I am excited to support and see how we can make this happen.
Courtesy: Plant Futures Collective
GQ: How would it work in terms of collaboration with companies? Who is involved?
IK: Collaboration is key, and for a checkoff programme to succeed, all partners must buy into the systems change approach -–moving together in the same direction and at the same pace. Partners also need to commit to the experiment: testing, learning, iterating, and investing modestly to ensure active engagement and the resources needed to get started.
In 2024, we ran four workshops in the UK, covering proteins, dairy alternatives, and whole-food and veg-led categories. Over 100 businesses and organisations, with more than 200 participants, were involved. The feedback has been broadly consistent and clear: there is a strong call for a category-wide campaign to drive trial and overall category penetration.
Our work with Meat Free Monday is a good example, and we’ll soon expand to include dairy alternatives and whole-food and veg-led categories.
GQ: How is the programme funded? What are your plans for the first campaign?
Courtesy: Plant Futures Collective
IK: The funding for this initial phase is set up as a pilot to get things off the ground, and it has been working well thanks to everyone’s contributions, along with a generous grant donation as seed funding and support from industry partners who share our vision.
We’ve already built the proof of concept. When an opportunity is presented, businesses will come together and take action, and large-scale, multi-stakeholder campaigns are possible.
Now, we need support to invest in a centralised marketing and research fund, a checkoff programme. This is a call to action. Businesses are operating on incredibly tight budgets, making it unrealistic to raise all the necessary funding in this way.
However, I have no doubt many will contribute and take an active role. We will need to seek funding from other sources, and I’m excited to support Matthew Glover in this effort.
US food tech startup Chunk Foods has received a Ketogenic Certified label for its whole-cut vegan steaks, playing into a major dietary trend. It’s also targeting a global expansion.
As protein continues to grow in importance and carbohydrates become a target for a host of consumers, US plant-based meat player Chunk Foods is looking to cater to this cohort with its latest accreditation.
Its four-strong retail lineup – introduced in October – will now carry the Ketogenic Certified logo on its packaging. The Chunk steaks, steakhouse cut, slab and pulled products contain 25-31g of protein, and only up to 6g of carbs, mainly fibre.
According to the company, it is the first time a plant-based whole-cut has been keto-certified, a level through which it is hoping to access the $12.5B keto diet market.
“While some meat alternatives have binders and added sugars that increase the carbohydrates content, Chunk’s original range of products are added-sugar-free and have no binders, additives and preservatives, which helps keep them high in protein and low in carbohydrates making them ideal for those following a ketogenic diet,” Chunk Foods CEO Amos Golan tells Green Queen.
GLP-1 drugs, high-protein demand drive Chunk Foods’s keto play
Courtesy: Chunk Foods
The ketogenic diet involves eating more protein and fat than carbohydrates, which puts the body into ketosis, a metabolic state where it burns fat for energy instead of glucose.
Nearly three-quarters of Americans aged 20 and above are overweight or obese, while almost two in five children and teenagers are prediabetic. With these conditions and their associated health detriments on the up, many consumers choose to follow low-carb diets to manage weight and blood glucose levels.
As of 2024, one in six US citizens was following a keto or low-carb diet. And this year, of the 46% of Americans who want to start a new diet, a quarter say they want to follow a low-carb one.
Meanwhile, a December survey by Chobani found that 85% of Americans want to increase their protein intake in 2025, with 24% feeling they don’t eat enough of it. “Chunk’s products are high in protein, perfectly meeting these needs,” says Golan.
The Ketogenic Certification involves blood measurement and rigorous testing to ensure both the ingredients and th metabolic responses meet the “gold standard” of accreditation. A product must at least have a 1:1 ratio (1g of fat for every 1g of net carbs and protein).
Chunk Steak is meeting the GLP-1 moment
Courtesy: Chunk Foods
“With the growing understanding of the importance of better nutrition, the prevalence of GLP-1 drugs and consumer understanding of the foods they consume, more Americans follow a low-carb, keto and vegan diet.”
And a study last year found that keto diets help type 2 diabetics who have stopped using these medications maintain their weight loss. So products with a Ketogenic Certified label – which are also high in fibre, another macronutrient in the GLP-1 spotlight – could carry massive appeal.
When asked if many of Chunk Foods’s customers follow keto diets, Golan says: “While most customers choose to eat Chunk because of its culinary qualities, many of our customers are also actively seeking high-quality healthy, protein-rich choices – and keto products fit seamlessly into their dietary preferences.”
He adds: “Offering keto-certified options ensures we’re addressing a larger market segment and providing choices that align with consumers’ priorities.”
Chunk Foods plans to go global in 2025
Courtesy: Chunk Foods
The keto certification will also help Chunk Foods stand out in a challenging environment for plant-based meat. Sales continued to slow last year, dropping by 9% in the year to July 2024, following a 12% decrease between 2022 and 2023. They make up less than 1% of the US meat market.
“We’re proud to be the only plant-based meat brand to carry the Ketogenic certification – something typically associated with traditional animal-based proteins. It’s a unique differentiator that highlights the versatility and nutritional value of our products in a challenging market,” Golan says.
Chunk Foods, which makes its steaks from cultured soy protein, raised $7.5M in early 2024 to bring total financing to $24M. It has already appeared on the menus of several restaurants around the US, including Leonardo DiCaprio-backed chain Neat, Slutty Vegan, Talk of the Town group, and Pastrami Queen. Its line of steaks is now also available at independent stores in Los Angeles, San Diego, and New York City.
The company describes 2025 as a “pivotal year” for the startup, with CPG growth a key target. “We’re expanding our product line, with some exciting announcements coming this spring. We’re also significantly broadening our retail and foodservice presence,” reveals Golan.
This entails not just its retail, e-commerce and foodservice footprint in the US, but a foodservice expansion in Canada, the growth of its partnership with Better Balance in Mexico and Spain, and a launch in supermarkets and restaurants in Israel, alongside online store Vegan Supply.
Meati Foods CEO Phil Graves says there should be no place for ultra-processed or factory-farmed meat on consumer plates, as the mycelium protein maker doubles revenue and rolls out a new product line.
Consumers must not be limited to choosing between planet-harming industrial meat or plant-based proteins with long ingredient lists, according to the head of one of the most well-funded meat alternative companies.
As the ultra-processed food (UPF) debate rages on, Phil Graves, CEO of mycelium meat maker Meati, said Americans shouldn’t have to “leave any room for ultra-processed, Frankenfoods or factory-farmed meats on their dinner plates”.
“Consumers shouldn’t have to decide between feedlot meats that are inhumanely raised, wreck the environment and lack nutrients, or ultra-processed plant-based options that have a long list of ingredients you can’t pronounce,” he told Green Queen, echoing a common attack line against vegan food from Big Meat, while also lambasting the latter.
Graves, who joined Meati as CFO last February before taking the CEO mantle two weeks later, was speaking to Green Queen after the launch of a new breakfast patty line, following a good financial year that saw its products enter 7,000 stores.
“We had a strong year in 2024 – nearly doubling revenue, expanding retail distribution by 130%, innovating in the kitchen, and making some incredibly strong new hires,” he said. “We’re proving that there’s an appetite for a truly clean, whole-food protein like mycelium.”
UPFs a major talking point in the US
Courtesy: Meati Foods
The discourse around UPFs has reached fever pitch in the last few weeks, thanks to the possibility of Robert F Kennedy Jr becoming health secretary under President Donald Trump’s second administration.
Kennedy has been highly critical of the industrial food system, championing regenerative agriculture instead. He has promised to remove UPFs from school lunches if confirmed by Congress, and has made his disdain known for what he labels ‘fake meat’.
Meanwhile, nearly a dozen food giants – from Nestlé to Coca-Cola – have been hit with a lawsuit for engineering UPFs to be as addictive as cigarettes and “aggressively marketing” them to children. And California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed an executive order asking state departments to suggest measures to limit purchases of UPFs, which could include warning labels on product packaging.
Vegan meat alternatives have been caught in the UPF crossfire, built on the age-old argument that they contain too many ingredients. That said, experts have warned that the level of processing of a food product isn’t connected to nutrition, and bodies like the WHO have noted that many UPFs – including plant-based meat – aren’t bad for you.
Still, Americans are increasingly looking for cleaner-label options, and Meati is hoping to bank on that. Its new breakfast sausage patties, for example, are comprised of 98% mycelium.
“We’re strong believers that the best foods for the health of people and the planet will come from regenerative farming, and clean, whole-food, natural proteins like mycelium,” said Graves. “And fortunately, these are some of the best-tasting foods, too, which is why you’re seeing such a gravitation to products like Meati. Nature always knows best. Consumers should not have to compromise.”
Meati touts health benefits of mycelium meat
Courtesy: Meati Foods/Green Queen
All the UPF talk is also pushing Meati to promote the health credentials of its products, a tactic becoming popular across the category. The frozen breakfast sausages, which come in original and maple flavours and retail for $9.99, contain a complete profile with all nine essential amino acids.
Each patty contains 8g of protein and 4g of fibre, with zero cholesterol or saturated fat. These attributes have led the Colorado-based firm to pursue certifications like heart-healthy and diabetic-friendly from the American Heart Association and American Diabetes Association, respectively.
“We wanted to create something with the same big aroma that fills your kitchen, and the same taste and texture of the breakfast patty you grew up with – but with a much cleaner nutrient profile,” said Graves.
“Consumers and retailers have been eager for a mycelium-based breakfast option for a while now. And when you look at what’s available on store shelves now, it’s easy to see why,” he added.
“The current choices fall short. You’ve got traditional breakfast sausages, like Jimmy Dean, that are loaded with factory-farmed meats, questionable ingredients and poor nutritional value. And you’ve got ultra-processed plant-based options that have a long list of ingredients you can’t pronounce, protein profiles that don’t offer all nine amino acids, and flavours that don’t satisfy.”
The breakfast sausages are available at 280 Sprouts stores. “All of our Meati products are strong sellers at Sprouts, so they were eager to add our breakfast patties to the mix,” the CEO said.
Retail expansion crosses 7,000 doors
Courtesy: Anay Mridul/Green Queen
Meati’s announcement coincides with new listings at Harris Teeter and Raley’s nationwide, which gives it the distinction of being available in every metropolitan city in the US.
Last year, after raising $100M in the industry’s biggest round since 2022, the company took on a bold target to reach 10,000 retail doors. While it didn’t quite get there, it did expand its distribution to over 7,000 locations.
“We’re now in over 100 different grocery banners – including Whole Foods, Sprouts Farmers Markets, Meijers, Wegmans, HEB, Kroger family of stores, Super Target, Ralphs, Natural Grocers and several others,” revealed Graves.
Meati’s existing lineup of whole-cut steaks and chicken cutlets has proven popular among consumers during a turbulent time for meat analogues. Circana data for the 52 weeks to July 14, 2024 found that sales of these products dropped by 9%, but Meati’s steak was among the top 15 growth items. The company saw a $2.7M hike in year-to-date sales, thanks in large part to its all-natural ingredient list.
