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Category: Alt Protein

  • Impossible Foods Reworks Its Beef Nutrition to Capture the Growing Flexitarian Market

    3 Mins Read

    With its latest iteration, Impossible Foods’ plant-based ground beef now contains less saturated fat and more protein than ever, putting it on par with conventional beef.

    The new Impossible Foods labels read simply: Beef Made From Plants. That’s a shift away from its use of ‘burger’ on the label—a move that’s part of the Bay Area company’s bid to appeal to the growing flexitarian demographic. And the new nutritional profile is expected to help.

    Impossible Beef

    “Our aim is not to be the best plant-based meat, which is a low bar, it’s to be the best meat,” Impossible Foods CEO Peter McGuinness told Food Navigator.

    “If you’re going to even start to displace animal products, you have to go to the next level in terms of taste, texture, flavor, and nutrition,” he said.

    Impossible beef
    Impossible beef | Courtesy

    The new beef contains 33 percent less saturated fat than conventional beef along with 19 grams of protein, zero cholesterol, and, the company says, no animal hormones or antibiotics.One serving of Impossible Beef contains 38 percent of the RDI for protein—the same as 80/20 ground beef. Saturated fat has ticked down to just six grams per serving compared to animal-based beef at nine grams.

    The leading vegan meat producer is aiming to target increasing concerns about the health claims made by the plant-based foods industry. Studies have found high levels of sodium and saturated fat in vegan meat products.

    The flexitarian market

    Consumers in the U.S. are largely opting for plant-based protein for its health benefits, further underscoring Impossible’s recent decision to tweak its formula.

    The relaunch comes as the industry sees lackluster sales, something McGuinness told Food Navigator is a competition issue, not a category issue.

    According to McGuinness, Impossible Foods is growing at a 65 percent year-on-year rate—a number he says is not just from increased distribution. “It’s a combination of new doors, new SKUs, and velocity gains.”

    Impossible chicken nuggets.

    Impossible says it has around a 45 percent repeat rate—meaning roughly one in two people who try the product will buy it again. “So that says awareness and trial is a gift that keeps on giving, as we only have 5 percent household penetration,” McGuinness said.

    These are important numbers as the industry is facing changes. With limited retail shelf space in refrigerated and frozen sections, consolidation is already happening in-store, and it could mean more mergers and acquisitions for companies competing too closely.

    For Impossible, its relationship with fast food chains like Burger King, which recently launched an Impossible Chicken trial in the U.S., give it leverage at retail, too. Its closest competitor, Beyond Meat, just saw its U.S. McPlant trial pulled from more than 600 stores.

    The post Impossible Foods Reworks Its Beef Nutrition to Capture the Growing Flexitarian Market appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Float Foods Launches Asia’s First Vegan Egg Tamagoyaki

    OnlyEg Tamagoyaki in plant-based musubi
    3 Mins Read

    Float Foods’ OnlyEg is coming to Singapore’s food service industry, marking the first time a plant-based egg Tamagoyaki is commercially available in Asia.

    The fourth produce in OnlyEg’s lineup, the Tamagoyaki is making its debut in partnership with Poke Theory at the FHA APA Theatre, Singapore EXPO, this week. The chain will launch a nationwide poke bowl featuring OnlyEg in its Caramelised Onion & Black Vinegar Tamago bowls. 

    OnlyEg

    The vegan egg joins OnlyEg’s shreds, patties, and XL omelettes as a hormone- and drug-free egg product that looks, cooks, and tastes like conventional eggs. The company says it offers a wholly natural, zero-cholesterol, fibre-rich, allergy-proof and cruelty-free egg that packs as much protein as a chicken egg.

    This is part of Float Foods’ plant-based food mission and “Food as Medicine” approach. It says it fully taps into the nutritional benefits offered by plant-based ingredients.

    OnlyEg whole egg analogue. Photo By Float Foods.

    “We build our products around the philosophy of using plants to help consumers eat clean, naturally sourced, nutrient-dense substitutes that are beneficial for their health and wellbeing,” the company said.

    According to OnlyEg, its initial products are now available in more than 20 hotels and restaurants including ShangriLa, Conrad, Cedele, Bamboo Bowls, Bangkok Jam, Love Handle, Solo Ristorante, Old Town, Warung Ijo.

    The products are earning industry accolades; OnlyEg’s white product was awarded ‘Best Health or Wellness Food’ at the World Food Innovation Awards 2022 in London. The omelette is a finalist in the ‘Best Plant-Based functional product’ category for the World Plant-Based Awards 2022 happening later this month in New York.

    Asian egg consumption

    Float Foods is working to help Asian consumers reduce their conventional egg consumption. Currently, Asians consume nearly 200 eggs per person per year, and the region produces more than 65 percent of the world’s eggs.

    The Dragon Chamber’s plant-based Cheeseburger Rolls with OnlyEg Omelette and Roasted “Kou Shui” Egg with OnlyEg Tamagoyaki

    While much of the Asian egg consumption is “onsen” style—lightly poached, runny and slightly raw, cooked eggs are in a number of dishes including omurice, fried nasi lemak egg, tamagoyaki or an omelette.

    Float Foods says an increasing number of Asian consumers are looking to reduce egg consumption for their health and climate concerns—producing a single chicken egg requires more than 240 liters of water and factory farming is a leading cause of emissions. A dozen eggs produce nealy three kilograms of heat-trapping emissions. The news follows a recent survey that looked at Asia’s increasing interest in vegan and alternative seafood.

    In addition to the Tamagoyaki at Poke Theory, OnlyEg is served in the following dishes:

    • Shangri-La Rasa Sentosa, Casserole  (OnlyEg in Assam Laksa and Nicoise Salad)
    • Conrad Centennial (OnlyEg x Impossible Wrap , OnlyEg Tamagoyaki bowl)
    • Dragon Chamber (Cheeseburger rolls with OnlyEg omelette and Roasted “Kou Shui” Egg with OnlyEg Tamago)
    • The Hainan Story at Hotel Boss (plant-based Curry Rice with OnlyEg Omelette x Tindle)
    • Three Buns (Le Smak Burger with OnlyEg Shreds and Boyz to Men burger with OnlyEg patty)
    • Warung Ijo (with local favourites including OnlyEg Nasi Lemak, Nasi Pendang, Orh Luak)
    • Old Town White Coffee (plant-based OnlyEg Classic Bee Hoon with Sweet & Sour Meat, OnlyEg Macaroni with Tomato Mushroom meatball and OnlyEg Toast with Ham, starting on Sept 1st)
    • Cedele (plant-based Kale x OnlyEg sandwich, available at Cedele WaterPoint outlet)
    • Bangkok Jam, Great World City and Plaza Singapura outlets (OnlyEg Pad Thai, kway teow, basil tofu rice, olive fried rice)
    • Singapore Food Festival:  OnlyEg is an official sponsor and will serve OnlyEg Patties in Satay Onigiri as part of Hawker Heroes by Chef Nicholas Koh from 31 Aug – 11 Sep. OnlyEg Tamago will also be served in a sushi workshop for 24 pax by Chef Martin on 11 Sep at 12noon.

    Images: courtesy

    The post Float Foods Launches Asia’s First Vegan Egg Tamagoyaki appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Climate Activists Sue U.K. for Not Effectively Tackling Its Meat and Dairy Problem

    bangers and mash

    3 Mins Read

    Is England perpetuating the climate crisis by not having a plan to reduce meat and dairy consumption? A group of activists thinks so.

    Members of the marketing campaign group Feedback filed a claim for judicial review at the High Court. The group is asking the court to force the government to take its own recommendations on climate change and formulate a strategy to address meat and dairy consumption.

    The filings

    According to the filings, the government is not taking into account the recommendations of its own climate change committee and its adviser, Henry Dimbleby. In a strategy released in June, the committee pushed for reductions in meat and dairy consumption as animal agriculture is a leading producer of greenhouse gas emissions.

    “Rather than outlining plans to support the public and farmers in making the shift to low-carbon foods as promised, the food strategy blithely ignored the meat and dairy question altogether,” Feedback’s executive director Carina Millstone said in a statement.

    british breakfast
    Photo by Deepansh Khurana on Unsplash

    Rowan Smith, a solicitor at Leigh Day, the firm representing the group said the client believes that there is “something inherently wrong with the government promising to address carbon emissions as part of its food strategy, but then omitting any action on one of the biggest contributors to the problem, namely meat and dairy.

    “The legal case focuses on the government’s failure to take into account expert and independent advice. What is the value in having that advice, if the government can effectively ignore it? Our client hopes to test these arguments in court.”

    The U.K.’s legal climate woes

    Leigh Day recently represented plaintiffs in another climate-related case. In July, a judge sided with environmental groups Friends of the Earth and the Good Law Project along with environmental activist Jo Wheatley. The judge ruled that the U.K. government’s plan on attaining net-zero emissions was unlawful as it failed to provide sufficient details on meeting its target.

    Wicked Kitchen
    Leading plant-based brand Wicked Kitchen is sold at Tesco U.K. stores | Courtesy

    England and the U.K. are at the forefront of the alternative protein spaces, with increasing demand and offerings at all major supermarket chains and restaurants. In July, a survey found 25 percent of Brits reduced animal product consumption during the early days of the pandemic and have continued to reduce or eliminate meat and dairy from their diets.

    But a recent YouGov poll found only one-third of consumers surveyed say they’re willing to reduce animal products in their diet to help fight climate change.

    The climate committee has repeatedly urged for at least a 20 percent reduction in dairy consumption and a 35 percent reduction in meat by 2050 to help thwart climate change.

    Lead photo by Dmitry Dreyer on Unsplash

    The post Climate Activists Sue U.K. for Not Effectively Tackling Its Meat and Dairy Problem appeared first on Green Queen.

  • Heavy Metals, Microplastics, Driving Asia’s Shift to Plant-Based Seafood: Report

    sushi rolls

    3 Mins Read

    In the first survey of its kind, leading protein think tank Good Food Institute APAC identified key factors sending Asian consumers toward plant-based seafood options.

    Consumers across Singapore, Thailand, Japan, and South Korea are largely excited by the potential in alternative seafood options. Specifically, they’re motivated by the absence of heavy metal and microplastic contamination says the new GFI report. There is also an increased interest in avoiding foodborne illnesses common from consuming seafood, such as Vibrio infection, norovirus, and hepatitis A.

    Deciding factors

    The interest isn’t just driven by avoiding seafood’s inherent issues, though. The survey found consumers are seeking to add more omega fatty acids into their diets; a growing number of alternatives are satisfying this demand with healthy algae oil, among other healthy sources.

    But despite the interest, consumers are still motivated by taste and texture. They will also not compormise on the health benefits even if it’s at the expense of choosing the most sustainable option, the survey found. There were also concerns over freshness and whether or not alternatives were as natural as conventional fish.

    Photo by Richard Bell at Unsplash.

    “As with all foods, taste is the single most impact factor in determining the commercial success of alternative seafood products,” Mirte Gosker, Acting Managing Director of GFI APAC, said in a statement. But, Gosker says it’s not the only deciding factor.

    “Consumers also want products that can match or exceed the nutritional value, freshness, and affordability of the conventional seafood they know and love,” she says.

    “Satisfying these demands will require substantially more investment from public and private stakeholders into open-access research and development aimed at improving the quality and cost of plant-based and cultivated seafood products,” she added.

    Alternative seafood demand

    The news comes as APAC countries are seeing an uptick in plant-based seafood offerings. According to GFI APAC, alternative seafood companies raise US$175 million last year, which is nearly double the amount raised in 2020. It says more than 120 companies are currently developing alternatives to seafood.

    Cellmeat’s Cultivated Dokdo Shrimp

    OmniFoods has been making a big splash in the region. In January, Starbucks released a plant-based fish sandwich made with OmniFoods’ vegan seafood ahead of the Chinese New Year. Earlier this month, leading seafood producer Thai Union launched plant-based shrimp, building on its recent plant-based seafood offerings.

    But it’s not just plant-based seafood that’s offering potential. The cultivated meat space is booming too, with the potential to support the changing consumer habits in Asia. In July, China’s Avant, which is working on cultivated fish, closed a $10.8 million Series A funding round. Shiok Meats recently partnered with Vietnam’s largest shrimp producer to develop cultivated seafood. Singapore’s Umami Meats announced plans to partner with MeaTech on 3D-printed cultivated seafood. In July, South Korea’s Cellmeat said its cell-based Dokdo Shrimp is market ready pending regulatory approval. 

    Lead Photo by Frank Zhang on Unsplash

    The post Heavy Metals, Microplastics, Driving Asia’s Shift to Plant-Based Seafood: Report appeared first on Green Queen.

  • Diet & Nutrition: Should You Become An Ultra-Flexitarian?

