Plukon Food Group, a Dutch poultry producer, has snapped up local meat-free startup Vega Insiders to strengthen its alternative protein portfolio.
Netherlands-based poultry giant Plukon Food Group has acquired Vega Insiders, a producer of meat-free kebabs, bacon and falafels.
The terms of the deal were undisclosed, but Plukon confirmed that Vega Insiders will continue to operate under its own name and retain all its employees.
The move is part of Plukon’s growth strategy in alternative proteins, and will allow it to accelerate the integration of plant-based product development knowledge and expertise within the business.
Courtesy: Vega Insiders
Why Plukon decided to buy Vega Insiders
Founded in 2020 by the Zilverwerf Group, Vega Insiders makes a range of vegan and vegetarian products for foodservice and retail channels. It makes plant-based bacon from fava beans and rice starch, which is sold under its Grunchy brand as slices, strips, and pre-cooked streaky bacon.
In addition, it makes plant-based versions of mince, kebabs and falafel, combining a range of protein sources. Plus, it has a line of vegetarian meat alternatives, such as meatballs, chicken pieces, and ham pieces, which use egg and/or dairy.
The company has a production facility in Udenhout, as well as an Experience Center to give potential clients a taste of its offerings and to help other brands with their own meat-free product development.
Courtesy: Vega Insiders
“After years of building Vega Insiders, I was looking for a sustainable future for the company,” said Mart Beniers, founder of Vega Insiders and owner of Zilverwerf Group. “In Plukon, I found a partner with the same mindset: entrepreneurial, pragmatic, and knowledgeable about the market. We had an immediate connection, which gives me full confidence that Vega Insiders is in good hands.”
Plukon’s sells poultry products, meals and salads, as well as alternative proteins in Europe. It is present in six countries and has over 10,000 employees, and posted a turnover of €3.1B in 2023.
“This acquisition fits perfectly within our strategy. Plukon has been working on alternative protein concepts for years. This strengthens both our product diversity and our innovation capacity in the field of complementary proteins,” said Plukon CEO Kees Kraijenoord.
“For some time, Plukon has aspired to have a dedicated vegetarian/vegan production site. With this acquisition, that ambition becomes reality, and we can now scale up in a fully plant-based environment.”
Courtesy: Oscar Timmers
Meat giants continue to invest in plant-based market
Although sales of meat alternatives fell by 2.5% in 2023, these products still account for the largest slice of the plant-based pie in Dutch retail. Globally, meanwhile, sales of vegan meat analogues rose by 4% in 2024.
Meat giants have therefore continued to invest in and acquire alternative protein brands to diversify their protein portfolio while lowering their overall climate impact. In Germany, meat processor Tönnies Group invested in Nosh.bio to co-create a single-ingredient mycelium product, and poultry giant PHW Group participated in a funding round for mycoprotein startup Kynda.
In Italy, meanwhile, Gruppo Tonazzo shuttered its meat business after 136 years to focus solely on plant-based food. And earlier this year, Unilever agreed to sell Dutch meat-free leader The Vegetarian Butcher to Vivera, which is owned by JBS, the world’s largest meat producer.
These deals come during a time of rampant M&A activity in the rapidly-consolidating animal-free food sector. In the US, dairy-free formula maker Kate Farms was acquired by Danone and frozen ready meal maker Daily Harvest was snapped up by yoghurt leader Chobani last month. Wicked Kitchen, Nuggs, and Blackbird Foods were all taken over by Ahimsa Companies last year, while vegan cheesemaker Vertage was purchased by Misha’s Inc this January.
Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Kellanova’s plant-based RXBars, Vivera’s pre-frozen tofu, and a cultivated seafood tasting event.
New products and launches
Kellanova (formerly Kellogg’s) has launchedRXBar High Protein, a plant-based line of its famous clean-label bars. The peanut butter bars come in strawberry and vanilla flavours, and are packed with 18g of protein and only six ingredients.
Courtesy: Kellanova/Valerii Evlakhov/Getty Images
US wellness startup Happy Aging has launched a plant protein powder called Lean Muscle Formula. It contains 20g of pea and pumpkin seed protein and 5g of creatine monohydrate per 100g, and comes in vanilla and chocolate flavours. The product is available on its website for $55 per 725g pouch.
Israeli food tech startup Meala has partnered with DSM-Firmenich to launch a texturising pea protein called Vertis PB Pea. The ingredient is designed to replace modified binders like hydrocolloids to make cleaner-label meat alternatives, and is available in Europe.
Also in Israel, Efishient Protein has introduced a plant-based grouper fillet. It is working on a cultivated tilapia in the background.
Courtesy: Oshi
Speaking of alternative seafood, plant-based firm Oshi has begun direct-to-consumer sales of its vegan salmon, expanding from its foodservice-only model.
In more seafood news, Austrian mycoprotein startup Revo Foods has unveiled a BBQ flavour of its flagship product, The FIlet – Inspired by Salmon.
Chilean food tech firm NotCo has released the newest iteration of its AI-powered NotMilk, with a focus on a clean-label formulation. The NotMilk Avena SKU contains just oats, coconut butter, chicory fibre, and water, and is available in Chile and Brazil. It will soon roll out in Mexico too.
Courtesy: NotCo
French dairy-free brand Atelier Dessy has introduced a plant-based alternative to Icelandic skyr in raspberry and mango-passionfruit flavours.
Dutch vegan giant Vivera has introduced a pre-frozen firm tofu that absorbs marinades more quickly, responding to a TikTok trend of freezing the protein to make it spongier. It will be available in UK supermarkets from June 9 for £2.75 per 200g pack.
British food tech firm Myco, known for its oyster-mushroom-based burgers, has signed a deal to provide its Hooba ingredient to Teesside University as part of a blended meat range.
Courtesy: Treets/Candy Kittens
Planet A Foods‘s cocoa-free ChoViva chocolate is part of Candy Kittens and Treets‘s Crunchy Corn, Crispy, and Salted Peanuts dragées in the UK. They’re available online and at retailers including Boots.
South Korean food giant Pulmuone has revamped its dairy-free ice cream brand Planto with new packaging and label descriptors like ‘reduced sugar’ and ‘high dietary fibre’. The new products come in 90ml strawberry-raspberry and chocolate brownie packs, and will primarily be available online and through B2B channels, including Kurly, Coupang, and Shop Pulmuone.
Company and finance updates
Singaporean cultivated meat firm Umami Bioworksheld a public tasting for its white fish (served in a fish-and-chips format) and caviar (served plain and in canapé-style) at London’s Underground Cookery School.
Likewise, plant-based firm Simply Better Brands – which makes vegan protein powders and bars – has rebranded to Trubar.
Dutch fermentation startup The Protein Brewery has appointed former Cousin executive Thijs Bosch as its new CEO. He succeeds Sue Garfitt, who will transition into a non-executive role.
Courtesy: cReal
Swedish food tech firm cReal Food has opened a zero-waste oat milk powder facility in Bjuv, backed by a 300 million kronor ($31.3M) investment by Lindéngruppen and other investors.
Finnish startup Enifer has partnered with Brazilian ethanol producer FS to produce its Pekilo mycoprotein in Latin America, using thin stillage derived from corn ethanol as feedstock.
Research and policy developments
The Spanish city of Parla has become the country’s first city (and the world’s 40th) to sign the call for an international Plant-Based Treaty.
Vegans and vegetarians should receive special rations if the UK is hit with a major disaster, according to Prof Tim Lang, an emeritus professor of food policy at the University of London and an adviser to the National Preparedness Commission.
Courtesy: Beyond Meat
With BBQ season upon us, a survey by Beyond Meat has found that 42% of Brits eat less meat during the week now than two years ago, and 47% say having plant-based options on the menu is important to them.
Two new studies show that the plant-based Portfolio Diet can lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality, and improve heart health across diverse demographics.
A landmark study by the European Alliance for Regenerative Agriculture has revealed that the region can produce significantly more food with less money and fewer resources with regenerative agriculture systems.
San Francisco startup Wildtype has become the world’s first startup to get US regulatory approved to sell cultivated seafood, with its salmon now on the menu at Kann in Portland, Oregon.
Cultivated seafood has cruised to become a reality.
US startup Wildtype has received regulatory approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to sell its sushi-grade cultivated salmon in the country. It is now available at Kann, James Beard Award winner Gregory Gourdet’s live-fire Haitian restaurant in Portland, Oregon.
“We have no questions at this time about Wildtype’s conclusion that foods comprising or containing cultured coho salmon cell material resulting from the production process defined in [its application] are as safe as comparable foods produced by other methods,” the FDA said in a scientific memo.
It concludes a process that began three summers ago and required eight amendments as the startup’s process evolved and the regulator worked to confirm the safety of cell-cultured salmon.
“Cultivated seafood, apart from catfish, is regulated solely by the FDA; there is no subsequent USDA step as there is for chicken and beef,” Wildtype co-founders Aryé Elfenbein and Justin Kolbeck told Green Queen in an email.
Wildtype’s salmon at Kann in Portland, Oregon | Courtesy: Wildtype
That cleared the way for Wildtype to begin offering its salmon to restaurants immediately. “Regarding the timing of our Kann launch, Wildtype salmon is on the menu now,” the founders confirmed. “It is available on Thursdays in June, and every day starting July.”
Backed by the likes of Robert Downey Jr, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jeff Bezos, the startup is preparing launches with four other restaurants over the next four months. “Our plans for retail launch will follow our launch in foodservice,” they revealed.
It is the fourth cultivated protein firm to be allowed to sell in the US, and the third with full approval. Fellow Californian startup Mission Barns secured the FDA letter for its cultivated pork fat in March, though it is still awaiting USDA authorisation for its pilot plant and product labelling.
How Wildtype makes its cultivated salmon
Wildtype co-founders Justin Kolbeck and Aryé Elfenbein | Courtesy: Wildtype
Elfenbein and Kolbeck founded Wildtype nearly a decade ago, working to commercialise cultivated coho salmon saku, the most expensive part of the fish. Some populations of this species are either threatened or endangered, necessitating innovations like cellular agriculture.
Wildtype obtains living cells from Pacific salmon, which are adapted to suspension culture. They are grown in tanks similar to those used to make beer or kombucha, under temperature and pH conditions that wild fish thrive in, alongside a nutrient mix containing proteins, sugar, fat, salt, and minerals like iron and zinc.
The cells are harvested using bowl centrifugation, washed three times with a water and sugar solution, rapidly cooled using blast chillers, and stored frozen. They’re mixed with certain plant-based ingredients to replicate the structure and texture of conventional salmon, and the resulting product is used in raw sushi preparations like sashimi and maki.
“The composition of Wildtype salmon has always included cells as the primary ingredient after water,” Elfenbein and Kolbeck said, but did not confirm which other ingredients are used.
Wildtype’s cultvated salmon can be used in raw sushi applications | Courtesy: Wildtype
In 2021, Wildtype opened a pilot-scale Fishery in San Francisco’s Dogpatch neighbourhood. At the time, it had the ability to produce 50,000 lbs of seafood per year, which could be expanded to 200,000 lbs at maximum capacity.
The firm has held numerous tasting events for its coho salmon across the US, teaming up with chefs like José Andrés, Rose Ha, and Adam Tortosa to rave reviews.
“You would have to tell someone that the Wildtype lox wasn’t conventional for them to suspect it was anything different,” suggested Brian Cooley, a technology expert who spent nearly three decades as CNET’s tech editor.
He tried the salmon as part of a $24 bagel at a pop-up event at Loveski Deli in Marin County, California earlier this year. “I think it’s actually better than conventional lox because it doesn’t have the occasional gristle or silverskin you find in conventional products,” he told Green Queen.
A ‘watershed moment’ for seafood and cultivated proteins
Wildtype’s salmon will debut at chef Gregory Gourdet’s Kann restaurant | Courtesy: Wildtype
At Kann, Wildtype’s salmon is paired in a summery dish with pickled strawberry, spiced tomato, strawberry juice, and an epis rice cracker.
“We take pride in the ingredients we utilise,” said Gourdet. “Introducing Wildtype’s cultivated salmon to our menu hits the elevated and sustainable marks we want our menu to offer guests who share a similar value system to ours.”
It is a milestone for the alternative seafood industry, which has long been an afterthought to beef, chicken, and pork analogues. There are several startups working on cultivated seafood, including BlueNalu and Umami Bioworks; Wildtype’s approval will likely usher them to advance their commercialisation efforts.
It comes at a time when cultivated meat faces both financial and political upheaval. After VCs pumped $1.3B into the category in 2021, investment has dipped dramatically. In 2023, funding fell by 75%, followed by another 40% drop in 2024, reaching just $139M. It means that in the last three years, this sector has cumulatively raised less money than it did in 2021 alone.
Wildtype itself has raised $120M, most of which came in a $100M Series B round in 2022. But its founders did not respond to a question about its fundraising plans now.
“Wildtype’s achievement is a watershed moment for domestic seafood production and for the cultivated protein industry overall,” said Dr Suzi Gerber, executive director of the Association for Meat, Poultry, and Seafood Innovation, a cellular agriculture trade group.
“The thoughtful, evidence-driven review proves that innovative food technologies meet the highest safety standards, and can play a vital role in healthy American diets, while strengthening our food system’s domestic production and resilience, supporting the president’s executive order to expand seafood production in the US,” she added.
Indonesian plant-based meat pioneer Green Rebel Foods has rolled out two products at 7-Eleven Philippines, both as retail offerings and as part of in-store meals.
Several supermarkets in Europe – including Lidl, Ahold Delhaize and Rewe Group – are answering that call with ‘protein split’ sales targets and price parity for vegan alternatives. That momentum is now shifting to Asia too.
In the Philippines, convenience store chain 7-Eleven is now offering products and meals featuring plant-based meat and fish from Indonesia’s Green Rebel Foods.
While the partnership started as a promotion for the Catholic fasting Lenten season, it has now been expanded to over 2,000 stores across the country, keying into Filipinos’ openness to plant-based meat. A 2024 survey by alternative protein think tank the Good Food Institute (GFI) APAC, found that these consumers held the most positive perceptions of plant-based meat in the region (alongside Indonesians).
7-Eleven continues to champion meat-free eating
Courtesy: 7-Eleven Philippines
7-Eleven first announced the partnership in late March, adding two Green Rebel products on dishes for its Lenten Specials menu.
The first, a Chick’n Salad with Green Rebel’s vegan fried chicken, is made from soy and wheat protein and contains lettuce, walnuts, mandarins, and an Oriental-style dressing.
The second dish, a Beefless Tapsilog, was part of the retailer’s Rice Meal Express series, putting a spin on a local breakfast favourite. Traditionally, the dish combines sweet and salty peppery beef with crunchy garlic fried rice and a fried egg.
7-Eleven’s version made use of Green Rebel’s beef mince, made primarily from soy flour, and paired it with garlic rice and an omelette.
The success of the activation has led to an extension of the partnership, with the meals available at over 2,000 7-Eleven stores across the Philippines following the end of the Lenten Season.
In addition, the retailer is offering packaged versions of the plant-based fried chicken and mince for consumers to cook at home, delivering a win for Green Rebel, which only entered the Philippines a year ago via a deal with local condiment manufacturer and distributor NutriAsia.
This isn’t the first time 7-Eleven has championed plant proteins. It has a history of offering vegan products at its convenience stores globally, whether they’re private-label meals or branded products. The retailer was a gateway for Impossible Foods in Singapore, and has previously partnered with OmniPork and Unlimeat to offer plant-based meals at its Hong Kong locations.
Next month, it will begin stocking Odd Burger’s crispy chicken, burgers, and breakfast sausages at over 500 of its locations in Canada. It comes four years after it teamed up with Lightlife to offer its meat-free chicken tenders at more than 600 stores in the country.
Green Rebel bet on Philippines’ appetite for plants
Courtesy: Green Rebel
Founded in Indonesia in 2020, Green Rebel offers a range of plant-based meats (including whole cuts), cheeses and meals. They leverage its proprietary Rebel Emulsion Technology, which helps recreate the mouthfeel of animal protein via an emulsion of coconut oil, water and natural plant-based seasonings.
They’re available in over 1,200 foodservice locations and more than 300 retail stores across Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines. The 7-Eleven partnership is part of a growing list of landmark partnerships for the brand, which include deals with Starbucks, AirAsia, Tous Le Jours, NTUC FairPrice and Annam Gourmet.
The company says its products need 80% less energy and 67% less water than animal-derived meat, and reduced 48,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions between 2022 and 2024.
It linked up with NutriAsia last year to enter a country with high potential for plant-based eating. The GFI APAC survey found that 24% of Filipinos were looking to reduce their meat consumption in 2024, and 55% aimed to increase their intake of plant-based meat, with health being the primary driver.
Three-quarters of consumers think vegan meat analogues are healthier, and 49% say more nutritious offerings would encourage them to increase their consumption of these products. In fact, health is by far the top factor that would influence Filipinos to choose plant-based meats over their conventional counterparts, with 66% citing this.
Green Rebel’s products are high in protein and fibre, and contain up to 50% less saturated fat, 30% fewer calories, and zero cholesterol, compared to conventional meats. This will appeal to people in the Philippines, 75% of whom hadn’t tried plant-based meat but said they’d likely do so last year.
“NutriAsia is the leading sauce and condiment manufacturer in the Philippines, while Green Rebel focuses on Asian-flavoured plant-based meat and dairy-free cheeses. This also opens a product collaboration opportunity, targeted for Filipino consumers,” Green Rebel co-founder and CEO Helga Angelina told Green Queen last year.
“Crafting delicious, sustainable food isn’t just our passion; it’s our commitment to redefining the future of dining,” she added. “Every dish we create at Green Rebel is a testament to our belief that flavour, and sustainability go hand in hand, offering a tantalizing glimpse into a world where every meal nourishes both body and planet.”
While pet food brands tout the use of animal byproducts as sustainable, a new analysis shows that products made with cultivated meat generate a fraction of the emissions.
Producing meat from cellular agriculture instead of conventional farming can drastically lower the climate impact of pet food producers, according to a new analysis.
Many believe pet food to be a sustainable product due to the use of animal byproducts, since this is waste from the production of meat for human use that would otherwise be discarded. In fact, some use this argument to suggest that pet food actually offsets the impact of the human food industry.
In reality, these products aren’t emission-free, and to highlight the true reduction potential for pet food, Austrian-American food tech startup BioCraft Pet Nutrition commissioned a carbon footprint analysis of its cultivated mouse meat and the conventional beef byproducts used in the industry.
Conducted by corporate environmental consultancy ClimatePartner, the assessment showed that the firm’s BioCrafted Meat emits one-twelfth of the carbon dioxide of beef byproducts.