“Early indications suggest that mycelium breakfast patties will be a significant growth avenue for Meati. We’re confident these products will perform well,” said Graves, whose company is aiming for a big chunk of what could be a $6.5B market by 2032.
Courtesy: Meati Foods
It’s not just supermarket shoppers who are interested in its mycelium meat – which, despite the sales and expansion, has been subject to legal disputes recently. “Restaurants are seeing the same demands from consumers as our retailers are. And that’s exciting to us,” said Graves.
“Regardless of diet, today’s consumers demand food that’s delicious, clean, nutrient-dense and convenient. Not many foods can claim this, but we fit the bill for all. Vegetarians, vegans, meat-eaters, open omnivores, and all lifestyles find Meati a tasty and healthy addition to their lunches and dinners – and now breakfasts,” he added.
“Chefs who use Meati’s steak and cutlet products in their restaurants love the taste, versatility and health benefits, and we expect this to grow in 2025.”
California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed an executive order to crack down on ultra-processed foods – will plant-based meat get caught in the crossfire?
Despite health and nutrition being a top food concern for Americans, the percentage of people who say they ate mostly healthy foods fell from 83% in 2022 to 71% in 2023.
According to the 2025 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, nearly three-quarters of US consumers aged 20 and above are overweight and obese, while almost four in 10 children and teenagers are prediabetic.
One of the main causes of these conditions is diet. In fact, unhealthy diets contribute to over 675,000 deaths in the US every year. That said, one of the states with the lowest adult obesity rates (28%) is California – although one in four still are clinically obese. Meanwhile, a third of the state’s residents have prediabetes.
To bring these numbers down further, Governor Gavin Newsom has signed an executive order targeting ultra-processed foods (UPFs) and synthetic food dyes, aiming to limit the associated health risks these ingredients and products pose to the human body.
It chimes with Robert F Kennedy Jr’s war against UPFs, which could become a major talking point if he is confirmed as president-elect Donald Trump’s health secretary. RFK Jr is also known for his disdain for what he calls ‘fake meat’.
With plant-based meat already taking reputational hits for its link to ultra-processing, how will Newsom’s executive order impact vegan food producers?
What are UPFs, and how does California define them?
Courtesy: VegFather
UPFs are at the bottom rung of the Nova classification, which places food into four subgroups, based on the amount of processing. They comprise industrial formulations and techniques like extrusion or pre-frying, and cosmetic additives and substances deemed to be of little culinary use – think high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, and modified starch.
Newsom’s executive order describes UPFs as those “generally characterized as industrial formulations of chemically modified substances extracted from foods, along with additives to enhance taste, texture, appearance and durability, with minimal to no inclusion of whole foods”.
It goes on to provide examples of foods commonly thought of as ultra-processed, such as packaged snacks, chips, crackers, cookies, candy, sugary beverages and processed meats like hot dogs and lunch meat.
The document doesn’t allude to plant-based meat analogues per se, though these are likely to be in focus over the next few months, alongside the aforementioned foods.
There could also be a win for whole-food plant-based brands. Alluding to the dietary committee report, the order notes that diets higher in fruits and vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, unsaturated vegetable oils, and seafood, and lower in processed meats, sugar, refined grains, and saturated fats are associated with favourable health outcomes, including lower risks of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and colorectal and breast cancer.
What does the executive order intend to do?
California Governor Gavin Newsom | Courtesy: Gage Skidmore/CC
Newsom has directed the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to provide recommendations for potential actions that can limit the harms associated with UPFs, which could include the use of warning labels on packaging for certain foods.
The state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, meanwhile, has been asked to work with the CDPH to assess the feasibility of state-level evaluation of food additives that companies have reported to the federal Food and Drug Administration as GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe). It could allow California to take state-level action if companies fail to notify the FDA of the GRAS status of certain food additives.
Meanwhile, the California Department of Social Services has been tasked to recommend actions that can help the state reduce purchases of sodas, candy and other UPFs. The Department of Healthcare Services will report to the governor on whether Medi-Cal plans and community investment funds for hospitals can help enhance access to fresh, healthy foods and mitigate the impact of food deserts.
While these are all due on April 1, the state’s Department of Education has been directed to identify areas where the state can adopt higher standards for healthy school meals by October 1.
The latter date is also the deadline for the Department of Food and Agriculture to explore developing new standards and partnerships to ensure universal school food programmes have fresh ingredients grown locally in the state.
Will plant-based meat be affected?
Courtesy: Impossible Foods
It’s most likely that vegan products will come under scrutiny amid California’s anti-UPF drive. The state is home to two of the most well-known meat alternative makers – Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods – which have been victims of misinformation about the health impacts of UPFs.
The executive order cites the dietary guidelines committee’s assessment of scientific evidence between UPFs and ill health, confirming that they have an adverse impact on obesity and type 2 diabetes risk. However, the group’s draft for the 2025-30 national dietary recommendations ignores UPFs due to a lack of compelling research on the subject.
Multiple studies have linked UPFs to a range of health impacts. Experts have taken issue with the correlation between food processing and nutrition, since one has nothing to do with the other. The Nova classification describes how much processing a food has gone through, it doesn’t group them based on their health effects.
This results in some convoluted interpretations of food and health. While Coca-Cola, Oreos, Corn Flakes, Lay’s, and Haagen Dazs are all unsurprisingly considered UPFs (though not by every study), so are tofu and whole-grain bread.
Simply put, not all UPFs are bad for you, as a 2023 WHO study put it, suggesting that plant-based meat products – among other foods – are “not associated with risk of multimorbidity” (the medical term for having two concurrent life-threatening diseases), unlike other common UPFs.
Meat analogues have been painted with the same brush as sodas, chips and confectionery, and that has played a part in hurting their sales, which fell by 12% in 2023, and have kept dwindling since.
If California legally requires them to have a warning label, it will likely make things worse, especially in the Ozempic era. Over one in eight Americans have tried GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, and a survey of regular users found that they spend 6-9% less on groceries – primarily UPFs – six months after they start injecting them.
Finally, since any regulations introduced will only be bound to California, companies that sell products nationwide will stand to lose, as they may be forced to reformulate products either nationally or within the state – both of which come with a huge set of challenges.
How does it fit within the wider context of the Trump administration?
Courtesy: Gage Skidmore/Flickr/CC
California was the first state to codify President Joe Biden’s federal guidelines to reduce sugar and salt in school meals – an effort that will continue even if the Trump administration enacts lower standards.
Newsom has done a ton of work around school nutrition, outlawing sodas on K-12 campuses, introducing caffeine restrictions on all school grades, requiring entrées to meet calorie, fat, and trans fat standards, and proposing a sugar limit on almond milk and other non-dairy alternatives (which is expected to take effect this year).
Despite his differences with the incoming federal government, his thinking on UPFs dovetails with RFK Jr. The latter has been a vocal critic of processed food, and has vowed to remove them from school lunches should he become health secretary.
“The food we eat shouldn’t make us sick with disease or lead to lifelong consequences. California has been a leader for years in creating healthy and delicious school meals, and removing harmful ingredients and chemicals from food,” Newsom said. “We’re going to work with the industry, consumers and experts to crack down on ultra-processed foods, and create a healthier future for every Californian.”
The executive order notes how, despite the “emerging evidence” around the ill effects of UPFs, “food companies have opposed efforts across the country to regulate ultra-processed foods and the proliferation of food additives, while continuing to market and sell their products without disclosing to consumers the potential harms their products may cause”.
Almost a dozen Big Food companies have been sued in Pennsylvania for allegedly causing illnesses in kids with “addictive” ultra-processed foods, blaming them for fraudulent misrepresentation and unfair business practices.
What happens if a new warning label appears on plant-based meat products in California? With companies increasingly touting their health benefits on packaging, could they be in danger of facing similar lawsuits?
In Trump’s America, unfortunately, everything is possible.
Sustained high meat prices on both sides of the pond are changing the burger business – for the benefit of people and the planet. But McDonald’s may be too centralised to adapt quickly enough to the changing times.
The world’s largest burger restaurant chain, McDonald’s, has posted the biggest fall in global sales since 2020. It’s the second consecutive quarter of contraction since the height of the Covid crisis. International markets outside the US were hit particularly badly, with sales down by 2.1%, led by France and the UK.
One of the key triggers for such poor performance is meal prices. Customers walk in McDonald’s stores looking for tasty AND cheap meals served fast. That’s the unique selling proposition of fast food chains. The problem is that McDonald’s meals are not so cheap anymore.
In May, Joe Erlinger, president of McDonald’s USA, said in an open letter that the average price of McDonald’s menu items was up around 40% since 2019. Overall, the prices of McDonald’s food have risen an average of 100% in the last decade, which is about three times the general inflation rate, according to CPI Data.
Courtesy: Statista
Food inflation is to be blamed. Certainly, food prices have increased across all food categories in the past five years, but quite significantly in the meat category. For instance, the price of ground beef in the US has increased by 35% since the pandemic.
The average EU meat price has also gone up since the pandemic: the cost of pork to consumers has increased by 42% since the pandemic; chicken 35%; and beef 30%. This is quite a blow for the operations of the Golden Arches brand because it is primarily an animal product business (beef, chicken, fish and dairy).
Courtesy: Eurostat
McDonald’s US reaction to plummeting sales has been to introduce a ‘$5 Meal Deal’ earlier in June for one month to attract lower-income customers back. It has been extended in the summer and again in November. Obviously, this move has squeezed profit margins. Even though the super cheap meal deal has helped increase sales in the US, net profits have fallen 3%.
McDonald’s outside the US is trying out a different approach. Around the same time McDonald’s US extended the $5 Meal Deal until December, McDonald’s France launched a plant-based alternative to its Chicken McNuggets. Crucially, the plant-based version is sold at the same price as the regular nuggets, giving customers a clear choice (no price premium attached), while keeping the profit margin higher than with regular chicken.
Why this could be a turning point for the vegan fast food sector
Courtesy: McDonald’s
While the US is responding to the ever-increasing meat price pressure with super deals that are unsustainable in the medium run, McDonald’s in France is trying other avenues. This is important for three reasons.
First, the size of the market. France is the Golden Arches’ largest market outside the US. The fast food giant clearly sees a growing demand for plant-based products, especially in Europe. Indeed, McDonald’s France’s chief marketing officer made that very point in the media surrounding the launch.
Second, the product. Chicken McNuggets are a flagship product. After the failure of the launch of the McPlant burger in the US, it’s telling that the company is piloting the plant-based chicken nuggets in such a key market for the company.
Third, the marketing strategy. All the market research and the latest successes in fast food with Burger King and in retail with Lidl shows that selling plant-based alternatives at the same price as conventional meat products boosts sales significantly.
All that glitters is not gold
Courtesy: McDonald’s
However, McDonald’s is a laggard in the sector. Rival Burger King is leading the plant-based race by a mile (or two), at least in Europe.
Burger King claims to have the largest plant-based range in the fast food sector in Germany, with a meatless version of almost every product since 2022. Their plant-based sales are beyond niche: One in five (20%) Whoppers sold in Germany are now plant-based, as well as one in four (25%) Long Chicken sandwiches. Similar sales performance has been registered in neighbouring Belgium and Austria.