    Ultra Flexitarian Diet
    5 Mins Read

    By: Mark Maslin, Professor of Earth System Science, UCL and the Natural History Museum of Denmark 

    There’s no denying that what we eat is intrinsically linked to the climate crisis. Is the an Ultra-Flexitarian diet the solution the planet needs?

    The food we consume has a massive impact on our planet. Agriculture takes up half the habitable land on Earth, destroys forests and other ecosystems and produces a quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Meat and dairy specifically accounts for around 14.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

    So changing what we eat can help reduce carbon emissions and promote sustainable farming. But there are several “climate-friendly” diets to choose from. The best known are the completely plant-based vegan diet, the vegetarian diet, which also allows eggs and dairy, and the pescetarian diet, which also allows seafood.

    There are also “flexitarian” diets, where three quarters of meat and dairy is replaced by plant-based food, or the Mediterranean diet which allows moderate amounts of poultry, pork, lamb and beef. Deciding which diet to choose is not as simple as you might expect.

    Let us start with a new fad: the climatarian diet. One version was created by the not-for-profit organisation Climates Network, which says this diet is healthy, climate friendly and nature friendly. According to the publicity “with a simple diet shift you can save a tonne of CO₂ equivalents per person per year” (“equivalents” just means methane and other greenhouse gases are factored in alongside carbon dioxide).

    Sounds great, but the diet still allows you to eat meat and other high emission foods such as pork, poultry, fish, dairy products and eggs. So this is just a newer version of the “climate carnivore” diet except followers are encouraged to switch as much red meat (beef, lamb, pork, veal and venison) as possible to other meats and fish.

    The diet does, however, encourage you to cut down on meat overall and to choose high-welfare and local meat where possible, while avoiding food waste and choosing seasonal, local foods.

    So saving a tonne of carbon dioxide is great but switching to vegetarianism or veganism can save even more. A western standard meat-based diet produces about 7.2 kilograms of CO₂ equivalent per day, while a vegetarian diet produces 3.8 kg and a vegan diet 2.9 kg. If the whole world went vegan it would save nearly 8 billion tonnes CO₂e while even a switch to the Mediterranean diet would still save 3 billion tonnes. That is a saving of between 60% and 20% of all food emissions as which are currently at 13.7 billion tonnes of CO₂e a year.

    How much CO2e (in billions of tonnes, or Gt) would be saved if the whole world switched to each of these diets. Terms as defined by CarbonBrief. Data: IPCC, Author provided

    Water and land use must be considered too

    To save our planet, we must also consider both water and land usage. Beef, for instance, needs about 15,000 litres of water per kilo.

    Some vegetarian or vegan foods like avocados and almonds also have a huge water footprint, but overall a plant-based diet has about half the water consumption of a standard meat-based diet.

    Deforestation in Brazil (Source: Canva)

    A global move away from meat would also free up a huge amount of land, since billions of animals would no longer have to be fed. Soya, for instance, is one of the world’s most common crops yet almost 80% of the world’s soybeans are fed to livestock.

    The reduced need for agricultural land would help stop deforestation and help protect biodiversity. The land could also be used to reforest and rewild large areas which would become a natural store of carbon dioxide.

    A plant-forward diet is (mostly) healthier

    A plant based diet is also generally healthier. Meat, especially highly processed meat, has been linked to a string of major health issues including high blood pressure, heart disease and cancer.

    However, meat, dairy and fish are the main sources of some essential vitamins and minerals such as calcium, zinc, iodine and vitamin B12. A strict vegan diet can put people at risk of deficiencies unless they can have access to particular foods or take supplements. Yet both specialist food and supplements are too expensive for many people around the world and it would be hard to scale up supplements production to provide for billions of extra people.

    So a climatarian or flexitarian approach means there are fewer health risks and also allows people to still exercise choice. One study suggests a move to a global plant-based diet could reduce global mortality by up to 10% by 2050.

    We slaughter nine animals per person per year

    One of the issues that seems to be lacking in many food discussions is the ethical dimension. Every year we slaughter 69 billion chickens, 1.5 billion pigs, 0.65 billion turkeys, 0.57 billion sheep, 0.45 billion goats, and 0.3 billion cattle. That is over nine animals killed for every person on the planet per year – all for nutrition and protein which we know can come from a plant-based diet.

    Poultry production has almost doubled this century, as chicken has raced ahead of pork and beef. Our World In Data / data: FAO, CC BY-SA

    So what is the ideal global diet to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce habitat destruction and help you live longer? Well I suggest being an “ultra-flexitarian” – a diet of mostly plant-based foods but one that allows meat and dairy products in extreme moderation, but red and processed meat are completely banned. This would save at least 5.5 billion tonnes of CO₂ equivalent per year (40% of all food emissions), decrease global mortality by 10% and prevent the slaughter of billions of innocent animals.

    This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

    Lead image courtesy of Canva.

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  • Future Meat Announces the World’s First Cultivated Ground Lamb Meat

    future meat lamb
    3 Mins Read

    Israel-based Future Meat Technologies has developed the world’s first cultivated ground lamb meat that it says looks, cooks, and tastes just like conventional lamb meat for use in burgers, kebabs, and other dishes.

    “In passing this milestone, Future Meat reinforces its position as a leader and pioneer in the cultivated meat industry and shows again the limitless potential of how innovation can drive sustainable solutions,” Nicole Johnson-Hoffman, CEO of Future Meat, said in a statement.

    The key learnings, Johnson-Hoffman says, will be leveraged to produce other meats, including beef and pork.

    Cultivated lamb meat

    The cultivated lamb was three years in the making for Future Meat, which says the development will help to disrupt the global lamb meat market—which spans the globe, specifically Europe, the Middle East, Northern Africa, and parts of Asia. The company says reaching this milestone with ovine cell lines means that it can now produce cultivated lamb “at scale” and “accelerate its innovation focus to expanding into even more animal species.”

    “Since lamb has a uniquely distinct flavor, it is very clear if a cultivated substitute is on or off the mark,” said Michael Lenahan, General Manager of Future Meat. “The reason Future Meat’s cultivated lamb is indistinguishable from conventional lamb is because it is, first and foremost, real meat. It sizzles, sears and tastes just like people expect—it’s amazing.”

    future meat lamb
    Future Meat uses animal fibroblasts to replicate the meat in a lab, producing a non-GMO product that is cost-effective, sustainable, and completely scalable, without harming a single animal through the process | Courtesy

    The food tech company was the first to replace Fetal Bovine Serum and all other animal components beyond the cell lines in the cultivated meat development. “Future Meat’s approach leans on the natural spontaneous immortalization of fibroblasts, rather than genetic modification,” said Prof. Yaakov Nahmias, President, Founder and Chief Science Officer of Future Meat Technologies. “This is the key to Future Meat’s cells being non-GMO.”

    Future Meat says it is gearing up to enter the U.S. market once there’s regulatory approval for cultivated meat. Currently, only Singapore allows the sale and consumption of cultivated animal products.

    Israel’s food tech hub

    Israel is a hotbed for food tech, specifically cultivated and plant-based animal products. As of the end of June, more than $320 million in investment funding had been distributed to Israel-based companies, according to the Good Food Institute Israel.

    Future Meat beef
    Future Meat beef | courtesy

    “2021 saw alternative protein placed at the forefront of the food-tech industry, with several massive investment rounds intended to accelerate scale-up and allow young companies to become global leaders for a better food system,” Aviv Oren, Director of Business Engagement and Innovation, GFI Israel, wrote in the mid-year report.

    “This momentum draws more investors, governments and multinational companies, as it is clearer than ever that to meet climate change goals and prevent future pandemics we must leverage technology to change the way we consume our food. Israel is leading this change, with more startups and more investment in alternative protein than any country besides the U.S.”

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  • There is No Such Thing as Low Carbon Beef

    5 Mins Read

    Notes From the Frontlines of the Sustainable Food Movement – a new opinion column by Irina Gerry

    There has been a lot of chatter lately about “Low Carbon Beef”, but does the climate math hold up?

    The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently approved Low Carbon Beef label, which can now be placed on meat products in the US in order to differentiate this “more sustainably farmed beef” from conventional options, as well as to justify higher price premiums. To qualify for the label, cattle farmers must demonstrate at least 10% lower greenhouse gas emissions than the industry standard baselines. Sounds nice, right?

    Except, there is a problem with that. On average, producing 1kg of beef emits about 100kg of CO2e, which is by far the highest emissions of any food.

    For perspective, producing 1kg of chicken emits about 10kg of CO2e and 1kg of peas comes in at just 1kg of CO2e. That’s 100 times less.

    So, does a 10% reduction make a meaningful difference to warrant the Low Carbon Beef label?  Absolutely not.

    This is the cattle industry’s attempt to respond to consumer concerns around beef’s climate footprint, as more and more consumers seek to align their climate concerns with their food purchases. It is a pure form of greenwashing.

    At scale, animal agriculture today is responsible for 14.5% of global GHG emissions, with cattle representing a 65% share.

    While politicians avoid any conversation about reducing meat consumption like a plague, considering it a political non-starter, there are a number of initiatives underway that attempt to reduce the climate footprint of cattle. According to UN FAO, several ways of reducing emissions from livestock include:

    1. Improving feed quality, precision feeding and methane-reducing additives (seaweed feed additives only reduce cattle methane emissions by about 9%, while adding potential ecological impact of large-scale algae farming, which is far from the panacea it is hyped up to be)
    2. Animal genetics, breeding and animal health (cows that grow faster, cow vaccines)
    3. Intensifying recycling efforts (ag waste products as feed) and minimizing losses for a circular bioeconomy (manure as fertilizer, manure as biogas)
    4. Capitalizing on nature-based solutions to ramp up carbon offsets (soil carbon sequestration through regenerative grazing)

    However, even if we deploy all available strategies to reduce livestock emissions, we only get to a 30% reduction.

    We still end up with 70kgs CO2e per 1kg of beef, on average, which is still far higher than any other food.

    There is no such as thing as Low Carbon Beef, only Reduced Carbon Beef, if you like.

    While regenerative grazing advocates fervently defend beef, professing it to be the “climate savior” and even calling for grazing more cattle than we do today as a way to restore degraded soils, the reality on the ground remains starkly different from the future that “could be”. Regenerative grazing  holds a promise of carbon sequestration by implementing adaptive multi-paddock (AMP) grazing practices as a way to offset cattle emissions with soil carbon sequestration, however most studies presented to support the argument consist of small scale experiments with inconsistent methods and findings, with little consensus on net climate benefit among high quality peer-reviewed research after decades of experimentation and a lot of doubt about the scalability, durability and the magnitude of soil carbon sequestration of such systems outside of highly specific conditions.

    Most regenerative grazing benefits tend to focus on converting previously degraded croplands to pasture, which do show a temporary improvement in soil carbon sequestration during the conversion process. However, many such studies lack proper control variables of converting the same degraded lands to forests, wetlands or orchards, and reintroducing wildlife instead of farmed cattle, or applying other regenerative agriculture practices such as reduced tilling and cover crop rotations.

    Even the poster child of multi-species pasture rotations, White Oaks Pastures, can only sequester enough carbon in soil to create a greenhouse gas footprint that is 66% lower carbon footprint over conventional commodity beef, while requiring 2.5 times more land and costing 70% more (price per pound of ground beef before shipping). Don’t get me wrong, a 66% emissions reduction is commendable, and the overall system appears to be more resilient, while providing the farmers higher income, but it does not make it Low Carbon.

    In general, as unsavory as feedlots may be to those of us who care about animal welfare, industrialized systems tend to be more efficient at converting animals to food products. Regenerative grazing advocates find themselves between the rock and a hard place in trying to promote a more sustainable and kinder food system, while contending with immense resources required to produce cattle-based products, no matter the method. On one hand trying to farm animals in a way more consistent with natural grazing does sound appealing, on the other hand grass-finished beef requires 40-150% more land, increases enteric fermentation related methane emissions by 43% (cows eating grass on pasture emit more methane compared to feedlot cows on a grain diet) and produces 30% less meat as system (grass-finished beef takes longer to grow). Organic and regeneratively grazed beef does not fare much better. Given the increased land and resource requirements of the animal-based system that already occupies 77% of all agricultural land, a transition to regenerative grazing only works if we are willing to eat much less beef and are prepared to pay more for it.

    Does it mean we can’t eat beef?

    Not necessarily. I know most people simply won’t accept it, no matter the cost. There is also some argument in favor of limited regenerative grazing of cows to restore some of the degraded soils. Further, farmed animals play a crucial role in some of the poorest countries, providing income and serving as a key source of nutrition for smallholder farmers. A 100% cow-free world is neither possible, nor necessary for us to build a sustainable and equitable food system.

