Israeli startup Finally Foods has emerged from stealth with a pre-seed investment from The Kitchen FoodTech Hub to develop proteins from potatoes via molecular farming, starting with casein.
Established by computational biology company Evogene and The Kitchen FoodTech Hub, the investment arm of food giant Strauss Group and the Israeli Innovation Authority, Finally Foods is an AI-driven company that leverages molecular farming tech to produce animal-derived proteins from plants.
The company essentially modifies plants into bioreactors that can produce animal proteins in a sustainable and cost-effective manner, and is starting with casein, the main protein found in dairy. It’s known for its emulsifying properties, preventing water and fat from separating and lending cheese its melty and stretchy attributes.
While the amount of capital injected was undisclosed, this marks The Kitchen’s first investment into molecular farming. “The Kitchen has been investing in FoodTech and specifically in alternative proteins since 2015. Our experience shows that when it comes to protein expression and manufacturing, one technology does not fit all,” said the hub’s chief business officer, Amir Zaidman.
“Precision fermentation might be the right solution for some applications, biomass fermentation for others, and cell cultivation for yet another set of alternatives. We strongly believe that molecular farming has an important role to play in the mix of technologies that will enable a cleaner, more sustainable future for food production. We have been waiting for the right opportunity to invest in this space and when we met Finally, we felt this is it.”
Producing casein micelles through potatoes
Courtesy: AI-Generated Image via Canva
Finally Foods was co-founded by CEO Dafna Gabbay and CTO Basia J Vinocur, who was formerly the VP of R&D at Evogene. It taps into Evogene’s GeneRator AI technology to optimise its production process by enabling short R&D cycles, more efficient extractions, and accelerated go-to-market plans.
Evogene holds around a 40% stake in the company, with the rest of the ownership divided between the co-founders and The Kitchen.
To produce its casein, the company elected to use potatoes as the plant source. “It meets several key parameters that we identified to allow an efficient production, including high yield in the field and an effective protein extraction,” said Gabbay. “We believe a potato will serve as the optimal ‘bioreactor’ for a complex protein such as casein.”
She added that it was The Kitchen that identified the “unmet need” for a functional animal-free casein protein. “Our goal is to express in one plant all four sub-units,” she explained. In milk, the four kinds of casein proteins fold into a spherical structure known as a micelle, where they are suspended in a highly hydrated solution and bound together with minerals like calcium.
“But as they say, ‘perfect is the enemy of good’, so if we see down the road that a micellar protein is reached with fewer sub-units, we’ll go for it,” Gabbay said.
Described by industry think tank the Good Food Institute as the fourth pillar of the alternative protein world, molecular farming entails modifying the cells of plants – instead of microbes or animals, as is the case in cultivated proteins or precision fermentation – to enable them to replicate animal proteins, which can be harvested from leaves or other plant tissues.
It offers some key advantages over other forms of alternative protein, especially in terms of cost and scalability, given that it doesn’t need expensive bioreactors for larger manufacturing amounts. Since plants are the natural bioreactors here, this tech needs more fields for plant cultivation. “Molecular farming represents a catalyst towards global food security and a more sustainable future,” said Gabbay.
AI experience and licensed tech sets Finally Foods apart
Courtesy: Finally Foods
Finally Foods isn’t the only startup using potatoes to produce animal proteins – fellow Israeli player PoLoPo is doing the same for egg proteins. Many others – including Moolec, Nobell Foods, Mozza, Miruku, Tiamat Sciences, Bright Biotech and ORF Genetics – have identified molecular farming as a viable solution for producing sustainable analogues to animal products, with the market tipped to reach $3.5B by 2029.
Finally Foods operates as a B2B supplier, identifying itself as an “ingredient company”. “Finally is a platform technology,” explained Gabbay. “We first focus on casein, [but] haemoglobin and other proteins will follow.”
She remarked that licensing Evogene’s proprietary AI engines gives the startup a competitive advantage. “That will allow us to significantly shorten time to market, as most of the planning will be done in the lab before we get to the field,” she said. Additionally, she noted that Vinocur’s 17-year stint at Evogene is a major differentiator, “as the key to AI is not just the access to the vast data, but also the experience in what questions to ask it”.
“Finally is one of the rare cases where we see an extremely strong founding team, in Dafna and Basia, coupled with a proven technology platform based on the leading AI engine of Evogene,” said Zaidman.
Evogene CEO Ofer Haviv, meanwhile, is optimistic about the possibilities arising from his firm’s tech. “By harnessing the power of our GeneRator AI tech engine, molecular farming has the potential to revolutionise the food industry and promote healthier diets worldwide.”
Asked about the company’s five-year plan, Gabbay outlined that the team has ambitious goals. “We should have at least two proteins in the market, and should be working on others as well.”
Finnish precision fermentation startup Onego Bio has closed a $40M Series A funding round to commercialise its animal-free egg protein, Bioalbumen. It expects to obtain self-affirmed GRAS status in the US soon, paving the way for its market entry in North America.
The investment round was led by Japanese-Finnish VC firm NordicNinja, with participation from Tesi, EIT Food, and existing investors Agronomics, Maki.vc, Holdix and Turret (among others). It also includes $10M non-dilutive financing from the government innovation organisation Business Finland.
One of the largest Series A rounds in the Nordics, it brings the company’s total investment to $56M. The funding will be used to fuel Onego Bio’s commercialisation strategy for North America, where it is expecting regulatory clearance for its animal-free Bioalbumen protein soon.
“Egg protein remains one of nature’s most perfect foods; this single ingredient supplies more than 20 different functional benefits from aeration to emulsification and gelation,” said co-founder and CEO Maija Itkonen, who founded the startup with CTO Christopher Landowski in 2022 as a spinoff from the VTT Technical Research Center of Finland. “While it may sound scientific, the value is in our mouths every day with velvety cake structures, silky-smooth mayonnaises, crispy nugget batterings, or those chewy-fluffy nougat fillings, just to mention few.”
How Onego Bio makes its Bioalbumen egg protein
Courtesy: Onego Bio
Onego Bio uses a fungal strain called Trichoderma reesei – the same microbe used by Californian precision fermentation pioneer Perfect Day for its whey protein – to create a bioidentical version of ovalbumin, the major protein found in egg whites (making up about 54% of the protein content).
The company introduced the genetic blueprint of ovalbumin to the fungi cells through a scientific database that acts like a library, which enables them to produce egg proteins instead of their own. The company feeds the microbes on sugar in a process similar to beer brewing, except the end result is not alcohol, of course. The fungus is either starved with little food or allowed to “gorge on glucose” depending on the stage of the production process – essentially, once it’s fed plenty of glucose and then starved off it, the fungus starts sweating proteins.
The resulting Bioovalbumin is then placed into a fermentation tank with water and fungal biomass. The latter is separated to procure a liquid containing the egg protein, which is then dried into a powder. Onego Bio’s patented tech can produce 120g of protein per litre in 250,000-litre fermentation vessels, which the startup says allows it to reach close to price parity with conventional egg proteins.
Its Bioalbumin is a nutritionally complete protein, containing all essential amino acids and the highest possible protein digestibility score, delivering over 90g of protein per 100g of egg white. There are environmental benefits attached to this as well, with the company’s protein requiring 95% less land and generating 90% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than chicken eggs. It is also working on alternative feedstocks to eliminate its reliance on corn sugar and grasslands and further lower its climate footprint.
“Eggs are an essential part of food businesses, but with the egg market constantly fluctuating due to avian flu and increased demand for cage-free, manufacturers are challenged to find a viable replacement with a consistent, reliable, and safe supply of high-quality protein at an accessible price,” said Agronomics co-founder and executive chairman Jim Mellon. “A long-term sustainable solution for chicken eggs is needed.”
Onego Bio expects US regulatory approval soon
A mockup of Onego Bio’s industrial-scale manufacturing facility | Courtesy: Onego Bio
Onego Bio will use the Series A capital to accelerate its go-to-market strategy for North America, which includes scaling up to industrial production levels and expanding its US commercial team. As a precision fermentation startup, its product will need safety approval from the US FDA – the company says it’s on track to receive self-affirmed Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status in the country this year, and expected a ‘no further questions’ letter from the regulator in 2025.
So far, only California’s The Every Co has secured FDA approval for precision-fermented egg proteins in the US – the startup recently secured a third ‘no questions letter’ for expanded applications of its egg white protein, made from Komagataella phaffii. (Germany’s Formo is the only other company working in this space, with its precision-fermented egg alternative set to launch later this year).
But Onego Bio’s forthcoming self-affirmed GRAS status would join a fast-growing list of regulatory breakthroughs for the US precision fermentation sector – Vivici, New Culture, Oobli and Imagindairy have all announced GRAS (whether self-affirmed or via an FDA letter) status this year alone.
To facilitate its market entry, Onego Bio is working with co-manufacturers and finalising its in-house production plans as well. This approach involves securing offtake agreements and obtaining non-dilutive funding for the construction of its first manufacturing unit, which would boost a two-million-litre fermentation capacity. This will effectively replace an egg farm with six million laying hens.
Its animal-free egg protein is said to have a neutral flavour and superior functional properties, making it an ideal industrial ingredient for replacing eggs and enhancing the taste and texture of a wide range of food applications. The startup has already teamed up with over 25 CPG companies, which are incorporating Bioalbumen into products like baked goods, confectionery, snacks, sauces, pastas, and meat analogues, among others.
“Onego Bio is taking all the right steps to commercialise in record time,” said Nordic Ninja managing partner Tomosaku Sohara. “They are a next-generation precision fermentation company, with a clear path to industrialization, go-to-market, and profitability. With technology that is designed to scale and such a strong team, they really stand out.”
While Onego Bio is targeting North America as its first point of entry due to an easier regulatory landscape, it eventually aims to expand into South America, Asia and Europe too. “By repurposing a well-established technology from the enzyme industry for food protein production, they are well-positioned to scale to the massive volumes needed to futureproof the supply of the world’s most versatile and popular food protein,” noted Mellon.
Korean food giant CJ CheilJedang has introduced its plant-based dumplings to grocery stores inside US military bases in South Korea, with plans to extend the range and expand in other countries too.
Plant-based options for US military personnel are growing, with CJ CheilJedang now offering its vegan Bibigo dumplings at grocery stores in four United States Forces Korea (USFK) bases in South Korea.
On Sunday, the company launched its Giant Dumpling product range under the Bibigo brand in original, japchae and kimchi flavours, following a three-day tasting event at the USFK. While the military declined to comment on the exact bases that stock the products, it confirmed that each pack was priced at $6.43, according to The Korea Times.
The ready-to-heat dumplings contain a mix of vegetables, wheat gluten and soy protein, and take only about seven minutes to prepare. The company’s plant protein contains an ingredient called TasteNrich, which helps add a rich umami flavour to products like meat analogues, and is produced in a dedicated $50M facility in Indonesia.
According to the company, one soldier who tasted the japchae dumplings remarked: “This is my first time trying plant-based food, and it tastes just as good as the regular dumpling products I used to eat.”
The development enables CJ CheilJedang – which is South Korea’s largest food company – to secure a new distribution channel, following a year in which sales of Bibigo’s vegan dumplings doubled year-on-year. In 2022, the brand’s overall sales totalled $8.2B.
CJ CheilJedang set to expand plant-based options for US military
Courtesy: CJ CheilJedang
In South Korea, food companies are only allowed to sell US-grown meat inside USFK bases, which means they’re forced to import from the US to meet military regulations. So until now, its shipments to the USFK were solely dependent on Cj CheilJedang’s US subsidiary, Schwan’s Company. But with the introduction of the vegan Bibigo dumplings, the company has gained more flexibility in this matter.
“The criteria for opening a grocery store in a US military base are very strict compared to general export channels, so we put in a year of effort, including tasting sessions and inspections of manufacturing plants,”
“Entering the market at USFK bases is much harder than other local markets here because of the American authority’s strict standards for products,” said Lee Jeong-chan, plant-based food manager at CJ CheilJedang. “We’ve invested the past year for this marketing to work out, holding tasting events for Americans and inviting them to our manufacturing plants.”
He added: “We plan to continuously secure a diverse customer base in line with the expanding trends of health and environmental friendliness.”
The company aims to expand its USFK offerings with rice balls and frozen gimbaps, and aims to launch its plant-based foods at US military bases in other countries as well, including Japan and Guam.
CJ CheilJedang has previously earmarked plant-based food as its “growth engine”, targeting ₩200B ($152M) in sales in the sector by 2025. “As these three trends – health and wellness, sustainability, and animal welfare – merge together, plant-based is becoming a global mega-trend. We project the global plant-based food market to grow up to ₩35T [about $26B] in the next 10 years,” a company representative said during a press conference in 2022.
This is the second instance of a plant-based company working with the US military to increase vegan options for service members. In February, Californian giant Impossible Foods – whose products have been available at various military operations for a few years now – announced it was working with the US Army Central, which coordinates foodservice at an army-wide level, to serve its vegan beef and burgers in military dining facilities in North Africa, the Persian Gulf, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia.
Is there demand for vegan food among US troops?
Courtesy: US Army
In July 2022, the US House of Representatives passed the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, one of whose requirements was that the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) produce a report on plant-based Meals, Ready-to-Eat (MREs), which are dehydrated field rations for troops in the US. The study was meant to determine the demand for vegan MREs among troops, including cost and feasibility analysis to produce at least two plant-based MREs, service member demand, and an implementation plan. (The results aren’t public yet.)
MREs have historically been meat-heavy, with the first vegetarian meals introduced only in 1986. The current menu of 24 dishes only contains four meatless options. “There may have been a vegetarian entree that was also vegan. “To date, there has been no military service requirement for vegan MREs,” the DLA told the Guardian in 2019.
But a 2022 Mercy for Animals survey of 226 American troops found that 3.5% are vegan, and 42% either didn’t eat meat, were flexitarian, or trying to decrease their animal product intake. The majority (81%) would pick climate-friendly MREs, and the same number feel the military should provide plant-based MREs – in fact, 63% suggested they’d choose a vegan MRE over a meat-based meal.
Additionally, 70% said they’d climate-friendly food options if available, and 63% believed plant-based foods are more sustainable than animal-derived foods. Many also felt vegan food is healthier (52%) and provides more energy (51%) too.
And in 2019, one vegan soldier successfully campaigned to include a plant-based main at every meal in a US Army dining facility. Given the army’s influence over wider food culture, well-known names like CJ CheilJedang and Impossible Foods joining its food offering will only serve to grow the footprint of plant-based foods in this sector.
As molecular farming gains steam as an alternative protein pillar, Israel’s PoLoPo joins the party with a tech platform that can transform potatoes into protein-producing factories, starting with egg proteins.
Your egg and potato hash could soon be a potato and potato hash. Emerging from stealth this week, Israeli food tech startup PoLoPo is using molecular farming technology to increase the native protein content in potatoes, and produce the main protein found in chicken eggs.
The company has unveiled its SuperAA platform, which it describes as the first step towards producing proteins from common plant crops. This is currently deployed at greenhouse scale, and is capable of generating patatin and ovalbumin via proprietary metabolic engineering techniques.
Molecular farming, which has been described by industry think tank the Good Food Institute as the fourth pillar of the alternative protein world, uses genetic engineering methods to biohack plants and produce functional ingredients and nutrients.
“The SuperAA platform uses plants as living factories, and leverages their natural productivity and storage organs to grow proteins that are identical to protein derived from a chicken’s egg,” said PoLoPo CEO Maya Sapir-Mir, who co-founded the startup with CTO Raya Liberman-Aloni in 2022.
How PoLoPo turns potatoes into egg proteins
Courtesy: PoLoPo
PoLoPo’s Super AA platform grows target amino acids within a potato’s tuber, which are harvested when they reach sufficient size. The protein is then extracted and dried into a powder that can be integrated into existing food processing lines and formulations.
Essentially, the startup inserts a DNA sequence into the potato to teach it to produce an egg protein that is fully functional, nutritionally equivalent and chemically identical to chicken eggs, but without any animal input. The latter is what sets it apart from other alternative egg products. While PoLoPo’s potato-derived egg proteins are vegan, unlike its plant-based competitors on the market, they’re not suitable for people with egg allergies.
The company claims the product has undergone rigorous testing and meets all the necessary food safety standards, deeming it safe for consumption after quality control assessments.
PoLoPo began with potatoes due to their resilience in diverse climates, low growth costs, short maturation time, relatively large storage capacity (in the form of tubers), high yields, and compatibility with existing technologies. Strategically, it is an efficient and sustainable ingredient that offers attractive financial opportunities for established agrifood producers, which will allow PoLoPo to chart a cost-effective course towards scaling its Super AA system.
Patatin is a group of native proteins found in potatoes, and PoLoPo’s powdered version can be used as an allergen-free protein for a host of applications, including plant-based meat and dairy, baked goods, cereals, snacks, beverages, sports nutrition and nutraceuticals. Additionally, it can improve food security in regions hit by malnutrition.
Molecular farming on the rise
Courtesy: PoLoPo
Molecular farming differs from cell cultivation and precision fermentation in that it modifies plant cells – not microbes or animal cells – so they can replicate animal proteins, which can be harvested from leaves or other plant tissues. It’s a process that occurs when microorganisms infect plants, transferring some genes in the process – scientists use similar methods to give plants new instructions to create proteins.
It offers some key advantages over other forms of alternative protein, especially in terms of cost and scalability, given that it doesn’t require bioreactors to produce ingredients – the plants themselves are the bioreactors in this case. Many companies – such as Moolec, Nobell Foods, Mozza, Miruku, Tiamat Sciences, Bright Biotech and ORF Genetics – have identified it as a viable and sustainable solution for producing planet-friendly analogues to animal products, and research suggests it’s a market that could be worth $3.5B by 2029.
“The high-scale production of proteins in plants via molecular farming has the potential to economically transform not only potato farming and processing, but broader agriculture and agtech, for a more resilient and sustainable food system,” explained Sapir-Mir, whose company closed a $2.3M pre-seed investment round last year.
PoLoPo’s proteins will soon be available to food manufacturers for testing. They will appeal to companies looking to diversify their portfolio, make their products more allergy-friendly, and remove their reliance on industrial farming – in the US alone, most (if not all) egg-laying hens are part of concentrated animal feeding operations. Plus, eggs themselves have gone through supply chain issues over the last few years, with avian flu leading to shortages and subsequent price hikes.
Ovalbumin, meanwhile, is a protein widely used in the CPG sector, given its textural and stabilisation characteristics. It also enhances nutritional value and increases the shelf life of products, and is set to hit $36B in market value by 2032.
Other companies working with egg alternatives include Just Egg (which represents 99% of all sales in the US vegan egg market), Yo Egg, Hodo, Simply Eggless, WunderEggs, Oggs, Crackd, Perfeggt, Neggst, and Neat Egg, among others, while The Every Co, Onego Bio and Formo employ precision fermentation.
Ugandan women-led company Fiber Foods is using a food that often goes to waste, and turning it into an ingredient that can solve plant-based and blended meat’s texture problems, servicing consumers’ increased fibre needs, and supporting local farmers via value chains.
An ingredient that can produce better meat analogues, help reduce meat consumption via more appetising blended meat products, provide a whole-food, fibre-packed option to increasingly health-conscious consumers, and boost the side income of local farmers through agricultural value chains. Sound intriguing?
That’s exactly what Fiber Foods is doing. A female-led business based in Uganda, the company is championing jackfruit as an ingredient that can address multiple pain points in the food system: whether that’s our overconsumption of meat, concerns surrounding meat alternatives, or food insecurity.
Jackfruit has already been adopted as an alternative protein solution by many producers, including Jack & Annie’s, Upton’s Naturals, Karana, Jack & Bry, and The Jackfruit Company. But Fiber Foods is approaching the fruit in a novel approach, opting to dehydrate it and offering it as an ingredient called PrimeJack, which comes in multiple shapes and sizes for manufacturers to use jackfruit as an ingredient in plant-based or blended meat applications.
“We started the company to create opportunities for women and girls in agro-processing,” says co-founder Ineke Aquarius. “[We do this] by selecting a crop that was already growing in the traditional agroforests of smallholder farmers and was not yet commercialised, which means it is the domain of women.”
She notes that while living in Uganda, she and her co-founder Inez van Oord “saw a lot of Jackfruit going to waste”, just as it appeared in more and more vegan applications in Europe. While jackfruit trees are “true climate champions” in smallholder agroforests, the lack of a market meant these were being cut down. “The fact that the trees were already there, but without commercial value, made it a ‘female crop’, which gave us the opportunity to work with women,” she says.
A fibre-packed product for meat analogues
Courtesy: Fiber Foods
The company developed its patent-pending tech for PrimeJack over three years, turning young fruit into an ingredient that can be produced on a large scale. It has established a production line, lab and research time in East Africa, to boost growing, harvesting and processing efficiencies for jackfruit. Meanwhile, it has a lab in the Netherlands, which is responsible for designing new applications and ingredients using PrimeJack.
Aquarius explains that the company decided to dehydrate jackfruit for sustainability reasons, reducing the volume of the product by 90%, which drastically cuts transportation emissions. “We found various other advantages,” she adds. “PrimeJack absorbs flavours in the rehydration process up to the core of the fibre, has a long shelf life and can be shipped in normal sea containers, and is not kept in brine like the pasteurised jackfruit and has therefore no sour off taste and is easier to apply in an industrial setting.”
The product will also appeal to food producers looking to improve their Nutri-Score. While jackfruit itself is low on protein (the rehydrated formulation has 1.7g per 100g), the real benefit is the fibre content, which is 8.1g per 100g once rehydrated. Fibre is an increasingly important nutrient for people, with fibre-rich diets linked with a lower risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, strokes, high cholesterol and heart disease. Plus, it regulates incretin, a hormone described as our body’s “natural Ozempic”, given it boosts GLP-1 to control appetite and metabolism – this makes fibre-packed foods a priority in the booming gut health era.
Animal products like meat, meanwhile, don’t contain any fibre, contributing to the lack of fibre in our diets. To tackle that problem, Fiber Foods is targeting the alternative protein space, offering PrimeJack for both vegan and blended meat (which combine conventional meat with plant-based ingredients) products.
“In plant-based meat formulations, we have developed products that consist of up to 70% rehydrated PrimeJack,” says Aquarius. “However, the market for such products is smaller,” she adds. “In blended meat, up to 30% of the meat can be replaced by 4% PrimeJack, and the rest is water.”
