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Category: Future Foods

  • With Kids’ Meals in Focus, 75% of US Parents Find Blended Meat A Healthy Fast-Food Option

    perdue chicken plus
    8 Mins Read

    Kid-focused meals in fast-food restaurants are unhealthy and increasingly expensive, but parents believe blending meat with plants could be a real win-win.

    As the state of kids’ meals in schools dominates headlines in the US and internationally, a new report presents a healthier solution in another key setting: fast-food chains.

    Nine in 10 American parents take their children to a fast-food restaurant at least once a month, and 85% say specific options for their kids – like a Happy Meal at McDonald’s – are essential to making an outlet kid-friendly.

    The problem is, 72% of kids’ meals at the top 50 chains fail to meet expert nutrition standards, prompting local governments to step in with regulations mandating a portion of fruits and vegetables or a lean protein as the entrée.

    Today, 58% of parents want healthier items on kids’ menus, and nearly half want more variety. Plus, a third are looking for more affordable options, given that major chains like Chick-fil-A, Popeyes, and McDonald’s have raised kids’ meal prices by around 60% over the last decade.

    And though 85% of Americans say nutrition is the top priority for their children’s diets, the same number struggle to get their kids to eat healthier food. Moreover, 82% of parents say taste is a major purchasing driver of foods for their children.

    The research, conducted by non-profit Food Systems Innovation (FSI), points to a “seamless solution” to these issues: balanced proteins. These products combine meat with at least 30% plant-based ingredients to offer health, flavour, and environmental advantages – and parents seem happy to embrace them.

    Why parents are lapping up blended meat

    hybrid meat
    Courtesy: Food Systems Innovation

    Proponents of blended proteins argue that by replacing some of the meat with plant proteins or vegetables, you can reduce saturated fat and cholesterol levels, and increase fibre. Additionally, it reduces the climate impact of these products, as animal proteins account for nearly 60% of the food system’s emissions.

    Crucially, there is little to no trade-off in the taste experience. Sensory testing by Nectar, an FSI subsidiary, suggests that over 50% of omnivores found 11 of 22 blended protein products as good or better-tasting than conventional meat. In fact, three were ranked as better-tasting than 100% meat by a majority of participants, and one was preferred equally to beef.

    FSI surveyed 300 American parents to gauge their thoughts on blended meat for kids, and 80% said they found the concept appealing in a fast-food setting. Three in four agreed that balanced proteins can get their young ones to eat healthier, and would choose restaurants that serve these options over those that don’t.

    “Nutrition is a top concern for parents, but it constantly runs up against real-world trade-offs like what their child will actually eat, how much time they have to prepare it, and what they can afford. Balanced Proteins help bridge that gap,” Tim Dale, category innovation director at FSI, tells Green Queen.

    “They add meaningful nutrients, like fibre, without changing the taste, texture, or familiarity of the foods kids already love. For parents, that means fewer mealtime battles and less guilt, and for kids, it means the same burgers and nuggets they already enjoy. It’s an easy win on both sides of the table.”

    Americans are happy to pay more for balanced proteins

    blended meat
    Courtesy: Food Systems Innovation

    Interestingly, 58% of parents say they’d shell out more for a blended meat option in restaurant settings, with 12% happy to pay significantly more. In fact, less than 5% suggest that they’ll only consider balanced proteins if they’re cheaper.

    “There’s always a gap between what consumers say and what they actually do, but we’ve already seen proof points in retail showing that parents are willing to pay slightly more for products that deliver clear value,” explains Dale.

    He believes the results show parents intuitively understand why blended meats exist. “The value proposition is clear and compelling: better nutrition, same great taste, familiar foods their kids already love,” he says.

    “There’s a common analogy that gets thrown around in startup communities – you want to sell pain relievers, not supplements. Balanced proteins are a pain reliever. They solve a real problem for parents: getting kids to eat healthier foods without a fight. When a product makes family meals healthier and still enjoyable, a small price premium is justified in many parents’ minds.”

    In terms of product format, the research shows that multiple products exhibit interest levels above 45%. The most popular items are chicken nuggets, which 77% of parents would likely choose for their kids, followed closely by burgers.