The main driver of such success for the plant-based category is price parity. When Burger King Germany announced the full range of veggie options for each of their beef and chicken products, it did so by offering it at the same price as the regular animal products.
The bet paid off. And as meat prices have kept rising and the cost of veggie burgers have decreased thanks to economies of scale, in March Burger King Germany offered all their plant-based products at a lower price than meat.
German supermarkets are witnessing the same downward trend: plant-based meat alternatives cost less and less every year, and in Lidl, Germany’s largest discount supermarket, veggie products today are cheaper for consumers than meat.
Veggie burgers: good for people, animals and planet
Courtesy: Profundo/Madre Brava
The benefits of McDonald’s diversifying their protein offering are not only monetary. Selling more veggie burgers and plant-based nuggets is also a great deal for the climate, nature and animals.
McDonald’s is the world’s biggest fast-food chain with over 40,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries. McDonald’s alone is responsible for around 1.5% of global beef consumption.
Analysis by research consultancy Profundo for Madre Brava shows that if McDonald’s replaced half of its beef burgers with plant-based patties globally, it could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15.6 million tonnes. This is equivalent to taking 12 million new petrol cars off EU roads. Moreover, the 50% plant-based meat replacement could free up an area of land the size of Austria (84,000 sq km). Last but not least, it could save as much fresh water as 84,000 Olympic-size swimming pools.
Rebalancing protein sales to offer as many beef burgers as veggie burgers is not only good for the health of our planet, but it is also for our own health and nutrition. According to the latest peer-reviewed multicriteria analysis, processed plant-based products such as veggie burgers offer substantial health and nutritional benefits compared to regular animal counterparts.
US vs EU?
Courtesy: McDonald’s Netherlands
Sustained high meat prices are here to stay, while plant-based products get tastier and cheaper due to economies of scale. Unless the US and EU pour even more polluting subsidies into the industrial meat complex to artificially lower animal product prices, this is not going to change. Thus, the burger business is demanding a new strategy that can succeed in the new normal of high meat prices while addressing ESG challenges.
Two diverging business strategies seem to be competing within the Golden Arches global family. A US approach laser-focused on luring customers back with $5 meal deals, betting on regenerative agriculture and a shift from ‘beef to chicken’ to ‘solve’ their health and sustainability challenges.
And a European way, led by McDonald’s France, Germany and the Netherlands, that shows how plant-based patties and nuggets can help retain more and more flexitarian customers who want to cut down on meat and bring in new, vegetarian/vegan customers – all while increasing profit margins and slashing climate emissions.
Because the Golden Arches company is a top-down business where menu decisions and corporate strategies are made in Chicago and rolled out globally, it is quite easy to predict that the American approach will prevail for the time being.
But McDonald’s has always prospered through innovation. What is happening in Europe is a far more innovative way of approaching the new challenges facing the business than doubling down on a tired model which is proving increasingly unprofitable and unsustainable.
McDonald’s cannot afford to be left behind by more agile competitors. Its current problems have opened up a big opportunity. It should seize it.
The Netherlands has launched two open-access facilities with a €25M injection – to scale up planet-friendly food production via cellular agriculture.
Further cementing its position as a future food leader, the government of the Netherlands has backed the establishment of two independent scale-up facilities for cultivated meat and precision fermentation.
The hubs have been developed via a public-private partnership involving the Cellular Agriculture Netherlands, contract research organisation Nizo Food Research, cultivated meat pioneer Mosa Meat, the Dutch National Growth Fund, and the agrifood ministry.
The move will see the expansion of Nizo’s Biotechnology Fermentation Factory (BFF) in Ede, with a new large-scale upstream processing segment under construction. The other facility, Cultivate at Scale, is a spin-out of Mosa Meat in Maastricht, and will be focused on cell culture bioprocesses.
Each facility is infused with a €12.5M grant from the National Growth Fund through CAN, supported by an equal contribution from other investors (either in cash or kind). For example, BFF has received €5M in financing from Nizo, as well as funding from the province of Gelderland (via a fund managed by Oost NL). It means both hubs benefit from a €25M investment.
Both will provide companies working in cell culture and precision fermentation with the infrastructure to expand their R&D and production processes, and accelerate their path to market, without the need for costly, pilot-scale manufacturing inputs.
CAN spokesperson Ira van Eelen said the foundation was working in collaboration with research and educational institutes to enable them to keep the facilities updated with the latest insights.
She highlighted the importance of the open access, which can help startups secure their IP and support their downstream and food processing. “If you look at the scale we can provide we have been able to do this at astonishingly low costs. That’s super important if we want this food production [model] to be successful, and it will also mean that startups can do this at good conditions,” she told Green Queen.
Courtesy: Biotechnology Fermentation Factory
How the scale-up facilities will help future food innovators
The BFF enables precision fermentation companies and research institutions to test and develop innovations, and scale ideas from lab-scale to larger volumes. The facility is open to both domestic and international companies, and aims to attract new business activity to the Dutch Foodvalley.
It offers a direct connection to Nizo’s food-grade downstream processing facility – said to be Europe’s largest pilot plant of its kind – and food application research. It draws on the organisation’s analytical, regulatory, and commercialisation expertise to enable fast product and process development and seamless scaling.
“Shared facilities like the BFF are essential for reducing the high costs associated with scaling up,” said Marcel Oogink, managing director of the plant. “For startups, these costs are often simply too high. By collaborating with Nizo, companies will benefit from decades of knowledge and experience.”
The Cultivate at Scale facility, meanwhile, is run by a highly experienced team that has managed production batches for multiple cellular agriculture companies, supported by world-class suppliers of cell feed, cell lines and bioreactors.
Its production environment is said to have “advanced quality control processes in place”, which has helped create multiple novel food dossiers for regulatory approvals in the past.
“This groundbreaking initiative, made possible by the financial support of the Dutch government, Mosa Meat’s expertise in cultivated meat production and the collaboration of partners across the cellular agriculture ecosystem, represents a major step forward for our industry,” said Jaco van der Merwe, managing director of Cultivate at Scale.
“Together with our dedicated team, we look forward to helping companies bridge the gap from research to scalable production, accelerating the global transition to sustainable and innovative food systems.”
Courtesy: Mosa Meat
Why the Netherlands is a novel food leader
The development comes months after a report co-authored by Foodvalley NL called for increased investment and policy support to help alternative protein startups overcome scale-up challenges in the country.
It expands the Ede-Wageningen region’s leadership in food innovation, housing institutions like Wageningen University and Research, Foodvalley NL, and Nizo. According to the latter, the expansion of current facilities will boost the area’s growth as an international biotech and protein transition hub, and aligns with the Gelderse Climate Plan and the provincial agriculture and food policy to create a more sustainable food system.
But it’s not just the local region that has been a pioneer in future food. The Netherlands itself is a European leader in this space. Through Mosa Meat, it was home to the world’s first cultivated meat burger in 2013, and it is the only EU nation to have approved and hosted public tastings for these proteins.
Courtesy: Mosa Meat
The national government has invested €67M in cultivated meat research so far, more than any of its European counterparts, and also made a €60M commitment towards the development of a cellular agriculture ecosystem.
Its lawmakers have also batted for cultivated meat in the EU, where some member states have tried to justify a ban on cultivated meat (like the one introduced in Italy). The country expressed doubt that an “absolute ban” is proportionate to any issues presented by these proteins, and believed that its objectives could be achieved in “an alternative, less far-reaching way, without introducing a ban on a product that has not yet been placed on the market”.
These efforts are reflective of the views of the Dutch population, 63% of whom are supportive of the sale of cultivated meat if it passes regulatory hoops, with 59% open to trying these products. They’re also more opposed to any proposed bans on these proteins than any other nation in the EU, with only 25% indicating support for such legislation.
Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Burger King Germany’s new vegan option, a cured root vegetable bagel at Deutsche Bahn, and the UK parliament’s cultivated meat research.
New products and launches
Burger King has released a new plant-based King Rib sandwich in Germany. The limited-edition menu item uses plant-based meat from The Vegetarian Butcher, which may be in the process of being sold by its parent company, Unilever.
Courtesy: Verrano
Also in Germany, national rail operator Deutsche Bahn is offering a bagel with cured, smoked rutabaga (or swede) from Verrano, which makes whole-food-based alternatives to meat. It’s available at its on-board restaurants and bistros.
German chemicals and ingredients specialist Brenntag has collaborated with Berlin-based biotech firm Cambrium to launch NovaColl, a skin-identical vegan collagen for the personal care industry in the UK and Ireland, France, Italy, and Iberia.
Fellow Berlin-based company BettaF!sh has linked up with Austrian supermarket chain Billa to introduce a co-branded vegan Tu-Nah Sandwich in the latter’s stores.
Courtesy: White Owl Group
In Hong Kong, White Owl Group has launched a joint location for its plant-forward F&B brands The Cakery and Maya Bakery at K11 Musea, with new menu additions including vegan pistachio croissants and cotton cake inspired by the famous Dubai chocolate.
Ikea has teamed up with UK plant-based meat leader THIS to put its vegan pork sausages on the menu for its £4.95 Veggie Sausage & Mash meal at 19 locations.
Courtesy: This/Ikea
Aussie startup Fascin8foods, which makes mushroom-based burgers, mince and meatballs under its Froom label, has released a 24-recipe cookbook for Veganuary.
Are you struggling to keep up with all the new launches and announcements for Veganuary 2025 in the US? Hear about them from the horse’s mouth.
Courtesy: Rebellyous Foods
Vegan chicken startup Rebellyous Foods has partnered with Great State Burger, a Pacific Northwest restaurant chain, for a new crispy chicken burger menu addition.
Company and finance updates
Rebellyous Foods has also raised $2.4M in an extension of its $9.4M Series B funding in 2023. It will use the fresh capital to expand sales of its new Mock 2 production platform.
Courtesy: Tribe
Across the Atlantic, UK plant-based energy bar brand Tribe has secured £2.4M ($2.9M) to support the launch of a new adaptogen-centric ‘Protein + Focus’ range.
The Grocer has uncovered that London-based vegan ready-meal startup Allplantsowed creditors £13M ($15.8M) when it fell into administration last year.
In yet another move linked to protein transition, discount retailer Lidl has become the first major supermarket to use The Vegetarian Society‘s Plant-Based Trademark, which will appear on its own-label Vemondo Plant! range.
Courtesy: Plantible Foods
Israeli minerals company ICL Food Specialties has announced a follow-on investment in duckweed protein player Plantible Foods‘s Series B round, which netted the startup $30M in November. The two firms launched a Rovitaris Binding Solution using the latter’s Rubi Protein in October.
Swedish energy and tech giant Alfa Laval is building a Food Innovation Centre in Copenhagen, Denmark to support sustainable food production. It’s scheduled to be completed in 2027, and will initially focus on proteins, including plant-based and fermentation-derived ingredients.
European fermentation association Food Fermentation Europe has appointed Sebastien Louvion – chief regulatory officer at animal-free casein startup Standing Ovation – as its new president.
Israeli molecular farming startup Plantopia has switched from lettuce to sprouted oats to produce casein protein for animal-free dairy products.