Jackfruit makes for better blended and plant-based meat
Courtesy: Fiber Foods
Blended applications enable a product that is “lower cost with better nutrition and footprint”, according to the company. To illustrate this, Fiber Foods explains how a 100% beef burger has more fat (including saturated fat) and sodium than a 70% blended burger, which has 1.7g of fibre versus none for the former. In terms of protein, the conventional burger has 25g per serving, while one blended with PrimeJack contains 19g.
The ingredient has a natural flavour too, meaning it wouldn’t take away from the taste aspect of meat, which is the most important consumption driver for consumers. “The advantage of having no flavour or taste, but a high absorption potential, is that the food developer can add any flavour they desire,” says Aquarius. She reveals this could also work with cultivated meat in hybrid applications. “But the quickest win is to replace 20-30% meat for PrimeJack and reduce price, footprint and improve Nutri-Score without changing the recipe.”
All this is why Fiber Foods secured financing from agrifood tech investment fund FoodSparks, which was launched by PeakBridge and EIT Food, in January. “Fiber Foods has a strong value proposition to improve the healthiness, Nutri-Score and sustainability of existing meat alternatives and hybrid meats,” says Thomas van den Boezem, principal at PeakBridge. “Their unique product and process also make a strong business case, backed by an experienced and inspiring founding team, with a high understanding of customer needs.”
He adds that as an ingredient, jackfruit ticks all the boxes: no bad taste, low price, fictional, and sustainable. “With Fiber Foods’ unique process, jackfruit addresses a number of key problems in existing meat alternatives and hybrid meats. Jackfruit fibres provide structural benefits to the end product, with zero negative taste impact,” he explains. “The health benefits are substantial, since it’s fibre-rich, and allergen and cholesterol-free. Plus, jackfruit trees are abundant and can be accessed with existing infrastructure, making the ingredient a highly affordable option for plant-based meat alternatives.”
Fiber Foods has just completed a life-cycle assessment, which revealed that its current production line emits 0.34kg of carbon per kg of rehydrated PrimeJack – compared to 15-30kg and 5-12kg for the same amount of beef or pork, respectively, as well as 0.7kg for Quorn’s mycoprotein. “Based on our LCA results, we are developing a plan to further lower our footprint to move to net zero in the new factory that we are establishing,” says Aquarius.
To make PrimeJack, the company peels its jackfruit first – research has shown that about 70-80% of a jackfruit consists of waste and byproducts. The peel also makes up 30% of the Fiber Foods’ jackfruit waste, one of its biggest sources of emissions. But it leaves no traces of the product in its processing hubs, having partnered with Ugandan insect protein producer Proteen.
Fiber Foods’ mission as a social enterprise
Courtesy: Fiber Foods
Beyond the nutrition and climate aspects, the social element of Fiber Foods is what really stands out. As a women-led company, its focus has always been to champion women’s rights and provide them with economic opportunities. The company has been building agricultural value chains to help smallholder farmers in Uganda and Kenya with an additional source of income.
These value chains allow farmers to earn a side income out of crops that still need to be commercialised, but maintain the regenerative balance in their farms, alongside cash crops like coffee, cacao and vanilla. The company is now developing a second value chain through oysternuts, and says it’s contributing to UN Sustainable Development Goals 1, 5, 8 and 12 through fair prices for farmers, gender-sensitive value chains, economic growth for the agriculture sector, and promoting sustainable food systems.
Fiber Foods currently has 3,000 farmers in its value chain, with 30% of them being women. By next year, it hopes to double the number of smallholders in its system to 6,000, with at least half of them being women. The startup has further created an ESG tool to trace its ingredient from farm to fork. “We have developed a traceability tool that works in the context of our farmers, in a multi-cropping food system both off- and online. The farmer data is connected to another tool, ISO2HANDLE, to link the jackfruit all the way to the consumer,” notes Aquarius.
“The traceability aspect is extremely important: applying regenerative agriculture principles and high ethical sourcing standards to produce their dehydrated jackfruit in Uganda,” says van den Boezem.
Aquarius says over 10 products containing PrimeJack made by its B2B partners have already been approved (or are in the process) to appear in big retailers this year. It is now preparing a large-scale production of blended meat products for retail and – as she ascribed to above – building a new dedicated jackfruit facility in a joint venture with its current production partner.
Despite all that, the social mission still remains high on its priority list. “Jackfruit grows year-round and provides farming families with a reliable side income, besides their seasonal cash crops like coffee or vanilla that are volatile and affected by climate change,” Aquarius says. “By processing the jackfruit in Uganda and Kenya, close to the source, job opportunities are created for mostly young women.”
A centuries-old ingredient that has been underutilised, according to researchers at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, koji mould could hold the key to better-tasting meat analogues with a superior texture.
In Japan, it’s known as the national fungus, forming the base of fermented foods like miso, shoyu and mirin, and alcoholic beverages such as shochu and soju, for centuries. But while companies like Prime Roots, Formo and Imagindairy are all using Aspergillus oryzae – or, as it’s popularly known, koji mould – to power their meat, egg and milk analogues, some are arguing that this fungi isn’t being harnessed to its full potential in modern food applications.
Scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory suggest that genetically engineering koji could unlock enhanced nutritional, taste and texture properties in meat analogues. Fungi-based foods are exploding in the alternative protein world, and the fungal protein market is predicted to reach nearly $400M by 2029. The Berkeley Lab argues that while a ton of biomanufactured products are made by engineered bacteria and yeast – which are “single-celled cousins of mushroom and mould” – multicellular fungi haven’t been harnessed as cellular factories to the same extent.
This is because their genomes are far more complex, with adaptations that make gene-editing a challenge. “These organisms have been used for centuries to produce food, and they are incredibly efficient at converting carbon into a wide variety of complex molecules, including many that would be almost impossible to produce using a classic host like brewer’s yeast or E. coli,” said senior author and UC Berkeley professor Jay Keasling.
“By unlocking koji mould through the development of these tools, we are unlocking the potential of a huge new group of hosts that we can use to make foods, valuable chemicals, energy-dense biofuels, and medicines. It’s a thrilling new avenue for biomanufacturing.”
Using CRISPR tech to transform koji into heme-containing meat
Courtesy: Marilyn Sargent/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Vayu Hill-Maini, a postdoctoral researcher at Keasling’s lab, worked with colleagues at UC Berkeley, the Joint BioEnergy Institute, and the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability to explore the potetial of this strain of fungi, publishing the results in the peer-reviewed Nature Communications journal.
The team used CRISPR technology to develop a gene editing system that can make consistent and repreatable changes to the genome of koji. CRISPR itself has been touted as a potential embryonic treatment for hereditary diseases, but on the other hand, studies suggest altering the DNA of embryos or eggs and sperm could cause mutations that lead to other health threats.
Once the researchers established a toolkit of edits, they used the system to make modifications that elevate the mould as a fodo sorce. They first honed in on the production of the iron-based molecule heme (Impossible Foods makes a precision-fermented version for its burgers), which is responbiel for giving meat its colour and defining flavours. Next, they focused on the production of ergothioneine, an antioxidant found exclusively in fungi, which is associated with cardiovascular health benefits.
These changes transformed the colour of the fungi from white to red, and after removing excess water and grinding the harvested biomass, the mould could be shaped into a patty and fried just as you would a burger.
Hill-Maini’s next target is texture, a major pain point for meat alternatives. In 2023, a study leveraging Kroger data from 60 million US households found that texture is the aspect Americans dislike most about vegan food. Globally, too, the texture of plant-based meat alternatives’ texture is as important as their conventional counterparts for 75% of consumers, but only about 60% are actually satisfied with the former’s texture.
It has led to other researchers also exploring the best way to improve the texture and mouthfeel of meat analogues. “We think that there’s a lot of room to explore texture by varying the fiber-like morphology of the cells. So, we might be able to programme the structure of the lot fibers to be longer which would give a more meat-like experience. And then we can think about boosting lipid composition for mouthfeel and further nutrition,” said Hill-Maini.
He added: “I’m really excited about how can we further look at the fungus and, you know, tinker with its structure and metabolism for food.”
A fungi project involving Michelin-starred chefs
Courtesy: Marilyn Sargent/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Hill-Maini wants to make the next generation of fungi-based products not just palatable, but really desirable to consumers. In a separate research project, he and Keasling collaborated with Copenhagen-based Michelin-starred eatery Alchemist to explore the potential of a fellow multicellular fungus, Neurospora intermedia, which has been traditionally used in Indonesia to make oncom (produced from the fermentation of byproducts like okara).
The chefs and scientists discovered that this strain can produce many enzymes as it grows. When grown on starchy rice, it secretes an enzyme that liquifies the rice and makes it intensely sweet. “We developed a process with just three ingredients – rice, water, and fungus – to make a beautiful, striking orange-colored porridge,” said Hill-Maini. “That became a new dish on the tasting menu that utilizes fungal chemistry and colour in a dessert. And I think that what it really shows is that there’s opportunity to bridge the laboratory and the kitchen.”
Hill-Maini called it a “fundamental aspect of synthetic biology that we’re benefitting from organisms that have evolved to be really good at certain things”. Expanding on his team’s approach, he added: “What we’re trying to do is to look at what is the fungus making and try to kind of unlock and enhance it. And I think that’s an important angle that we don’t need to introduce genes from wildly different species. We’re investigating how we can stitch things together and unlock what’s already there.”
Backed by the US Department of Energy Office of Science, can the Berkeley Lab change how we see fungi and make a mark in a burgeoning alternative protein category?
Chicago-based startup Aqua Cultured Foods has partnered with Boston’s synbio firm Ginkgo Bioworks to optimise the production of its fermentation-derived whole-cut seafood. It will soon launch its first analogues at Michelin-starred restaurants in Chicago.
The collaboration will see Aqua Cultured Foods tap into Ginkgo Bioworks’ cell programming and biosecurity platform to optimise its microbial fermentation technology and enhance its whole-cut seafood analogues.
It comes a year after the alt-seafood startup raised $5.5M in a pre-seed round led by Stray Dog Capital and involving South Korean food giant CJ CheilJedang. By partnering with Ginkgo – which works with a number of companies for food, materials and ingredient solutions – Aqua Cultured Foods can fine-tune its patent-pending technology to make seafood analogues with the same taste, texture and look as their conventional counterparts, ahead of its upcoming market launch.
“With Ginkgo, we will further optimise our microbial consortium to elevate the quality and consistency of our products,” Aqua Cultured Foods CSO Stefan Baier told Green Queen. “By optimising our strain, we could grow different scaffolds with tailored textures and improve nutrition beyond a good source of fibre.”
Leveraging Ginkgo’s expertise for better alt-seafood
Courtesy: Aqua Cultured Foods
Ginkgo, which became a public company on the NYSE in 2021 with a $15B valuation after closing a SPAC deal with Soaring Eagle Acquisition Corp, has partnerships with the likes of ingredients giant Givaudan, pharmaceutical behemoth Pfizer, precision fermentation companies Vivici and Imagindairy, and mycoprotein startup Nosh.bio, among others. Launched in 2008, its tech has also led to several spinoff companies, like Motif FoodWorks and Joyn Bio (a joint venture with Bayer). So it makes sense for Aqua Cultured Foods to partner with a company with such a pedigree.
“We have fish-free seafood down to a science. Our patented process starts with our proprietary microbial consortium. We grow the fibre-containing scaffold in our signature media in vertically stacked trays until we get the right size and texture of whole-cut filets,” explained Baier. “Once our filets achieve the desired thickness, we use plant-based flavours and colours to mimic the rich, buttery texture and savoury umami flavours of freshly caught fish.”
The link-up will see Ginkgo leverage its high throughput next-generation sequencing and advanced analytics services to help optimise and tune Aqua Cultured Foods’ strains (which have a long history in the food system and won’t need regulatory approval as a novel food) and scale up its manufacturing process. “Our low-resource production process can occur rapidly, anywhere, and scale to feed Earth. Aqua offers a globally adaptable and environmentally compelling solution at pilot scale,” said Baier.
Moreover, it will aid the latter in amplifying its R&D capabilities and further optimising its strain consortium to produce not just whole-cut and ground seafood analogues, but flavours and textures for the wider food industry eventually. “Beyond sequencing, we envision engineering our proprietary consortium for next-gen products, pushing alt-seafood boundaries,” said Baier. “We look forward to how our sustainable approach can revolutionize the fishing industry and contribute to the regeneration of our oceans.”
Aqua Cultured Foods will launch at Chicago eateries this spring
Courtesy: Aqua Cultured Foods
Aqua Cultured Foods’ products are tuna and scallops, which maintain freshness and tenderness for six weeks. Its third offering, a minced shrimp that can be used as a filling in dishes like dumplings and sushi rolls, is almost ready for launch.
“Our tuna will be sold directly to restaurant chefs in 8 oz whole-cut saku blocks to replicate the product experience of comparable sushi-grade tuna,” revealed Baier. “Once purchased, chefs can prepare and plate Aqua as desired, fueling their culinary creativity.”
The startup previously acquired a 5,000 sq ft food-grade facility in Chicago for its pilot plant, with a 500 sq ft room that can produce 5,000 tonnes of raw product at present. This is enough to serve about 20 restaurants in the Chicago metropolitan area, which is exactly where you will see Aqua Cultured Foods’ make its debut, previewing its products on Michelin-starred restaurant menus this spring.
The seafood industry is inundated with climate and health issues. Microplastic pollution, toxic chemical runoff, antibiotic and pesticide use, sea lice and mercury all affect the seafood humans consume, while overfishing aggravates biodiversity loss and could lead to a collapse of global fisheries by 2048. Meanwhile, human rights abuse is also rampant in the industry.
But vegan seafood captures just 1% of the overall meat alternatives sector, and an even tinier 0.2% of the seafood industry. Amid a tough financing landscape and consumer market, companies like New Wave Foods and Ordinary Seafood have been forced to shut down.
That said, fermentation and whole-muscle products may be the key to unlocking the category’s potential, allowing startups to produce seafood analogues that more closely resemble conventional products, both in terms of functionality and nutrition, but without the ill health effects and climate footprint. It’s the approach taken by the likes of New School Foods, Pacifico Biolabs, Esencia Foods, as well as Revo Foods. The latter unveiled a fungi-derived vegan octopus earlier this month, which quickly sold out – demonstrating that demand for high-quality seafood analogues persists.
Dutch food tech startup The Protein Brewery has received regulatory approval from US and Singapore authorities to produce and market its fungi-derived fermented ingredient, Fermotein.
Joining a growing list of alternative protein companies securing regulatory approval, Dutch startup The Protein Brewery has received the green light from the Singapore Food Agency for Fermotein, a fermentation-derived fungal biomass ingredient, also securing Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) status by the US Food and Drug Administration.
The regulatory breakthrough means the Breda-based company can now import, manufacture and sell food ingredients featuring Fermotein in these countries. The ingredient is rich in fibre and protein, and can be produced from water-efficient, non-allergenic crops like cassava, corn, potatoes, sugarcane and sugar beets, allowing it to be commercialised globally on a local scale.
The regulatory clearance will allow The Protein Brewery to extend its commercial operations beyond the US and into Singapore. “We are incredibly pleased about the collaboration with the Singapore Food Agency throughout our novel food dossier process,” says Yvonne Dommels, director of nutrition and regulatory affairs of The Protein Brewery.
“The dialogue between our organisations was characterised by openness and transparency, guided by helpful and engaged professional individuals from the novel food team.”
Fermotein’s functional and environmental prowess
The Protein Brewery founder Wim de Laat and CEO Sue Garfitt | Courtesy: The Protein Brewery
Founded in 2020, The Protein Brewery was born out of a demerger of industrial biotech company BioscienZ BV, and aims to commercialise sustainable food ingredients that turn low-nutrition-value crops into highly nutritious products. It works across a broad range of technologies, including molecular biology, fermentation, analytical tools, and downstream processing tech.
The startup has raised €26M in total funding, following a €22M Series A in 2020. Fermotein is a whole cell bioproduct that contains dietary fibres that support the immune system and healthy cholesterol levels. It has a neutral taste, smell and colour, making it functionally versatile and enabling companies to use it without masking agents.
The Protein Distillery says Fermotein can be used in both food products and recipes, including pizzas, pancakes, muffins and meat analogues. In fact, the fermented ingredient’s yield is 26 times higher than animal protein, four times more than soy, and five times more than pea protein. On average, fungal proteins’ emissions and water use are 20 times lower than animal-derived proteins, and the startup has previously stated that compared to beef, Fermotein only uses 1% of the land, consumes 5% of the water and releases 3% of the emissions.
To manage its entire production process – including handling raw materials, brewing, downstream processing, formulation and packaging – it operates from a pilot plant that can produce 100kg of protein daily. “Fermotein comes in a dry powdered form and has a very beneficial supply chain compared to other mycoprotein products, which are supplied ‘wet’ (frozen),” brand manager Roxanne Snijders told Protein Production Technology International magazine in January.
She added: “It also extends the sensorial shelf by reducing staling in baked goods and bar hardening in protein bars. The fibres in our ingredient also have a water-holding capacity that prevents water leaking out of the products, so it retains more moisture to keep [the] product soft and fresh.
The Protein Brewery recently conducted an analysis to compare the taste profile of Fermotein with other protein powders. “On a sensory profile, we have a great score compared with pea and soy and, as our product doesn’t compromise performance, it’s suitable for many applications and widely embraced,” noted Snijders.
A big year for fermented protein regulation
Courtesy: The Protein Brewery
The company has secured its first customers and is in talks with a number of companies – including large food businesses – for potential partnerships. This includes US allergen-free ingredients company Nepra Foods, and Canadian distributor CK Ingredients.
“To support our commercialisation journey in the USA, we also have our own sensory panel doing regular testing in tasting, on quality assurance, and continuously improving our products,” Snijders said. “Together with [trade group] the Fungi Protein Association, we have a shared responsibility to stimulate consumer acceptance of fungi-based products.”
She added: “In the end, there’s only a few things that truly matter to consumers: taste, health and price. So, we’ll be as competitive as we can by ticking all these boxes.” Snijders had noted that the company relies on governments to “put in their fair share of commitment and support” to enable producers to bring fungi-based products to market. The regulatory approvals in the US and Singapore are a huge sign of progress in that area – and The Protein Brewery is not stopping there, having filed for novel foods clearance in the UK and the EU too.
Reflecting on the significance of the approval in Singapore – a global leader for food tech innovation and regulation – CEO Sue Garfitt said: “The Protein Brewery sees tremendous potential to enhance the nutritional landscape of everyday food and drink choices for the busy Singaporean population. We recognise the trend towards convenience-driven food choices, often leading to reliance on ready-to-eat and takeout meals. By incorporating Fermotein into these and more traditional dishes, we will increase their nutritional value, enriching them with protein and fibre without compromising on taste and texture.”
The development comes amid increased regulatory acceptance for fermentation-derived novel proteins in the US, where San Francisco’s New Culture became the first company to attain self-affirmed GRAS status for animal-free casein in March, just as another Dutch startup, Vivici, obtained this certification for its whey protein. This followed Israel’s Imagindairy receiving a ‘no further questions’ letter for its precision-fermented whey from the FDA.
And in 2023, fellow Israeli startup Remilk joined California’s Perfect Day (both are producing whey too) on that FDA GRAS list, alongside Singapore-based TurtleTree (which is producing animal-free lactoferrin), and Californian startup The EVERY Co, which earned its third GRAS notification late in the year for egg proteins.
It’s proving to be a big year for fermented proteins, and a big one for The Protein Brewery too, which will open a plant and move its headquarters after the successful commissioning of its scale-up brewery, announce fresh partnerships, and reveal a new product. Given that these proteins are outfinancing their plant-based and cultivated counterparts in terms of investment, it feels like a good time to be in the fermentation space.
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 IKEA’s cheaper-than-meat vegan hot dogs, a new range of blended dairy products, and plant-based restaurant openings in New York City.
New products and launches
Swedish furniture giant IKEA has rolled out vegan hot dogs in the US as part of its goal to be 50% plant-based by 2025. At 70 cents, it’s cheaper than a conventional meat hot dog (which costs 75 cents).
Courtesy: IKEA
In similar price-related news, Dutch supermarket Jumbo has decided to stop all meat promotions, updating its protein transition commitment to ensure 50% of the protein on its shelves next year is plant-based, rising to 60% by 2030.
French charcuterie company Aoste has expanded into the plant-based meat sector with a new range of products under the Better Balance brand, which includes burgers, sausages, breaded cutlets, original chunks, and chunks with herbs, all with a Nutri-Score of A.
South Korea’s Shinesegae Foods has launched You Are What You Eat under its Better Foods division at last week’s Expo West. The new brand contains 10 new meat analogues and plant-based meal replacement products, and underpins the company’s plans to accelerate entry into the US market.
In New York City, vegan Ethiopian restaurant Ras Plant Based – whose original restaurant is in Crown Heights, Brooklyn – is opening its second location in West Village this May.
That’s not the only new vegan eatery in New York City, with Homemade Vegan Dumpling House, Sen Saigon (both in Chinatown) and Siete (Flatiron) all opening their doors this month.
Courtesy: Neggst/IKEA/Kerry Dairy
In what it terms as a “category first”, Kerry Dairy has introduced a range of blended Smug Dairy range of products made from cow’s milk and oat milk, which includes a milk SKU, a butter, and a Cheddar cheese block. The new offerings will hit retail shelves in the UK by the end of this month.
Californian brand Mikuna has been named the exclusive plant protein supplier at Erewhon‘s Tonic Bars, which will use the former’s regenerative, highly functional chocho protein.
German startup Neggst is developing two plant-based egg products: poached and sunny-side-up eggs with runny yolks. The innovations were unveiled at the Internorga trade fair alongside its existing vegan egg patties and bites.
And in the US, market leader Just Egg is now available at Peet’s Coffee, featuring in a new Southwest Breakfast Burrito with plant-based chorizo, Violife Cheddar, black beans, potatoes, salsa verde and green chiles, as well as an Everything Breakfast Sandwich with vegan Cheddar.
Partnerships and company updates
US flavour and fragrance house IFF has invested in high-moisture extrusion technology from German specialist Coperion to develop improved plant-based meat and seafood products.
Californian startup Triplebar Bio has partnered with ingredients giant FrieslandCampina to create a cost-effective approach to scale up production for its precision-fermented lactoferrin protein.
Courtesy: Cauldron Foods
UK tofu brand Cauldron Foods has announced a complete rebrand that includes colourful packaging and several new products, such as Spinach & Carrot and Pumpkin & Caramelised Onion Veggie Bakes, as well as a new extra-firm tofu block, which will debut at various retailers in April.