    “They’re familiar, easy to trust, and already part of the restaurant routine,” says Dale. “That said, parents are increasingly attentive to ingredient quality.” In FSI’s qualitative interviews, some parents voiced concerns about overly processed foods or unfamiliar ingredients.

    “If I were a restaurant looking to introduce a balanced protein kids’ meal, I’d focus on three things. Message reassurance: highlight that it’s still the meat your kid knows and loves. Deliver a clear nutritional improvement, such as more fibre or leaner protein. Keep the ingredient list simple and recognisable.”

    Perdue, Disneyland and others show the way forward

    blended meat kids
    50/50 Foods’s Both burger is on the menu at Disneyland | Courtesy: Andrew Arentowicz/LinkedIn

    FSI highlighted three case studies that prove the potential of blended meat for children. These include Perdue Farms’s Chicken Plus range (developed with The Better Meat Co), Disneyland’s launch of 50/50 Foods’s Both Burger, and Fable Food’s mushroom-beef meatballs for Little Spoon’s kid-centric pasta meal.

    “Perdue nailed the messaging,” notes Dale. “By communicating vegetable content volumetrically (‘1/4 cup of vegetables per serving’) instead of by percentage, they met USDA labelling requirements and reinforced a key consumer perception that it’s an additive story, not a subtraction story. It’s the same chicken, now with more nutritious ingredients included.

    “Disney and 50/50 Foods showed how to bring this concept to life on menus. Their naming and presentation are fun, familiar, and craveable. The Meteorite Medley Burger doesn’t communicate sacrifice or compromise – it’s just an enticing name that will pique your interest.

    “Little Spoon and Fable Food understood the parent mindset perfectly. Their Fable shiitake-infused meatballs make it effortless for busy parents to add more fibre and nutrition to mealtime, while simplifying routines and minimising resistance from kids.”

    Clearly, there’s a lot of room for success, so what’s holding restaurants back from introducing blended meat? Dale says foodservice operators have a few key questions. Who’s this for? Who’s going to want it? And how will this work operationally?

    “This report is meant to address that first question head-on, showing clear evidence that there’s a real market opportunity for balanced proteins in kids’ meals. Parents are asking for healthier, familiar options, and balanced proteins meet that need directly,” he argues.

    “On the operational side, hesitation is understandable. In a period of economic uncertainty, many chains are cautious about adopting new product categories. My recommendation is to start small through limited-time offers or structured store tests in order to evaluate customer response and operational fit.”

    While FSA hasn’t conducted formal sensory tests with children, Dale says the continued success of products like Perdue Chicken Plus and KidFresh’s chicken meatballs and nuggets reinforces the category’s taste potential: “When taste is familiar and the product looks like the foods kids already love, acceptance tends to follow quickly.”

    How restaurants can integrate blended proteins

    healthy kids meals
    Courtesy: Little Spoon

    According to Dale, the biggest mistake restaurant chains can make is leading with novelty instead of what’s tried and tested. “Parents don’t want to gamble on a product their kids might reject, and kids themselves often drive the meal choice, with parents simply approving the final call. That dynamic makes reassurance and fun equally important,” he says.

    He urges operators to retain classic formats like burgers and nuggets and name them in an exciting, not confusing way. “Instead of a ‘hybrid meat + plant burger’, call it something like the Mighty Mix Burger or Power Bites,” he suggests.

    “Reassure parents. Use the menu and visuals to make clear that this is the same meat their kids already love – just with added nutrition. Lean on phrases like ‘100% real beef with added veggies’ or ‘made better for growing kids’.”

    It’s also important to feature crave-worthy photos, taste-test videos, or real-parent testimonials to reinforce a taste-first experience. “Lower the stakes for trial. Offer samples, coupons, or satisfaction guarantees to make parents feel safe testing something new,” adds Dale.

    “Above all, position the product as an upgrade to a family favourite – not a replacement or moral choice. When you make it easy, tasty, and joyful, both parents and kids will say yes.”