Research and policy developments
Latin America now has 22% more vegan-friendly restaurants than it did in 2023, numbering over 10,000, according to research by Veganuary and HappyCow.
The number of care home residents in the UK who are vegan or vegetarian will continue to rise over the next five years, doubling by 2031, according to a study by Swansea University’s OMNIPlaNT research group for Vegetarian For Life.
Courtesy: Ivy Farm Technologies
In its latest move to advance novel foods, the British parliament has commissioned a new research project to consider the opportunities and challenges of cultivated meat production. It’s expected to be published in May.
Speaking of cultivated meat research, this was a hot topic in 2024, and Trove Biosciences founder Tarika Vijayaraghavan has laid out five takeaways after closely monitoring this space.
Courtesy: Hebrew University of Jerusalem
At the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, engineers have devised a way to leverage metamaterials to create whole cuts of plant-based meat that offer a more scalable and cost-effective solution to 3D printing.
Researchers at the Beijing Institute of Technology have developed a method to use autoclaved vegetables as scaffolds for muscle and adipose cell growth for cultivated meat.
The Good Food Institute has selected 14 researchers for its 2025 Research Grant Programme to accelerate alternative protein innovation.
Courtesy: Omni
Finally, plant-based granola maker Bio&Me and vegan pet food startup Omni have been named in the UK’s 2025 Startups 100 Index.
Australian cultivated meat startup Vow has laid off 25 employees as it finalises its latest funding round, citing slower-than-expected regulatory processes.
Sydney-based Vow, the only cultivated meat producer globally that has received regulatory approval to sell multiple products in multiple markets, has made nearly a third of its staff redundant as it seeks to close its latest round of investment.
The startup – which has dominated global headlines on several occasions – informed staff about the layoffs last Friday, with 25 employees (or about 30% of its workforce) across R&D, sales and communications reportedly affected, including some in leadership positions – the exact roles haven’t been confirmed.
“On Friday, we began the painful process of commencing a redundancy consultation (a process which is ongoing) for 25 members of Vow’s team, across a variety of roles and functions. This was an incredibly difficult decision and it truly hurt to make,” Vow co-founder and CEO George Peppou said in a statement sent to Green Queen.
The company – which appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert for its woolly mammoth meatball in 2023 – cited the slow pace of regulatory approvals in several markets as a key factor behind the cutbacks, with Peppou insisting it was “a decision we are taking from a position of strength as the industry leader, not a position of weakness”.
Vow’s cultured quail parfait and foie gras – marketed under the Forged brand – have been cleared to sell in Singapore and Hong Kong, but it has also been awaiting approval from Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) since early 2023. The process in the latter market has been slow-going.
Peppou told Green Queen in November that Vow anticipated an approval decision to be made in Q1 2025, “given the projected timelines shared with us by FSANZ”. A week earlier, the regulator said it had opened a second round of public consultation, proposing a new standards-based approach. It closed just before Christmas, but no further announcements have been made yet.
Cultivated meat companies are facing a difficult regulatory landscape in multiple geographies. The EU’s regulatory process is lengthy, and most companies do not expect a greenlight in the near term. Meanwhile, with the re-election of President Donald J Trump, cultivated meat companies looking for clearance in the US are bracing for slower approvals.
Vow fundraising in bleak environment for cultivated meat
Courtesy: Vow
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Peppou sent a Slack message to the company’s employees (known as Vowzers) on Friday, which read: “Team, Vow is finalising a fundraise in a very challenging funding environment – this gives us runway into 2027.
“As part of this, the expectation is for Vow’s focus to narrow to only finding product [that is] market fit, continuing to improve manufacturing reliability and reaching approvals in new markets. Sadly, this means today we will be saying goodbye to a number of Vowzers.”
Vow has so far secured $55M from investors via seed and Series A rounds (at the time it was the largest Series A for cultivated meat globally), and has been able to commercialise with a much smaller outlay than other companies approved to sell cultivated meat, with Upside Foods (US) having raised $608M, GOOD Meat (US) $270M, and Aleph Farms (Israel) $118M. The only startup that has achieved regulatory clearance with fewer funds than Vow is Meatly ($4.5M), but it caters to pets rather than humans.
As Peppou indicated in his message to staff, venture capital has dried up for cultivated meat. Investment in the sector fell by 75% in 2023 to reach $226M, and in the first nine months of 2024, it was only able to attract another $133M – in fact, Q3 saw a mere $3M going into cultivated meat.
Courtesy: GFI
The Vow CEO declined to comment about the upcoming fundraise, instead saying this move would help streamline things for the startup. Peppou said that its volume increase had been slower than planned due to the regulatory pace, which meant it didn’t require the scale of the team it was previously building.
“Each and every one of the staff members whose roles have been included in the ongoing redundancy consultation are exceptionally talented, dedicated and hardworking individuals who substantially contributed to the success of Vow. This process is not a reflection on them, but rather what Vow needs to achieve in the next two years,” Peppou’s statement read.
“It is my sincere hope that they all choose to stay in our startup ecosystem because I know they are exactly the calibre of individuals who make groundbreaking innovations possible, and I will do everything in my power to support them to find new roles.”
Vow isn’t the only cultivated meat startup to have conducted layoffs recently. Upside Foods let go of 26 employees in July to “narrow to a tighter set of priorities”, a month after Aleph Farms cut 30% of its domestic workforce amid its scale-up efforts and reported fundraising difficulties. The alternative protein space is facing a challenging landscape and many leading companies are streamlining their teams, the latest being lactoferrin-maker TurtleTree.
Investors call decision difficult, but logical
Courtesy: Vow
Vow has taken a different approach to its better-funded rivals, focusing on high-end meats and novel taste experiences with its Forged Gras and Cultured Quailia, rather than making cultivated versions of chicken, where the margins are much smaller.
It has entered the market through tasting events at luxury eateries in Singapore and Hong Kong. According to a company website, consumers can taste Vow’s at up to seven restaurants in the Lion City while tastings in Hong Kong are currently paused. The company said the latter was unrelated to this week’s news.
“Like many companies operating in highly technical environments and highly regulated markets, Vow has faced a challenging operating environment as it scales its mission globally,” a spokesperson for Blackbird Ventures, an investor in Vow, was quoted as saying by the Sydney Morning Herald.
“Start-ups require incredibly difficult decisions to be made, and whilst this decision was the most logical thing for the company, it was not made lightly,” she added. “We believe in Vow’s vision for entirely new foods and are confident in its road map to achieving this ambition.”
‘We must get leaner,’ says CEO
Courtesy: Vow
In his statement, Peppou said cultivated meat’s success depends on solving three key challenges: scale, market demand, and market access. “Vow is the only company in the world to have solved the first two of these challenges and is leading the world in market access,” he suggested.
“However, given the complexity and novelty of the regulatory process for cultured meat, it has taken far longer than initially expected to secure regulatory approval in the markets which Vow has targeted.
“This is not a criticism of the regulators, but rather an acknowledgement of the care and thoroughness necessary to ensure cultured meat is completely safe for human consumption and regulated appropriately.
“The reality is that in order for Vow to continue to grow and thrive, we must get leaner and focus our entire efforts on activities that put our products into more markets and onto more consumers’ plates.”
Asked about the company’s plans for 2025, Peppou responded: “More products in more markets from our operating 20kL factory.”
Singapore’s parliament just passed a Food Safety and Security Bill to adapt the country’s agrifood systems to climate change and advance future foods.
Already a leader in the world of future food, Singapore is strengthening its food safety and security measures with a new bill to deal with a compounding supply chain and the effects of the climate crisis.
“Singapore has also faced various food supply challenges in recent years. The Covid-19 pandemic saw the impact of supply disruptions when we experienced the effects of lockdowns and restrictions on cross-border movements,” environment minister Grace Fu told the parliament before the bill was signed last week.
“Supply chain disruptions arising from many other factors – extreme weather events, disease outbreaks, and trade restrictions – also affected our food supply on several occasions. With climate change, rising biosecurity risks and geopolitical tensions, the risk of food disruptions is expected to increase,” she added.
Fu noted that the government’s policy measures have helped ride these storms, but these must be supported by laws to enable the Singapore Food Agency to ensure a safe and secure supply in the island nation.
One of the major themes of the new bill concerns defined foods, which include novel proteins like cultivated meat and precision-fermented foods. Singapore has repeatedly championed these foods as a way to enhance food security – it imports 90% of its food – and the latest bill formalises existing practices for products that require premarket approval.
How does Singapore define novel foods?
Courtesy: Eat Just
The new bill describes “defined foods” as those that comprise novel or genetically defined foods that haven’t received premarket approval, including insects.
Novel foods themselves have been described as those made from cellular agriculture and tissue culture derived from animals, plants, bacteria, yeast, fungi, algae, and other microbes, which have not been used “to a significant degree” as a food for at least the 20 years in or outside Singapore. This also applies to processes that haven’t been employed to produce food in this time period.
“The policy intention is to take into account the history of consumption of food anywhere in the world, when determining whether or not food is novel food,” reads the bill.
When parliamentary member and climate activist Louis Ng raised concerns about any subjectivity around the definition of novel foods, Koh Poh Koon, senior minister of state for environment and sustainability, responded: “Since 2019, SFA has put in place a novel food regulatory framework to ensure that only novel food which is safe for human consumption can be manufactured, imported, distributed, or sold in Singapore.”
He added: “When in doubt on whether a food or food ingredient is considered a novel food in the first place, companies should consult SFA to discuss the available evidence on the history of safe use that they have compiled.”
What does the bill say about regulatory approvals?
Courtesy: Vow Food
The Food Safety and Security Bill codifies the existing regulatory framework to make it easier for novel food companies to meet the SFA’s standards and commercialise their products.
In many countries, innovations like cultivated meat need pre-market approval to be made available for consumption. Singapore’s policies have been at the forefront here, and the new bill lays down exactly what the process entails.
Pre-market authorisations take into account public health and safety aspects, considering whether the food has any potential adverse effects on humans, its composition, structure, and production process, the source from which it’s derived, and the likely patterns and levels of consumption.
“The safety assessments should cover potential food safety risks such as toxicity, allergenicity, safety of the food production methods used, and dietary exposure arising from consumption,” said Koh.
While there’s no expiry date for a novel premarket approval, the bill notes that such authorisations can be cancelled if they’ve been obtained by fraudulent means, if companies don’t comply with the agreed conditions, or if there’s been a material change to how the food is made, packaged, and stored. The SFA can also scrap the approval if the country’s public interest requires it to.
What happens next?
Courtesy: Eat Just
The new bill is expected to streamline the regulatory pathway for novel food producers, giving them access to more detailed information about the framework and safety assessment processes.
The provisions under the bill will take effect in phases, with full implementation expected by 2028, allowing time for companies to transition. For defined foods, it will be enacted in the second half of this year.
The SFA, which has been publishing regular updates on safety assessment requirements on its website, will now publish information about approved novel foods too. “Companies can also consult SFA or sign up for the bi-monthly Novel Food Virtual Clinics to better understand SFA’s requirements,” said Koh.