    My hope is that a clear understanding of the environmental impact would lead most of us who care about the future of our planet to significantly reduce our beef consumption (to the tune of 50-80% in developed countries) and if we do choose to eat it occasionally, choose the “better farmed” option. Because with the growing global population and projected increase in meat demand, we have no hope of meeting the +1.5C degree global warming targets if we stay with the status quo.

    Lead image courtesy of Canva.

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  • Japan’s First Vegan Eggs Are Made From Konjac Root

    umami egg

    2 Mins Read

    Japan is the third-largest egg-consuming nation in the world behind China and Mexico. Now, a Tokyo-based startup, Umami United, says it has developed a vegan egg using konjac powder and enzyme technology for a more sustainable and ethical alternative to conventional eggs.

    Umami United says it’s on a mission to overcome the challenges of the current food system and “deliver an experience by uniting all at one table and creating a brighter future.”

    Vegan eggs

    Instead of fungi, Umami says it turned to enzymes to produce its vegan egg. Enzymes express specific flavors and textures, according to the company where fungi typically break down ingredients during fermentation.

    Umami egg
    Courtesy

    The company is also working to tackle allergy issues for younger generations as eggs are a top food allergen. Umami says it’s already gaining traction in Japan as consumers seek out healthy plant-based options.

    The vegan Umami egg joins a growing vegan egg category led by U.S.-based Eat Just and its mung bean Just Egg. Eat Just recently reported it surpassed the sales equivalent of 300 million eggs with help from celebrities including Serena Williams and Jake Gyllenhaal. It also recently broke ground on a factory in Singapore to meet the demand in Asian markets.

    Plant-based demand in Asia

    Umami says it’s also participating in the trade show FHA Singapore, where the company will introduce its plant-based egg in a variety of traditional Japanese and Asian dishes. It says food service is critical to its growth, “providing solutions and different recipes to catering companies,” which will introduce the concept to consumers. From there, they can then find the product on supermarket shelves.

    Just Egg
    Courtesy

    The launch also comes as Japan is seeing an uptick in plant-based food sales. In a 2019 survey, 60 percent of respondents said they were open to trying more sustainable food options that also had health benefits. A study in 2020 that looked at soy-based meat showed awareness over 70 percent. In 2020, 25 percent of respondents said they had tried vegan meat at least once, with 68 percent saying they’d cooked plant-based meat at home, while more than 40 percent said they had consumed plant-based meat while dining out.

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  • 5-Year Cellular Agriculture Project to Develop Norway’s ‘Food of the Future’

    scandinavian food
    3 Mins Read

    Norway’s Research Council says it will fund the development of cellular agriculture and precision fermentation to bring sustainable meat, egg, and milk products to market.

    A new five-year research project, dubbed Arrival of Cellular Agriculture-Enabling Biotechnology for Future Food Production (ARRIVAL), set to launch next year will help Norway develop the “food of the future.”

    Funded by the Research Council of Norway, the project has an annual €2 million budget. The Norwegian Institute of Food, Fisheries, and Aquaculture Research (Nofima) will spearhead the project with support from the contract research organization SINTEF Industry, Oslo Metropolitan University, the Norwegian Institute for Rural Research, the Norwegian Board of Technology, agriculture cooperative Nortura AS, and the Norwegian dairy enterprise, TINE AS.

    Cultivated meat

    Even while it’s lower than in other Northern European countries, meat production in Norway increased by nearly four percent between 2020 and 2021. The majority of consumers in Norway say they’re not overly concerned about environmental or animal welfare factors.

    But ARRIVAL’s team says this presents an opportunity to further explore alternatives.

    Mosa Meat FBS
    Cultivated meatball | Courtesy Mosa Meat

    “We can increase self-sufficiency in food in Norway, and we do not have to kill animals to produce the necessary protein in the form of meat. In Norway, we have both the expertise and the money needed to develop new technical solutions for food production, says Sissel Rønning, the ARRIVAL lead.

    “We will continue our research on how to scale up cell-based meat production and find out more about which materials are suitable to use as a framework for the muscle cells,” says Rønning.

    “Muscle cells are picky, and it is usual to use a growth medium made from parts of calf blood in current production.”

    While cultivated meat is currently only approved for sale in Singapore, Norway sees a viable future for cell-based meat. Nofima began exploring the category in 2018 with the goal of developing new technology for cultivating muscle meat with residual biomass as the growth medium. That project was the first openly accessible research in this category.

    Now, Nofima says its technology has increased “significantly.”

    “We will continue our research on how to scale up cell-based meat production and find out more about which materials are suitable to use as a framework for the muscle cells,” says Rønning.

    Courtesy iStock

    “Muscle cells are picky, and it is usual to use a growth medium made from parts of calf blood in current production.

    “This production is not very sustainable, and many people are therefore critical of this type of protein cultivation. To successfully scale these types of technologies, new, sustainable growth media must therefore be developed.”

    Precision fermentation

    The announcement comes as dairy and egg production has also increased in the Nordic country in recent years. According to recent data, the number of dairy cows has increased every year over the last decade. Egg-laying hen operations are also on the increase.

    But according to the University of Helsinki and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, using alternative proteins such as precision fermentation could reduce land use by nearly 90 percent compared with conventional egg production. It can also decrease greenhouse gas emissions by up to 55 percent.

    Courtesy Perfect Day

    Dairy alternatives also show the potential to significantly reduce the industry’s impact. The category leader, U.S.-based Perfect Day, cites a 97 percent reduction in emissions compared to conventional dairy.

    “Cell-based agriculture is a revolution in food production that can change agricultural production and ownership, land use, policy design, eating habits, and ethical issues,” says Rønning. “In the ARRIVAL project, we will take the research on cell-based agriculture several steps further.”

    Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash

    The post 5-Year Cellular Agriculture Project to Develop Norway’s ‘Food of the Future’ appeared first on Green Queen.

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  • Plant Sifu Brings Its Vegan Pork to 7 Chinese Hong Kong Restaurants

    4 Mins Read

    Hong Kong’s vegan meat brand Plant Sifu is bringing its products to seven Chinese restaurants across Hong Kong.

    Between August and October, Plant Sifu will showcase its vegan meat products across Hong Kong restaurants in a range of Chinese flavors and styles. “Be it the vibrant tastes in Northern cuisine, the rich flavors of Shanghainese cuisine, the spices in Szechuan dishes, or the delicacy of Cantonese cuisine, Plant Sifu will take you on a taste-first gourmet journey reimagined with plant-based meat,” the company said in a statement.

    Courtesy Plant Sifu

    Plant Sifu

    Plant Sifu is focused on recreating Chinese cuisines with plants. Its first focus is pork, the most common animal protein in Asia. Plant Sifu uses a proprietary protein blend made from konjac jelly and other plant-based ingredients to recreate the taste, texture, and function of conventional pork.

    Deng G Sichuan

    “To deliver a ‘real meaty experience’, I had to think deeply which ingredients would best match with Plant Sifu’s plant-based pork,” Deng G Sichuan, Chef Leung Yiu Yun, said. “It was fun and challenging! And among the dishes, the ‘Yi Bin Ya Cai Dandan Noodles’ tasted just like the real thing.”

    Deng G Sichuan’s menu features five dishes including Yi Bin Ya Cai Dandan Noodles with Pickled Mustard Greens; Pork Wontons with Red Chili Oil; Pan-fried Pipa Tofu with Minced Pork & Pumpkin Puree; Pan-fried Minced Pork Lotus Root Cakes; and Stir-fried Minced Pork Lettuce Wraps.

    Yè shanghai

    Yè shanghai (Tsim Sha Tsui) is offering Dandan Noodles in Peanut Sauce; Shanghainese Wontons, Ma Po Tofu; Sauteed Minced Pork with Pine Nuts Served with Sesame Pockets; Pork Slices with Chili & Spring Onions.

    “To deliver a ‘real meaty experience’, I had to think deeply which ingredients would best match with Plant Sifu’s plant-based pork,” Chef Leung Yiu Yun said. “It was fun and challenging! And among the dishes, the ‘Yi Bin Ya Cai Dandan Noodles’ tasted just like the real thing.”

    Duddell’s

    “My favorite product is their ground pork,” said Duddell’s, Executive Chef Yip Ka On. The restaurant has launched Braised Eggplants with A Touch of Salted Fish & Plant-based Pork; Deep-fried Shrimp & Plant-based Pork Rolls with Vinegar Sauce; Sauteed Seafood & Planted-based Minced Pork on Rice Crisp; and South African Five-Head Abalone & Plant-based Minced Pork Noodles. “The tender texture of the meat, plus meat-like oils and aromas add a new dimension to my cooking. Plant SifuTM has completely changed my perception on plant-based meat for the better.”

    Chung’s House

    “Whether it’s texture, aesthetic, or taste, Plant Sifu plant-based fatty pork scores high on all 3 aspects, capturing the important essence of ‘Visual, Aroma, Taste’ in Chinese food culture,” says Chung’s House, Senior Chef H. T. Wong. Its releasing six dishes, including Matsutake Stew Soup; Plant-based Pork Stuffed Bamboo Pith in Broth; Baked Truffle & Plant-based Pork with Tofu; Braised Tomato with Celtuce, Winter Melon Pearls; and Chung’s Special Plant-based Pork Fried Rice.

    Greater China Club

    At the Greater China Club, five dishes get the Sifu treatment: Deep-fried Mapo Tofu with Minced Plant-based Pork; Deep-fried Morel Mushrooms Stuffed with Minced Plant-based Pork in Spicy Salt; and Pan-fried Plant-based Pork Lotus Cakes in Tangerine Peel Black Bean Sauce. Steamed Plant-based Pork Crystal Dumplings with Basil and the Braised Plant-based Pork Lion’s Head Meatball with Rock Rice both require a pre-order one day in advance.

    Sha Tin 18

    Sha Tin 18 (Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, Sha Tin) is offering six items: Braised Scallops, Plant-Based Pork, Beancurd, Sichuan Pepper; Baked Baby Oysters, Plant-Based Pork, Egg Custard; Wok-Fried Shrimp, Minced Plant-Based Pork, Wild Mushroom, Chilli; Stir-Fried Minced Plant-Based Pork, Glass Noodles, Sichuan Pepper Powder, Coriander, Soya Sauce; Steamed Minced Plant-Based Pork, Dried Baby Turnip, Water Chestnut, Spring Onion, Soya Sauce; Wok-Fried Sliced Plant-Based Pork, Cucumber, Fungus, Sliced Carrot, Egg

    “The fun part of this collaboration is choosing the ingredients to bring out the ‘meat flavor’ of the plant-based pork. If diners couldn’t tell it’s plant-based then I won,” said Sha Tin 18, Chinese Chef de Cuisine Ho Chun Hung.

    The Chinese Restaurant

    The Chinese Restaurant (Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, Tsim Sha Tsui), is offering four dishes: Plant-Based Minced Pork, Crispy Rice Cake, Pine Nut, Pickled Long Bean; Stir-Fried Plant-Based Sliced Pork, Asparagus, Chilli Bean Sauce, Thai Basil; Plant-Based Pork Meatball Bowl, Assorted Mushrooms, Pickled Mustard Greens; Plant-Based Sliced Pork Brown Rice, Assorted Mushrooms, Shaved Black Truffle.

    “The challenge is to recreate ‘meatiness’ and ‘texture’ of real meat. Plant Sifu ground pork is remarkably similar to our conventional dim sum meat filling,” said Chef Wong Ho Kan.

    “The Chinese are veterans with vegetarian dishes, so it feels natural to integrate plant-based meat.”

    The post Plant Sifu Brings Its Vegan Pork to 7 Chinese Hong Kong Restaurants appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Shiok Meats Partners With Mirai Foods to Bring Cultivated Beef to Singapore

    2 Mins Read

    Shiok Meats’ subsidiary Gaia Foods and Swiss-based deep food tech Mirai Foods, have entered into a strategic partnership to develop cultivated beef.

    Singapore is leading the world in cultivated meat approval, as the first and only country to have approved the sale and distribution of cell-based meat. In 2020, it gave California’s Eat Just the green light for its cultivated chicken meat.

    Cultivated beef

    Now, Singapore’s Shiok Foods is working to speed cultivated beef to market with one-of-a-kind bovine muscle and fat stem cells from Mirai Foods. According to the companies, these essential building blocks for cultivated beef are natural, pure, and non-genetically modified cells from premium cattle breeds. Shiok says these are hard to come by in Singapore.

    Courtesy Shiok

    Sandhya Sriram, Group CEO at Shiok Meats and Gaia Foods, says the new partnership is the result of a strong relationship developing with Mirai. “Whilst we will leverage our regulatory status and expertise to help Mirai accelerate its market entry in Singapore, we are also eyeing on potential production and distribution of our seafood products in Switzerland, a high purchasing power market with a strong first adoption mindset,” Sriram said.

