Category: Cell-Based News

  • lab grown meat ban
    5 Mins Read

    As anti-cultivated-meat legislation heats up in the US, Nebraska and South Dakota’s efforts to ban these proteins are facing opposition from some policymakers – and farmers.

    For Americans in government office, it’s almost become fashionable to attempt a ban on cultivated meat.

    The ball went rolling with Ron DeSantis and Florida, which outlawed the production and sale of cultivated meat last summer, followed shortly by its neighbour, Alabama.

    These bills got through state legislature pretty quickly, positioned as efforts to safeguard the local cattle industry and public health. But they’re also so far the only instances of such efforts being successful.

    More than 20 states across the US have floated measures to ban cultivated meat or restrict how these proteins are labelled. A lot of it feels like a publicity stunt – some of it probably is.

    A few of these legislative attempts have come and gone without posing any real threat of being passed. This week, two bills in Nebraska and South Dakota hit a snag too, facing pushback from fellow legislators, and surprisingly, cattle farmers.

    South Dakota votes against cultivated meat ban

    south dakota lab grown meat
    Courtesy: South Dakota Governor’s Office

    There are three anti-cultivated-meat-bills of note in South Dakota, all introduced in January. The first originated in the House, and requires cell-cultured proteins to be clearly labelled as such to prevent any “misbranding”. This passed unanimously, and was signed into law by Governor Larry Rhoden – it will come into effect on July 1.

    The second bill sought to prohibit the state from financing any research, production or distribution of cultivated meat. This was unanimously passed on Thursday, and is on its way to Rhoden’s desk – but it includes an exception for public universities conducting research on these proteins.

    However, the same day, HB 1109 also went to a vote in the Senate. This bill went the furthest, replicating Florida and Alabama’s measure to put an outright ban on the sale of cultivated meat within the state. Anyone found violating the law – if the bill became one – would be charged with a Class 2 misdemeanour.

    Unlike the other two bills, this last one failed to pass through the Senate. Previous votes in the House and agricultural committees were also far from unanimous. On Wednesday, there was a 17-17 in the Senate, and upon reconsideration a day later, senators voted 19-16 against the legislation.

    It came after two Republican senators who had previously voted in favour of the ban chose to oppose it in the subsequent vote. One of them, Amber Hulse, told South Dakota Searchlight: “I think the constitutionality of the bill, if I’m being quite honest, is questionable.”

    Nebraska bill faces pushback from the meat industry

    nebraska lab grown meat
    Courtesy: Governor Jim Pillen/X

    In Nebraska, Governor Jim Pillen’s mission to outlaw cultivated meat has been particularly aggressive. He introduced an executive order back in August to put restrictions on these proteins and named a ban one of his top priorities for 2025.

    At his request, Senator Barry DeKay brought forward LB 246 last month to keep cultivated meat from being manufactured or sold in Nebraska, and requiring it to be labelled as an “adulterated food product” under the Pure Food Act.

    The bill is still in its early stages, with the Agriculture Committee hearing the proposal earlier this week. It’s already encountering pushback – and not from who you expect.

    According to the Associated Press, some of its most prominent opponents are the very people Pillen said he’s trying to protect. Nebraska’s ranchers and farming groups say they don’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 facility inspections – something that the US Department of Agriculture already does when assessing novel food dossiers. “After that, it’s up to the consumer to make the decision about what they buy and eat,” said the beef farmer.

    Latest in a long list of failed cultivated meat bills

    lab grown meat banned
    Courtesy: Eat Just

    These are just the latest examples of industry criticism and failures of bills hoping to ban cultivated meat. In Ohio, for example, two House Representatives introduced HB10 to prohibit the sale of “misbranded” alternative proteins; this came after their previous bill designed to restrict labelling, which died in the House Agriculture Committee last year.

    Similar bills in Kentucky, New York, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Texas, Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Illinois have also failed to get anywhere. In fact, even the one that eventually succeeded in Florida came after a doomed proposal months earlier.

    And even in Congress, a bipartisan bill to ban cultivated meat in schools – co-sponsored by Democrat Jon Tester and Republican Mike Rounds – never made it past the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

    This year, a spate of new proposals from legislators in states including South Carolina, West Virginia, Montana, Georgia (among others) have come under consideration – though based on the path of these other bills, they just feel like a waste of time and resources.

    Florida is already facing legal action against its ban, after receiving criticism from the country’s oldest and largest trade association, which represents 95% of the US’s meat output. In a letter sent to DeSantis in March 2024, the North American Meat Institute called the ban “bad public policy”.

    “These bills establish a precedent for adopting policies and regulatory requirements that could one day adversely affect the bills’ supporters,” it said, emphasising the importance of consumer choice.

    The post In Some US States, Efforts to Ban Lab-Grown Meat Hit A Snag appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • buhler ever after foods
    4 Mins Read

    Israel’s Ever After Foods has partnered with Swiss manufacturing giant Bühler Group to produce cultivated meat at a mass scale with much smaller equipment.

    Extending its sustainable protein push, Bühler Group has teamed up with an Israeli food tech firm to help streamline cultivated meat production.

    Ever After Foods – a joint venture between cellular agriculture firm Pluri and the Tnuva Group (Israel’s largest food company) – will work with Bühler to bring to market a commercial-scale system that can produce cultivated meat using equipment at least 10 times smaller than the industry standard.

    “We are overcoming the bioreactor sizing conundrum,” Eyal Rosenthal, CEO of Ever After Foods, told Green Queen. “Where others need an absolutely enormous 20,000-litre bioreactor, our system produces the same volume with less than 2,000 litres, making it more efficient and viable.”

    He added that Bühler will “play a critical role in our mission to create the next, more sustainable, era of meat production”.

    Shifting away from the pharma world

    lab grown meat israel
    Courtesy: Ever After Foods

    Formerly named Plurinuva, Ever After Foods has exclusive licencing rights to use Pluri’s technology and intellectual property to commercialise cultivated meat.

    Its proprietary edible packed-bed (EPB) technology platform – which comprises a patented 3D cell expansion environment to mimic the cells’ natural environment – dramatically lowers production costs. And its bioreactors yield up to six times more protein and 700 times more lipids from each cell, offering better flavour and nutritional value.

    “Consumers will not compromise on taste and texture. Our production system is specifically designed for cultivated meat production, which is a complete step-change from traditional cultivated meat technologies. Another element that sets us apart is that our system does not compromise on the final product, delivering real meat rather than cell slurry, while achieving outstanding efficiency,” explained Rosenthal.

    Scalability is another key market barrier. 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.

    “Where traditional stirred-tank systems require 4,000 litres to produce 80kg of cultivated meat, our system uses only 200 litres without costly retention devices such as attenuated tangential flow or tangential flow filtration,” said Rosenthal. “This results in at least a 90% reduction in production costs and significantly lower capex, enabling cost parity with conventional meat.”

    The process is also much more climate-friendly than industrially raising livestock, resulting in 93% less air pollution, 95% less land use, and 94% less water consumption.

    Ever After Foods: working on several cell lines

    ever after foods
    Courtesy: Ever After Foods

    Ever After Foods says it’s working closely with cultivated meat makers and food industry leaders to speed up the development and global deployment of its EPB system – the partnership with Bühler is an extension of that effort.

    “Their support will help us scale up and ensure cultivated meat producers around the globe can access scalable, affordable food production systems. Having a respected player like Bühler supporting us is crucial for ensuring that our technology meets the highest standards in the food industry,” said Rosenthal.

    The company – which raised $10M in June – is one of several innovators pushing Israel’s food tech economy forward. The country was the third to approve the sale of cultivated meat, greenlighting local startup Aleph Farms‘s application in December 2023.

    Israel has additionally made food tech one of its top five priority R&D areas and attracted 10% of all VC funding ($1.2B) in the alternative protein sector between 2014 and 2023.

    “We are working with several leading cultivated meat and global food and meat companies across species like beef, chicken, duck, and fish,” said Rosenthal.

    Bühler advances future food focus as profits grow

    buhler alternative proteins
    Bühler Group CTO Ian Roberts | Courtesy: Bühler Group

    “Powering cultivated meat production at scale with a patented production system, Ever After Foods will help the food industry keep pace with the protein demands of a growing global population,” said Bühler CTO Ian Roberts.

    The collaboration is part of Bühler’s goal of enabling market-ready, healthy cell-based products that are friendly to the wallet and the planet and can address global challenges like food insecurity. It comes days after the company reported a turnover of $3.3B for 2024, making a net profit of $209M (a 5.5% increase from the previous year).

    “The global food chain faces significant challenges if we are to successfully and sustainably feed our growing population. How we produce and consume protein will continue to change, and requires a transition of our protein system to deliver this,” said Roberts.

    In December, it opened The Cultured Hub, a cellular agriculture scale-up plant, in partnership with Swiss retail giant Migros and flavour specialist Givaudan. Situated in The Valley in Kemptthal, the factory can support the development of products like cultivated meat, fermentation-derived dairy, cell-based chocolate, and more.

    The post Bühler & Israeli Cultivated Meat Co Joins Forces To Solve Industry Bioreactor Problem appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • vegan dubai chocolate
    5 Mins Read

    Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers NotCo’s Dubai chocolate, BrewDog’s collaboration with Impossible Foods, and new products at Expo West.

    New products and launches

    Chilean AI-led food tech player NotCo has released Dubai Style NotSquare, a vegan version of the viral pistachio-kunafa-filled chocolate bar.

    notco dubai chocolate
    Courtesy: Matias Muchnick/LinkedIn

    Scottish pub chain BrewDog has partnered with Impossible Foods to introduce a vegan chicken menu across 48 UK locations, which includes cheeseburgers and tacos made from the latter’s Chicken FIllets, as well as nuggets. The limited-edition menu is running until the end of March.

    UK oat milk chocolate maker Happi has rolled out Salted Honeycomb and Cherry & Almond Easter eggs, which contain 35% less sugar than mass-market brands and are available at Waitrose and other retailers for £11.99 per 155g egg.

    British sports nutrition brand Myprotein has launched a caramel-pecan flavour of its double-dough brownie in collaboration with Hotel Chocolat. It’s available on its website for £25.99 for a box of 12.

    vegan cream liqueur
    Courtesy: Continental Wine & Food

    Yorkshire-based Continental Wine & Food has launched Lacey’s Vodkashake, a line of dairy-free cream liqueurs available in strawberry and banana flavours. Inspired by 1950s-style American diner milkshakes, the 15% ABV product is stocked at 500 B&M stores, retailing for £12 per 70cl bottle.

    Elsewhere, Indian plant-based meat brand GoodDot has obtained a listing at Australian health food store Wholefood Merchants.

    Also in Australia, Coyo has unveiled a dairy-free yoghurt line made with 74% oat milk and 17% coconut cream. They come in natural, vanilla bean, mango and strawberry flavours, and will be stocked at Woolworths and independent retailers nationwide starting March.

    coyo vegan yogurt
    Courtesy: Coyo

    Amid the US egg shortage, UK startup Crackd – which makes the pourable vegan No-Egg Egg – is gearing up for a launch stateside, and will have a booth at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California (March 5-7).

    Also at Expo West, alt-dairy leader Elmhurst 1925 will debut three new products: unsweetened vanilla cashew milk, barista cashew milk, and unsweetened coconut-cashew barista milk.

    colruyt vegan
    Courtesy: Colruyt

    And Belgian retailer Colruyt Group has launched Boni Plan’t, a plant-based brand under its Boni Selection private label. The move unites over 100 existing meat-free products under the new label, with several new items to be added in the coming months.

    Company and finance updates

    Swedish dairy giant Valio has acquired Raisio‘s plant protein business, which includes the Härkis and Beanit fava bean brands, for €7M. The deal will see 16 employees transferred to Valio.

    After two years of tumult, Swedish oat milk giant Oatly reported a 5% hike in revenue for both Q4 and the full year of 2024, and expects 2025 to be its “first full year of profitable growth as a public company”.

    nespresso oatly
    Courtesy: Nespresso

    In northern Spain, Hijos de Rivera, Inproteins and the Xunta de Galicia have invested €7.5M in a new plant protein manufacturing facility. The project will receive a total of €18M in funding, supported by the Galician Institute for Economic Promotion and Banco Sabadell.

    In the UK, AI-driven meal-planning platform Remy has acquired Kitche, an app that helps prevent food waste at the household level.

    Dutch cultivated pork producer Meatable hosted a cross-industry event with 80 stakeholders to discuss sustainable proteins and the future of food.

    meatable
    Courtesy: Meatable

    Speaking of cellular agriculture, Singapore’s Umami Bioworks has introduced a cultivated seafood platform to address protein diversity in the pet food industry. It comes as the firm works with another startup to commercialise cat treats made with cultivated fish, and just after the first cultivated pet food launched in the UK earlier this month.

    Policy developments

    Californian alternative protein pioneer Eat Just and its cultivated meat subsidiary, Good Meat, have reached an “agreement in principle” to settle their legal dispute with bioreactor supplier ABEC.

    singapore food safety bill
    Courtesy: Eat Just

    Israeli startup Yeap has announced that its upcycled yeast protein now meets EU regulatory requirements, paving the way for its market entry in the region.

    The European Plant-Based Foods Association (formerly the European Natural Soyfood Association, or ENSA) has changed its name to Plant-Based Foods Europe to “better reflect the industry’s dynamic landscape”.

    After more than 70 years, Humane Society International and the Humane Society of the United States have changed their name to Humane World for Animals, marking the occasion with a new ad campaign featuring Sia.

    In a written submission, the UK government is being urged by The Vegan Society to raise awareness of vegans in the parliament to prevent harassment and bullying, as well as increase plant-based options for policymakers.

    Finally, in New Zealand, the Vegan Society of Aotearoa and the New Zealand Vegetarian Society have handed in a petition to ban the misleading labelling of animal-free products, since there’s no legislation to determine what products qualify as vegan or vegetarian in the country.

    Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.

    The post Future Food Quick Bites: Vegan Dubai Chocolate, Impossible BrewDog & Non-Dairy Liqueurs appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • niya gupta
    8 Mins Read

    Niya Gupta, co-founder and CEO of Fork & Good, on what separates the startup from other cultivated meat players, earning its first revenue, and its regulatory plans.

    It was just only in January 2024 that, in an Irish pub in Davos, Switzerland, Fork & Good held Europe’s first public tasting of cultivated meat. The startup served dumplings made from a blend of 30% cell-cultured pork and 70% conventional pork (plus a cultivated and plant-based mix for vegetarians), with more than half of the taste-testers preferring the blended meat version.

    This was a marker of progress for the New Jersey-based firm, getting some real-world feedback from an international group of people just 10 minutes away from the World Economic Forum conference.

    Now, just over a year later, the company has earned its first revenue, courtesy of a joint development agreement with an $8B global food manufacturer. “It is an exciting milestone to earn revenue in cultivated red meat, and shows market validation of our technology,” co-founder and CEO Niya Gupta tells Green Queen, though she declines to name the company.

    In fact, Fork & Good has signed deals with three clients and is in talks with about a dozen manufacturers and retailers – all focused on using cultivated pork as a complementary ingredient in both meat and plant-based formulations. Currently, the protein is being tested as part of ham and meat snacks.

    “We have always been a B2B company,” says Gupta. “When we first started, African swine fever had wiped out 25% of the world’s hog herd, and our customers were struggling with reinforcing their supply chains. Pathogen shocks, tariffs, and tighter demand conditions have all resulted in significant volatility, which poses challenges in consistency of product and cost for our customers.”

    Joining forces with an industry pioneer

    gabor forgacs
    Courtesy: Fork & Good

    For Gupta, it’s hard to imagine a life without dim sum, the Cantonese term for a whole host of dumplings served for breakfast in restaurants across China. After all, she grew up in Hong Kong, which consumes more meat per capita than any other place. “My family were farmers [in India] for generations, and I spent every summer at the farm, which gave me a deep respect for agriculture and also a desire to improve our food systems,” she says.

    Having spent 15 years working in agriculture, including a consultancy stint at McKinsey, it made sense to “come full circle and be a future farmer”.

    To do so, she joined forces with Gabor Forgacs, a pioneer of cultivated meat. He co-founded Modern Meadow, one of the earliest players in the space, showcasing a prototype of a cultivated sausage at TEDMED 2011, a whole two years earlier than Dr Mark Post’s world-famous burger.

    Modern Meadow “really sparked people’s imagination and showed it was possible to build meat from cells”, says Gupta. Cost barriers led Forgacs and his team to pivot to cultivated leather at the time, and today, the company makes cow-hide alternatives out of plant proteins and upcycled post-consumer tyres. Forgacs left the firm in 2016, and co-founded Fork & Good with Gupta two years later.

    “We are working together to invent a much more practical, cost-based approach informed by my experience in the food industry and using his expertise in the fields of tissue engineering and biophysics,” she says.

    “We need all the solutions possible to keep having safe, affordable meat and if we [want to] have any chance of meeting our 1.5°C global warming target. Cultivated meat builds a more resilient supply chain and helps us do it sustainably.”

    How Fork & Good makes its cultivated pork

    fork and good
    Courtesy: Fork & Good

    Gupta’s agtech background led her to realise that cultivated meat is a lot like hydroponic farming, where you “optimise input for output” – that is, you grow vegetables in nutrient-rich water instead of soil.

    “In the same spirit, our process is based on the mutual optimisation of the three input components – the cell line, the medium and the bioprocess – to grow animal cells (i.e. the biomass) more efficiently than livestock,” she explains.

    “Specifically, we developed immortal cell lines and corresponding medium with an iterative approach by analysing the waste medium and determining what the cells use (for example, which amino acids and in what concentration). We adopted a bioreactor technology that assures the best control over the way our adherent cells grow in aggregates – we can control the size of the aggregates – to maximise cell density,” she adds.

    This approach reduces the calorie intensity of feedstock fourfold for pork and fivefold for beef, making Fork & Good confident it can “grow meat with fewer resources than animals”.

    The optimisation through the three components forms the base of its patented integrated cell manufacturing (ICM) platform, which lets it grow a large number of cells in a cost-effective manner. In addition, the company has an optimised downstream process and continuous harvesting process at its pilot facility in Jersey City, which can produce about seven tonnes of product in less than 800 sq ft of space.

    “The ICM, combined with our continuous downstream processing and the fact that we are not using stem cells – instead, [we] are editing muscle cells to skip the cost and complexity of differentiation – substantially differentiates Fork & Good from others,” says Gupta.

    “Furthermore, unlike many companies focused entirely on the biology, we are also addressing capital expenditure by having low-cost distributed manufacturing, made possible via designed-for-purpose bioreactors and continuous harvesting,” she adds.

    “In particular, this allows us to build much smaller facilities (10×1000 litres) to scale up production to commercially relevant quantities of biomass – $10-20M for a single facility rather than hundreds of millions.”

    Fork & Good’s target pricing is $2 per lb, which would match commodity pork, and in-house R&D data supports this goal. But the bulk of this work comes during scale-up and engineering. “In our first scale-up factory, we’re targeting $5 per lb for 100% biomass with our more tried and tested cell line, which would be possible at commercial scale today. This is based on existing observed yields, media costs and purchasing components at scale,” Gupta says.

    US regulatory plans hinge on RFK Jr

    lab grown pork
    Courtesy: Fork & Good

    The startup’s initial geographic priorities are North America and Southeast Asia. “We have been working with the FDA and USDA for two years, and are applying to Singapore as well,” says Gupta.