“SFA will continue to ensure that sufficient clarity is provided to industry through direct engagements with novel food companies, as well as through the updating of guidance documents online,” he added.
Singapore was the first country to approve the sale of cultivated meat five years ago, giving the greenlight to California-based Eat Just’s Good Meat brand. Last summer, the cultivated chicken made its way into retail via Huber’s Butchery, marking another first.
The SFA followed that up with an approval for Australia’s Vow last year, whose cultivated quail and foie gras are currently being sold at restaurants in the city.
Donald Trump is gearing up for his second term with all guns blazing, and it has left a lot of people nervous. That includes the food industry, which could be in for a massive overhaul under the Republican administration, thanks to a former Democrat.
Trump has nominated environmentalist-turned-vaccine-sceptic Robert F Kennedy Jr as his health secretary, potentially giving him free reign over the country’s food and health systems. While his appointment is yet to be confirmed, the political dynast could have a lasting impact on how America eats.
One industry facing severe uncertainty is cultivated meat, which has already been the centre of a culture war over the last year. Over a dozen states have attempted to ban these novel foods, and two have been successful – even as some Republican Congress members fear that the US is falling behind to China’s biotech dominance, like it did in the electric vehicle race.
Rumours are swirling that RFK Jr might follow the lead of state politicians and ban cultivated meat, but what has he really said about it?
What has RFK said about cultivated meat?
Kennedy’s public statements about cultivated meat haven’t actually come directly from his mouth. Instead, he has quoted and reposted several articles critical of these proteins from Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine disinformation organisation he was chairman of until April 2023, when he took a leave of absence to run for president.
In October 2021, he shared a story that claimed cultivated meat was a money-making scheme for corporations and billionaires, quoting: “Lab-grown meat offers private corporations the opportunity to place intellectual property rights on meat development and thus create a financial windfall, at the expense of human health.”
Using strategies to position it as a healthy alternative for natural meat, the industry's fake meat is just another name for ultra-processed food, full of GE and pesticide-laden ingredients designed to look as much like meat as possible.https://t.co/iSr0ZiiFba
And in November 2022, he retweeted a piece titled ‘The Fake Meat Scam’, quoting the introduction: “Using strategies to position it as a healthy alternative for natural meat, the industry’s fake meat is just another name for ultra-processed food, full of GE and pesticide-laden ingredients designed to look as much like meat as possible.”
The same week, he reposted an article questioning the safety and climate benefits of cultivated meat, reiterating a quote that said “lab-grown meat is a pipe dream”.
More broadly, RFK Jr has been very vocal against ultra-processed foods, a category cultivated meat falls under. He has pledged to remove them from school lunches, and has had a long history of promoting regeneratively farmed crops.
Biotech + agribusiness giants are tapping into the “fake food” market in hope of profiting off consumers who are critical of industrial food production—but fake food doesn’t address root problems of industrial food + its eco + health consequences.https://t.co/u9FDIZDwxM
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) April 12, 2022
In April 2022, he tweeted that “fake food doesn’t address root problems of industrial food + its eco + health consequences” when resharing another article.
The same day, he said he “agreed” with the argument that governments should stop subsidising large food companies based on “dubious” and “misleading” claims. “Ultimately, we don’t just need to change products we’re eating – we need to change [sic] entire system,” the tweet read.
An uncertain future for cultivated meat in America
That last comment could be a marker of things to come. In the US, novel foods like cultivated meat are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA), which in 2023 approved the sale of cultivated chicken products from Upside Foods and Eat Just-owned Good Meat.
RFK Jr tells MSNBC that he intends to clear out entire departments of the FDA pic.twitter.com/MKdt5MT0tB
But with Kennedy as health secretary, the FDA faces an uncertain future. He has vowed to clear out several departments (including nutrition) within the agency, and is weighing up a rewrite to its rules on food additives. That said, despite Trump seemingly promising RFK Jr the role of USDA chief, the president-elect went with Brooke Rollins instead.
Still, if confirmed, RFK Jr will work in an administration controlled by the Republican Party, which has spearheaded the efforts to ban cultivated meat in states over the last 12 months. Florida and Alabama have successfully done so, and lawmakers in Arizona, Illinois, Kentucky, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan, New York, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia have introduced similar measures.
Is that a harbinger of a nationwide ban under Kennedy? That much seems unlikely, according to an ally close to the conspiracy theorist, as reported by the journalist Michael Grunwald last week. He was told that Kennedy will – as is expected – likely to make things much more complicated for startups pursuing FDA approval for cultivated meat.
Courtesy: Gage Skidmore/Flickr/CC
Already, cultivated meat has had a rough couple of years. Some startups have shut down, some have had to let go of staff, and many are financially strained. In 2022, VC funding for these startups fell by 75% to $226M – and while things seemed to be picking up again in the first half of 2023, Q3 saw only $3M plunged into this sector.
While there were some wins in the form of regulatory approvals, all of them were outside the US. That is likely to continue this year, and possibly for the next four. The US may be home to the largest number of cultivated meat innovators, but they face a great unknown.
Research exploring the link between depression and different types of milk is doing the rounds, with plant-based alternatives bearing the brunt of the headlines – but they were barely mentioned in the study.
You’ll be miserable if you drink oat milk. Or so they’re saying online.
“Experts issue warning over oat milk – dairy alternative linked to health harm while semi-skimmed cow’s milk boasts surprising benefit,” read a Daily Mail headline.
“Boost for dairy as scientists link plant-based milk with mental health issues,” wrote trade publication Farmers Guardian.
The Times, meanwhile, went a step further: “Vegans are more likely to be depressed, study suggests.”
They all reference a new paper in the Frontiers journal by researchers from the Southern Medical University in China, who analysed the data of over 350,000 people enrolled in a UK Biobank study. Between 2006 and 2010, the participants were asked about their lifestyle, health, and consumption habits – including milk intake – with their mental health being assessed through questionnaires a decade later.
If you believe the headlines and the majority of the coverage, here’s what the study found: semi-skimmed milk lowers the chances of depression by 12%, full-fat milk reduces anxiety risk by 16%, and plant-based milk raises the likelihood of depression by 14%, compared to people who don’t drink milk.
That seems scary if you drink non-dairy milk. In a media landscape that vilifies plant-based products, publications jumped on this, painting the entire category with the same brush and declaring that cow’s milk is king and vegan food is bad for your mental health.
The problem is, this isn’t really what the study concluded – and even then, there were some massive gaps in the research, some of which the authors acknowledged themselves.
“These findings are in no way compelling evidence for the bizarre claim that drinking plant-based milk causes depression,” said Amy Williams, nutrition lead at alternative protein think tank the Good Food Institute (GFI) Europe. Here’s why.
Study classification of ‘other milks’ unclear
Courtesy: Bit245/Getty Images
In the study, the researchers asked participants what type of milk they mainly drank at the start of the study, and what mental health conditions they experienced over the next decade. This wasn’t a controlled trial, but an observational study, and it’s impossible to know whether people exclusively drink a single form of milk.
Most of the participants consumed semi-skimmed milk (65%), while others drank skimmed milk (20%), whole milk (6.5%), and what the researchers termed “other types of milk” (5%). The latter category included soy milk – the only mention of any plant-based milk throughout the study – but it was unclear what else.
“The headlines focus on the findings of this ‘other’ category, on the assumption that it is entirely made up of plant-based milk drinkers, but this assumption was not made in the paper itself,” Williams pointed out.
“All we know is that the ‘other’ group is made up of soy milk drinkers alongside everyone who selected ‘other’, which may include different kinds of animal milk such as lactose-free or sheep milk.”
The researchers also did not measure the quantity of milk consumed, which makes it hard to draw conclusions about any single type of dairy-free milk.
The problem with observational studies
Courtesy: Deniz A/Getty Images
Observational studies don’t demonstrate causation, so to remove some of the uncertainties, the researchers performed a Mendelian Randomisation (MR) analysis, which uses genetic differences to examine the causal effects of an outcome.
But the MR assessment was only performed on semi-skimmed milk, finding a 17% drop in depression risk – this is likely due to the presence of calcium and vitamin D. However, the “other types of milk” used were not fully disclosed, and it’s not known whether the plant milks included were fortified or not. Most such products today are fortified with both calcium and vitamin D too, and they would likely offer similar mental health benefits, based on the scientists’ hypothesis.
Moreover, none of the other forms of dairy and non-dairy options were given the MR treatment. So the rest of the study’s findings were based on correlation, not causation, using self-reported dietary data. They were also “influenced by the extensive duration of the follow-up”, the author said, noting that the results “must be interpreted cautiously”.
Observational studies should “always be taken with a pinch of salt”, according to GFI Europe’s Williams. “They are useful to identify possible directions for further study, but not for drawing firm conclusions about causality,” she told Green Queen.
“To give a simple example, an observational study may find a correlation between people getting sunburnt and eating ice cream. It’s clear that both of these are caused by some other factor – both things happen on sunny days – but to test this, we need different kinds of study.
“Confusing correlation with causation in observational studies is a common problem in health reporting, but is fairly standard – but these headlines have taken this issue one step further.”
I drink plant-based milk – should I be worried?
Courtesy: AI-Generated Image via Canva
Williams noted that the study is based on questionnaires taken between 2006 and 2010, when plant-based milk had a fraction of the drinkers it does today. In the UK, 35% of households purchased non-dairy milk in 2023, and today’s market contains a much wider range of options with better nutritional value than they did two decades ago.
“What’s very curious is that a study which doesn’t even talk about plant-based milk beyond one passing mention and which doesn’t appear to have been press released by its authors managed to generate such widespread and misleading media attention,” said Williams.
Bila Chniouer, a UK-based registered associate nutritionist, told Green Queen: “Some media reports suggest certain plant-based milks, such as soy, may be linked to depression. However, the study did not specifically investigate the impact of the consumption of specific types of plant-based milk on depression, nor did it determine whether participants were vegan, vegetarian, or simply preferred non-dairy options. This could substantially influence the findings.”
It’s worth noting that the study included mostly middle-aged to older adults of European descent – so the impact on younger populations was not covered.
Should they be worried about consuming vegan milk alternatives, especially soy? “No,” said Chniouer. “In fact, we know that soy consumption is associated with a lower risk of depression.”
She explained that soy contains isoflavones – plant-based compounds that mimic the action of oestrogen by binding to oestrogen receptors in the brain – and they help regulate serotonin production in the brain, while having anti-inflammatory and antioxidative effects on the body.
“The study grouped all plant-based milks (such as soy, oat, and almond) into a single, broad category. As a result, it is unclear whether any specific type of plant-based milk has a definite impact on depression,” she added. “Therefore, additional research is needed to thoroughly evaluate the effects of each type of plant-based milk on depression.”
Veganuary timing a coincidence?
Courtesy: Veganuary
The Frontiers study has been circulating everywhere at the same time as another large UK analysis that linked greater calcium consumption to a decreased bowel cancer risk.
The amount of calcium (300mg) that’s important can be found in foods like dark leafy greens, bread, and tofu – but the way it’s framed in the media, all you’ll need is a glass of milk, despite the authors specifying that this intake can also come from non-dairy foods, like plant-based milks.