BioCraft co-founder and CEO Dr Shannon Falconer ascribed the difference to the startup’s “unique production process, which harvests the full contents of the bioreactor, which also makes it quite different from cultivated meat production”.
Byproducts don’t make pet food as sustainable as you think
Courtesy: BioCraft Pet Nutrition/ClimatePartner
The analysis was based on internationally recognised methodologies, including the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (GHG Protocol), and used emissions factors from databases like Ecoinvent and the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
BioCraft’s emissions were calculated based on its ingredients being produced with mixed energy in Europe, considering all relevant greenhouse gases and calculating their values as CO2 equivalents.
ClimatePartner’s analysis revealed that, based on standard EU beef production processes, beef byproducts emit 21.28kg of CO2 per kg. In comparison, BioCraft’s cultivated mouse meat produces just 1.73kg of CO2 for the same amount, offering manufacturers a 92% reduction.
While the use of offal, bones, blood, and fat instead of prime beef cuts makes many consumers regard byproducts as low-impact alternatives, that isn’t necessarily the case. “The environmental impacts of raising cattle are caused by the entire animal, not merely the portions used in the human food supply,” said Falconer.
Research shows that only around a quarter of animal byproducts produced in wealthy nations go towards the pet food industry, which competes for these ingredients with the likes of the livestock, energy and pharma sectors.
Some studies have contended that byproducts actually have a worse environmental impact because of their poor nutritional content. “For dog food, using animal byproducts rather than human-grade meat requires 1.4 times more livestock carcasses, and for cat food, 1.9 times more,” a recent analysis found.
“Hence, animal byproducts are less efficient to produce than human-grade meat. Their production requires significantly more livestock carcasses. This has the potential to increase the number of livestock animals required, and the associated environmental impacts,” its authors explained.
Courtesy: BioCraft Pet Nutrition
Cultivated meat presents climate wins as alternative pet food heats up
BioCraft’s unstructured ingredient is grown from cultured mouse cells and doesn’t require additional downstream processing. It’s also cost-effective. Typically, animal-derived growth media – the mix of proteins, sugar and nutrients that feed animal cells in a bioreactor – cost hundreds of dollars per litre.
BioCraft has developed a plant-based growth medium formulated to provide a nutritious boost to the end product, allowing its pet food ingredient to be priced at $2-2.50 per pound.
Importantly, the carbon footprint analysis looked at manufacturer-driven life-cycle stages – from raw material extraction and pre-processing to packaging, delivery, and disposal. It didn’t take into account the emissions from the manufacturing of final products or consumer use, since BioCraft solely operates as a B2B supplier of raw materials.
Still, this gives a glimpse of the emissions reduction potential for pet food producers that swap beef byproducts with cultivated meat. BioCraft’s ingredient has a comparable consistency and nutritional profile to conventional slurry, and so can be used as a one-to-one replacement in wet or dry pet food at similar inclusion levels.
Courtesy: BioCraft Pet Nutrition
The firm recently received registration from Austrian authorities to use Category 3 animal byproducts (ABPs) in the EU, allowing it to sell the cultivated mouse meat to pet food producers in the region. It is already working with Partner in Pet Food and Prefera Petfood to bring the ingredient to market, having earmarked early 2026 for its debut.
Czech startup Bene Meat Technologies was the first to register cultivated pet food as an EU feed material back in 2023, although it did so under the fermentation category instead of as an ABP. It claims that its cultivated meat generates 84-95% fewer emissions than beef, though this analysis did not focus specifically on byproducts.
It is a ripe time for alternative pet food. The UK became the first country where consumers could buy cultivated meat for their cats and dogs off the shelves this year, while Germany’s Marsapet rolled out a kibble product for dogs using Calysta’s gas-fermented FeedKind protein in Europe.
Meanwhile, British vegan pet food maker The Pack was acquired by Prefera Petfood, and fellow London-based startup Omni saw sales shoot up by 130% with 20,000 new customers in the three months after securing an investment from Steven Bartlett and Deborah Meaden on Dragons’ Den.
Elsewhere, one US startup has conducted feeding trials in pursuit of regulatory approval in the US, and Bene Meat has filed for approval there too. Meanwhile, California’s Friends & Family Pet Food Co has inked two deals to launch stateside and in Singapore.
After a decline in alternative protein investments in 2024, funding further fell by 28% in Q1 2025 compared to the same period a year ago. Analysts blame AI, high costs, and low sales.
There’s no other way to put it: 2024 was a bleak year for food tech. Post-Covid geopolitical tensions and higher living costs continued to threaten both shoppers’ wallets and investor sentiment, and startups aiming to futureproof the food system bore the brunt of the impact.
It hasn’t gotten any easier, with 2025 bringing its own set of headwinds. President Donald Trump’s tariff war, Robert F Kennedy Jr’s attack on ultra-processed food and regulatory pathways, more bans on cultivated meat, a resurgence of beef and dairy both stateside and in Europe, and continued sales declines in several markets have all contributed to the storm engulfing the alternative protein industry.
Graphic by Green Queen
After a 44% drop in 2023, VC investments in plant-based food, fermentation-derived ingredients, and cultivated meat fell by a further 27% in 2024, according to Net Zero Insights data crunched by the Good Food Institute (GFI)
Q1 2025 investments in the sector declined by 28% YoY, falling to $235M. Fermentation startups capture the bulk of this, attracting $146M, while plant-based ($54M) and cultivated protein firms ($35M) continued to falter.
So who – or what – is to blame? And are there any bright spots for alternative protein?
Fermentation continues to thrive
Looking at the figures for both 2024 and early 2025, one segment sticks out: fermentation. It was the only alternative protein pillar to witness an increase in investment last year (by 43%), against decreases for both plant-based food (-64%) and cultivated meat (-40%).
In Q1 2025, fermentation startups attracted half of all funding flowing into the sector, with precision fermentation particularly piquing investor interest. This tech vertical was responsible for the three largest rounds of the quarter: Formo’s $36M venture debt loan from the European Investment Bank, Vivici’s $33.8M Series A round, and Liberation Labs’s $31.5M investment.
The only other investment round above $25M in this period was for Israeli cultivated meat startup Aleph Farms, which secured $29M as part of a larger fundraise in the coming months.
Courtesy: GFI
“Many of the fermentation companies that received large investments are focused on leveraging agricultural and food industry sidestreams as a sustainable feed source, helping produce food more efficiently and affordably – both of which are attractive propositions for investors,” Helene Grosshans, infrastructure investment manager at GFI Europe, wrote last year about the success of fermentation.
Still, fermentation investment totals fell year-over-year in Q1 2025, according to Daniel Gertner, lead economic and industry analyst for the organisation, yet ranked in the top half of the 10 most recent quarters.
So while alternative protein funding remained subdued in the first quarter of this year, he warns that “few meaningful trends can be identified in a single quarter”.
Can Europe keep up its momentum?
Alongside fermentation, European startups showed promising signs, collectively raising $509M in 2024 (a 23% annual increase). This included a record year for Germany, where alternative protein firms attracted $145M (although $61M of that came from Formo’s Series B round).
Here, too, fermentation shone. Biomass fermentation startups saw a 10% hike in investment in 2024, while those working on precision fermentation bagged more than thrice the funding totals of 2023. As mentioned above, that trend has continued this year, thanks to Vivici and Formo’s latest rounds.
Courtesy: GFI Europe
While at first glance it may seem that plant-based and cultivated meat startups performed miserably, context is crucial. As GFI Europe’s Grosshans points out, the decline for the former category is due to Oatly’s large $425M raise over two deals; if you discount publicly traded companies, privately held plant-based firms in Europe actually saw investment grow by 37% last year.
Similarly, two relatively large deals for Mosa Meat and Meatable, totalling $53.3M, skewed the data for cultivated meat, too, where funding dipped by 59%. These two Dutch startups are preparing to enter the market soon, so they’re not reflective of where most of the sector is.
AI has wrecked the investment landscape for everyone else
In 2024, there was a 38% dip in climate tech venture funding, thanks to a shift in investor interest towards artificial intelligence (AI), where financing crossed $100B.
In the first 12 weeks of this year, AI propelled global venture financing to its highest quarterly levels in nearly three years. OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, raised $40B – that’s with a ‘B’ – which led AI to account for 58% of VC deal value in Q1 2025.
Non-AI sectors, however, experienced their weakest deal activity in a decade, notes Gertner. “Recent growth in overall venture funding has largely been driven by surges in AI investments, which have likely redirected capital flows from other industries,” he tells Green Queen.
“Alternative protein funding has slowed amid this increased investor focus on AI, while elevated interest rates, high production costs, and topline sales declines have also weighed on investment activity,” he adds. “Alternative proteins are not alone in this trend: adjacent industries like climate tech and consumer packaged goods have experienced similar investment slowdowns.”
Courtesy: DigitalFoodLab
Indeed, the wider food tech sector’s $2.2B funding in Q1 2025 was the worst quarterly performance in years. Matthieu Vincent, co-founder of strategy consultancy firm DigitalFoodLab, ascribes this to contextual reasons, as opposed to structural factors like the VC ecosystem being unsuited to long-term innovation.
The Q1 decline is linked to “the current economic uncertainties, notably on tariffs and their impact on the overall agrifood industries”, he explained in his newsletter.
Trump’s tariffs have already had investors worried, with Grey Silo Ventures’s investment manager, Matteo Leonardi, telling Green Queen last month: “As we are dealing with an industry that is already fighting to survive on the slightest of margins – and at industrial scale, let alone at pilot scale – US tariffs could result in a complete erosion of those already-thin margins.”
Adam Bergman, managing director of EcoTech Capital, predicted the downturn to continue in 2026. “I expect that over 70% of agtech and food tech companies will either go bankrupt, cease operations, or be liquidated in a fire sale. It is likely that a similar percentage of the capital invested in these companies will never be recouped,” he wrote.
The way forward for alternative protein
“As AI dominates investor attention, alternative protein companies are either developing novel applications of AI for alternative proteins or choosing to compete for a smaller slice of non-AI capital,” Gertner wrote in a recent newsletter, signalling the pivots this sector may need to make to survive.
Leading companies also need to turn their sales around, and fast. Addressing misinformation about meat, dairy, and plant-based alternatives is a crucial step.
“Instead of creating more noise, we have been systematically engaging with registered and renowned dietitians, nutritionists and key opinion leaders, arming them with science-based facts about our category and our products, so they can be advocates for the truth,” said Daniel Ordonez, COO of Oatly, which recorded a 0.8% year-on-year decline in revenue in Q1 2025, but cut its losses by 73%.
Courtesy: Oatly
Beyond Meat’s fortunes worsened in Q1 after two quarters of revenue hikes, with sales dipping by 9% in the first three months of this year, with its founder and CEO Ethan Brown suggesting misinformation played a big part. Like Oatly, he added that the “truth is starting to come out” now, and that the meat alternative maker has “made it through that really intense pressure cooker”.
Despite its disappointing sales, it did receive $100M in debt financing from Unprocessed Foods, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ahimsa Foundation, proving that investors still have an appetite for plant-based burgers. “The overall macro environment is challenging for alt-protein, but we are confident of the leadership and the outlook,” Ahimsa Foundation president Shaleen Shah told Bloomberg News.
The volatility of the market was highlighted by Meati’s $4M sale this month. Once valued at $650M, its $100M Series C round was the largest alternative protein investment of 2024, but a technical default led its lender to unexpectedly sweep two-thirds of its cash reserves, leading to the sale at the paltry valuation.
One of the issues in alternative protein is that there aren’t enough exits for startups, though there has been a rapid wave of M&A in the sector of late, from Danone and Chobani’s acquistions of Kate Farms and Daily Harvest, respectively, this month, to Ahimsa Foundation’s takeover of Wicked Kitchen, Simulate and Blackbird Foods in the last year. But exits like Meati’s don’t fill venture capitalists with confidence.
It’s worth noting that despite the VC decline, public sector investment was still strong in 2024, reaching $510M, in line with the year before.
Courtesy: GFI
“Going forward, the companies demonstrating clear competitive advantages, unique value propositions, and strong business models will have the best chance of securing funding,” Gertner tells Green Queen.
“However, venture capital is only one piece of the investment puzzle,” he adds, outlining the importance of additional avenues for companies pursuing investment, like equipment leasing, strategic partnerships, sovereign wealth funds, blended finance, and government programmes.
“Alternative protein companies and founders should continue exploring these creative and multipronged funding strategies to support growth,” he says.
Discount retailer Aldi Nord has become the latest company to hop on the blended meat bandwagon with a burger made from 60% beef and 40% plant proteins in the Netherlands.
As part of its move towards shifting protein sales in favour of plants, Aldi Nord has quietly released a blended meat burger in its Dutch locations.
The discount supermarket’s newest burger contains 60% beef and 40% plant-based ingredients, and it is clearly labelled as a product blending animal and plant proteins.
The product is priced at €2.50 per 300g pack, or €8.33 per kg. This makes it a more affordable option than several conventional meat options at Aldi Nord, including half-and-half mince (€10.83 per kg), ground beef (€14.15), and lean ground beef (€9.99).
The move is part of its climate strategy. Lowering the amount of animal protein in a product and replacing it with low-carbon alternatives is an effective strategy to slash the emissions of a product.
Aldi Netherlands has set a target of obtaining 50% of all protein sales from plant-based foods by this year, working towards a larger ‘protein split’ goal of 60% plant proteins by 2030. In 2023, these products made up 37% of its protein sales, but their share reached 40% last year.
Crucially, it aims to maintain the amount of protein sold, so it would need to achieve this by actively replacing meat with animal-free products. To fast-track the transition, it rolled out its My Vay private-label brand last year, starting with dairy alternatives before diversifying into plant-based meat in the autumn.
Courtesy: Green Protein Alliance/ProVeg Netherlands
Can blended meat fill the plant-based gap?
Aldi’s blended meat offering follows a similar launch at Lidl Netherlands, which last year rolled out a minced meat mix with 60% beef and 40% pea protein that was cheaper and far more friendly to the environment than conventional beef.
Research shows that swapping just half of our meat consumption with plant-based proteins can lower agricultural emissions by 31% and land use by 12%, and halt deforestation.
Blended meat, or balanced proteins as they are called by US-based sustainable food advocacy non-profit Food Systems Innovations (FSI), is a key lever for doing this, especially as the uptake of plant-based meat products slows down. Dutch retail group Ahold Delhaize, the parent company of Albert Heijn, announced a plant protein strategy at the start of the year, but has since admitted that sales of these products have been disappointing.
The retailer aimed to raise the share of plant proteins sold to 47% in 2024, 50% in 2025, and 60% by the end of the decade. However, the ratio failed to increase in favour of plants last year, instead falling slightly from 44.5% in 2023 to 44.2% last year.
A major barrier is the discourse around plant-based meat and ultra-processing. A survey of nearly 20,000 Europeans this year found that 60% would like to avoid processed foods in the future, while only a quarter say the same for animal-based foods. In fact, 12% would like to increase their intake of meat and dairy.
With blended meat, consumers can have their beef and eat it too. It does away with concerns around the taste of plant-based burgers, and efforts like Aldi’s and Lidl’s ensure that there are no complaints about price either. The climate benefit is almost an added bonus for consumers, whereas for the retailer, it is a driving force of the decision.
Aldi is one of nine supermarkets that have committed to the 50-50 protein split goal for 2030, though as of last year, its share of meat alternatives (12%) was the lowest on the list. The new My Vay label and its blended meat offering will help it get closer to the goal.
Courtesy: Madre Brava
Aldi looks to redeem its blended meat legacy
This isn’t the first time Aldi has dabbled with blended meat. In 2019, it brought out a BBQ Flexitarian Burger made from a mix of beef and beans in the UK, but it was widely panned. Other supermarkets have had missteps too – Tesco introduced a Lean & Greens range that combined chicken with vegetables in 2021, and discontinued it soon after.
In the past, blended meat products haven’t been commercially successful, especially from private-label brands. In 2025, it’s a growing category. Companies like Nestlé, Purdue Farms, Quorn and even Disneyland have entered this space now.
Sensory testing shows that these products are more likely to appeal to meat-eaters and flexitarians than plant-based alternatives. In some cases, they even outperform 100% meat products. Nectar, a non-profit initiative focused on accelerating the protein transition through taste, found four blended meat products that matched or surpassed conventional meat on taste.
Courtesy: Nectar
These products can deliver financial wins for shrewd brands. Fable Food, whose Shiitake Infusion product is blended with meat and is one of the four aforementioned products, achieved a 50% year-on-year growth last year and expects to further improve this year.
“Taste is the gatekeeper for sustainable dietary change. These products represent a real breakthrough – where the more sustainable choice is also the more delicious one,” Tim Dale, category innovation director at FSI, Nectar’s parent organisation, told Green Queen. “Consumers don’t want to be convinced to love ‘better meat’. They want the meat they love to simply be made better.”
Courtesy: Madre Brava
It’s not just the Netherlands where Aldi has launched a blended meat product – it has also introduced a BBQ burger with 70% beef and 30% plants in Germany. It comes on the back of research suggesting that the best way for German retailers to meet their climate targets without breaking the bank is to replace 30% of their meat and dairy offerings with plant-based alternatives.
The largest market for plant-based food in Europe, retailers in Germany are leading the protein transition race. Lidl has announced a protein split target, while Rewe Group has unveiled a plant protein strategy. Now, Aldi has brought blended meat to the market, and the time is ripe for it to redeem its original attempt in the UK all those years ago.
In our interview series, we quiz future food investors about the solutions that excite them the most, their favourite climate-forward restaurant, and what they look for in successful founders.
Mirasbek Kuterbekov is the Principal at Thia Ventures.
What future food technologies most excite you?
I see huge potential in abiotic technologies such as cell-free manufacturing and chemical synthesis to unlock much better unit economics, beyond what is currently achievable with fermentation or cultivation.
What are three future food verticals you are actively looking at for 2025?
The broader category of food as health, which encompasses several verticals from healthier ingredients to supplements, is top of mind for us.
What do you consider the food tech sector’s greatest achievement in the past five years?
Giving consumers lots of choices to consume more fibre without sacrificing taste, texture, or convenience, best exemplified by probiotic sodas.
If you could wave a magic wand, how would you fix plant-based meat?
Remove all subsidies from farmed meat.
What’s the top trait you look for in a founder?
Obsessiveness, both with the problem they are addressing and the niche they operate in.
The One That Got Away: What is the deal you wish you had gotten into, but didn’t?
Spore.bio. They are leveraging computer vision to streamline quality control across industries, including food. We missed their pre-seed round and, unfortunately for us, also their Series A. Kudos to the team!