    The latter was the first country to allow the sale of cultivated meat back in 2020, and authorised Australia’s Vow to sell cultured quail and foie gras too last year. “Some of our partners in other Asian countries are keeping us informed of the latest regulatory developments for us to be opportunistic there,” she says.

    In the US, only Eat Just and Upside Foods have been cleared to sell cultivated meat so far, and with Robert F Kennedy Jr sworn in as the new health secretary, uncertainty looms for how this sector is regulated.

    “We believe the biggest relevant challenge in the US is the uncertainty facing all government agencies at this moment,” says Gupta. “If the FDA has fewer resources or is reorganised, this will impact their bandwidth for review and lengthen processing times. Diversifying geographic focus is a good idea to mitigate regulatory risk.”

    The growing number of US states looking to restrict or ban these proteins complicates these matters.

    Fork & Good has been vocal about this – before Florida finalised its ban on cultivated meat last summer, its head of business opportunities, Emily Bogan, told a House panel in February: “A ban like this threatens a free market and sets a dangerous precedent for government interference.”

    If all goes well, though, looking at past approvals, Gupta envisions Q2 2026 as the earliest launch date for its cultivated pork.

    ‘Nothing is inevitable’ – including cultivated meat

    cultivated pork
    Courtesy: Fork & Good

    Fork & Good has so far attracted $30M from investors including True Ventures, Starlight Ventures, BBG Ventures, and Leaps, the VC arm of German pharmaceutical giant Bayer. “We closed a Series A2 round October last year, to fund our response to FDA feedback and deliver on customer deals we had signed,” notes Gupta. “We have $1-2M open for this same round closing at the end of Q1.”

    Cultivated meat has been a victim of the food tech investor fallout, with companies in the category raising 40% less money last year than they did in 2023. Worryingly, they only secured $6M in the second half of last year.

    “The funding landscape has definitely changed due to the burst of the hype bubble combined with macro forces in VC. Our last round was the most challenging of the three institutional rounds we have raised. Luckily, as we have stayed capital-efficient and have had reasonable valuations, [we] were less impacted than others,” Gupta explains.

    “If startups rode the wave, they should be taking a hard look at their business and resetting expectations. [They should also be] adopting leaner approaches and looking at alternative forms of capital – particularly from funders who value our solutions. This is still a really huge problem to solve, and supply chain pressures and meat prices are higher than ever,” she adds.

    Gupta warns that “nothing is inevitable except for death and taxes”, and this applies to cultivated meat too. “Unlike pure software innovation, outside of the breakthrough, you need to solve for infrastructure, supply chains, consumer education and safety/regulation,” she states.

    “This is true of any major zero-to-one innovation, especially in a climate where we have to touch the physical world. But when the need is great enough, you see multiple waves of innovation in the same area until the problem is solved – e.g., solar energy took several attempts over the years, before costs fell faster than any expert or academic predicted.”

    The company has ridden that wave Gupta spoke of – can it now make good on its promise to put cultivated pork on your fork?

    The post $2 Cultivated Pork? Fork & Good on First Sales, Funding and the Future of FDA appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • magic valley
    4 Mins Read

    Magic Valley, a Melbourne-based producer of cultivated meat, has received A$100,000 in government funding to scale up production and drive down costs.

    Aussie food tech startup Magic Valley has secured A$100,000 ($62,800) from the national government to transition from research to commercial production of cultivated meat.

    The grant is part of the A$392M Industry Growth Program (IGP), which aligns with the government’s National Reconstruction Fund priorities, including agricultural value-adding and low-emissions technologies.

    The investment will help Magic Valley, which specialises in cultivated pork and lamb, accelerate production, optimise bioprocessing, and drive down costs, which it says are key steps on its path to market.

    How Magic Valley makes its cultivated meat

    lab grown meat australia
    Courtesy: Magic Valley

    Founded in 2020 by CEO Paul Bevan, Magic Valley unveiled a cultivated lamb product in 2022, targeting one of the most polluting products in the food system (it ranks only behind beef and dark chocolate). It then ventured into cultivated pork with a minced product, which the startup has indicated it can produce for A$8 per kg.

    Magic Valley’s technology doesn’t require fetal bovine serum, and taps into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). It takes a small sample of skin cells from a living animal, which are expanded and turned into iPSCs, which in turn can be converted into muscle and fat.

    The cells are grown in a bioreactor, in a mixture of water, amino acids, and other nutrients. They’re harvested after a few weeks and turned into meat products. These can be made over and over again from the original cell sample, since the iPSCs can grow in an unlimited way.

    According to the company, its process can reduce its proteins’ emissions by 92%, land use by 95%, and water use by 78% compared to their conventional counterparts.

    In 2023, it collaborated with Washington-based Biocellion SPC to enhance its bioreactor design and optimise production, and expanded into a new pilot facility at bio-innovator and incubator Co-Labs. This plant can house bioreactors with a capacity of up to 3,000 litres, allowing it to potentially produce 150,000 kgs of cultivated meat annually.

    lab grown pork
    Courtesy: Magic Valley

    Magic Valley hosted a public tasting for its cultivated pork in April, serving it as part of baos at John Gorilla Café in Brunswick, Victoria. It has also hosted a televised tasting on Australia’s Channel 7 network, and appeared on Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars Australia.

    While cultivated lamb is a relatively niche category, there are several startups working on cultivated pork, including Meatable, Ivy Farm Technologies, Mission Barns, Fork & Good, Simple Planet, MyriaMeat, Mewery, and Meatiply.

    Banking on Australia’s tapered appetite for meat

    It was one of five startups to receive the latest round of grants under the IGP, which supports small and medium-sized businesses that play a crucial role in the economy but can find it difficult to come to market. The scheme focuses on several verticals, from renewables and medical science to defence and agriculture.

    IGP supports enterprises in commercialising their ideas, growing their operations, expanding to national and international markets, and better positioning themselves to secure future investment and scaling opportunities.

    lab grown meat australia
    Courtesy: Magic Valley

    “This funding turbocharges our ability to scale. We’re not just making meat – we’re creating the future of food. And this support from the Australian government signals that they believe in that future too,” said Bevan.

    It comes at a time when more and more Australians are cutting back on meat, with 42% now either reducing or not consuming animal protein at all. Last year alone, a quarter had lowered their meat intake, and another 14% were planning to do so too.

    However, a 2023 survey of Australians and New Zealanders found that 74% weren’t familiar with cultivated meat, while only 24% would readily incorporate it into their diets (and 48% said they wouldn’t do so). Research also shows that when it comes to alternative protein policies, Australia ranks bottom on the list of the 10 most supportive governments in Asia-Pacific. So investments like the one in Magic Valley are a welcome step.

    australia meat consumption
    Courtesy: Food Frontier

    While Cass Materials, Infinite Bioworks, and Smart MCs are all developing products and services to help manufacturers make cultivated meat, the only two companies actively producing these proteins are Magic Valley and Vow.

    The latter is already selling its cultivated quail and foie gras in Singapore and Hong Kong, and is awaiting approval from Food Standards Australia New Zealand. Magic Valley has indicated that it was working closely with the regulator on the compliance and safety of its cultivated pork, and previously suggested that it could commercially launch the product this year.

    The post Aussie Government Invests in Cultivated Meat Startup with A$100K Grant appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • lab grown leather
    5 Mins Read

    Dutch cultivated pork pioneer Meatable broadens its horizons beyond food through a partnership with animal-free leather maker Pelagen.

    As it awaits the go-ahead from regulators in Singapore, cultivated meat startup Meatable already has its eyes on the future.

    With cultivated meat facing a squeeze from investors and policymakers in certain geographies, the Dutch startup is expanding its operations to make an impact beyond just the food industry.

    Meatable has partnered with fellow Leiden-based firm Pelagen, which specialises in cell-based leather, to help enhance the production, efficiency and scalability of the animal-free material for use in a variety of industries, including fashion, automotive, and interiors.

    “Just as Meatable is revolutionising the way we produce and consume meat, Pelagen is redefining leather manufacturing with a sustainable approach. We’re excited to support their vision and market potential through our technology,” said Meatable CEO Jeff Tripician.

    How Meatable’s Opti-ox technology can advance cultivated leather

    meatable opti ox
    Courtesy: Meatable

    The collaboration is built upon the Opti-ox technology Meatable uses to produce its cultivated pork sausages. Pelagen will leverage the platform to improve the production of skin tissue from animal cells for its sustainable leather.

    Opti-ox does away with the need for fetal bovine serum and allows Meatable to make products by isolating a single animal cell. The process uses pluripotent stem cells (PSCs), which – unlike immortalised cell lines that need to be altered to multiply indefinitely – have the natural ability to continue multiplying, and do so rapidly.

    This is coupled with a perfusion process that allows the startup to work in a continuous cycle to generate very high cell densities and produce fully differentiated muscle and fat cells faster than any competitor. The technology can do in 12 days what it takes a pig eight months to, and a cow two to three years – and was named one of Time Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2024.

    “Meatable has demonstrated clear leadership in their field, with a singular capability to enable lightspeed bioprocess,” said Pelagen CEO Sasha Madhavji. “We are excited to leverage their technical edge and accelerate our time to impact – something only possible at commercially relevant scales.”

    And unlike traditional synthetic leather, which mainly uses petroleum-derived plastic and can take up to 500 years to break down, a cell-based version dramatically lowers greenhouse gas emissions and waste. Cultivated leather also avoids the shedding of microplastics that can destroy marine life and our waterways, while replicating the look, feel and smell of its conventional counterpart.

    To get cultivated leather to market, producers require optimised media and processes too. To that end, Pelagen and Meatable will also endeavour to generate the most effective media composition and process. This will help them lower costs, enhance speed and efficiency, and increase the quality of the animal-free leather.

    Can cultivated leather meet the demand for greener products?

    cultivated leather
    Courtesy: Pelagen

    Advocates of leather have long viewed it as a byproduct of meat and dairy production and used that to tout its biodegradability and longevity. Leather critics counter that it should more accurately be viewed as a co-product; in many cases, it is the primary product, and manufacturing it is an energy– and water-intensive process linked to deforestation and biodiversity loss.

    There is, of course, the animal welfare aspect, given that the material is derived from cows, which drives vegan consumers to look for other options. But leather production also has a much higher carbon footprint, at 110kg of CO2e per square metre, compared to synthetic and plant-based alternatives. Moreover, animal-derived leather releases lots of health-harming chemicals during tanning.

    A 20,000-person global survey last year revealed that 85% of people are experiencing disruptive climate change effects, and 46% are buying more sustainable products to reduce their personal impact. In fact, 80% are happy to pay more for them for greener products, with an average price premium of 9.7%.

    This will be music to the ears of companies like Pelagen, whose products will likely enter the market with a premium markup. This latest news illustrates the significant potential for companies working on cell-based leather, a market that is set to grow by 14% annually to reach nearly $400M in 2032.

    Take Parisian startup Faircraft, for example, which recently secured $16M from investors and is working with local leather artisans and fashion brands. In the UK, Lab-Grown Leather Ltd and 3D Bio-Tissues are advancing this material, while Singapore’s ProjectEx is working on cultivating exotic leather alternatives to crocodile and ostrich, for example.

    lab grown leather
    Courtesy: Qorium

    Qorium – another Dutch player – is led by Mosa Meat founder and cultivated meat pioneer Dr Mark Post, and recently produced a 35x35cm sample of cultivated leather using a newly scaled-up tissue bioreactor.

    In the US, Uncaged Innovations is making a grain-based, plastic-free leather alternative, and has been in discussions with several luxury brands. Modern Meadow – which was previously working on cultivated leather – is showcasing its Bio-Vera lineup (made from 80% renewable carbon content that includes plant-based proteins and upcycled tires) at the Lineapelle 2025 show in Milan later this month. And Ecovative is using mycelium to make its eco leather.

    Another 3D tissue engineering startup, US-based VitroLabs, caught the attention (and financial backing) of French luxury giant Kering and actor Leonardo DiCaprio in its $46M Series A round in 2022 – but its cultivated leather failed to take off, and the startup appears to have ceased operations last year.

    The post Cultivated Pork Maker Goes Beyond Meat with Animal-Free Leather Collab appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • beyond meat nba
    5 Mins Read

    Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Beyond Meat’s new products and cookbook, the US’s first corn milk brand, and a cultivated seafood tasting.

    New products and launches

    Plant-based meat giant Beyond Meat has expanded its steak lineup with Chimichurri and Korean BBQ-Style flavours, which are available at Sprouts Farmers Market. It has also launched a Go Beyond the BUzzer cookbook with the National Basketball Players Association, with recipes from current NBA players like Cade Cunningham, Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan.

    beyond steak
    Courtesy: Beyond Meat

    German alt-seafood startup Koralo is expanding into the US, and looking to partner with clients for its co-fermented microalgae- and mycelium-based Wellness New F!sh fillet and functional food ingredients.

    Speaking of seafood, Canadian firm Konscious Foods has partnered with New York-based seafood purveyor Acme Smoked Fish, which will distribute its plant-based smoked salmon to delis, restaurants, bagel shops, and more.

    Fellow Canadian food tech player The Cultivated B has launched multi-channel biosensors to monitor the growth and metabolism of cell culture and fermentation processes. The tech combines continuous tracking with AI-enabled real-time analytics to help enhance accuracy and speed.

    Also in Canada, Odd Burger has secured a retail listing with Calgary Co-op, making its vegan frozen food lineup available at all 22 locations in Alberta.

    maizly corn milk
    Courtesy: Maïzly

    Based in one of the US’s major corn producers, Indianapolis startup Maïzly has debuted a category-first corn milk, which it offers in original and chocolate flavours. Free from seed, nut or vegetable oils, it packs 8g of fibre per cup, and is available on its website, Amazon and select retailers.

    Sweden’s Veg of Lund has secured a listing for its Dug potato milk product at 150 Carrefour stores in Spain, marking its debut in the country.

    In Spain, supermarket chain Eroski, catering company Ausolan, mycelium firm Innomy, and the Leartiker Technology Centre have created desserts and snack bars made from fungal protein as part of the Delifungus project.

    Iceland’s ORF Genetics and South Korea’s CellMeat hosted a public tasting for cultivated shellfish meat at the Iceland Ocean Cluster, in an event attended by First Gentleman Björn Skúlason and agrifood minister Hanna Katrín Friðriksson.

    solein protein
    Courtesy: Solar Foods

    Italian algae startup KelpEat has launched high-protein crackers using Solein, the gas protein produced by Finnish firm Solar Foods. It was showcased at the Pitti Taste show in Florence this week.

    Company and finance updates

    Solar Foods has also reached a step closer to bringing its air-based protein to the EU market, after addressing inquiries from the European Food Safety Authority regarding the scientific opinion on its novel food application.

    heura plant based
    Courtesy: Heura

    Spanish plant-based meat leader Heura has improved its B Corp rating by 18%, now scoring 111 points and securing the top spot for CPG food businesses with a turnover of over €1M.

    NoPalm Ingredients, a Dutch producer of fermentation-derived oils and fats from upcycled agricultural sidestreams, has become the first company to scale such ingredients to industrial levels of 120,000 litres.

    Israeli food tech startup SuperMeat has teamed up with Argentinian biomanufacturing firm Stämm to expand production of the former’s cultivated meat, which it says can be produced for $11.79 per pound. The partnership is supported by mutual investor Varana Capital.

    supermeat
    Courtesy: Dror Varshavski

    Canadian plant protein manufacturer Burcon Nutrascience has agreed to acquire a commercial-scale facility in Galesburg, Illinois, and will begin production in the first half of this year.

    In the US, YC-backed blended meat startup Choppy (formerly Paul’s Table) has ceased operations nearly three years after it was established.

    Californian alt-honey startup MeliBio earned $15,000 after winning Ajinomoto Health & Nutrition‘s NGT3 pitch slam contest for its precision-fermented honey

    Research, policy and awards

    MeliBio‘s European vegan honey distribution deal with Narayan Foods is on the backburner, but the business is aiming to become profitable by the end of the year.

    plant based universities
    Courtesy: Imperial College London

    In the UK, the University of Bristol and Imperial College London have voted to support the transition towards plant-based catering menus, joining a host of other institutes in the Plant-Based Universities movement.

    Can targeted menu modifications ‘nudge’ people into picking plant-based items in restaurants? A new study by Bryant Research explores this question, based on trials run at Mumbai restaurant Gracias Granny.

    South Korea’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs has unveiled its 2025 Agri-Food Fund Operation Plan, committing ₩55B ($38M) towards smart agriculture and food tech.

    gander food waste
    Courtesy: Gander

    Food waste app Gander has been nominated for Prince William‘s Earthshot Prize 2025. The app operates in UK, Ireland, Australia and Brazil, and has saved about 40 million items of food from ending up in the trash.

    Finally, the Freedom Food Alliance (FFA) has launched FoodFacts.org, a fact-checking platform powered by an AI chatbot and expert-backed nutritional and health content. Disclaimer: Green Queem Media founder Sonalie Figueiras is an advisor at FFA.

    Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.

    The post Future Food Quick Bites: Beyond x NBA, Corn Milk & Carbon Crackers appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • mosa meat crowdfunding

    4 Mins Read

    Dutch cultivated meat pioneer Mosa Meat surpassed its crowdfunding goal of €1.5M ($1.56M) just 24 minutes after launch, with the total sum continuing to rise.

    It took less than half an hour.

    Mosa Meat, the company known for producing the world’s first cultivated beef burger, has demonstrated Europeans’ appetite for novel foods, reaching its target of raising €1.5M ($1.56M) via crowdfunding at breakneck speed.

    The Dutch startup hit the goal 24 minutes after the investment opportunity went live, and the total has kept on climbing – less than two days later, Mosa Meat has been overfunded at nearly 175% of its target, raising €2.62M ($2.7M) from almost 1,050 investors.

    The largest investment so far is valued at €1M ($1M). The campaign on Crowdcube remains open until February 25, unless it reaches the maximum funding limit of €13M (combined in the EU and the UK) before then.

    The investment adds to Mosa Meat’s €40M ($42.4M) round last April, which took its total funding to $135M. Among its backers are big names like Leonardo DiCaprio, Sergey Brin, Chris Sacca, and the Mitsubishi Corporation.

    “We are very excited that after receiving support from institutional investors, governments, meat producers and regulators, we can now also offer more consumers to join us on our mission,” Mosa Meat CEO Maarten Bosch said in a statement.

    Why Mosa Meat took the crowdfunding route

    lab grown beef
    Courtesy: Mosa Meat

    Asked why Mosa Meat decided to open up to crowd investors, Bosch told Green Queen: “Ever since Mosa Meat was founded, we’ve had consumers reach out to us that asked if they could help further our mission by investing. With the progress that we have been making, getting closer to market introductions, we thought this was a good moment to start involving consumers and retail investors.”

    He added that the startup will use the funds to “speed up final R&D before restaurant sales can start. We’ll also fund marketing for the first product launch, and the production of the first burgers intended for sale”.

    Bosch noted that “the sheer volume of investment requests” Mosa Meat received after it submitted its regulatory dossier in the EU two weeks ago was “astounding”. “This campaign is about inclusivity; allowing those who support us to help shape the future of food alongside us,” he said.

    The startup has filed for approval to sell a cultivated beef fat for use in blended meat products. The EU Commission and the European Food Safety Authority’s assessment is expected to take 18 months, and if successful, Mosa Meat would be able to sell the ingredient in all 27 member states and the three EEA countries.