In an unexpected twist, Irish shellfish producer Errigal Bay is opening an oat milk factory next to its seafood processing facility in Donegal – which was supposed to be a cold storage plant – citing a growing market for plant-based milk and falling demand for seafood.
In more plant-based beverage production news, DSM-Firmenich has opened a pilot plant in Plainsboro, New Jersey focused on scaling up production of both dairy and vegan drinks like milks, creamers and protein shakes.
Meanwhile, Singapore’s microbial fermentation contract manufacturer ScaleUp Bio – a joint venture company between ADM and Temasek – has signed local startups Allozymes and Algrow Biosciences as new customers, alongside agreements with Terra Bioindustries (Canada) and Argento Labs (UK), weeks ahead of opening its commercial-scale pilot plant.
Policy and finance
The USDA’s National Institute of Cellular Agriculture at Tufts University – the country’s first government-funded centre for cultivated meat – has opened applications for its Seed Grant Program 2024, which will award $25,000 or $50,000 for research into alternative proteins, cellular agriculture and precision fermentation.
Over in the cocoa-free chocolate world, UK startup Nukoko has raised €1.3M in seed funding to support production of its faba-bean-to-bar chocolate offering.
Fellow UK company Clean Food Group, which makes a fermentation-based alternative to palm oil, has secured £2.5M in funding to accelerate its path to commercialisation. It follows a £2.4M round in August, and brings total investment to £13M.
Courtesy: Laurie Lapworth/University of Bath
German cultivated meat producer Innocent Meat has brought in €3M to accelerate development of its biocomponents, scale up its pilot plant, and initiate certification processes.
Students at Harvard University will host an inaugural Food 4 Thought event from April 12-14, with the aim of addressing the food system’s challenges, especially the overconsumption of meat.
Finally, there were a host of vegan wins at Expo West‘s NEXTY Awards 2024, including Macalat, MyForest Foods, Ocean’s Halo, Minor Figures, Burroughs Family Farms, Konscious Foods, GoodPop, The Coconut Cult and Le Grand.
New York-based plant protein brand Aloha has launched the Pa’akai Bar, the second product born out of its collaboration with Californian company Terviva, which uses its pongamia bean oil called Ponova.
A year after releasing the Kona Bar, Aloha is rolling out its second protein bar using Ponova, the pongamia bean oil developed by Terviva. The Pa’akai Bar is a special-edition product that makes use of locally sourced, sustainable ingredients, with a portion of the benefits going to empowering Hawaiian youth.
The new bar is a namesake of a term that carries cultural significance in Hawai’i. In Hawaiian, pa’akai refers to ‘solid ocean’ or ‘sea salt’, and is used as a connotation for preserving and flavouring food, as well as associated with perceived health benefits.
“Our partnership with Aloha is critical to introducing more people to our sustainable, delicious and versatile Ponova oil. We have been humbled by the response to the Kona Bar since its launch in 2023, and we are excited to see how customers respond to the rich flavour of the Pa’akai Bar made with Ponova oil,” said Terviva founder and CEO Naveen Sikka.
The launch comes just as SemCap Food and Nutrition secured a “significant” minority stake in Aloha, after buying out early-stage angel investors with a $68M investment.
Courtesy: Aloha
Pa’akai Bar extends Aloha’s climate and social cred
Aloha’s Pa’akai Bar is inspired by the North Pacific Ocean, and like its predecessor, it comprises responsibly grown ingredients. These include sea salt crystallised from the channel islands of Hawai’i, Hawaiian macadamia nuts grown using renewable energy, organic dark chocolate, an organic blend of brown rice and pumpkin seed protein, sunflower and cashew butter, and Ponova oil.
Another thing it shares with the Kona Bar is the scheme to donate 10% of proceeds from every bar sold to the environmental education non-profit Kupu, which empowers Hawaiian youth through service, education and workforce development in natural resources, climate change mitigation, and agriculture.
This plays into the sustainability strides made by Aloha. It’s certified B Corp and last year was accredited as a Carbon Neutral Certified business, the first plant protein brand to earn that badge. The company has had a tangible social impact too, having helped contribute and donate more than 173,000 meals in 2021 and 2022.
“Here at Aloha, our mission is clear: to nourish the world by sharing delicious and nutritious food made with traceable, high-quality, better-for-you ingredients,” said Aloha CEO Brad Charron. “Hawai’i is a beacon of inspiration for land stewardship and sustainable farming, initiatives that we hold dear. As a small, employee-owned company, we’re dedicated to making a difference by balancing our own scaling growth with equal parts of impact.”
Then there are the health benefits. The Pa’akai Bar, which happens to be gluten-free, is packed with 14g of protein and 10g of fibre per 56g pack. It also contains 12g of fat, 7g of which are unsaturated ‘good’ fats. It’s available on Aloha’s e-commerce website at $21.99 for a six-pack, and will be introduced to additional online retailers, including Thrive Market, in the coming months.
“Our mission is at the center of everything we do, and that includes a competitive price point,” a Terviva spokesperson told Green Queen. “As we scale up production of our sustainable Ponova oil, we expect costs to decrease while still maintaining our core principles of environmental stewardship, social responsibility, and transparent sourcing. Our goal is to offer a premium, impact-driven, and delicious oil at an accessible price point.”
“The Pa’akai Bar exemplifies our commitment to using our business as a force for good, alongside other sustainability-minded brands, farmers, and organisations,” added Charron.
Courtesy: Aloha
The environmental and health credentials of Ponova oil
The environmental credentials of the Pa’akai Bar are headlined by the use of Terviva’s Ponova oil, which is derived from pongamia bean trees. These are fast-growing evergreen trees that are native to sub-tropical regions, and have historically been used for reforestation in Asia. They can restore soil quality, sequester carbon, reduce water and fertiliser use, and withstand climate extremes.
Terviva’s Ponova oil comes from the ultra-regenerative pongamia trees in Oahu, with a supply chain based in the sub-tropical regions of the US and India. They help convert distressed farmland into sustainable, productive acreage, making for a valuable income stream for local farmers and communities.
The Ponova oil is expeller pressed and lightly refined in a process similar to olive oil, with a “golden, amber colour” and “light, nutty and green aroma and flavour” akin to very light olive oil, without any astringency, according to the Terviva representative. “Its texture is notably richer than most other vegetable oils,” they added.
It has 55% of healthy omega-9 fatty acids (which is said to help reduce cholesterol levels) and 18% of polyunsaturated fats. Functionally, it can replace ingredients high in saturated fats, like coconut oil, in prepared foods like alternative dairy products, mayonnaise, spreads, baked goods and plant-based meats. “In plant-based cream cheese, Ponova oil can replace up to 75% of the coconut oil typically used in this application, resulting in a 50% saturated fat reduction per serving,” the spokesperson said.
Moroever, Ponova oil has a high smoke point of 225°C/437oF, making it a good frying oil. This will appeal to restaurants and manufacturers ditching conventional vegetable oils that contain saturated and trans fats, and have a high carbon footprint, and looking to replace them without compromising functionality. This is why it was recognised as a World Changing Idea by Fast Company in 2023 for its potential to positively reshape the food industry as an ingredient and cooking oil.
“We don’t currently have any culinary oil products planned as we are engaging in some co-marketing opportunities with small volumes for regional and small-scale campaigns in 2025,” the representative revealed. “In the latter half of 2026, we will be adding substantial volume and are seeking early adopting partners to work with us now in preparation for scale.”
Other companies producing sustainable and good-for-you fats include Zero Acre Farms, whose sugarcane-based fermented oil has made it into the kitchens of some Shake Shack and Hopdoddy locations, and Algae Cooking Club, which has impressed chefs like Eleven Madison Park’s Daniel Humm with its microalgae-derived oil.
Described as the “Fortune 500 of agrifood tech”, food tech consultancy Forward Fooding has released its 2023 FoodTech 500 list, with the highest number of companies belonging to the plant-based sector. Other alternative protein startups also had strong representation on the list.
US mycelium fermentation startup Nature’s Fynd has topped Forward Fooding’s FoodTech 500 list for 2023, with four other future food companies joining it in the top 10. These include fellow US mycelium protein company Meati, Spanish plant-based meat maker Heura, US molecular farming pioneer Nobell Foods, and German fermentation tech startup Planet A Foods.
The annual list – which began in 2019 – recognises entrepreneurs addressing challenges throughout the food value chain, highlighting the most innovative businesses at the convergence of food, technology and sustainability. This year, over 1,500 companies submitted applications to be featured on the list, representing 34 domains, including plant-based, ag biotech, protein fermentation, cellular agriculture, and vertical and indoor farming.
Of the 500 companies selected, nearly a third (32.3%) were female-founded, and just over a sixth (17.8%) had Black, Asian or minority ethnic founders. Meanwhile, 95.4% of the finalists had received investment, with two unicorn companies (having raised over $1B without going public) and four publicly traded businesses.
Despite a challenging landscape in terms of both sales and optics, the plant-based industry was the most well-represented domain, with 63 companies (12.6%) appearing on the FoodTech 500 list for 2023. This was followed by farm management and precision farming (55 companies) and vertical and indoor farming (46 companies)
Future food startups innovating with fermentation had a strong presence too, with 33 such businesses on the list, which also had 23 cellular agriculture companies (even without any of their products actually being on the market, which displays their potential).
Courtesy: Forward Fooding
Alt-protein, agtech and next-gen food companies headline FoodTech 500
The ranking combines scores from three key areas – business size, digital footprint, and sustainability. The sustainability scoring framework was based on selected Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from the UN, with SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), and SDG 13 (Climate Action) being the most addressed.
The business size score predicts growth based on financial indicators like the number of employees, funding stage, total funds raised and number of offices, while the digital footprint ranking forecasts digital presence growth based on website traffic, social media performance and follower growth.
The companies are divided into eight macro activities: Agtech, Next-Generation Food and Drinks, Food Processing, Food Delivery, Kitchen and Restaurant Tech, Consumer Apps and Services, Food Safety and Traceability, Surplus and Waste Management. Agtech dominates the rankings, with over a third (34.6%) of companies on the FoodTech 500 list involved in this space. This is followed closely by Next-Gen Food and Drinks, making up 28.6% of the rankings.
It’s the latter category that houses the five alternative protein companies mentioned above, with Nature’s Fynd – a Bill Gates-backed startup that makes breakfast patties, cream cheeses and yoghurts using its Fy protein – leading the overall list and Heura the highest-ranking plant-based startup (at 7th). The only other alternative protein company to surpass Heura is Meati (6th), which uses mycelium to make whole-cut chicken and beef analogues.
Other companies in the future food sector that make up the top 50 include InnovoPro, Algama Foods, The Seaweed Company, BlueNalu, Koa, Arbiom, Biomilq and Voyage Foods.
“Embracing alternative protein technologies (plant-based, cell-cultured, molecularly farmed, and fermentation-derived) is crucial for food security. These can complement culinary tradition while introducing exciting new options for consumers,” said Christian Pichler, managing director of Gerber VC. “But caution is warranted against misinformation spread by traditional lobby groups with vested interests and significant PR resources.”
Forward Fooding is embarking on a global tour to celebrate the release of the list, starting with London (today), and going on to San Francisco (March 21-22), Stockholm (April 9), Berlin (May), Barcelona (June), and Dubai (September).
We spoke to Max Leveau, co-founder and chief operating officer of Forward Fooding, about the 2023 FoodTech 500 list, the plant-based dominance, the biggest surprises, and the importance of female leadership.
This interview has been edited for clarity and concision.
Green Queen: Despite the sales declines and often negative narrative around veganism, why do you think plant-based was the biggest category?
Max Leveau: This year’s FT500 accounts for 63 Plant-based companies, which represents 13% of total companies and the most represented domain within our taxonomy. Our proprietary data tells us that despite the global VC turmoil, there are over 970 plant-based companies currently operating in the global marketplace. Although 47 shut down over the last couple of years, we still see there is strong demand and new companies keep emerging.
Yet, for the first time, in 2021, more capital was cumulatively invested in fermentation and cellular agriculture than plant-based companies. This marked the beginning of a major shift in the alternative proteins sector.
Courtesy: Forward Fooding
GQ: Which plant-based, fermentation, and cell ag companies stood out to you the most, and why?
ML: Over the past couple of years, we have witnessed two major ‘forces’ driving the alternative protein sector: increased consolidations and pressing scepticism, mostly driven by media, around companies’ ability to scale up production and overcome regulation hurdles (for example, cultivated meat) and, most of all, to create great-tasting products that will determine consumers’ mass adoption in the long haul. Even though investments in alternative proteins have dropped by 62% since 2021, the sector has reached a tipping point. Despite the negative investment trend, we believe that the current ‘crisis’ will help this industry in the long term.
These factors are forcing entrepreneurs and investors to focus on turning existing companies with strong fundamentals into profitable businesses while forcing smaller and less resilient companies to get consolidated or phased out. For example, we expect to see more ‘hybridisation‘ in product development. This involves creatively combining protein sources and processes (such as plant-based proteins with fermented or cultivated fats). By blending ingredients and technologies, companies can address key product experience elements. These include taste, texture, and nutritional value, but also scalability – think mycelium for umami flavouring of plant-based meat products, serum-free growth medium for cultivated meat, companies focusing on cell cultures, etc. Companies such as Mycorena, The Seaweed Company or Multus Bio come to mind.
Finally, despite reluctance from certain countries (like Italy and France), we do expect cellular agriculture to become regulated by more countries in the next couple of years. Recent approvals from the FDA – and investments from various governments (such as the UK, Canada and the Netherlands) to support the research and growth of the sector, alongside precision fermentation – are paving the way towards more regulatory approvals in the near term.
GQ: Most of the companies on the list have only been founded in the last five to six years. What does it say about the industry?
ML: It tells us three things. As with any tech sector, when a new technology solution is on the path to becoming mature, more ventures get created because the barriers to entry are relatively low.
More entrepreneurs are building ‘enabling solutions’, such as ‘software for vertical farms’ or growth media for cultivated meat/fish for existing industries (like vertical farming or cellular agriculture).
This is also a reflection of how the global agrifood tech investment landscape has evolved in the past two years:
Global Venture Capital is going through difficult times, with AgriFoodTech being no exception to the rule. Since its peak year in 2021, investments in the sector have dropped by 74% to reach $17.1.B in 2023. Many companies have had to shut down operations in the past year. Yet, making a comparison between 2021 and 2023 makes us understand how the investment landscape has been shifting, and we believe there is room for optimism.
Courtesy: Forward Fooding
First of all, not only has the number of deals (-44% from 2021 to 2023) not dropped as much as the capital invested (-74%), but the median deal has actually increased since 2021. Mega-deals have vanished (the average deal size fell from $31.5M to $14.1M), and generalist investors are leaving the space, while specialist and impact-focused ones tend to go ‘beyond the hype’ to invest in a broader range of solutions across the supply chain (such as technologies to fight food waste). This translates into a new distribution of investments, previously dominated by food delivery and alternative proteins (part of our Next-Gen vertical), as well as a growing proportion of early-stage investments towards less mature or ‘hyped’, but nonetheless impactful solutions.
New regional dynamics are also emerging. From 23% in 2021, 36% of total investments in the sector went to European companies in 2023. Europe is becoming a true hotbed for agrifood tech innovation, while Asia-Pacific has seen a drop from 11% to 1% (mostly due to a decline in China). And finally, North America continues to lead the sector, gathering 48% of global investments in 2023.
Overall, it is safe to say that capital is no longer a ‘commodity’. Entrepreneurs have to focus on building ‘healthier’ businesses with a clear path to profitability, and ideally ‘asset-light’ models. They also seem to be able to rely more and more on public funding to support their growth, as shown by the sharp increase in the number of grants allocated to agrifood tech startups (up from 6% to 23%).
More patience and smart capital will be needed to solve the challenges of our food system. Looking at the latest investment figures, this seems to be going in the right direction at the moment.
GQ: Which domain were you most surprised by?
ML: Beyond alternative proteins, there are a few domains that are standing out.
First of all, we are quite amazed to see how ag biotech is currently growing. From 17 companies in 2022, it has almost doubled this year with 36 companies within the finalists, as the topics of soil health and microbiome, and seed genetics-focused technologies like molecular farming are gaining more traction. 2023 finalist companies include the likes of Tropic, Soilsteam and Mozza Foods.
Looking at global investments, the surplus and waste management activity went from representing 3% of global investments in 2021 to 13% in 2023. This is well represented in the FoodTech 500 with food waste tech and food sharing platforms (26 companies), and upcycled ingredients, food surplus and waste efficiency (25 companies), with players such as Winnow, Spoiler Alert, Fazla and Peelpioneers.
Finally, it’s quite impressive to see how resilient the farm management and precision farming domain has been year after year, with the growing impact of remote sensing and AI, and led by companies like CropX, Agrivi and Cropin.
GQ: Do you think there’s still some ways to go in terms of female leadership in food tech?
ML: Yes, definitely. However, we think the agrifood tech space is intrinsically more diverse than other tech industries. As a matter of fact, over the years, we’ve been reporting that the food tech space is rather diverse, and when using FoodTech 500 as a proxy of the overall space, we have witnessed an increase year-on-year of female-founded businesses among FoodTech 500 alumni. On average, we went from X in 2020 to 30%+ in 2023.
GQ: Where is the food tech sector lacking, and what are its biggest challenges going into the rest of 2024?
ML: With more transparency and self-discipline from founders, combined with more thorough due diligence from investors, we think the agrifood tech industry can capitalise on the growing interest in leveraging technology to improve our food and agriculture system to make it more resilient and sustainable for both people and our planet.
As the market is correcting and science is advancing in the right direction, we believe 2024 could be a vintage year to invest in agrifood tech. Valuations are becoming more ‘sensitive’, and entrepreneurs do have to present a clear and solid path to profitability to be in a position to raise capital.
There’s a need for patient capital too. As AgriFood is one of the most slow-moving/resistant industries to change and technology adoption, we think most investors underestimate the pace at which new solutions can be brought to the mass market. A clear example of this is the plant-based category, which has been around for almost a century now through niche products (mostly vegetarian and vegan options), and only in the last decade has started to really get a growing interest as diets are shifting towards more plant-based. Despite all of this, in the US alone – the most mature market for plant-based meat 2.0 – sales reached only 1% of total meat sales in 2022.
Another example is the vertical farming sector currently going through a ‘disillusion phase’, after a few companies went through bankruptcy, despite having raised hundreds of millions in capital. This was mostly due to a misalignment between investors’ expectations, the readiness of the technology, and the validity of the business model of some companies.
With generalist investors leaving the space, and more and more ‘educated’ agrifood-tech-focused funds emerging, we expect to see a big change in that regard. Additionally, the speed of evolution for novel foods and alternative protein regulation around the world will have a key role to play.
GQ: What is your hope for the companies who have made it onto the list?
ML: That they will keep focusing on building ‘cash-positive businesses’ capable of generating real impact at a food system level. They will be able to adapt their business financing needs, as global markets may remain very difficult in the coming years as far as funding is concerned. And they’ll keep focusing on impact and mission-driven businesses that can prove to be a force of good in making our food system more sustainable and resilient.
Check out Forward Fooding’s full 2023 FoodTech 500 list here.
Food tech community FoodHack and ingredient and fragrance giant Givaudan have teamed up to launch a FoodTech World Cup, a global competition aimed at finding disruptive technologies and consumer concepts.
With investment in the agrifood tech sector halving in 2023, and legislators in the US and the EU putting up barriers towards alternative proteins in the form of labelling restrictions and outright bans, food tech startups are in a bit of a dire situation.
What makes it worse, in fact, is that now is when we need these innovators the most, with the world burning down and policymakers – for the large part – not really giving a fuck. Lately, there has been a growing emphasis on trying to find solutions to feed a 10-billion-strong population by mid-century, just as extreme weather events effect crop failures all over the world. We need food tech solutions, and these startups need help.
This is why FoodHack has partnered with Givaudan to establish the inaugural FoodTech World Cup. The global tournament will tap into local networks to unearth the industry’s most talented founders breaking through the ranks, and help accelerate their growth internationally.
“The ultimate goal is to find disruptive technologies and consumer concepts,” says Alexandre Bastos, head of front-end innovation at Givaudan. “Besides the fun part and an analogy with the most famous sports tournament in the world, the thinking behind the World Cup was to ensure global outreach, engagement with thought leaders in each region, make it competitive and look for startups from everywhere around the world.”
Multiple verticals covering everything food tech
Courtesy: FoodHack
Through its partnership with FoodHack and its partner climate conference HackSummit, Givaudan hopes to “uncover never-before-seen solutions created by exceptional, entrepreneurial Founders who are driving real-world impact for a healthier, more sustainable future for all”, explains Bastos.
The applications are open for stealth-to-seed startups across seven verticals. Food Circularity involves sidestreams, upcycling and the circular economy; AI and Digital Tools covers disrupting NPD and consumer understanding; Sustainable Proteins focuses on alternatives to animal-derived foods to feed a growing population; Personalised Nutrition addresses food as medicine; Food Safety and Traceability deals with tech across the value chain; Novel Food Product Concepts encompasses CPG ‘brands of the future’; and New Ingredients and Technologies is concerned with improving sensory experiences, health and nutrition.
There is no cap on the number of applications for the FoodTech World Cup, whose qualifiers will run as six Demo Days – one for each region across Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East and North Africa, North America, and Sub-Saharan Africa. A total of 60 founders will be shortlisted to present their startups’ potential to a lineup of judges from around the world, including E2JDJ’s Stephanie Dorsey, Clear Current Capital’s Steve Molino, Better Bite Ventures’ Michal Klar, the Nestlé R+D Accelerator’s Susana Reber, The Kitchen’s Amir Zaidman, as well as members from Givaudan’s own team.
“It is great to see a food tech competition that highlights not just the solutions from Europe and the US, but also other parts of the world, especially emerging markets. I am looking forward to seeing all the innovations by founders from Asia in particular,” says Klar.
Asked what will make a startup stand out, Bastos responds: “Solid IP and strongly closing an existing consumer or industry gap. Furthermore, a problem or opportunity which is sizeable at a global level.”
“There’s nothing wrong with a traditional pitch competition, but the approach to the FoodTech World Cup is interesting, because instead of three or four judges making all of the decisions, it’s bringing together many judges based on their respective geographies,” adds Molino. “Not only will this better allow for geographic nuances to be taken into account, but it’s also just a fun way to get a global perspective on startups with the highest potential impact. I also love the idea that the winners of each region will be able to pitch live at the summit.”