What do you consider your most successful future food investment so far?
Switch Bioworks gives me a lot of hope in our ability to displace synthetic fertilisers from our fields.
What has been your most disappointing investment so far?
I became an investor only two years ago, so I haven’t yet made a disappointing one so far. But time will surely change that, as bold bets necessarily carry risk.
What do people misunderstand/get wrong most about VC?
Most generous checks at the highest valuation don’t mean a particular VC is the best partner for you.
What is the most ‘future food’ thing you have eaten this month?
Not this month, but a few weeks ago, I tried alternative chickpea-based coffee from Koppie, a Belgian startup.
Where is your favourite climate-forward restaurant/dish/place to eat anywhere in the world?
I will instead highlight my favourite ingredient: buckwheat, a hardy grain used to make delicious kasha and tasty galettes.
What’s your ‘why’? What motivates you to do what you do?
Climate change is the biggest threat and opportunity for my generation.
British pet food startup Meatly has announced a wave of breakthroughs that significantly slash the cost of cultivated meat, bringing it closer to price parity with chicken.
Food tech innovators are continuing to make advancements that close the price gap between cultivated meat and conventional animal proteins.
That limited-edition, co-branded product – titled Chick Bites – was priced at £3.49 per 50g pouch – or £69.80 per kg. And that only contained 4% of cultivated meat. In comparison, an oven-baked chicken treat by Good Boy is priced at £23.08 per kg. Conventional dog food can be three times cheaper than cultivated meat right now, but that may be about to change.
Meatly has announced several tech breakthroughs in its production process, including the development of a new bioreactor and the optimisation of its protein-free culture medium, which allow the startup to inch closer to price parity with conventional chicken.
“Many have cast doubt that the industry would ever reach this point – but we’re pleased to prove these critics wrong,” says Meatly co-founder and chief scientific officer Helder Cruz. “We are showing the world that we can produce meat in a kinder, better way, and we can make it at a price which makes it easy for brands to incorporate Meatly Chicken as an affordable ingredient in their existing product range.”
Meatly breaks away from pharma bioreactors
A rendering of Meatly’s future cultivated meat facility | Courtesy: Meatly
According to consultancy giant McKinsey, to meet the industry’s growth demands, cultivated meat firms would need up to 22 times more fermentation capacity than currently exists in the global pharmaceutical sector.
But it’s not just the capacity. Much of the biotechnology created to make pharmaceuticals isn’t purpose-built for cultivated meat. The per-tonne demand for cultivated meat is seven times higher than for biopharma drugs produced from mammalian cell cultures.
There’s also a perception problem. People have more concerns about GMOs in food than in medicines, while the accepted ideal costs for biopharma drugs are between $500,000 and $1M. For cultivated meat, this is as low as $5-10 per kg.
It necessitates the need for more modern, purpose-built bioreactors. Meatly has successfully built and conducted a first cell growth run in a custom-designed, pilot-scale bioreactor with a capacity of 320 litres. It has the biocompatibility, longevity, scalability and overall performance to meet the cell culture requirements of an industrial-scale facility with multiple 20,000-litre bioreactors.
Meatly intends to develop tanks with the latter capacity as part of its next funding stage, but its new 320-litre equipment costs just £12,500 ($16,900), making it 95% cheaper than traditional fermenters, which can cost up to £250,000 ($338,000).
It is one of several companies that have announced bioreactor breakthroughs. US startup Mission Barns, whose cultivated pork was approved for sale in the country this year, has developed a novel bioreactor that makes a departure from the single-cell suspension tanks of the biopharma sector, making cultivated meat production more efficient, easier to scale, and cheaper.
Meanwhile, Israel’s Ever After Foods is working with Bühler Group to build a commercial-scale system that can produce cultivated meat using equipment at least 10 times smaller than the industry standard.
Culture media wins will enable price parity at scale
Courtesy: Meatly
Meatly’s second crucial advancement concerns its culture medium, a mix of nutrients that facilitate the growth of animal cells. Typically, culture media cost hundreds of pounds per litre and account for the majority of the costs involved in the entire process.
But last year, the London-based startup created a protein-free medium that contains no serum or animal-derived components, steroids, hormones, antibiotics or growth factors. The startup’s innovation is food-safe and used in its suspension culture bioreactors without microcarriers, which are typically needed to help cells proliferate and enhance their density.
This has lots of advantages when it comes to cost and quality controls. “But in the composition of the cells, not so much,” Cruz told Green Queen last year. “Of course, we can always play with some nutrients, but not necessarily proteins, to fine-tune the composition – like fatty acids, some amino acids and so on.”
Then, this culture medium cost £1 ($1.25 at the time) per litre. But now, it has further reduced this price to 22p (30 cents) per litre, which will further reduce to 1.5p (two cents) at industrial scale.
“We’ve achieved this reduction by successfully replacing costly components such as albumin, transferrin, insulin, and all growth factors in our culture media – an industry first,” Meatly co-founder and CEO Owen Ensor tells Green Queen.
“Additionally, we’ve managed to replicate performance using food-grade ingredients. This breakthrough has significantly lowered costs and improved supply chain resilience.”
Additionally, the medium is now capable of supporting cell growth for over 175 doublings, a substantial improvement on historical media performance. It will allow Meatly’s cultivated chicken to be priced competitively with average EU chicken breast prices once scaled.
Meatly confident in fundraising despite industry-wide downturn
Courtesy: Meatly
“Our continued development of this protein-free culture medium marks a significant milestone for both Meatly and the broader cultivated meat sector,” says Ensor. “By setting a new cost benchmark, we’re addressing one of the industry’s most persistent challenges – bringing production costs down to make cultivated meat commercially viable and reach price parity with traditional products.”
The company, which has raised £5M to date, is now kickstarting a funding round for a low-cost industrial facility to profitably scale production of its cultivated meat.
“We’re confident in securing the capital we need. While we’re not disclosing the exact target publicly at this stage, we have a healthy runway in place and are actively engaged with several interested partners,” says Ensor.
Convincing investors to bet on cultivated meat today is a tall order – the sector saw funding decline by 75% in 2023, and a further 40% in 2024. In fact, in the last three years, this sector has cumulatively raised less money than it did in 2021 alone.
Graphic by Green Queen
“We recognise that the current investment climate is more cautious, particularly within the cultivated meat sector, so we’re taking a measured approach. That said, we’re well-positioned to scale quickly once funding is secured. Updates like the ones we’re making today show how Meatly is focused on continuing to prove there is a fast, efficient way to scale cultivated meat,” says Ensor.
Fellow cultivated pet food startup BioCraft Pet Nutrition has also developed a plant-based growth medium that reduces the cost of its ingredient to $2-2.50 per lb. And in Israel, SuperMeat has made several breakthroughs to produce its cultivated chicken for $12 per lb, while Believer Meats has described how its continuous process can potentially produce cultivated chicken for $6 per lb at scale.
As for Meatly, Ensor notes that the Chick Bites were a “one-off” product launch. “We’re now working on providing our Meatly Chicken for additional products in the near future,” he says, without going into any specifics. He teases more information on new products “in the coming months”.
Its costs advancements are vital for the mainstream adoption of cultivated meat. According to a recent 4,000-person survey in Europe, three in five consumers feel cultivated meat will only be successful if it’s affordable for everyone. In fact, nearly half expect it to be cheaper than conventional meat, and only 15% would buy it if it’s more expensive (versus 60% who wouldn’t).
“By reaching price parity, it then becomes a simple and easy choice for consumers to buy better meat for their pets,” says Cruz.
A techno-economic analysis has found that French cultivated meat startup Gourmey’s bioreactor system can reach production costs of $3.43 per lb.
When you remove the politics of it all, people aren’t as resistant to cultivated meat as some would have you believe.
In a 16-country survey last year, support for the sale of these foods – if they pass regulatory assessments – ranged from 48-69% in Europe. Those who backed a ban on cultivated meat, meanwhile, were largely in the minority.
One of the most influential barriers to any potential intake of cultivated meat isn’t cultural, as Italy’s ban seems to suggest. Instead, it has to do with the price tag.
According to a 4,000-person survey in Europe, three in five consumers feel cultivated meat will only be successful if it’s affordable for everyone. In fact, nearly half expect it to be cheaper than conventional meat, and only 15% would buy it if it’s more expensive (versus 60% who wouldn’t).
While the cost of producing meat by culturing animal cells in bioreactors has long been prohibitive, things are changing quickly.
Among the companies spearheading the price shift is Gourmey, a French startup culturing duck cells to produce cultivated foie gras (and working on cultivated chicken and turkey too). It is pursuing approval in six markets, and was the first to file an application in the EU.
Courtesy: Sherry Hack
A techno-economic analysis by consulting firm Arthur D Little has revealed that the firm’s production model can dramatically lower costs, allowing it to potentially manufacture cultivated meat for as little as $3.43 per lb.
The assessment validates the economic viability of Gourmey’s 5,000-litre bioreactor system, and confirms that it can reach these costs without relying on speculative technologies or mega-scale infrastructure.
Gourmey CEO Nicolas Morin-Forest explains that the analysis was conducted on a finished product containing about half cultivated cells, with the rest made up of plant-based ingredients like fats or proteins. “This approach can hence apply to a very wide range of cultivated products,” he tells Green Queen.
How Gourmey keeps cultivated meat cost-effective
Founded in 2019 by Morin-Forest, Jérôme Caron and Antoine Davydoff, Gourmey’s platform is built around a “second-generation” technology stack that replaces legacy biopharma techniques with food-grade, cost-effective, scalable processes. It combines continuous production, undifferentiated cell biomass, and suspension-based cell cultures to support efficiency and consistency.
“One of the main reasons we can keep costs low is that we use stem cells with natural, endless self-renewal capabilities. These cells can be cultivated for very long periods, allowing us to continuously apply selective pressure and adapt them to the most efficient cell feed formulations, all while maximising yields,” explains Morin-Forest.
“Our stem cells are extremely robust and grow very quickly, doubling in less than 16 hours, which lets us reach exceptionally high cell densities,” he adds, outlining how this has enabled the breakthrough of its proprietary cell culture medium.
Courtesy: Sherry Hack
“Because our cells thrive without proteins or growth factors, we can bring our food-safe feed price down to around 20 cents per litre, just a fraction of what’s typical in the industry,” he says. “The stability and performance of our stem cells also make them ideally suited for continuous manufacturing, and we’re able to avoid traditional scale-up bottlenecks like scaffolding and micro-carriers to drive costs down even further.”
Arthur D Little’s analysis finds that Gourmey’s modular and repeatable platform can enable it to keep capital expenditure under €35M per facility, with an output of 1,700 tonnes using just six 5,000-litre bioreactors. These benchmarks can be met via “achievable and clearly defined process optimisations”, the startup says.
“The main levers are about relentlessly increasing cell densities by refining our proprietary, food-safe cell feed to reduce its cost while maintaining performance,” says Morin-Forest. “One of the industry’s challenges is minimising waste and making sure that every single compound in the cell feed is genuinely used for cell growth. We’re speeding up these developments with advanced modelling that predicts cellular behaviour, so we can cut iteration time.”
He adds: “Ultimately, much of the cost reduction comes from trivialities: scaling out by adding more bioreactors and unlocking economies of scale as we ramp up cell feed purchases, just like in any industry.”
Courtesy: Sherry Hack
Gourmey expects Singapore approval soon, hints at broader portfolio
Gourmey currently operates an innovation centre and a pilot facility in central Paris, where its team runs multiple 400L bioreactors. “In addition, we have a dedicated setup with a 5,000L bioreactor, the largest bioreactor for cultivated meat in Europe to our knowledge,” says Morin-Forest.
“Most of the scale effects on production cost are already delivered at the 5,000L scale, allowing us to reach $3.43/lb, or €7/kg in a commercial setup, without the need for even larger, unproven bioreactors.
Gourney”s approach keeps operational complexity, industrial risk, and capital needs much lower. Our production process is so efficient that scaling beyond 5,000 litres simply isn’t necessary.”
The company has so far raised €65M via public and private investments: when asked about future fundraising plans, it declined to comment. No other cultivated meat company has filed regulatory dossiers in as many markets as Gourmey, which is awaiting approval in the US, Singapore, the UK, Switzerland, the EU, and another undisclosed region.
“We expect our first approval in Singapore soon,” Morin-Forest reveals.
It has been gearing up for launch over the last year, forming an advisory board with Michelin-starred chefs Claude Le Tohic (One65), Rasmus Munk (Alchemist), and Daniel Calvert (Sézanne), holding talks with major protein producers, and securing deals with premium foodservice and distribution partners.
Three-Michelin-starrd chef and One65 owner Claude Le Tohic | Courtesy: Sherry Hack
Its cultivated foie gras is a high-margin product that takes on an industry marred in controversy. More than a dozen countries have banned the prized delicacy out of animal welfare concerns (geese and ducks are traditionally force-fed to fatten their liver). Gourmey’s version “significantly lowers the environmental footprint” and does away with the cruelty.
It is not the only company making cultivated foie gras. Australia’s Vow unveiled its innovation last year under its Forged brand and has rolled it out to restaurants in Singapore. It will launch in its home country later this year, following final ministerial approval.
As for Gourmey, the demand for their product is already outpacing its supply. “We’re a B2B company and our first customers are premium food wholesalers serving the world’s best tables,” says Morin-Forest. “Demand from premium food service and distribution partners now exceeds our planned production capacity.”
And it isn’t stopping here. “Cultivated foie gras is our launchpad for a broader portfolio, including additional poultry proteins and other species,” he says.
Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Impossible Foods’ new vegan chicken, Quorn’s Mission: Impossible collab, and a new kind of tempeh.
New products and launches
Mycoprotein pioneer Quorn has launched a summer marketing campaign with Paramount Pictures to align with the launch of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning. The brand hired a Tom Cruise lookalike to sign autographs in London’s West End while eating its Cocktail Sausages, and also has a Mission Snack Swap ad campaign featuring its farm animal puppets.
Courtesy: Quorn
British oat milk brand Minor Figures has teamed up with Nigo‘s lifestyle label Human Made on a clothing and accessory collection, featuring a sweatshirt, apron, milk bottle, milk sleeve, an art toy, and more. It will be featured at a pop-up at StandBy in Harajuku, Tokyo this weekend (May 31 to June 1).
Also in the UK, vegan meal kit maker Grubby has launched an eight-recipe menu featuring Symplicity Foods‘s plant-based meat alternatives. It includes a BBQ Smash Burger with Carrot Slaw, Hoi Sin Garlic Chilli Noodles, and Symplicity Schnitzel with Curried Potato Salad.
Courtesy: Impossible Foods
Plant-based meat leader Impossible Foodsteased its new Crispy Chicken Fillets at the National Restaurant Association Show in Chicago. It has 17g of protein and half as much saturated fat compared to conventional fillets, and will roll out at restaurants soon.
US startup LiveComplete will soon launch a new protein powder made using its NutriMatch technology, which blends plant proteins in a way that mirrors human muscles.
Courtesy: Upside Foods
To protest Indiana’s upcoming ban on cultivated meat (which comes into effect on July 1), Upside Foodsserved cultured chicken sandwiches at the Indianapolis 500 race on Memorial Day weekend.
Canadian vegan fast-food chain Odd Burger has earned an exclusive listing at 7-Eleven for four of its retail products. The Crispy ChickUn Fillet, Chickpea Burger, Smash Burger and Breakfast Sausage will be available at over 500 locations, with select stores stocking them from next month.
Courtesy: Daiya
Fellow Canadian plant-based company Daiya has introduced a single-serve cream cheese featuring its fermented oat cream. The 1oz packs are aimed at foodservice operators. It will soon also launch a dairy-free cheese sauce.
Danish biosolutions giant Novonesis has rolled out Vertera Velvet, an ingredient aimed at tackling weak foam and curdling in plant-based barista milks, with a specific focus on oat, pea and blended milks.
Courtesy: Umami Bioworks
And Singaporean food tech startup Umami Bioworks has partnered with Japanese seafood firm Maruha Nichiro to co-develop and commercialise cultivated tuna.
Company and finance updates
German retailer Rewe Group has joined Food Fermentation Europe, a trade association representing the fermentation-derived food sector.
Courtesy: Kind Kones
Singaporean vegan ice cream maker Kind Kones has secured an undisclosed sum of funding from female-led firm Epic Angels. It will use the capital to expand its presence in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, specifically Dubai.
Australian precision fermentation firm All G has filed a patent application for an infant formula innovation that includes all five major human breast milk proteins.
Courtesy: Solar Foods
Finnish gas protein firm Solar Foods has verified its pilot production parameters at an industrial scale at its first facility, confirming that the company’s upcoming Factory 02 will be profitable and enabling the production of its Solein protein in the US.
Fellow Nordic fermentation startup Norwegian Mycelium (or NoMy) has received €1.25M in a funding round led by Nippon Beet Sugar Manufacturing Co (Nitten), listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. It comes months after the company set up a subsidiary in Japan.
Courtesy: NoMy
In the three months since its appearance on Dragons’ Den, where it earned €75,000 from investors Deborah Madden and Steven Bartlett, UK vegan dog food maker Omni has added 20,000 new customers with a 130% growth in sales. It is now approaching £10M in annualised revenue.
Research, policy and events
Drive-thru coffee chain 7 Brew has scrapped the dairy-free milk surcharge at all its 360 locations across the US.
Dutch cultivated pork startup Meatable will join the Alternative Proteins mission at the Dutch Pavilion at World Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan, next month to outline its optimisations in cell feed, which have helped reduce its preparation time from several days to just 30 minutes.
Courtesy: Meatable
Yet more research has come out proving the environmental superiority of plant-based eating. Focused on Iceland, the study found that vegan diets generate just half the emissions of an omnivore diet, and are overall more compliant with macronutrient recommendations.
At the University of Massachusetts Amherst, one researcher is looking to develop a new kind of tempeh with peas and chickpeas. Backed by a four-year, $387,000 USDA Pulse Crop Health Initiative grant, the protein could help counteract health risks associated with the Western diet, like obesity, fatty liver, and diabetes.
Courtesy: Vivici
Finally, biotech startups Agrobiomics and Vivici have won the Feike Sijbesma Sustainable Innovation Award 2025 for their work in climate-resilient farming and precision-fermented protein production at the F&A Next conference in Wageningen. Each received a $12,500 prize.
The co-founder of French plant-based chicken startup Swap (ex-Umiami) has been forced to step down as CEO amid weak sales, with the firm reportedly needing $10M by the end of this year.
Swap, the Parisian vegan chicken firm formerly known as Umiami, is reportedly in financial trouble amid the wider slowdown of the plant-based meat category.