    It is also awaiting approval from the Singapore Food Agency and plans to apply in several other geographies, including the UK and possibly Switzerland.

    French startup Gourmey is the only other startup that has applied for EU clearance. But several others – like Meatable, Vital Meat and Aleph Farms – are vying for the greenlight in Singapore. The UK has also seen applications from Vital Meat and Aleph Farms. The latter, which is already approved in Israel, is pursuing clearance in Thailand and Switzerland too.

    Vow, meanwhile, is awaiting the go-ahead from Food Standards Australia New Zealand, having launched in Singapore and Hong Kong last year.

    ‘A clear sign’ that consumers want better options

    mosa meat funding
    Courtesy: Mosa Meat

    Venture capitalists have been deserting the cultivated meat sector in the past 12-18 months lately- investment dropped by 75% in 2023, followed by another steep decline in 2024., leading to the demise of some startups and forcing others to restructure and conduct layoffs.

    Mosa Meat is one of the outliers, evidenced by its €40M raise last year, and the instant success of the crowdfunding campaign. “The overwhelming response to our crowdfunding campaign shows just how strong the demand for cultivated meat remains, even in a challenging VC environment,” Bosch told Green Queen.

    “Despite the situation in capital markets, we’re still seeing unwavering support from consumers, governments, established meat producers, regulators and other partners. It’s a clear sign that people want better options, without giving up what they love,” he added.

    Bosch said the introduction of Mosa Meat’s burgers depends on where it first receives approval, as well as its production costs and volumes. “We can currently produce our burgers at restaurant price levels, and that’s where we’ll start introducing them. One of the options around introductions is to involve the people that participated in this crowdfunding,” he explained.

    The Crowdcube campaign listed several rewards for backers based on the amount invested, from €750 all the way to €250,000. “There are options to get free burgers, skip the line once we get an approval, or even join our founders in Maastricht for an exclusive tasting event this year,” said Bosch.

    Mosa Meat held a public tasting for cattle farmers, product developers and other industry representatives at its headquarters in Maastricht in July, where it dished out hybrid beef burgers.

    Where can you taste it next? “We are currently creating our next-generation products and are preparing to submit tasting approvals for those this year,” said Bosch.

    Other alternative protein startups that have successfully taken the crowdfunding approach include fellow cultivated meat company SuperMeat and plant-based meat players THIS, Heura and La Vie. The Pack, a vegan pet food player that just debuted dog treats blended with Meatly’s cultivated chicken, has also pursued crowdfunding.

    The post Mosa Meat: Cultivated Burger Pioneer Hits €1.5M Crowdfunding Target in 24 Minutes appeared first on Green Queen.

  • lab grown meat pet food
    5 Mins Read

    London-based Meatly’s cultivated chicken has debuted at Pets At Home in the UK, as part of a hybrid dog treat made by vegan pet food startup The Pack.

    British pet owners can now buy cultivated chicken for their furry friends, in what is a global first for the alternative protein industry.

    Starting February 7, leading pet retailer Pets at Home’s Brentford store will stock dog treats made from a blend of Meatly’s cultivated chicken and plant-based ingredients from The Pack.

    Called Chick Bites, the oven-baked treats come in 50g pouches and cost £3.49, and the limited run means around 750 units will be available initially.

    The launch has been eagerly anticipated ever since Meatly received approval from UK regulators to sell its cultivated meat for pets last July. The startup had revealed last year that it would enter the market through Pets at Home – one of Meatly’s largest investors – while vegan pet food maker The Pack had hinted at a move into cultivated meat months earlier.

    Chick Bites ‘a giant leap forward’

    lab grown pet food
    Courtesy: Meatly/Pets at Home

    Meatly’s innovation is derived from a single sample of chicken cells, which – combined with its technology – can produce enough meat “to feed pets forever”, according to the food tech startup. The cells are fed on a mix of nutrients that facilitate their growth, and nurtured in a container that controls temperature and acidity.

    The resulting cultivated chicken breast contains all essential amino acids, critical fatty acids, vitamins and minerals needed for pet health, while being more sustainable and just as palatable.

    Feeding trials carried out by the company have shown that half of the dogs who ate its meat continued to lick the bowl after finishing it, and three-quarters of pet owners reported higher enjoyment than their dogs’ baseline diet.

    “Just two years ago, this felt like a moonshot. Today, we take off,” Meatly co-founder and CEO Owen Ensor said of the launch. “It’s a giant leap forward – toward a significant market for meat, which is healthy, sustainable and kind to our planet and other animals.”

    Pets at Home, which is the UK’s largest pet retailer with over 450 stores, said its investment in Meatly demonstrates its commitment to the planet. “We’re always looking to the future of pet care, and to make sure we’re developing and providing the products that matter to our customers,” said COO Anja Madsen Madsen.

    Meeting the demand for sustainable pet food

    meatly lab grown meat
    Courtesy: Meatly/Pets at Home

    “This innovation has the potential to significantly reduce the environmental impact of pet food and will be a game-changer for the industry,” Madsen added.

    Meatly – which has signed up to the newly released C-Label certification – has previously cited research suggesting that pets account for 22% of the UK’s meat consumption, which is more than what British children eat every year. Meanwhile, labradors – the most popular pet dogs in the country – consume 70 million kg of meat annually, nearly 60% more than their owners.

    Cultivated chicken presents consumers with a more planet-friendly option to feed their four-legged friends. Global polling has shown that 51% of consumers have switched brands or products due to environmental worries – a number that rises to 56% for millennials and 58% for Gen Zers.

    When it comes to pet food, 58% of consumers across age groups switch items or companies out of sustainability concerns, and 54% are happy to pay a premium on eco-friendly products for their pets. This sentiment has deepened over the last few years, with over a third (36%) of consumers saying they were more likely to pay more for sustainable pet food in 2024 than three years prior.

    Meatly plans fundraise to scale up production

    cultivated pet food
    The Pack CEO Damien Clarkson, Pets at Home COO Anja Madsen, and Meatly CEO Owne Ensor | Courtesy: Meatly/Pets at Home

    Meatly indicates that its launch with The Pack and Pets at Home is just a start. “We’ll scale our production and make products more widely available to consumers,” said Ensor.

    The company recently secured an undisclosed sum of funding to add to the £3.6M it had already raised to date, and now plans to attract more investment to help scale up production. “Despite only raising 1% of total European cultivated meat investment, we are the first company to sell cultivated meat in both the UK and EU,” noted the CEO. “We’re proving the potential of cultivated meat, and that there is an efficient and cost-effective route to market.”

    Meatly is planning further small releases before expanding production to make the chicken more broadly available in the next three to five years, and has further collaborations planned with both Pets at Home and The Pack.

    “Cultivated meat offers a tasty, low-carbon, and healthy protein source, which has the potential to eliminate farmed animals from the pet food industry,” said The Pack co-founder and CEO Damien Clarkson, who called the release of the Chick Bites a “watershed moment”.

    Meatly has previously partnered with Omni to market its cultivated chicken for cats, before it pivoted to the dog food focus. “I’ve fed it to my cats several times and they love it,” Ensor told Green Queen in July. The company is now looking to conduct feeding trials for felines as well.

    The cultivated pet food sector has made headlines of late. Cult Food Science conducted feeding trials in the US in pursuit of regulatory approval for its Noochies! brand, Friends & Family Pet Food Co inked two deals to launch stateside and in Singapore, BioCraft Pet Nutrition slashed the cost of its growth media, and Bene Meat Technologies released a life-cycle assessment proving cultivated meat’s superiority to beef.

    The post A Global First: Cultivated Dog Treats Hit UK Shelves As Consumers Seek Sustainable Pet Food appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • vegan hot honey
    5 Mins Read

    Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Eleven Madison Park’s new vegan hot honey, Beyond Meat’s new steaks, and Kite Hill’s post-Veganuary dairy-free campaign.

    New products and launches

    Famed New York City restaurant Eleven Madison Park has released a private-label version of MeliBio‘s Mellody plant-based honey. Launched under the Eleven Madison Home label, the hot honey is made from plant extracts and red habanero chillies, and is available on its website for $28 per 375g jar.

    beyond steak
    Courtesy: Beyond Meat

    Beyond Meat has expanded its vegan steak lineup with chimichurri and Korean-style BBQ flavours, which are available at Sprouts Farmers Market.

    In the UK, Singapore-headquartered HAPPIEE! is taking on McDonald’s with its plant-based alternatives, launching a new truck with HAPPIEE Meals featuring its vegan scampi right in front of the Golden Arches.

    US alt-dairy producer Califia Farms has brought its Simple & Organic range of three-ingredient plant-based milks to the UK, starting with almond and oat milk in Waitrose.

    califia farms organic
    Courtesy: Califia Farms

    Now owned by Oddlygood, British plant milk brand Rude Health has introduced a chilled soy milk with added calcium. Available from February in Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Tesco, the four-ingredient offering contains 120mg of calcium (or 15% of the daily recommended intake) per 100ml.

    Meanwhile, TiNDLE Foods has brought its vegan chicken to all Call a Pizza locations in Germany, where it will be part of menu items like crispy tenders and juicy burgers.

    In the Netherlands, Unilever-owned meat-free brand The Vegetarian Butcher has revamped its beef mince, rolled out tender beef stripes, and relaunched its Cordon Blij and Little Willies SKUs at Albert Heijn.

    the vegetarian butcher
    Courtesy: The Vegetarian Butcher

    And agrifood firm Jaouda has launched Nabatlé, Morocco’s first homegrown plant-based milk brand. It’s available in three varieties: oat, almond, and coconut.

    Company and finance updates

    Dutch retailer Ahold Delhaize has set a ‘protein split’ target to achieve 50% of its protein sales from plant-based foods across its European operations by 2030.

    Also in the Netherlands, AI-led food waste scanner startup OneThird has raised €3.5M ($3.6M) in Series A funding and appointed Henrike Langbroek as CEO.

    onethird scanner
    Courtesy: OneThird

    Danish biotech firm Enduro Genetics has secured €12M ($12.4M) in a Series A round to expand its “synthetic addiction” technology to boost yields and lower costs of microbial bioproduction across industries like alternative proteins, green fuels, bioplastics, and specialty chemicals.

    British cocoa-free chocolate company Win-Win has named Mark Golder as its new CEO. He has previously worked at Bosh!, Ripple Foods, and Rhythm 108.

    European firm The New Originals Company has acquired Dutch tofu maker SoFine Foods and its production facility in Landgraaf.

    sofine tofu
    Courtesy: SoFine Foods

    Now that Veganuary is over, plant-based dairy brand Kite Hill has launched a Dairy-Free February campaign, after a survey found that 36% of Americans would consider trying more plant-based products if they had more information about their health benefits.

    North Carolina startup Biomilq, which specialises in cell-based breast milk bioactives, has filed for bankruptcy amid a protracted IP dispute.

    Speaking of legal battles, precision fermentation leader Perfect Day has ended its dispute with co-manufacturer Olon, with the case voluntarily dismissed and each entity paying its own legal fees. It’s now on the hunt for a new CEO, following the exit of interim chief Narayan TM.

    perfect day whey
    Courtesy: Perfect Day

    Positioning cultivated meat as a direct alternative rather than a substitute, German cultivated meat startup MyriaMeat has developed pig muscle tissues from pluripotent stem cells that exhibit spontaneous contractions.

    Israel’s Vanilla Vida has completed the first scaled harvest of vanilla plants grown via an indoor farming system, which cuts the growing time in half and delivers higher yields than vanillin.

    Finnish precision fermentation startup Onego Bio has completed a successful large-scale bakery run with its animal-free egg protein, producing cookies, muffins and cakes.

    onego bio
    Courtesy: Halle Redfearn/LinkedIn

    Swedish oat milk giant Oatly has announced a plan to readjust the ratio of its American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) – instead of one ADR representing one ordinary share, the change would see each ADR represent 20 ordinary shares.

    In more news from Sweden, dairy giant Valio has teamed up with food tech startup Melt&Marble to use its precision-fermented fats in a variety of “next-generation plant-based products”.

    Policy, research and awards

    Environmental action charity WRAP and the International Food Waste Coalition have joined forces to launch WRAP EU in an effort to tackle food waste in Europe.

    wrap eu
    Courtesy: WRAP EU

    As part of the WIDERA ERA Talents call, the EU has invested €3M in a project to develop new types of plant-based proteins from Turkish staple crops like chickpeas, lentils, and other legumes. The four-year APRISE project is led by the Middle East Technical University, and the investment falls under the Horizon Europe scheme.

    In Canada, the government of Nova Scotia has invested over C$1M to expand the Verschuren Centre, a precision fermentation facility in Cape Breton. The capital will create skilled biomanufacturing jobs, help enhance automation, and increase its client capacity.

    Replacing meat with plant-based and fungal alternatives can reduce total cholesterol by 6%, LDL cholesterol by 11%, and body weight by 1% in eight weeks or less, a new study has found.

    senara
    Courtesy: Senara

    German cultivated milk producer Senara has been shortlisted for the 2025 edition of Prince William’s Earthshot Prize, after being nominated by the WWF.

    Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.

    The post Future Food Quick Bites: Vegan Hot Honey, Dairy-Free February & Earthshot Prize appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • lab grown eel
    5 Mins Read

    More than a third of Japanese consumers are interested in trying cultivated eel, as stocks of the fish species dwindle amid overfishing and pollution.

    Japan may be the world’s largest market for freshwater eel, but it recognises that the species’s future is under threat – and it’s willing to give future-friendly versions of the national delicacy a go.

    More than a third (35%) of Japanese consumers say they are familiar with cultivated unagi, an innovation derived from fish cells via cellular agriculture, and willing to try it. A quarter are eager to taste the novel food regardless of how much it costs them too, though the rest set limits on how much they’re willing to shell out.

    These findings are the results of a 2,000-person survey conducted by Forsea Foods, an Israeli startup that has developed the “world’s first” cell-cultured eel and is targeting the Japanese market first.

    “We have already established meaningful relationships in the market with investors, food companies, restaurants and chefs and we are constantly looking to expand our relationships in the country,” co-founder and CEO Roee Nir tells Green Queen. “Our first products will be launched in late 2026 or early 2027.”

    Increasing awareness can bring dividends

    forsea foods
    Courtesy: Liran Maimon

    In a separate survey in August, 23% of Japanese consumers said they loved eel, but didn’t purchase it because of its high price tag, while over a third were concerned about the impact of overfishing, which has rendered freshwater eel a critically endangered species.

    Still, Japan accounts for 50-70% of the global market for the fish, which is often served in a sweet soy-based glaze as kabayaki. It’s a delicacy in the county – more than half of the respondents above said they consume eel at least once a year, and 10% do so regularly. And despite the high markups – wholesale prices range from $40-60 per kg in Japan – one in two consumers are happy to pay the premium if it’s a high-quality product.

    “Consumers are willing to pay over $120 per kg for premium eel,” says Nir. “Our eel will be priced in line with these market prices.”

    Japan’s interest in cultivated meat stems from several factors: nearly a third of respondents to the new poll believe it’s a highly nutritious and safer option, thanks to the absence of heavy metals and contaminants. One in three are drawn to the sustainability aspect, while a quarter are intrigued by the technology.

    Meanwhile, taste and price together are key considerations for two-thirds of the survey participants. And two in five feel cultivated seafood could potentially solve the problem of overfishing.

    lab grown seafood
    Courtesy: Anatoly Michaello

    “Many were concerned about the environmental and ecological impact of overfishing of freshwater eel,” reveals Nir. “Many others were intrigued by the innovation and wanted to experience something new.”

    The results chime with findings from a similar poll conducted by the Cellular Agriculture Institute of the Commons (CAIC) in 2022, where 39% of consumers expressed familiarity with cultivated meat. Similarly, a 2023 survey found that over two in five Japanese respondents are willing to try these cultivated meat and seafood products, especially if they’re priced the same or cheaper.

    “Awareness of cultivated meat products in Japan is growing. The fact we are targeting such an important cuisine in Japanese culture really increases the buzz around cultured fish and seafood,” says Nir.

    This is crucial, since greater knowledge about cultivated meat is correlated with a higher willingness to try it, according to the CAIC poll. “In the following months and years, Forsea plans to invest in increasing consumer exposure to cultivated fish and seafood and in consumer education,” the CEO adds.

    Forsea Foods eyes tasting events in Japan

    lab grown eel meat
    Courtesy: Liran Maimon

    Poaching, illegal trading, breeding troubles and pollution have decimated supplies of freshwater eel, with consumption declining by 63% between 2000 and 2021 in Japan. And overfishing doesn’t just disrupt eel populations, but also the marine and freshwater ecosystems they inhabit.

    Forsea Foods makes its cultured version using proprietary organoid technology, which involves creating the ideal environment for cells to assemble into 3D microtissue structures comprising fat, muscle and connective tissues.

    These mimic organ functions and structures, and spontaneously differentiate into edible cells, replacing the natural growth process of tissues in a living animal. The process also bypasses the scaffolding stage (where cells are grown on 3D scaffolds to create structured proteins) and significantly lowers reliance on growth factors, helping the startup produce cultivated meat in a cost-effective manner.

    Last year, it showcased the cultivated eel at Saido, a vegan restaurant in Tokyo, and held an intimate tasting event at A, a Japanese restaurant in Tel Aviv. Months later, the firm achieved a cell density – which informs how well cells proliferate and differentiate – of over 300 cells per ml, and with minimal use of culture media (responsible for the bulk of the costs of cultivated meat and seafood).

    This cell density is the highest in the industry, according to Forsea Foods, and represents a breakthrough in its efforts to reach commercial scale and lower prices. “Achieving this level of cell density with minimal resources will translate to substantial reductions in the unit of economics and will bring cultured seafood production to a cost that is actually below the traditional market price,” Nir told Green Queen in November.

    “Our cultured eel has received a lot of positive traction in the global food scene, particularly among Japanese food manufacturers,” he now adds. “We are participating in local conferences and events. We will be looking to have sensory evaluations and also tasting events once the regulatory bodies approve such events in Japan.”

    Speaking of which, Forsea Foods has previously indicated that it was preparing to file dossiers for regulatory approval in Japan. Kimiko Hong-Mitsui, interim director of alternative protein think tank the Good Food Institute (GFI) Japan, told Green Queen in October: “Officials are making steady progress in developing a novel food regulatory framework.”

    The post Japan, the World’s Largest Eel Consumer, is Hungry for Cultured Unagi appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • upside foods

    8 Mins Read

    Californian cultivated meat pioneer Upside Foods is aiming to launch chicken shreds – its second product – in the US by year-end.

    Despite its legal battle against Florida’s leaders and an uncertain political landscape around alternative proteins, Upside Foods is looking to move forward.

    While the Californian startup is cleared to sell its cultivated chicken fillet – containing 99% chicken cells – it stopped selling this at restaurants last year with the product is in relatively tight supply. The company says it doesn’t intend to bring this back to market either, prioritising its use for marketing and advocacy purposes.

    What it is hoping to commercialise are its chicken shreds, which are produced differently and require separate authorisation from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The company is hopeful that it can bring these to restaurants stateside by the end of 2025.

    The shreds are made using suspension technology, instead of the tissue process used for the fillet. “Because the cells are grown in suspension, they don’t have anything to grip on. So after we harvest the cells, we are removing moisture – the suspension fluid – as much as we can,” says Melissa Musiker, head of communications at Upside Foods.