    The research comes at a time when children’s nutrition, particularly in schools, is a hot topic in food policy. In the US, the Trump administration’s funding cuts to food assistance programmes will make it harder for children to access nutritious food, in contrast with the MAHA movement’s promise of healthier food for kids.

    On a global level, increased government spending has led to a major hike in the number of children receiving free school meals (up by 80 million since 2020), but at the same time, Unesco is calling for more nutritious food options and the inclusion of food education in school curricula.

    Some countries are already emphasising the protein transition. Schools in Spain are now legally required to serve fruits, vegetables and vegan meals as part of their lunches, and Taiwanese legislators are asking the government to add plant-based meat to school meals.

    And a study led by the Scottish government has concluded that replacing meat and dairy with plant-based alternatives can help the nation achieve its health and climate goals.

    The post With Kids’ Meals in Focus, 75% of US Parents Find Blended Meat A Healthy Fast-Food Option appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Food & Climate Experts React to Landmark Eat-Lancet 2.0 Report

    eat lancet report
    7 Mins Read

    As reactions pour in to the Eat-Lancet Commission’s updated report on the future of food systems, calls for businesses and governments to take action appear to be a common thread.

    A landmark report reinforcing the potential of plant-rich diets to improve public health, planetary wellbeing, and food justice has prompted cautiously optimistic reactions from experts across the world.

    The Eat-Lancet Commission’s 2.0 report, released last week, stated that the Planetary Health Diet could prevent 27% of early deaths from happening globally, reduce emissions by over a third with supportive policies, and lower the amount people spend on food.

    Currently, less than 1% of the population is in a “safe and just space”, where their rights and food needs are met within planetary boundaries. And the richest 30% of people drive over 70% of food-related environmental impacts.

    So things need to shift fast and hard across the food system, from the supply chain to policymaking. That’s the consensus of leading food and climate experts across the world.

    ‘Still work to do,’ notes Proveg leader Jasmijn de Boo

    planetary health diet
    Courtesy: The Lancet

    “Whilst we warmly welcome the latest update to the Planetary Health Diet, it is clear there is still much work to be done to ensure countries incorporate the recommendations of this diet into their national dietary guidelines together with an effective implementation strategy,” said Jasmijn de Boo, global CEO of ProVeg International.

    She noted that food environments can be shaped in many ways beyond just dietary guidelines to help make healthy and sustainable choices much easier.

    “For example, the Protein Tracker in the Netherlands, which is guided by the Planetary Health Diet, sets targets for retailers to increase the amount of plant-based protein on their shelves. We also see, in the UK, the School Plates programme that has introduced more plant-based foods into schools,” she said.

    “So the implementation of the Planetary Health Diet requires policymakers, business and society to work together.”

    ‘We need a new tone,’ argues food policy expert Jack A Bobo

    “For too long, food system change has been framed as sacrifice – less choice, less prosperity, less future. That narrative doesn’t inspire action; it fuels apathy,” wrote Jack A Bobo, executive director of the Rothman Family Institute for Studies at UCLA, and a former senior advisor for global food policy at the US Department of State.

    “We need a new tone,” he remarked. “Stop asking people to sacrifice for the future, start asking them to embrace it. Stop leading with fear, start leading with hope. Stop dividing people, start inviting them in.”

    ‘Puts people front and centre,’ enthuses law professor Chris Hildon

    Chris Hilson, a professor of law at the University of Reading, said the report stood out for its focus on fairness. “At a time when expert advice often gets dismissed as out of touch, it puts people front and centre,” he noted.

    “When we talk about tackling climate change, most people think about switching from coal and oil to wind and solar power. But this report shows that what we eat is just as vital,” he added.

    “Any changes to how we grow and eat food must ensure farmers can make a decent living, everyone can afford nutritious meals, and no communities get left behind.”

    ‘The real work isn’t political; it’s cultural,” suggests food futurist Mike Lee

    eat lancet diet
    Courtesy: Eat-Lancet Commission

    “The Commission got the science right and the humans completely wrong,” argued Mike Lee, a food futurist and author. “We keep trying to convince people with carbon footprints and sustainability metrics when the actual battle is against Frito-Lay scientists who’ve spent decades perfecting the exact crunch-to-salt ratio that triggers compulsive snacking.”