Collaborative process to give the winner exactly what they need
Hack Group founders Arman Anatürk, Camille Bossell, and Emilie Dellecker | Courtesy: Hack Group
Bastos outlines the FoodTech World Cup’s goal to “create an impact for the winner”. And what might that look like? “We will sit together and decide together what would help them most: a proof of concept, an analytical assessment, a pilot run in biotech/extrusion, regulatory support and guidance, consumer understanding, connection with our innovation centres, access to MISTA (San Francisco), Tropical Lab (Brazil), PIC and/or NURASA (Singapore), etc.” he says.
“Essentially, we will take the winner through a due diligence process to best understand the synergies with Givaudan and how we can create a smart and meaningful impact.”
Bastos believes food tech’s biggest challenge right now is capital, followed by the speed of scaling up tech, given the associated complexity, costs, capacity and adoption challenges. “It is amazing how fast the ‘me too’ appear when a promising technology comes to play,” he says. “It is then very frustrating to see so many, largely at the same level with the same challenge, disputing venture capital means and essentially not getting what they really need to scale and scale it fast.”
Finally, touching upon the decline in investment last year, he states that fundamental economic and industry issues have “moved deep pockets away” from the food tech sector, and slowed down expert investors. “We think there was a correction needed if you compare to the high valuations of 2021, but it feels like the downward swing is a little too severe,” he explains.
“We see some reaction, but it is very difficult to predict how it will play out in 2024. This is the time when we will see true leaders standing out to sustain and drive toward the next curve.”
Applications for the FoodTech World Cup are open until April 11, 2024.
One of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies for 2024, Californian food tech startup MeliBio has teamed up with Pow.Bio to scale up production of its bee-free honey made from precision fermentation.
After a year of multiple product launches in the vegan honey space, MeliBio now has an update on its original, much-awaited innovation: precision-fermented honey. The Californian company is tapping into the AI capabilities of Berkeley-based biomanufacturing startup Pow.Bio to help scale up production for its bee-free honey.
MeliBio says it has wrapped up key in-house validation work and produced a proof of concept for its fermentation-derived protein targets, which showcases the commercial viability of its high-value bee proteins and enzymes. The startup is set to kick off scale-up projects with Pow.Bio this month, which is a crucial next step in disrupting the $9.1B global honey market.
“Working with cutting-edge science, particularly that aided by precision fermentation, has always been part of our long-term technological vision at MeliBio,” said MeliBio co-founder and chief technology officer Aaron Schaller. “Our ability to produce target bee proteins and enzymes through our experimental methods has yielded promising results, and we’re ready to take our technology to the next stage.”
Tapping into AI to advance bee-free honey
Courtesy: MeliBio
The partnership will allow MeliBio to tap into Pow.Bio’s expertise in blending traditional fermentation with a continuous approach led by AI. “Pow.Bio is helping MeliBio further understand and optimise our precision fermentation approach as we scale towards manufacturing readiness,” Schaller told Green Queen. “Pow.Bio is unique in that their fermentation platform utilises AI to maximize efficiency, which we plan to explore further in our work together.”
MeliBio says the collaboration isn’t all about scale, but also focuses on “precision, efficiency and embracing both AI-enhanced and time-honoured methods”. “This initiative will help us elevate the functionality of our products to come, and provide more of the benefits of bee-derived honey to current products, while also matching authenticity beyond taste and texture,” explained Schaller.
He confirmed that the company is pursuing regulatory filings to the FDA alongside the scale-up work, which will allow MeliBio to eventually launch its precision fermentation product to the market. “MeliBio strives to be a solution provider across multiple channels, and we will meet our customers where they are,” added co-founder and CEO Darko Mandich.
MeliBio has been working on precision-fermented honey ever since it was launched in 2020, and has raised $9.4M in total funding. It’s currently in the middle of a $10M Series A, which will help propel the company towards profitability. The company launched in the market last year with vegan honey under its CPG brand Mellody, and has raked in over $1M in profit in the first year.
The startup is tackling some big challenges facing the production of bee-derived honey. In Europe, 24% of bumblebee species are facing a threat of extinction, while in the UK, 17 species of bees have become extinct, with a further 25 endangered. Beekeepers have reported colony losses in countries like France, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Russia, Brazil and the US.
The primary cause behind all this is human activity, including land use change for agriculture or urbanisation, and intensive farming. Moreover, honey bees’ ability to produce the sweetener itself has declined, thanks to widespread herbicide use, conversion of flower-rich land into monocultures, a drop in soil productivity, and climate change.
Precision fermentation sets MeliBio’s honey apart
Courtesy: MeliBio
To accelerate its mission, launching into the market was key for MeliBio, which is why it launched Mellody, even as it continued to work on the precision-fermented product in the background. “We realised that our investors’ samples are becoming more sophisticated, to the point where chefs begged us to launch our plant-based honey,” Mandich told Green Queen in August. “We heard our customers loud and clear, and that’s how our pivot happened. It shortens our initial five to seven years timeline for product launch down to three years, which is great success.”
Mellody’s first product was a Golden Clover honey that was initially rolled out in foodservice across the US, and then through retail via Eleven Madison Home, the e-commerce arm of Daniel Humm’s Michelin-starred eatery Eleven Madison Park. After that partnership ended, Mellody evolved into a D2C brand, and just earlier this month, it released a Spicy Habanero flavour of its plant-based honey at Expo West.
MeliBio also struck a four-year deal worth $10M with Slovenian distributor Narayan Foods to enter the European market, which saw it launch Vegan H*ney under the Better Foodie brand in the UK, and Vegan Hanny or Ohney under Aldi’s private label, Just Veg, in the EU. The partnership’s aim is to put MeliBio’s vegan honey into 75,000 stores eventually.
“MeliBio products in Europe are at price parity with mainstream honeys and we expect to achieve the same in the US this year,” revealed Mandich. “We’ve enjoyed a fantastic market response to our plant-based honey products and will continue to serve that demand.” And it’s not just commercial success – the startup was just recognised as one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in the small and mighty category for 2024.
“Mellody is our flagship product and brand, and we’re committed to its growth,” he said. “Our products are available through multiple channels including DTC, grocery and retail, food service, and restaurants from casual to fine dining, in a growing number of geographies. We plan to continue to serve existing customers and reach new markets, no matter where they are.”
But now, the precision-fermented progress represents the next step for MeliBio, which will set it apart from competitors in the vegan honey space, such as Gaffney Foods’ Nectar, Blenditup, ChocZero, Plant Based Artisan’s Honea, and Sweet Freedom. “Beyond [the vegan products], accessing levels of product performance and authenticity not possible through plant science alon – through our enhanced technology platform – opens up a variety of significant commercial opportunities,” said Mandich.
He outlined this in his chat with Green Queen in August too: “It will empower us to go beyond the type of product we have right now, and set us [up] for success in launching many new products under the vision of creating the world where humans and bees thrive.”
Max Elder, founder of former plant-based meat company Nowadays and managing director of Food System Innovations, reflects on the journey of his vegan chicken nugget startup, explains why it was forced to cease trading, talks VC funding in food tech, and reveals if he’d do it all over again.
In August, Californian startup Nowadays announced it was shutting down. The decision came “due to an inability to raise venture funds in this market”, a year after it successfully closed a $7M seed funding round. The news reflected the growing venture capital pains faced by the plant-based industry – and food tech as a whole sector.
Max Elder, who was the co-founder and CEO of the brand, had noted that the nuggets were performing well in D2C and retail channels, with many consumers returning to purchase more too. But the financials associated with frozen food distribution for a startup of Nowaday’s scale were too steep. “The economics only work if you have the capital to really push a multi-year brand building and marketing strategy and it’s really hard to access capital now,” he was quoted as saying.
A highly respected figure in the alternative protein industry – who has been featured in the New York Times, the Guardian, Forbes and Fast Company – had predicted that in the long term, “the headwinds for conventional proteins will only get stronger”, saying: “I think we just need to batten down the hatches and weather the storm, and sometimes that means some companies can’t survive because there’s limited access to capital.”
Since then, he has been working as a managing director at sustainability non-profit Food System Innovations, which supports initiatives taking animals out of the global food system. We spoke to Elder about Nowadays, why it reached the end of its tether, and what the future of this industry looks like.
This interview has been edited for clarity and concision.
Green Queen: Did you see the end coming? What finally made you decide to say that’s it?
Max Elder: Every startup goes through an existential crisis between each round of financing, so all founders see the end frequently. Running a startup is a tricky balancing act of challenges and opportunities, successes and failures, growth and setbacks. There wasn’t one event that ended Nowadays – there were a plethora of factors, many outside of our control, that made it impossible to raise additional capital. We ceased operations when we became insolvent and couldn’t sustain the business any further.
Courtesy: Nowadays
GQ: If you could do it all again, would you?
ME: Absolutely. Founding a mission-driven food company is an extraordinary privilege I don’t take for granted. Building is a formidable challenge and feeding people is insanely rewarding. Most importantly, I’ve never had such a high velocity of learning in my life. I don’t plan on doing it all over again anytime soon.
I currently see a higher impact approach for how I spend my time: I’ve transitioned to work on systems-level change and category-level innovation at a public charity called Food System Innovations, co-founded by David Meyer and Galina Hale. While Nowadays was my shot on goal, I’m most excited these days by redesigning the playing field.
GQ: Do you have any big regrets? What would you do differently?
ME: I honestly don’t have any big regrets. I think there are a few I would do differently next time. The first is being more intentional about the co-founder relationship. That relationship is mission-critical and often ends at some point in a company’s journey, like it did at Nowadays. I also would have shut down Nowadays earlier than I did. It’s an insanely hard choice to make, and it’s hard to find allies in that choice.
Winding down your business is emotionally draining (layoffs, including yourself; liquidation efforts; legal) and can take a long time and cost a lot of money. I now help founders better understand what they need to responsibly wind down their business.
GQ: What are your biggest learnings? And what are you most proud of?
ME: Nowadays accomplished a lot. We built a differentiated brand, patented whole-cut manufacturing processes, launched into retail with Whole Foods Market, secured restaurant partnerships with critically-acclaimed partners, and fed a lot of people. While those are all impressive, I think what I’m most proud of is how I managed the company. Despite some really thorny problems and tough challenges, I always made values-based decisions and communicated honestly.
My biggest learning was that you can feel proud even if you don’t achieve your desired outcome as long as you hold yourself accountable to your own values. Even when I’ve failed, my values have never failed me.
GQ: You were straddling the line of processed plant-based food and ‘clean label’ with a product that had a short ingredient list. We are constantly told that processed products turn people off the plant-based category. Is this what consumers want? What’s your take on all this? Do we need more clean-label products?
ME: Meat is a $1.4T industry globally and a $180B industry in the US. The average American eats 330 lbs of meat (including seafood) annually, and about nine out of 10 Americans eat meat everyday. The market for meat is gigantic.
There are many different consumer segments who have different pain points for different meal occasions across different channels. There is no singular value proposition that consumers want. I believe food products in the US need to taste delicious and be priced competitively. For some consumers during some meal occasions in some channels, cleaner labels matter.
That said, I’m worried about the mis- and disinformation campaigns around ultra-processing and alt-proteins we’re seeing, as I see much of these concerns as industry talking points that eaters use to post-rationalise, more so than real pain points that drive purchase decisions.
Courtesy: Nowadays
GQ: Do you think the vegan nugget market is oversaturated?
ME: Market saturation at a macro level is when the supply of a product becomes higher than its demand. Sometimes this happens because the market has too many competitors offering the same product, or when the product has already reached the entirety of its customer base. While I believe there are many plant-based nugget products competing with each other, I also believe that the product hasn’t reached the entirety of its potential market.
If you think the market for vegan nuggets is only made up of vegan consumers, the vegan nugget market is oversaturated. If you think the market for vegan nuggets is made up of flexitarians, the vegan nugget market is full of blue sky. Chicken nuggets amount to an $8B market in the US; there’s plenty of room for demand capture.
GQ: What advice would you give for existing and new plant-based brands?
ME: I feel like I should be the one taking advice from existing and new plant-based brands! One pivot I made too late at Nowadays that I’d love to see other brands make is a pivot to institutional procurement. Plant-based products offer truly impressive environmental benefits that aren’t accurately priced in the market today.
While the climate crisis hasn’t quite yet become a consumer problem, it’s increasingly becoming an ESG problem. If consumer demand signals are weakening, institutional ESG commitments are getting stronger. The downside is that institutional sales cycles can be long and opaque, distribution hard to secure, and prices relatively low, but the upside is the potential for high, consistent volumes at a better margin than retail.
GQ: There’s a lot of talk about whether VC funding is the right choice for founders/startups. What’s your take? Would you take VC money again?
ME: I think the funding model you pursue needs to depend on the business you want to build. If you want to build for impact on a short-time horizon, you need a higher-risk capital source to support growth. It’s hard to imagine other sources of capital to underwrite innovative startups trying to solve big challenges quicker than venture.
GQ: Can you describe what a day in the life of a plant-based founder was like? Take us through your mental state on the average day.
ME: I think the founder role is overly romanticised. There are a lot of fun parts of the job, but a lot of the role is administrative work and constant problem-solving and making sure things get done. My days typically rotated through a cycle of strategy, fundraising, and capacity-building. I would build a strategic vision supported by core enabling milestones we planned to achieve; sell part of the company to secure the capital required to execute on that vision; and then build capacity to hit those milestones.
Throughout those cycles, my mental states fluctuated highly based on the frequency and scale of opportunities versus the frequency and scale of challenges. Some days, my mental state was calm, confident and proud. Other days, I’d be insanely stressed and not my best self. I’m so impressed with and inspired by people who build.
Courtesy: Nowadays
GQ: Do you still believe in the category? What needs to change?
ME: The more time I spend in the food and climate worlds, the more deeply I believe in alternative proteins. The problem of industrialised animal farming is only getting worse, and the alternatives are only getting better. I see truly mind-blowing innovation at a pretty fast pace for the food industry addressing an incredibly complex problem. Farmed animals are all complex living beings, so replicating their bodies with plants is a formidable task.
The industry is nascent. I see some opportunities to accelerate the protein transition across both supply and demand. On the supply side, I’m excited by the impact of choice architecture and default shifts at institutions. I’m inspired by market shaping efforts to accelerate alt-protein value chains and the potential of offtakes and advance market commitments. I’m also seeing some big improvements in taste and texture, which I hope continues, and I’m increasingly growing bullish on blended/hybrid meats (new category-level nomenclature to come).
On the demand side, I’m eager to see more category-level demand campaigns (they need funding!) and efforts to combat mis- and dis-information campaigns. Price, taste and nutrition are all necessary but not sufficient for plant-based products to break into the mainstream; we also need to understand and engage the social, cultural and political elephants in the room. All that said, I believe the alternative protein category is not a question of if, but when.
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 new vegan nail brand by Nicki Minaj, cocoa-free easter eggs, and next-gen plant-based fur.
New products and launches
Rapper Nicki Minaj has launched a luxurious vegan press-on nail brand, Pink Friday Nails, which can be customised for shapes and lengths. The products retail between $19.99 and $24.99, and are available both in the US and internationally through the e-commerce site.
Courtesy: Bored Cow | Composite by Green Queen
US animal-free dairy brand Bored Cow has rolled out a line of drinkable yoghurts made from Perfect Day’s precision-fermented whey protein. Coming in vanilla, passionfruit-mango and strawberry flavours, these will be on shelves in New York City this month, priced at $2.99 to $3.99 per 7oz bottle.
Also in the US, cream cheese giant Franklin Foods’ vegan SimplyV range has entered retail stores in original, strawberry, and onion and chive flavours, starting with independent grocers nationwide.
After announcing the deal during its Q4 earnings call, Oatly has partnered with fitness company Barry’s, whose Fuel Bars will carry the oat milk maker’s Unsweetened Oatmilk across the US until April 22.
Fellow Swedish plant-based milk maker Sproud is sponsoring the Latte Art Live competition at this year’s London Coffee Festival (April 11-14), where baristas will pour latte art with its barista pea milk.
Baby oat milk, anyone? New Zealand nutrition brand Haven has unveiled what it claims is the world’s first oat milk for toddlers. Comprising the same amount of protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals as its other A2 cow and goat milk protein formulations, the product will roll out in Australia this month, and in the US in Q3 2024.
Meanwhile, discount retailer Aldi has introduced its own-label My Vay brand of plant-based dairy products to the Netherlands, unveiling them during the country’s Week Without Meat and Dairy (March 4-10).
In Finland, vegan dairy brand Ilo has rolled out high-protein versions of its cashew pudding in chocolate-caramel and vanilla flavours, with each 200g boasting nearly 20g of protein.
Following the launch of its vegan Snickers- and Milky Way-inspired chocolate bars in January, Harken Sweets has rolled out a high-fibre, better-for-you oat milk chocolate with salted pretzels, called The Crunchy One. It’s available on its e-commerce sites and retailers including ShopRite and Fairway, with a “significant national retailer launch” slated for Q2 2024.
Courtesy: Foreverland
Speaking of chocolate, Italian cocoa-free chocolate brand Foreverland has launched its carob-based Freecao Easter Eggs in hazelnut and pistachio flavours, alongside a collaboration with local startup Nebra Skay Studios on a 3D-printed, low-waste pouch called Beggs. Get it?
Eleven Madison Park‘s Daniel Humm is reuniting with his former chef de cuisine James Kent with a one-night-only vegan menu at the latter’s Michelin-starred Crown Shy eatery in New York City on March 25.
The UK, meanwhile, just witnessed the opening of its first vegan theatre on an organic farm near Canterbury. Only plant-based food will be available at the 300-capacity Garlinge Theatre, where firs productions will start next month.
Belgian biomimetic vegan collagen maker VeCollal has entered the functional snacking sector with a white-label, high-protein bar for the beauty and active nutrition markets, made in partnership with Dutch health startup CollaVegan and German manufacturer Alphacaps.
French materials startup Ecopel has launched a 100% plant-based, chemical-free fur called Flur, which uses natural dyes and is being positioned as an evolution out of the traditional faux fur category.
And in India, pharmaceutical giant Mankind has introduced a vegan and cruelty-free condom range as part of its new Manforce Epic brand
Finance and company updates
In Germany, conventional and plant-based meat manufacturer Rügenwalder Mühle has inked a sponsorship deal with the Hamburg SV, following its partnership with another Bundesliga club, Borussia Dortmund, in January.
Barcelona-based food tech startup Poisedona has secured over €1M in pre-seed funding led by Faber, which will help advance the development of its protein ingredients made from algal sidestreams and invasive seaweeds.
California’s Tierra Biosciences, which develops AI-led cell-free technology for high-throughput custom protein synthesis, has raised $11.4M in a Series A round.
Courtesy: Steakholder Foods
Israeli 3D-printed meat producer Steakholder Foods has received a payment of $220,000 from the Singapore-Israel Industrial R&D Foundation (SIIRD), the first phase of a maximum $1M SIIRD grant.
In New Zealand, Andfoods – a spinout from Massey University and the Riddet Institute – has raised $2.7M in a seed financing round to accelerate R&D and market launch plans for its fermentation-derived dairy alternatives made from legume seeds.
Andfoods will also be part of Future Food Aotearoa‘s delegation at the Future Food-Tech Conference in San Francisco this week (March 21-22), alongside fellow New Zealand companies Daisy Lab, Opo Bio, NewFish, Mirüku and Ārepa.
In some sad news, popular San Francisco vegan eatery Baia will be closing its doors on March 30, but the company hasn’t yet provided an explanation why.
Danonesays that last year, it discontinued the Silk Nextmilk and So Delicious Wondermilk lines it introduced in North America in 2021, although the products have been spotted in stores this year.
Courtesy: Danone
Meanwhile, Belgian brand Nomet, which makes seaweed-based croquettes, has brought in An-Sofie Geerardyn as a co-founder.
Policy, manufacturing and awards
The students’ council at Newcastle University has voted to move towards 100% plant-based catering, starting with at least half of all food at ticketed events being vegan. It’s part of the Plant-Based Universities campaign, which has seen 10 other institutes make similar moves.
The governments of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have announced the Shared Island Bioeconomy Demonstration Initiative, a €9M funding scheme to support bioeconomy innovation and solutions in the agriculture and marine sectors.
At the Green Horizons Summit 2024, government body Innovation Agency Lithuaniasigned an MoU with trade association Cellular Agriculture Europe to support the Baltic country’s efforts to build a “robust complementary protein ecosystem”.
Scientists at California’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have developed a way to genetically modify koji mould to produce compounds that recreate the taste and texture of meat.
Courtesy: Prime Roots
Speaking of which, Prime Roots, which makes charcuterie and deli meats from koji, has won a National Restaurant Association FABI Favorite Award for its Prime Roots + Fabrique Delices Black Truffle and Harvest Apple Koji-Pates, as well as a second recognition for its Koji-Foie Gras.
Finally, Crafty Counter’s WunderEggs range of plant-based eggs has won the first prize at the 2024 Albertsons Companies Innovation Launchpad competition, beating out 59 other companies and receiving a $163,000 cheque in the process.
Swedish food tech startup Melt&Marble has moved into new headquarters and scaled up production of its precision-fermented fat, which can be used in alternative meat and dairy applications. The company is aiming for a 2025 launch in the US.
Melt&Marble, which makes yeast-derived fats from precision fermentation, has scaled up its production to a cubic-metre bioreactor scale, as it eyes a market launch in the US next year.
To support its scale-up efforts further, the Swedish startup has expanded into a new headquarters facility in Gothenburg, which boasts state-of-the-art molecular biology and microbiology labs, pilot-scale bioreactors, and a test kitchen to explore food applications for its fat.
With the latest scaling achievement, it can produce a few kgs of product per batch, but the company plans to increase its bioreactor capacity to tens of cubic metres in the coming months, which would yield hundreds of kgs in each run. Melt&Marble has inked a partnership with a European production partner to reach commercial scale, which will eventually enable it to manufacture tens of tonnes of product per batch.
“We are excited about the achievements to date,” says co-founder and CEO Anastasia Krivoruchko. “In the last months, we constantly improved key performance indicators related to rate, titre and yield, successfully achieving metrics relevant for commercial-scale and demonstrating the scalability of our process.”