    According to Musiker, this second innovation has been in the works for a long time and was the basis of Upside’s $400M Series C raise in 2022. The shreds will be used to make blended meat products – a combination of cultivated chicken and plant-based ingredients.

    Still in R&D, the current version includes soy protein, wheat gluten (Upside says it is working to remove the latter) and a plant-based oil, in addition to the protein and fat from the chicken cells.

    While the inclusion rate of the cultivated chicken is yet to be determined, Musiker confirms that it will be the predominant ingredient on the label. “It’s a differentiator in the industry at this point. Because some of these other products have relatively low inclusion rates. Our goal is to have it be the predominant ingredient on a label,” she says.

    Upside Taps Distributor That ‘Put Impossible Foods On The Map’

    lab grown chicken
    Courtesy: Upside Foods

    Musiker is speaking to me a fortnight after Upside Foods held a tasting in collaboration with meat purveyor Pat LaFreida in New York City, one of several such events it has hosted since hitting pause on its restaurant plans last year.

    The startup’s chefs prepared the shreds in various formats, including a yoghurt-marinated chicken shawarma-taco, a breakfast sausage, empanadas, and a fried version – a first for the startup. “It was delicious. I personally hadn’t had it that way before,” says Musiker. 

    “We’re partnering with different people and groups, leveraging their relationships and their validation to bring more people into the room and get them to try the product for the first time,” she explains.

    She clarifies that there’s no official partnership with the meat purveyor yet, but adds that Upside Foods is “looking forward to opportunities to formalise something in the future”.

    Musiker says LaFreida has a great deal of experience introducing new alternative ingredients to the market, and his support has helped inform its decision to start in B2B for the chicken shreds.

    “Pat and his team are so supportive of what we’re doing. They are pioneers in bringing alternative proteins to the Mid-Atlantic region of the US. They were the first distributor of Impossible Foods and really helped put them on the map,” she says.

    “We just feel Pat gets it. He and his team really understand the issues that are going on and the reasons why this kind of product can be appealing, and we’re especially gratified just how much they like it.”

    Eventually, Upside Foods wants to bring its product to supermarket shelves too, but given the production scale-up this requires, it remains “several years away”.

    Speaking of which, Upside Foods signed a lease on a 187,000 sq ft facility in Illinois in 2023, which would have been able to produce 30 million lbs of cultivated meat a year. However, financial challenges and strategic pivots saw the company put the project on hold.

    “We’re currently renovating our production facility in Emeryville, EPIC, to expand capacity and make it fit-for-purpose, to produce a commercial volume of the suspension [chicken],” reveals Musiker.

    In its current form, this plant is designed to produce 50,000 lbs of cultivated meat per year, with the ability to expand up to 400,000 lbs. But with the renovation, this capacity will be significantly upgraded. Upside Foods has conducted dozens of production runs at a 2,000-litre scale, tech transferred multiple processes into the facility, and produced enough cells to make thousands of lbs of its shredded chicken in the last few months.

    ‘Not ready to throw in the towel’ with cultivated meat bans

    lab grown meat ban
    Courtesy: Upside Foods

    Cultivated meat has been part of a culture war in the US, where states like Florida and Alabama have banned it and a dozen others have attempted to do the same.

    Upside Foods is in the heat of it all, suing Florida for its law, although a judge has denied the company a preliminary injunction that would have allowed it to serve cultivated chicken at trade shows.

    “We knew that this was going to take time,” Musiker says of the lawsuit. “This is going forward exactly the way we thought it would. [But] we’re hopeful that the constitution’s on our side.

    Musiker acknowledges that the legislative attacks are a disappointing distraction, but she calls these hurdles “part of the reality” the industry has to operate in though the company is committed to bringing cultivated meat to all Americans.

    “We’re not ready to write off potential consumers in Florida and Alabama or any of the other states that are contemplating this ban. We think they have a right to buy it and try it and see if they like it. If they don’t want to buy it and try it, don’t.”

    Upside applied for regulatory approval for shredded chicken a year ago

    Upside Foods submitted a dossier for the shredded chicken over a year ago, and has been in what Musiker calls a “productive process”.

    With Donald Trump back as president, the industry’s short-term future is full of uncertainty. And with Robert F Kennedy Jr in line to be health secretary, there have been suggestions that the regulatory pathway for novel foods could become much more complicated.

    Musiker wouldn’t be drawn on the political discourse, but did note that “most of the work that we did to get the fillet approved was under the first Trump administration”.

    “This is bigger than us, right? There are precedents that are beyond just what’s happening in cultivated meat. And that’s part of why we’re committing resources to move this through the process, as opposed to just saying: ‘Fine, we won’t sell it in these states and we’ll give up.’ We’re not ready to throw in the towel yet.”

    Is Upside Foods not worried? “We are always worried – we were worried before and will remain worried,” she suggests. “It would be wrong for us to take anything for granted… We’re doing everything the same today as we were on November 4.”

    She adds: “We’re gonna continue moving forward, and we remain optimistic that we’ll be able to do a commercial launch in 2025.”

    ‘Making smart decision to maintain runway’

    lab grown meat tasting
    Courtesy: Upside Foods

    Investors seem to be distancing themselves from the cultivated meat category, pouring in just half as much money in the first nine months of 2024 than they did in all of 2023, and hundreds of millions less than in the boom years of 2020-2022.

    Upside Foods has had its share of financial challenges too, citing “political, regulatory and macroeconomic headwinds” behind its decision to lay off 26 employees last summer.

    “Our focus must now narrow to a tighter set of priorities that pave the way for our product launches in the next two years,” co-founder and CEO Uma Valeti wrote in an email to employees last July. “We need to deliver on the work that remains, especially on critical milestones that are yet to be hit or are delayed.”

    Asked about the company’s financial health, Musker says: “We know we’re in a privileged position. We’re making smart decisions to maintain runway for what we need to get done at this phase. We are just being thoughtful about how we spend money and what we invest in, who we hire and when we hire them.”

    She acknowledges that there are other companies in much more constrained circumstances, which could run out of funds before they reach approval. “That’s scary for the industry. So we’re hopeful that there won’t be additional hurdles placed on companies,” she says.

    Clearing these obstacles would “be consistent with the principles and some of the messaging coming out of the administration about minimising barriers to innovation and regulatory hurdles”, she adds.

    Tasting is believing

    Upside Foods is planning more tasting events in the months ahead. “Tasting is believing,” says Musker. “When they try it, they like it, and it minimises whatever mental barriers they might have had, And then they start to see the potential of it, they start to think past: ‘Oh, this is going to be expensive or different,’ or: ‘How am I going to explain this to my customers?’”

    She highlights that tastings can be beneficial for not just chefs and restaurants, but also policymakers and regulators. “Obviously, we want people to sign up and be a commercial partner. But the secondary goal that we have is to just get people to try it for the first time,” she says. “It’s much less intimidating when you’ve tried it.

    “It’s literally just a chicken nugget. Who would be afraid of a chicken nugget?”

    The post Upside Foods Eyes Approval For Sale of New Shredded Chicken Products at US Restaurants by End 2025 appeared first on Green Queen.

  • arla jord
    4 Mins Read

    Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers two new dairy-free coffee creamers, Hellmann’s social media prank, and Oato’s launch of fresh oat milks at Sainsbury’s.

    New products and launches

    Alt-dairy giant Violife has made a foray into coffee creamers, which use lentils as their base and don’t separate or curdle, according to the brand. They’re available in Tempting Vanilla, Seductive Caramel, and Boldly Original flavours at Walmart stores nationwide for $4.88.

    violife creamer
    Courtesy: Heura

    More news from the coffee creamer space: Organic Valley has introduced its oat-based lineup, with flavours like vanilla, caramel, oatmeal cookie, and cinnamon spice.

    A week after partnering with Moonburger, vegan cultured Cheddar maker Stockled Dreamery will now be the “headline cheese” at all 13 locations of plant-based fast-food chain PLNT Burger.

    Unilever-owned Hellmann’s has launched a new social-media-led campaign for its Plant-Based Mayo, which sees chef Matthew Ravenscroft trick his friends into making dishes with the product to prove there’s no difference in taste compared to the original version.

    At the Scientific Kick-off Event for Bezos Earth Fund‘s Centre for Sustainable Protein at Imperial College London last week, Californian precision-fermented fat startup Yali Bio showcased its designer cocoa butter alternative.

    Fellow Californian company Beyond Meat has brought its vegan steak and chicken ranges to foodservice operators in France via Metro, Costco, Creta Gel, SDV, and other distributors.

    Germany’s GoodMills Innovation has launched GoWell Tasty Protein, a new plant protein blend for baked goods, made from faba beans, yellow peas, sunflower seeds and wheat. It has a protein content of 60% and a well-rounded amino acid profile.

    British fresh oat milk maker Oato has gained a listing at Sainsbury’s. Its one-litre and one-pint bottles – which are non-UHT – will be available in the chilled aisle at over 370 stores nationwide.

    Speaking of plant-based milk, fellow UK startup MYOM has launched its powdered oat milk at Whole Foods Market stores, one of “many grocery listings” planned for 2025.

    Company and finance updates

    US precision fermentation startup The Every Company has named Evan Geisert as its new CFO. He was formerly the finance chief at Smart Wires and Kairos Aerospace.

    Spanish plant-based meat startup Heura was present at the Faculty of Medicine in Barcelona during the country’s Medical Residency Entrance Exam to spread awareness about the health benefits of a vegan diet to the doctors of the future.

    heura
    Courtesy: Heura

    French hemp fermentation startup Auralip has raised €500,000 ($521,000) from Business Angels Grandes Ecoles, Femmes BA, Yes Invest, and others, which could be matched by a loan from state investor Bpifrance.

    Czechia’s Ministry of Agriculture has decided against introducing stricter labelling regulations for plant-based meat and dairy after considering the feedback to the proposal, a big win for the vegan sector.

    jord oat milk
    Courtesy: Arla

    Danish dairy giant Arla has withdrawn its Jörd plant-based milk brand from UK supermarkets, with the range already unavailable at Tesco, Sainsbury’s, and Asda.

    Research and policy developments

    In the UK, the Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein, the Microbial Food Hub, the Cellular Agriculture Manufacturing Hub, and the National Alternative Protein Centre (NAPIC) have signed an MoU to work together and address alternative protein challenges like cost reduction, scalability, and consumer acceptance.

    NAPIC has also opened applications for five fully funded PhD studentships for alternative proteins, covering subjects like allergenicity and processing, the gut-brain axis, colloidal performance, nutritional equivalence, and microbubble stabilisation.

    national alternative protein innovation centre
    Courtesy: NAPIC

    Across the Atlantic, anti-cultivated meat legislation remains popular. In South Carolina, SB 103 aims to restrict “misleading or deceptive” labelling of these foods.

    US-cultivated meat startup Orbillion Bio has won the Salesforce DreamPitch event at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

    Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.

    The post Future Food Quick Bites: Coffee Creamers, Vegan Mayo & Cultivated Meat Legislation appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • pluri kokomodo
    4 Mins Read

    Israel’s Pluri has secured a $6.5M investment and entered the cell-based chocolate space with the impending purchase of a majority stake in Rehovot-based Kokomodo.

    After innovating with cultivated meat and lab-grown coffee, Haifa-based firm Pluri is dipping into cell-based chocolate.

    The cellular agriculture specialist has acquired at least 71% of fellow Israeli company Kokomodo, which makes cell-cultured cocoa, in a transaction with $4.5M.

    Pluri is purchasing these shares from Chutzpah Holdings and Plantae, both of which are under the control of health and tech investor Alejandro Weinstein, who has concurrently poured $6.5M into Pluri’s business.

    “Pluri has already demonstrated the great potential of cell-based technologies to drive innovation forward in both the regenerative medicine and agtech space,” Weinstein said. “Sustainable and scalable food production is a global priority. I believe that these transactions mark the beginning of a powerful partnership.”

    Pluri diversifies cell ag platform

    cell based coffee
    Courtesy: Pluri

    Listed on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) and Nasdaq, Pluri began as a health tech company in 2001, specialising in stem cell therapy for disease treatments.

    Pluri recently expanded its horizons into food and manufacturing, creating cultivated meat startup Ever After Foods in a joint venture with food giant Tnuva in 2022. The firm is working on beef, poultry and seafood cell lines, and offers a 90% reduction in costs for B2B clients.

    Meanwhile, early last year, it expanded into cell-based coffee under the new PluriAgTech vertical, which uses breakthrough cell tech to create eco-friendly alternatives to carbon-intensive foods. This project was spun out into a subsidiary called Coffeesai, and the company is targeting regulatory approval in the US via the FDA’s GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) pathway.

    The investment from Weinstein is expected to close at the end of this month, and is aimed at strengthening Pluri’s balance sheet and supporting innovation and strategic growth across its cell-based tech platform. The firm added that it will use the funds for working capital and general corporate purposes.

    “We believe that Mr Weinstein’s equity investment will strengthen our financial foundation and allow us to advance our entry into the cultivated cacao market, with the goal of positioning Pluri as a leader in this sector, where demand is growing and alternative agricultural solutions are needed to feed our global population,” said Pluri CEO Yaky Yanay.

    Banking on the climate-friendly chocolate ecosystem

    cell based chocolate
    Courtesy: Kokomodo

    Both the investment and the Kokomodo deal are subject to approval from Pluri’s shareholders, as well as the European Investment Bank, Nasdaq, and TASE.

    Kokomodo came out of stealth last summer with a $750,000 investment from The Kitchen FoodTech Hub and the Israeli Innovation Authority, working to produce cell-based cocoa for the food and beverage, supplements, and cosmetics industries.

    The startup uses cells from premium cocoa beans grown in Central and South America and has successfully completed lab-scale production. It has been working to get closer to price parity with conventional chocolate and indicated that a US launch may be on the cards first.

    With the impending acquisition – expected to close during Q2 this year – Pluri is looking to drive the growth and expansion of Kokomodo’s operations by leveraging its cultivated cacao solutions to “capitalise on the growing demand for sustainable food technologies”. The deal is also set to strengthen Pluri’s strategic growth and operational capabilities.

    “The synergy between Kokomodo’s advancements in cell line development and Pluri’s industrial-scale production creates a strong foundation for innovation, positioning the company to lead the field of cultivated cacao and set new benchmarks in cultivated cacao technologies,” noted Yanay.

    Kokomodo is among several firms working to futureproof the $120B chocolate industry, which has a significant impact on the planet. A bar of chocolate requires 1,700 litres of water on average, and growing demand for land has meant that 94% and 80% of deforestation in Ghana and Ivory Coast, respectively, is ascribed to cocoa. In fact, dark chocolate is amongst the most polluting foods (behind only beef).

    Meanwhile, the climate crisis is wiping out cocoa yields and hiking up prices, which shot up three to fourfold last year to reach all-time highs, just as global cocoa stocks have dropped to their lowest levels. If things remain the way they are, a third of the world’s cocoa trees might die out by 2050.

    Aside from Kokomodo, Swiss startup Food Brewer, US player California Cultured, and fellow Israeli firm Celleste Bio are all developing cell-based chocolate. Others, however, are using more planet-friendly ingredients to make cocoa-free alternatives to chocolate, such as Voyage Foods (US), Planet A Foods (Germany), Win-Win (UK), and Foreverland (Italy).

    The post Israeli Cell Ag Innovator Pluri Raises $6.5M, Announces Lab-Grown Cocoa Startup Acquisition appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • lab grown meat banned
    9 Mins Read

    With Donald Trump having returned to office, 2025 could be a bumper year for cultivated meat bans in the US – here are the countries that could benefit from these policies.

    Within a day of returning to the presidency, Donald Trump withdrew the US from the Paris Agreement yet again, promised to “drill, baby, drill” by invoking a national energy emergency (despite being the world’s largest oil and gas producer), promised to end the Green New Deal, and ordered the elimination of government offices that protect vulnerable communities from pollution.

    None of this was unexpected, though for many around the world, it was jarring. After an administration that pumped more money into dealing with climate change than ever before, Trump’s complete one-eighty on day one is a harbinger of dark times to come in the climate fight.

    One climate-related issue that has sparked a culture war in the country is meat-eating. Americans eat way more meat than recommended, and 99% of it comes from factory farms. Despite that, the backlash against novel proteins like cultivated meat is incendiary.

    The states of Florida and Alabama have both officially banned cultivated meat, while lawmakers in a dozen others – including ArizonaIllinoisNebraska, New York, Pennsylvania, and Texas – have attempted to do the same.

    Trump hasn’t been shy about his love for meat, nor has his infamous mega donor Elon Musk. Vice-president JD Vance has previously gone on a tirade about “disgusting fake meat”, calling it “highly processed garbage”, and Robert F Kennedy Jr – who could become the next US health secretary – has likened it to the ultra-processed food that he hates.

    There are rumours that RFK Jr might ban cultivated meat, though he’s actually more likely to just make it harder for companies to receive approval from the Food and Drug Administration and Department of Agriculture to sell these products in the country.

    If Kennedy puts up those barriers, and more states succeed in banning cultivated meat, it would force cultivated meat companies to look away from the US and towards more receptive countries.

    The US was the second nation to greenlight these products for sale, with California’s Upside Foods and Eat Just both receiving approval for their cultivated chicken products in 2023. That feels like a long time ago, and it’s worth wondering whether it was an outlier.

    The new US administration’s distaste for cultivated meat could bring significant opportunities for other countries that would look to capitalise by offering a friendly regulatory environment for alternative protein producers.

    For example, in a recent newsletter, alternative protein think tank the Good Food Institute APAC predicted that 2025 would likely “go in the history books as the year that cultivated meat went from being an exotic dish only available in business hubs like Singapore and Hong Kong, to an emerging technology explored by innovators across Asia-Pacific”.

    “Our experts are optimistic that this year will include the first-ever market approvals in South Korea and Australia/New Zealand (which share a regulatory body). It’s possible that Thailand could follow suit,” the think tank suggested.

    Here are the nations that could be the biggest winners.

    Singapore

    lab grown meat singapore
    Courtesy: Eat Just

    Widely recognised as a future food leader, Singapore was the first country to approve the sale of cultivated meat back in 2020 (for Eat Just) and has since granted clearance to cultured quail and foie gras from Australia’s Vow. It’s also assessing applications from a host of other startups, including Mosa Meat, Meatable, Vital Meat, and Aleph Farms.

    The city-state’s leadership in this sector has drawn the attention of other countries too, which have floated the idea of using Singapore’s approval as a benchmark to greenlight products within their own borders (the way Hong Kong has done with Vow).

    Cultivated meat producers are taking note of this, with Meatable telling Green Queen that it hoped to use this system of international cooperation to obtain approval in five to six countries by the end of the year.

    The country’s new Food Safety and Security Bill officially describes novel foods and codifies the existing regulatory framework to make it easier for producers to commercialise. Expect more companies to look to Singapore in the wake of any anti-cultivated-meat legislation in the US.

    UK

    lab grown meat uk
    Courtesy: Ivy Farm Technologies

    Long been bound by EU regulations, the UK took major strides last year to break away from pre-Brexit rules and establish itself as a regulatory leader in the sector. The Food Standards Agency has suggested it would establish the international cooperation framework too, working with not just Singapore, but also the likes of Australia, New Zealand and potentially others.

    In October, the government poured £1.6M into the FSA to create a first-of-its-kind regulatory ‘sandbox’ for cultivated meat producers, which is built to speed up the timeline and lower the costs related to regulatory clearance.