This is not the first time that studies have been reported on in a misleading manner to unfairly demonise vegan food – and it will likely not be the last.
But they’re in the media during Veganuary, whose 2025 campaign is predicted to be the largest yet. Whether it’s just happenstance that this coincides with a drive to increase meat and milk consumption – backed by the UK government and slammed by medical professionals – can’t be determined for certain.
However, some stories about the Frontiers study do mention the AHDB’s Let’s Eat Balanced campaign for January, and that has raised questions about the influence of the dairy lobby in media coverage around plant-based food.
Elin Roberts, co-founder and co-CEO of Better Nature Tempeh, believes the way people approach dietary change has shifted past vegan eating – and brands must too.
In 2023, Better Nature Tempeh introduced three marinated versions of its signature plant protein during Veganuary, positioning it as a fibre-packed food that can be counted as one of your five a day.
In 2024, it unveiled a smoky version of its tempeh to coincide with the campaign and cater to the demand for clean-label, unprocessed foods.
This year, though, the London-based brand is no longer talking about Veganuary, as co-founder and co-CEO Elin Roberts explained in an op-ed last week. But Better Nature is still pushing to reach Brits averse to ultra-processed foods (UPFs), a category most plant-based meat products fall into.
As a campaign, Veganuary has been instrumental in helping people steer their dietary decisions away from animal proteins. As Roberts pointed out, over three-quarters of UK consumers know about the month-long challenge, and 6% of the population have given it a go.
Courtesy: Better Nature Tempeh
There’s no questioning the immense impact of Veganuary – you only need to look at the plethora of brands and restaurants (vegan and otherwise) coming up with offerings to support the campaign every year. When you look at it that way, Better Nature is an outlier.
“The Veganuary message of going fully vegan for the month isn’t resonating as widely as it used to,” Roberts tells Green Queen. “The conversation is changing. Rather than cutting out meat completely or switching to alternatives, many people simply want to add more plant-based foods to their diets.”
She reiterates her support for what Veganuary stands for, but doesn’t believe that talking about it is the right approach for her firm. “Instead, our focus is on health, positioning tempeh as a better-for-you protein,” she says. And while being plant-based is part of the appeal, it’s no longer a “defining feature”.
The UPF debate has changed the game for plant-based
Courtesy: Better Nature Tempeh
The situation of plant-based meat in the UK is concerning. Government polling from 2024 shows that only 27% of Brits consume plant-based meat, and 44% never have. Here’s the kicker, though: 22% of respondents say they used to eat meat alternatives, but don’t anymore.
It’s a marker of the dissatisfaction around these products. A 2023 survey suggested that two in five Brits stop eating vegan meat products because of their taste, while another 20% do so for their price. At the same time, half of them were concerned that these foods are too processed. These apprehensions have translated into low sales, with volumes of meat-free products in the UK dropping by 9% in 2024.
UPFs make up 57% of an average person’s diet in the country, and up to 80% when it comes to children or people with lower incomes. And plant-based meat has suffered from a loss of confidence due to its classification as a UPF, driven by some very deceptive coverage by national media outlets.
Courtesy: Metro/The Telegraph/Daily Mail/New York Post
“Whilst it’s simply misleading to tarnish an entire category with one brush (plant-based is hugely varied, with different brands serving different needs: some for convenience, some for indulgence, and others for health), the impact is hard to deny: vegan products have lost their health halo,” Roberts says on the impact of the UPF discourse.
“People are also confused. There’s so much misinformation out there now – people don’t know what to believe. Is vegan food good or bad? There are many articles arguing both sides.
“We, of course, advocate that it is good, if – like any diet – it’s managed properly, but we also appreciate that nutrition can be complex. That’s why messaging that is focused on eating more plant-based whole foods is resonating better – you can’t go too far wrong there.”
Even the UK’s largest retailer, Tesco, is banking on this – its Christmas range was dominated by vegetables over meat alternatives, after data showed that “veg-led meals” account for 40% of its plant-based sales.
Tempeh: a plant-based healthier chicken alternative
So where is the conversation headed now? “People are less focused on vegan food vs non-vegan food,” says Roberts. “Instead, they’re looking for food that’s good for them, the planet and animals vs food that’s not.”
Research has already shown that people are less influenced by terms like ‘vegan’ or ‘plant-based’ – words such as ‘healthy’ and ‘sustainable’ on product labels are more favourable. “We believe the biggest opportunity to influence dietary change is to tap into the growing number of people who want to add more healthy and sustainable plant-based foods to their diets,” notes Roberts.
Courtesy: Better Nature Tempeh
“For a brand like ours, we want to reach as many people as possible – especially those eating meat. To do that, we’re positioning Better Nature as a healthier, ‘supercharged’ alternative to chicken. Not as the vegan alternative, though of course Better Nature being naturally plant-based is one of its credentials.”
If you follow the trends from the aforementioned 2023 poll, people want their meat replacement to taste like meat. How do you position tempeh in that landscape? “We don’t want to perfectly replicate chicken,” she says. “That would be impossible to do without the ingredients and processes that consumers are turning away from.
“However, we know two things. First, Chicken is the most widely eaten meat in the UK and second most widely eaten in the world. Second, tempeh – through its plain flavour, firm texture, absorption of flavours and high protein content – is an excellent swap for chicken in almost any dish, also offering consumers extra fibre, gut health benefits and plant points (as well as a shelf life that’s seven times longer). That’s why we call it supercharged protein, and chicken so-so protein.”
Courtesy: Better Nature Tempeh
Aside from taste, Brits also want their food to be cheaper, especially plant proteins. Chicken, however, is highly subsidised, despite being produced in the most inexpensive ways possible, often making it the most affordable animal protein. “Currently, we can’t compete price-wise with the cheapest chicken products; however, we’re cheaper than any added-value chicken products such as free-range or grass-fed,” says Roberts.
“Tempeh, made simply of fermented soybeans and water, is a naturally inexpensive food. It’s much cheaper than chicken in Indonesia, where it’s from, for example. Therefore, we know that we can get it as affordable (if not more affordable) than chicken, it will just take us some time as we grow – especially as we never compromise on product quality and our ethical/sustainable credentials.”
Better Nature targets German expansion and new use cases
While we’re comparing chicken with tempeh, another product comes into mind. In 2023, Roberts’s fellow co-founder Christopher Kong teased a prototype of a whole-cut chicken breast made from tempeh mycelium. He called it Tempeh 2.0 “Tempeh has been around for hundreds of years, so we’re not reinventing the wheel. We’re just giving it a serious makeover,” he told Green Queen at the time.
Roberts confirms that this novel product is still under development. “The earliest it will be launched is in 2026 because we need to take it from pilot production to mass production,” she reveals. “That said, we hope to start sharing samples of our Tempeh 2.0 with select members of the public sooner than that.”
Courtesy: Better Nature
She’s speaking to Green Queen after a stellar year for the business, when sales grew by 457% as it became the second-fastest growing meatless brand in the UK. It also doubled its distribution, launched into Asda and Ocado, and secured a spot on Tesco’s new Accelerator Programme.
For 2025, Better Nature company has some new products in the pipeline to appeal to a wider audience and expand the use cases for tempeh.
“We’re planning more above-the-line advertising to drive up brand awareness, and we’ll be pushing for supermarkets to replace plant-based aisles with protein aisles, where meat-free and meat will sit side by side, making it easier for shoppers to choose Better Nature over chicken and other animal proteins,” says Roberts.
“Our goal is to see mainstream adoption of Better Nature as a protein staple on a global level, starting with further retail expansion in the UK and Germany this year, before looking further afield.”
More and more US universities are making it easier for students to go vegan, but many still lack concrete plant-based goals, according to a new protein sustainability scorecard.
University scorecards have long been a handy tool for prospective students to figure out which institutions are best suited to their needs. But aside from tuition costs and curricula, there are several other factors that can influence the decision, such as the sustainability initiatives and food on offer.
To help navigate this, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has released its first College and University Protein Sustainability Scorecard, which ranks 39 institutions based on how planet-friendly their dining halls are.
Inspired by its foodservice sustainability report, the scorecard is designed to showcase which higher education institutions are making progress in expanding plant-based dining options and lowering greenhouse gas emissions. Globally, the food system accounts for a third of all emissions, with meat and dairy production accounting for 57% of this footprint (twice as much as plant-based foods).
Since college dining operations serve millions of meals a year, adding meat-free options and reducing animal products can play a major role in mitigating the impacts of climate change.
“More than a third of Gen Z members are limiting their meat consumption in some way, and over half prefer institutions that similarly prioritise lowering their food-related environmental impacts in operational standards,” noted Kitty Block, CEO of Humane Society International and HSUS.
“It’s no surprise, then, that when it comes to which college or university to attend, these students are assessing prospective schools based on their demonstrated commitment to creating healthier, animal-friendly and sustainable menus,” she added.
For the scorecard, HSUS focused on universities that have self-operated dining programmes and are not contracted with a foodservice management company. The institutions were evaluated not just for their climate goals, but also for how they’re prioritising food sustainability through concrete, evidence-based strategies.
Which universities have the most sustainable food options?
Courtesy: UNT Dining Services
With an overall score of 360 (the maximum possible), the University of Colorado Boulder came out on top of the Protein Sustainability Scorecard. At least half of all meals here are plant-based, and it has a goal to increase this share to 75% by the end of 2025. The institute also offers vegan options at every station, with chefs working with registered dietitians.
Only three others received an A+ score. The University of North Texas, home to the country’s first fully vegan campus dining hall, received a score of 340. Between 41-45% of its fare is plant-based, with a target of reaching 50% by the end of the year.
“By prioritising a variety of plant-based foods, we aim to accommodate dietary preferences, enhance inclusivity, and ensure all students have access to nutritious, eco-friendly meals,” said Matthew Ward, an executive chef at the University of North Texas.
In the same state, the University of Texas at Austin scored 325, with 46-50% of food already plant-based. It’s also piloting blended burgers and replacing dairy and eggs with vegan alternatives. HSUS recommends that both thee institutions should use data collection to measure sales of vegan food and explore making plant proteins the default option.
The University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, meanwhile, came fourth with 315 points, with at least half of its meals already vegan, a share that’s set to rise to 55% this year. It tracks the emissions from food purchased and tracked, provides vegan options at every meal, and is actively increasing the availability of non-dairy milk across its operations.
Seven institutions received an A grade, including the University of Arizona (which has a mostly vegan dining hall), Washington State University (which offers culinary training for staff and student education sessions with dietitians), and Rutgers University (which has added carbon footprint labels to its menus).
Which institutions fell short on climate-friendly food targets?
Courtesy: UNT Dining Services
On the other end of the scorecard were Kennesaw State University, Texas Tech University, and Utah Valley University, all of which received an F grade. These were among a number of institutions that didn’t respond to HSUS’s survey, prompting the organisation to rank them based on publicly available information.
The non-profit recommended each of these universities update their websites for full transparency. “If the institution does not have any targets around increasing plant-based menu offerings or reducing animal protein purchases, we recommend starting with a public, measurable plant-based goal and timeline and increased transparency on food-related sustainability efforts,” HSUS said.