    “We are excited to partner with one of the world’s leading cultivated seafood producers and their subsidiary cultivated meat company to extend the culinary choice for Singaporean consumers to premium, Swiss quality cultivated beef”, Christoph Mayr, CEO at Mirai Foods, said in a statement.

    “Partnering with a Singaporean company is particularly interesting for us given the country’s strong distribution and partnership network across the Asia Pacific region, which has been showing a growing appetite for safe, high-quality beef”, he adds.

    Cultivated seafood in Singapore

    While Mirai is providing tools to enable Shiok to speed to market, Shiok is bringing regulatory information and know-how to the Swiss food tech company.

    Late last month, Shiok partnered with Vietnam’s Minh Phu Seafood to develop a combined R&D facility to help bring cultivated seafood to Asia.

    shrimp
    Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

    “Setting up a joint R&D facility with Minh Phu Seafood is a major milestone for us,” Dr. Sandhya Sriram, Group CEO, Chairman and Co-Founder of Shiok Meats, said in a statement. “Our vision has always been collaborating with established seafood companies and hatcheries to add variety to the portfolio and food security narrative through aquaculture innovation, research, and tech transfer. Our satellite R&D facility in Vietnam will focus on high-quality cultivated shrimp research and technology.”

    The post Shiok Meats Partners With Mirai Foods to Bring Cultivated Beef to Singapore appeared first on Green Queen.

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  • Leading Seafood Producer Thai Union Launches Plant-Based Shrimp

    plant-based shrimp
    3 Mins Read

    Leading global shrimp producer Thai Union has launched a plant-based shrimp product as it expands its efforts to meet the demand for vegan seafood.

    Adding to its roster of alternative seafood, the new OMG Meat shrimp joins Thai Union’s plant-based tuna, as well as crab meat and dumplings, and fish nuggets.

    The company announced its plans to release the shrimp last year.

    “We have had consumers come to us and say, ‘I know you are an expert in seafood and shrimp – I would like to have a shrimp tempura, but not containing shrimp’,” Tunyawat Kasemsuwan, Thai Union’s innovation director said last year. “They come to us because they see we understand product quality, its functional properties, characteristics, taste, and sensory texture.”

    Plant-based shrimp

    In a statement on the Thai Union website following its vegan crab launch last year, the company says the move to seafood alternatives is aimed at meeting the “surging demand in Asia for healthy, environmental-conscious and innovative protein products.”

    Thai Union, the world’s largest tuna canner and parent of the popular Chicken of the Sea tuna brand, says it developed the shrimp at its Global Innovation Center with the goal of creating a plant-based protein that “tastes and smells like meat.”

    Thai Union scientists developing plant-based shrimp
    Thai Union scientists developing plant-based shrimp | Courtesy

    “Young consumers in Asia are increasingly adopting a more flexitarian eating style—eating a mixture of plant-based foods and meats in a more flexible manner. They are interested in exploring food for better health while also caring for the planet, with plant-based protein producing less carbon. The launch of OMG Meat supports Thai Union’s commitment to ‘Healthy Living, Healthy Oceans’,” the company said.

    While vegan seafood options including tuna, crab cakes, and fish sticks are on the rise in supermarkets and restaurants around the world, plant-based shrimp is still relatively obscure.

    Shrimp is the leading seafood product by sales in the U.S., Japan, and Europe. Globally the shrimp market size was estimated at $14.31 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach $14.77 billion in 2022.

    Earlier this year, Thai Union brought its plant-based tuna to nearly 400 supermarkets in Europe.

    Thai Union in Gourmet Market
    Courtesy

    Thai Union has been exploring options that go beyond its plant-based offerings, too. Last year, its venture fund participated in California-based cultured seafood brand BlueNalu’s Series B funding raise.

    Investing in the future of food

    In May, Thai Union invested $10 million (CAD) in Mara Renewables Corporation. It’s a leader in developing vegan omega-fatty-acid-rich algae oils that could have applications for Thai Union’s plant-based products.

    “As an industry leader in innovation and sustainability, we are committed to our Ingredients business which valorizes our co-products into natural and nutritional ingredients such as DHA-rich tuna oil,” Thiraphong Chansiri, President and CEO of Thai Union, said in a statement. 

    “Our strategic partnership with Mara further builds on this business by creating opportunities to jointly expand our product portfolios, grow our global presence, and accelerate go-to-market initiatives. We’re excited to partner with Mara and together provide nutritious and sustainably sourced DHA omega-3 fatty acids to consumers worldwide.”

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  • China Alt Dairy Heats Up: Record Series A For First Startup Making Milk Proteins From Fermentation

    Alt Protein China
    3 Mins Read

    As domestic appetite for dairy products grows, Chinese startup Changing Biotech is making milk proteins using precision fermentation to address this burgeoning demand.

    Changing Biotech, China’s first precision fermentation dairy startup, has emerged from stealth mode and announced a record-breaking $22 million Series A led by veteran domestic agtech venture capital fund Bits x Bites. Other participants include Eight Roads Ventures, Sherpa Healthcare Partners, and Hillhouse.

    As per Green Queen‘s own reporting, this funding round would be the largest for China’s alternative protein industry after plant-based meat maker Starfield’s $100 million Series B announced this past January.

    Bits x Bites also backed Changing Biotech’s previously undisclosed $8.5 pre-Series A. According to the VC, “Changing stands out with its strong strain development and chassis construction capabilities along with in-house fermentation and purification expertise,” adding that “all of this is crucial for continuously discovering and commercializing suitable microorganisms at competitive costs at scale.”

    Founder Bin Luo, who has a background in food manufacturing and agriculture, told Sina News that the company’s five-ton test facility in Qingdao is already producing samples for customers, and they are working on designing six new 50-ton lines, with a 9,000-square-meter plant is under construction. Bits x Bites says Changing’s single-cell milk protein, which is made from a fungi strain that is classified as an edible microorganism in China, can be used for all sorts of applications, from milk to chocolate to snacks. In a separate interview, Luo said they will be applying for FDA approval this year.

    China’s Growing Appetite For Dairy

    Mere decades ago, China’s dairy consumption was almost insignificant, and it still lags far behind compared to Europe or other countries in Asia. But, this is changing. Thanks to rising incomes, rampant urbanization and campaigning by industry associations, per capita consumption of milk is increasing steadily. Over the past two years, household dairy consumption has jumped 11.8 percent year-on-year to reach 42.3 kg in 2021 according to data from the the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. Industry associations.

    This burgeoning demand for dairy is not good news for the environment. Dairy is only second to beef when it comes to the worst food culprits for greenhouse gas emissions, which in turn is a driver of the worsening climate crisis. In addition, the dairy industry is linked to deforestation, water scarcity, antibiotic resistance and ethical concerns around animal welfare.

    Beijing is committed to carbon neutrality by 2060, and it will be difficult to achieve such a goal without rethinking the country’s food system due to the country’s growing appetite for meat and dairy.

    Fermented Protein: A Climate Crisis Solution

    Precision fermentation could be a key part of the solution. Doris Lee, CEO of GFI Consultancy, a Shanghai-based strategic partner of non-profit think tank Good Food Institute APAC told Green Queen that “few countries are as well-positioned to scale up fermentation technologies as China, which can leverage its vast range of untapped biological resources, top-tier research institutes, and unparalleled manufacturing infrastructure to do for the nascent alternative protein space what the nation is already doing for clean energy and electric vehicles.”

    In a New York times piece on the subject, leading environmentalist George Monbiot called precision fermentation “the most important environmental technology humanity has ever developed” while Time Magazine described the technology as having “the potential to change the entire food industry”.

    READ: You’re Already Eating Foods With Ingredients Made Using Precision Fermentation, So Why The Fuss About Animal-Free Dairy?

    Domestic Alt Protein Industry Gets Wings

    GFI Consultancy has just released a report titled Driving the Future of Alternative Proteins: China Fermentation Industry Report (2022), which features insights from over 30 industry experts and researchers offering a comprehensive overview of the dozens of startups, multinational companies, academic institutions, and other key stakeholders that working to create protein from microorganisms. 

    According to Lee, Beijing is supportive of using fermentation technology to buttress protein production. “China’s leaders have made clear through their five-year national plans and public statements that obtaining protein from microbes will be a key part of increasing food security and protecting against future supply disruptions, meaning that companies at the vanguard of diversifying the nation’s protein supply could have very strong wind at their backs.”

    Lead photo courtesy of Canva.

    The post China Alt Dairy Heats Up: Record Series A For First Startup Making Milk Proteins From Fermentation appeared first on Green Queen.

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  • Oatly’s Asia Takeover Continues and Its Tea Master Line Is Proof

    Oatly's tea master barista blend

    4 Mins Read

    Swedish oat milk brand Oatly is seeing strong growth in the Asian market. And with custom products like its Tea Master line, it shows no signs of slowing down.

    “We delivered strong second quarter financial results with sales growth of 22 percent, or 30 percent in constant currency, despite several headwinds including COVID-19 lockdowns in China,” Toni Petersson, Oatly’s CEO, said in the company’s second-quarter earnings report released earlier this month.

    “Profitability metrics improved compared to the first quarter of 2022 and we expect this trend to continue in the second half of the year,” Petersson said.

    Oatly's Toni Petersson
    Oatly’s Toni Petersson, courtesy

    Oatly is nothing short of a global phenomenon—U.S. coffee shops and supermarkets can’t keep up with demand even despite a recent safety recall for the Barista blend. Forty-nine percent of Gen Z consumers say they are ashamed to order dairy in public; their substitute of choice? Oat milk.

    The oat milk market is projected to reach $2.2 billion by 2026, with a CAGR of 6.2 percent. Recent category numbers collated by natural industry analytics firm SPINS show the U.S. plant-based milk sales grew by 6.4 percent to nearly $2.3 billion in the 52 weeks ending June 12, 2022, with oat milk dominating the growth, increasing by more than 50 percent in the last year, surpassing $527 million.

    Know your audience

    With its pervasive billboards and coffee shop devotees in the U.S., it certainly seems like no other market loves Oatly’s oat milk more. Enter: Asia.

    Asia is Oatly’s fastest growing region, seeing a 66 percent year-on-year revenue growth. And while sales in the U.S. are currently stronger, the volume and rate of growth in Asia are telling. Ninety-four percent of Oatly’s revenue is coming from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

    What’s even more telling: 82 percent of that revenue is coming from a single product—Oatly’s Barista edition, locally dubbed “Coffee Master.”

    Oatly factory line in China,
    Oatly factory line in China, courtesy

    Like the product’s success in the U.S., Asian consumers are flocking to the dairy-free alternative. There’s good reason; around 90 percent of Asian people are lactose intolerant.

    The company is now leaning into Asia’s love for tea with its Tea Master line in China, designed specifically for tea shops. “We estimate that the market size of boutique tea is twice that of boutique coffee,” Petersson said earlier this year.

    “We are full of confidence in the success of (tea master) so far. We have also received strong interest and orders from other chain brands, and hope to expand this (product) platform in 2022 and beyond,” Petersson said.

    Oatly’s Tea Master edition is now at more than 13,000 outlets and growing. The company has also rolled out smaller packaging to satisfy demand.

    “In China’s milk market, 200 ml to 350 ml portable packaging is the most popular specification, which makes us excited to provide Oatmeal Milk products with similar specifications,” Petersson said.

    Expansion and competition

    Part of Oatly’s success in Asia has been its early market entry and bringing factories to the region to compete on cost and speed distribution.

    According to Peter Bergh, chief operating officer of Oatly, the regional factories in Ma’anshan and Singapore are expected to continue to improve production capacity. “Our current expectation is that the Singapore plant will reach a stable state in the third quarter, while the Ma’anshan plant will continue to increase production capacity this year,” he said.

    oatly barista
    Courtest Oatly

    “The (factories) in Ma On Shan and Singapore enable us to launch new products, further enrich our product portfolio and achieve future growth in catering services, retail and e-commerce channels.”

    Oatly’s vision is landing with the Asian consumer, but it’s not the only dairy-free option available. There are several competitors just in the oat milk category, such as Oatoat, Oat Planet, Oakidoki, and Singapore’s Oatside, which is ramping up for major expansion following its recent $65.5 million Series A fundraise.

    For Oatly, though, it’s full steam ahead.

    “As we expand and scale our more localized production footprint while remaining disciplined in our capital allocation, we are confident in our ability to achieve much better production economics and operating efficiencies, reduce our environmental impact, and achieve profitability,” Petersson said.

    “Global consumer demand remains as strong as ever and we have a proven multi-channel strategy that we believe positions us well for long-term growth and profitability.”