    This year, the FSA will create a new public register for novel food approvals to replace the existing system of requiring a statutory instrument, which adds up to six months to a process that already takes over two and a half years. It will also do away with the need for renewals of approvals every 10 years, which currently add to the agency’s crowded backlog.

    The UK also became the first European country to approve cultivated meat, greenlighting Meatly’s pet food. Gourmey (cultivated foie gras), Vital Meat (cultivated chicken), Ivy Farm Technologies and Aleph Farms (both cultivated beef) have all applied too.

    European Union

    lab grown meat eu
    Courtesy: Romain Buisson/Gourmey

    The EU has been a frustrating market for cultivated meat players. Its novel food regulations – among the strictest and most complex globally – have deterred companies from filing dossiers. Morever, startups have told us that they want to make sure they get their dossier right because timelines are so long. In terms of political and cultural buy-in, the bloc is a bit of a mixed bag. While the world’s first cultivated meat product was born in the EU (Dutch startup Mosa Meat’s 2013 burger), it is home to the first national ban on cultivated meat (in Italy), and has faced several other attempts from the likes of France, Romania and Hungary.

    Homegrown companies have usually looked to places like Singapore or the US for market entry, but could the developments in the latter finally accelerate progress in the EU? Gourmey became the first to apply for regulatory approval from the European Food Safety Authority in July, and this week, Mosa Meat did so too.

    Meanwhile, the EU Commission has rejected Hungary’s argument justifying a ban on cultivated meat, alongside member states like Czechia, Lithuania, Sweden, and the Netherlands – signalling a slightly more positive state of affairs for novel foods in the region.

    Israel

    lab grown meat israel
    Courtesy: Aleph Farms

    After Singapore and the US, Israel was the third country to approve cultivated meat, giving the go-ahead to Aleph Farms in December 2023. The nation has been adjudged to be one of the global hotbeds of alternative protein innovation – it’s home to over 70 future food startups, accounted for 10% of investment in the industry in 2023, and is set to generate 10,000 new jobs and $2.5B in economic benefits by 2030.

    While progress has been halted due to the current war in Gaza, which is still ongoing, the ceasefire has brought respite and hopes of an end to the long-running dispute. While there’s still a long way to go, it could potentially spark a regulatory revival in Israel for novel foods.

    China

    lab grown meat china
    Courtesy: Eat Just

    Many US politicians have already taken aim at China as one of its major rivals, but the country’s dominance in sectors like manufacturing, electric mobility, and biotechnology has left even Republicans – famously against cultivated meat – wondering whether it’s time to embrace these novel proteins.

    Cultivated meat companies benefit from much lower production costs in the East Asian country, compared to Europe or the US, as well as friendly policies. China’s five-year agricultural plan (running until 2026) calls for research into proteins like cultivated meat, while the 2020 Green Biological Manufacturing initiative set aside ¥20M ($3M at the time) in funding for plant-based and cultivated meat research.

    This hasn’t gone unnoticed in the US. Nearly a dozen Republican Congress members sent a letter to the director of national intelligence and the USDA’s director of homeland security a few months ago, asking them to analyse the potential impact of China’s advancements on the global food system, and urging the US to take action to maintain leadership and resilience in the biotech sector.

    Thailand

    lab grown meat thailand
    Courtesy: Sakchai Lalit/AP

    While it may fly under the radar for some, Thailand has been steadily building its cultivated meat ecosystem over the years. Over the last three decades, meat consumption in Thailand has skyrocketed by 180%, doubling the amount of land used for livestock farming, but two-thirds of locals are looking to put less meat on their plates, primarily for health reasons.

    And while research suggests that just a quarter of Thailand’s population is aware of cultivated meat, one poll found that 97% of Thai consumers want to try these proteins.

    Aleph Farms is already building the country’s first manufacturing facility for cultivated meat and recently held a tasting event for industry professionals in Bangkok. The startup also worked with seafood giant Thai Union to submit a regulatory dossier to the National Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in December.

    South Korea

    lab grown meat korea
    Courtesy: Simple Planet

    Policy support for cultivated meat has come a long way in South Korea. A year after the opening of the $7M North Gyeongsang Cellular Agriculture Industry Support Center, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety established a framework for regulatory approval of these proteins.

    The government also created a regulation-free special zone for the development of cultivated foods. The ₩20B ($14M) project harbours 10 companies working to commercialise these proteins. And the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries is investing ₩29B ($21M) in research funding for plant-based and cultivated seafood technologies.

    With 90% of Koreans willing to try cultivated meat, and two in five in favour of it being sold at supermarkets and restaurants, the potential for this industry in South Korea is high. Seoul-based startup Simple Planet has indicated that it aims to obtain the regulatory greenlight for its cultivated meat this year.

    Australia and New Zealand

    vow cultured meat
    Courtesy: Vow

    Another regulatory assessing Vow’s application is Food Standards Australia New Zealand. While the process started in early 2023 and has been protracted, the joint regulator closed a second round of public consultation for its filing just before Christmas, proposing a new standards-based approach. At this stage, it won’t be a surprise if the agency gives the greenlight within the year.

    Fellow Australian startup Magic Valley is also working closely with the Antipodean regulator on the compliance and safety of its cultivated pork, and has previously suggested that it could commercially launch the product this year.

    These innovations would appeal to the 21% of Australians who describe themselves as ‘meat reducers’. Four in 10 say they are cutting back on meat, or have reduced or eliminated it altogether. And another survey shows that more than half of these consumers are open to trying culrivated meat.

    The post Trumping America: Which Countries Stand to Win From Cultivated Meat Bans in the US? appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • lab grown meat china
    4 Mins Read

    In Beijing’s Fengtai District, the New Protein Food Science and Technology Innovation Base is aiming to fill the gap in China’s cultivated meat and microbial protein ecosystem.

    China has just opened its first alternative protein centre for cultivated meat and fermentation-derived products, with support from both the public and private sectors.

    Located in the China Meat Food Comprehensive Research Center in Beijing, the first-of-a-kind hub has been set up with an ¥80M ($10.9M) investment, in a joint effort by the local Fengtai District government and meat processor Shounong Food Group.

    The two entities have worked together on a blueprint to integrate their resources, promote the development of academia, research and industry, and create a future food cluster.

    “The New Protein Food Science and Technology Innovation Base will help complete the transformation of laboratory results into engineering and industrialisation, and lay a good development prospect for the commercialisation of cell-cultured meat,” Cui Xulong, Fengati District’s deputy mayor, said at the opening ceremony.

    New hub extends Fengtai District’s biotech leadership

    china new protein centre
    Courtesy: Fengtai District Media Integration Center

    The alternative protein centre has built an innovative R&D platform and lab for novel foods like cultivated meat. It currently has a 200-litre cell line for cultivated meat, and a 2,000-litre production line for microbial protein, but plans to develop two 2,000-litre cell culture lines, and three microbial protein pilot lines of 2,000 and 5,000 litres.

    As the first national-level tech innovation platform for cultivated meat in China, it will bring “unlimited possibilities” to the industry’s development, and will mainly focus on the fields of cell engineering and synthetic biology through breakthrough tech research, engineering application, and an industrial innovation ecosystem.

    At the opening ceremony, attendees were shown a glimpse of the kind of products that can be born out of the research centre – think microbial protein bars, microbe-fermented tofu meat, and a cultivated marbled steak.

    Fengtai District has emerged as a biomanufacturing leader in the future food industry. In May, it issued a policy measure to integrate resources, increase productivity, and speed up the development of the food industry. This resulted in the establishment of the district’s first future food industrial park, which attracted scientific research institutions, upstream and downstream enterprises, and industry associations.

    The newly established Shounong Development and Innovation Science and Technology Industrial Park is now aiming to cultivate a new productivity force in Beijing’s agrifood industry, and become a “model zone” for the future food industry.

    The district also intends to use artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technologies to establish a platform for real-time monitoring and traceability of the entire chain of future food production, processing, circulation, and sales, and enhance food safety.

    China’s biotech dominance takes effect

    cultivated meat china
    Courtesy: CellX

    Xulong noted that the new centre supports the development of the national bioeconomy and biomanufacturing industries, and can help boost national food security.

    While China is the world’s largest meat consumer – making up 28% of the global consumption growth in the decade to 2023, with intakes set to increase further until 2030 – but experts suggest that half of all protein consumption in the country must come from alternative sources by 2060, if it is to decarbonise.

    This can already be seen in current eating patterns – China is already consuming more protein per capita than the US, and more than 60% of this comes from vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts and seeds. Its share of global meat consumption is also set to fall to 11% in the next decade.

    A 2024 survey suggests that when Chinese consumers are informed of the benefits of a vegan diet, 98% say they’ll eat more of these foods. This is driven by the country’s large flexitarian population, making up a third of the total.

    The government’s current five-year agriculture plan encourages research in cultivated meat and recombinant proteins, while the five-year plan for bioeconomy development highlights an advancement of man-made protein and novel foods. President Xi Jinping, meanwhile, has called for a Grand Food Vision that includes plant-based and microbial protein sources.

    “Beijing is actively advancing the development and innovation of the biomanufacturing industry, accelerating the coordination of municipal innovation resources, and increasing support in areas such as the industrial demonstration of cultured meat and the manufacturing of core ingredients for functional foods, fostering the growth of strategic emerging industries,” said Chen Lianwu, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

    Companies like CellX, Joes Future Food and Jimi Biotech are already leading the cultivated meat charge in China, something that political leaders in America have also noticed. A group of Congress members have called on the US to step up its alternative protein game in the face of East Asian rival’s biotech dominance.

    The post China Opens $11M Cultivated Meat Centre with Support From Local Govt & Businesses appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • lab grown meat china
    4 Mins Read

    In Beijing’s Fengtai District, the New Protein Food Science and Technology Innovation Base is aiming to fill the gap in China’s cultivated meat and microbial protein ecosystem.

    China has just opened its first alternative protein centre for cultivated meat and fermentation-derived products, with support from both the public and private sectors.

    Located in the China Meat Food Comprehensive Research Center in Beijing, the first-of-a-kind hub has been set up with an ¥80M ($10.9M) investment, in a joint effort by the local Fengtai District government and meat processor Shounong Food Group.

    The two entities have worked together on a blueprint to integrate their resources, promote the development of academia, research and industry, and create a future food cluster.

    “The New Protein Food Science and Technology Innovation Base will help complete the transformation of laboratory results into engineering and industrialisation, and lay a good development prospect for the commercialisation of cell-cultured meat,” Cui Xulong, Fengati District’s deputy mayor, said at the opening ceremony.

    New hub extends Fengtai District’s biotech leadership

    china new protein centre
    Courtesy: Fengtai District Media Integration Center

    The alternative protein centre has built an innovative R&D platform and lab for novel foods like cultivated meat. It currently has a 200-litre cell line for cultivated meat, and a 2,000-litre production line for microbial protein, but plans to develop two 2,000-litre cell culture lines, and three microbial protein pilot lines of 2,000 and 5,000 litres.

    As the first national-level tech innovation platform for cultivated meat in China, it will bring “unlimited possibilities” to the industry’s development, and will mainly focus on the fields of cell engineering and synthetic biology through breakthrough tech research, engineering application, and an industrial innovation ecosystem.

    At the opening ceremony, attendees were shown a glimpse of the kind of products that can be born out of the research centre – think microbial protein bars, microbe-fermented tofu meat, and a cultivated marbled steak.

    Fengtai District has emerged as a biomanufacturing leader in the future food industry. In May, it issued a policy measure to integrate resources, increase productivity, and speed up the development of the food industry. This resulted in the establishment of the district’s first future food industrial park, which attracted scientific research institutions, upstream and downstream enterprises, and industry associations.

    The newly established Shounong Development and Innovation Science and Technology Industrial Park is now aiming to cultivate a new productivity force in Beijing’s agrifood industry, and become a “model zone” for the future food industry.

    The district also intends to use artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technologies to establish a platform for real-time monitoring and traceability of the entire chain of future food production, processing, circulation, and sales, and enhance food safety.

    China’s biotech dominance takes effect

    cultivated meat china
    Courtesy: CellX

    Xulong noted that the new centre supports the development of the national bioeconomy and biomanufacturing industries, and can help boost national food security.

    While China is the world’s largest meat consumer – making up 28% of the global consumption growth in the decade to 2023, with intakes set to increase further until 2030 – but experts suggest that half of all protein consumption in the country must come from alternative sources by 2060, if it is to decarbonise.

    This can already be seen in current eating patterns – China is already consuming more protein per capita than the US, and more than 60% of this comes from vegetables, fruits, beans, nuts and seeds. Its share of global meat consumption is also set to fall to 11% in the next decade.

    A 2024 survey suggests that when Chinese consumers are informed of the benefits of a vegan diet, 98% say they’ll eat more of these foods. This is driven by the country’s large flexitarian population, making up a third of the total.

    The government’s current five-year agriculture plan encourages research in cultivated meat and recombinant proteins, while the five-year plan for bioeconomy development highlights an advancement of man-made protein and novel foods. President Xi Jinping, meanwhile, has called for a Grand Food Vision that includes plant-based and microbial protein sources.

    “Beijing is actively advancing the development and innovation of the biomanufacturing industry, accelerating the coordination of municipal innovation resources, and increasing support in areas such as the industrial demonstration of cultured meat and the manufacturing of core ingredients for functional foods, fostering the growth of strategic emerging industries,” said Chen Lianwu, deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

    Companies like CellX, Joes Future Food and Jimi Biotech are already leading the cultivated meat charge in China, something that political leaders in America have also noticed. A group of Congress members have called on the US to step up its alternative protein game in the face of East Asian rival’s biotech dominance.

    The post China Opens $11M Cultivated Meat Centre with Support From Local Govt & Businesses appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • lab grown meat certification
    5 Mins Read

    Swiss certification body V-Label has rolled out C-Label, a new accreditation for cell-based products like cultivated meat. But does the industry need it?

    To help consumers identify and understand how products like cultivated meat are made, V-Label has introduced a certification system for these novel foods.

    Complementing its vegetarian and vegan accreditation marks, C-Label is described by its issuing organization as a globally registered “robust certification system” to ensure the highest standards of cultivated meat production and distribution.

    London-based pet food maker Meatly, the first cultivated meat company to be cleared to sell in the UK, is the inaugural recipient of the certification, with its cultivated chicken set to sport the C-Label upon launch.

    “As we move closer and closer towards a world where cultivated meat will become the norm, certification such as the C-Label will be increasingly necessary for consumer confidence in this new and revolutionary product,” said Meatly co-founder and CEO Owen Ensor.

    The label isn’t restricted to just retail products, reveals V-Label founder Renato Pichler. “We certify producers of the cells, but also the producers of the end product,” he tells Green Queen. “Everything has to start with the production of the cells. But you can’t certify an end product if you haven’t already certified the actual cell production behind it.”

    Pichler argues that the market for these products is developing “very quickly”, and the C-Label can help “increase the transparency of the whole cultured sector”.

    lab grown meat approved
    Courtesy: Meatly

    No C-Label for cell-based chocolate or coffee

    The Swiss organisation has laid out several criteria for the C-Label. No animals can be slaughtered in the process, and any interventions or procedures must be demonstrably necessary, painless and stress-free. The products should be free from pathogens, antibiotics, heavy metals, plastics and GMOs, and must use animal-free cell media.

    Since C-Label encourages the use of animal-free tech wherever possible, it only permits immortalised cells for now, which does away with the need for constant cell extraction.

    So what kind of products can apply for the certification? “From a food perspective, where the majority of current development is focused, this can include products made entirely out of cultivated meat (e.g. beef burgers), as well as hybrid products that combine cultivated meat with plant-based ingredients, such as cultivated beef patties with plant-based binders or cultivated chicken dumplings with vegan dough,” says Pichler.

    He adds that all non-cultivated components must meet vegan criteria. “The technology can also be used in non-food applications such as leather, where our certification will be available as long as our criteria are met and the underlying technology remains the same,” he says.

    However, innovations like cell-based chocolate or coffee aren’t covered by the C-Label just yet. “The C-label was developed specifically for products grown from a cell of animal origin, which could be considered close to vegan, but not quite strictly vegan,” notes Pichler.

    “We do not rule out such a cooperation in principle, as production methods are also evolving fast, and we remain to see what technologies the future holds. However, this is not the primary intention of the C-Label.”

    cell based chocolate
    Courtesy: Kokomodo

    Amid industry uncertainty, C-Label ‘prepares for the future’

    That debate around whether cultivated meat can be considered vegan has split opinion, and prompted The Vegan Society to publish a briefing that decidedly said these proteins can never be vegan. V-Label reiterates that stance, and hence sees the need for the C-Label.

    “We do not consider cultivated meat vegan, as it is molecularly identical to conventional meat and by definition cannot entirely exclude animal sourcing from the production process (only tremendously minimise it). While C-Label licensed products guarantee that all production materials outside the original sourcing are vegan, the original cell sourcing comes from an animal,” says Pichler.

    “We have been monitoring this technology for a long time, and it has been clear to us from the beginning, that we would not consider it vegan,” he adds. “However, we also see a huge potential to reduce animal suffering, which is why we consider its promotion relevant. V-Label would not have been the right channel for this, as the target group is fundamentally different.”

    cultivated meat label
    Courtesy: C-Label

    The biggest impact certification logos like C-Label would have is on the consumer front. But to date, only one company has sold cultivated meat in retail – but Eat Just’s Good Meat chicken is no longer available at Huber’s Butchery in Singapore. And any new launches feel few and far in between. So does the industry need an accreditation logo?

    “Launching the C-Label now is about preparing for the future and building trust early. While retail products may feel distant, cultivated meat is already available in the US and Singapore, and well in the pipeline in other regions such as Europe,” says Pichler.

    “As a global label, C-Label needs to take the different levels of development around the world into consideration. With over $3B invested in this technology and hundreds of companies involved, the market is developing rapidly. Furthermore, the public is still lacking foundational understanding when it comes to cultivated meat, creating an important need for information,” he adds.

    “The C-Label establishes clear standards, supports industry collaboration, and helps educate consumers, ensuring the industry develops responsibly and is ready to scale when approval is gained in each region. Acting now positions us to guide this emerging technology toward a more ethical and sustainable future.”

    The post C-Label: Do We Need A Certification for Cultivated Meat? appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • mighty oat milk powder
    5 Mins Read

    Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Lidl’s new plant-based range, a vegan workplace canteen, and the UK House of Lords’s nod to cultivated meat.

    New products and launches

    Discount retailer Lidl has unveiled 28 new affordable plant-based products in the UK, which include Meat Free Cordon Bleu, Barista Oat Milk, and Smoked Tofu. The range starts from £1.09.

    lidl vegan
    Courtesy: Lidl

    Also in the UK, plant-based milk brand Mighty has added caramel and chocolate flavours to its oat milk powder range.

    British foodservice wholesaler Brakes has extended its plant-based range with nearly 40 new products and created a Vegan Hub for Veganuary.

    London-based Tofu Vegan, a popular Chinese restaurant chain, has opened its fifth location on Gloucester Road.

    Across the Atlantic, tofu maker Hodo has announced a retail expansion into Meijer, Harris Teeter, and Giant Martin’s.

    New York-based Edenesque has launched a barista edition of its pistachio milk, which is available at Whole Foods Market, on its webstore, and at Joe Coffee for $7.99 per carton.