Iowa State University of Science and Technology and Purdue University both received a D grade (with 20 points), while five others achieved a D+.
The Pennsylvania State University, with a score of 80 and a C grade, had previously set a target to increase the proportion of plant-based meals to 35% by this year. But that pledge was rescinded soon after, with the institution setting internal, campus-wide sustainability goals instead. It’s why it opted out of participating in this year’s survey.
Of the higher education institutes that did participate in the HSUS survey, the University of Oklahoma had the lowest score (85, a C grade). All dining locations feature at least one plant-based option, with the share of vegan meals at a low 5-9%.
“For those schools that fell short, we encourage them to join our efforts in creating a healthier, more sustainable food system by prioritising plant-based menu items and thereby investing in the future of their students – in this and every generation to come,” said Block.
Kate Watts, HSUS director of foodservice innovation, added: “Now more than ever, students are demanding meal options that are healthier for themselves and the environment. Colleges and universities have a responsibility to meet these demands, be transparent about their sustainability targets for prospective and current students, and work to reduce their environmental impact.”
Vegan meal startup Daily Harvest has launched a line of smoothies that pack 20g of plant protein per serving – and it’s tapped Sloane Stephens to help spread the message.
Already the owner of a vegan body care brand and following a plant-forward diet, US tennis star Sloane Stephens has partnered with ready meal maker Daily Harvest to promote its new high-protein smoothie range.
The New York-based vegan startup has rolled out ready-to-blend smoothies that pack 20g of protein from chickpeas and peas per 190g serving, and up to 10g of fibre. It plays onto the two most sought-after macronutrients in American diets at the moment, while also aiming to deliver on the demand for clean-label food products.
Available in dark chocolate, vanilla bean, and mixed berry flavours, the smoothies are available for $8.99 on Daily Harvest’s website, and can soon be found at Kroger and its subsidiaries, including Fry’s, Fred Meyer, Dillon’s, King Soopers, QFC, Ralphs and Smith’s.
Sloane Stephens: ‘Daily Harvest supports my peak performance’
Courtesy: Daily Harvest
The “nutrient-dense” smoothies contain whole-food ingredients like fruits and vegetables, dates and seeds, alongside vanilla bean and cocoa powders (depending on the flavour). The dark chocolate smoothie is being positioned as reminiscent of brownie batter, with the vanilla bean versions akin to classic milkshakes, and mixed berry evoking frozen yoghurt nostalgia. They also contain high levels of micronutrients like calcium, iron, and potassium, and are free from nuts and added sugars.
Buyers only need to empty the frozen contents into a blender, mix it with a liquid (like almond or oat milk), and whizz away. The idea is to pour the resulting smoothie back into the cup, minimising the need for additional cutlery – but at the same time, it does mean you need to wash your blender. And the product will likely not appeal to people who don’t have access to one.
One person it did allure is Stephens. The US Open winner says Daily Harvest’s meals and smoothies have become a go-to for maintaining peak performance, “whether I’m training, spending time with my family or running my business”. That business is Doc & Glo, which sells cruelty-free body lotions, scrubs, mists and deodorants.
Daily Harvest and Doc & Glo are working together to highlight their “commitment to supporting active lifestyles and overall wellbeing”, according to the announcement.
“As a professional athlete, I know the importance of fueling my body with clean, nourishing foods that can keep up with my demanding schedule,” said Stephens. “What I love most is how they make healthy eating effortless – just what I need to stay energised during my busy days.”
According to Daily Harvest, the new smoothie range is a response to one of its “most frequent” customer requests. “We’ve always prioritised engaging our loyal and highly engaged member base to help co-create and innovate across our portfolio,” said CEO Ricky Silver.
“As consumers continue to seek high-protein options to fuel their busy lives, no one wants to compromise on the need for real, wholesome ingredients,” he added. “Our new high-protein smoothies deliver on taste, satiety and nutrient density; no tradeoffs necessary.”
Can Daily Harvest attract Ozempic users?
Courtesy: Daily Harvest
In October, a report by 84.51° – the market research division of Kroger, where the new smoothies will debut – high-protein is the prized nutritional attribute in food products for consumers at its stores. Other major priorities include functional benefits and clean ingredients, both verticals that Daily Harvest is hitting on.
A 3,000-person survey last year also found that the two nutrients Americans are most interested in consuming are protein (71%) and fibre (64%), figures that increased from the poll’s 2023 edition.
The high-fibre content in the Protein Smoothie range will speak to consumers at a time when GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Mounjaro are all the rage. More than one in eight Americans have already tried these injectable weight-loss drugs, which work by replicating a hormone found in our body.
That hormone – incretin – can also be regulated by dietary fibre. In the US, only 5% of adults meet the daily requirement of fibre intake, with the average consumption half this amount. At the same time, as of March 2024, 21% of US weight-loss drug users had been spending more on protein in the previous six months.
Meanwhile, over six in 10 Americans say they’d rather make a dietary change than take an injectable weight-loss drug if they wanted to lose weight. This has prompted food manufacturers – including giants like Nestlé and Conagra – to revamp their offerings and marketing to cater to those that use GLP-1 drugs, or are interested in doing so.
Daily Harvest itself began offering a GLP-1 companion collection of meals, with dishes like broccoli and white bean soup, dragonfruit and lychee smoothie, and bean and cabbage bowl. It was in response to “relatively slow” sales, Silver had said.
But he has indicated that the company won’t be aggressively pushing sales of these kits. “We definitely see it as an opportunity (but) not something we need to drastically pivot our focus toward,” he told Reuters in May. “Our food is already foundationally good for people taking these drugs.”
As for the protein smoothies, he hinted that there’s more of where that came from: “This launch is just the beginning – we’re excited to continue developing new protein-forward recipes that make it easier than ever for our customers to feed themselves and their families healthfully.”
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 host of launches for Veganuary, several plant-based brand campaigns, and a Bezos Earth Fund Ted Talk.
New products and launches
In time for Veganuary, Starbucks has brought its popular brown sugar oat milk format to the cortado, launching the espresso-based drink alongside a vegan Spicy Falafel Pocket.
Courtesy: Face Plant
With a menu designed by former Bon Appétit Test Kitchen star Molly Baz, Face Plant is an upcoming vegan fast-food drive-thru restaurant set to open later this month at a former McDonald’s location in Portland, Oregon.
Another Portland-based chain, ice cream maker Salt & Straw, has released five new dairy-free flavours for Veganuary, including coconut cake and pineapple jam, bananas foster with candied pecans, and chocolate caramel corn with candied peanuts. It’s also teamed up with pistachio milk brand Táche for vegan milkshakes.
Plant-based chain Next Level Burger is jumping on the superfood demand with a burger and smoothie shake available at all 10 locations for January, while its subsidiary Veggie Grill has debuted a five-strong range of superfood smoothies on its permanent menu across all 16 stores.
Courtesy: TiNDLE Foods/PLNT Burger
TiNDLE Foods has partnered with PLNT Burger, which will feature its vegan chicken on two burgers (in crispy and spicy variants) at all 13 locations on the East Coast.
Whole-cut meat maker Chunk Foods is continuing its US expansion through a listing with online retailer Vegan Essentials.
Los Angeles-based vegan protein shake maker Koia has extended its lineup with Koia Elite, which comes in vanilla and chocolate flavours and contains 32g of plant protein. The 12oz bottles are available in the chillers at Whole Foods, with shelf-stable versions set to come to 7-Eleven and e-commerce channels shortly.
In Germany, Rewe subsidiary Penny has launched Cremembert, a white-label Camembert alternative made from fermented cauliflower by Veganz Group, in its stores. It’s available for €1.99 per 125g pack.
Courtesy: James Moyle/Wagamama
In the UK, Wagamama – which is aiming to make half its menu plant-based by the end of the year – has partnered with vegan influencer Alfie Steiner (aka alfiecooks) to unveil a Firecracker Chick’n Ramen across the UK.
Bakery chain Greggs has reintroduced its Spicy Vegetable Curry Bake for Veganuary. It’s available nationwide for £2.10, and as part of its £3.35 savoury bake deal.
Fellow British chain Zizzi, which serves Italian cuisine, has teamed up with Bold Bean Co to put a Butter Bean Stufato on its menu for Veganuary.
Courtesy: Claudia Riccio Photography/Galaxy
Also in the UK, Mars has brought out a new flavour in its dairy-free Galaxy lineup in the UK. The vegan Hazelnut Praline chocolate bar can be found at Sainsbury’s for £3.
Plant protein producer Squeaky Bean has launched ham-like tofu slices in spinach-basil and tomato-red pepper flavours, as well as a Super Grain & Vegetable Burger (featuring fermented rye). The 80g slices are available for £2.50 and the burger for £3.50 per two-pack at Sainsbury’s.
In more tofu news from the UK, Cauldron Foods has come out with the “quickest-cooking tofu pieces ever”. The bite-sized cubes can be prepared in five minutes and are available for ¢2.75 per 160g pack at Asda.
Courtesy: Julienne Bruno
London-based vegan cheesemaker Julienne Bruno has annoucned the first product of its Collection 02. The Mozzafiore Pearls are its take on mozzarella balls, and will be available at Whole Foods stores in Kensington and Piccadilly from January 9 for £3.95.
UK dairy-free brand Nush has updated its almond yoghurt recipe to include more protein. The products now contain between 16g and 23g of protein per pot, and the move is complemented with the introduction of a new vanilla fudge flavour.
British vegan frozen foods makerOne Planet Pizza has gained a listing at 400 Asda stores for its recently launched Tex Mex Pizza.
Courtesy: La Vie/Papa Johns
And among the plethora of Veganuary innovations, one of the more outrageous ones comes from Papa Johns and vegan pork maker La Vie, which have worked together to roll out a Hawaiian Vegan Pizza for the chain in the UK.
Company and finance updates
La Vie, based in Paris, is also on the hunt for a new CFO to lead the startup’s financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, and fundraising efforts.
Vegan cheese giant Violife has rolled out a new National Quitter’s Day campaign to promote its dairy-free cream cheese across digital, social media, and out-of-home channels.
Courtesy: Violife
The Real Housewives of Atlanta star Phaedra Parks has teamed up with Danone-owned brand Silk to host a side-by-side live taste test of cereals with cow’s milk and its Vanilla Almondmilk. Held in New York City on January 9 (ahead of National Milk Day), contestants – those who prefer dairy over plant-based – will be hooked to a lie detector taste when asked which milk they prefer.
In yet another Veganuary campaign, UK plant-based meat maker THIS has debuted its latest TV ad with creative agency St Luke’s. The mockumentary-style spot features a real estate agent who was inspired to (unsuccessfully) become a wingsuit flyer after tasting its vegan pork sausages.
Nestlé-backed plant-based food startup Sundial Foods has also shut down, having sold its IP to “an acquirer with greater scale and resources than we have”.
Canadian cell ag platform Cult Food Science is now accepting cryptocurrency payments for its Noochies! line of vegan pet food. Customers can pay with currencies like bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), solana (SOL), and dogecoin (DOGE).