    The post Oatly’s Asia Takeover Continues and Its Tea Master Line Is Proof appeared first on Green Queen.

  • How Israel Is Leading the World In Vegan Protein Development

    Redefine Meat
    3 Mins Read

    More than $320 million in investments as of the end of June sees Israel lead the world in funding for vegan and alternative protein startups, reports the Good Food Institute Israel.

    While the U.S. total investments are higher than in Israel—more than $857 million in funding to date—by percentage, Israel is leading the world in alternative protein funding.

    “The next few years will determine the Israeli ecosystem’s long term position in the future of our global food system. Can it sustain its leadership? Will it leverage it and become an industrial leader as well, and promote Israeli national food security?” wrote Nir Goldstein, Managing Director of GFI Israel, wrote in the mid-year update to the Israel State of Alternative Protein Innovation Report.

    Alternative protein funding

    “2021 saw alternative protein placed at the forefront of the food-tech industry, with several massive investment rounds intended to accelerate scale-up and allow young companies to become global leaders for a better food system,” Aviv Oren, Director of Business Engagement and Innovation, GFI Israel, wrote in the mid-year report.

    “This momentum draws more investors, governments and multinational companies, as it is clearer than ever that to meet climate change goals and prevent future pandemics we must leverage technology to change the way we consume our food. Israel is leading this change, with more startups and more
    investment in alternative protein than any country besides the U.S.”

    Aleph Farms steak, courtesy

    Investments in alternative protein around the world totaled near $1.7 billion in June, with Israel making up 18 percent of it, according to the GFI. While Israel has also been a hub for cultivated meat development, the U.S. is still leading in funding for cultivated protein efforts. The U.S. netted $699 million for cultivated meat, followed by Israel’s $507 million. By comparison, the countries rounding out the top five in cultivated meat funding—Netherlands, Singapore, and the U.K.—raised under $150 million combined.

    Private investments in 2021 in Israel surpassed $620 million—a 450 percent YoY growth. Government funding contributed more than $13 million to early-stage startups and infrastructure. There was also the launch of the $15 million cultivated meat consortium. The country also saw 11 new companies established in the last year.

    Topping the private funding deals in Israel was the cultivated meat company Future Meat, with a $347 million Series B funding round. The company is gearing up for U.S. production facility. Other notable investments include precision fermentation company ReMilk’s $120 million Series B, cultivated meat company Aleph Farms‘ $105 million Series B, and plant-based brand Redefine Meat’s $29 million series A.

    Courtesy Remilk

    The report also notes a change in consumer habits over the two-year period from 2019-2021. Plant-based products are proving to be a significant engine for growth in the retail market, with the sector seeing 37 percent growth versus the animal sector at five percent. For meat, plant-based options grew at 21 percent versus four percent for animal meat.

    Plant-based dairy saw an even wider margin, with 63 percent growth of dairy alternatives compared to just one percent for animal-based dairy.

    The work ahead

    “However, there is still work to be done,” Oren said. “New innovative solutions, novel ingredients, and
    investment in infrastructure are required to create better products that will enable the dietary shift of flexitarians and omnivores.”

    He says GFI Israel is working to increase pipelines for new ventures, including sponsoring research and working with scientists, entrepreneurs, investors, and policymakers.

    “Just as they do in Israel’s successful cyber and fintech industry, we invite multinational corporations and
    investors to establish R&D and innovation centers here in Israel so they can enjoy the magic of our unique ecosystem and create the desired change for successful business and a better world,” Oren said.

    The post How Israel Is Leading the World In Vegan Protein Development appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • How Novel Farms Cut Costs By 99% for the World’s First Lab-Grown Pork Loin

    Novel Farms pork loin
    3 Mins Read

    Novel Farms says it has created the world’s first cultivated whole-cut pork loin that shows marbling and texture.

    “We aim to bring culinary delicacies into the future of food by crafting cultivated meats that will be hard to resist,” the Berkeley-based company says on its website. It says it’s starting with conventional pork followed by Iberian pork, which comes from pigs native to Spain and Portugal. According to Novel Farms, the Black Iberian pig “is unique in its genetic ability to produce oleic acid-rich, exceptionally marbled meat.”

    Novel Farms

    Nieves Martinez Marshall co-founded Novel Farms in 2020 alongside Michelle Lu after they met as postdoctoral scientists in the molecular and cell biology department at the University of California at Berkeley.

    Novel Farms says it has developed a proprietary microbial fermentation approach that builds the cultivated meat scaffolding to successfully, and affordably, produce whole cuts of meat.

    “There’s no other company right now doing pork loin,” Martinez Marshall told TechCrunch. Only CellX in China and Higher Steaks in London are currently working on pork belly.

    Novel Farms founders
    Novel Farms founders | Courtesy

    Whole cuts are the holy grail for both the plant-based and the cultivated meat sector. Efforts are proving successful for a number of companies in recent years. But for cultivated meat, in particular, they’re typically not being done cost-effectively, though. Novel Farms says it’s found the secret, using common and inexpensive microorganisms.

    “We just have a very good, efficient scaffold, and the cells attach very well,” Martinez Marshall said. “That’s something that nobody else has. Once we confirm and scale with a bioreactor, then we will be the most affordable of all the companies.”

    The company says it has reduced scaffolding production costs by 99.27 percent. This means it can scale production faster and hasten price parity with conventional meat—a key hurdle for the sector.

    The pork loin debut comes as Novel Farms secured $1.4 million SAFE notes including a majority stake by Big Idea Ventures, and financing from Joyance/Social Starts, Sustainable Food Ventures, Good Startup, CULT foods and strategic angel investors.

    Pork-free pork demand

    The plant-based sector is also angling toward pork products, namely bacon.

    Beyond Meat, which recently announced it’s working on a whole cut steak, says it’s also working to develop vegan bacon.

    The Natalie Portman-backed La Vie brought its vegan bacon to Burger King earlier this year. In June, it launched a virtual restaurant collaboration with OFC, the Original Food Court in France.

    Courtesy La Vie

    MyForest Foods, the vegan food spinoff of Ecovative, which is developing mycelium-based materials including leather and foam, opened what it calls the “world’s largest” vertical mycelium farm for its mycelium bacon last month.

    “The incredible progress we’ve made on Swersey Silos in just one year since breaking ground is a testament to the engineering and technological expertise on our team,” Peter Mueller, Chief Technology Officer at Ecovative, said in a statement. “MyForest Foods is now in a position to reach full market scale. It’s a tremendous milestone for one of our closest partners, and for AirMycelium technology.”

    Across Asia, OmniPork is leading the charge for traditional pork products including mince. The Hong Kong-based venture has established retail partnerships with McDonald’s and Starbucks, among others across Asia. It recently brought its vegan pork products to the U.S. and Europe.

    Lead image courtesy Novel Farms

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  • The World’s Largest Sports Nutrition Brand Taps Perfect Day’s Precision Fermentation Whey

    3 Mins Read

    Myprotein, the world’s largest online consumer sports nutrition brand, is bringing Perfect Day’s precision fermentation whey into the fold.

    Whey Forward is the first co-branded product in the MyProtein label using Perfect Day’s precision fermentation dairy. The product delivers whey consumers the taste and performance they love while also being a more sustainable, ethical product.

    A better whey

    “We’re thrilled to combine Myprotein’s leadership in creating innovative products focused on fueling performance with the unmatched nutrition and functionality of our animal-free whey protein. Whey Forward exemplifies how animal-free does not mean sacrificing taste, performance, or the future of our planet,” Ryan Pandya, co-founder and CEO of Perfect Day, said in a statement.  

    Myprotein
    Courtesy MyProtein

    Like all of Perfect Day’s products, the Myprotein Whey Forward has a significantly smaller environmental footprint than conventional dairy. According to Perfect Day, its novel technology reduces water consumption by up to 99 percent and produces 97 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than conventional whey production methods.  

    It achieves this through its novel precision fermentation technique that sees whey protein developed using microflora in a process similar to brewing beer. The end result is a product that works and tastes just like dairy with applications in milk, yogurt, and cheese, as well as traditional whey uses.

    “With Whey Forward, we are removing a barrier to make it even easier for people to find a protein that best suits their performance goals. Pairing Perfect Day’s technology, with our state-of-the-art production and award-winning formula, we are able to maintain the same delicious taste and texture that makes our products leaders in the category,” said Pallav Tamaskar, Managing Director, Myprotein U.S.

    Perfect collaborations

    The partnership with Myprotein is the latest collaboration for Perfect Day, but not its first. Since its first product launch in 2020, the company has been actively disrupting the dairy category with a number of brand collaborations.

    Courtesy Mars

    In June, Perfect Day partnered with leading confectionery manufacturer Mars on a chocolate bar made with its whey. Startups aimed at disrupting the dairy category are also looking to the category leader for a jumpstart. Tomorrow Farms announced its partnership earlier this year, as did Strive Nutrition.

    Last November, Perfect Day partnered with Starbucks on a test run at select locations throughout Seattle. And last year, former U.S. president Barack Obama celebrated a milestone birthday with a menu that featured vegan cheese made by Perfect Day, among other sustainable options.

    Lead image courtesy Perfect Day

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  • Icelandic startup Loki Foods Unveils Sustainable Plant-Based Atlantic Cod Fillet

    4 Mins Read

    Icelandic startup Loki Foods has raised a pre-seed $650,000 to develop a line of realistic and nutritional alternative seafood products, including a whole-cut, plant-based white fish fillet alternative. The company says their sustainable Atlantic cod analogue beats conventional fish meat on nutrition and cooks just like the real thing. The product also has the potential to help shift Iceland away from its domestic reliance on the fishing industry.

    Loki’s confirmed investors for the funding round include Sustainable Food Ventures, MGMT Ventures, VegInvest, FoodHack, Kale United and Lifely VC. The funds will be used to make operational improvements that will allow the company to tempt consumers away from conventional seafood consumption.

    Mariliis Holm, investor at Sustainable Food Ventures said of their decision to back the young company: “As the first investor in Loki Foods, we recognized a unique opportunity to build a new narrative for the future of seafood at the very heart of seafood’s global capital – Iceland. Loki Foods’ team, technology and location are truly one of a kind which allows them to produce sustainable alternative proteins in the form of seafood with completely renewable energy and pristine Icelandic water.”

    Loki Foods plant-based cod fillet

    Presenting Iceland’s first realistic cod analogue

    So far, the startup has released scant details, other than some very encouraging product shots. Loki says they are the first Icelandic alternative seafood company and that their plant-based alternative will offer superior nutritional benefits to conventional cod.

    “Loki Foods’ mission is to mature the alt-seafood market in taste, cookability, feel and nutrition so that we can attract consumers away from conventional seafood and accelerate the removal of marine life from the supply chain,” Chris McClure, Loki Foods CEO and co-founder told Green Queen. 

    Attention is drawn to the lack of toxins, microplastics and heavy metals, commonly found in caught seafood. The prototype fillet lays the foundation for a protein-rich final product, containing polyunsaturated fatty acids and vitamins. The company states that it will be suitable for the same preparation and cooking methodologies as regular fish.

    Co-founder and CEO Chris McClure

    The sustainable alternative to industrial fishing

    Loki states that fishing and aquaculture are two sides of the same problem: unsustainable food production. With more than half the world’s fish stocks now considered overfished and 10 percent teetering on the edge of total collapse, moving away from marine animal protein is essential. A stumbling block to allowing fish to replenish is the continued increase in demand for seafood.

    Some consider aquaculture to be a viable solution but Loki disagrees. The startup is explicit in its disapproval of biodiversity loss, discharge waste and pesticides that are all consequences of the sector. It highlights that a two-acre salmon farm produces as much waste as 10,000 people to illustrate the point. 

    Plant-based seafood, depending on its manufacturing processes, stands to be a far more sustainable route.

    According to Holm, “the future of seafood is about tastier food that also spares our oceans and their wildlife. The Loki Fillet, a plant based cod, goes above conventional white fish in nutrition, taste, and cookability, while being climate positive.”

    Photo by Jack & Bry.

    The rise of ultrarealistic vegan seafood

    The niche of plant-based seafood analogues so realistic that consumers double-check the label is growing exponentially. Plantish started the ball rolling in January when it unveiled its indistinguishable vegan salmon fillet. The Israeli startup uses legumes and algae to 3D print whole-cut fillets that caught the attention of future consumers and investors. Two months after publishing images of its development, Plantish scooped $12.45 million in seed funding. 

    Also looking to replicate the mouthfeel and flavour of white fish fillets is U.K.-based Jack & Bry. The alternative protein startup has partnered with The Cornish Seaweed Company to add nutritional density and flavour to its signature ingredient, jackfruit. The result, the company claims, is a realistic flaky fish fillet that doesn’t need to be battered – potentially a first for the alternative seafood sector.