According to French financial news outlet L’Informé, the startup is looking to renegotiate its debts with its creditors after recording a turnover of just €1M ($1.1M) in 2024 and running into issues scaling up production and delayed commercial development.
The troubles have led to co-founder Tristan Maurel stepping down as CEO, moving to the role of board chairman. He has been replaced by former Mondelēz and Pierre Martinet executive Hervé Salomon.
Swap, which has raised $107M since being founded in 2019, is reportedly in need of immediate funding to stay afloat. According to L’Informé, the company requires €9M ($10.2M) by year-end, and nearly €30M ($34.1M) by the end of 2026.
Swap’s bet on international expansion
Courtesy: Swap
Maurel, Clémence Pedraza and Martin Habfast founded the startup as Umiami, built on its ‘Umisation’ texturising platform for producing whole-muscle replicas of conventional fillets like chicken and fish.
This involves a technique that transforms plant proteins into structured fibres without high heat or pressure. The tech was touted as a key reason why the company was able to produce plant-based meat with a handful of ingredients; Swap’s chicken features eight ingredients and no artificial flavours, colourants or texturisers.
The firm opened a 14,000 sq m facility in the Alsace region last year, backed by a €38M ($41.3M) investment with support from local and federal governments. It says it can produce 7,500 tonnes of plant-based meat annually, eventually rising to 20,000 tonnes.
In October, the company rebranded to Swap and launched into the US foodservice sector, targeting flexitarians via Chicago restaurants like Spirit Elephant, Soul Veg City, Majani, and Clucker’s Charcoal Chicken.
The brand refresh was positioned as a call to action to encourage “consumers to make a positive choice for themselves and for the planet”, and allowed Swap to expand beyond chicken fillets to all kinds of meat and fish analogues, broadening its future product development plans.
In April, Swap teamed up with Spain’s Heura Foods to launch a whole-cut chicken breast in over 3,000 stores in France, Spain and Portugal, with each firm labelling it a “turning point” for its European ambitions.
Plant-based meat’s struggles continue
Graphic by Green Queen
Despite these moves, Swap has not been immune to the larger headwinds of the alternative protein sector, especially in the US. Retail sales of plant-based meat fell by 7% in 2024, while in foodservice, these products have suffered a 10% annualised decline since 2022.
That has come amid a renewed appetite for meat, whose sales reached record highs in the US last year, compounded by growing consumer concerns about ultra-processed food. As a result, investors have remained cautious with their money, with financing in alternative protein startups falling by 27% in 2024. Plant-based startups were hit hardest, raising only $309M, a sharp 64% fall from the year before.
Swap’s troubles come despite its chicken being the recipient of a Tasty Award by sensory-based research firm Nectar, signalling that more than half of taste-testing omnivores found it to taste the same or better than conventional chicken.
Courtesy: Swap
It’s not alone, though. Beyond Meat, which also received a Tasty Award, posted a 9% decline in revenues in Q1 2025, with founder and CEO Ethan Brown labelling it a “disappointing” quarter reflecting “broader macroeconomic concerns and reduced consumer confidence”. The company received a $100M loan boost as it continues to evaluate further deals to address its $1.1M debt.
Swap’s troubles echo those of US-based clean-label mycelium meat startup Meati, which filed documents earlier this month that suggest it’s set to be sold for $4M two months after a bank unexpectedly swept most of its cash reserves due to a technical default. The firm has raised $450M to date and was valued at $650M in 2022.
Others have been acquired by larger companies and investment firms: Wicked Kitchen, Nuggs, and Blackbird Foods were all taken over by Ahimsa Companies last year. In recent weeks, dairy giant Danone bought dairy-free kids nutrition brand Kate Farms, and yoghurt leader Chobani snapped up frozen ready meal maker Daily Harvest.
Back in Swap’s homeland, consumers are now more focused on whole foods like beans and grains, with their dietary habits driven by a health-first approach. The government has sought to ban meat-related terms on vegan packaging labels too, although top courts in the country and the EU rejected that attempt.
A recent survey found that people taking GLP-1 drugs reduce their consumption of certain foods, including beef – but the demand remains, which gives vegan food producers a leg up.
Can GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro be a boon for the plant-based category?
Previous research has already shown that consumers taking weight-loss medications have cut back on several food categories, like snacks, baked goods, salad dressings, and cheese.
According to a recent study by researchers at the University of Arkansas, GLP-1 users also drastically reduce their intake of beef, Coke, and processed foods. But while the latter may feel like a bad omen for meat analogues, they were among the categories with the lowest decline in consumption.
“Our study shows that adoption of GLP-1 agonists changes both the amount and types of food people eat,” said Jayson Lusk, dean of the university’s Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. “These results have important implications for the food industry.”
Here’s why: one in eight Americans has already injected a GLP-1 drug at some point. The number of regular users could rise to anywhere between 10 and 70 million by 2028, boosting the national GDP by 1%. And by the end of the decade, these medications are expected to command a $105B market.
Ozempic cuts beef intake in half – plant-based alternatives fare much better
Courtesy: Food Quality and Preference
The study, published in the Food Quality and Preferences journal, surveyed nearly 2,000 consumers, split between people who had either previously taken a GLP-1 drug, were currently using it, were planning to take it, or had never taken one and didn’t intend to start.
Processed foods suffered the biggest decrease in consumption after Ozempic, with around 65% of former and current users lowering their consumption of these products. Sodas and refined grains weren’t far behind, with approximately 50% cutting their intake.
Around 45% of Americans on GLP-1 drugs said they eat less beef now, which rises to half for those who used to inject them previously. Meanwhile, two in five current users also report reducing their pork consumption, while another 30% say the same for cow’s milk.
In contrast, the food groups that faced the lowest declines were plant-based meat and dairy, and whole foods. Meat analogues only saw around a 5% decrease among both current and former users, and represented the lowest drop in consumption among the latter. It shows that GLP-1 users’ aversion to processed foods didn’t affect vegan alternatives much.
Whole grains were on a similar path, though the post-Ozempic drop reached around 10%. For oat, almond and non-dairy milks, there was a negligible dip in consumption during the GLP-1 course, which grew to 10% after people stopped taking the drugs.
Meanwhile, around a sixth of consumers start eating more fruits when taking a weight-loss medication. That rises to about a third of Americans when it comes to leafy greens, and around 60% for water.
“If adoption of GLP-1s continues to increase, food companies will be challenged as demand for processed foods falls, but will have opportunities as demand for fruits and vegetables increases,” said Lusk.
Opportunities abound for plant-based companies
Courtesy: Actual Veggies
The findings have some interesting insights for food companies. The demand for processed foods and beef doesn’t reduce – to the contrary, GLP-1 users continued to desire these foods – but their consumption still declines anyway. One of the reasons is satiety. These drugs make you feel full and “reduce pleasure responses to fatty foods”, the researchers said.
There’s also the ‘Ozempic tongue’, which refers to a mechanism where people’s taste receptors react differently to foods than they did before GLP-1 use. “We know GLP-1s lessen the dopamine hit from food, making the experience less enjoyable, which could be why tastes start to shift,” Dr Daniel Rosen, an obesity specialist, told the Daily Mail.
“Think of seeing a photo of a juicy burger on a menu, and that first bite with the explosion of flavour in your mouth and juices dripping down to your chin,” he said. “If all of that is dampened or turned off in the brain because of the GLP-1 medications, you can see why someone would say food tastes different or that things don’t taste the same.”
Rosena added that he has seen meat-eaters stop eating steaks and sausages because they find them to have a “metallic” taste after taking Ozempic.
It represents a major opportunity for plant-based food producers. Beef consumption is going down among GLP-1 users, but the demand hasn’t gone anywhere. Meat-free companies have the advantage of fine-tuning the flavour properties of their products to satisfy people’s new taste buds, which conventional beef can’t do.
Similarly, plant-based milk companies can capitalise on the dairy decline by offering better-tasting, low-fat, and clean-label products. In fact, this was the category facing the greatest demand among respondents who were planning to start taking GLP-1s.
Still, the biggest winners could perhaps be whole-food-focused startups like Actual Veggies, which champions beans, greens and whole grains in their veggie burgers.
“We serve people who want to see and taste the vegetables in their burger. Our customers scrutinise ingredient labels, prioritise nutrition, and actually get excited about quinoa and beets,” Actual Veggies co-founder and co-CEO Jason Rosenbaum told Green Queen in February. “We’re building for the growing segment that wants their food minimally processed and their vegetables front and centre.”
US sales of plant-based food fell by 4% and 5% in retail and foodservice last year, respectively, but they held steady above the $8B mark for the third year in a row.
Despite widespread sales declines across the plant-based category, more Americans now like the taste of these foods, while health concerns continue to drive many away from animal proteins.
The slowdown of the vegan food sector has been well-documented over the last couple of years, though there are several caveats to it: some segments are more popular than others, household penetration remains strong (59%, with a 79% repeat rate), and the industry is better off now than it was in 2020 (at least in term of sales).
For instance, Americans spent 4% less on these foods in supermarkets last year, while foodservice sales were down by 5%. At $8.1B, retail purchases were still up by 14% compared to the beginning of the pandemic, with foodservice seeing a 19% increase ($289M).
“Given the enormous diversity of the plant ingredients that make up its products, the unique and compelling opportunities to foster customer loyalty and generate substantial incremental sales are essentially boundless,” notes the Plant-Based Foods Association (PBFA) in its 2024 State of the Marketplace report.
Here are the key takeaways from the research:
While health is a critical lever, taste is gaining ground
Courtesy: PBFA
According to PBFA’s analysis of Kroger shopper data with the retailer’s insights firm, 84.51°, two in five Americans are reducing milk intake in favour of plant-based alternatives, and a quarter are doing the same for fresh meat.
Asked why they’re making the switch, nearly half (48%) said they felt vegan foods are healthier, and 36% wanted to eat fewer animal proteins due to personal health concerns.
Interestingly, though, the share of consumers motivated by health remained the same at the end of 2024 as it did six months prior, but rose across a number of other factors. Only 23% said they were shifting from animal- to plant-based foods because they liked the latter’s taste in May, and this grew to 36% in December.
Similarly, 36% agreed they’re better for the climate (versus 30% earlier in the year), and 29% were doing so out of animal welfare concerns (compared to 23% in May 2024).
When assessing how companies can attract more consumers, there was a clear winning factor: price promotions. Discounts and coupon offers would make it easier for 63% of Americans to buy plant-based foods, followed by more recipe ideas (34%) and greater education about these products (31%).
2024 saw the resurgence of coconut milk
Courtesy: PBFA
While sales of plant-based milk fell by 4% in 2024, at $2.8B, this is comfortably the largest segment in the sector, accounting for 35% of all sales.
Almond milk remains the dominant alternative (capturing 54% of the market), though Americans spent 7.5% less on it last year. Oat milk flatlined (-1%) and rice milk was down too (-9%). Soy milk, however, saw a minor increase (2%), and coconut milk enjoyed a growth of 14% (reaching $149M).
Despite the spate of new plant-based milks – from pistachios and pecans to sunflower seeds and bananas – these emerging products saw a 14% decrease in sales, as did products that blend multiple ingredients for their base (-7%).
However, plant-based milk did see a significant increase in dollar and unit sales in foodservice last year, outpacing the growth of conventional dairy.
Whole cuts represent a major opening for plant-based meat
Courtesy: PBFA
Meat and seafood analogues suffered from a 10% annualised decline between 2022 and 2024, reflecting the challenges facing the category’s poster-child segment.
That has come amid a renewed appetite for meat, which saw record sales in the US last year, as the manosphere and political shift changes the way Americans eat now. Vegan meat has also been plagued by the ultra-processed food tag, exacerbated by health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. PBFA’s research shows that people who believe plant-based foods “contain excessive artificial ingredients” rose from 20% to 25% in the past year.
Vegan alternatives to meat and seafood only reached 13% of US households last year, though retained a strong repeat purchase rate of 63%. And not all products fell out of favour: shreds, chunks and strips saw sales grow by 8%.
Whole-cut analogues such as steaks, filets and cutlets – 60% of which are either chicken or seafood analogues – experienced an even larger increase (16%), outlining the opportunity for companies in this space.
Tofu takes over the US market
Courtesy: PBFA
The report mentions a “growing consumer preference for plant-forward foods that highlight plants and their application potential as distinct and limitless, rather than an industry confined to solely mimicking animal products”.
Indeed, as meat analogues falter, traditional plant proteins like tofu, tempeh and seitan are gaining ground. These products racked up $221M in dollar sales last year, a 7% increase from 2023 and unit sales were up 6.5%.
Unseasoned tofu performed “exceptionally well”, recording a 10% growth in dollar sales and capturing 78% of the tofu market. That said, these age-old products still only ended up in 7% of homes in 2024, although 59% returned to the store for more.
Other categories that experienced a significant retail boost in 2024 included protein powders and liquids (+11%), and baked goods (13%).
Further, tofu emerged as a star ingredient in foodservice, witnessing the largest (and in some cases, only) increases in this segment last year. Government catering services spent nearly 60% more on tofu in 2024, with business and industry operators coming close.
Courtesy: PBFA
Animal protein prices are on the rise – plants are not
One of the most common complaints about plant-based food is its still-significant price gap with meat, dairy and eggs. However, PBFA’s report shows that the supply chain volatilities of 2024 hit animal proteins harder.
The average retail price grew across all animal-based food categories, with eggs unsurprisingly registering the largest hike (6%), followed by butter (3%), creamer (3%), and cheese (2%).
At the same time, prices for four plant-based categories actually declined. Vegan butter and ice cream were 3% cheaper in 2024 than the year before, while the cost of non-dairy creamers and cheese fell by 1%. And while milk alternatives were 1% more expensive, their price hike was lower than the 2% experienced by cow’s milk.
Vegan yoghurt and plant-based meat were among the only categories whose prices rose faster than their conventional counterparts. While eggs were also shown to have an increase, previous research shows that data on unit sales and price changes here is somewhat skewed as the market-leading product shifted to a larger pack size and thus a comparably higher price point.
Courtesy: PBFA
“While interest in plant-based remains strong across categories, we’ve entered a new stage of the adoption curve: today’s consumers are motivated by different factors than before,” said Hunter White, plant-based category manager at KeHe Distributors. “Across our network, we see clear opportunities for clean-label products that align with broader food trends like high protein content, innovative global flavours, and gut health.”
He added: “The next wave of success will belong to those who evolve their products and sets with intention, tapping into these emerging consumer shifts.”
In Germany, a quarter of consumers are open to trying cultivated meat made from a 3D printer, a much greater share than in 2019.
As Europe’s leading plant-based market, Germany has always shown openness to food tech innovation, especially its youth.
Last year, one survey found that young Germans trust food produced via new technologies and are willing to buy it three times more than older respondents, who worry about potential health risks.
Now, another poll shows similar results, with 24% of Germans open to trying cultivated meat produced in bioreactors and formed with a 3D printer, much higher than the 13% who said the same six years ago – but older generations seem the least likely to want to give such products a go.
Conducted by Bitkom Research, the survey covered 1,004 Germans aged 16 and over between March and April this year, who were asked if they could imagine eating 3D-printed cultivated meat, and what drove or kept them from doing so.
Cost remains a big concern for 3D-printed cultivated meat
Openness to novel food was greatest among 30- to 49-year-olds, 35% of whom expressed interest in trying 3D-printed meat. This was followed by the 16-29 age group (33%).
However, only 18% of 50- to 64-year-olds say they’d eat cultivated meat made this way, a number that falls to 16% among those aged 65 and over.
That said, about a third (31%) of consumers are convinced that cultivated meat from a 3D printer can contribute to a more sustainable food system. While that’s proof that Germans are aware of the climate benefits of these proteins, it highlights the need for further education.
Perhaps more crucial to consumers is the cost to their wallet, with only 7% willing to pay more for these foods. In fact, a sixth of them viewed 3D-printed food as purely a luxury product.
It’s reflective of a key bottleneck for the cultivated meat industry. Since it’s a new technology currently being produced on a small scale, these proteins are expensive. A lot of work has been done over the last decade to bring prices down – and dramatically so, in some cases. According to McKinsey, it will take until at least 2030 for cultivated meat to be cost-competitive with its conventional counterparts.
And in line with some expectations from the survey, some cultured meat startups have focused on high-value species and positioned them as premium products for the cost economics to make more sense. For example, BlueNalu is working on bluefin tuna toro, Forsea Foods on Japanese eel, and Vow on quail and foie gras.
Germans are also most likely to be introduced to these proteins through a foie gras product, with Parisian startup Gourmey submitting the EU’s first regulatory dossier for cultivated meat last year. Months later, Dutch firm Mosa Meat applied to the EU for its cultivated beef fat, which is mixed with plant-based ingredients to produce burgers and reduce overall costs.
Germans envision 3D-printers becoming mainstream
Courtesy: Steakholder Foods
“Food printers are currently still relatively expensive and rely on specialised ingredients. Therefore, they are not yet suitable for mass production, but are primarily used in the catering and food industry,” explained Margareta Maier, digital farming officer at Bitkom.
Still, 16% of Germans say they’d like to use a 3D printer to produce food tailored to their preferences and needs, and 15% believe they will become an integral kitchen equipment in the future.
“The process makes it possible to give products an appearance and texture similar to conventional meat – but with a significantly smaller ecological footprint,” Maier said. “More and more people are open to plant-based alternatives and innovative technologies – 3D-printed food could therefore become even more important in the future.”
Cultivated meat manufacturers often use 3D printing to build scaffolds that dictate how cells grow and differentiate. Israel’s Steakholder Foods, Believer Meats and Aleph Farms, and California’s Good Meat BlueNalu have all been known to leverage this tech.
3D printing is among a number of techniques used to make scaffolds, with manufacturers also able to use polymer spinning technologies (like electrospinning), decellularisation, hydrogels, and even mycelium.
Germans’ receptiveness to the tech, though, chimes with previous research. One survey found that nearly half (47%) of its citizens say they would eat cultivated meat, and that the government should support its development and help farmers capitalise on the opportunities. This comes at a time when more and more Germans are cutting back on meat; a third of its consumer want to reduce their meat consumption, and 38% want to replace it with plant-based food.
“From food tech in industry and gastronomy to smart farming in the field and in the stable, digital technologies play a central role in saving resources in food production and making agriculture more environmentally friendly, robust, and animal-friendly,” said Maier.
Dr Sarah Ison, global director of research at Madre Brava, argues that the ultra-processed food discourse is helping worsen climate change.