How Melt&Marble ferments yeast to make fats for alt-protein
Courtesy: Melt&Marble
Founded in 2016, Melt&Marble has raised €5.75M in total funding so far. The company’s first product, MeatyMarble, is similar to beef and pork fats in terms of composition and properties, and has been designed to replace plant-based fats like coconut oil in meat alternatives to enhance their flavour profile and sustainability credentials, explains Krivoruchko.
“It is currently very difficult to source fats in a sustainable way as most plant-based sources are grown in tropical regions, where they’re often associated with massive deforestation and loss of biodiversity, while animal-based fats are associated with factory farming and the massive sustainability challenges of that industry,” she says. “At the same time, the demand for fats is increasing, so new production technologies are desperately needed. Precision fermentation provides a method of sourcing many types of fats in a way that is deforestation free, sustainable, and localised.”
To produce the yeast-derived fat, the company employs precision fermentation processes through its tech platform, which can engineer the fat metabolism of yeasts to get them to produce any fats desired. “We do this by tweaking the fat synthesis pathways of these yeasts to produce specific types of fatty acids and assemble these fatty acids into fat structures in specific ways inside the yeast,” says Krivruchko. “With this technology, we can create yeasts that produce fats similar to meat fats, dairy fats, cocoa butter, palm oil, or completely new fats with new properties.”
The yeast is grown in a bioreactor with sugars and minerals over a few days, which is then harvested to extract the fat. “Right now, we’re using sugars that can be derived from various sources depending on where we set up commercial production (like corn, sugarcane, sugar beet, etc.),” she says. “We’re also experimenting with some circular feedstocks (e.g. side/waste streams from different industries).”
As for the yeast species, she reveals it is one that’s already commonly used in the food industry and recognised as an ingredient safe for human consumption. “Once we create a production yeast strain with desired properties (such as desired fat composition and performance parameters), we can use this strain over and over again to produce the fat,” she notes. “The same type of process can be used with different yeast strains (producing different fats) and over different scales and geographies.”
Price parity crucial as Melt&Marble tests fat with partners
Courtesy: Melt&Marble
For meat alternatives, texture is crucial – in the US, this is the element of vegan food that consumers dislike the most, while in the UK, 51% of people call taste/texture the biggest factor for eating fewer plant-based meat products. Even globally, texture is as important as their conventional counterparts for 75% of consumers, but only about 60% are actually satisfied with the former.
“Palatability remains a challenge in the animal-free food space and our fats are an extremely effective way to address that by replicating the taste experience consumers crave,” says Melt&Marble chief business officer Thomas Cresswell. And when it comes to using precision-fermented ingredients in vegan meat analogues, there is already precedent for success here. Californian producer Impossible Foods, which claims it is the fastest-growing plant-based meat brand in the US, employs precision fermentation to produce its heme ingredient, which gives its burgers the ‘bleeding’ effect.
“We see a great deal of interest from industry players in our technology both in Europe and in the US, because it allows us to tune the composition and properties of our fats and create animal-free ingredients that are both delicious and sustainable,” says Cresswell.
But apart from just meat analogues, Melt&Marble is also testing its fat in alt-dairy and personal care applications with different partners to gain a “more granular understanding” of the most suitable formualtions and applications for its products. “Once these tests are complete, we expect some of them to be converted to offtake agreements,” reveals Krivoruchko.
“Within the alternative protein sectors, precision fermented fats provide opportunities to mimic the functionalities of animal fats without using animals, and impart better sensory properties to these products,” she says. “Achieving taste parity with conventional products like meat and dairy will be key to expanding the market for animal-free alternatives and making our food system more sustainable overall.”
Krivoruchko adds that initially, its fat will be “a bit more expensive to produce” than typical plant-based fats. “However, in the long term, and as we achieve economics of scale, it will be possible to achieve price parity even with commodity plant-based fats.” She explains that despite its yeast strain already being used in food applications in the US and the EU, Melt&Marble requires regulatory approval as it has modified its host organism’s metabolism to produce specific fats, and because it’s a novel way of producing fats.
The company is now in the process of assembling a regulatory dossier for the US, and expects to be market-ready by early 2025. Europe, however, will take a little longer “due to a more complex regulatory process”. Krivoruchko also confirms that the company is currently fundraising. “The capital would be used for further scale-up, further improving unit economics, and preparation for market launch,” she says.
Melt&Marble is among a host of startups innovating with fats for better alternative proteins. Australia’s Nourish Ingredients and California’s Yali Bio both use precision fermentation to produce fats and lipids. Others innovations in this space include San Francisco-based Lypid‘s PhytoFat for plant-based meat, (which is the star of its new meatballs), Swedish startup Mycorena‘s fermented fungi-based fat, Barcelona-based Cubiq Foods‘s omega-3, Hong Kong-headquartered OmniFoods‘ vegan OmniNano fat (which mimics the juiciness of conventional meat), and Californian AI-led startup Shiru‘s OleoPro plant fat for alt-protein applications.
A leader in the European plant-based meat sector, Sweden’s Planted has launched a clean-label whole-cut steak leveraging a proprietary fermentation process, hitting flavour, health and climate touchpoints all at the same time.
Swiss vegan startup Planted has launched what it describes as a first-of-its-kind fermented steak alternative, after making a multimillion-dollar investment in a new fermentation facility in Kemptthal, Switzerland, which has created 30 technical and operational jobs.
The clean-label steak is the first product born out of the company’s whole-muscle platform, which facilitates the growth of muscle-like fibres through proprietary fermentation processes, and was the result of a CHF 2 million ($2.3M) injection by state-backed innovation agency Innosuisse, as part of the Swiss Accelerator Program.
A year on, Planted is rolling out its vegan steak in European foodservice, including in restaurants in Switzerland, Germany and Austria. The brand has plans to launch the product in retail as well as D2C channels later this year.
“In the research and development process, we have worked with over 50 gastronomy professionals to achieve a steak that is literally unreal, in taste, texture, application and overall eating experience,” said Planted co-founder Lukas Böni. “We are very proud that so many restaurants have added it to their menus already.”
Delivering on taste and health
Courtesy: Planted
The fermentation-derived steak is an extension of Planted’s range of clean-label meat alternatives, made from soy protein, rapeseed oil, bean and rice flours, and a blend of microbial cultures. However, it does mark a departure from the high-moisture extrusion process it employs to make its chicken, pork and duck analogues, instead leveraging a patent-pending solid-state fermentation process that lasts 30-40 hours.
“It’s a true game changer – not only for us, but also for the whole category,” said Böni. “No other plant-based steak on the market uses only natural ingredients, zero additives and displays features such as juiciness as well as tenderness.” Planted’s steak has 17g of protein (versus 25g for conventional steak), 182 calories (vs 271 calories), 0.9g saturated fat (vs 8g) and 5.8g dietary fibre (vs 0g), while containing 25% of the daily recommended value for iron, and 72% for vitamin B12.
This will appeal to consumers who are growing increasingly concerned about the health credentials and ultra-processing of plant-based meat products. A large pan-European survey last year found that health was the primary reason more than half of consumers were eating less meat, and the second biggest factor influencing their plant-based meat purchasing decisions, with 46% citing this consideration.
Meanwhile, meat alternatives are being linked to ill health as a result of their status as ultra-processed foods, which is also why 54% of Europeans avoid them, a separate poll has shown. It’s why brands are increasingly focusing on shorter ingredient lists and whole-food compositions in this sector.
But the health skew hasn’t taken away the limelight from taste – the most influential factor for purchasing plant-based meat – either. The fermentation process enables Planted to produce a meaty steak with “juicy tenderness”.
“Fulfilling very demanding culinary requirements, the Planted steak allows us chefs to focus on what we are best at: creating and sharing emotions,” noted Peter Schärer, executive head chef at Zürich restaurant Kronenhalle. “The Planted steak reacts beautifully to different cooking styles, already delighting and surprising our guests.”
This comment reflects why the brand is taking the foodservice-first approach, which enables it to fine-tune the product based on feedback from professional chefs before entering the retail market. “We’ve always worked this way,” Planted co-founder and CEO Pascal Bieri told AgFunderNews. “When we started, we were selling our chicken in foodservice channels and we were approached by [leading Swiss retailer] Coop. Shortly after that, Covid hit and basically all of our restaurant customers were temporarily out of business, but we were able to scale through Coop.”
Having secured $131M in total funding, the brand’s products are now in more than 8,000 foodservice and 8,700 retail locations across Europe, and it has emerged as the market leader in its home country, ranked number two in Austria, and is in the top five in Italy, and top 10 in Germany.
Planted to expand fermentation tech to other product categories
Courtesy: Planted
Planted ascribes these advances in flavour and nutrition to its fermentation technology. The company has laid out its aim to create multiple different product categories using its whole-muscle platform, and describes the steak as comparable to a full tenderloin.
Currently, it can produce 15 tons of steak per day, but is now scaling up its capabilities through the Kemptthal facility. “This investment in our expansion stems from a strategic decision to enhance our biotechnology footprint in Kemptthal – from labs to production,” said Böni. “We are proud to be one of the few innovators of plant-based meat that takes on all steps in the production process, from R&D to industrial production. The additional and new production site allows Planted a very fast turnaround from pilot stage to industrial production, significantly closing the time gap to market launch.”
He added: “Our aim is to introduce innovative products from our fermentation platform to the market fast, particularly our Planted steak, which utilises the most advanced and disruptive fermentation technology today in terms of scalability, taste and product quality.
Whole cuts have long been touted as the “holy grail” of plant-based meat, with a host of companies working on such meat alternatives around the world. This includes mycelium chicken and beef maker Meati, fermented steak company Chunk Foods (both US), alt-salmon startups Esencia Foods (Germany), Revo Foods (Austria) and New School Foods (Canada), mycelium chicken breast maker Libre Foods (Spain), and plant-based beef filet producer Juicy Marbles (Slovenia).
But even with the importance laid upon taste, texture and nutrition, Planted isn’t sidelining the sustainability aspect either. Its internal calculations show that the whole-cut steak analogue emits 97% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than a conventional steak product, while consuming 81% less freshwater as well.
Additionally, the new production site is shared by various food tech companies, and leverages ambient air as an energy source, which feeds the heat pumps to provide heating and cooling capabilities. This is estimated to save over 44,000 tonnes of CO2 over a 30-year period.
The fermentation-derived alternative protein sector outfinanced both plant-based and cultivated meat in the first half of 2023, and has breached the $4B threshold in all-time funding. With technologies like Planted’s, which can address multiple consumer pain points at the same time, the industry is poised to continue its rapid growth.
Revo Foods has today launched the world’s first vegan octopus for retail, using its patented 3D-printing technology to transform fungi into a seafood analogue beloved by many, and one being increasingly unethically farmed.
Six months on from launching its 3D-printed salmon alternative into supermarkets, Austrian food tech startup Revo Foods has introduced a new category in the alternative seafood sector. Its latest innovation is called The Kraken – Inspired by Octopus, and is produced using mycoprotein and 3D-printing technology.
These vegan octopus tentacles are a global first and a limited-edition drop born out of the startup’s ongoing crowdfunding campaign, which has already brought in €1.1M of its maximum €1.5 target. The inspiration to create The Kraken came from the fact that there are no existing alternatives, as well as its “super unique” appearance, which serves as a showcase for what Revo Foods’ tech can do, explained Revo Foods CEO Robin Simsa. “While it’s probably a smaller market than salmon/tuna or other big fish species, it is nevertheless an interesting market opportunity without a lot of competition (yet),” he told Green Queen.
Courtesy: Revo Foods
He added: “Octopus is a very specific product, and in Europe, it is mainly consumed in Spain, Italy and Greece, and much less in northern European countries. We believe this is less a product for retail, and more for food service/specialty vegan shops. However, with this limited edition (several 100 packages), we want to get more information on consumer feedback and also share samples with some restaurant partners as well.
“If the feedback is positive and we see this market opportunity as big enough, then it is possible that we launch this product permanently later this year. Nevertheless, we believe it is already an amazing showcase to show what is possible with new plant-based technologies nowadays.”
The product – which is ready to eat but can be grilled, fried and baked too – is available exclusively at Revo Foods’ e-commerce site and is available for delivery in most EU countries.
A nutrition-packed alternative to global seafood delicacy
Octopus is a delicacy and common food ingredient in many cultures and countries, including Italy, Spain, Japan, Greece, South Korea and Turkey. It’s used in dishes like polbo á feira, meze, sushi and carpaccio, and Revo Foods says its innovation can be used to recreate these dishes, but with a vegan twist.
Apart from the ethical perspective, which we expand on below, Revo’s octopus alternative offers clear health benefits. Octopus heads have high amounts of selenium and can carry a risk of cadmium poisoning, even in small amounts. Some studies have also found the presence of heavy metals like lead in octopus tissue, a direct result of marine pollution.
Revo Foods’ mycoprotein-based octopus avoids all those issues. It also means people with shellfish allergies can consume a version of this popular seafood product. Plus, The Kraken has an A ranking on the Nutri-Score scale and is high in protein, omega-3 fatty acids, and dietary fibre. This will speak to consumers – research by the Aquaculture Stewardship Council in 2022, which covered over 12,000 people in 12 countries, revealed that health is the primary driver for buying seafood, with over 80% agreeing that including fish in their daily shopping is important for health.
Courtesy: Revo Foods
The company, which has reeled in €7M in investment to date, employs a patented 3D-MassFormer extrusion technology, which enables “seamless integration of fats into a fibrous protein matrix”. The startup has developed what it says is the first-ever continuous manufacturing process capable of mass-producing 3D-printed food, and hopes to demonstrate the potential of the tech through whole-cut seafood products.
With the funds from its crowdfunding campaign, it will expand its manufacturing capacities to start production on the second iteration of its whole-cut salmon filet, slated for launch this autumn. “Also, we are working with several partners on customising food products according to their needs (e.g. specific shape/form that stands out), which is one of the main advantages of our 3D production technology,” said SImsa.
It comes at a time when vegan seafood forms a fraction (0.2%) of the overall seafood market, and just 1% of the plant-based meat category as well. Startups like New Wave Foods and Ordinary Seafood have recently ceased operations, but there have been success stories of late too, not least Revo Foods itself. Last month, it landed a legal victory over the City of Vienna after a court dismissed a suit accusing the startup of misleading consumers with its product labels.
“I believe the whole field is simply ‘growing up’,” said Simsa. “Before, there were possibly some inflated expectations, and some investors (or other people) expected food tech companies to grow at the same speed as B2B SaaS companies, which is simply not possible due to the high amount of R&D needed.”
Adding that he doesn’t believe plant-based sales are continuing to decline, citing multiple data points that have shown a year-on-year increase, he added: “Once we hit an infliction point where quality/price is convincing enough, there will be an even accelerated development I believe, and we are not far from that (5 years max. Is my estimation for some product types).”
The mycoprotein market itself, meanwhile, is estimated at $2.85B, with companies like Quorn, ENOUGH and The Better Meat Co all innovating with novel meat and seafood analogues.
Why octopus farming is unethical and bad for the planet
Courtesy: FAO/Compassion in World Farming
According to figures from the UN FAO, the EU consumed about 125,000 tonnes of octopuses in 2018, with Italy alone accounting for 60,000 tonnes. In Asia, meanwhile, this figure was even higher, reaching 190,000 tonnes that year. Overfishing has strained octopus populations worldwide, with global octopus landings on a continuous decline for several years now.
This has been met with attempts to create octopus farms in countries like Spain, Mexico, Chile, China and Japan, which have attracted a great deal of controversy. One Spanish company, Nueva Pescanova, aims to create an aquaculture farm akin to industrial animal agriculture that would yield 3,000 tonnes of octopus per year, equating to about a million octopuses. It has been met with fierce criticism from animal rights activists, academics and climate experts.
Octopuses are thought to be sentient creatures, with the UK government recognising them as such in a 2021 report, which meant the country joined the likes of Switzerland, New Zealand and the US in outlawing the act of boiling these molluscs, which is a common practice in many countries, and another source of scrutiny as these creatures are capable of feeling pain.
And since they don’t have any internal or external skeletons, with fragile skin that is easily damaged, in a farm environment, they’re likely to be injured by handlers or aggressive interactions with fellow octopuses. Plus, there are currently no recognised methods of humane slaughter that would be such large commercial scales.
There are environmental concerns to consider too. As carnivorous creatures, they need fish or other seafood products – like fishmeal or fish oil – in their diet, which are still frequently harvested from the ocean, with some producers being accused of food colonialism too. It takes about 3kg of feed to produce 1kg of octopus, making this a highly inefficient use of resources.
Courtesy: Revo Foods
As Jennifer Jacquet, a professor of environmental science and policy at the University of Miami, told the Guardian: “We’re not having the conversation of should we eat octopus or not, we’re simply at a crossroads where we can decide whether or not to put octopus into mass production. Do we need to do this? It’s really a luxury good. It’s not for survival. This is a symbol of what humans should not be doing in the 21st century.”
With nine brains, they are a highly intelligent, sociable and complex species. Wild octopuses are masters of camouflage and are known for their proficiency in hiding and escaping from predators. In lab settings, they’ve proven to be adept at solving mazes and other puzzles to acquire food rewards. The intelligibility and curiosity of octopuses was perhaps best documented in the 2020 Oscar-winning film My Octopus Teacher, where filmmaker Craig Foster develops an intimate bond with an octopus, who helps him connect with nature and the Earth in ways he never could have imagined.
“A lot of people say an octopus is like an alien,” Foster says in the documentary. “But the strange thing is, as you get closer to them, you realise that we’re very similar in a lot of ways.” It hits home the moral dilemmas of farming and eating octopuses, and outlines the importance of sustainable, ethical alternatives like Revo Foods’ The Kraken.
“Octopus tentacles, with their intense colour and distinct suckers, are a very special product with an exciting look,” said Revo Foods’ head of food tech, Niccolo Galizzi. “So far, there has been no realistic alternative on the market. The Kraken has the potential to be a real enrichment for octopus fans.”
The global agrifood tech financial landscape remains grim, with funding in the sector down by 49.2% from 2022-23, reaching $15.6B – the lowest it has been in six years – according to a new report by AgFunder.
A lot has been written about the VC fallout with food tech in 2023, with investment seeing shape declines as the financial landscape attempts to recover from post-pandemic windfalls. Now, a new report has revealed that funding in agrifood tech startups reached a six-year low, with companies in the sector only receiving $15.6B. This represents a fall of 49.2% from the $30.5B injected in 2022.
And while the 2018-2021 deals with sky-high valuations were never likely to sustain, investment in agrifood tech companies isn’t just lower than the previous years, its share in the overall VC landscape has also declined, representing just 5.5% of total VC dollars, versus 6.7% in 2022 and 7.6% in 2021. The annual decrease in funding is a result of fewer and smaller deals – average deal sizes were down by nearly 30% from 2022, while the median deal size also dipped by 9%. Meanwhile, the deal count shrunk by 26%.
“While some deals have been down rounds, dramatically shrinking startup valuations, deal averages and medians, there’s also been a halt to dealmaking in many instances at the early stages,” writes Louisa Burwood-Taylor, managing editor and head of media and research at AgFunder. “This is in part down to some founders’ refusals to lower their company valuation expectations but in some cases, the correction has gone too far.”
Cultivated meat a ‘category to watch’
Courtesy: AgFunder
All but two categories saw funding fall last year – the two exceptions were bioenergy and biomaterials (the biggest subgroup, bringing in $3B at a 20% hike from 2022), and farm robotics, mechanisation and equipment (where investment was up by 9% to $760M).
After bioenergy and biomaterials, ag biotechnology was the second-largest category, raking in $1.9B at a 34% drop from the year before, followed closely by innovative food (which includes alternative proteins and novel food), where investment dropped by 51% to $1.9B. The latter was also home to the highest number of deals (289), representing a shift from the big checks going to alternative protein startups in 2021 and early 2022 to smaller sums across a broader range of firms.
The biggest sums were raised by meal replacement startups YFood Labs ($229M) and Huel ($83M), pea milk maker Ripple Foods ($49M), and Japanese plant-based meat company Daiz ($48M).
The report points out that cultivated meat is a sector to watch, given that it attracted just $177M in funding last year, with the top three checks going to Meatable ($35M), BlueNalu ($33.5M) and Uncommon ($30M). The most well-funded startup in this space, UPSIDE Foods, has hit pause on its plans for a large-scale commercial facility, while Eat Just similarly halted mass production plans for its GOOD Meat chicken.
The latter has been embroiled in legal battles with suppliers, and its co-founder and CEO Josh Tetrick told Axios earlier this week that reducing production costs “will require new thinking in how these facilities are built”, and that the company has “not solved for that”. He added that Eat Just is sticking to low levels of production: “I can’t emphasise enough just how small the volumes are.”
Upstream dominates downstream, while US loses global share
Courtesy: AgFunder
VC investment in agrifood tech was down across all global regions, although the drop in Europe was the lowest (14%). The continent was still second to the Americas in terms of absolute capital ($5.1B vs $6.1B, respectively). The US itself accounted for $5.4B of that, representing only 30% of the total (it usually has a 40% share).
Africa’s figures also fell to $260M from $752M in 2022, though this is still higher than the $193M its agrifood tech companies attracted in 2021. Asia, meanwhile, brought in $3.8B last year, a 35.5% drop from 2022, and Oceania saw a 25% year-over-year decline to $260M.
When it comes to emerging markets, India and China have lost their market share to countries like Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Brazil and Singapore, with the two countries making up 40% of Asia’s total in 2023, versus 55% in 2021. But despite agrifood tech investment dropping by 14% in China and 78% in India, they’re still only surpassed by the UK and the US in total sums. The bright spots are in Europe, with Germany (+59%) and Spain (+348%) seeing a hike in financing in this sector.
The share of funding going to upstream startups – those operating on the farm or in primary food production – has increased in the last few years, making up 62% of the total, compared to 51% in 2022 and 30% in 2021. This includes categories like innovative food, ag biotech, bioenergy and biomaterials, as well as novel farming systems.
Consequently, downstream startups – which involve technologies removed from farms and primary production – have seen funding slow down rapidly. In 2021, companies in the food delivery, e-grocery, retail and restaurant tech, and home and cooking sectors attracted 63% of agrifood tech funding, but they now only account for 31%.
What do VC investors make of this?
Courtesy: AgFunder
AgFunder polled 27 agrifood-focused VC firms about the funding landscape, finding that 15% believe alternative protein will garner the most funding in 2024, particularly cultivated meat and precision fermentation. “The caveat is that most of those respondents are deeply invested in alt-protein,” adds the report. Biotech and biological inputs (15%), health and nutrition (14%), and food delivery (12%) were the other popular choices.