    Fellow cod enthusiasts Sea & Believe are working to replace the endangered fish with a plant-based alternative. An Irish startup, it uses locally sourced seaweed to create its fishless fillets. The cod analogue is currently still in development, with a prototype unveiled to support ongoing fundraising efforts.

    All photos by Loki Foods, unless stated.

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  • Nestlé Eyes National Fast-Food Opportunity for Its Vegan Burgers With Nomoo

    Nomoo burger
    3 Mins Read

    Could multinational food giant Nestlé become the first name in vegan fast food burgers? With its newest partnership with plant-based burger chain Nomoo, that could be the case.

    California-based vegan burger restaurant Nomoo says it plans on being the fastest-growing vegan franchise in the U.S. Its new partnership with Nestlé is aimed at further streamlining that goal.

    The companies have announced a new partnership that brings Nestlé Professional’s pea-protein burgers to the restaurant later this year. They’re also working to develop vegan chicken and cheese.

    Vegan burger franchise

    Nestlé, which owns vegan brands including Garden Gourmet in Europe and Sweet Earth in the U.S., has developed vegan burgers for McDonald’s. It launched the “Incredible Burger” in Europe and Israel in 2019. (A lawsuit by Impossible Foods forced the brand to rename it to the “Awesome Burger.”)

    The partnership with Nomoo marks its first major effort to go toe-to-toe with the vegan burger leaders in the U.S., Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods.

    “With a partner like Nestlé, renowned for its commitment to the finest ingredients, operational knowledge and uncompromised support to foodservice operations, Nomoo is sure to attract the right multi-unit franchise partners to accelerate our national growth,” Nomoo founder George Montagu Brown said in a statement.

    Nestle Awesome Burger | Couretsy

    According to Brown, Nomoo was born from the idea that fast-food favorites can be 100 percent plant-based without sacrificing flavor, “so it was critical that we not only had the right partner, but also a proprietary, great-tasting, better-for-you product that surpasses rivals Impossible and Beyond Meat.”

    Brown says with Nestlé, Nomoo has created “the most flavorful plant-based beef patty in the business.”

    “Nestlé Professional is committed to plant-based innovation that is crafted in a kitchen and leaves a smaller footprint on our planet—a major reason consumers are choosing more plant-forward meals,” said Perry Miele, President and CEO of Nestlé Professional USA. “We are thrilled to be able to leverage our plant-forward manufacturing expertise and align with Nomoo on our vision of bringing nutritious and sustainable products to the out-of-home industry.”

    Better burgers

    The propriety line of vegan food supports Nomoo and Nestlé in their environmental commitments, the companies say. The vegan burger includes “a significant reduction in labor, lower food cost, less waste, more consistency, improved safety, and sanitation and extended shelf-life and storage time,” the companies said. “These key operational benefits, coupled with Nomoo’s impressive unit economics, simple and streamlined operations, focused menu, and lower than average start-up costs further solidify Nomoo’s status as an attractive, scalable, and highly profitable emerging franchise concept.”

    Nomoo burgers
    Courtesy

    Nomoo, which currently has one location in operation in Los Angeles, partnered with Fransmart, the leading franchise development company, earlier this year. It helped chains including Five Guys, The Halal Guys, and Qdoba expand.

    “Plant-based is the next big thing and I believe that nomoo is poised to become the next (plant-based) Five Guys,” said Dan Rowe, CEO of Fransmart. “With a partner like Nestlé, Nomoo has the ability to drive profitable growth because of its streamlined operations and supply, making it one of the most attractive fast-food franchise opportunities at this time.”

    Images Courtesy Nomoo

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  • Impossible Foods Debuts Vegan Chicken Nuggets In Asia With Hong Kong Launch

    Impossible Nuggets

    3 Mins Read

    Bay Area vegan meat brand Impossible Foods is debuting its chicken nuggets in Asia with a Hong Kong launch this month.

    Impossible Foods entered the chicken wars last year with its vegan nuggets across the U.S. Burger King trialed the nuggets at locations in Iowa, Boston, and Miami last year. Earlier this summer, Impossible debuted kid-sized vegan chicken patties following California’s recent announcement that it was earmarking $700 million to upgrade school kitchens to introduce more plant-based food.

    Now, the Beyond Meat rival is bringing its vegan nuggets to Hong Kong as it identifies expansion opportunities across Asia where its competitor has dominated for the last several years.

    Impossible Nuggets in Hong Kong

    “Our nuggets are one of our most popular products because they taste amazing,” Heidi Nam, General Manager of Impossible Foods Hong Kong, said in a statement. “They’re also extremely convenient and they happen to be better for you and better for the planet, making them a perfect choice for adults and kids alike. We can’t wait for people in Hong Kong to try them.”

    Impossible Nuggets Hong Kong
    Impossible Nuggets Hong Kong | Courtesy

    The vegan chicken market has become saturated in recent years with offerings from Impossible as Beyond as well as a slew of competitors including Hungry Planet, Daring, Nuggs, and Gardein, among others. In Asia, Singapore’s TiNDLE is ramping up its vegan chicken empire with a recent U.S. debut. The U.K.’s VFC is also poised for global expansion following its recent U.S. launch as well.

    But it’s Impossible’s nuggets that have seen the biggest success thus far. The company reports that Impossible Chicken Nuggets have become the fastest-growing chicken nuggets in the U.S.

    Plant-based demand

    Consumers are increasingly seeking out plant-based versions of their favorite foods. Chicken is the number-one selling protein in the U.S. Impossible says its vegan nuggets are similar to conventional nuggets in taste and nutrients, with 13 grams of protein. They contain 55 percent less saturated fat than the top-selling chicken nuggets.

    Impossible’s nuggets come with a smaller environmental footprint, too. The company says its nuggets require 49 percent less land, 44 percent less water, and produce 36 percent fewer emissions than conventional nuggets.

    Impossible Europe
    Courtesy

    Hong Kong residents and visitors can try the nuggets at several pop-ups happening throughout the city at Little Break Cafe at K11 Musea Donut Playhouse, The Butchers Club food truck in West Kowloon Art Park, and ROOOT at The Mills.

    Impossible’s vegan nuggets will be available starting this month at select Hong Kong grocery stores including PARKnSHOP’s fusion, TASTE, Great Food Hall, U Select, CitySuper, HKTV mall and HOME+.

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  • Zero Acre Farm and Lypid Bring Their Designer Vegan Fats to Market

    Zero Acre Farm oil

    3 Mins Read

    More than 500 Louisa Coffee shops across Taiwan now offer vegan burgers made with Lypid’s proprietary vegan PhytoFat. And after months in stealth mode, Zero Acre Farm brings its cultured oil to market.

    With a taste and texture that replicates animal fat, Taiwan’s largest coffee chain now offers six new menu items featuring Lypid’s PhytoFat, including sandwiches, rice burgers, muffins, and bagels.

    Lypid x Louisa Coffee

    “We are thrilled to work with such an incredible partner to bring delicious alternative food to our daily life and show the infinite possibilities that PhytoFat™ can offer for sustainability initiatives. This is an amazing achievement for our efforts in advancing the plant-based movement,” Dr. Jen-Yu Huang, Co-founder and CEO of Lypid, said in a statement.

    “With the early success and highly positive feedback from consumers, we aim to take our innovation to more channels in the following months,” Huang said.

    According to Louisa Coffee founder and chairman Chris Huang, the new meat-free menu items are aiming to “provide delicious food that is better for the body and the planet.”

    Lypid Louisa Coffee menu
    Lypid works with Louisa Coffee to add six plant-based items on to the menu. | Courtesy

    Lypid achieves its vegan fat with vegan oil and water; it says it has created “animal fat-like qualities” when heated about 329°F (165°C), enhancing both texture and flavor of whatever plant-based meat it’s added to. Lypid also says its proprietary fat offers a better nutrition profile than animal fat, reducing calories and saturated fat.

    The San Francisco-based Lypid says while there are a number of innovations in the plant-based meat category—including fellow Bay Area food tech company, the vegan meat leader Impossible Foods—fat is the missing ingredient in many of the products.

    “Vegan oils used today simply melt and leak out of the food matrices due to lower melting points,” said Dr. Michelle Lee, Co-founder and CTO of Lypid, “With our PhytoFat, we are bringing the secret sauce back.”

    In March, Lypid secured $4 million Seed funding from the Green Generation Fund, with Big Idea Ventures and SOSV’s Indie Bio participating, amongst others. The funding is going to further develop its proprietary fat technology.

    Lypid is seeing early success, winning first place in the CPF Innovation Challenge at the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit 2021 and the Hello Tomorrow Challenge: Bayer’s Crop Science Division.

    Zero Acre Farm

    Last week, Zero Acre Farm, which closed a $37 million Series A funding round earlier this year, released its first product, a cultured oil, after months in stealth mode.

    “The day has finally arrived. Cultured Oil is here, and officially for sale,” Co-founder and CEO Jeff Nobbs said in a statement last week. “It’s time to start saying goodbye to the era of unhealthy, unsustainable, and not-very-tasty vegetable oils.

    “Cultured Oil is a cooking oil made by fermentation. We call it the all-purpose cooking oil with a purpose. Cultured Oil has even more healthy fats than olive oil and a 90 percent smaller environmental footprint than vegetable oil, with a super high smoke point and a clean, light, delicious taste. Cultured Oil is our first step toward a food system that doesn’t do so much harm,” Nobbs said.

    The company has received backing from a number of celebrities including members of the rock band Coldplay, Sir Richard Branson, and Robert Downey Jr.’s Footprint Coalition.

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  • New Research Says a Plant-Based Diet Is Best for Humans and the Planet

    3 Mins Read

    What’s the healthiest diet for humans? And the healthiest diet for the planet? New research says they’re one and the same: a plant-based diet.

    The Mediterranean Diet continues to top the best diet list put out by U.S. News and World Report every year for its focus on fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and moderate consumption of dairy and fish. But according to a new review published in the journal Future Foods, leave off animal products if you want the best diet for your health and the planet.

    The findings

    “Increasingly we’re seeing how plant-based products are able to shift demand away from animal products by appealing to three essential elements consumers want: taste, price, and convenience,” study author Christopher Bryant, a psychologist at the University of Bath, said in a statement.

    “This review demonstrates overwhelming evidence that, as well as being far more sustainable compared to animal products in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, water use, and land use, plant-based animal product alternatives also have a wide range of health benefits,” he said.

    Photo by Beyond Meat.

    The research team looked at more than 40 studies focused on both the environmental and human health impacts of plant-forward diets. According to their findings, the plant-based diets generally have better nutritional profiles than animal products, are linked to improved overall health, increased muscle mass, and healthy weight loss.

    Plant-based diets rich in nutrient-dense foods such as fungi, microalgae, and spirulina, amino acids, antioxidants, and vitamins B and E can be higher and support a healthier diet.

    “There are increasingly strong reasons to move away from industrial animal agriculture for the good of the environment, animals, our personal health, and public health,” the researchers wrote. “Plant-based animal product alternatives (PB-APAs) represent a highly feasible way to reduce animal product consumption, since they address the core consumer decision drivers of taste, price, and convenience.”

    Environmental impact

    The researchers also confirmed claims made by a number of manufacturers of plant-based alternatives to conventional animal products—that they have a lower environmental footprint. They also require less water and land and can play a critical role in the fight against global warming. The recent IPCC Sixth Assessment report called for urgent reductions in greenhouse gases, namely methane. Animal agriculture is a leading producer of methane, which traps more heat than carbon dioxide.

    Photo by Daniel Quiceno at Unsplash.

    When compared to conventional beef burgers, one of the studies found plant-based burgers produced 98 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions. Another research paper examined found replacing just five percent of German beef consumption with pea protein could reduce CO2 emissions by up to eight million tons a year.

    The findings come as research in the Netherlands found vegan meat was priced lower than conventional meat.

    While the researchers say the industry has made “incredible advances” in plant-based protein options, they note there’s still room to improve the category, “there is still huge potential to improve their taste, texture, and how they cook,” Bryant said.

    “There’s also enormous potential to innovate with ingredients and processes to improve their nutritional properties—for example by boosting vitamin content.”

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  • ‘No Part of the Plant Is Left Out’: Tech Startup Creates Waste-Free Protein

    Vegan eggs from Just made from extracted mung protein
    3 Mins Read

    Gavan Technologies, an Israel-based food tech startup, says it has developed a “waste-free” extraction method for plant-based protein.

    “Our new, multistep technological platform enables us to take any plant source, isolate and extricate multiple proteins and other valuable components until the source is fully consumed,” Itai Cohen, CEO and co-founder of Gavan, said in a statement.