Ultra-processed foods, or UPFs, are dominating news sites, opinion pages and influencers’ social posts. They are a tempting subject for posts that have a fraction of a second to get your attention, given they relate to food and health, something we are all interested in to some extent.
But, beyond health, UPFs could also be a key climate and environment issue, and the lack of nuance in the debate swirling around them could be slowing progress in a vital area of climate action.
It’s not often arguing for balance is considered radical, but in the case of UPFs, attempts at nuance are increasingly difficult as the debate becomes ultra-polarised and ‘UPF’ becomes a dirty acronym. And this polarisation is eroding confidence in a type of food which can help reduce emissions from food.
Too much red and processed meat and not enough plants is stoking levels of obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and certain types of cancer. So dietary change, most importantly, protein diversification, can improve health, as well as tackle climate change and restore nature.
Plant-based meat alternatives, are a sustainable alternative to meat, in addition to whole plant protein foods such as legumes, nuts and seeds and minimally processed tofu and tempeh.
Plant-based alternatives should be compared to meat
Courtesy: ProVeg International
The first, and most obvious, issue with the UPF label is that it doesn’t discriminate. Not all UPFs are created equal. There is a vast difference between cookies and sweets on the one hand and wholewheat breakfast cereals fortified with vitamins on the other, but they can fall into the same category in many people’s minds.
Looking at meat analogues, they are classified as ultra-processed due to the multiple types of ingredients they contain. This has led to concerns about their health credentials.
But we should not be comparing them to whole grains; we should be comparing them to their meat-based counterparts. When we do that, we see clearly that they have better nutrition profiles (higher fibre, less fat and saturated fat) and can equal the protein content of your ‘regular’ burger or sausage.
Expanding this to include soy milk, recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses demonstrate health benefits when substituting plant-based meats for conventional meat and soy for cow’s milk. For meat substitutes, key benefits were reductions in cholesterol and modest weight loss, with more pronounced benefits with mycoprotein-based products like Quorn. Soy milk substitution reduced bad and increased good cholesterol, as well as decreased blood pressure and a marker of inflammation.
Importantly, neither showed negative health impacts. For soy milk, these benefits were consistent regardless of whether products contained added sugars.
These findings suggest plant-based alternatives can play a positive role in cardiovascular health by reducing cholesterol, with soy milk offering additional benefits for blood pressure and inflammation, and meat substitutes for weight loss.
The misinformation cycle has left consumers confused
Illustration by Green Queen
The evidence supports their inclusion in healthy diets, particularly given the need to address the climate, nature and human health crises by reducing meat and dairy.
Again, nuance is crucial here: inclusion in healthy diets. They are not designed to be a dominant part of one’s diet. More research is needed to understand why UPFs are linked to poor health – the mechanisms are still not clear.
Plant-based meat manufacturers should also be following the science. Keep added salt and sugar to a minimum, keep up with the evidence and adjust accordingly.
Finally, there are those who benefit from the lack of nuance in the conversation around meat alternatives. Questioning the health credentials of plant-based meat and milk, while ignoring the evidence about those of their animal-based counterparts, is becoming a tried and tested tactic, most spectacularly demonstrated in this 2020 Super Bowl advert.
So what are consumers supposed to do? People who want to introduce more plants to their plates could be forgiven for feeling confused by the avalanche of competing messages around plant-based meat.
Research in this area is exploding, so it is incumbent on all to act in the best interests of people’s health, and that of the planet, by contributing to high-quality information that helps us understand the effect of different foods and not seek to cherry-pick or weaponise individual studies.
After all, our health – and that of the planet – is at stake.
Cultivated meat isn’t approved for sale in Europe yet – but that hasn’t stopped this entrepreneur from setting up an online shop for these proteins.
Forget Michelin-starred restaurants and famed butcheries. What if you could get cultivated meat delivered to your doorstep at the click of a button?
David Bell has taken that idea and run with it. An e-commerce and digital marketing expert by day, he has established an online store for cultivated meat in 18 European countries, even though regulatory approval for these novel foods is at least a year away in the EU.
“Everything starts before it’s ready. Waiting until products are on the shelf means playing catch-up,” Bell explains when asked why he decided to set up the e-store now.
“Launching now gives us time to build awareness and visibility, educate the public, earn search presence and digital momentum, and position ourselves as the natural home for cultivated products,” he adds. “This space is moving fast. We’re creating the infrastructure before it’s urgently needed.”
The website is CultivatedMeat.co.uk, and Bell aims to list a vast range of cultivated meat products (some, like crocodile, aren’t in development commercially, though Australian startup Vow has previously said it is working with the animal’s cells), as well as offering educational guides and a blog with science and industry news. “We’ve built a site that makes cultivated meat visible and tangible, even in concept,” he says.
He’s based in the UK, where cultivated meat briefly appeared on shelves earlier this year – albeit for pet food. “We’ve secured the cultivated meat domains in 18 other European countries, so local versions will roll out imminently,” Bell notes. “Each of these will be localised as approvals come through.”
Will an online shop work for cultivated meat?
Courtesy: CultivatedMeat
Bell has been vegan for 13 years, primarily for ethical reasons – the health benefits were a bonus. “Even so, I’ve always missed the taste and cultural aspects of meat. I just never thought there’d be an alternative that made sense to me,” he says. “Cultivated meat makes it possible to eat real meat again without causing suffering.”
The website has sections for a variety of species, from beef, chicken and pork to duck, seafood, and even kangaroo meat, each of which is displayed next to an image of the living animal. Aside from the shop, it has guides and blogs describing how cultivated meat is made, its environmental benefits, and how you can cook it at home.
So far, the few cultivated meat products that have made it to market have been launched into either high-end restaurants or premium butcher shops. In the US, Mission Barns’s cultivated pork products will be the first to debut in a supermarket when they roll out at Sprouts Farmers Market later this year.
“That’s normal at the start – small batches, tight control. But long-term, consumer access will be the game-changer,” says Bell, explaining the rationale behind an e-store.
“Early adopters will be looking online first. That’s always how new categories start,” he suggests, outlining the Internet’s capability to build “clustered interest, niche education, and targeted communities”.
“Even as cultivated meat moves into the mainstream, physical retailers won’t carry every product, but we will. This site becomes the long-tail destination for the full range of cultivated meat options,” he says. “An online store also allows controlled launches per country, direct-to-consumer storytelling, data feedback for producers, and a single point of discovery for all cultivated meat.”
Is ‘cultivated meat’ the best term to attract consumers? “Yes. It’s the most widely accepted term across media, policy, and industry. It avoids the baggage of ‘lab-grown’ while clearly describing what it is,” he contends. “Personally, as a long-time vegan, I see cultivated meat as a reconciliation of ethics, science, and taste. The word reflects that balance.”
As he waits for cultivated meat to be approved for human food in Europe, his platform is focused on building its email waitlist, publishing educational content, and developing partnerships. “It’s not just a shop – it’s a public front door for the cultivated meat movement from a consumer perspective,” he notes.
Courtesy: CultivatedMeat
Cultivated meat startups in talks with online store
Speaking of partnerships, Bell is already in talks with several cultivated meat firms, both in Europe and beyond. “We’re shaping what launch partnerships might look like,” he says.
He says he is in contact with several organisations across the ecosystem. “We bring the consumer front-end. That makes us a useful partner for groups focused on research, policy, or production,” he explains.
CultivatedMeat’s business model is flexible, both in terms of revenue and logistics. The platform will handle distribution in some cases, and pass it on to producers or third-party firms in others.
“We already have access to specialist cold chain partners for frozen and chilled delivery for when this is ready,” he notes. “Most early product rollouts will be closely managed, so logistics will be smaller-scale and controllable to begin with.”
As for the revenue stream, some partnerships might follow a classic buy-sell model, and others might be based on a margin, affiliate, or distribution partnership. “Longer term, revenue will come from retail markups or commissions, exclusive product collaborations, brand placement and launch support, sponsored content, and media visibility,” outlines Bell.
Courtesy: Romain Buisson/Gourmey
So far, only two cultivated meat companies have publicly filed for novel food approval in the EU: France’s Gourmey (for foie gras) and Dutch startup Mosa Meat (for beef fat). The process can take around 18 months, and Gourmey has indicated its plans to sell its product via restaurants by 2026.
Both these firms have applied in Switzerland and the UK, as has Israeli cultivated beef producer Aleph Farms. The latter country is a frontrunner in Europe – it has already approved Meatly’s chicken for pet food applications, and is assessing human-focused applications from Vital Meat and Ivy Farm Technologies too.
Bell is leveraging his online expertise to be ready for when these regulators eventually greenlight the products for sale. “As someone who’s worked in digital commerce for years, launching this platform felt like the most natural and meaningful thing I could do,” he says. “I’m just combining what I know about online ecosystems and ethical consumerism to help move this space forward.”
With relations between Americans and Canadians souring, a wave of economic nationalism has prompted one Toronto startup to aggressively expand its plant-based salmon.
If there are two things Canadians love right now, it’s homegrown products and salmon.
But both industries are under threat – the former from a trade war and hostile political rhetoric from its southern neighbour, and the latter from climate change.
In Toronto, one startup is tackling both challenges with a unique proposition. Salmon without the fish, made in Canada.
“People don’t just want better options, they want Canadian-made, Canadian-led alternatives that reflect our values, our innovation, and our independence,” says Chris Bryson, founder and CEO of vegan seafood firm New School Foods.
He’s right. Two in five Canadians will “absolutely do everything” to avoid American products now, and 88% would purchase items promoted as “made in Canada”.
“We are seeing Canadian restaurants trying to source more Canadian products and switching away from US producers,” Bryson tells Green Queen.
In the last four months, the company has signed agreements to bring its plant-based whole-cut salmon to over 30 restaurants nationwide, spanning Michelin Guide standouts, boutique hotels, ramen and sushi shops, and emerging chains.
Further, it has announced distribution partnerships with Gordon Food Service, the largest family-operated food distributor in North America, and speciality food purveyor Bondi Produce. These will give New School Foods access to a broad range of establishments across Canada.
“We see a growing opportunity in Canada where Canadians want to buy from Canadian companies, and we’re excited to step up to the plate,” says Bryson.
How New School Foods makes its whole-cut vegan salmon
Courtesy: New School Foods
“New School Foods doesn’t just provide a product that is fully Canadian, but also a superior product that is sustainable and scalable through breakthrough technologies we developed,” Bryson suggests.
The company employs directional freezing technology to make its whole-cut salmon analogue. Unlike extrusion, a widely used technique in the industry that denatures proteins via heat, this process allows products to start raw and cook like conventional meat.
The “cold-based” production method is built around a plant-based scaffolding that mimics animal muscle and connective tissues, with the same diameter, length, strength and behaviour. The layers of tissue are reproduced via a patent-pending injection process and give the product its trademark flakiness.
New School Foods has developed an assembly line, dubbed V1, to apply this technology on a commercial scale, which it says is the first of its kind for directional freezing.
“We recently completed the initial build of our V1 commercial line to support our commercial soft-launch. We’re scaling it up and optimising it every week – this is where the bulk of our time and effort goes, as we have developed a completely new manufacturing technology,” explains Bryson.
“We’re very excited about its scalability and flexibility, as we do see it able to produce much more than salmon,” he adds. “For example, we recently started processing the waste from our cutting process, and turned it into a salmon burger. We soft-launched it last month, and it’s doing super well. And the production process uses all the same equipment we use for making the fillet.”
The technology platform itself is “species-agnostic”, so it can be used to create other kinds of meat and fish too. Plus, the scaffolding can be used with any protein type, be it plant-based, fermentation-derived, or cell-cultivated. This paves the way for B2B co-manufacturing and white-label partnerships, opening up another revenue stream for New School Foods.
Why Canada needs alternative seafood
Courtesy: New School Foods
The startup, founded in 2021, carries out all its R&D, engineering and production at its recently opened 28,000 sq ft facility in Toronto. This, it suggests, allows for rapid iteration of new products, which use off-the-shelf food manufacturing equipment that significantly lowers costs compared to extrusion or cellular agriculture.
This is crucial at a time when salmon prices are rising amid farm closures, tariff disruptions, and climate change events in Canada. The government will ban open-net farming in British Columbia in 2029 (amid criticism from environmentalists over a five-year delay in its implementation), in response to dwindling salmon populations in the region’s waters.
The province’s farming industry has previously been caught dumping piscine orthoreovirus-infected (a fish virus) blood into Canada’s largest wild salmon migration route, and scientists had warned in 2012 that a virus was infecting both its farmed and wild salmon, which is a detriment to human health too.
The tariff war has made things worse. The Trump administration has imposed a 25% tariff on most Canadian goods, and Canada has reciprocated with its own set of duties. The US is its largest supplier of seafood, accounting for 31% of its import value in 2023. Salmon was the top imported species (21% of the total), with the US providing $280M worth of the fish that year.
Meanwhile, Trump’s repeated threats of annexation to make Canada “the 51st state” have been met with fierce backlash and a shift towards local manufacturing. Now, more than half of Canadians say they will stop buying a product if there’s no homegrown alternative.
New School Foods CEO ‘extremely confident’ in alternative protein sector
Courtesy: New School Foods
All this makes alternatives like New School Foods more important than ever. At the same time, alternative proteins – and especially vegan seafood – are having a tough time attracting customers. Seafood analogues make up just 1% of the plant-based meat category, as well as the conventional sector.
For Bryon, this was to be expected. “Lots of products were launched that didn’t taste great and were expensive, so the value proposition didn’t add up for a broader audience,” he says.
At the same time, the number of vegan seafood products has been far and few between, especially at “the level of sophistication and quality of the products in the alt-meat category”. “So it makes sense that there’s less traction, because there’s less product maturity,” he explains.
“I’m extremely confident that we will see that change in the years ahead as companies like ours launch products that actually meet customer needs. At the end of the day, there needs to be a compelling value proposition for customers, and many products are just not there yet. Through proper investments in R&D and newer production technologies like ours, that can be solved.”
While the company doesn’t share its revenue numbers, he reveals that 2025 is “already driving significantly more revenue than 2024 as more restaurants put New School Foods on their menus”.
Does it have plans to enter retail too? “Our priority at the moment is working with restaurants and chefs,” he says. “We believe we need to first earn the trust and respect of chefs in order to earn the trust of the end consumer. This also allows us to keep rapidly improving our product based on feedback, and to highlight the versatility of our products. Almost every week, we find out that chefs have discovered a new application for our products.”
New School Foods’s expansion comes on the heels of a $6M funding round led by Inter IKEA, the holding company of the furniture giant, taking its total raised to $18M. It came during an investment drought for alternative proteins, where startups attracted 27% less capital in 2024 than the year before.
“The 2018-19 era showcased that there is indeed demand for more sustainable foods. We also see that all the time in our sales process. The problem is that there is an R&D and product quality gap, and customer expectations have not been met,” contends Bryson.
“That only gets solved via investments into better ingredients and better production technologies. There will always be an audience for delicious and affordable products; we just need to keep closing the gap.
In our interview series, we quiz future food investors about the solutions that excite them the most, their favourite climate-forward restaurant, and what they look for in successful founders.
Jacob Afriat is the General Partner at Great Circle Ventures.
What future food technologies most excite you?
I’m particularly excited about the application of AI across the food value chain—from ingredient discovery to formulation, bioavailability, and even optimising sensory properties like texture and mouthfeel. AI has the potential to dramatically reduce development cycles, personalise nutrition, and bring precision to taste and function in ways we’ve never seen before.
What are three future food verticals you are actively looking at for 2025?
‘Beyond the label’ food safety and transparency
Precision nutrition and functional food systems
Next-gen preventative nutrition
What do you consider the food tech sector’s greatest achievement in the past five years?
One of the most encouraging achievements has been the consumer’s growing openness to changing habits. The rapid adoption of plant-based dairy and meat alternatives – even with imperfect products – showed that the market is ready for better options.
While these categories are currently facing headwinds, mostly due to challenges in balancing taste, health, sustainability, and price, we believe the next wave of alternatives that get these four pillars right could see even faster and broader adoption.
If you could wave a magic wand, how would you fix plant-based meat?
I’d create a product that’s not just an alternative to meat, but superior to it – especially from a health and nutrition standpoint. Today’s plant-based meats are often ultra-processed and nutritionally underwhelming. The ideal version would be minimally processed, clean-label, and deliver functional health benefits without compromising on taste or texture.
What’s the top trait you look for in a founder?
Grit. Founders building in food and climate face long timelines, tough science, and sceptical markets.
Grit – the relentless drive to keep pushing forward despite setbacks – is what sets apart those who endure and ultimately succeed.
The One That Got Away: What is the deal you wish you had gotten into, but didn’t?
Function Health. I had a chance to invest very early – an opportunity that would have returned over 150x in just three years. At the time, it felt slightly outside our core investment thesis, but in hindsight, it was clearly aligned with the broader shift we believe in: empowering consumers with deeper health data and personalisation.
What do you consider your most successful future food investment so far?
While it’s still early, I’m particularly excited about our investment in Zya, which is pioneering a new approach to sugar reduction. They’re developing a proprietary ingredient that could disrupt the way we think about sugar alternatives. It’s too early to call it a success, but the potential is certainly promising, and we’re watching it closely as they move through their early stages of development.
What has been your most disappointing investment so far?
The investments we’re most disappointed with are those where we had to move too quickly and didn’t spend enough time evaluating the founders. It’s a reminder of how important it is to take the necessary time to get to know the team and ensure alignment before committing.
What do people misunderstand/get wrong most about VC?
One common misconception is that venture capital is about quick, big returns. People often point to short-term successes, but what they miss is that true value creation in VC takes time. While some companies may see huge returns in the short run, those gains are often unsustainable.
Over a longer timeline, many of these companies experience an adjustment as they work through scaling challenges or market realities. The real value comes from supporting businesses over the long haul, helping them evolve, and creating sustainable growth.
What is the most ‘future food’ thing you have eaten this month?
I recently tried a freeze-dried whole broccoli snack from Veggie Vice. While it might not seem like the most futuristic food at first glance, I was really impressed by how this simple, well-known technology – freeze-drying – can be applied to preserve the full nutritional profile of fruits and vegetables.
It was amazing to see how the shelf life of a vegetable can be extended while maintaining its integrity and minimal processing. It’s a great example of how innovation doesn’t always need to be groundbreaking technology – sometimes, it’s about reimagining the potential of existing tools.
Where is your favourite climate-forward restaurant/dish/place to eat anywhere in the world?
I recently discovered a small gem near my office in Madison Square Park, New York, called Rooted. It really stood out for its commitment to simplicity and transparency. The menu is centred around a few carefully chosen ingredients, and they’ve made a conscious decision to avoid using seed oils.