“Too many people celebrated failures rather than learning from them, and in the end, we – the planet, humanity – actually need to be collectively successful,” Yoni Glickman, managing director of FoodSparks, PeakBridge and EIT’s agrifood tech seed fund, when asked what was most frustrating about the sector in 2023. “Perhaps a more controversial take is on founders, who are still not realistic about valuations.”
Investors are worried about the impact of conflicts around the world, including the Israel-Hamas war and escalating tensions between China and Taiwan, as well as climate change, the direction of political discourse, and the economy. “Several global factors are all contributing to one central concern: food security. Climate change, geopolitical shifts and conflict all remind us how crucial an issue this is and will continue to be, and it’s one we are deeply driven by,” said Peakbridge founding general partner Nadav Berger. “Democratising food sources, mainly with local production, is one key to addressing this on a practical level.”
Matilda Ho, founder and managing director of Shanghai-based VC firm Bits x Bites, outlined the need to transition from disruptive to transitional, sustainable innovation. “In 2024, you can’t keep losing money and expect to stay in business. We need to set a more realistic expectation and go back to the fundamentals,” she said. “True innovations for food come in step changes, and take time to build.”
Expanding on this, she added: “At the end of the day, the innovation that transforms the food industry doesn’t need to be fast and furious/quick and dramatic. We’d prefer to take a more humble mindset, and make it more gradual and less obvious.”
Reflecting on the overall figures, Burwood-Taylor acknowledged: “This might read as depressing news, and it should.” She warned that we’ll be seeing more companies shut down over the next few months. Within the alternative protein sector alone, for example, New Wave Foods, Ordinary Seafood, New Age Eats, Nowadays and Plant & Bean were forced to cease trading over the last 12 months.
“2024 is going to be a painful year for many, especially the more mature agrifood tech companies,” she said, before adding: “But it will also be an incredible year to invest in new companies that have been forced to rethink their business models and take a leaner approach; that’s healthy for the market and for valuations.”
The Bezos Earth Fund has earmarked $60M to establish the Centers for Sustainable Protein, which will target tech barriers to reduce production costs, enhance taste profiles, and improve the nutritional benefits of alternative proteins.
As part of its $1B pledge to transform the food system’s impact on climate change, the Bezos Earth Fund is investing an initial $60M in alternative protein centres that will work to make plant-based, fermentation-derived and cultivated meat products cheaper, healthier and tastier.
The Bezos Centers for Sustainable Protein was announced at the Aspen Ideas: Climate conference in Miami, Florida by the fund’s vice-chair Lauren Sánchez. “We need to invent our way out of climate change. And we’re going to do it,” she told an audience at the event. “Trust me, I’ve had them and you can hardly tell the difference. I really like ‘em,” she added, referring to meat analogues.
Making alt-meat cheaper, healthier and better
Courtesy: Rocío Lower/Bezos Earth Fund
The Bezos Earth Fund was launched in 2020 through a $10B grant by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (who is also Sánchez’s fiancé and the third-richest man in the world). Last year, the fund committed $1B towards a transformation of the food system, which accounts for a third of all emissions. The first investment from this sum came during COP28 in December, when it set aside $57M in food-related grants to tackle the threats of climate change and biodiversity loss and preserve food security.
More than half of this money ($30M) went to making livestock more sustainable – animal agriculture is currently responsible for 11-19.5% of all global emissions. Now, the Earth Fund’s second funding commitment for food touches upon a similar aspect of the industry. Plant-based and cultivated meat are much more planet-friendly than industrially farmed meat, a fact that even the UN recognised in a landmark report published during COP28, where food systems were prioritised, but solutions were middling.
One study has found that replacing half of our meat and dairy intake with plant-based alternatives can reduce agricultural and land use emissions by 31%, cut water consumption by 10%, and halt deforestation. Similarly, vegan diets have been found to cut emissions, land use and water pollution by 65% compared to meat-heavy eating habits. And one life-cycle assessment suggests that cultivated meat requires 92% lower emissions, 95% less land and 78% less water than conventional beef.
This is why the Bezos Earth Fund is backing alternative proteins, which have had a dip in sales over the last couple of years as Big Meat-backed misinformation campaigns, the cost-of-living crisis and concerns about ultra-processed foods have discouraged many consumers from these products. In fact, global VC funding in this sector halved last year.
The fact that one of the world’s richest people is backing these proteins, however, is a sign of their huge potential. The new university research centres will use science and technology to improve on what’s currently out there – taste, health and price have constantly been cited as consumers’ biggest concerns about plant-based meat, and it’s these aspects that the new facilities will focus on. “They need to cost less, they need to be more flavorful,” Andy Jarvis, director of future food at the Bezos Earth Fund, told Bloomberg.
The Earth Fund states that current biomanufacturing challenges lead to high costs and limited quality, but notes that there are “enormous opportunities” to enhance the flavour and texture through innovations in cell biology and engineering. In that vein, the centres – which will be set up over the next five years – will work on driving down manufacturing costs and discovering new ingredients for alternative protein.
“Alternative proteins are an imperative if we are to stay within planetary boundaries, if we are to feed 10 billion people within those boundaries,” said Jarvis. “We’re investing in alternative proteins because they need to be successful.”
Why the Bezos Earth Fund announcement was ironic
Courtesy: UPSIDE Foods/Canva AI
There was a certain irony in the location of Sánchez’s announcement. The event was in Florida, which has been making headlines ever since it first proposed a ban on cultivated meat late last year. Just last week, its lawmakers approved a bill to prohibit the sale and production of these proteins in the state, which is now headed to governor Ron DeSantis, who – if his past comments about “fake meat” are anything to go by – is expected to greenlight it.
Florida’s decision has been slammed by many quarters. But while backlash from the alternative protein industry is obviously expected, it’s perhaps telling how divisive and baseless this ban is when even the conventional meat industry – you know, the same one DeSantis and his Republican-controlled state chambers are attempting to safeguard – is opposed to it.
In a letter to DeSantis, the North American Meat Institute – the country’s oldest and largest trade association (representing 95% of the US’s meat output), – called the ban “bad public policy”. Its COO and general counsel Mark Dopp wrote: “Legislators and others who beat the ‘food safety’ drum in support of HB 1071 and SB 1084 do so at their peril, and the peril of others, because these bills establish a precedent for adopting policies and regulatory requirements that could one day adversely affect the bills’ supporters.”
He suggested that the bill could set a precedent for climate or health policies in other states that could ban conventional meat. “Restricting the sale and manufacture of cell-cultivated meat products limits consumer choice and denies Floridians access to food options,” he added. “Decisions about what to consume or purchase should be left to the market and consumers, not dictated by legislation that hampers progress and competition.”
That is exactly what the Bezos Earth Fund’s latest investment is trying to protect. The company has already backed Chilean plant-based pioneer NotCo – whose joint venture with Kraft Heinz has yielded vegan versions of Kraft dinner, Oscar Mayer hot dogs and most recently, KD mac and cheese. Bezos himself, meanwhile, was part of a group that has invested in Nature’s Fynd, which makes sausage patties, cream cheeses and yoghurts using mycelium fermentation. It has previously invested $5.5M in R&D projects for alternative proteins, in partnership with industry think-tank the Good Food Institute.
Sánchez reiterated Jarvis’s point about feeding 10 billion people – the estimated world population by 2050 – with healthy food while protecting the planet. “We can do it, and it will require a ton of innovation,” she said in a statement. “Our world is poised for transformation, for a future not constrained by compromise. Solutions to our greatest challenges often come from the quiet persistence of those willing to question, reimagine, and innovate.”
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 nutrition wins for plant-based meat, a ton of alt-dairy announcements, and an all-vegan fest coming to the UK.
New products and launches
A week after announcing the launch of plant-based Oscar Mayer hot dogs, the Kraft Heinz Not Company is now bringing its vegan Kraft mac and cheese to Canada under the KD brand. It’s available in original, white Cheddar, and gluten-free variants.
Courtesy: Oatly
As outlined in its year-end earnings report, Oatly‘s revamped Oatgurts are now on shelves in German supermarkets. The lineup includes unsweetened vanilla, blueberry, strawberry, and mango-peach-passionfruit, and the 350g pots can be found at Rewe, Edeka and Kaufland stores.
It’s a big week for alt-dairy launches. Canadian plant-based cheesemaker Daiya has announced a range of powdered vegan and gluten-free mac and cheese in Cheddar, white Cheddar and aged Cheddar variants, which will be rolled out to Walmart, The Fresh Market, Loblaws and Metro ON from April (the latter flavour is only available in the US).
Meanwhile, Califia Farms has rolled out a line of organic almond milk coffee creamers in lavender, brown sugar and cinnamon flavours at Whole Foods, Sprouts Farmers Market, and specialty stores at $7.99.
British oat milk maker Minor Figures has expanded its North American presence, with its gluten-free milk now available at all Whole Foods stores in the US and Canada, and over 280 Sprouts locations.
In yet more North American alt-dairy news, plant-based milk brand MALK Organics is launching a cashew milk and shelf-stable oat and almond milk SKUs this quarter, after closing an internal investment round. They’ll be rolled out at Whole Foods exclusively in March, and are being previewed at Expo West this week.
Courtesy: Malk Organics
The Students’ Union of the University of Cambridge – which has already removed beef and lamb from its catering menus in 2016 – has voted to make all catering options across the institute fully plant-based, following a similar move for certain catering services last year.
Speaking of universities, Beyond Meat is debuting at the University of Massachusetts, which has one of the country’s largest plant-based dining initiatives in the country. Its burger and mince products will be offered across all UMass campuses.
Meanwhile, Beyond Steak is coming to Belgium, with the ‘heart-healthy’ beef analogue now stocked at over 250+ Delhaize stores nationwide.
In the US, whole-food plant-based meat company Abbot’s has launched a mushroom-based Whole Burger SKU to its lineup, containing superfoods like spinach, chia and flaxseeds, and boasting 22g of protein per patty. It’s available at select Whole Foods stores nationwide.
Courtesy: 7th Heaven
Hershey’s-owned dairy-free chocolate company 7th Heaven, meanwhile, has unveiled its take on Reese’s with new oat-milk-based peanut butter cups, which you can buy from its website from March 25.
US cult-favourite plant-based burger chain Slutty Vegan is opening a store in New York City, which will be its third location. The 1,870 sq ft Bleecker Street eatery will open on March 23.
Next Level Burger and Veggie Grill are launching limited-edition vegan truffle honey chicken sandwiches and burgers to raise awareness about bees and pollination, with the companies making a donation to the Pollinator Partnership.
Fancy a Falafacini? UK plant-based small bites maker Gosh! has introduced a falafel-arancini hybrid in basil pesto and vegan ‘nduja flavours as part of its new Street Food range. They will retail at Ocado and Tesco for £3.50 per 240g pack. (Although I think ‘falancini’ is a far better name.)
Chinese company Marvelous Foods has launched its Yeyo coconut yoghurt range in Ole, the country’s biggest supermarket chain, with 100 stores across 31 key cities and over 10 million members.
Courtesy: Marvelous Foods
In the cosmetics world, American actress and Masked Singer host Jenny McCarthy has launched a new line of cruelty-free 3D Faux Mink Lashes under her Formless Beauty label.
Likewsie, Canadian cosmetics company Druide Laboratory has rolled out a vegan Druide Biolove personal care collection for babies and young children.
And US-based vegan festival Vegandale is launching in the UK, with events in London’s Clapham Common as well as Manchester in July. It has also expanded its stateside presence to Philadelphia. Early bird tickets are available now.
Finance and manufacturing developments
CPG giant Nestlé is investing CHF 80 million ($91M) to open a new factory dedicated to plant-based food production in Serbia, which will sit next to its existing 18,440 sq m facility. The plant will create 220 new jobs and support the manufacturing of Garden Gourmet products.
Meanwhile, Illinois-headquartered food producer Primient has committed $700M across five years to bolster its plant-based ingredient manufacturing capabilities and strengthen its market position.
Researchers in Italy have embarked on a project to produce meat alternatives from wood, leveraging byproducts like lignin (from the paper industry) and wheat bran, and converting them into amino acids.
German biotech company ProteinDistillery has raised $15M in a seed funding round to support the production of its biomass-fermented Prew:tein ingredient – which is made from upcycled brewer’s yeast and can replace the properties of egg whites – and set up an industrial-scale facility.
Copenhagen-based Swan Neck Bio, a spinoff from White Labs, has gone live. The startup provides fermentation solutions to food companies facing high costs and congestion in traditional biomanufacturing channels, with its FlexCell tech able to run controlled fermentations from five to 1,000 litres.
Courtesy: Koralo
In yet more fermentation news, German alt-seafood startup Koralo has scaled up its co-fermentation technology to a 5,000-litre industrial scale in South Korea – three months after launching in the country. It has also partnered with the Korean government on the latter’s plant-based national plan.
Montreal-based cultivated milk startup Opalia has received C$2M ($1.48M) in financing to support the launch of its first product.
As for cultivated meat, by the way, there’s a new company in this space from Slovenia, established by the founder and former CEO of aircraft maker Pipistrel and biotech firm CO BIK Institute. Called Tech4Meat, it hopes to bring its products to market in the next few years.
UK companies BSF Enterprise (parent of cellular agriculture business 3D Bio-Tissues) and Ivy Farm Technologies have teamed up to help the latter fundraise, launch and scale its cultivated meat in China.
In another alt-protein partnership, Indian plant-based meat maker GoodDot has linked up with Dubai culinary school the International Centre for Culinary Arts, to help chefs gain specialised certifications in vegan dishes.
In the UK, Borough Broth has acquired vegan curry startup SpiceBox, with all of the latter’s products to now be developed in the former’s organic production kitchen in west London.
Courtesy: OGGS
Having witnessed a 42% year-on-year growth, UK plant-based egg startup OGGS has now launched a crowdfunding campaign on Seedrs, which is open for pre-registration.
Policy and awards
Meanwhile, Aussie precision fermentation producer Fermify is now offering samples to B2B partners for its liquid animal-free casein, which can be used to make dairy alternative products.
Germany’s MicroHarvest has become the first biomass fermentation company to join the Food Fermentation Europe alliance.
In India, Supplant Foods has received a patent for its novel chickpea flour processing technology, which enhances the functionality of chickpea protein that can be used in plant-based dairy, meat and bakery products.
Courtesy: Superbrewed Food
In yet more regulatory news for fermentation-derived protein, Superbrewed Food has received a ‘no further questions’ letter from the US FDA. The GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) status allows it to sell its bacteria-derived biomass ingredient, called Postbiotic Cultured Protein. The company has also filed for approval in the EU, UK and Canada.
In Singapore, some hospitals are offering plant-based options for patients after evaluating them to be healthy and nutritionally balanced, with Alexandra Hospital and Ng Teng Fong General Hospital having completely replaced beef and mutton with soy protein, and KK Women’s, Children’s Hospital and National University Hospital too providing vegan food for some time now.
Finally, there were a few vegan wins at this year’s Men’s Health Food Awards, in a nod to the category’s growing health focus. Impossible Foods‘ BBQ Pork Bowls was named the Best Plant-Based Meal, Beyond Meat‘s Italian-Style Meatballs the Best Meatless Meatballs, and Wholly Veggie‘s Buffalo Cauliflower Wings the Best Plant-Based Wings.
With tens of thousands of people flocking to the Anaheim Convention Center this week for Natural Products Expo West, we look at some of the standout plant-based and future food products being unveiled at the trade show.
Tuesday marked the start of Expo West, one of the world’s largest trade events for the food industry. Over five days, thousands of companies will exhibit new innovations and offerings to attendees in Anaheim, California, with the event serving as a launchpad for many products’ routes to market.
Last year, over 3,000 brands participated in the show, with more than 65,000 visitors. Needless to say, it’s a big deal for companies hoping to gauge consumer sentiment about upcoming launches. With that in mind, here are some of the most exciting plant-based and future food products on display at Expo West 2024.
Plant-based milk and cheese go big
Courtesy: Armored Fresh
Non-dairy products have an expansive presence at Expo West 2024. At booth #3994 in Hall D, vegan cheese giant Violife is exhibiting what it says is the ‘first-ever’ bakeable non-dairy cream cheese as part of a build-your-own bagel stall and cheesecake offering, while booth #3899 will see Armored Fresh sample its oat-milk-based Cheddar and Pepper Jack slices in grilled cheese sandwiches. In the North Hall, meanwhile, olive oil cheese producer Good Planet Foods will be showcasing new vegan sharp Cheddar and smoked Gouda slices at booth #507.
Plant-based milk brand MALK Organics is launching a cashew milk and shelf-stable oat and almond milk SKUs this quarter, which will be previewed at booth #335 in the North Hall as well. Another milk launch comes from TiNDLE Foods, marking its alt-dairy debut with a barista oat milk at booth #4905 in Hall E.
Likewise, Milkadamia (booth #691 in Hall A) and THIS PKN (#100 in the North Hall) will showcase their launch macadamia- and pecan-based creamers, respectively.
In the precision fermentation dairy sector, Bored Cow (#1249 in the North Hall) will unveil a new product made using Perfect Day’s animal-free whey protein, while Vivici (booth #4495 in Hall D) will be promoting its beta-lactoglobulin protein.
Breakfast in the spotlight with vegan eggs and meat alternatives
Courtesy: Yo Egg
This year, breakfast foods are in. Fresh from announcing its retail launch, Yo Egg will be exhibiting its vegan sunny-side-up and poached eggs at booth #609 in the North Hall. In the same area, AcreMade will showcase its plant-based scrambled eggs made from pea protein at booth #1336.
It’s a big year for vegan bacon too. Expo West attendees will be able to taste the seaweed bacon from Umaro Foods, which just closed a $3.8M funding round and will present its bacon bits and a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich at booth #211 near the entrance arena. Likewise, MyForest Foods will be sampling its bacon (made from oyster mushroom mycelium) at #1123 in the North Hall, and Prime Roots will offer its koji mycelium bacon at #4695 in Hall D.
Dinner favourites shine with mushrooms
Courtesy: Konscious Foods
Apart from its brand-new oat milk, TiNDLE Foods is also launching its vegan stuffed chicken at its Expo West stall. And Hong Kong-based OMNI is unveiling the US’s first lion’s mane mushroom steak product to kickstart its new whole-food OMNI Garden range at booth #2101 in the North Hall.
Mycelium meat maker Meati, meanwhile, is showcasing its carne asada and chicken analogues at #4981 in Hall E. Shroomeats will be doing the same with its mushroom-based burgers and meatballs at #4199A in Hall D, and Pan’s will exhibit its mushroom jerky at North Hall booth #333.
If you’re looking for sushi, by the way, Konscious Foods is launching three new products at Expo West: a salmon avocado roll, a kimbap, and smoked salmon (a Nexty Award Finalist at the event). You can find the brand in Hall E at booth #5679.
Sweet treats and future foods show promise
Courtesy: MeliBio
In the dessert realm, OMNI is introducing a new line of dessert-themed baos in four flavours at its booth. Voyage Foods, meanwhile, has partnered with Rudi’s Rocky Mountain Bakery to offer allergen-free PB&J sandwiches with its peanut-free peanut butter at both #2338 in the North Hall.
Mid-Day Squares will demo its newest functional plant-protein-powered chocolate in the form of a crunchy peanut bar, which visitors can taste at booth #5783 in Hall E. While you’re there, check out Minus‘s beanless coffee cans in cold brew and vanilla oat milk latte flavours at LA Libations’ booth #5535.
Finally, MeliBio is launching a new flavour of its plant-based Mellody honey, keying into the ultra-popular hot honey trend with a Spicy Habanero variant at its North Hallbooth #445.
These are just a handful of plant-based and future food innovations being spotlit at Expo West – check out the full list of exhibitors here.
Natural Products Expo West 2024 is running from March 12-16 at the Anaheim Convention Center in California.
The state of Illinois has committed $680M to the iFAB Tech Hub, which works on precision fermentation crops like soy and corn, to advance the region’s biomanufacturing capabilities.
The Illinois Fermentation and Agriculture Biomanufacturing (iFAB) Tech Hub has received a giant sum of investment to advance its precision fermentation research, with Innovate Illinois – a public-private partnership – earmarking $680M for the biomanufacturing hub.
Led by the Integrated Bioprocessing Research Laboratory (IBRL) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (alongside 30 other partners), iFAB uses precision fermentation to convert crops like soybean and corn into high-value commodities. In October, it was recognised as one of 31 new Regional Innovation and Technology Hubs by the Biden-Harris administration. And, armed with the new capital, it aims to position Illinois as a leader in precision fermentation and biomanufacturing.
“Home to world-class institutions, modernised infrastructure, and first-rate research centres, Illinois is transforming technology, biomanufacturing, and innovation at every turn,” said governor JB Pritzker.
Kristin Richards, director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, added: “Our economic potential is inextricably linked to our ability to innovate and lead in this vital industry. iFAB is a strategic initiative driving not only Illinois’ economy but also bolstering our national competitiveness in the biomanufacturing sector.”
iFAB aims to establish Illinois as a biomanufacturing leader
Courtesy: Integrated Bioprocessing Research Laboratory
The investment comes from Innovate Illinois, which combines public and private sector players to harness federal funding opportunities, and accelerate technological and economic advancement in the state. “When universities and industry come together as partners, you see a massive increase in the speed of development and implementation,” said Robert J Jones, chancellor of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and co-vice chair of Innovate Illinois.
iFAB aims to leverage Illinois’ agricultural capabilities to support economic growth and sustainable practices. “Our programme is strategically positioned to lead the charge in transforming the bioeconomy,” said Beth Conerty, associate director of IBRL and regional innovation officer at iFAB. “Through iFAB, Illinois is not just participating in biomanufacturing – we are helping shape the future of the industry.”
The biotech hub traverses multiple applications, from novel ingredients to sustainable materials, including proteins, textiles, fibres, polymers, as well as commercial-grade oils, lipids, pigments, and cosmetics. Its “lab-to-line” approach hopes to attract biomanufacturing companies into Illinois, and could help bio-innovation move from R&D into full-scale manufacturing.
As part of its designation as a Regional Innovation and Technology Hub, iFAB recently applied for a further investment for Phase 2 Implementation Grants from the Economic Development Administration (EDA), which supports the growth of the biomanufacturing entrepreneurial ecosystem, infrastructure projects for lab space and multi-use facilities, and workforce training programmes. iFAB is seeking $70M to create jobs, expand commodity markets, buy new equipment, and drive zero-emission manufacturing. (EDA will announce the winners of the Phase 2 grants in the summer.)