    Plant waste

    According to Gavan, up to 80 percent of a plant source can be wasted or relegated to compost or animal feed from conventional protein extraction methods. Common methods can be heavily reliant on chemicals that erode quality and yield. The company says its waste-free technology is a viable and scalable solution. It anticipates a gradual market rollout of its tech in 2023.

    “No part of the plant is left out,” says Cohen. “Moreover, the proteins maintain their original form—there is no resulting modification to their physical structure. All of the source’s nutritional and functional qualities are fully preserved.”

    Gavan Team, courtesy

    According to Gavan, its proprietary modification platform uses zero to minimal heat in extraction—a tenfold reduction in energy consumption compared to conventional plant protein extraction methods. The technology works with a range of characteristics including natural colors, protein isolates, flavor enhancers, gluten substitutes, and other compounds.

    “Over the last decade, food industry players have been consciously shifting their industrial processes to more sustainable standards,” says Cohen. “They have actively been striving to align their operations to meet the European Commission’s Green Deal call for greater resource efficiency in response to consumers’ efforts to adopt more sustainable lifestyles. Consumers want to know how their food is manufactured, where the ingredients come from, and what is the environmental footprint of the products they are buying.”

    The company recently demonstrated the technology in a pilot trial with lentils. It yielded a 92 percent protein isolate extraction that included complex carbohydrates, fiber, minerals, and fat that were turned into a neutral, gluten-free flour. It also extracted a “high-functioning, protein-rich” emulsifier with properties similar to aquafaba, made from chickpea water, that performs like egg whites.

    Plant tech innovation

    Gavan says its technology can be used on a range of plant sources including a variety of beans and legumes as well as algae, among other sources.

    “Innovation within alt protein production focuses predominantly on finding more exotic sources of protein and processing them into innovative, palate-friendly alternatives to animal proteins. Many of the methods used, however, fail to glean the full value of the plant source in terms of functional components and holistic goodness,” says Cohen. “They end up wasting valuable raw material.”

    Gavan is also working with spirulina, the protein-rich blue-green freshwater algae.

    algae
    Photo by Vita Marija Murenaite on Unsplash

    “Spirulina is made up of 70 percent high-value protein and hosts a naturally rich content of chlorophyll and the bright blue pigment protein complex phycocyanin,” says Yael Leader, head of product for Gavan. “After extracting the phycocyanin blue colorant, the remaining mass yielded a range of clean-label, protein-based flavor enhancers; a brown colorant offering a better-for-you alternative to the commonly used caramel colorants; residual carbohydrates; and a lipid fraction rich in essential fatty acids and carotenoids,” Leader says.

    “Our technology signifies a paradigm change, demonstrating how focusing on sustainable and circular production enables higher efficiencies and presents a better economic model,” Cohen says. “This, for Gavan, defines a true, positive ecological—and economical—impact and makes sustainability profitable.”

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  • Shiok Meats Partners With Vietnam’s Largest Shrimp Producer on Cultivated Seafood R&D

    3 Mins Read

    Singapore’s Shiok Meats and Vietnam’s Minh Phu Seafood have signed a memo of understanding to develop a combined R&D facility to help bring cultivated seafood to Asia.

    The new R&D facility will be based in Vietnam in a move Shiok and Minh Phu, Vietnam’s largest conventional shrimp producer and exporter, say is paving the way for conventional seafood companies to diversify their portfolios with sustainable alternatives.

    ‘High-quality’ cultivated shrimp research and technology

    “Setting up a joint R&D facility with Minh Phu Seafood is a major milestone for us,” Dr. Sandhya Sriram, Group CEO, Chairman and Co-Founder of Shiok Meats, said in a statement. “Our vision has always been collaborating with established seafood companies and hatcheries to add variety to the portfolio and food security narrative through aquaculture innovation, research, and tech transfer. Our satellite R&D facility in Vietnam will focus on high-quality cultivated shrimp research and technology.”

    Shrimp dumplings, courtesy Shiok Meats

    Since launching in 2018, Shiok, which means “pleasure” in Malay slang, was the first company to produce cultivated shrimp, crab, and lobster.

    The companies say they will explore the development of cultivated shrimp, starting with a feasibility study. The move is aligned with Minh Phu’s vision for developing state-of-the-art technologies for Vietnam’s seafood industry, eventually leveraging the tech for the global market. It has been developing an integrated shrimp value chain from hatchery to farming, processing, logistics, import, distribution, and retail.

    The new facility will be Shiok’s third; it currently operates two satellite R&D facilities in Thailand and Australia. Last November, Shiok opened Singapore’s first “mini plant” for cultivated meat development.

    Cultivated seafood

    In 2020, Shiok debuted the world’s first cultivated lobster meat. Last August, Shiok launched the world’s first cell-based crab meat, prepared by Chef José Luis Del Amo of TheTasteLab. He created two crab dishes, Crab Cake and Chilli Crab, from cultivated crab meat and powder along with vegan pork mince OmniMeat. 

    shrimp
    Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

    Earlier this month, South Korea’s Cellmeat debuted its cultured shrimp at the Seoul-based restaurant Sigolo in dishes prepared by Chef Kyong-Ho Lee. Also this month, U.S.-based Pearlita debuted its plant and mushroom based oysters, a step toward its aim of producing cultivated and plant- and fungi-based hybrid seafood. It also developed a biodegradable shell for the full oyster experience.

    Singapore is currently the only country in the world that has approved cultivated meat for sale and consumption. But that wasn’t granted to a Singapore or Asian-based brand; approval went to California’s Eat Just in 2020 for its cultivated chicken. It has been sold in the country ever since.

    Singapore is expected to greenlight more brands in the cultivated meat and seafood space. The U.S. and E.U. markets expect approvals within the next two years.

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  • The Good Food Accelerator Program Brings $10 Million In Solutions to China’s Food System

    bao
    3 Mins Read

    Over the next three years, DayDayCook and Brinc will invest $10 million in 45 food tech companies working to address global food sustainability, specifically bringing game-changing tech to Asia’s food systems.

    Applications are now being accepted for the next cohort of the Good Food Accelerator Program led by venture accelerator Brinc and content-to-commerce culinary platform, DayDayCook. Green Queen’s founder Sonalie Figueiras will serve as an advisor.

    The program is focused on addressing food security issues across China and Asia across several key areas including alternative protein, functional and novel ingredients, sustainable packaging, food supply chain innovation, and AgriTech consumer solutions.

    China’s food system

    China in particular plays a critical role in the global food system. It supplies 20 percent of the world’s food and is home to seven percent of all farmland. The country has struggled to keep up with demands in recent decades, though; grain consumption has increased from 125 million tons in 1975 to more than 420 million tons in recent years. Despite the boom in production, more than 150 million people in the country are classified as malnourished.

    Courtesy Beyond Meat

    Climate change is only expected to complicate the situation further as drought conditions could see crop yield losses for corn, wheat, and rice, of eight percent by 2030.

    Alternative protein is expected to play a significant role in Asia’s future where meat consumption is on the rise as people migrate from villages into cities for higher-paying jobs. The country is already facing a meat deficit, which is expected to grow to 53 million tons by 2030. According to think tank Good Food Institute APAC, the year-on-year investments in alternative protein grew by 92 percent between 2020 and 2021.

    “China’s five-year agricultural development plan sets out an agenda to establish a sustainable food supply system nationwide,” Manav Gupta, founder and CEO of Brinc, said in a statement. “Brinc’s Food Tech accelerator expertise, investor and mentor network along with DayDayCook’s wide reach, commercial network and distribution reach in Mainland China will take us a bold step closer towards attaining this goal.”

    Tech-forward solutions

    The program is focused on assisting food tech companies with commercial launches across Asia, in both online and offline markets. Brinc and DayDayCook say their combined network of food corporations, hospitality groups, and investors will help accelerate the market readiness for the cohort brands.

    “Addressing deep-rooted inefficiencies in our regional and global food systems, creating a sustainable food supply chain, plus tackling food security issues all in all help mitigate against the growing effects of climate change—which is the need of the hour and our lifetimes,” said Gupta.

    OmniPork in McDonald’s Hong Kong | Courtesy

    “The Good Food Accelerator Program’s mission is to build a leading food tech ecosystem in Hong Kong,” Norma Chu, founder and CEO of DayDayCook, said.

    “By sourcing innovative startups from the Greater Bay Area, Southeast Asia and areas beyond, the program will make a global splash as it carries out Hong Kong’s ambition of transforming into a key innovation hub for food tech talents worldwide.”

    The minimum investment ticket is $200,000, and qualifying companies also have access to the companies’ network of later-stage investors and assistance for follow-on funding.

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  • As Africa’s Population Soars to 2.5 Billion By 2050, Alternative Protein Is Key, Report Finds

    lagos food
    3 Mins Read

    African nations are expected to embrace a shift away from conventional meat for more alternative options as alternative proteins become more widely available by mid-century.

    By 2050, a quarter of the world’s population will be African. The continent’s population boom will account for 1.3 billion of the estimated 2 billion increase in the global population between 2019 and 2050.

    Plant-based boom

    A number of African nations struggle to feed their current populations, and experts say climate change’s impact will only bring more challenges to food systems. But a shift in protein preferences could help feed more people. And new research suggests African consumers are already embracing plant-based protein.

    According to new data from North Mountain Consulting Group and South Africa-based Credence Institute, three of the continent’s most populated countries are leaning into plant-based protein. In Egypt–the third most populated country in Africa, with more than 100 million people currently—62 percent of Gen Z and Millennials consumers say they’re likely to try plant-based protein; in Kenya, the seventh largest African nation by population, it’s 80 percent; and in Nigeria, home to Africa’s largest population, it’s 76 percent. These consumers also say they’re not only likely to try vegan options, but highly likely to purchase plant-based options, too. In Kenya, 72 percent, 63 percent in Nigeria, and 46 percent in Egypt.

    Photo by Amevi Wisdom on Unsplash

    “The high degree of openness to plant-based, cultivated, and hybrid products signals an opportunity to reduce reliance on conventional meat, improving public health, environmental, and animal welfare outcomes,” Dr. Keri Szejda, Principal Research Scientist, North Mountain Consulting Group, said in a statement accompanying the report.

    “Current dietary patterns are also an important consideration,” reads the report. “Nearly all participants ate meat, but their consumption varied: Nigerians are heavy meat eaters, Egyptians are moderate meat eaters, and many Kenyans are flexitarians. Purchasing patterns differed in that most Nigerians purchased meat from informal markets or street side vendors, whereas Kenyans and Nigerians most often purchased from butcheries. Supermarkets, presumably where plant-based meat would likely be sold, were used less often overall, but were used more often in Egypt, followed by Kenya, and quite infrequently in Nigeria. Beef, chicken, and fish were the most regularly consumed types of meat in all countries. Family members were considered to be the most important influence on the trial of new foods, while friends and medical professionals were also considered influential.”

    Africa’s changing appetite

    According to the research, both plant-based and conventional meat are already becoming more accessible to larger population segments. The research says as these alternative protein options become more widely available, conventional meat consumption could drop. In Egypt, the researchers expect meat consumption to drop to half its current rate. In Nigeria and Kenya, the numbers are even higher—a 66 percent drop in Nigeria and 75 percent in Kenya.

    Mogale Meats chicken | Courtesy

    “Meat consumption is expected to rise substantially in many African countries over the coming decades, which would have severe effects on animal welfare, food security, public health, and the environment. Our work in Kenya, Nigeria, and Egypt found that plant-based meat and other alternative proteins may help mitigate some of these effects, as consumers are ready to embrace these products,” says  Moritz Stumpe, Researcher, Credence Institute.

    While meat consumption historically rises with income levels, the research found that lower-middle-income countries are some of the biggest markets for alternative protein. Kenya is particularly receptive to the opportunity, with many nationals already reducing their meat consumption.

    The continent is also expected to see cultivated meat become accessible as widespread regulatory approval is expected by 2025. Two South African companies, Mogale Meat Co. and Mzansi Meat Co., have developed cultivated meat. Mogale, which has already successfully produced cell-based chicken, is now working on game meats. Mzansi is aiming to bring its cultivated beef burgers to fast food restaurants by next year.

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  • Meati’s $150 Million Series C Pulls Support From Chipotle for Mushroom Meat Development

    Meati Foods
    3 Mins Read

    Colorado-based Meati Foods has closed a $150 million Series C funding round. The round, led by Revolution Growth and Chipotle’s Cultivate Next Fund, will help the mushroom-focused brand accelerate its production, develop new products, and support its rapid retail expansion plans.