It’s refreshing to see a restaurant that prioritises both sustainability and thoughtful sourcing while creating delicious, mindful dishes.
What’s your ‘why’? What motivates you to do what you do?
In a world that moves so quickly and where we’re constantly inundated with information – often contradictory – it’s incredibly satisfying to focus and try to identify the real “blue line”. I’m driven by the challenge of predicting the next trend, cutting through the noise, and finding opportunities that align with true, long-term value.
Nebraska has become the sixth US state to ban cultivated meat, after Governor Jim Pillen signed the bill that he had initially requested.
Jim Pillen, owner of the largest pork producer in Nebraska, happily signed a bill sent to his desk on Tuesday. It was one he himself had dreamt up months ago, and it would protect the very industry he’s built his fortune on.
The Nebraska governor put pen to paper on LB 246, officially banning the production, sale or import of cultivated meat within state boundaries. Anybody violating this would face penalties under the Pure Food Act, and as well as the Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
“We need to be willing to protect and preserve our state’s vital ag industry as well as our consumers,” said Pillen. “These products are grown from harvested cells in bioreactor machines. The health consequences are unknown, and so are the long-term effects to consumers.”
It marks the culmination of what Pillen had labelled “a full-blown attack on lab-grown meats and fake meat” in August, when he signed an executive order putting restrictions on these proteins and announcing his intention to ban them in 2025.
At his request, Senator Barry DeKay brought forward the bill in January, which describes cultivated meat as an “adulterated food product”. While there was apprehension from some fellow Republicans, as well as the very industry Pillen said he was aiming to safeguard, the bill finally made it through the state chambers.
Nebraska’s ban helps Gov Pillen more than anyone else
Courtesy: Phelan M Ebenhack/AP
When signing his executive order in August, Pillen indicated his desire to protect animal agriculture from the “extraordinary, crazy views out there that there’s going to be different ways to feed the planet”.
He took a jibe at Bill Gates, who has invested in a number of alternative protein companies, including California’s Upside Foods, which has sued Florida for a similar ban. “There’s a guy that made some money in building computers. He needs to stay in the computer space and knock this stuff off thinking that he’s going to promote lab-grown meat. He’s lost his brains,” said Pillen.
“We are the beef state,” he added. That’s the issue, though. Agriculture is the largest source of Nebraska’s emissions, contributing to 42% of the state’s climate footprint – and beef production alone accounts for 55% of this share, and 23.7% of the state’s overall emissions.
Courtesy: EPA
Pillen said Nebraska’s farmers and ranchers (which includes himself) “are committed to producing the best food products anywhere”.
“We feed the world, and we save the planet more effectively and more efficiently than anybody else, and I will defend those practices with my last breath,” he said.
Pillen’s hog farm operation has made him a multimillionaire. Pillen Family Farms is one of the nation’s largest pork producers and received a $286M loan from a lender in 2023. It has also come under scrutiny for having dangerously high nitrate levels in its farms’ water supply, which puts the health of both farmers and consumers at risk.
So it’s a little tough to take Pillen at his word about who this cultivated meat ban would benefit.
Farmers opposed cultivated meat ban in Nebraska
Courtesy: Governor Jim Pillen/X
Nebraska’s ban faced more opposition than Pillen perhaps anticipated. Lawmakers like Senator Merv Riepe, as well as the Nebraska Farm Bureau preferred to address the labelling of cultivated meat instead of outlawing it, especially since it’s not available in the state yet.
Opposition also came from ranchers and farming groups, who said they didn’t need the government’s help to compete with cultivated meat. One farmer told the AP that he welcomes cultivated meat producers to “jump into the pool” and try to compete with his Waygu beef, going on to describe his disdain for lawmakers’ efforts to stifle competition in a free market.
He noted that governments should only be limited to regulating product labels and inspecting facilities – something the US Department of Agriculture already does when reviewing regulatory applications for cultivated meat. “After that, it’s up to the consumer to make the decision about what they buy and eat,” said the beef farmer.
The final bill didn’t pass unanimously, with 11 lawmakers voting against it. Now that it has succeeded, Nebraska has become the sixth state to ban cultivated meat – and the fourth in the last couple of months. It joins Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, South Dakota and Indiana (the latter has placed a two-year moratorium).
It reflects the shifting political and cultural landscape in the US, with President Donald Trump and colleagues like JD Vance and Robert F Kennedy Jr all denouncing “fake meat”, just as consumers spend more on meat than ever before.
While more such legislation are likely on the way (as are legal challenges like that of Upside Foods), it does feel like a colossal waste of resources to ban something that has barely made it out of the gates, and is only trying to safeguard the future of an industry causing copious amounts of pollution, and being subsequently ravaged by climate change.
Research around ultra-processed food often overlooks important nuances when it comes to plant-based meat, which can potentially mislead consumers on the health impacts, suggests a new review.
If you’ve been shying away from plant-based meat because it’s too processed, you’re not the only one.
In the UK, half of consumers are worried that these products are too unnatural, while across Europe, 54% avoid eating them due to their classification as ultra-processed. Across the Atlantic, a quarter of Americans say they’d buy more meat analogues if they were less processed or more nutritionally equivalent to meat.
As the ultra-processed food (UPF) conversation takes over our dietary decisions, it has been a major thorn in the side of vegan meat alternatives, sales of which have either slowed in some markets, or fallen alarmingly in others. For instance, in the US, plant-based meat suffered from a 7% decline in retail sales last year.
Throughout this discourse, one key concern has always jumped out: you can’t paint all UPFs with the same brush. Health experts have cautioned against bundling the level of processing with nutrition – these are two different things, and should be treated that way.
Punctuating that point is a new report by the Physicians Association for Nutrition (PAN) and the Good Food Institute (GFI) Europe. It’s an evidence-based resource for healthcare professionals, policymakers, researchers, and patient organisations engaged in protein diversification and public health.
“Although trials have identified several key features of UPFs as a whole that are likely to play a large role in the negative outcomes observed (high calorie density, low fibre and hyper-palatability), plant-based meat has a very different nutritional profile from most UPFs, and these metrics do not generally apply to plant-based meat,” the report points out.
One major finding of the research highlights the need for nuance between processing that diminishes nutritional quality and techniques that enhance it. Some studies suggest that certain processing methods can improve protein quality and bioavailability, and enable beneficial fortification.
It comes at a time when more and more scientists are calling for a transition towards a plant-rich food system amid the mounting climate crisis, while misinformation and misunderstood research are drawing people away from products that make it easier for people to cut back on meat.
The problems with existing UPF studies
Courtesy: Springer
Part of the Nova classification developed by a Brazilian research team led by Prof Carlos Monteiro, UPFs are defined as products comprising industrial formulations and techniques like extrusion or pre-frying, and cosmetic substances such as high-fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils.
The new research draws on randomised controlled trials and systematic reviews to highlight how plant-based meat can serve as a better-for-you alternative to conventional processed meat, supporting better cholesterol levels, improved diet quality, and modest weight loss.
Macronutrient profiles show that plant-based meat only meets three out of eight criteria used to classify UPFs. In contrast, conventional processed meat ticks seven of them. Moreover, vegan alternatives offer more fibre, less saturated fat, and a similar share of calories from protein.
Courtesy: Physicians Association for Nutrition/GFI Europe
PAN and GFI Europe point out several limitations in current UPF research, which undermines their relevance to plant-based meat. For starters, most use food diaries from a decade ago, before most modern meat alternatives made it on the shelves. Even for products that existed at the time, hardly any company uses the same recipe or formulation today.
Those food diaries also often fail to separate plant proteins like tofu from meat analogues. And in any case, plant-based meat makes up a “vanishingly small” amount of the food in these datasets. For example, in a widely cited study based on the UK Biobank, these products accounted for only 0.2% of all calories eaten – but media coverage sought to blame “fake meats” instead of the real culprits.
The outcomes are likely caused by the most widely eaten UPFs, the report says – think cakes, sugary drinks, and processed meats, which have a vastly different nutritional profile. It argues that while research using such data links high UPF consumption with greater disease risk, it can’t actually tell us how much is caused by processing and how much by nutritional factors we already understand.
“Studies on the UPF group as a whole likely offer little insight into plant-based meat, and will likely be misleading as to its health impacts,” the report points out. “The best available evidence… suggests that replacing processed meat with plant-based versions could have medically relevant health benefits, most notably reductions in LDL cholesterol.”
Courtesy: Metro/The Telegraph/Daily Mail/New York Post
How can we improve UPF and plant-based meat research?
“The conversation around ultra-processed foods has become increasingly polarised,” said Roberta Alessandrini, director of PAN’s Dietary Guidelines Initiative and co-author of the guide. “But not all UPFs are created equal. This resource aims to equip professionals with a clearer understanding of where plant-based meat fits in – based on science, not sensationalism.”
The report calls on public health professionals to “challenge misconceptions on processing and plant-based meat”. UPF research is poorly understood by the general public, and limited familiarity with meat alternatives compounds the problem, so more accurate communication is sorely needed.
“Greater emphasis should be placed on the fact that there are multiple pathways to healthier lifestyles – and the most effective interventions are those that can be adhered to,” the guide suggests.
Courtesy: Physicians Association for Nutrition/GFI Europe
For researchers, the focus should be on diversifying the evidence base for UPFs and plant-based meat. More interventional studies are needed to understand which UPF features drive harm and how to effectively address them, and to explore which qualities of vegan alternatives are associated with beneficial outcomes. Further, behavioural studies can help find the best levers for dietary change.
Meanwhile, policymakers and national nutrition bodies should create dietary recommendations that help people select healthier options and increase consistency across products. This includes guidelines on fortifications, fibre and salt, which can vary across plant-based meat offerings.
“Products meeting these positive thresholds should also be included in national dietary guidance, as is the case in the Netherlands,” the report says.
“Proponents of the Nova framework and of protein diversification should be incentivised to identify where each can have the most impact building a healthier, more sustainable food system, and collaborate to target their work accordingly.”
Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Nutella Plant-Based’s UK launch, Oatly’s collab with Chris Parnell, and Nestlé’s new biotech centre.
New products and launches
Ferrero has announced that it will launch Nutella Plant-Based in the UK on May 25. It will be available at Sainsbury’s for £3.99 per 350g jar, before rolling out to other retailers next year. For context, the classic Nutella is 30p cheaper for the same size.
Courtesy: Ferrero
US startup Nature’s Bakery has released two new products: a gluten-free strawberry flavour of its flagship Fig Bar, and a raspberry and lemon oatmeal crumble bar. The plant-based treats are available at Target and on its website for $7 per six-pack.
Vegan snack brand Hippeas has rolled out Cheezy Cheddar Pops made from yellow peas and chickpeas. They contain 3g of protein and 2g of fibre per 1oz serving, and are available at Target, Walmart, and on Amazon and its website in various sizes.
Courtesy: Hippeas
French plant-based startup Hari&Co has launched Moroccan-inspired keftas, made from wheat and pea protein. They contain 20g of protein per 100g, have an A rating on the Nutri-Score scale, plus a 90/100 score on product-scanning app Yuka.I
Slovenia’s Juicy Marbles is bringing its plant-based whole cuts to Spain via a distribution deal with Zyrcular Foods.
Courtesy: Juicy Marbles
Germany’s Veganz Group has signed a deal with Jindilli Beverages to export its Mililk line of oat and almond milks in Tetra Pak formats to North America, Australia and New Zealand. The agreement also includes a new non-dairy creamer called Mililk Drops.
Also in North America, Canadian vegan fast-food chainOdd Burger has secured its own distribution agreement with Dot Foods, which will see its retail and foodservice products expand their national grocery and restaurant chain footprint.
Courtesy: Odd Burger
Vegan pizza maker Blackbird Foods has rolled out its frozen products at 88 Hy-Vee supermarket locations across the Midwest. They’re available in Margherita, Supreme, and Pepperoni flavours (the latetr features Beyond Meat).
And Indian startup Cosmix has launched No-Nonsense Plant Protein PRO, a yeast protein powder with the maximum protein digestibility score (akin to whey)
Company and finance updates
Speaking of India, New Delhi-based vegan egg startup Plantmade has ceased operations after four years.
As part of its Blind Love campaign, Oatly has launched a spoof ad with comedian and Saturday Night Live alum Chris Parnell to spread the word about what it has termed Dormant Oatmilk Condition: five times more Americans prefer oat milk in their coffee over dairy, but they don’t know it yet.
In Switzerland, Nestlé has opened a biotech centre to advance its nutritional solutions across a range of verticals, including early life, women’s health, and weight management. Among the hub’s credentials are enhanced capabilities in precision fermentation.
Meanwhile, Beyond Meat has amended its lease on its headquarters, giving up 61,000 sq ft of its office space back to HC Hornet Way for a one-time termination fee of $1M. It continues to rent 220,000 sq ft of space, but expects to incur $600,000 in modification costs. This comes after a disappointing Q1 for the plant-based meat maker.
Courtesy: Beyond Meat
Food tech startup High Time Foods, which makes ambient plant protein products, has raised $1.2M in a new funding round. Following the deal, it has relocated from the US to India, and is gearing up its product development and international expansion efforts.
Aussie firm Levur, which is working on a precision-fermentated alternative to palm oil, has also secured $1.2M in pre-seed funding.
Courtesy: Daniel Hine/Fable Foods
Fellow Sydney-based startup Fable Food has posted a 50% year-on-year revenue growth, and projects an even better performance this year, thanks to its shiitake-mushroom-based products (which have taken the blended meat world by storm).
In New Zealand, Opo Bio – a B2B supplier of livestock cells for cultivated meat production – has secured investment from Epic Angels to expand its R&D efforts and patent portfolio.
Courtesy: EatKinda
Forbes has named Mrinali Kumar, co-founder and CEO of cauliflower ice cream brandEatKinda, and Emily McIsaac, co-founder and COO of precision fermentation firmDaisy Lab, on its 30 Under 30 list, under the Arts and Industry, Manufacturing & Energy categories, respectively.
Canada’s Lovingly Made Flour Mills and Botaneco are working with British firm Stars UK R&D and the University of Leeds to develop Canadian-grown legumes and sunflower ingredients to improve the juiciness of plant-based burgers.
Courtesy: Eat Just
California’s Eat Just has hired Kristie Middleton as its VP of foodservice sales. She was most recently the chief relationship officer at vegan chicken maker Rebellyous Foods.
Also in California, cultivated meat startup Omeat has appointed Eric Schulze as its CTO. He is a former regulator at the FDA who later spent seven years at Upside Foods.
Research, policy and events
In the UK, The Vegan Society will celebrate its 80th year with the Veganism: Past, Present and Future exhibition at the Library of Birmingham from May 17 to August 24.
Cellulaire Agricultuur Nederland and the Dutch Research Council (NWO) are preparing to open a €4M research call focused on scaling up the production and reducing costs of foods produced via precision fermentation and cell culture.
Retail sales of plant-based meat in the US fell by 7.5% to $1.13B in the year ending April 20, 2025, according to SPINS. Refrigerated burgers bore the burnt of the fall, with sales dipping by 26%.
The number one reason deterring people from plant-based milk is taste. At the Technical University of Denmark, researchers suggest the solution lies in the same microbes found in kimchi: lactic acid bacteria.
Courtesy: HackSummit
Finally, Argentinian gut health startup Future Biome has won this year’s FoodTech World Cup at the HackSummit for its new class of fungi-based prebiotic solutions.
More than 50 brands, organisations, and restaurants have come together for a first-of-its-kind Meat Free Made Easy campaign.
In the UK, half of adults want to change the way they eat, either by adding more plants to their diet, or cutting back on meat and dairy.
In fact, two in five of them are already doing this, identifying as either flexitarian, pescetarian, vegetarian or vegan. But their belief in the nutritional attributes of plant-based food – and their ability to cook them – remains low.
In response to these findings, British consultancy Plant Futures Collective has convened 53 companies and organisations to launch a collaborative campaign called Meat Free Made Easy. The coalition involves three dozen alternative protein brands, including Beyond Meat, THIS, Linda McCartney Foods, La Vie, Planted, VFC and Quorn.
It also encompasses foodservice and restaurant operators like Compass Group, Mildreds, and Alexis Gauthier’s 123V, suppliers such as Compleat Food Group and Vegan Food Group, and organisations like Plant Based Health Professionals, Veg Capital, and Meat Free Monday.
The campaign is being endorsed by Henry Dimbleby, co-founder of Leon and author of the UK’s National Food Strategy. “We need fewer rules, and more real-world solutions,” he said. “This is the kind of collaborative leadership that moves consumers – and the category – forward.”
It’s all about ease and convenience
Courtesy: Plant Futures Collective
Plant Futures teased the campaign in January, when founder and CEO Indy Kaur spoke to Green Queen about the firm’s research on Meat Free Monday. It had found that participants were “forming healthier eating habits throughout the week, such as eating more fruits and vegetables, trying new plant-based foods, and opting for more meat-free meals when eating out”.
It’s what inspired the new campaign, which will run across social media and press channels, with a larger rollout set for Q4. This will include in-store activation, promotions to push trial, and a wider cultural push to “build new norms around meat-free eating”.
“This is the first time the plant-based sector has come together at scale to actively drive category penetration through the power of collective action and coordination,” explained Kaur. “This campaign is built around real insights, design thinking and a systems change approach to inspire millions of people to shop the category.”
She added that behavioural research shows ease is the “most powerful lever” of adoption: “Consumers aren’t necessarily resistant, they are uncertain, lacking in confidence, capability and know-how.”
Courtesy: GFI Europe
The aforementioned research, conducted by Plant Futures, Good Food Institute (GFI) Europe, and HarrisX, found that among the people who want to change their diets, a third want to reduce their meat intake, and 38% want to eat more plant-based food. Only 45% feel comfortable cooking a plant-based dish, versus 83% who say the same for meals with animal products.
“Behaviour change isn’t just about awareness, it’s about ease,” noted Richard Shotton, a behavioural scientist and author. “Remove the friction, and you unlock mass behaviour.”
Meat Free Made Easy will see participating brands showcase simple ways to swap meat for plants in everyday meals – think lentils in a lasagna or a veggie burger instead of beef. “Meat-free doesn’t have to be all or nothing, it just needs to feel doable and fun,” said Kaur.
Meat Free Made Easy must build cultural momentum
Courtesy: Indy Kaur
The campaign’s initial phase will focus on helping consumers imagine themselves trying something new and view meat-free eating as “normal, flexible and worth a go”. It marks a shift from siloed marketing by plant-based brands to collective action.
It’s reminiscent of the ‘checkoff’ programmes in the US, which operate as centralised marketing and research funds to promote industries like beef and dairy. Marketing drives like Got Milk? are a result of these efforts. “The plant-based sector, however, doesn’t yet have this kind of infrastructure, which would be incredibly valuable,” Kaur told Green Queen earlier this year.