“With the recent designation of iFAB as one of our state’s two Tech Hub designees, alongside the remarkable strides made in quantum and advanced biomanufacturing, it’s evident that Illinois is positioned at the forefront of driving economic growth and job creation through cutting-edge research and development,” said senator Dick Durbin.
“At its core, iFAB is leveraging precision fermentation to drive innovation and catalyse the biomanufacturing industry in Central Illinois,” said Conerty, adding that iFAB has created advanced proposals for seven projects already.
Illinois has been a locus of manufacturing facilities for alternative protein companies. In September, cultivated meat producer Upside Foods broke ground on a new commercial-scale facility in Glenview, slated to make 30 million lbs of product per year (work on the plant has been paused for now, however). Fellow cultivated meat startup Clever Carnivore, meanwhile is operating from a large facility at Chicago’s Lincoln Park.
“This designation positions Central Illinois to become a global leader in biomanufacturing and precision fermentation over the next decade – bringing economic development and good-paying jobs along with it,” said Pritzer.
Investment, regulation and new products boost precision fermentation sector
Courtesy: The Every Company
The iFAB financing follows a host of government investment initiatives into fermentation and alternative proteins. Last month, the UK set aside £12M to establish the Microbial Food Hub, a research centre focused on fermentation-derived alternatives to animal products. The team will develop precision fermentation science, alongside other methods of fermentation.
Likewise, the EU will invest €50M in precision fermentation and algae-based food startups this year, as part of its Horizon Europe scheme. In Australia, meanwhile, a public-private funding effort will go into transforming an existing biocommodities plant into a precision fermentation facility. And in Catalonia, the government is investing €12M in a facility that will help companies with R&D and pre-industrial manufacturing of alternative protein ingredients, including those derived from precision fermentation.
These investments signal a growing interest in precision fermentation across the world. Last month, industry stakeholders released a refined definition of the technology to clarify its scope. It followed regulatory progress in the sector too, with New Culture, Vivici and TurtleTree all attaining self-affirmed GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) status with the US FDA recently for their animal-free dairy proteins.
In January, Imagindairy received a ‘no further questions’ letter for its precision-fermented whey from the FDA, joining Remilk, Perfect Day (also producing whey) and The Every Co (which works with eggs) on the list of companies with FDA GRAS status. Meanwhile, CPG giants Nestlé and Unilever have entered the space with new launches within the last month.
“Scaling [up] manufacturing and reducing costs of production is critical for these ingredients to be able to effectively compete with animal-derived ingredients,” Irina Gerry, vice-chair of the board of directors at the Precision Fermentation Alliance and chief marketing officer at Change Foods, told Green Queen last month.
“The industry is addressing it in multiple ways. We see new types of private and public funding, university training programs, industry partnerships, and contract manufacturing companies getting established to support these efforts. It won’t happen overnight, but the process is underway.”
German biotech startup Kynda is set to introduce a zero-waste mycelium ingredient for use in plant-based and hybrid proteins, starting with a partnership with The Raging Pig Company, which will use the Kynda-Meat to produce vegan burgers.
Germany’s mycelium sector is heating up, with the newest product born out of the fungi soon to hit the market. Hamburg-based startup Kynda, which makes plug-and-play bioreactors and starter cultures for mycelium protein, is launching a zero-waste, biomass-fermented meat alternative ingredient that is already compliant with the EU’s novel food regulations.
Kynda will unveil the first innovation with its ingredient at trade fair Internorga (March 8-11), partnering up with plant-based pork producer The Raging Pig Company to introduce mycelium burger patties. It will be a precursor to the product’s launch Kynda’s market launch in Germany later this year.
“We are thrilled to showcase our mycelium-based products at Internorga in collaboration with The Raging Pig,” said Kynda CEO Daniel MacGowan von Holstein. “We’re beyond happy to team up with such a like-minded and purpose-driven company. This partnership signifies a huge milestone in our journey to revolutionise the food industry by offering truly sustainable alternatives.”
Valorising sidestreams to produce sustainable proteins
Courtesy: Kynda
To make its mycelium ingredient, Kynda uses a range of food industry byproducts, with a particular focus on “underutilised streams such as soy-, oat- and rice-okara”, von Holstein told Green Queen. These sidestreams go through a submerged biomass fermentation process, where microorganisms are rapidly grown in a liquid medium, with the entire biomass becoming the end product.
A key advantage of biomass fermentation is that it can drastically cut down the time it takes to grow proteins, compared to livestock farming or traditional fermentation. Kynda claims that its fungi strain and highly efficient proprietary process reduce the fermentation time from an average of seven to 10 days “for best practices” to just 48 hours.
While the company is unable to disclose what strain it’s using, von Holstein confirmed that it was one that is compliant with the EU’s novel foods regulations, which means there are no regulatory hurdles, clearing the way for the product’s market entry.
The mycelium ingredient will spark interest from manufacturers looking to produce more sustainable, affordable and nutritious alternative proteins. Kynda’s mycelium product emits 700% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than pea protein, which is used by industry giants like Beyond Meat. It also has a protein content of 37% in dry matter, contains all nine essential amino acids, and is low in fat and rich in fibre and vitamins. Moreover, the ingredient is said to be cheaper to produce than plant-based texturates, with the startup suggesting it could be used in both plant-based and hybrid meat applications too.
This is what appealed to Raging Pig too, which was looking to “replace highly processed pea protein texturates in their products”, von Holstein explained. “As a B2B company, we can solve their needs with healthy, nutritious and sustainable Kynda-Meat,” he said.
Kynda enters a red-hot mycelium market
Courtesy: Kynda
“Our focus has always been on taste and sustainability. With Kynda’s nutritious and allergen-free ingredients, we’re able to significantly lower our production costs and are finally able to compete with heavily subsidised meat producers,” said Raging Pig co-founder Arne Ewerbeck.
The company has swapped 17% of the pea protein obtained from high-moisture extrusion in its burger for Kynda’s mycelium ingredient. “By replacing highly processed raw materials with Kynda’s fermentation solution, we are answering the call of many consumers for healthy meat alternatives,” said Ewerbeck.
Raging Pig marks Kynda’s first collaboration for its mycelium protein, but further partnerships with B2C companies in both foodservice and retail will follow later this year. Plus, the startup is in the middle of a $4M seed funding round, and last year received a non-dilutive grant from Germany’s food and agriculture ministry to scale up its fermentation platform and produce mycelium protein more efficiently.
“We just received planning permission for our new facility, which will house our scaled-up 30,000-litre fermentation capacity,” von Holstein told Green Queen. “This will be built until the end of Q3 2024.”
Kynda is one of several German companies working with mycelium, which has exploded in popularity over the last few months for its nutritional benefits, climate credentials and production efficiency. Infinite Roots, also from Hamburg, closed a $58M Series B funding round in January, which is claimed to be the largest mycelium investment in Europe. Berlin-based Bosque Foods is similarly using mycelium to create whole-cut chicken and pork filets, as well as bacon. (Like Kynda, both companies leverage agricultural sidestreams.)
Estimates reveal that a third of all food produced worldwide goes to waste, amounting to 6% of global emissions, so using food industry byproducts to make alternative proteins is a shrewd move. And since mycelium can be scaled up rapidly and in a cost-effective manner, it has been touted as a potential for human nutrition insecurity and global hunger.
Californian plant-based meat producer Umaro Foods has secured $3.8M in a seed funding round to help it reduce production costs and launch its seaweed bacon into retail.
The financing round was led by existing investor AgFunder, with support from Alexandria Ventures Investments, Climate Capital Bio, Ponderosa Ventures, and NBA all-star Chris Paul. It brings total investment in the vegan bacon producer to $6.8M, following a $3M round in 2022 (also led by AgFunder).
The latest capital injection will help Umaro Foods amp up production and bring down the costs of its seaweed-based bacon, and facilitate its move into grocery stores.
“People love our bacon because it nails the crispy, fatty texture of pork bacon,” Umaro Foods co-founder and CEO Beth Zotter told AgFunderNews. “Our innovative, seaweed-based formula is what differentiates our product from other brands and is now patented in the US.”
Leveraging the ‘most scalable protein bioreactor’
Courtesy: Umaro Foods
Zotter founded Umaro Foods in 2019 (then known as Trophic) with chief technology officer Amanda Stiles as the “first and only company” extracting protein from ocean-farmed seaweeds. The startup shot to fame in 2022 after securing a $1M investment for 7% equity from Mark Cuban on Shark Tank.
Umaro Bacon is already available at 250 restaurants and delis across the US, including Crossroads Kitchen, Plantega, Roam Burger and Choice Market. It’s in talks with universities to move its bacon into the catering sector as well. But now, it is casting a much wider net. “After achieving incredible traction in restaurants across the country, with sales growing sixfold in one year, we’re looking forward to reaching new customers,” said Zotter.
Armed with the new financing, Umaro Foods will soon launch onto supermarket shelves, starting with a leading retailer on the west coast. The CPG products include bacon strips and bits, as well as a bacon, egg and cheese breakfast sandwich.
The vegan bacon uses red nori seaweed as its key ingredient, which is supplemented with chickpeas, sunflower and coconut oil, agar and carrageenan, plus natural flavouring and colouring elements. “One reason bacon is so delicious is because it’s got a lot of fat [20g per serving],” said Zotter. “We’ve discovered a really innovative way to use the hydrocolloids in seaweed to hold on to high amounts of plant-based fat… That allows us to deliver that sensory experience that you get with bacon, which is what makes it so craveable.”
Umaro Foods has patent-pending extraction processes for two types of seaweed: red and brown. The former shares similarities with conventional pea and soy processing, and forms the base of its current bacon product due to its red hue, high protein content, and ease of import (the startup works with a co-manufacturer in Canada to extract protein from seaweed imported from South Korea).
But the red seaweed doesn’t have “those high-value hydrocolloids”, Zotter explained: “So our goal is to process both red and brown seaweeds, where we can get the protein out but also produce valuable side streams such as alginate, agar, and carrageenan, for which there are already established markets.”
The idea is, at scale, Umaro Foods’ protein separation process will produce hydrocolloids as well. “The ocean is the world’s most scalable protein bioreactor,” the CEO added. “It covers 71% of the Earth’s surface and contains over 80% of the world’s chemically reactive nitrogen, so it’s sort of a no-brainer that that’s where we should be getting the bulk of our protein.”
Sea-ing out the competition
Courtesy: Umaro Foods
The vegan bacon startup will additionally use the funds to move from a batch production process to a continuous one. “One of the things that makes meat alternatives very expensive is that they use techniques such as extrusion or fermentation that require large capital investments,” Zotter said.
But its high-throughput, low-capex manufacturing process will enable it to produce vegan bacon at half the cost of conventional options from the likes of Hormel and Smithfield. Currently, Umaro Foods is producing the equivalent of 60,000 lbs of product every year, but once sales grow enough to allow its machine to operate at full capacity, it can make over a million pounds of vegan bacon annually, with a potential revenue of $20M.
“It costs about half a million dollars to finance, so the payback time should be rapid,” said Zotter. “Our main goal in this next phase is to get to profitability. And this automated manufacturing process is going to be a key part of this.”
She further outlined the company’s plan to streamline its sourcing so it can move closer to the raw material in Asia: “We’re looking for partners to scale that process, either via a joint venture or a manufacturing partnership. And that would be most likely with a large food processing company with a base in Asia.”
Zotter added that Umaro Foods is open to developing a B2B arm for its seaweed protein, and is in conversations with other companies. But she reiterated that the current focus is to use it for its own bacon products. (The startup has previously suggested that it will look to develop pepperoni, salami and other cured meats from the seaweed too.)
The company has also been working on a project with a specialist firm to selectively extract rare earth elements and platinum group metals from seaweeds, which is backed by a $2M grant from the US Department of Energy. “The DoE is looking at seaweed as a source of critical minerals, so they’re funding us to develop a way to integrate a minerals extraction process into our protein separation process,” Zotter noted.
The seaweed protein sector is still in its infancy, and startups innovating with such ingredients have had a tough going – France’s Update Foods (which made algae milk) ceased operations in 2022, while seaweed-based seafood producer New Wave Foods was forced to shut just a few months ago. However, Umaro Foods has ridden the wave successfully.
“Umaro’s results showcase its adaptability, innovation, and success in introducing new products to a competitive market, spanning both foodservice and retail,” said Sofia Ramírez Calvo, venture partner, AgFunder.
The true test, however, will be its performance in the crowded vegan bacon market – in the US. MyForest Foods, Prime Roots, Thrilling Foods, Upton’s Naturals, Tofurky, Lightlife and Meat the Mushroom (another Shark Tank success) are just a few companies innovating in this space, which estimates suggest is worth $1.3B.
But given the inroads it has already made, Umaro Foods’s seaweed bacon could soon be swimming in success.
Beyond Meat enjoyed a bit of a small rally recently, especially after its latest earnings call. However, there has been a lot of negative discussion about Beyond Meat and its stock price over the past year, which indeed continues to struggle.
Is the negativity justified? Is it accurate? Is the product to blame? Is it CEO Ethan Brown? Below, I share the ten reasons investors of all culinary persuasions might be wrong about BYND.
1. Ceci N’est Pas Un ‘Consumer Staple’
Beyond Meat’s IPO valuation was more aligned with tech companies during the dot-com bubble than with consumer staples/food companies, per the image below. This proved to be a real Achille’s heel for the stock, as tech companies trade at higher multiples and have faster growth trends. Food products are not SaaS, and these companies tend to have much slower growth than their tech counterparts. The markets eventually corrected for this, bringing the company’s stock price way down.
2. Path to Profitability: No P/E, No Love‘
The media loves a founder with a ‘save-the-world’ dream. From Steve Jobs to Sergey Brin, Silicon Valley has trained us to love a visionary. Beyond’s CEO Ethan Brown may indeed make his vision a reality of shifting the global food system away from livestock meat eventually, but Wall Street analysts don’t want to hear about a future dream. They want to see consumer demand, revolutionary IP, and, more than anything else, a realistic path to profitability.
Financial analysts usually rely on a P/E ratio (share price per earnings) to evaluate a company’s performance and in the case of Beyond Meat, which has not achieved profitability yet, the ratio is negative, leaving analysts flummoxed. Additionally, analysts want to see revenue growth, not revenue declines, as is the case for Beyond Meat. Add to this that most Street analysts may not see the need to shift away from an animal meat food system, and it’s not hard to see why the stock has been battered by downgrade ratings.
3. Consistency For The Win. Confidence For The Bigger Win.
If analysts aren’t interested in the plant-based dream and are deprived of their crucial revenue growth and P/E metrics, how exactly can they analyze a company accurately and provide fair stock ratings? The answer is earning calls. Wall Street analysts tend to look to the CEO to accurately guide for financial expectations: Will the company be profitable? And if so, by how much? And when? They expect the CEO to be able to know their business well enough to accurately predict growth (or loss) from three months to a year out.
Much of Wall Street is about managing expectations. Consistently hitting quarterly expectations in earnings calls gives analysts confidence that the CEO is in control of the business. Consistently missing quarterly expectations and not being able to right the ship quarter after quarter will do the exact opposite. This is what happened to Beyond Meat for too many quarters in a row.
4. ‘I Have a Dream’ vs. ‘Show Me The Money
Dreams are great but profitability is the holy grail. Beyond Meat IPOed during the exuberant 2019 bull market. The stock rose 163% in one day of trading, the largest bump for an IPO stock since the 2008 crash. While institutional investors make up 85% of the market, it’s the retail investors that got really excited about BYND, and this resulted in the stock’s price being driven way up. Irrationally so, some might say. Ever since, the company has struggled to show analysts a convincing path to profitability.
As of the last earnings call, the Street seems to have regained some confidence in Brown as a CEO and the stock in general. While U.S. sales were down, the company still beat expectations and sales were down less than expected ($73.7 million rather than $66.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2023). This is 10% better than expected for the US. Further, international sales were up 22% in retail and 34% in foodservice.
The stock was rewarded for this, but losing less sales than expected is hardly revenue growth. Even in forecasting out for 2024, the best the company could do was state that it would hold steady at around $345M, and lose no more. Not exactly growth. The company hasn’t been able to hold on to all of its gains, but there was a moment when it rallied for the company. So why did The Street react positively?
5. It’s The Spending, Stupid
What was so different about the Feb 27th earnings call? Well, Brown shared that in 2023 the company brought operating expenses down to $107.8 million for the year, compared with $320.2 million in 2022, a two-thirds reduction in spending!
It appears The Street had been waiting to see this kind of leadership from the company since its IPO. Could Beyond Meat run a fiscally responsible company?
BYND was up 31% the day after the earnings call (Feb 28th, 2024), trading at $9.83, up from $7.52. It then surged 106% in after-hours trading. As of writing ten days later, it is $8.07.
Less interested in big visions around the future of protein, analysts had been hoping for a solid balance sheet and a realistic path to profitability, or at least stopping the bleeding, controlled spending and management focused on the numbers, not the dream- all of which Beyond delivered.
6. What’s Up with Consumer Demand? Inflation.
While some vegans claim that Beyond Meat’s cleaner labels are the reason why the company is having trouble, the more likely explanation for declining domestic sales is inflation. The average grocery shopper is facing skyrocketing food prices.
The Beyond Meat brand is intended for meat eaters looking to make a smarter choice for themselves and the planet. With the cost of its plant-based patty up to double that of a heavily subsidized livestock meat burger, it’s no secret why mainstream consumers can’t afford them on a regular basis.
The company appears to be working hard on price parity, but it’s key not to ignore food inflation’s role when looking at the whole financial picture. According to the industry think tank the Good Food Institute, what matters most to alternative protein consumers is taste, price, and convenience. I have come to believe it is price, price, and price.
7. Covid, (Supply) Chains and China, Oh My!
Often missing from Beyond Meat analysis is the bigger contextual picture. Since going public in mid-2019, the company has faced Covid-related complications (including restaurant closures), supply chain disruptions due to wars and pandemics, China’s economic crash, global inflation, and general societal angst. Even one of these externalities would challenge a healthy company- and yet Beyond has weathered all of these simultaneously. To still be standing and on the way to profitability is a testament to the young public company’s staying power. Can it continue to weather the storm?
8. Big Meat vs. Beyond Meat
In the past 18 months, the mainstream media has been relentless in its attacks on the plant-based meat sector. While many see the negative narratives as directed against the entire industry, in reality, as the only public company in the space, Beyond Meat bears the brunt of the hits and it’s undoubtedly had an outsized impact on the stock performance.
Lately, a slew of reports and investigations have detailed how Big Meat lobbyists are behind the attacks. Will analysts start to price in the cost of this misinformation? Most likely not. It is not their problem. The sector and the company are going to have to continue to deliver against misinformation by lowering prices and critical innovation.
9. Innovate or Die
All is not lost. Given the choice between innovating and dying, Beyond Meat has chosen to innovate. Despite expenses decreasing by two-thirds in 2023, the company released new ‘clean label’ products: AMA-certified cholesterol-free plant-based steak tips and a new burger patty made with avocado oil and fava beans that offers its consumers the same taste at a fraction of the saturated fat content.
The company is making it clear that it is hyper-focused on what works (healthier versions of its star products) and unattached to what doesn’t (Beyond Jerky, ending a distribution agreement with PepsiCo that didn’t perform well) as it journeys to profitability. This is what Wall Street wants to see.
10. So What Now?
A few things are transpiring. Firstly, coming off of COP28 and the push for financing food system change fast, the Street is beginning to process what many in the plant-based industry have known for years: food tech IS climate tech. Society won’t achieve its collective global net zero goals without investing in meat reduction, given the livestock sector’s emissions footprint. Beyond Meat’s future trajectory is inextricably linked to this reality.
Secondly, if Ethan Brown can continue to manage earnings call expectations, then analysts may welcome the CEO they want to see: an Ethan Brown dialed into the priorities of The Street; marching towards profitability, fiscal control, a commitment to products at price parity with meat and innovation-led R&D.
No doubt, the company has a long way to go to get a justified stock price rally that can last, but with operational spending cuts and potential profitability on the horizon amidst the environmental messaging finally taking hold in the financial community, it may be a step closer to turning a corner.
Vegan food manufacturer TiNDLE Foods is set to unveil a plant-based stuffed chicken range and a barista oat milk – its first foray into dairy alternatives – at this month’s Expo West trade event.
A year on from acquiring London-based vegan dairy startup Mwah!, TiNDLE Foods will exhibit the first products born out of the deal at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California (March 14-16), alongside a new lineup of plant-based stuffed chicken products.
The Singapore-headquartered company is unveiling the new products after a big year, which saw it rebrand from Next Gen Foods, expand into US retail, and have a leadership shake-up, with co-founder and former CEO Andre Menezes passing the reins to fellow co-founder Timo Recker. In January, TiNDLE Foods debuted in Swiss retail as well – and now, it’s ready to showcase the innovations it has been working on.
“By introducing more innovative foods into the mix, including our launch into the dairy category, we remain steadfast in our mission to transition towards a more sustainable food system,” said Recker.
Stuffed chicken SKUs to debut on shelves in H2
Courtesy: TiNDLE Foods | Composite by Green Queen
TiNDLE Foods’s range of stuffed chicken products at Expo West will feature Chicken Parmigiana and Garlic & Herb flavours. “From day one, we’ve been committed to delivering excellence when it comes to taste and quality with our products. We first launched TiNDLE Chicken in restaurants for this very reason – to be able to work closely with chefs and culinary experts to bring the best possible experience to customers,” JJ Kass, US managing director for the brand, tells Green Queen. “The stuffed chicken line is the next step in our journey to bring that chef-driven experience into people’s homes.”
She adds: “We are starting with a wholesome classic – chicken parmigiana – but there are endless opportunities for creative and seasonal fillings. With the growing trend of high-quality convenience meals in the frozen section, we feel this product is a game changer to have a restaurant-quality gourmet meal ready in the air fryer or oven in 10 minutes.”
TiNDLE chicken is made from a blend of soy protein, wheat flour and Lipi, a proprietary plant-based emulsion that mimics the functionality of chicken fat. The product has around 16g of protein and 4.5g of fibre per 100g. “Ingredients and fillings will vary based on the SKU,” says Kass. “For example, the outer coating of the chicken parmigiana is made of golden breadcrumbs that allow for a perfect crunch, while the interior features a savoury tomato sauce and gooey plant-based mozzarella.”