    “You can’t tax people into wanting vegetables. Denmark tried – their fat tax worked, cutting saturated fat consumption by 10-15%, then got killed after 15 months because it became politically toxic,” he added. “The real work isn’t policy. It’s culinary. It’s cultural.”

    “We need the same maniacal, obsessive rigour applied to lentils that goes into engineering Cheetos. Until brown rice and legumes can compete with products scientifically designed to be irresistible, your climate impact stays at zero.”

    ‘Supermarkets need to act,’ highlights Madre Brava co-founder Nico Muzi

    Nico Muzi, co-founder and chief programmes officer of Madre Brava, highlighted that the report made it “crystal clear” that we need to eat more plants and cut back on meat, dairy, sugar and salt.

    “The plant-rich diet proposed is very flexible, allowing it to be adapted to local tastes and cultural norms, and is more affordable than current unhealthy and unsustainable diets,” he said.

    “We now need supermarket giants, who largely determine what food is produced and how it is produced, to act and support consumers in making healthy, sustainable, affordable food choices in line with the Planetary Health Diet.”

    ‘The challenge is scaling what works,’ remarks WRI director Anne Border

    “The report drives home a vital truth: healthy, sustainable eating isn’t just a personal choice – it’s shaped by the systems that put food on our plates every day,” said Anne Bordier, director of food initiatives at the World Resources Institute.

    “It’s the responsibility of food providers and policymakers to make healthy diets with a low carbon footprint the easy, affordable, and irresistible option for all.

    “Meeting climate and nutrition goals won’t happen overnight. It takes smart investment, persistence, creativity and real collaboration,” she added. “The challenge now is scaling what works – making healthy, sustainable food the default, not the exception.”

    ‘An improvement on the 2019 Eat-Lancet report,’ observes nutrition lecturer Dr Anne Mullen

    eat lancet
    Courtesy: Eat-Lancet Commission

    Dr Anne Mullen, a lecturer in nutrition security and sustainable food systems at the University of Galway, said the original report (published in 2019) raised many questions about justice and equity, and whether a shift towards the Planetary Health Diet was feasible across the world.

    “This time round, Eat Lancet 2.0 doubles down with its agenda for human and planetary health – providing a high level of robust science to support the Planetary Health Diet,” she noted.

    “The adoption of this diet will remain controversial, no doubt, in terms of its feasibility. But the report hits really strong notes in addressing some of the previous criticisms. It includes a much-needed focus on justice and human rights related to food systems, clarity on the nature of plant-based foods, and emphasis on the importance of food environments that promote healthy diets.”

    ‘A step in the right dietary direction,’ declares The Vegan Society dietitian Emily Angus

    The Vegan Society welcomed the report and called its recognition “that a vegan diet is a healthy and environmentally sustainable one” a key message.

    “The most authoritative expert body on global diet has affirmed that we must eat much more fruit, vegetables and other plant-based foods and less meat in order to save the planet and protect our health,” said Emily Angus, a senior dietitian at the charity.

    “The Vegan Society believes meat, dairy and fish must be off the plate completely and replaced by a healthy, balanced, plant-based diet but, nevertheless, the 2025 Eat-Lancet Commission report is a further step in the right dietary direction,” she added. “Nothing is more important for the health of our planet and its population than good food.”

    ‘Dietary change isn’t enough,’ says British Nutrition Foundation’s Sara Stanner

    Sara Stanner, science director at the British Nutrition Foundation, echoed the Eat-Lancet Commission’s call for a multi-level transformation of the food system.

    “Changing what’s on our plates isn’t enough – we also need more sustainable agricultural production and to dramatically reduce food waste, so innovation is likely to be a key part of the solution,” she said.

    However, she contested one key aspect of the report. “An important question to consider is whether the promotion of traditional diets, as encouraged by Eat-Lancet 2.0, can truly fit within a rapidly changing world – one in which women are playing an increasingly central role in the workforce,” noted Stanner.

    “Also, what policies and initiatives for manufacturers, retailers and the out-of-home sector are likely to be most effective at achieving change at the pace and scale we need?”