    Meati isn’t shy about its goal of becoming the U.S. market leader in vegan meat by 2025. That’s no small task given the current landscape controlled by Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat. There are other brands vying for dominance too, though, namely Chile’s NotCo and Singapore’s TiNDLE. But Meati says its mushroom-based meat products are delivering on taste and texture in ways unparalleled.

    ‘Financial firepower and ethos alignment’

    “The continued growth and momentum that Meati is experiencing underscores how differentiated and scalable our products and vision are,” Meati Foods CEO and co-founder, Tyler Huggins, said in a statement. “Revolution Growth and our new and existing investors bring not just the financial firepower and ethos alignment, but deep and diversified expertise that will be instrumental in building a brand and organization that will truly change how people eat in a way that’s better for our bodies and better for our planet.”

    Courtesy Meati

    Meati is part of the first cohort in Chipotle’s new fund aimed at investing in companies that align with the Mexican-inspired fast-casual chain’s mission. It says Meati’s mushroom meat mirrors its own Food with Integrity standards. Curt Garner, Chief Technology Officer at Chipotle, says Meati is bringing an “exciting, new alternative protein to market.” 

    Fazeela Abdul Rashid, a Partner at Revolution Growth who is also joining the board, says Meati is poised to be the leader in this large and growing category with the whole food advantage. “The company is meeting an unmet demand for products that are delicious, healthy, and good for the planet.”

    Healthier vegan meat

    The company’s products are 95 percent mushroom meat, which gives them a whole-food distinction and “unmatched nutrition” that its closest competitors can’t offer. Despite the number of environmental and ethical benefits of vegan and plant-based meat, many have been criticized for high sodium levels and genetically modified ingredients, among other concerns.

    Meati says it’s the whole package: vegan meat that’s better for the planet and your health. Its mushroom steak, for example, contains only 240 milligrams of sodium—35 percent less than an Impossible Burger. Compared to conventional steak or chicken, it provides 17 grams of protein—about the same as a beef burger—along with 42 percent of the recommended daily fiber intake as well as 45 percent of the RDI for zinc and 90 percent of the RDI for B12.

    Meati chicken
    Courtesy Meati

    Its first launch of chicken cutlets earlier this year sold out in less than 24 hours.

    Since it launched in 2017, Meati has earned the support of a number of food industry icons and chefs, including chef and founder of Momofuku, David Chang, former White House senior policy advisor for nutrition, Sam Kass, and Whole Foods Market’s former CEO, Walter Robb, among others.

    Meati is working to complete its 100,000-square-foot ‘Mega Ranch’ in Colorado, which is expected to be operational by the end of the year. According to Meati, it can produce “tens of millions of pounds” of its mushroom meat per year. It’s also developing its first ‘Giga Ranch,’ which is expected to be a plug-and-play operation it can replicate both domestically and in global markets. Each ranch can produce hundreds of millions of pounds of mushrooms annually.

    The post Meati’s $150 Million Series C Pulls Support From Chipotle for Mushroom Meat Development appeared first on Green Queen.

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  • TiNDLE Takes on Tokyo With Help From German Chain Schmatz

    TiNDLE at Schmatz
    3 Mins Read

    Singapore-based TiNDLE is debuting its vegan chicken in Tokyo with launches at several Schmatz German beer pub locations this month.

    Starting this week, Tokyo residents and visitors can test-drive TiNDLE’s vegan nine-ingredient chicken at the Schmatz restaurants in Nakameguro and Yokohama, with Ark Hills and Shimokitazawa locations adding the plant-based protein later this month.

    TiNDLE in Tokyo

    “We’re looking forward to bringing TiNDLE to Schmatz in Tokyo and introducing that same chicken experience that people know and love to Japanese diners,” Alex Ward, Chief Operating Officer at Next Gen Foods, the company behind TiNDLE, said in a statement.

    “We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with a celebrated restaurant group like Schmatz—showcasing TiNDLE as a special menu offering —as we work to bring TiNDLE to new parts of the globe and gather deeper intel on what consumers are craving when choosing a plant-based meat over the traditional, animal-based option,” he added.

    Tindle Tokyo
    TiNDLE Hamburg Steak at Schmatz

    Marc Luetten, CEO and co-founder of Schmatz, says the chain is “always trying to innovate and bring fun, original elements” into the dining experience. “Our chefs are proud to have created not only delicious menu items using TiNDLE, but also those that are sustainable and inspire new possibilities for creating a better future for our planet.”

    Schmatz, which started as a food truck in 2013, is widely considered one of Japan’s top casual dining restaurants. With 40 locations across the country, the German-inspired chain serves up iconic German-style sausages with local influences, among other dishes.

    TiNDLE will appear in two Schmatz dishes: a German-style TiNDLE Karaage, battered and fried with an original Schmatz seasoning, and the TiNDLE Hamburg Steak that sees the vegan chicken mixed with onions, a blend of herbs and spices, and baked with potatoes and cheese. 

    Vegan meat demand

    According to TiNDLE, Tokyo is seeing rising consumer demand for sustainable food options, responsible food production, and healthier eating. Home to more than 1.4 million restaurants that embrace a range of cooking styles and cuisines from the ancient to the modern, the city is expected to see a surge in demand for plant-based protein in the coming years. The Asia-Pacific meat substitute market will reach more than $17 billion by 2024. Japan’s plant-based sector will surpass $300 million next year, according to Euromonitor.

    Tindle at Schmatz
    TiNDLE Karaage at Schmatz

    Last September, former Impossible Foods CCO Rachel Konrad joined TiNDLE’s board. It’s seen aggressive roll-outs since, with launches spanning locations across Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the U.S.

    In February, TiNDLE raised a record $100 million in a Series A for its vegan chicken and expansion plans. It brought its chicken, which it says is the first vegan chicken made “by chefs, for chefs,” to the U.S. in a limited-edition partnership with California-based vegan fast-casual chain, Veggie Grill.

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  • Shaka Harry Shakes Up India’s Growing Vegan Market With $2 Million Seed Raise

    Shaka Harry
    4 Mins Read

    Shaka Harry, an Indian-based plant-based meat brand, has raised $2 million in a Seed funding round led by Better Bite Ventures, Blue Horizon, and Panthera Peak among others, including celebrity chef Manu Chandra.

    Designed around the Indian palate, Shaka Harry says it’s one of the fastest-growing vegan meat and snacks brands in South Asia. The funding will help the brand move from online sales into retail spaces as well as expand its R&D.

    ‘Best-performing brand’

    “It is the most exciting time to launch a consumer brand on the smarter protein platform,” Anand Nagarajan, Co-founder, Shaka Harry said in a statement. “We are already the best performing brand in the online stores where we have presence,” he said.

    According to Nagarajan, Shaka Harry is outperforming its competitors on taste. That’s due in large part to the involvement of chef Manu Chandra, who brought India its first gastro-pub, Monkey Bar.

    “If I could convert from a skeptic to a believer in plant-based futures, I’m sure, so could a lot of you,” said Chandra, who helped develop the recipes for the ready meals.

    Chef Manu Chandra | Courtesy

    “We’ve come such a long way from the once dreaded rubbery substitutes with dubious processes to clean labelled and delicious alternatives. Intervening as a chef to take the Shaka Harry product ranges to the next level of taste and texture has been an enriching experience, in realising how far this category can be pushed. The future is plant-based, start now,” he said.

    Taste is indeed a driver. According to a recent study funded by Blue Horizon, taste, nutritional value, and health aspects “rank highest” when consumers are considering increasing their consumption of alternative proteins, said Bjoern Witte, Blue Horizon’s CEO. “Shaka Harry addresses all these points,” Witte said.

    “Plant-based meats have a huge scope of acceptability in India, particularly among the growing flexitarian population,” says Sandeep Devgan, Co-founder, Shaka Harry.

    “Yet not many brands have been able to make a mark due to the inability to replicate real meaty tastes in vegetarian profiles. That’s where Shaka Harry has been able to make a difference,” Devgan says.

    “By partnering with top flavourists, who are masters in recreating impactful meaty top notes using vegetarian ingredients, we have been able to offer Indian consumers a first-of-its-kind ‘just-like-chicken’ and ‘just-like mutton experience’ minus the guilt.”

    Shaka Harry has been working closely with the Good Food Institute India to develop the brand and market. GFI is a leading organization supporting the development of plant-based and cultivated alternatives to animal products.

    Courtesy

    “With leading companies like Shaka Harry bringing plant-based meats to consumers across India, the last year has been smart protein’s breakout moment in the country,” said Varun Deshpande, Managing Director, Good Food Institute India. “But funding in Indian smart protein companies continues to lag far behind, remaining at a tiny fraction of the $11b invested globally over the last decade.”

    Deshpande says the funding raise supports the momentum swing happening for alternative protein in the country. While India currently has the world’s second-lowest rates of meat consumption behind Bangladesh, meat consumption continues to rise with the country’s rising income levels. Recent statistics from India Today show that nearly half of the population consumes non-vegetarian meals at least once a week.

    India vs. climate change

    The rise of alternative proteins is critical for India, according to Nagarajan, particularly when it comes to the country’s struggles with climate change. In March, Mumbai, India’s largest city by population, announced plans to go to net-zero 20 years ahead of the country’s targets.

    The city said it will reach net-zero by 2050, if not sooner, as its slums and villages are particularly vulnerable to climate change. Climate models predict rising sea levels will bring floods to the region by mid-century.

    mumbai slum
    Photo by Adityan Ashokan on Unsplash

    “When we think about sustainability, we usually think about energy and transportation,” says Nagarajan.

    “Food is an area that can move the sustainability needle much more. Winning a consumer segment in the food space needs a well-designed product range, deep expertise in taste and flavour, and consistent customer experience.”

    Simon Newstead, founding partner of the alt-protein fund Better Bite Ventures says there’s reason to be optimistic about India’s future. “The nation has a clear opportunity to become a regional leader in plant-based foods and leapfrog other countries in adopting climate-friendly smart proteins, driven by a growing movement of conscious consumers motivated by taste, health, and the environment.”

    The post Shaka Harry Shakes Up India’s Growing Vegan Market With $2 Million Seed Raise appeared first on Green Queen.

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  • Researchers Say They Can Produce Cultivated Meatballs At Scale

    meatballs
    3 Mins Read

    Meatballs made from cultured meat are ready for commercial scale—and they’re more nutritious than conventional meatballs, say Chinese researchers.

    Researchers from Tsinghua University and Nanjing Agricultural University say they have produced a “cell factory” that can make cultivated lab-grown meat at a large enough scale to take to market. Their findings are published in the recent issue of the journal Biomaterials.

    The research

    According to the researchers, they have developed a 3D gelatin-based “micro-carrier” that can serve as the scaffolding for cells. They grew pig muscle cells and fat separately, then combined them in a 3D printed molding to produce the pork-based meatballs. They say that can increase the cell expansion by 20-fold per week.

    “Such meat engineering method enables robust and scalable bio-fabrication of ground meat alternatives such as meatballs or sausages, which may innovate the future meat menu,” the researchers said.

    Upside Foods' cultivated meatball
    Upside Foods’ cultivated meatball | Courtesy

    A number of cultivated meat producers have recently announced cost-reducing measures, namely the replacement of the fetal bovine serum (FBS) medium. Dutch-based Meatable, which announced its first lab-grown sausage earlier this week, said it was achieved without FBS. In January another Dutch company, Mosa Meat, made details of how it replaced FBS public in the journal Nature Food.

    “This is really a milestone for us and for the cultivated meat field, because there’s no method out there that describes the differentiation of primary satellite cells if you don’t want to use FBS or genetically modify your cells,” Mosa Meat scientist and corresponding author on the publication, Dr. Joshua Flack, said in a statement.

    California-based Upside Foods has built a facility that it says can make 400,000 pounds of cultivated meat a year. Taking production to that scale also reduces costs.

     Dr. Konrad Müller-Auffermann, Senior Director of Engineering at Upside called the facility a “game-changer” both for the company and the food system. “I’m so proud of our team for helping to define the future of food, and I can’t wait to share our delicious, real meat with the world,” he said last year.

    Cultivated meat vs. conventional

    Cost hasn’t been the only barrier to entry; cultivated meat has only received regulatory approval in Singapore to date. While its approval in the U.S. is expected within the next year, manufacturers also face challenges with public perceptions and scrutiny over the tech even despite its lower environmental footprint.

    Mosa Meat FBS
    Courtesy Mosa Meat

    According to the researchers behind the new lab-grown meatballs, there may be another upsell that gets consumers excited about the tech: the cultivated meatballs are healthier, they say.

    When compared with conventional Chinese pork meatballs in shizitou, a classic regional dish, the ones grown in a lab were higher in protein and lower in fat.

    “Therefore, engineered PSC [muscle satellite cell] meatballs can be a nutritious alternative for ground pork products,” the researchers said.

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