The new SKUs will be available for retailers to order in the spring, with the products expected on shelves in the second half of the year. TiNDLE Foods plans to release additional flavours too, such as Buffalo Ranch, Katsu Curry and Tikka Masala.
The company is also making good on its promise of bringing its locally produced breakfast sausage – which has been available at restaurants including Mr. Charlie’s in Los Angeles, and Neat and Vegan On the Fly in New York City – to the CPG world. They’re now available for retailers to order in savoury and spicy editions.
Barista oat milk part of multi-category superbrand aim
Courtesy: TiNDLE Foods | Composite by Green Queen
Perhaps the more striking launch is that of the barista oat milk, marking TiNDLE Foods’ entry into the dairy alternatives realm a year after its takeover of Mwah! “Our mission extends beyond plant-based chicken, as we’ve always intended to introduce multiple products across categories,” Recker tells Green Queen. “As a global company, we aim to be a multi-category ‘superbrand,’ as it’s important for us to offer foods that appeal to a wide set of consumers, while excelling when it comes to taste and quality.”
TiNDLE Foods will preview the premium oat milk at Expo West. It has been developed in collaboration with baristas internationally, who have helped fine-tune its steaming, frothing and blending capabilities. The result is a smooth and creamy milk that features an “exceptional stretch and beautiful microfoam”, which the company says rivals dairy.
While the alt-milk launch doesn’t come as a surprise – TiNDLE Foods has always alluded to a multi-category model – it does veer away from the brand’s initial concept for the product. In August, a representative had told Green Queen that the company wouldn’t limit itself to single-ingredient milks (like oat or soy milk). “Instead, our process will be focused on finding the best consistency, flavour, and overall experience – and exploring all types of plant-based ingredients – so it delivers on the same creaminess and taste of cow’s milk,” they explained.
“Our goal is to always look at what may be the right source for the right consistency and creaminess of the product being developed,” Recker says now, explaining why its first dairy alternative is an oat milk. “The Mwah! team’s expertise allowed us to create foods and beverages that emulate the same unique flavor and creaminess that comes from dairy, but using plant-based sources.”
The barista oat milk – whose primary ingredients include water, premium whole oats, sunflower oil and sea salt – is being developed in Italy. “We knew we could create a creamy and indulgent milk product that offered benefits consumers were looking for and may not be able to currently find – such as an oat milk that used pure, whole ingredients and minimal processing,” says Recker.
He adds that the use of whole oats creates “an excellent base in terms of function” and a wow factor for the high standards of baristas, with the product able to perform on par with cow’s milk in coffee. While launch details are under wraps, Recker hints it will be sometime later this year.
TiNDLE Foods also previewed its gelato tech at last year’s Expo West, followed by a market test in select London locations in the spring, which provided a better understanding of the market. “Because of our acquisition of plant-based dairy startup Mwah! last year, we have the R&D capabilities and innovation framework to develop a range of dairy products, including gelato,” Recker notes, before reiterating that the current focus is on the oat milk.
Luring non-dairy drinkers to meat alternatives
Courtesy: TiNDLE Foods
Having raised over $130M to date, TiNDLE Foods – which makes chicken patties, wings, tenders and nuggets, as well as breakfast sausages – has now expanded its foodservice and retail footprint as well, with the US, the UK and Germany being its biggest markets.
Across each of these countries, the company witnessed a sales increase from 2022-23, which Recker ascribes to its retail launch and continued foodservice expansion. This bucked the wider trend among the plant-based meat industry, where giants like Beyond Meat and Quorn have struggled, and startups such as Nowadays, New Wave Foods and Ordinary Seafood have been forced to cease trading.
In the US, retail sales of plant-based meat dipped by 11% to just over $1B in the year ending January 28, 2024, while meat-free products were among the worst-performing grocery categories in the UK, with sales down by £38.4M. “The category is still young and, when compared to that of the animal agriculture and meat industry, it’s still in its infancy,” highlights Recker. “We’re looking to change consumer behaviour at the most emotional and engrained level – shifting daily patterns and eating habits to an entirely different system.”
Dairy alternatives similarly underwent a second consecutive year of decline, with sales volumes falling by 6.6% in the US, totalling 337.7 million gallons in 2023. “We want to be a growth driver for the category and bring consumers, who may be shopping in non-dairy, to plant-based meat,” says Recker. “There’s a great deal of potential to cross-promote between categories and to support our goal to transition to a more plant-based food system.”
He adds: “We need to be diligent as a company and as an industry in getting out the best products possible. So many of the existing products today don’t meet the criteria for consumers when it comes to taste and deliciousness, and so it is vital that we deliver on all of the benefits that animal-based meat can offer today, which include taste, quality, and ultimately lower prices.”
Swiss startup Cultivated Biosciences has secured $5M in seed funding to scale up the development of its yeast-derived fermented cream, in preparation for a 2025 launch in the US.
The financing round – which brings total funding to $6.5M – was led by Dutch VC firm Navus Ventures, with participation from existing investors Founderful, HackCapital and plant-based meat brand Planted founder Lukas Böni, as well as new investors including Joyful VC, Mandi Ventures, and Zürc.
Cultivated Biosciences wants to use the capital for “scaling up production and accelerating collaboration with customers” to bring its yeast-fermented dairy products to market, according to chief commercial officer Lucie Rein.
The Zurich-based startup aims to file dossiers for regulatory approval from the US FDA and the European Food Safety Authority this year, with plans to launch its yeast-derived cream – both across foodservice and retail – in the US next year, and in the EU by 2026. This is because it finds Europe’s regulatory environment – said to be the strictest in the world – too slow for its growth and expansion goals, with the US pathway much more expedient and efficient.
“This funding validates our innovative approach and enables us to introduce our revolutionary yeast cream to the market,” said Cultivated Biosciences CEO Tomas Turner. “We aim to make alternative dairy products appealing to traditional dairy consumers, not just to reduce CO2 emissions from dairy production but also to tap into a multi-billion dollar market opportunity.”
Scaling up will drive Cultivated Biosciences towards price parity
Courtesy: Cultivated Biosciences
Founded in 2021 by Turner and chief technology officer Dimitri Zogg, Cultivated Biosiences takes a unique approach to dairy alternatives. While most fermentation-derived dairy companies are developing proteins to mimic those found in dairy (like whey and casein), the Swiss startup is tapping into fats to deliver a better flavour and textural experience.
It uses biomass fermentation with an oleaginous yeast strain, which accumulates fat during growth. The resulting fat provides the lipids and texture to alt-dairy formulations. Cultivated Biosciences argues that this is a step up from existing non-dairy products on the market, which feature a combination of emulsifiers and texturisers that “don’t exactly replicate the dairy experience”.
Its patented yeast-derived cream, in contrast, is said to mimic “the creaminess, functionality and colour” of its conventional counterpart, alongside improving the texture and stability of non-dairy products, without affecting the flavour.
The functionality is key – a four-country, 1,500-person survey by Kerry last year revealed that sensorial attributes have the most room for improvement for milk alternatives, with 34% of respondents citing it. Moreover, 76% of consumers favour ‘a nice creamy mouthfeel without the dairy’, and 77% find non-dairy products more appealing if they have ‘better body and texture’. The report noted that mouthfeel was one of the major challenges for manufacturers to overcome, with people looking fora cleaner taste experience with a creamy, fatty mouthfeel that replicates conventional dairy.
The cream ingredient – which contains 1% of oat flour – features a microstructure of yeast lipid droplets that resemble milk fat droplets. “Our creamer formulation has the same amount of fat and more protein than the commercial products,” Rein said when asked about the health credentials of the ingredient. “The protein comes from our cream.”
Eduard Meijer, managing director at Navus Ventures, said the ingredient has a “great taste, mouthfeel, versatility and functionality”, and can significantly improve dairy analogues, “with a technology that has the potential to scale economically”.
The company has been able to scale up production to 1,500-litre bioreactors. The latest investment will help it expand manufacturing even further, driving down its product costs. Cultivated Biosciences says it will eventually be possible to produce its cream at price parity with dairy cream at scale, earmarking 2027 for that target.
A B2B model for a range of alt-dairy products
Courtesy: Cultivated Biosciences
Plant-based companies like Silk, Califia Farms and Country Crock all produce their own versions of vegan cream, a $413M market. Cultivated Biosciences’ fat is designed for integration into consumer products, with plans to supply to the food industry through a B2B business model – but it can be used in multiple liquid and semi-liquid applications, including milk, ice cream (where it has validated a strong value proposition), and coffee creamers.
In fact, it demonstrated the latter as a first proof of concept at a MISTA trade event in San Francisco in December. The creamer – which combined its fat ingredient with plant protein, sugar and natural flavourings – was described as “creamy, clean label, white and stable in coffee”, which the company adds is something not offered by “commercially available plant-based creamers”. It additionally bypassed the common problem of curdling in lighter-roasted coffees, without any additives.
Plus, there are environmental advantages too. An internal life-cycle assessment by the startup revealed that its yeast-based cream has a 90% lower carbon footprint than conventional dairy.
Unlike precision-fermented products, Cultivated Biosciences’s fat isn’t molecularly identical to dairy, but instead aims to achieve “functional and sensory parity”. The resulting cream is lactose-free and vegan, but there are still some legislative barriers to overcome. There is no regulatory definition for ‘dairy-free’ in the US, but the rules for ‘non-dairy’ mean that products like cream and coffee creamers can still contain dairy proteins like casein.
This can be confusing to customers. “We are still figuring this one out,” said Rein. “It will be different in Europe and the US. We will be very clearly dairy-free and not using the ‘non-dairy’ term.”
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 Craig’s Vegan’s link-up with TikToker Tinx, a host of alternative protein bans in US states, and a vegan 30 Under 30 recognition.
New products and launches
Californian non-dairy ice cream brand Craig’s Vegan has partnered with TikTok influencer Christina Najjar (aka Tinx) for a limited-time The Tinx Sundae, which features a cashew-based vanilla ice cream topped with brownies, chocolate swirls, and rainbow sprinkles.
Courtesy: Craig’s Vegan
British alt-milk producer Rude Health has introduced an organic version of its barista oat milk, which has been in development for four years. The four-ingredient milk will retail at £2.40 in independent stores and online, beginning March 11.
In the US, alt-milk company Elmhurst 1925 has released four Multi-Serve Latte SKUs in Pistachio Crème, Maple Walnut, Caramel Cashew and Brown Sugar Oat flavours. They’re available online and will roll out in Sprouts locations this March, with a Toasted Vanilla Almond variant set to launch in the spring.
Chinese food company MìLà is gearing up for a limited-edition run of its vegan jackfruit-based soup dumplings in the US, with pre-orders starting March 22 and lasting for about a month.
Meanwhile, Next Level Burger and its now-subsidiaryVeggie Grill have unveiled new limited-time menu offerings for March. The former has a mint-choc-chip-flavoured Lucky Leprechaun Shake, while the latter has a chocolate-flavoured Lucky Leprechaun Velvet Cake. Both have also launched a Spring Steak Salad, and the three items will be available from March 8 through to the end of the month.
Courtesy: Stephanie Kelly Photography
New York-based Beekman 1802, a personal care brand championing goat milk as its base ingredient, has reverse-engineered its products to unveil plant-based alternatives to its range, with a new vegan gel cleanser, toner and moisturiser.
Aussie cleaning brand Wash Wild has launched a line of plant-based household cleaning and body care products – including laundry and dishwashing liquids, toilet cleaner and hand wash – which are formulated with over 99% non-toxic, biodegradable ingredients.
For vegan Greek yoghurt fans, Hong Kong-based soy milk brand Vitasoy has introduced a lemon-flavoured version in Australia, which is available at Woolworths for AU$1.35 per 140g pack.
Hong Kong-based OmniFoods has launched two new ready-to-eat products using its plant-based pork in 7-Eleven stores across the city.
Japanese convenience store chain Family Mart, meanwhile, has rolled out two dishes with Dutch startup The Vegetarian Butcher‘s vegan chicken chunks. They’re available in 2,800 Family Mart stores in Tokyo.
Also in Japan, Azuma Foods has launched a new raw vegan seafood range under its Green Surf brand, which features tuna, salmon and squid made from konjac.
Fellow Dutch plant-based meat producer PLNT (a subsidiary of Jan Zandbergen) will showcase vegan lamb strops and chicken sausages made from pea, wheat and soy protein at trade show Alimentaria in Barcelona (March 18-24).
Courtesy: Konscious Foods
Canadian vegan seafood makerKonscious Foods will unveil three new products – Smoked Salmon, Kimbap Korean Veggie Rice Roll, and Salmon Avocado Roll – at Expo West (March 12-16) in Anaheim, California.
And back in the US, plant-based industry veterans have launched the Earth Pass, a text-based service that delivers weekly discounts from planet-friendly brands across food, fashion, wellness and beauty.
Policy and awards
Two UK school caterers have won the inaugural national ProVeg School Plates Awards for climate-friendly menus. Waltham Forest Catering, which services 43 institutions, took the honour for public schools, while Plant Based School Kitchens won in the private school category for its menu at Our Lady of Sion school in Worthing.
In Ohio, Kent State University has pledged to serve 30% vegan meals in both its residential and retail operations by 2026, in collaboration with the Humane Society’s Forward Food programme, which will train the school’s culinary team this semester.
Meanwhile, as part of the same programme, half of all campus meals at the University of Texasare now plant-based, a year ahead of the 2025 goal.
The University of Arkansas is hiring a senior research scientist to help launch an alternative protein centre of excellence, with the facility expected to facilitate pilot-level cultivated meat production and host emerging startups looking for space to build out their tech.
Courtesy: BlueNalu
US producer BlueNalu has become the first cultivated seafood company to join the National Fisheries Institute. It will also serve as a founding member of its inaugural Sushi Council.
The West Virginia House has passed a bill that requires vegan, fungi-based and cultivated meat products to be labelled with one of multiple terms, including ‘imitation’, ‘analogue’, ‘meatless’ or ‘plant-based’.
Similarly, the senate in Iowa has passed a bill mandating plant-based and cultivated meat products to carry labels like ‘meatless’ and ‘imitation’ as well.
Florida’s senate has voted to approve a bill that would ban the sale and production of cultivated meat in the state, which will now go to the House for deliberation. Governor Ron DeSantis has been staunch in his support for the ban.
Over in Europe, France has officially banned the use of meat-like terms on plant-based products, including ‘cutlets’, ‘bacon’, ‘sausage’ and ‘steaks’.
In Denmark, meanwhile, meat processor Danish Crown was found in violation of consumer marketing law by the Danish Western High Court, which ruled that its ‘climate-controlled’ pork was misleading. The suit was filed by the Danish Climate Movement and the Vegetarian Society of Denmark.
Courtesy: Forbes
Hungarian vegan activist Raul Vida, meanwhile, has become the first plant-based advocate to appear on the country’s Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
In the US, TIME Magazine and Statista have named mycelium protein producer The Better Meat Co as one of the country’s Top GreenTech companies in their inaugural ranking.
Finance, business and research developments
British cocoa-free chocolate producer WNWN Food Labs has refreshed its B2B and trade branding to Win-Win, with the new logo and packaging a nod to its mission of creating a “win-win situation for cocoa farmers, food producers, consumers, and the planet”.
After pulling out of the UK market last year, Nestléhas discontinued its pea milk brand Wunda, with its products withdrawn from the Netherlands and its website shut.
San Antonio-based vegan eatery Plantology has launched a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign to save the restaurant from closure, with a target of $80,000.
In Los Angeles, plant-based omakase restaurant Kusaki has reopened after a four-month hiatus with a new Kaiseki-influenced menu, featuring dishes like Maitake Wontons, Watermelon Granita Nigiri, and Crispy Garlic Tuna Sashimi.
Courtesy: Kusaki
The Canadian government’s alternative-protein-focused innovation hub Protein Industries Canada has invested C$7.3M ($5.4M) to help Avena Foods create plant-based ingredients. The C$19.2M ($14.2M) project will see the oat producer develop oat and pulse ingredients for Big Mountain Foods, Danone Canada and Old Dutch.
In Catalonia, the government is investing €12M in a facility located in Alcarràs, Lleida that will help companies with R&D and pre-industrial manufacturing of alt-protein ingredients.
In more funding news, Australia’s Food and Beverage Accelerator and the Queensland University of Technology are injecting AU$3.9M ($2.6M) to transform its renewable biocommodities plant into a precision fermentation facility.
San Francisco-based vegan dog food brand PawCo has raised $2M in a seed funding round, which it will use to open a second production facility in the midwest, expand R&D efforts, and develop new recipes and marketing tactics.
Biotech startup Van Heron Labs, which leverages advanced tech like genomics, bioinformatics, artificial intelligence and nanotechnology to improve how cells are cultured and harnessed, has closed a $1.1M seed funding round led by FoodLabs.
Mercy for Animals has unveiled a new Chipotle Exposed investigative campaign to highlight animal cruelty at one of the fast-casual chain’s chicken suppliers.
Finally, a new study by the University of Exeter and meat-free giant Quorn has revealed that swapping animal protein for mycoprotein products can reduce LDL cholesterol by 10%, and total ‘bad’ cholesterol by 6%.
Israeli food tech company Yo Egg is launching its vegan sunny-side-ups and poached eggs in US retail, starting with stores in Los Angeles, before a nationwide move next year.
A year after making its foodservice debut in Los Angeles, Yo Egg is moving into retail with its vegan fried and poached eggs, starting with the west coast.
Headquartered in Los Angeles, the startup will introduce its plant-based eggs in the city through a distribution deal with Whitestone Natural Foods. This will mean its products – which are priced at $6.99 for a four-pack – will be available in the freezers of Hanks Organic, Besties Vegan Paradise, Rainbow Acres Natural Foods, Follow Your Heart Market and PlantX (XMarket Venice), among others.
The company then plans to expand into California, New York and eventually nationwide next year. “We’re starting small with individual operators in the better-for-you natural foods category,” Yo Egg CEO Eran Groner told AgFunderNews. “Then we’re targeting regional players such as Bristol Farms, before going after accounts such as Sprouts and Whole Foods.”
Pondering co-manufacturing to scale up vegan egg production
Courtesy: Yo Egg
Founded in 2021 by Groner and chef Yosefa Ben Cohen – who had developed the eggs with both restaurants and home cooks in mind – Yo Egg is the world’s first startup creating vegan fried and poached eggs, complete with runny yolks.
Unlike other plant-based egg companies, which either produce a powdered version or liquid eggs to make omelettes and scrambles, Yo Egg focuses on pre-prepped frozen sunny-side-up and poached eggs that can be boiled or fried. Made from a base of sunflower oil and chickpea and soy protein, the eggs leverage the startup’s patent-pending tech for whites and yolks (which are sealed using alginate, a seaweed extract).
The egg white system enables Yo Egg to produce the ideal structure for each format, and can be fried, poached or boiled. “It’s all about the phasing, timing and temperatures, not just the recipe, so it would be very hard to reverse-engineer it,” Groner explained.
Meanwhile, the company can make 50,000 yolks each day with a single piece of equipment. “In a room that’s 200 square feet, we can have four such machines, so that’s 200,000 yolks per day, which – if you do the math – is already a scaled egg farm in the United States if you have 200,000 birds laying eggs,” he noted.
Yo Egg currently has a pilot facility in North Hollywood, with which it can already compete with the prices of market leader Just Egg, whose scale is way higher (it recently announced the sale of the equivalent of 500 million eggs). But Groner, who said the company is hoping to bring retail prices down to $5.99 per pack, floated the idea of using a co-manufacturer too. “We would make the egg whites and the yolks and the co-manufacturer would form the egg, and we provide the plug-and-play equipment for that process. They form the egg and then they cook it, freeze it and package it,” he said.
“This way, we maintain the IP, the recipe and the protocol of mixing, and the yolk manufacturing using our specialised equipment,” he added, stating that after line testing with “a fairly big manufacturer”, the eggs came out better than what Yo Egg’s own equipment can deliver.
Yo Egg’s foodservice-first strategy
Courtesy: Yo Egg
Yo Egg, which has raised over $5M in funding, made its debut in US foodservice last February, targeting brunch spots in Los Angeles, including Real Food Daily, Flore Vegan, Swingers Diner, Coyote Grill, and Loma Linda’s Vegan District Asian Eatery.
This was followed by a nationwide launch in April, with Yo Egg appearing on the menu at restaurants like Coletta and Beyond Sushi, and even the offices of Google. Its poached and sunny-side-up offerings are also part of menu options at fast-casual chain Veggie Grill (now owned by Next Level Burger).
This foodservice-first approach is a tried-and-tested strategy in the plant-based sector. Oatly, for example, debuted in the US through specialty coffee shops, with word of mouth and barista approval stamps propelling it to widespread popularity before its retail launch. A similar route to market was taken by plant-based meat giant Impossible Foods, which has an outstanding foodservice record and was specified by Groner as a reference point for Yo Egg.
“There are definitely advantages in launching a brand in foodservice before you go into retail. It’s easier to iterate quickly in foodservice, get rapid feedback, and iterate again. It doesn’t work like that in retail,” he explained. “What people like is that we’re going after every format of eggs. We’re starting with fried and poached eggs and we’re planning to launch a patty next quarter, where we already have major accounts signed up. This will be followed by hard-boiled eggs later this year, and a liquid yolk product next year.”
Yo Egg will hope these innovations allow it to take a large slice of the vegan egg market, which is currently dominated by Just Egg (it represents 99% of all sales in the sector). Other retail players include Follow Your Heart, Hodo, Simply Eggless, WunderEggs and Neat Egg, alongside private-label offerings from Target and Kroger – but succeeding in this space is tough. Plant-based eggs make up just 0.5% of the total US egg market, as of 2022. In terms of units, while plant-based eggs grew by sevenfold between 2019-22 to reach 10 million sales, animal-based egg sales were around 2.3 billion.
Additionally, the number of American households buying plant-based eggs was just 2% in 2022 – but the sector has outpaced dollar sales growth for animal-derived eggs, growing by 348% versus 67% for the latter from 2019-22, albeit with a much smaller base. So there has definitely been progress, but there’s room for a lot of progress too, given the scale of the conventional egg industry.
“Consumers like the fact that animals are not involved and it’s better for the environment, but what really drives consumption is you have a third of the saturated fat, zero cholesterol, and less sodium [compared to chicken eggs],” explained Groner. “And foodservice operators love the fact that finally, they have a plant-based option on their menu that they can be proud of. It’s a surprising, innovative, versatile product.”