    ‘Watch out for the meat industry,’ warns Changing Markets CEO Nusa Urbancic

    planetary health diet
    Courtesy: Changing Markets Foundation/X

    Ahead of the report’s launch, the Changing Markets Foundation published an investigation highlighting the livestock lobby’s efforts to undermine the original Eat-Lancet document. It showed that industry-linked influencers had already begun planting the seeds to discredit the 2.0 report.

    According to its CEO, Nusa Urbancic, the new findings display the “clear scientific message the meat industry does not want you to hear, so there will be attempts to attack the findings”.

    “The meat industry has been planning to mount a communications campaign relying on identity politics and online influencers, modelled on the backlash against [the] 2019 Eat-Lancet report that managed to sway undecided audiences,” she said.

    “With the backsliding of content moderation on social media platforms and the rise of far-right opinion leaders, manosphere [sic] pushing [the] popularity of carnivorous diets and protein obsession, this is something we should all keep an eye on.”

    The post Food & Climate Experts React to Landmark Eat-Lancet 2.0 Report appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Future Food Quick Bites: American Airlines, Pizza Hut & Chickpea Chunks

    american airlines just egg
    4 Mins Read

    Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers American Airlines’s Just Egg scramble, Chanza’s chickpea protein chunks, and Pizza Hut’s The Vegetarian Butcher collab.

    New products and launches

    In the US, American Airlines has partnered with Eat Just to add a new vegan breakfast option featuring a Just Egg scramble, hash browns, non-dairy cheese, and vegetables. It’s available on select morning flights between Los Angeles and New York in premium economy class.

    la vie sausages
    Courtesy: La Vie

    As part of its Apéro Veggie range, French plant-based meat firm La Vie has launched mini dried sausages, dried chorizos, and chiffonades of ham, which are available at Végétal Food and Official Vegan Shop, and soon at Monoprix, Franprix, Auchan Retail, Carrefour, E Leclerc, and Intermarché.

    Texas-based vegan snacking brand All Y’Alls Foods has brought its vegan jerky brand, It’s Jerky Y’all, to Europe, landing on Amazon’s online store in Germany, the UK, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Poland, Belgium, and Ireland.

    it's jerky y'all
    Courtesy: All Y’Alls Foods

    UK vegan brand Squeaky Bean has launched two new pies with a base of fermented vegetables. The braised veggie pie and Spanish chorizo-style pie are available at Tesco for £3.75.

    Meanwhile, juice machine supplier iSqueeze has partnered with US company Numilk to launch a plant-based milk dispenser in the UK, complete with recyclable pouches that take up eight times less storage space.

    rude health pistachio milk
    Courtesy: Rude Health

    British plant-based milk maker Rude Health has unveiled two premium barista milks made from hazelnuts and pistachios, which are blended with an oat base. They will be stocked in Waitrose from October 12 for a hefty £3.95 per one-litre pack.

    In Belgium, Pizza Hut has partnered with JBS-owned The Vegetarian Butcher to add Crumble Delight, a plant-based beef crumble pizza, to its menu. The chain is also selling the brand’s vegan chicken nuggets.

    chickpea protein
    Courtesy: Shandi Global

    And Singaporean plant-based startup Shandi Global has debuted Chanza, a new chickpea protein brand in India, starting with a whole chickpea protein designed as an alternative to meat, paneer and soy chunks. It contains 32g of protein per serving.

    Company and finance updates

    New York-based vegan discovery box service Vegancuts has been acquired from gift company Bunny James by an all-vegan team of entrepreneurs, including Vegpreneur’s Noah Hyams, Meetup.com co-founder Peter Kamali, and investor Ajay Arora.

    British vegan pet food startup Omni has filed and published a patent for a wet cat food product that blends cultivated chicken with plant proteins and starches to form meaty chunks in gravy.

    weight loss dog food
    Courtesy: Omni Pet

    London-based New Wave Biotech has partnered with the UK’s Centre for Process Innovation to apply hybrid AI-powered simulations to optimise both solvent and non-solvent lipid extraction.