    AI-led ingredient discovery company Shiru has put out a partnership call to beverage manufacturers for the development and scale-up of a natural sugar replacer.

    Popular fast-food chain Slutty Vegan has opened a new Bar Vegan location in Baltimore’s Rye Street Market, which is part of the Baltimore Peninsula District development.

    Ingredients giant Griffith Foods has launched an Alternative Proteins Portfolio to complement its range of plant-based seasonings, sauces, dressings, binders, coatings, and all-in-one mixes.

    Dutch vegan food distributor GreenPro International has rebranded to Plantitude to solidify its role as the “connecting factor in the protein transition”.

    Crafty Counter has introduced Eggless Salad under its vegan Wundereggs brand, which is available at all Safeway and Albertsons stores across Idaho and Washington state.

    Meanwhile, Emirates Airlines has introduced a range of vegan meals for children, including pizza, vegetable fajitas, cauliflower bites and strawberry crumble. It adds to the carrier’s 300-plus plant-based options.

    Aussie plant-based player v2food has unveiled a new identity for Soulara, the ready meal brand it acquired in January.

    soulara
    Courtesy: Soulara

    And in India, vegan startup Blue Tribe Foods – backed by cricketer Virat Kohli and actor Anushka Sharma – has rolled out sweet potato fries, which are available at online retailers like Zepto, Swiggy Instamart, and Blinkit.

    Company and finance updates

    Belgian agrifood company Arvesta has opened Nuverta, a plant-based protein facility in Mettet, which will initially produce pea protein concentrate.

    British green energy innovator Ecotricity, owned by Dale Vince, has opened what it says is the country’s first fully vegan workplace canteen.

    The University of Nottingham has partnered with UK plant-based food company Jampa’s and Canadian manufacturer Tartistes to develop next-gen vegan products, receiving funding from the UK-Canada Innovate UK scheme.

    heura
    Courtesy: Heura

    Spanish vegan meat startup Heura has opened a new innovation lab in Barcelona’s 22@ tech district, and plans to register six more patents over the next nine months, adding to the innovations it announced late last year.

    Slovenian plant-based food producer Narayan Group is set to be acquired by Edible Garden AG Incorporated, having signed a letter of intent to enter a share purchase agreement.

    In the US, animal-free component producer Nexture Bio has acquired Matrix Food Technologies, which makes plant-based, edible nanofibre scaffolds and microbeads for cultivated meat.

    tender food
    Courtesy: Tender Food

    Boston-based Tender Food‘s co-founder Christophe Chantre has announced that he stepped down from his role as CEO last fall.

    Tender Food also received $5.1M as part of the US Department of Energy‘s Technologies for Industrial Emissions Reduction Development (TIEReD) Program, while fellow Boston company Ginkgo Bioworks earned $2.4M.

    Superlatus, the parent company of The Urgent Company, has been sued by Eat Well Investment Group, which has accused the former of fraudulently selling its plant-based food tech platform to avoid contractual obligations and cheating it out of $10M.

    Research and policy developments

    In the UK, the House of Lords has recognised cultivated meat as a key engineering biology opportunity and is calling for improved regulation of these products in a report published by its Science and Technology Committee.

    Bezos Earth Fund‘s Centre for Sustainable Protein at Imperial College London has officially opened with a two-day scientific event.

    Vegan seafood startup BettaF!sh and upcycled apricot kernel company Kern Tec have each won a €5,000 award as part of EIT Food’s Marketed Innovation Prize.

    kern tec
    Courtesy: Kern Tec

    The University of Galway in Ireland has introduced a 12-week course on Animal Law for undergraduate law students, which starts this month.

    In their attempt to bring vegan cheese closer to what consumers expect, researchers from the University of Guelph and Canadian Light Source have found that blending coconut oil with pea protein provides better melting and stretching, and mixing it with sunflowerr oil lowers the saturated fat content without compromising functionality.

    Finally, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has approved a motion to ramp up the procurement of plant-based foods to lower emissions and improve public health, with county food services now encouraged to adopt a 2:1 ratio of plant- to animal-based mains.

    Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.

    The post Future Food Quick Bites: Plant-Based Lidl, House of Lords & Powdered Oat Milk appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • lab grown meat netherlands
    7 Mins Read

    Dutch startup Mosa Meat has filed a novel food regulatory application for its cultivated beef fat in the European Union.

    The maker of the world’s first cultivated beef burger has applied for market authorisation in its home region.

    Mosa Meat has submitted a dossier in the EU for a cultivated beef fat ingredient, which can be mixed with plant-based ingredients for use in hybrid meat products like hamburgers, meatballs, empanadas, or bolognese.

    It is only the second company filing for approval for cultivated meat from the EU Commission and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), following French startup Gourmey‘s application in July. The two bodies will now evaluate the dossier in a process that’s expected to take 18 months. If successful, Mosa Meat would be able to sell the ingredient in all 27 member states and the three EEA countries.

    The development comes months after Mosa Meat held a public tasting for cattle farmers, product developers and other industry representatives at its headquarters in Maastricht, where it dished out hybrid beef burgers. “The burgers in our public tastings were produced with a very similar blend, using our cultivated fat,” CEO Maarten Bosch tells Green Queen.

    Eyeing regulatory success in multiple countries

    lab grown meat europe
    Courtesy: Mosa Meat

    The EU has been the toughest regulatory nut to crack for cultivated meat companies, thanks to a complex and stringent novel food framework that Mosa Meat describes as the “global gold standard for food safety”.

    The approval process involves the EU Commission as well as its member states, alongside input from scientific experts at the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which ensures that the authorisation retains the buy-in of all stakeholders.

    Unlike regulators in other countries (like Singapore), the EU’s regulatory process requires cultivated ingredients to be submitted individually, instead of full products. While Mosa Meat chose its fat as the first ingredient for submission, Bosch reveals that it also has a dedicated team working on cultivating muscle tissue.

    Speaking of Singapore, this was the first market Mosa Meat had applied for approval, though the original nine- to 12-month timeline the country has touted has been hard to realise. “We remain in communication with the regulators in Singapore but, at this time, we don’t have any new updates or timelines to share regarding the process,” says Bosch.

    A new Food Safety and Security Bill, which codifies the assessment framework, can break the deadlock and speed up the process.

    Beyond Europe and Singapore, Bosch teased submissions in “two other geographies” imminently. The company has previously indicated interest in the UK, Switzerland and the US – though the new Trump administration could derail progress in the latter.

    “We are eager to collaborate closely with regulatory authorities to ensure full compliance with safety requirements,” he says.

    Why Mosa Meat decided to start with cultivated fat

    mosa meat funding
    Courtesy: Mosa Meat

    Blending cultivated fat with plant-based ingredients would allow Mosa Meat to introduce its initial burgers to customers while “staying true to our long-term vision, Bosch says.

    “Fat is the primary driver of flavour in meat, influencing taste, aroma, and mouthfeel. Of the main components of meat – muscle, fat, and connective tissue – fat has the most significant culinary impact,’ he explains.

    “Many plant-based products struggle to replicate this experience, as oils like coconut behave very differently from beef fat in terms of melting, taste, and aroma. Cultivated fat helps bridge this gap, delivering the authentic beefy experience that consumers crave.”

    So how does Mosa Meat make it? “We start by taking a small sample of cells from a cow. This sample contains cells that could become either muscle or fat,” says Bosch.

    “For this product, we isolate and focus on nurturing the fatty potential of the cells in a nutrient-rich and serum-free medium. This process mimics their natural growth cycle, allowing them to duplicate by orders of magnitude and take on that beefy quality. Once harvested from the cultivator, the final product can be combined with our in-house plant-based mix for any dish that uses a beef mince,” he describes.

    Its innovations impressed taste testers at the public event last year, as well as chefs like Hans van Wolde – owner of the two-Michelin-starred eatery Brut 172 – who formally joined its product development team in 2023.

    “When I first tried a Mosa Burger as part of the internal development team, I was blown away by the beefy taste and the amazing mouthfeel of the beef fat,” he says. “It gave me goosebumps. I genuinely believe this new way of making beef can delight connoisseurs and casual beef lovers alike while enjoying the positive benefits of cultivated beef from a sustainability perspective.”

    The promise of hybrid meat

    eu lab grown meat
    Courtesy: Mosa Meat

    Bosch suggests that the exact composition of its burgers is being refined right now, but adds: “Our immediate focus is on using cultivated fat in our own Mosa burgers, but we’re also in discussions with several plant-based product producers about potential collaborations.”

    Hybrid meat has been described by investors as the most viable way of commercialising cultivated meat at the moment, thanks to the high costs and scalability challenges. Most cultivated meat products that have come to market have been in hybrid format – Eat Just, the only company to sell these proteins in a supermarket, uses only 3% of cultivated cells in its Good Meat chicken for retail.

    When Mosa Meat co-founder Dr Mark Post first unveiled a cultivated meat burger in 2013, the two proof-of-concept patties cost $330,000. The firm has since managed to slash costs repeatedly. In 2020, it cut the price of its growth medium by 80-fold, and a year later, reduced the cost of its fat medium by 66 times.

    In May 2023, it opened what it claims is currently the world’s largest cultivated meat facility in Maastricht. This “cultivated meat campus” is its fourth plant, expanding its footprint to 7,340 sq m (79,007 sq ft), and has a 1,000-litre bioreactor scale that can produce “tens of thousands of cultivated hamburgers”.

    Could cultivated beef fat take on tallow?

    lab grown meat ban
    Courtesy: Mosa Meat

    It’s been a tough time for the cultivated meat industry, both from a policy and financial perspective. In the EU, Italy has banned these proteins, and countries like France and Hungary have tried to do so too. Across the pond, policymakers in over a dozen states have proposed a ban, with Florida and Alabama being successful.

    But with efforts to greenify the EU’s food system on the rise, and the EU Commission batting away arguments to justify a cultivated meat ban, there are signs that regulatory progress could accelerate here. A 2024 survey of 16,000 citizens from 15 EU countries found that Europeans are largely in favour of cultivated meat if it passes safety assessments from food regulators, and a majority are willing to try it.

    And while investment in cultivated meat has been decreasing (dropping by 75% in 2023, followed by another decline in 2024), Mosa Meat was one of the outliers, raising €40M ($42.4M) in a funding round in April. It took total investment in the company to over $135M, with backers including Mitsubishi Corporation, Dutch state investor Invest-NL, and Leonardo DiCaprio.

    The other reason why Europe needs cultivated meat is the climate impact. Livestock farming takes up 71% of the EU’s agricultural land and contributes to 84% of its food system emissions, but meat and dairy only provide 35% of calories and 65% of proteins in the region.

    According to an independent life-cycle assessment, cultivated beef can cut emissions by 93%, use 95% less land, and consume 78% less water than its conventional protein.

    Another beef product bad for the planet is tallow, which has exploded in popularity thanks to skincare influencers on TikTok and brands looking to move away from seed oils. Does Mosa Meat see an opportunity to tap into the consumer market for this fat too?

    Bosch isn’t ruling anything out. “While our current focus is on developing complete products, such as our Mosa burgers, we remain open to exploring creative culinary applications for our cultivated fat in the future,” he says.

    The post Move Over, Beef Tallow: Mosa Meat Files to Sell Cultivated Fat for Hybrid Meat in Europe appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • lab grown caviar
    4 Mins Read

    Singapore-based cellular agriculture pioneer Umami Bioworks has introduced its latest product, cultivated caviar, for high-end restaurants, retailers and consumers.

    Joining the cultivated meat companies targeting premium markets, Umami Bioworks has a hybrid caviar alternative, made from a blend of cultured sturgeon cells and plant-based ingredients.

    The Singaporean startup – one of the most well-known players in the cultivated seafood pace – is targeting Gen Z and millennials with its latest offering, who are driving the global demand for caviar, but at the same time also prioritise sustainability and ethical sourcing.

    With the new innovation, Umami Bioworks is aiming to decarbonise one of the most highly sought-after foods. Also known as salted roe, caviar is acquired from slaughtered sturgeons and has always come at a high price, both ethically and environmentally. And overfishing has made sturgeons the most critically endangered species on Earth, according to the WWF, with 90% facing the threat.

    “By combining cutting-edge science with a deep respect for oceanic heritage, we are offering connoisseurs an indulgence that delivers exceptional taste and texture without compromise,” said Mihir Pershad, founder and CEO of Umami Bioworks.

    Why we need cultivated caviar

    umami bioworks
    Courtesy: Alla Machutt/Getty Images

    Research has linked caviar farming with a host of environmental detriments, such as natural habitat destruction, waste pollution, and biodiversity loss due to illegal overfishing. At the same time, high temperatures, water pollution, and rising sea levels are disrupting sturgeon populations, causing shifts in behaviour, reproduction, breeding cycles, and oxygen levels.

    Still, it’s a $402M market, and its sales have been exploding thanks to TikTok. Gen Z influencers have driven the #CaviarTok trend, which has received millions of views, and contributed to the 74% hike in caviar sales since 2020. The market is set to further expand by 40%.

    But given the environmental and ethical issues, this is unsustainable. As of 2024, 30% of people had been eating less seafood globally in the past two years, with nearly half (48%) concerned about overfishing and 35% worried about climate change impacts. Meanwhile, over 80% of people changed their dietary habits in this period, and 43% did so for sustainability reasons.

    Umami Bioworks is aiming to cater to that demographic by addressing the sustainability and ethics debate, while offering an alternative to the currently strained supply chain. The firm is using its proprietary cultivated meat technology and blending it with certain plant-based to derive the indulgent taste and texture typical of conventional caviar.

    The startup says it’s packed with omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, and essential micronutrients, and is geared towards high-end restaurants, chefs, and premium retailers.

    “We’re thrilled to introduce a product that resonates with ethically conscious, younger consumers, who are reshaping the definition of luxury,” said product manager Gayathri Mani. “We will partner with leading brands and leverage Umami’s solution to develop a wide range of customised, culinary offerings for diverse applications.”

    Premium products provide better margins for cultivated meat startups

    cultivated meat korea
    Courtesy: CellMEAT

    There are several companies working to create more planet- and wallet-friendly versions of caviar. Some – like Cavi-Art, Zeroe, and Cavinoir – are offering plant-based alternatives, made from seaweed, sodium alginate, or agar-agar.

    And like Umami Bioworks, others are working on cultivated caviar. These include CellMeat (South Korea), Marinas Bio (California), and Caviar Biotec.

    They’re among a growing crop of cultivated meat status focusing on high-end species, which offer better margins and a product closer to price parity than their conventional counterparts, compared to innovations like cultivated chicken or beef.

    Australia’s Vow has been cleared to sell cultivated foie gras in Hong Kong and Singapore, while French startup Gourmey has applied for approval in five markets (including the EU) for its version. Similarly, Israel’s Wanda Fish and US startups BlueNalu and Finless Foods are hoping to bring cultivated bluefin tuna to market.

    Speaking of which, Umami Bioworks has submitted regulatory dossiers in “major markets across America, Europe, and Asia”, Pershad told Green Queen last November. It’s also in active discussions with the UK’s Food Standards Agency, and working with a pet food company to bring cultivated fish treats for cats to the US this year.

    Green Queen has contacted Umami Bioworks for further details will update the story once we hear back.

    The post No Comp-roe-mise: Asian Alt-Seafood Leader Swims Into Gen Z TikTok Trend with Cultivated Caviar appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • lab grown meat netherlands
    5 Mins Read

    The Netherlands has launched two open-access facilities with a €25M injection – to scale up planet-friendly food production via cellular agriculture.

    Further cementing its position as a future food leader, the government of the Netherlands has backed the establishment of two independent scale-up facilities for cultivated meat and precision fermentation.

    The hubs have been developed via a public-private partnership involving the Cellular Agriculture Netherlands, contract research organisation Nizo Food Research, cultivated meat pioneer Mosa Meat, the Dutch National Growth Fund, and the agrifood ministry.

    The move will see the expansion of Nizo’s Biotechnology Fermentation Factory (BFF) in Ede, with a new large-scale upstream processing segment under construction. The other facility, Cultivate at Scale, is a spin-out of Mosa Meat in Maastricht, and will be focused on cell culture bioprocesses.

    Each facility is infused with a €12.5M grant from the National Growth Fund through CAN, supported by an equal contribution from other investors (either in cash or kind). For example, BFF has received €5M in financing from Nizo, as well as funding from the province of Gelderland (via a fund managed by Oost NL). It means both hubs benefit from a €25M investment.

    Both will provide companies working in cell culture and precision fermentation with the infrastructure to expand their R&D and production processes, and accelerate their path to market, without the need for costly, pilot-scale manufacturing inputs.

    CAN spokesperson Ira van Eelen said the foundation was working in collaboration with research and educational institutes to enable them to keep the facilities updated with the latest insights.

    She highlighted the importance of the open access, which can help startups secure their IP and support their downstream and food processing. “If you look at the scale we can provide we have been able to do this at astonishingly low costs. That’s super important if we want this food production [model] to be successful, and it will also mean that startups can do this at good conditions,” she told Green Queen.

    cellular agriculture netherlands
    Courtesy: Biotechnology Fermentation Factory

    How the scale-up facilities will help future food innovators

    The BFF enables precision fermentation companies and research institutions to test and develop innovations, and scale ideas from lab-scale to larger volumes. The facility is open to both domestic and international companies, and aims to attract new business activity to the Dutch Foodvalley.

    It offers a direct connection to Nizo’s food-grade downstream processing facility – said to be Europe’s largest pilot plant of its kind – and food application research. It draws on the organisation’s analytical, regulatory, and commercialisation expertise to enable fast product and process development and seamless scaling.

    “Shared facilities like the BFF are essential for reducing the high costs associated with scaling up,” said Marcel Oogink, managing director of the plant. “For startups, these costs are often simply too high. By collaborating with Nizo, companies will benefit from decades of knowledge and experience.”

    The Cultivate at Scale facility, meanwhile, is run by a highly experienced team that has managed production batches for multiple cellular agriculture companies, supported by world-class suppliers of cell feed, cell lines and bioreactors.

    Its production environment is said to have “advanced quality control processes in place”, which has helped create multiple novel food dossiers for regulatory approvals in the past.

    “This groundbreaking initiative, made possible by the financial support of the Dutch government, Mosa Meat’s expertise in cultivated meat production and the collaboration of partners across the cellular agriculture ecosystem, represents a major step forward for our industry,” said Jaco van der Merwe, managing director of Cultivate at Scale.

    “Together with our dedicated team, we look forward to helping companies bridge the gap from research to scalable production, accelerating the global transition to sustainable and innovative food systems.”

    netherlands cultivated meat
    Courtesy: Mosa Meat

    Why the Netherlands is a novel food leader

    The development comes months after a report co-authored by Foodvalley NL called for increased investment and policy support to help alternative protein startups overcome scale-up challenges in the country.

    It expands the Ede-Wageningen region’s leadership in food innovation, housing institutions like Wageningen University and Research, Foodvalley NL, and Nizo. According to the latter, the expansion of current facilities will boost the area’s growth as an international biotech and protein transition hub, and aligns with the Gelderse Climate Plan and the provincial agriculture and food policy to create a more sustainable food system.

    But it’s not just the local region that has been a pioneer in future food. The Netherlands itself is a European leader in this space. Through Mosa Meat, it was home to the world’s first cultivated meat burger in 2013, and it is the only EU nation to have approved and hosted public tastings for these proteins.

    lab grown meat tasting
    Courtesy: Mosa Meat

    The national government has invested €67M in cultivated meat research so far, more than any of its European counterparts, and also made a €60M commitment towards the development of a cellular agriculture ecosystem.