Courtesy: TreesPlease Games
British developer TreesPlease Games is running Veganuary promotions (including paid marketing) throughout the month on its Longleaf Valley mobile game. It’s expected to gain around 75 million impressions.
Californian plant-based giant Beyond Meat has released results from a life-cycle assessment that shows its vegan steak generates 84% fewer emissions than conventional pre-cooked steak tips, while requiring 93% less water, 88% less land, and 65% less non-renewable energy.
Policy and research developments
Andy Jarvis, director of Future of Food at the Bezos Earth Fund, has delivered a Ted Talk on the future of food, and the importance of using a “yes, and” approach.
Nearly half of American adults are looking to change their diets this year, but only 7% plan to eat plant-based, according to a survey by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and Morning Consult.
It’s also perhaps why the City of West Hollywood is urging people to participate in Veganuary, posting a list of meat-free restaurants in the city.
Courtesy: Heriot-Watt University
In the UK, NHS Scotland‘s Golden Jubilee University National Hospital has begun trialling biodegradable, plant-based theatre caps to cut single-use plastic waste. They were co-designed by the University of Strathclyde and Heriot-Watt University.
Finally, University of Exeter researchers are looking for 200 volunteers who are going vegan in January for a study about the impact of Veganuary.
A Eurocentric review of health studies has shown that plant-based meat has multi-pronged health benefits, despite their association with ultra-processed foods.
Poor diets are responsible for nearly a million deaths in Europe every year, and are the largest driver of cardiovascular disease. At the same time, there’s an emerging phenomenon of a “double burden” of malnutrition, where obesity coincides with undernutrition.
While the underconsumption of whole grains and legumes is the biggest driver for diet-related illnesses in the continent – pointing to a need for increased intake of whole plants – the overconsumption of red and processed meats is a key factor too.
Vegan meat analogues present a solution to the problem for meat-eaters. They’re already better for the climate, help boost food security, reduce pandemic risks, and counter antimicrobial resistance – but in most parts of the world now, health trumps everything when it comes to choosing food today.
Courtesy: GFI Europe
Here, plant-based meats have been dealt a tough hand. Despite being nutritionally superior on many fronts to animal protein, minus the health issues, they’ve been tarred with the same brush as ultra-processed foods (UPFs).
Yes, most plant-based meat is ultra-processed. But no, ultra-processed doesn’t automatically translate to bad-for-you. To illustrate that, alternative protein think tank the Good Food Institute (GFI) Europe compiled data from the latest research around meat alternatives and health – and the results demonstrate their outsized potential for better nutrition and wellbeing.
For example, these products could reduce levels of LDL cholesterol and, consequently, heart disease, lower the risk of bowel cancer, enhance gut health, and help maintain a healthy weight.
“We urgently need more tasty, affordable options to help reduce the current overconsumption of processed meat – which is doing a lot of harm to our health and the planet,” said Amy Williams, nutrition lead at GFI Europe. “Innovative products like plant-based meat and dairy, alongside traditional whole foods such as beans, will both have important roles in achieving this.”
How plant-based meat fares on the nutrition scale
Courtesy: GFI Europe
GFI Europe’s health analysis explored the nutritional differences between conventional meat and plant-based versions from four European countries, across various formats.
In almost every category – from burgers to sausages to chicken nuggets – plant-based meat products are lower in calories, the overconsumption of which is one of the main causes of obesity.
Similarly, vegan meats contain a much greater amount of fibre than their animal-based counterparts (where any small amount of fibre comes from plant-based ingredients). A high fibre intake is linked to a healthy gut and microbiome – an increasingly important aspect in health conversations – and a reduction in inflammation and cardiovascular disease.
When it comes to protein, some sausages and strips/shawarmas have a higher concentration for plant-based versions, but overall, conventional meat has slightly more protein per 100g. That said, plant-based meat is on par with animal proteins in terms of the percentage of calories from protein across all but one category (fillets). With at least 20% of calories coming from protein, vegan alternatives comfortably meet the EU definition of high-protein foods.
But do plant-based products contain complete proteins? It depends. Soy and quinoa contain all the essential amino acids, but for products not using these, a blend of ingredients – such as wheat and pea protein – can help achieve an optimal amino acid profile.
Meanwhile, across every format, animal proteins have more saturated fat than plant-based meat, and the difference is often significant. That said, there are large variations in terms of sodium levels, although vegan meats tend to have slightly more salt content.
Courtesy: GFI Europe
Overcoming the challenges of UPFs and fortification
For plant-based meat, one of the greatest potential areas for maximising the health dividends of plant-based meat, however, are micronutrients. These products offer a simple way to provide key micronutrients that may sometimes be lacking in whole foods – the way they’re made can add important nutrients and make others more bioavailable (or easier for the body to process).
But several challenges remain. Fortification with nutrients like vitamin B12, iron, calcium or omega-3s can be expensive, and fortified food can’t be certified as organic (even though animal meat can). The growing focus on shorter ingredient lists, meanwhile, can penalise products with a higher nutritional value, where some additional ingredients are micronutrients.
The focus on cleaner labels has dovetailed with concern around UPFs, but GFI Europe’s report is further proof that the level of processing doesn’t dictate how healthy a food is. Its analysis of macronutrient studies shows that conventional processed meat ticks seven of the eight boxes in common UPF definitions, including high calories, fat and salt, convenience, low fibre, big ingredient lists, and the fact that it can’t be made in a normal kitchen.
Courtesy: GFI Europe
Despite the nutritional benefits, plant-based meat saw a decline in volume by 3.2% in Europe between 2022 and 2023, with the UPF debate a major contributor to this shift. So how can these products overcome this slump?
GFI Europe says governments and investors need to back R&D efforts to better optimise the health potential of plant-based meats across several focus areas. These should focus on next-gen products that optimise nutrient bioavailability, improve functionality, and broaden the range of available options, as well as on novel processing technologies to better maintain or boost the nutritional value.
The diversification of ingredient crops and expansion of breeding specifically for use in plant-based meat is important too. This would improve the functionality of raw ingredients, cut the number of processing steps and ingredients, and allow protein crops to be grown locally.
As for manufacturers, it’s imperative to better communicate the health benefits of their products so consumers can understand how to incorporate plant-based meat into a healthy and balanced diet. They’re also encouraged to innovate and further improve the nutritional quality of their offerings through measures like salt reduction and micronutrient fortification.
The FDA has updated its draft guidance for vegan meat, egg and dairy labelling, suggesting companies place an emphasis on the plant-based sources that make up the product.
‘Chickpea meatballs’ is a more favourable term than ‘plant-based meatballs’ when describing vegan products on packaging, according to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The government body, which has regulatory authority over all plant-based alternatives, has published draft guidelines for the labelling of vegan meat, seafood, egg and dairy products, excluding alt-milk (which were covered in separate guidance last year).
For plant-based food producers, there’s one big win: they’re allowed to use terms like ‘sausage’, ‘burger’, and ‘yogurt’ on their packaging, so long as they don’t mislead consumers.
But there is a big caveat too. The FDA prefers that companies highlight the source ingredients in their products. So instead of ‘vegan Cheddar cheese’, it’s more comfortable with ‘soy-based Cheddar cheese’. Likewise, ‘chickpea and lentil nuggets’ is preferred over ‘meat-free nuggets’.
“Names such as ‘Plant-Based Burger’, ‘Meatless Meatballs’, or ‘Vegetarian ChickN Sausage’ may signal to consumers that the food is a meat alternative, but they do not identify the plant source comprising the food,” the document says.
“The nature of the plant-based ingredients is important information for consumers and should be included in the name or statement of identity to identify and describe the food and distinguish it from similar foods.”
Courtesy: FDA
How would this work in practice?
The FDA believes that when looking at a food label, consumers should be able to “easily determine not just that the product is plant-based, but also the plant source (e.g., soy, lentil, walnut, etc.).”
It’s not just the use of ‘plant-based’ or ‘vegan’ – even descriptors like ‘meat-free’ or ‘beefless’ should be used in conjunction with the source ingredient. So, instead of ‘pork-free bacon’, it recommends using ‘plant-based soy bacon’ as the main term, with ‘pork-free’ used as a sub-descriptor above or below.
These terms should be presented in a bold font on the front of the packaging. “We consider a prominent print or type for the statement of identify to be at least 1/2 the size of the largest print on the label,” the document reads.
Meanwhile, vignettes or images that further describe the product’s flavour are allowed too, so long as they aren’t misleading. The FDA’s example includes the image of a cow on vegan jerky, with ‘artificially beef-flavoured’ written underneath.
If a product has multiple plant sources, the predominant ingredient by weight should be stated first. So, for a vegan egg that contains chia seeds as its majority ingredient, alongside flax seeds, the recommended label would read: ‘chia and flax seed eggless scramble’.
Within vegan subcategories too, the FDA outlines why it feels using the source names is important. “Plant-based alternatives to yogurt that are soy-based should bear names that distinguish these alternatives from those that are almond-based. Qualifying the names with “soy” or “almond” would inform consumers of the nature or source of the food, while also distinguishing one subclass of alternatives from another,” it states.
Courtesy: FDA
Why is the FDA prioritising the source ingredients?
Foods within the plant-based category can come from a variety of sources, from legumes and tree nuts to seeds, grains, and vegetables. The FDA feels its recommendations can help consumers distinguish between these products to align their purchases with their dietary needs or desire for nutritional variety.
“Omitting a descriptor of the legume, nut, grain, seed, or other plant source in the name of the food may be confusing to consumers, as the product would not be readily distinguishable from other types of similar plant-based alternatives,” it says.
Since there may be nutritional differences between plant-based alternatives and their conventional counterparts, conveying the source ingredients “may help consumers understand that the composition of the product is different and prompt consumers to review the Nutrition Facts label”.
It argues that this practice could help Americans with food allergies, encouraging them to review the ingredient declaration and allergen disclosure statements on the packaging.
“Further, consumers may value or be seeking out certain plant sources as they incorporate foods into their diet, especially as they are looking to build a healthy eating pattern in line with current dietary guidelines, so having this information on the principal display panel is important because it will enable consumers to identify the plant sources more easily,” the guidance reads.
Courtesy: Simulate/Green Queen
How should brands respond, and what happens next?
It’s important to note that draft guidance documents aren’t legally enforceable – instead, they’re recommendations that reflect the FDA’s “current thinking on a topic”.
Companies may not need to change anything on their packaging, but the recommendation to use plant sources on packaging does feel a bit unnecessary. After all, other product categories don’t have the same obligation, so why should plant-based?
The assumption that people with allergies wouldn’t look at the ingredients label anyway also seems a bit unrealistic. And imploring companies to use product descriptors like ‘soy and wheat jerky’ might hinder their efforts to attract meat-eaters looking for more realistic taste experiences in plant-based meat products.
The FDA is now accepting written or electronic comments, which firms can submit until May 7, when it will begin work on the final version of the guidance.
Its draft document comes just two weeks before Donald Trump returns to the White House. The incoming president has picked Robert F Kennedy Jr as his health secretary, who has promised to overhaul the US health and food systems. It could mean a significant overhaul of the FDA and the US Department of Agriculture, with processed plant-based proteins coming under significant scrutiny.