Meat Free Made Easy’s strategy focuses on the three audience segments uncovered by its consumer research. Among those looking for dietary change, 13% are classed as Meat & Dairy Reducers; they want to eat fewer animal products without increasing plant-based food intake. These are mainly older people looking to lose weight.
Over a sixth (18%) are Plant-Based Increasers. These Brits want to eat more vegan food without decreasing animal protein intake, and are likely to be younger and higher-earning, and often men, seeking protein and fibre with fitness goals like muscle-building.
The third and largest group are Balanced Lifestyle Seekers (20%). These are midlife consumers aiming for health and variety, looking to both increase their uptake of plant-based foods and lower their meat and dairy consumption.
Courtesy: GFI Europe
There are several key messages that the participating companies must focus on. Only half of Brits believe plant-based foods are important for nutritional balance, and just a quarter have friends or family who eat vegan food. Meanwhile, a mere 27% of adults choose meat-free meals out of habit, compared to 64% for dairy.
Building cultural momentum and new habits (through repetition and nudges) is essential, as is outlining the health benefits of these foods. “Helping the nation eat less meat will only be possible if we provide solutions that make it easy, affordable and enjoyable,” said Dimbleby. “That’s exactly what Meat Free Made Easy sets out to do.”
Will collective action turn the tide for plant-based, and the planet? This campaign hinges on that premise.
Food tech investor Big Idea Ventures has acquired the assets of Vevolution, a digital platform that connects investors with startups in the future food space.
VC firm Big Idea Ventures (BIV) has purchased the assets of London-based food tech investment platform and marketplace Vevolution.
The terms of the transaction were undisclosed, but it aims to boost BIV’s global infrastructure and support the broader startup and innovation ecosystem across climate and agrifood tech, future materials, and sustainable artificial intelligence (AI).
It marks the second exit in a month for two of Vevolution’s co-founders, Damien Clarkson and Judy Nadel, who sold their vegan pet food brand The Pack to premium manufacturer Prefera Petfood in a deal announced in early May.
“Today marks a major milestone for Vevolution. We’re excited for the platform’s new chapter with Big Idea Ventures, a great partner to boost its global reach and assist more startups and investors,” they said in a joint statement with Michiel van Deursen, who joined as co-founder in 2020.
Acquisition follows rapid expansion for Vevolution
Courtesy: Vevolution
Clarkson and Nadel founded Vevolution in 2017 as a media and events platform for alternative protein and future food businesses. It evolved into a global investment hub in 2020 after van Deursen, a tech entrepreneur and investor who founded VC firm Capital V, came on board.
Headed by CEO Erik Amundson and CTO Tristan Hartman, the company has facilitated over $60M worth of investments in a range of companies across the globe, including bee-free honey player MeliBio, cell-cultured milk startup Opalia, precision-fermented dairy protein firms De Novo Foodlabs and Fermify, and plant-based meat maker Shaka Harry.
Vevolution raised $330,000 in funding from Capital V, Kale United and Cult Food Science in 2022, when it hosted over 3,000 users on its platform. It has since expanded rapidly, serving over 8,000 users today, including 2,200 startups and 1,000 investors.
“As we build ecosystems in key regions around the world, Vevolution will be a powerful platform to support innovation and collaboration – across agrifood tech, climate tech, biotech, and other key sectors in the bioeconomy,” said Andrew D Ive, founder and managing general partner of BIV.
The development comes amid increased M&A activity in the alternative protein sector. In the US, Wicked Kitchen, Nuggs, and Blackbird Foods were all taken over by Ahimsa Companies last year, while vegan cheesemaker Vertage was purchased by Misha’s Inc this January. And earlier this month, dairy giant Danone bought dairy-free kids nutrition brand Kate Farms.
In the UK, meanwhile, vegan ready meal startup Allplants’s assets were bought by Grubby and Plants – the latter is owned by the founders of Deliciously Ella, which itself was sold to Hero Group in a multimillion-pound deal last year.
Big Idea Ventures prioritising scale-up technologies
Courtesy: Big Idea Ventures
Having been around since 2018, BIV calls itself the “most active food tech investor” in the world, managing upwards of $150M with over 150 portfolio companies across several verticals.
In the alternative protein field, it has invested in the likes of MeliBio, DeNovo Foodlabs, and Opalia, as well as whole-food innovators Actual Veggies and Karana, cultivated foie gras maker Gourmey, vegan fat startup Lypid, and fermentation-derived seafood firm Aqua Cultured Foods.
The VC firm said it would use its global expertise to expand Vevolution’s reach and impact via strategic partnerships, positioning the acquisition as a key step in its drive to build infrastructure for large-scale innovation.
“Our mission is to support entrepreneurs, scientists, and engineers to tackle the world’s biggest challenges. We believe bringing together the global innovation ecosystem is essential to supporting the breakthrough solutions the world needs,” said Ive.
The acquisition comes amid a dire investment landscape for alternative proteins. Investors continued to lose confidence in this sector last year, with plant-based, fermentation, and cultivated meat companies receiving 27% less VC money. The broader climate tech landscape also saw venture funding dip by 38% in 2024 (from $52B to $32B), as investor focus moved to AI.
Graphic by Green Queen
Speaking to Green Queen in February, Ive highlighted three areas that BIV will be keeping an eye on this year: food and biology, agriculture and nature, and food production and waste utilisation tech.
One major focus he outlined was scale-up technology, which “presents challenges that require innovative solutions and approaches”. This was a key driver of its acquisition of Vevolution too.
“Investors have been supporting remarkable future food companies across various sectors, discovering what’s possible with cutting-edge technologies,” he explained. “The next focus is scaling these technologies to benefit the food system sustainably.”
Wellness influencer and Levels co-founder Casey Means is in line to become the next Surgeon General of the US. A divisive figure across the aisle, what could her appointment mean for food tech?
Championed by Donald Trump and Robert F Kennedy Jr, but vilified by their own supporters – including influential far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer – the US’s next surgeon general could be the most politically divisive in recent memory.
President Trump has picked Dr Casey Means as his pick for a post often known as “the nation’s doctor”, describing her as having “impeccable MAHA credentials”, and despite her medical license being inactive. She has replaced Dr Janette Nesheiwat, whose nomination was withdrawn after criticism from the right and questions were raised about her qualifications.
Means is the co-founder of Levels, a company that sells glucose monitors, and author of the diet and self-help book Good Energy, along with her brother Calley Means. The siblings served as advisors to RFK Jr’s presidential bid and were key voices behind his decision to endorse Trump.
Calley is currently serving as a health advisor to the White House, and his sister could join him in the government role if confirmed. Means graduated from Stanford Medical School, but dropped out just before finishing her residency in 2019 after becoming disillusioned with America’s “exploitative” healthcare system.
She is now a wellness influencer who carries many of the same views as RFK Jr, and is a leading voice in the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement. Means herself is a vaccine sceptic, though she did support Covid-19 vaccines and mask policies. While she’s a former vegan, she is is a proponent of raw milk and rails against Big Food and Big Pharma, and advocates for regenerative agriculture and the dismantling of the meatpacking monopoly.
To the left, she is unqualified to be Surgeon General, given her lack of an active medical license and training in nutrition. To the right, she is representative of a shift in RFK Jr’s agenda from focusing on vaccines to prioritising foods.
Nicole Shanahan, RFK Jr’s former running mate, tweeted: “I was promised that if I supported RFK Jr. in his Senate confirmation that neither of these siblings would be working under HHS or in an appointment (and that people much more qualified would be). I don’t know if RFK very clearly lied to me, or what is going on.”
Kennedy, however, feels Means “was born to this job”, writing on X: “She will provide our country with ethical guidance, wisdom, and gold-standard medical advice even when it challenges popular orthodoxies.”
Means’s confirmation process is likely to be heated, complicated, and uncertain, given the complaints from both sides of the aisle. If she makes it through, she could have a major say on the future of agriculture and food tech in the US. Here’s how different sectors could fare.
Meat alternative makers could be in for a storm if Means is confirmed, mainly due to her fierce criticism of ultra-processed foods (UPFs).
“Ultra-processed foods cause serious chronic disease and are highly addictive. Junk food causes more deaths globally than tobacco. We should move to put warning labels on every one of these products, akin to the Surgeon General warning for cigarettes,” she wrote after Trump’s victory in November, noting that such policies have even been pushed by leftist politicians like Bernie Sanders.
The UPF tag has already been a major thorn in the side of plant-based meat, whose sales have dipped continuously over the last few years. In 2024, they fell by 7% in the US. This has coincided with a rise in meat consumption (which reached record sales) amid a wider cultural shift, and RFK Jr’s own criticism of UPFs and “fake meat”.
Means herself has lambasted plant-based meat. In a post promoting her brother’s appearance on Fox News, she wrote: “Fake meat is toxic sludge, never eat it. Make today the day you never buy an ultra-processed food again. Ultra processed food is quite literally how the system is making us sick, dependent, profitable, controllable, mentally ill, and leech our precious minds (Alzheimer’s, a largely lifestyle illness). Don’t fall for the scam. Don’t buy it.”
Plant-based food: unclear, though likely positive
Here’s the thing, though: Means isn’t necessarily against plant-based eating. While she is not a fan of meat alternatives, she has championed whole foods and traditional plant proteins.
“I’ve moved away from personally being plant-based,” she said on a podcast last year, adding: “I think there’s absolutely a way to have a metabolically healthy plant-based diet.”
She went on to reveal that while 75% of her current protein intake comes from animal products, she still loves ot get her protein from “nuts, seeds, beans, [and] legumes”.
In an op-ed for Women’s Health magazine last year, she recommended eating whole-food animal and plant sources, including “tofu, tempeh, nuts, and seeds”. In fact, one of her tips for healthy eating on a budget involved replacing meat and fish with “plant-based proteins, like beans and lentils, for some meals”.
With scientists recommending the US Department of Agriculture prioritise traditional plant proteins over red meat in the upcoming dietary guidelines, Means’s stance could be crucial.
Regenerative agriculture: positive
Courtesy: Getty Images Signature via Canva
Like RFK Jr, Means is an outspoken advocate for regenerative agriculture amidst her criticism of the “highly destructive practices of industrial farming”.
“Reform crop subsidies and create programmes to rapidly increase the adoption of Regenerative Farming practices,” she wrote in her policy wishlist for the Trump administration. “Studies have suggested that with current industrial farming practices, American soil will be unsuitable for growing food within 50 years. It will be fully destroyed by glyphosate and other pesticides and fertilisers and devoid of the nutrients needed to grow food.”
She suggests that “choosing regeneratively grown foods is one of the most powerful choices you can make as a health seeker or environmentalist”, since crops grown this way help sequester carbon from the atmosphere, lower fossil fuel use via pesticide reduction, protect water systems, and replenish soil and nature.
While many crop and livestock farmers and experts have found this to be the case, regenerative agriculture suffers from a lack of standards and definitions, which climate activists argue has allowed meat and dairy producers to spout it as a greenwashing tool.
Moreover, Means has encouraged consumption of regenerative meat and dairy, and said she eats “regeneratively raised” elk, bison, and venison.
This is encouraging for startups that champion regenerative farming, and could allay the concerns of many leaders in the space. “I don’t think this administration understands the cost of regenerative farming or how much investment is needed to make it successful at a federal level,” Heather K Terry, CEO and founder of regenerative-farming-centric snack maker GoodSam Foods, told Green Queen in March.
Could Means help bring about that shift in thinking?
Plant-based milk: it depends
Courtesy: Taché
Means’s emphasis on natural foods and healthy eating presents two outcomes for non-dairy producers: it’s a win for clean-label products, and a clear loss for those that use emulsifiers and added sugars, including most barista-milks.
“These nut milks are so sneaky,” she said on her Levels podcast. “The most important thing is that you’re buying a version that does not have sweetener in it… And then you want to, of course, try and find one that’s organic, if you can, without a lot of the gums and fillers.”
She went on to provide her own recipe for a two-ingredient homemade nut milk, further emphasising the clean-label aspect. So brands that make non-dairy milks with the base ingredients – be it oats, almonds, macadamias or pistachios – water, and not much else, are best-placed from the would-be surgeon general’s stance.
Her support for raw milk consumption, which has exploded in the US, where sales rose by 24% last year, remains controversial. A host of government agencies, including the FDA, the USDA, and the CDC, have issued warnings against the health risks it poses, especially avian flu, salmonella, and E. coli.
RFK Jr is also an advocate for raw milk. If Means joins him in the administration, this could give producers in this segment further impetus at a real risk to public health.
In our interview series, we quiz future food investors about the solutions that excite them the most, their favourite climate-forward restaurant, and what they look for in successful founders.
Louise Heiberg is the Investment Director at Nordic Foodtech VC.
What future food technologies most excite you?
The ones that seem a bit out there. Where you think: “Wait, can this actually work?” and then realise it just might. The thrill of the unknown. The technologies that could radically reshape our food system in ways we can’t fully predict.
While we absolutely need people to eat more plants and less meat, incremental change won’t get us all the way. We need bold leaps. And those come from the lab – from researchers and universities pushing boundaries.
That’s why we love supporting science-based founders early on. It isn’t just a smart investment. It’s a front-row seat to something truly transformative.
What are three future food verticals you are actively looking at for 2025?
Biosolutions
Biosolutions
You guessed it: biosolutions
Nature’s own toolbox has never been more relevant. From microbes that boost soil health to enzymes that reduce food waste to precision fermentation that creates the ingredients of the future. Biosolutions are quietly (and not-so-quietly) driving the next big shift in food and agriculture. High impact per kg is our love language.
What do you consider the food tech sector’s greatest achievement in the past five years?
We made food tech matter. It’s no longer niche. It’s recognised as a key lever for climate action and food system transformation. The sector has matured from novelty to necessity. It hasn’t been easy, but the outlook is strong.
If you could wave a magic wand, how would you fix plant-based meat?
I wouldn’t fix the product. I would fix the perception. That shift alone would change everything. And let’s stop comparing it to meat. Just let it be delicious in its own right.
What’s the top trait you look for in a founder?
Courage – the Brené Brown kind. The kind where vulnerability meets vision. Building something new is tough, and I look for founders who are brave enough to admit what they don’t know, honest enough to ask the right questions, and smart enough to learn fast.
Founders who can say: “I don’t know yet, but I’ll find out.” They’re gold.
The One That Got Away: What is the deal you wish you had gotten into, but didn’t?
Solar Foods. We weren’t in a position to invest at the time, due to our fund’s timing. But full credit to one of our partners Jari, who spotted them super early and went in as a private investor. They are building something truly bold: turning CO2 and electricity into food. A completely new category. It was, and still is, a moonshot we would have loved to be part of.
What do you consider your most successful future food investment so far?
In long run, I would say Ironic Biotech. They are tackling iron deficiency, affecting over two billion people and mostly women, with real science and a scalable solution. Putting female health and nutrition on the map is long overdue, and this is exactly the kind of underfunded area we love to champion.
What has been your most disappointing investment so far?
We invested in a company with a fantastic idea: turning overlooked Baltic herring into great products. It was smart, sustainable, and full of potential. The disappointment hit when authorities suddenly restricted herring fishing, basically pulling the carpet from under the entire business case right after launch.
But here’s the twist: the team pulled off a brilliant pivot, switching to sidestreams from farmed fish instead. So, in the end, they saved the day and turned a tough situation into a success story.
What do people misunderstand/get wrong most about VC?
That it’s all about capital. It’s not. At its core, VC is a people business. Founders, teams, LPs, colleagues, co-investors, and ecosystem – relationships are everything. The real currency is trust. You’re building long-term partnerships in a world of uncertainty, and that only works if there’s mutual respect and alignment.
Behind every good investment is a web of people who believe in building something bigger than themselves. And honestly? Women are great at this.
What is the most ‘future food’ thing you have eaten this month?
I tasted Wildtype’s cultivated salmon, and it was super impressive. And I visited Spora in Copenhagen, which always sparks ideas (and tastes great, too). They sit right at the intersection of gastronomy, science, and changing the world through food, which is exactly where future food should be.
Where is your favourite climate-forward restaurant/dish/place to eat anywhere in the world?
Teaming up with the Endless Food Co crew (all ex-Amass) has made my life easier. They know all the best places! But honestly, my favourite meal is everything leftovers. Whatever’s in the fridge, thrown in a bowl, or tossed into pasta. It’s zero waste, super easy, and the kids love it.
What’s your ‘why’? What motivates you to do what you do?
Food is everything: climate, nature, culture, health, justice, joy. It’s how we connect, care, and shape the future. Supporting bold people transforming the food system isn’t just exciting – it’s a way to help secure food for all forever.
That’s a privilege, and I can’t imagine a more meaningful way to spend my time. And I get to do it with a stellar team.
Dutch cultivated meat startup Mosa Meat has filed for regulatory approval in the UK, where it’s part of a government support scheme and teased its first burger all those years ago.
Twelve years after unveiling the world’s first cultivated beef burger in London, Mosa Meat has applied for regulatory approval to sell its beef fat ingredient in the UK.
The Dutch startup has filed the dossier with the Food Standards Agency, two months after joining the regulator’s cultivated meat ‘sandbox’ programme, which hosts eight firms looking to speed up the commercialisation of their products.
At the launch of the two-year scheme, the FSA indicated its goal to approve at least two products during this period. This means Mosa Meat’s cultivated beef fat, which can be blended with plant-based ingredients to make hybrid burgers, meatballs, and filling for cottage pie, could be on the market by 2027.
“We are thankful to the FSA for engaging in valuable presubmission consultations with our food safety team,” said Mosa Meat CEO Maarten Bosch. “We included their valuable feedback and have submitted our cultivated beef fat dossier for formal review.”
And in February, it smashed its crowdfunding goal of €1.5M in just 24 minutes, a sign of public confidence in the startup at a time when VCs have become disillusioned with cultivated meat. The firm raised a total of €3.7M ($3.9M at the time) from nearly 1,650 investors, taking its overall funding to date to $139M.
Mosa Meat is preparing public tastings of cultivated beef
Courtesy: Mosa Meat
Mosa Meat is one of a number of startups focusing on cultivated fat as the first ingredient. Fat is the most optimal carrier of flavour and provides the textural attributes that meat is renowned for, which allows the startup to deliver a sensory experience people expect from conventional beef
“By starting with cultivated fat, we’re paving the way to introduce our first burgers to consumers while staying true to our long-term vision. Our initial products will combine cultivated and plant-based ingredients, leveraging our in-house expertise in both areas,” explained Bosch.