    Its lawmakers have also batted for cultivated meat in the EU, where some member states have tried to justify a ban on cultivated meat (like the one introduced in Italy). The country expressed doubt that an “absolute ban” is proportionate to any issues presented by these proteins, and believed that its objectives could be achieved in “an alternative, less far-reaching way, without introducing a ban on a product that has not yet been placed on the market”.

    It also noted how cultivated meat can economically benefit farmers. “The possibility of in-vitro meat production on a farm has been investigated and found feasible, and in the Netherlands, livestock farmers have already come forward who want to investigate how this production can be achieved on their farm,” it said.

    These efforts are reflective of the views of the Dutch population, 63% of whom are supportive of the sale of cultivated meat if it passes regulatory hoops, with 59% open to trying these products. They’re also more opposed to any proposed bans on these proteins than any other nation in the EU, with only 25% indicating support for such legislation.

    The post Dutch Govt Cements Sustainable Protein Leadership with €25M Investment in Scale-Up Facilities appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • deutsche bahn vegan
    5 Mins Read

    Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Burger King Germany’s new vegan option, a cured root vegetable bagel at Deutsche Bahn, and the UK parliament’s cultivated meat research.

    New products and launches

    Burger King has released a new plant-based King Rib sandwich in Germany. The limited-edition menu item uses plant-based meat from The Vegetarian Butcher, which may be in the process of being sold by its parent company, Unilever.

    verrano
    Courtesy: Verrano

    Also in Germany, national rail operator Deutsche Bahn is offering a bagel with cured, smoked rutabaga (or swede) from Verrano, which makes whole-food-based alternatives to meat. It’s available at its on-board restaurants and bistros.

    German chemicals and ingredients specialist Brenntag has collaborated with Berlin-based biotech firm Cambrium to launch NovaColl, a skin-identical vegan collagen for the personal care industry in the UK and Ireland, France, Italy, and Iberia.

    Fellow Berlin-based company BettaF!sh has linked up with Austrian supermarket chain Billa to introduce a co-branded vegan Tu-Nah Sandwich in the latter’s stores.

    maya bakery
    Courtesy: White Owl Group

    In Hong Kong, White Owl Group has launched a joint location for its plant-forward F&B brands The Cakery and Maya Bakery at K11 Musea, with new menu additions including vegan pistachio croissants and cotton cake inspired by the famous Dubai chocolate.

    Ikea has teamed up with UK plant-based meat leader THIS to put its vegan pork sausages on the menu for its £4.95 Veggie Sausage & Mash meal at 19 locations.

    ikea this isn't pork
    Courtesy: This/Ikea

    Aussie startup Fascin8foods, which makes mushroom-based burgers, mince and meatballs under its Froom label, has released a 24-recipe cookbook for Veganuary.

    Are you struggling to keep up with all the new launches and announcements for Veganuary 2025 in the US? Hear about them from the horse’s mouth.

    rebellyous chicken
    Courtesy: Rebellyous Foods

    Vegan chicken startup Rebellyous Foods has partnered with Great State Burger, a Pacific Northwest restaurant chain, for a new crispy chicken burger menu addition.

    Company and finance updates

    Rebellyous Foods has also raised $2.4M in an extension of its $9.4M Series B funding in 2023. It will use the fresh capital to expand sales of its new Mock 2 production platform.

    tribe bars
    Courtesy: Tribe

    Across the Atlantic, UK plant-based energy bar brand Tribe has secured £2.4M ($2.9M) to support the launch of a new adaptogen-centric ‘Protein + Focus’ range.

    The Grocer has uncovered that London-based vegan ready-meal startup Allplants owed creditors £13M ($15.8M) when it fell into administration last year.

    In yet another move linked to protein transition, discount retailer Lidl has become the first major supermarket to use The Vegetarian Society‘s Plant-Based Trademark, which will appear on its own-label Vemondo Plant! range.

    lemna
    Courtesy: Plantible Foods

    Israeli minerals company ICL Food Specialties has announced a follow-on investment in duckweed protein player Plantible Foods‘s Series B round, which netted the startup $30M in November. The two firms launched a Rovitaris Binding Solution using the latter’s Rubi Protein in October.

    Swedish energy and tech giant Alfa Laval is building a Food Innovation Centre in Copenhagen, Denmark to support sustainable food production. It’s scheduled to be completed in 2027, and will initially focus on proteins, including plant-based and fermentation-derived ingredients.

    European fermentation association Food Fermentation Europe has appointed Sebastien Louvion – chief regulatory officer at animal-free casein startup Standing Ovation – as its new president.

    Israeli molecular farming startup Plantopia has switched from lettuce to sprouted oats to produce casein protein for animal-free dairy products.

    Research and policy developments

    Latin America now has 22% more vegan-friendly restaurants than it did in 2023, numbering over 10,000, according to research by Veganuary and HappyCow.

    The number of care home residents in the UK who are vegan or vegetarian will continue to rise over the next five years, doubling by 2031, according to a study by Swansea University’s OMNIPlaNT research group for Vegetarian For Life.

    uk lab grown meat
    Courtesy: Ivy Farm Technologies

    In its latest move to advance novel foods, the British parliament has commissioned a new research project to consider the opportunities and challenges of cultivated meat production. It’s expected to be published in May.

    Speaking of cultivated meat research, this was a hot topic in 2024, and Trove Biosciences founder Tarika Vijayaraghavan has laid out five takeaways after closely monitoring this space.

    whole cut plant based meat
    Courtesy: Hebrew University of Jerusalem

    At the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, engineers have devised a way to leverage metamaterials to create whole cuts of plant-based meat that offer a more scalable and cost-effective solution to 3D printing.

    Researchers at the Beijing Institute of Technology have developed a method to use autoclaved vegetables as scaffolds for muscle and adipose cell growth for cultivated meat.

    The Good Food Institute has selected 14 researchers for its 2025 Research Grant Programme to accelerate alternative protein innovation.

    vegan dog food
    Courtesy: Omni

    Finally, plant-based granola maker Bio&Me and vegan pet food startup Omni have been named in the UK’s 2025 Startups 100 Index.

    Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.

    The post Future Food Quick Bites: Burger King Rib, Cured Swede Bagels & Ikea Vegan Sausages appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • george peppou
    6 Mins Read

    Australian cultivated meat startup Vow has laid off 25 employees as it finalises its latest funding round, citing slower-than-expected regulatory processes.

    Sydney-based Vow, the only cultivated meat producer globally that has received regulatory approval to sell multiple products in multiple markets, has made nearly a third of its staff redundant as it seeks to close its latest round of investment.

    The startup – which has dominated global headlines on several occasions – informed staff about the layoffs last Friday, with 25 employees (or about 30% of its workforce) across R&D, sales and communications reportedly affected, including some in leadership positions – the exact roles haven’t been confirmed.

    “On Friday, we began the painful process of commencing a redundancy consultation (a process which is ongoing) for 25 members of Vow’s team, across a variety of roles and functions. This was an incredibly difficult decision and it truly hurt to make,” Vow co-founder and CEO George Peppou said in a statement sent to Green Queen.

    The company – which appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert for its woolly mammoth meatball in 2023 – cited the slow pace of regulatory approvals in several markets as a key factor behind the cutbacks, with Peppou insisting it was “a decision we are taking from a position of strength as the industry leader, not a position of weakness”.

    Vow’s cultured quail parfait and foie gras – marketed under the Forged brand – have been cleared to sell in Singapore and Hong Kong, but it has also been awaiting approval from Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) since early 2023. The process in the latter market has been slow-going.

    Peppou told Green Queen in November that Vow anticipated an approval decision to be made in Q1 2025, “given the projected timelines shared with us by FSANZ”. A week earlier, the regulator said it had opened a second round of public consultation, proposing a new standards-based approach. It closed just before Christmas, but no further announcements have been made yet.

    Cultivated meat companies are facing a difficult regulatory landscape in multiple geographies. The EU’s regulatory process is lengthy, and most companies do not expect a greenlight in the near term. Meanwhile, with the re-election of President Donald J Trump, cultivated meat companies looking for clearance in the US are bracing for slower approvals.

    Vow fundraising in bleak environment for cultivated meat

    vow cultured meat
    Courtesy: Vow

    According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Peppou sent a Slack message to the company’s employees (known as Vowzers) on Friday, which read: “Team, Vow is finalising a fundraise in a very challenging funding environment – this gives us runway into 2027.

    “As part of this, the expectation is for Vow’s focus to narrow to only finding product [that is] market fit, continuing to improve manufacturing reliability and reaching approvals in new markets. Sadly, this means today we will be saying goodbye to a number of Vowzers.”

    Vow has so far secured $55M from investors via seed and Series A rounds (at the time it was the largest Series A for cultivated meat globally), and has been able to commercialise with a much smaller outlay than other companies approved to sell cultivated meat, with Upside Foods (US) having raised $608M, GOOD Meat (US) $270M, and Aleph Farms (Israel) $118M. The only startup that has achieved regulatory clearance with fewer funds than Vow is Meatly ($4.5M), but it caters to pets rather than humans.

    As Peppou indicated in his message to staff, venture capital has dried up for cultivated meat. Investment in the sector fell by 75% in 2023 to reach $226M, and in the first nine months of 2024, it was only able to attract another $133M – in fact, Q3 saw a mere $3M going into cultivated meat.

    alternative protein investment
    Courtesy: GFI

    The Vow CEO declined to comment about the upcoming fundraise, instead saying this move would help streamline things for the startup. Peppou said that its volume increase had been slower than planned due to the regulatory pace, which meant it didn’t require the scale of the team it was previously building.

    “Each and every one of the staff members whose roles have been included in the ongoing redundancy consultation are exceptionally talented, dedicated and hardworking individuals who substantially contributed to the success of Vow. This process is not a reflection on them, but rather what Vow needs to achieve in the next two years,” Peppou’s statement read.

    “It is my sincere hope that they all choose to stay in our startup ecosystem because I know they are exactly the calibre of individuals who make groundbreaking innovations possible, and I will do everything in my power to support them to find new roles.”

    Vow isn’t the only cultivated meat startup to have conducted layoffs recently. Upside Foods let go of 26 employees in July to “narrow to a tighter set of priorities”, a month after Aleph Farms cut 30% of its domestic workforce amid its scale-up efforts and reported fundraising difficulties. The alternative protein space is facing a challenging landscape and many leading companies are streamlining their teams, the latest being lactoferrin-maker TurtleTree.

    Investors call decision difficult, but logical

    lab grown meat approved
    Courtesy: Vow

    Vow has taken a different approach to its better-funded rivals, focusing on high-end meats and novel taste experiences with its Forged Gras and Cultured Quailia, rather than making cultivated versions of chicken, where the margins are much smaller.

    It has entered the market through tasting events at luxury eateries in Singapore and Hong Kong. According to a company website, consumers can taste Vow’s at up to seven restaurants in the Lion City while tastings in Hong Kong are currently paused. The company said the latter was unrelated to this week’s news.

    “Like many companies operating in highly technical environments and highly regulated markets, Vow has faced a challenging operating environment as it scales its mission globally,” a spokesperson for Blackbird Ventures, an investor in Vow, was quoted as saying by the Sydney Morning Herald.

    “Start-ups require incredibly difficult decisions to be made, and whilst this decision was the most logical thing for the company, it was not made lightly,” she added. “We believe in Vow’s vision for entirely new foods and are confident in its road map to achieving this ambition.”

    ‘We must get leaner,’ says CEO

    vow cultivated meat
    Courtesy: Vow

    In his statement, Peppou said cultivated meat’s success depends on solving three key challenges: scale, market demand, and market access. “Vow is the only company in the world to have solved the first two of these challenges and is leading the world in market access,” he suggested.

    “However, given the complexity and novelty of the regulatory process for cultured meat, it has taken far longer than initially expected to secure regulatory approval in the markets which Vow has targeted.

    “This is not a criticism of the regulators, but rather an acknowledgement of the care and thoroughness necessary to ensure cultured meat is completely safe for human consumption and regulated appropriately.

    “The reality is that in order for Vow to continue to grow and thrive, we must get leaner and focus our entire efforts on activities that put our products into more markets and onto more consumers’ plates.”

    Asked about the company’s plans for 2025, Peppou responded: “More products in more markets from our operating 20kL factory.”

    The post Leading Cultivated Meat Startup Vow Cuts 30% of Staff Ahead of Latest Fundraise appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • singapore food safety bill
    5 Mins Read

    Singapore’s parliament just passed a Food Safety and Security Bill to adapt the country’s agrifood systems to climate change and advance future foods.

    Already a leader in the world of future food, Singapore is strengthening its food safety and security measures with a new bill to deal with a compounding supply chain and the effects of the climate crisis.

    “Singapore has also faced various food supply challenges in recent years. The Covid-19 pandemic saw the impact of supply disruptions when we experienced the effects of lockdowns and restrictions on cross-border movements,” environment minister Grace Fu told the parliament before the bill was signed last week.

    “Supply chain disruptions arising from many other factors – extreme weather events, disease outbreaks, and trade restrictions – also affected our food supply on several occasions. With climate change, rising biosecurity risks and geopolitical tensions, the risk of food disruptions is expected to increase,” she added.

    Fu noted that the government’s policy measures have helped ride these storms, but these must be supported by laws to enable the Singapore Food Agency to ensure a safe and secure supply in the island nation.

    One of the major themes of the new bill concerns defined foods, which include novel proteins like cultivated meat and precision-fermented foods. Singapore has repeatedly championed these foods as a way to enhance food security – it imports 90% of its food – and the latest bill formalises existing practices for products that require premarket approval.

    How does Singapore define novel foods?

    lab grown meat tasting
    Courtesy: Eat Just

    The new bill describes “defined foods” as those that comprise novel or genetically defined foods that haven’t received premarket approval, including insects.

    Novel foods themselves have been described as those made from cellular agriculture and tissue culture derived from animals, plants, bacteria, yeast, fungi, algae, and other microbes, which have not been used “to a significant degree” as a food for at least the 20 years in or outside Singapore. This also applies to processes that haven’t been employed to produce food in this time period.

    “The policy intention is to take into account the history of consumption of food anywhere in the world, when determining whether or not food is novel food,” reads the bill.

    When parliamentary member and climate activist Louis Ng raised concerns about any subjectivity around the definition of novel foods, Koh Poh Koon, senior minister of state for environment and sustainability, responded: “Since 2019, SFA has put in place a novel food regulatory framework to ensure that only novel food which is safe for human consumption can be manufactured, imported, distributed, or sold in Singapore.”

    He added: “When in doubt on whether a food or food ingredient is considered a novel food in the first place, companies should consult SFA to discuss the available evidence on the history of safe use that they have compiled.”

    What does the bill say about regulatory approvals?

    vow singapore approval
    Courtesy: Vow Food

    The Food Safety and Security Bill codifies the existing regulatory framework to make it easier for novel food companies to meet the SFA’s standards and commercialise their products.

    In many countries, innovations like cultivated meat need pre-market approval to be made available for consumption. Singapore’s policies have been at the forefront here, and the new bill lays down exactly what the process entails.

    Pre-market authorisations take into account public health and safety aspects, considering whether the food has any potential adverse effects on humans, its composition, structure, and production process, the source from which it’s derived, and the likely patterns and levels of consumption.

    “The safety assessments should cover potential food safety risks such as toxicity, allergenicity, safety of the food production methods used, and dietary exposure arising from consumption,” said Koh.

    While there’s no expiry date for a novel premarket approval, the bill notes that such authorisations can be cancelled if they’ve been obtained by fraudulent means, if companies don’t comply with the agreed conditions, or if there’s been a material change to how the food is made, packaged, and stored. The SFA can also scrap the approval if the country’s public interest requires it to.

    What happens next?

    eat just chicken
    Courtesy: Eat Just

    The new bill is expected to streamline the regulatory pathway for novel food producers, giving them access to more detailed information about the framework and safety assessment processes.

    The provisions under the bill will take effect in phases, with full implementation expected by 2028, allowing time for companies to transition. For defined foods, it will be enacted in the second half of this year.

    The SFA, which has been publishing regular updates on safety assessment requirements on its website, will now publish information about approved novel foods too. “Companies can also consult SFA or sign up for the bi-monthly Novel Food Virtual Clinics to better understand SFA’s requirements,” said Koh.

    “SFA will continue to ensure that sufficient clarity is provided to industry through direct engagements with novel food companies, as well as through the updating of guidance documents online,” he added.

    Singapore was the first country to approve the sale of cultivated meat five years ago, giving the greenlight to California-based Eat Just’s Good Meat brand. Last summer, the cultivated chicken made its way into retail via Huber’s Butchery, marking another first.

    The SFA followed that up with an approval for Australia’s Vow last year, whose cultivated quail and foie gras are currently being sold at restaurants in the city.

    The post What Does Singapore’s New Food Safety Bill Mean for Novel Proteins? appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • rfk lab grown meat
    5 Mins Read

    Robert F Kennedy Jr could well be America’s new health secretary, overseeing food safety under Donald Trump? What could it mean for cultivated meat?

    In just over a week, Joe Biden will leave the White House as a largely unpopular president – however unfair that perception may be, especially given his climate legacy – passing the mantle back to perhaps the most divisive leader the US has ever had.

    Donald Trump is gearing up for his second term with all guns blazing, and it has left a lot of people nervous. That includes the food industry, which could be in for a massive overhaul under the Republican administration, thanks to a former Democrat.

    Trump has nominated environmentalist-turned-vaccine-sceptic Robert F Kennedy Jr as his health secretary, potentially giving him free reign over the country’s food and health systems. While his appointment is yet to be confirmed, the political dynast could have a lasting impact on how America eats.

    One industry facing severe uncertainty is cultivated meat, which has already been the centre of a culture war over the last year. Over a dozen states have attempted to ban these novel foods, and two have been successful – even as some Republican Congress members fear that the US is falling behind to China’s biotech dominance, like it did in the electric vehicle race.

    Rumours are swirling that RFK Jr might follow the lead of state politicians and ban cultivated meat, but what has he really said about it?

    What has RFK said about cultivated meat?

    Kennedy’s public statements about cultivated meat haven’t actually come directly from his mouth. Instead, he has quoted and reposted several articles critical of these proteins from Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccine disinformation organisation he was chairman of until April 2023, when he took a leave of absence to run for president.

    In October 2021, he shared a story that claimed cultivated meat was a money-making scheme for corporations and billionaires, quoting: “Lab-grown meat offers private corporations the opportunity to place intellectual property rights on meat development and thus create a financial windfall, at the expense of human health.”

    And in November 2022, he retweeted a piece titled ‘The Fake Meat Scam’, quoting the introduction: “Using strategies to position it as a healthy alternative for natural meat, the industry’s fake meat is just another name for ultra-processed food, full of GE and pesticide-laden ingredients designed to look as much like meat as possible.”

    The same week, he reposted an article questioning the safety and climate benefits of cultivated meat, reiterating a quote that said “lab-grown meat is a pipe dream”.

    More broadly, RFK Jr has been very vocal against ultra-processed foods, a category cultivated meat falls under. He has pledged to remove them from school lunches, and has had a long history of promoting regeneratively farmed crops.

    In April 2022, he tweeted that “fake food doesn’t address root problems of industrial food + its eco + health consequences” when resharing another article.

    The same day, he said he “agreed” with the argument that governments should stop subsidising large food companies based on “dubious” and “misleading” claims. “Ultimately, we don’t just need to change products we’re eating – we need to change [sic] entire system,” the tweet read.

    An uncertain future for cultivated meat in America

    That last comment could be a marker of things to come. In the US, novel foods like cultivated meat are regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Department of Agriculture (USDA), which in 2023 approved the sale of cultivated chicken products from Upside Foods and Eat Just-owned Good Meat.

    But with Kennedy as health secretary, the FDA faces an uncertain future. He has vowed to clear out several departments (including nutrition) within the agency, and is weighing up a rewrite to its rules on food additives. That said, despite Trump seemingly promising RFK Jr the role of USDA chief, the president-elect went with Brooke Rollins instead.

    Still, if confirmed, RFK Jr will work in an administration controlled by the Republican Party, which has spearheaded the efforts to ban cultivated meat in states over the last 12 months. Florida and Alabama have successfully done so, and lawmakers in ArizonaIllinois, Kentucky, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan, New York, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia have introduced similar measures.

    Is that a harbinger of a nationwide ban under Kennedy? That much seems unlikely, according to an ally close to the conspiracy theorist, as reported by the journalist Michael Grunwald last week. He was told that Kennedy will – as is expected – likely to make things much more complicated for startups pursuing FDA approval for cultivated meat.

    trump rfk food health
    Courtesy: Gage Skidmore/Flickr/CC

    Already, cultivated meat has had a rough couple of years. Some startups have shut down, some have had to let go of staff, and many are financially strained. In 2022, VC funding for these startups fell by 75% to $226M – and while things seemed to be picking up again in the first half of 2023, Q3 saw only $3M plunged into this sector.

    While there were some wins in the form of regulatory approvals, all of them were outside the US. That is likely to continue this year, and possibly for the next four. The US may be home to the largest number of cultivated meat innovators, but they face a great unknown.

    The post With Trump Incoming, What Does RFK Jr Really Think About Cultivated Meat? appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • wagamama veganuary
    6 Mins Read

    In our weekly column, we round up the latest news and developments in the alternative protein and sustainable food industry. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers a host of launches for Veganuary, several plant-based brand campaigns, and a Bezos Earth Fund Ted Talk.

    New products and launches

    In time for Veganuary, Starbucks has brought its popular brown sugar oat milk format to the cortado, launching the espresso-based drink alongside a vegan Spicy Falafel Pocket.

    molly baz restaurant
    Courtesy: Face Plant

    With a menu designed by former Bon Appétit Test Kitchen star Molly Baz, Face Plant is an upcoming vegan fast-food drive-thru restaurant set to open later this month at a former McDonald’s location in Portland, Oregon.

    Another Portland-based chain, ice cream maker Salt & Straw, has released five new dairy-free flavours for Veganuary, including coconut cake and pineapple jam, bananas foster with candied pecans, and chocolate caramel corn with candied peanuts. It’s also teamed up with pistachio milk brand Táche for vegan milkshakes.

    Plant-based chain Next Level Burger is jumping on the superfood demand with a burger and smoothie shake available at all 10 locations for January, while its subsidiary Veggie Grill has debuted a five-strong range of superfood smoothies on its permanent menu across all 16 stores.

    plnt burger tindle chicken
    Courtesy: TiNDLE Foods/PLNT Burger

    TiNDLE Foods has partnered with PLNT Burger, which will feature its vegan chicken on two burgers (in crispy and spicy variants) at all 13 locations on the East Coast.

    Whole-cut meat maker Chunk Foods is continuing its US expansion through a listing with online retailer Vegan Essentials.

    Los Angeles-based vegan protein shake maker Koia has extended its lineup with Koia Elite, which comes in vanilla and chocolate flavours and contains 32g of plant protein. The 12oz bottles are available in the chillers at Whole Foods, with shelf-stable versions set to come to 7-Eleven and e-commerce channels shortly.

    In Germany, Rewe subsidiary Penny has launched Cremembert, a white-label Camembert alternative made from fermented cauliflower by Veganz Group, in its stores. It’s available for €1.99 per 125g pack.

    alfiecooks
    Courtesy: James Moyle/Wagamama

    In the UK, Wagamama – which is aiming to make half its menu plant-based by the end of the year – has partnered with vegan influencer Alfie Steiner (aka alfiecooks) to unveil a Firecracker Chick’n Ramen across the UK.

    Bakery chain Greggs has reintroduced its Spicy Vegetable Curry Bake for Veganuary. It’s available nationwide for £2.10, and as part of its £3.35 savoury bake deal.

    Fellow British chain Zizzi, which serves Italian cuisine, has teamed up with Bold Bean Co to put a Butter Bean Stufato on its menu for Veganuary.

    galaxy vegan chocolate
    Courtesy: Claudia Riccio Photography/Galaxy

    Also in the UK, Mars has brought out a new flavour in its dairy-free Galaxy lineup in the UK. The vegan Hazelnut Praline chocolate bar can be found at Sainsbury’s for £3.

    Plant protein producer Squeaky Bean has launched ham-like tofu slices in spinach-basil and tomato-red pepper flavours, as well as a Super Grain & Vegetable Burger (featuring fermented rye). The 80g slices are available for £2.50 and the burger for £3.50 per two-pack at Sainsbury’s.

    In more tofu news from the UK, Cauldron Foods has come out with the “quickest-cooking tofu pieces ever”. The bite-sized cubes can be prepared in five minutes and are available for ¢2.75 per 160g pack at Asda.

    julienne bruno mozzarella
    Courtesy: Julienne Bruno

    London-based vegan cheesemaker Julienne Bruno has annoucned the first product of its Collection 02. The Mozzafiore Pearls are its take on mozzarella balls, and will be available at Whole Foods stores in Kensington and Piccadilly from January 9 for £3.95.

    UK dairy-free brand Nush has updated its almond yoghurt recipe to include more protein. The products now contain between 16g and 23g of protein per pot, and the move is complemented with the introduction of a new vanilla fudge flavour.

    British vegan frozen foods maker One Planet Pizza has gained a listing at 400 Asda stores for its recently launched Tex Mex Pizza.

    papa john's hawaiian pizza
    Courtesy: La Vie/Papa Johns

    And among the plethora of Veganuary innovations, one of the more outrageous ones comes from Papa Johns and vegan pork maker La Vie, which have worked together to roll out a Hawaiian Vegan Pizza for the chain in the UK.

    Company and finance updates

    La Vie, based in Paris, is also on the hunt for a new CFO to lead the startup’s financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, and fundraising efforts.

    Vegan cheese giant Violife has rolled out a new National Quitter’s Day campaign to promote its dairy-free cream cheese across digital, social media, and out-of-home channels.

    violife cream cheese
    Courtesy: Violife

    The Real Housewives of Atlanta star Phaedra Parks has teamed up with Danone-owned brand Silk to host a side-by-side live taste test of cereals with cow’s milk and its Vanilla Almondmilk. Held in New York City on January 9 (ahead of National Milk Day), contestants – those who prefer dairy over plant-based – will be hooked to a lie detector taste when asked which milk they prefer.

    In yet another Veganuary campaign, UK plant-based meat maker THIS has debuted its latest TV ad with creative agency St Luke’s. The mockumentary-style spot features a real estate agent who was inspired to (unsuccessfully) become a wingsuit flyer after tasting its vegan pork sausages.

    Months after announcing its closure, meat analogue maker Motif FoodWorks is auctioning off its lab equipment via New Mill Capital.

    Nestlé-backed plant-based food startup Sundial Foods has also shut down, having sold its IP to “an acquirer with greater scale and resources than we have”.

    Canadian cell ag platform Cult Food Science is now accepting cryptocurrency payments for its Noochies! line of vegan pet food. Customers can pay with currencies like bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), solana (SOL), and dogecoin (DOGE).

    longleaf valley
    Courtesy: TreesPlease Games

    British developer TreesPlease Games is running Veganuary promotions (including paid marketing) throughout the month on its Longleaf Valley mobile game. It’s expected to gain around 75 million impressions.

    Californian plant-based giant Beyond Meat has released results from a life-cycle assessment that shows its vegan steak generates 84% fewer emissions than conventional pre-cooked steak tips, while requiring 93% less water, 88% less land, and 65% less non-renewable energy.

    Policy and research developments

    Andy Jarvis, director of Future of Food at the Bezos Earth Fund, has delivered a Ted Talk on the future of food, and the importance of using a “yes, and” approach.

    Nearly half of American adults are looking to change their diets this year, but only 7% plan to eat plant-based, according to a survey by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and Morning Consult.

    It’s also perhaps why the City of West Hollywood is urging people to participate in Veganuary, posting a list of meat-free restaurants in the city.

    reusable theatre caps
    Courtesy: Heriot-Watt University

    In the UK, NHS Scotland‘s Golden Jubilee University National Hospital has begun trialling biodegradable, plant-based theatre caps to cut single-use plastic waste. They were co-designed by the University of Strathclyde and Heriot-Watt University.

    Finally, University of Exeter researchers are looking for 200 volunteers who are going vegan in January for a study about the impact of Veganuary.

    Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.

    The post Future Food Quick Bites: Veganuary Launches, Hospital Caps & A Ted Talk appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • oat milk 7 eleven
    3 Mins Read

    In our weekly column, we round up the latest news and developments in the alternative protein and sustainable food industry. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Octonuts California’s new cashew products, Gail’s new eco store, and Europe’s most vegan-friendly cities.

    New products and launches

    New York-based Bake Me Healthy, which makes allergen-free, plant-based baking products, has rolled out Soft-Baked Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies to its product lineup. Made from sunflower protein flour, it contains 8g of protein, 4g of fibre, and no added sugar.

    bake me healthy
    Courtesy: Bake Me Healthy

    On the west coast, plant-based snack manufacturer Octonuts California has debuted churro and strawberry cashew butters (priced at $11.99 per 16oz jar), as well as gochujang and crème brûlée cashew snacks ($6.99 per 5oz pouch).

    Across the Atlantic, UK vegan snack brand ChicP has made its way into the pantries of British Airways Club Lounges, stocking a trio of hummus and breadsticks in harissa, basil and truffle flavours.

    chicp british airways
    Courtesy: ChicP

    Also in the UK, Tiba Tempeh will launch an XL pack of tempeh (featuring two 200g blocks) on Ocado at £4.85 in January. Meanwhile, its original block, soy-marinated, and curry-spiced pieces will be available in 1,000 Aldi from tomorrow.

    Bakery chain Gail’s has announced it will open what it calls its first “sustainably built” store in London’s Southwark district at the end of this month.

    oatmlk
    Courtesy: OatMlk

    And Indian oat milk brand OatMlk has landed a listing for its 200ml pack and its protein shake at 279 7-Eleven stores in Singapore.

    Company, policy and research updates

    In Israel, beverage manufacturer Priniv has earned approval from the Ministry of Health to employ BlueTree Technologies‘s sugar reduction technology on its natural juice line.

    bluetree sugar
    Courtesy: BlueTree Technologies

    Catering company Accor Group Greater China has set a target to make half of the dishes at its hotel vegan or vegetarian by 2030.

    Despite 13.5 million American households facing food insecurity, 29% of Americans aren’t familiar with the term, and 76% don’t believe it’s among the top three issues impacting households today, according to a survey by Sara Lee Bread and US Hunger.

    us food insecurity
    Courtesy: Sara Lee Bread

    In the UK, scientists at Aberystwyth University and Sun Bear Biofuture are working together to produce a more sustainable palm oil alternative through yeast fermentation for use in food and cosmetics.

    Online booking travel platform Omio has analysed the number of restaurants on Tripadvisor to name the 10 most vegan-friendly cities in Europe. The winner? London.

    purezza london
    Courtesy: Purezza

    UK company BSF Enterprise (parent of cellular agriculture startup 3D Bio-Tissues) has listed 20 million new ordinary shares on the London Stock Exchange.

    Finally, French agrifood firm Louis Dreyfus Co has signed a binding agreement to acquire BASF‘s Food and Health Performance Ingredients department in a bid to expand its plant-based ingredients business. The deal includes a production site, a state-of-the-art R&D centre, and three application labs.

    Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.

    The post Future Food Quick Bites: XL Tempeh, British Airways & Yeasty Palm Oil appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • future food
    3 Mins Read

    It has been a big year for the future food sector. These are our editor’s picks of the 10 best stories on Green Queen in 2024 (in chronological order), featuring a public tasting for cultivated meat, an interview with a US senator, and Portugal’s plant-based strategy.

    Beyond Meat unveils IV lineup

    Plant-based giant Beyond Meat reformulated its flagship beef product line for the first time in three years. The meat analogues are now healthier, meatier, and costlier, and communications chief Shira Zackai explained why in an interview with Green Queen.

    lab grown foie gras
    Courtesy: Vow

    Vow CEO talks regulatory approval for cultivated quail

    George Peppou, co-founder and CEO of Australian cultivated meat startup Vow, spoke to Green Queen about obtaining regulatory approval for its Forged cultured quail parfait in Singapore, and the company’s business philosophy.

    Meatable hosts EU-first cultivated meat tasting

    We exclusively reported on Dutch cultivated pork producer Meatable’s historic public tasting for its hybrid sausages in the Netherlands, a first for the European Union.

    starbucks coffee tasting
    Courtesy: Starbucks

    A trip to Starbucks’s Farmer Support Centers

    Green Queen visited Starbucks’s Farmer Support Centers in North Sumatra, Indonesia to find out what the giant is doing to safeguard the future of coffee and the farmer community it employs.

    Bezos Earth Fund talks alternative protein

    After Green Queen revealed that Bezos Earth Fund’s third Center for Sustainable Protein will be in Asia (it opened in Singapore months later), its Future of Food director Andy Jarvis explained the organisation’s goals and the industry’s challenges in an in-depth interview.

    andy jarvis
    Courtesy: Bezos Earth Fund/Rocío Lower

    Alternative protein = EVs?

    We contextualised a report by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), the Good Food Institute (GFI), and Synthesis Capital that explored what the future food industry can learn from the rise of electric vehicles.

    Massachusetts senator on highlighting alternative proteins in economic bill

    While US states like Florida and Alabama moved to ban cultivated meat, Massachusetts passed an economic bill that pledged funding to alternative proteins. Senator Barry Finegold, who spearheaded the effort, spoke to Green Queen about the move and the importance of food tech.

    florida lab grown meat ban
    Courtesy: UPSIDE Foods/Canva AI/Green Queen

    Behind Upside Foods’s lawsuit against the Florida ban

    Speaking of the Florida ban, California’s Upside Foods filed a lawsuit against the state, asking a federal court for an injunction and calling the effort unconstitutional. We broke down what the legal action meant, with insight from Upside Foods’s counsel. (A judge later rejected the request for an injunction).

    India’s BioE3 policy and its implications for future food

    Smart proteins, functional foods and climate-resilient agriculture were among the six pillars of India’s new biotechnology (BioE3) policy. Green Queen spoke to GFI India about how the policy came into existence, and what it meant for the alternative protein sector in India.

    plant based action plan
    Courtesy: Venn Canteen

    Portugal to develop plant-based strategy

    We explored the behind-the-scenes moves that led to the Portuguese government’s decision to develop a national action plan for plant-based foods with detailed inputs from ProVeg Portugal director Joana Oliveria.

    The post Editor’s Picks: Green Queen’s 10 Favourite Future Food Stories of the Year appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • the better butchers hybrid meat
    4 Mins Read

    Meat analogue maker The Better Butchers has signed a letter of intent with Genuine Taste, a student-founded cultivated fat startup, to develop hybrid meat.

    Ahead of its impending acquisition by Canadian cellular agriculture group Cult Food Science, Vancouver-based The Better Butchers is already making moves to advance its mission to produce future-friendly meat products.

    The meat alternative firm has signed a letter of intent with Toronto startup Genuine Taste, which makes cultivated fat from animal cells, and will supply the ingredient to The Better Butchers for product development and sampling purposes.

    The two entities will jointly create hybrid meat – a blend of cell-cultured ingredients with plant-based or fermentation-derived proteins – using the cultivated beef fat and The Better Butchers’s mycelium meat.

    Genuine Taste working with ‘global food corporation’

    lab grown meat fat
    Courtesy: Genuine Taste

    The Better Butchers says it’s one of the first companies to get access to Genuine Taste’s cultivated fat, which closely mirrors the characteristics of conventional animal fat.

    Genuine Taste was founded by biophysicist Pooya Mamaghani and University of Toronto civil engineering student Emily Farrar in 2022. To produce the beef fat, they take stem cells from a cow, which are differentiated into fat cells, combined with nutrients and salt, and left to multiply.

    The fat can be produced at mass scale in bioreactors, and then be combined with other ingredients to produce meat alternatives that better match the taste, texture and functionality of conventional meat.

    Currently, the startup is at benchtop scale. “I have… tasted it. I haven’t cooked with it, though, because it’s a very, very precious resource at the scale we are producing it,” Farrar said in an interview with her university in June.

    She revealed that Genuine Taste has sent a sample to an academic team at the University of Guelph, which specialises in alternative fats, for third-party feedback. Additionally, it has sold its first sample to a “global food corporation”, which is testing the ingredient as part of a burger.

    The startup has raised $175,000 from investors including Cycle Momentum, Startup Montreal, Big Idea Ventures, Antler, and Treefrog Accelerator. And just this month, it received C$100,000 ($69,500) after winning the Top Venture and People’s Choice Awards in the 2024 Invest Together in Climate Innovation programme.

    It is among a number of startups working with cultivated fats, joining the likes of Hoxton FarmsMission Barns and Steakholder Foods, among others.

    The Better Butchers taps into hybrid meat opportunity

    the better butchers
    Courtesy: The Better Butchers

    The Better Butchers says the cultivated fat will enhance the taste and texture of its product offerings, as well as maintain the functional properties of beef fat, such as its fatty acid profile, melting point and texture.

    The partnership is among its efforts to collaborate with “cutting-edge companies” that use precision fermentation and cellular agriculture to create hybrid meat, alternative fats, and other premium ingredients. It aims to develop “high-end butcher-shop staples” like burgers, bacon and sausages, but with a fraction of the land, water and greenhouse gas emissions.

    Its current lineup includes minced meat in natural, Italian and chorizo flavours – the latter won Product of the Year at BC Food & Beverage’s 2024 Rise Awards. It is also working with McMaster University in a four-year Genome Canada project to develop cultivated meat.

    The Better Butchers was established by Celeste Trujillo and Mitchell Scott, who is also the CEO of Cult Food Science, which agreed to acquire the meat analogue maker earlier this month.

    “I joined Cult for two main reasons. The breadth and strength of their portfolio companies and their focused investment in the cellular agriculture space. Along with their desire to acquire a majority position and build some of the first companies in the space to commercialize these exciting new technologies,” Scott said after the announcement.

    “I believe this is a great opportunity for both companies to continue growing and delivering value to their shareholders,” he added.

    To many, hybrid meats are the only way for cultivated meat to be commercially viable, given the current challenges with scalability and costs. Most cultivated meat products that have been launched into the market (or are being readied to) are a blend of cell-cultured and plant-based ingredients. Eat Just’s Good Meat chicken, the only such product available in retail, uses just 3% of cultivated cells, demonstrating the importance of hybrid applications.

    The post The Better Butchers Teams Up With Student-Led Cultivated Fat Startup to Produce Hybrid Meat appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.