“This innovation not only enhances our Mosa burgers, but also has the potential to elevate plant-based products, which often struggle to replicate the full sensory experience of meat.”
There’s another advantage: by blending fat with plant-based ingredients, companies can make the final product a lot more cost-effective, which is a crucial bottleneck for the industry. That first set of burgers in 2013, introduced by co-founder Dr Mark Post, cost $330,000 to make; the firm has since dramatically lowered its production costs, reducing the price of its growth medium by 80-fold in 2020 and its fat medium by 66 times a year later.
Before the UK, the EU and Switzerland, Mosa Meat first applied for approval with the Singapore Food Agency, but the original nine- to 12-month timeline the country has touted has been hard to realise. A new Food Safety and Security Bill, which codifies the assessment framework, can break the deadlock and speed up the process in the city-state.
The startup has previously indicated interest in the US too, though the decision will now partly depend on political developments. Donald Trump’s return to the presidency and Robert F Kennedy’s appointment as health secretary have left things uncertain for food tech in the country, particularly cultivated meat, which has now been banned in five states, with several others poised to join that list.
Last year, Mosa Meat held a public tasting of its burgers for cattle farmers, product developers and other industry representatives at its headquarters in Maastricht. “We are currently creating our next-generation products and are preparing to submit tasting approvals for those this year,” Bosch told Green Queen in February.
Courtesy: Mosa Meat
UK aims to become a cultivated meat leader
The UK’s Cell-Cultivated Products Regulatory Sandbox was set up with a £1.6M infusion by the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology, as part of the first round of its Engineering Biology Sandbox Fund. It came as the government sought to modernise its novel food ecosystem, having followed the EU’s framework, described as rigorous yet slow and prohibitive, in its post-Brexit years.
Sandboxes comprise controlled environments for situations where scientific and technological innovation has outpaced existing regulation. They run for a limited period to help startups, researchers and regulators work together to develop new rules, standards and guidance.
It is being jointly run by the FSA and Food Standards Scotland (FSS), which are gathering “rigorous scientific evidence” about the technology behind cell-cultured foods to better regulate these products and apply up-to-date insights during safety assessments. The FSA has previously said it expects at least 15 more applications in the next two years, and predicted the rise of many new startups in the space.
“These are exactly the kind of public-private partnerships we envisioned when we debuted the world’s first cultivated burger right here in London in 2013,” Mosa Meat’s Post said in March.
“The regulatory sandbox is already making an impact on attracting innovative companies like ours to the UK market,” Bosch said after the British dosier submission.
When it comes to regulatory approvals, it has been a fruitful 18 months for cultivated meat startups. Aleph Farms has earned the go-ahead in Israel, Vow in Singapore and (preliminarily) Australia and New Zealand, and Mission Barns in the US. Meanwhile, Thailand is evaluating Aleph Farms’s application, while experts believe South Korea could grant an approval this year.
Blended meat could be a viable solution to accelerate the protein transition, and a new taste test has found several brands that meat-eaters prefer over conventional meat.
In the US, plant-based meat alternatives have been losing some steam of late, thanks to concerns around ultra-processing and dissatisfaction with taste. Meanwhile, meat consumption is on the rise, as is a desire to eat healthier and incorporate more vegetables and whole foods into their diets.
Some brands are hoping to give these Americans the best of both worlds through blended meat. These products combine conventional meat with plant-based ingredients to offer a more sustainable and health-friendly option.
Research shows that replacing even half of your meat consumption can double your climate benefits and lower emissions by 31%. As with all things in food, however, these products will only click with consumers if they deliver on flavour.
According to Nectar, a non-profit initiative focused on accelerating the protein transition through taste, meat-eaters even prefer some of these products to 100% meat.
In a new sensory analysis with nearly 1,200 omnivores, Nectar tested 22 blended meat products – or ‘balanced proteins’, as it calls them – across nine categories, measuring their flavour, texture, appearance, overall satisfaction, and purchase intent.
Courtesy: Nectar
Of these, four products showcased “award-winning” credentials, either matching or surpassing 100% animal meat on taste – 50/50 Foods‘s Both Burger was preferred equally to a beef burger, while Duo’s beef and mushroom burger and Fable Foods‘s Shiitake Infusion ranked better than beef. Further, taste-testers found Perdue Farms’s Chicken Plus nuggets better than the conventional version.
“For the burger category, the balanced leader outperformed animal products on the following high-level sensory attributes: overall liking, flavour, texture, and appearance,” Tim Dale, category innovation director at Food Systems Innovation, Nectar’s parent organisation, tells Green Queen. “In addition, a larger percentage of consumers thought the saltiness and juiciness of the balanced leader was ‘just about right’ versus the animal benchmark.
“Taste is the gatekeeper for sustainable dietary change,” he says. “These products represent a real breakthrough – where the more sustainable choice is also the more delicious one.”
He adds: “Consumers don’t want to be convinced to love ‘better meat’. They want the meat they love to simply be made better.”
Sustainability and health drive Americans towards blended meat
Courtesy: Nectar
Nectar’s research found that balanced proteins are more likely to attract omnivores than plant-based meat, with 74% ‘interested’ or ‘extremely interested’ in the concept, and two-thirds saying they’re likely to purchase them (versus 57% who say the same for plant-based meat).
Dale explains that blended meat is more likely to resonate with millennials and Gen Xers, women, flexitarians, those who have higher education levels, and those who consume plant-based meat frequently.
More American meat-eaters preferred the taste of the leading blended burger (56%) over a 100% beef burger (42%). As for chicken nuggets, only 47% of Americans liked the conventional product’s flavour, versus 58% who said the same for the balanced protein option.
“Also interesting is that 54% of respondents said they would consider purchasing balanced proteins in place of conventional meat 50% of the time or more, while 92% of consumers would choose a balanced protein at least 15% of the time,” says Dale. “This indicates the frequency with which consumers are willing to implement balanced products into their diets, and over time, the impact it could have on both human and planetary health.”
Courtesy: Nectar
So what draws Americans towards these products? Half of them are encouraged by the sustainability potential, while 47% are motivated by health. Only a quarter resonated with taste and affordability drivers, though, indicating “low consumer expectations that this category will deliver in those areas”.
In fact, 45% are deterred by high prices, and 43% are unsatisfied with the taste of blended meat. For another 27%, a lack of familiarity is a major barrier.
When asked what benefits would increase their interest, two-thirds pointed to better flavour, around two in five wanted more protein, micronutrients, and savouriness (and less saturated fat), and three-quarters said they’d be influenced by lower carbon emissions.
How can ‘balanced proteins’ improve?
Dale suggests that “improvement is within reach” for the products that didn’t outperform or match 100% animal proteins, given that six brands met certain consumer expectations, in addition to the four that won Nectar’s Tasty Award.
“Flavour was the top opportunity for balanced protein products that did not win a Tasty. We found most products should focus on mitigating ’weird aftertastes’ and ‘off-flavours’, while boosting meat notes and fatty flavours to overcome blandness,” he says. “Additionally, texture is a key secondary focus – opportunities varied by category, but the most common theme was increasing firmness and cohesiveness.”
He adds: “Overall, products that focus on whole-cut vegetables captured consumer interest and taste preference over products that incorporate novel ingredients like plant-based meat and mycelium, which were less desirable.”
Courtesy: Nectar
In fact, “a 50:50 ratio of meat with mushrooms or savoury vegetables was the most desired”, while meat-forward ratios and familiar ingredients scored highest overall.
“We believe familiarity is one of the superpowers of this category, allowing consumers to have positive perceptions of the products before trial,” explains Dale. “In taste tests, mushrooms were the most preferred. Their natural umami and juiciness complement meat and were in two of the three products to reach taste superiority.”
The inclusion rate of ingredients matters less than the product experience and product positioning. “The product experiences of some 50:50 products were as good or better than conventional meat. That’s the baseline for adoption,” says Dale. “But if a product that does well in sensory testing is not marketed correctly, people may actually have worse experiences.”
Lessons for plant-based brands
Dale points out that there’s “no consumer monolith” for blended meat – these products can serve different purposes for different people, and “solve problems that conventional meat alone cannot”.
That said, he suggests three promising positioning opportunities for brands. The first involves “stealth health”. Parents looking to increase their children’s vegetable intake are a key demographic for balanced proteins.
“A separate study of ours suggests that 85% of parents struggle to get their kids to eat healthier foods at least some of the time,” says Dale. “You see this positioning with Perdue Chicken Plus – one of the Taste Superiority [award] winners.”
“Guilt-light” products represent another strategy, in reference to the health opportunity. “Consumers are looking to enjoy their same meat, but with added nutrients like fibre or reduced cholesterol and saturated fats,” says Dale.
The third positioning strategy is for eco-conscious omnivores, since climate benefits were a draw for 51% of those surveyed. “However, we know that sustainability alone is not likely to drive purchases, and that’s why this research is so important – demonstrating that the sustainable choice is also now the more delicious choice,” says Dale.
Courtesy: Nectar
Ultimately, though, these categories will “grow at the speed of taste”, he suggests. “Delivering an equivalent – or even superior – sensory experience is the baseline requirement for adoption. That’s why continued investment in sensory research and R&D is essential to ensure products meet consumer expectations,” Dale explains.
“In the real world, taste perception doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It’s shaped by everything from packaging and context to messaging and marketing reach. How these products are positioned and a brand’s investment in marketing will be just as important as how they perform in a blind taste test.
“Brands should start by asking: What problem are we solving for the consumer or customer? Then, they must communicate that benefit in a way that enhances the experience – without implying sacrifice or giving up the product they love.”
Lebanese fast-casual chain Malak Al Tawouk has partnered with plant-based meat brand Switch Foods to add vegan chicken items to its UAE menu.
Malak Al Tawouk, a 30-year-old fast-casual chain with dozens of restaurants globally, is now offering Switch Foods’s vegan chicken at its UAE sites, at a time when plant-based eating becomes more popular in the region.
The chain is using the pea-protein-based, fibre-rich alternative in a shawarma sandwich, as well as a Mexican-inspired chicken salad and a teriyaki chicken rice bowl. They’re part of its drive to offer health-forward options, given that healthy food now makes up about half of its sales in the UAE.
The partnership leans into a key consumer complaint. While Emiratis’ appetite for vegan food is growing, nearly two in five say it’s difficult to find locally inspired plant-based cuisine, and another 20% feel meat alternatives have limited availability in the GCC.
Malak Al Tawouk leans into consumer trends in the UAE
Courtesy: Malak Al Tawouk
“Whether it’s health-conscious, environmental concerns, or simply a desire to reduce meat consumption, more people, especially the younger generation, are leaning towards flexitarian lifestyles,” said Mahmoud Harb, co-founder and managing director of Yummy Junction, the UAE franchise owner of Malak Al Tawouk.
Poultry, specifically chicken, is the most common type of meat consumed in the GCC, where per capita consumption is highest in the UAE (nearly twice as much as the global average). Population growth, increased consumer spending, and a thriving tourism sector are expected to cause a 6% rise in chicken consumption in the UAE and a 17% increase in production this year, according to the USDA.
At the same time, however, awareness about vegan alternatives is high in the UAE, rising to 94% in 2023. Today, 15% of Emiratis want to cut back on meat, primarily for health reasons. And half of these consumers are most interested in reducing meat consumption when dining out or eating fast food.
Among this segment, 26% want to replace meat with plant-based analogues. However, health is not the only driver for meat-free food consumption in the country. A third of consumers say taste is the most important factor, while 19% are influenced by word of mouth, and 13% by cost.
That said, a separate survey shows that over a quarter (27%) of Emiratis are happy to pay a premium for plant-based food. “We believe it’s the right time for a leading brand like ours to introduce a plant-based chicken alternative that delivers on both taste and quality,” said Harb.
Switch Foods continues foodservice expansion
Courtesy: Malak Al Tawouk
Switch Foods’s vegan chicken, produced in a 20,000 sq ft factory in Abu Dhabi, is available at all seven Malak Al Tawouk locations in the UAE, as well as its menu on delivery platforms like Talabat, Careem and Deliveroo.
“Our partnership with Switch marks a significant step toward catering to evolving consumer preferences,” said Harb. “We’ve carefully selected some of our bestselling items to feature this new option, making it easier – and more appealing – for customers to make the shift, all at very competitive prices.”
While 95% of Switch Foods’ initial sales came from retail, its foodservice footprint has grown significantly, with its products now on the menus at Hilton Hotels, Millennium Hotels, Marriott, 25hours Hotel, Eataly, and onboard Emirates flights.
“Our goal at Switch Foods is to make plant-based eating exciting, accessible, and rooted in regional culinary culture,” said Edward Hamod, founder and CEO of Switch Foods.
The company has raised $6.5M in seed funding and was said to be in talks to secure another $7M in Series A funding last year. Since June 2023, it has expanded at a 20% CAGR per month, and closed that year with a revenue of around Dh2 million ($544,000) in only half a year of operations. Last year, it was expected to earn a revenue of Dh10 million ($2.7M).
Research shows that sustainability is an important factor for two-thirds of diners in the UAE, while an even higher share (73%) places emphasis on local and seasonal products. So for Malak Al Tawouk, joining forces with a domestic producer of climate-friendly chicken alternatives – in a country where poultry is king – is a shrewd move that has every chance of paying off.
Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Massive Attack’s vegan concert, Beleaf’s plant-based meat price freeze, and the FDA’s labelling guidelines.
New products and launches
Lindt has released its oat-milk-based Lindor Vegan Truffles in Canada, with both the milk and dark chocolate versions available in 120g packs for C$12.99.
Courtesy: Ombar
British vegan chocolate brand Ombar has re-released its Blonde Caramelised White Chocolate bar, a Nestlé Caramac copycat, on a permanent basis thanks to popular demand. The 70g bars are available for £2.75 at Tesco.
In more chocolate news, fellow UK dairy-free brand Nomo has introduced Salted Popcorn, Birthday Cake and snackable Cookie Dough bars.
UK plant-based meat brand THIS has rolled out two new SKUs at Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, and Ocado stores. The THIS Isn’t Chicken Deli Pieces contain 28g of protein per serving and are priced at £3.95 per 120g pack, and THIS Isn’t Pork Cocktail Sausages have 20g of protein and cost £2.95 per 140g.
Courtesy: THIS
Vegan food producer Gosh!, meanwhile, has launched Mexican- and Italian-inspired snack packs called Veg Bites, which are high in ‘plant points‘ and available at Morrisons for £1.30 per 50g pack, or as part of a meal deal.
Also in the UK, Compleat Food Group’s Wall’s Pastry has expanded its meat-free range with Vegan Peppered Steak and Vegan Chicken & Mushroom slices, available for £2 per 180g pack at Tesco.
At London Coffee Festival, Califia Farms will introduce hazelnut- and pistachio-flavoured versions of its barista milk, tapping into a global trend for non-dairy milk.
Courtesy: Beleaf Foods
In the US, Beleaf Foods has initiated a price freeze until 2027 for its plant-based meat range to address consumer complaints about the price gap with meat, which will likely be exacerbated amid the tariff war.
Flavour giant T. Hasegawa has introduced PlantReact, a “science-driven” natural flavour technology that leverages Maillard reactions, enzymolysis, and fermentation to make better-tasting vegan chicken, beef, pork, and milk analogues.
Speaking of fermentation, ingredient manufacturer DMC Biotechnologies has launched a fermented myo-inositol for food, beverage, and supplement applications. The compound is naturally present in both plants and animals and used in nutrition products, but suffers from sustainability, traceability and supply issues.
Courtesy: Beyond Meat
In the Netherlands, Beyond Meat has rolled out its jalapeño burger at 750 Albert Heijn stores, 75 Plus locations, and online retailer PicNic, and expanded its availability at Jumbo to 150 doors.
Austrian plant protein player Revo Foods, known for its 3D-printed seafood analogues, has kickstarted a crowdfunding campaign and has already raised €1.2M of its €2M goal.
Courtesy: Revo Foods
And Spanish biotech firm MOA Foodtech has unveiled Albatros, an AI-driven microbiology platform to help manufacturers identify agricultural sidestreams to turn into valuable products through fermentation.
Company and finance updates
Popular vegan seafood chain Planta has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing a need to cut costs as consumers cut back on dining out. The move will provide it with a “strategic opportunity to streamline our cost structure and strengthen our balance sheet”.
Shoofly, a vegan wholesale bakery in Portland, Oregon, has shuttered after its staff walked out over alleged late payments and dissatisfaction with its new owner. Now, one supervisor has started a GoFundMe page to help compensate employees for lost wages, and either buy the bakery or start their own.
Courtesy: Shoofly
US startup Sennos (formerly Precision Fermentation) has secured $15M to expand its AI-powered fermentation platform for biofuels, biopharma, and alternative proteins.
Cultivated meat firm Upside Foods has appointed John Mitchell as its new VP of sales. He was previously the chief product officer at alt-seafood startup Konscious Foods.
Finnish food tech firm Foodiq has raised $11.1M to scale up its multi-layer cooker technology for clean-label dairy and alternative proteins, and expand internationally.
Precision fermentation firm Better Dairy has diversified its portfolio with the successful production of osteopontin, a functional bioactive protein found in mammalian milk, bones, and tissue.
British fermented food brand The Cultured Collective has brought in James Robinson as chair and non-executive director. He holds a similar position at The Bold Bean Company.
Courtesy: Turion Labs
South Korea’s S&S LAB and Indonesia’s Future Lestari have joined forces to launch Turion Labs, a new biotech platform in Singapore that plans to build a regional network of facilities to support early-stage biotech ventures.
Vegan cheesemaker Violifesays it is now the leading plant-based cheese brand in Canada, capturing a third of all sales in the market.
New Zealand’s Life Health Foods has decided to withdraw its Bean Supreme line of meat-free sausages, burgers and mince from the market, citing “tough market conditions” and changing consumer behaviours.
Research and policy developments
In the US, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt has signed HB 1126 into law, a false advertising bill that requires producers to disclose clearly that cultivated and plant-based meat products are not meat. Violators could face misdemeanour charges.
The US Food and Drug Administration has extended the public consultation for its front-of-package labelling update by another 90 days, with the deadline now set for July 15.
Courtesy: FDA
In a study co-funded by New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries, the Cawthron Institute and Nutrition from Water have identified 14 microalgae strains with a naturally high protein concentration of over 40%, which the latter will use to create affordable nutrition prototypes under its Marine Whey series.
Finally, a scientist at the Malaysian Agro-Biotechnology Institute’s Food Biotechnology Department has developed a vegan burger patty from grey oyster mushrooms, a widely cultivated but underused variety of fungi in the country.