    US biotech startup Checkerspot has teamed up with Bulgaria’s Huvepharma to produce the former’s fermentation-derived high sn-2 palmitate algal oil at industrial scale. The microalgea-derived ingredient closely replicates triglyceride structures found in human milk fat, and poses an alternative to palm-oil-based formula.

    Policy, research and awards

    US Senators John Fetterman and Joni Ernst have reintroduced the Consistent Egg Labels Act, a bipartisan bill calling on the FDA to restrict the use of egg-related terms on the labelling of plant-based alternative products.

    greggs vegan
    Courtesy: Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems

    Forget vegan labels – the best way to get people to choose a plant-based option may be to highlight the protein content instead, as demonstrated by the Better Protein Institute in a study centred on UK fast-food chain Greggs.

    Cellular Agriculture Australia has teamed up with the Australian National University‘s Agrifood Innovation Institute and National Security College to urge the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry to spotlight biotechnology in every aspect of its upcoming national security strategy.

    apricot kernel milk chocolate
    Courtesy: Chocolat Stella

    Austrian food tech firm Kern Tec‘s upcycled apricot kernel butter and chocolate have been named among this year’s top 10 innovations at the Anuga Taste Innovation Show.

    Finally, US carbon butter maker Savor and German whole-cut plant-based meat player Project Eaden have been named in Norrsken Foundation‘s Impact/100 list of the most promising early-stage startups.

    Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.

    The post Future Food Quick Bites: American Airlines, Pizza Hut & Chickpea Chunks appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Quorn Owner Posts 9% Sales Decline, But Cuts Losses by 45% Amid Foodservice Success

    quorn sales
    4 Mins Read

    Quorn parent Marlow Foods has recorded a 9% decline in sales amid weakening demand in the UK and US, but nearly halved its losses in 2024, with its foodservice offering a bright spot.

    One of the world’s largest and foremost meat-free companies is continuing to face the pressures of weakening consumer demand for alternative proteins.

    Marlow Foods, the Monde Nissin-owned parent company of Quorn and Cauldron Foods, saw sales fall by 9% to £187M in 2024. This was driven by an 11% decline in the retail space, where the company remains the market leader with a 32% share.

    The company ascribed the performance to “a continued decline in the meat-free retail category in the UK and US markets, driven by the cost-of-living crisis”.

    At the same time, it saw positive results in the foodservice category (albeit from a much smaller base), and brought overall annual post-tax losses down from £50.7M to £27.9M, a near-45% drop. That said, the company has now lost over £100M in the last three years.

    “2024 was a challenging year, but our focus is firmly on the future,” said Marlow Foods CEO Nick Cooper. “We’re encouraged by the early signs of progress in executing our Transform to Win Together plan, and we are excited to be the brand to bring fresh innovation and energy back into the category. With the backing of our owners, we’re confident in the path ahead.”

    KFC and Greggs partnerships give Quorn a boost

    kfc vegan
    Courtesy: KFC

    Though retail makes up over 80% of Marlow Foods’s revenue, it benefited from several partnerships on the restaurant front. Its QSR sales were up by 3% to £6M, with growth coming from KFC in Europe and successful campaigns with Greggs in the UK.

    The group’s foodservice sales rose by 2.5%, reaching £28.6M, building on the progress of its newly launched QuornPro division. Likewise, the Marlow Ingredients brand for B2B customers saw revenues hit £400,000, a 33% jump from 2023.

    “The numbers highlight the well-documented pressures in the UK meat-free category,” said Cooper. “But there were bright spots: growth in foodservice, a significant reduction in pre-tax losses to £28M (from £63M in 2023), and strong cash generation of almost £13M thanks to supply chain efficiencies.”

    He added that the loss figure included £12M of one-off costs tied to the start of the turnaround, leaving a £16M underlying pre-tax loss, an improvement on 2023. “Support from our parent Monde Nissin further bolstered the balance sheet, with £27M of funding used to cut debt,” noted Cooper.

    The results, which largely predate the arrival of current CEO David Flochel, show that Marlow Foods’ annual underlying gross profit was 7% lower in 2024, largely due to lower sales volumes. However, supply chain cost control offset the impact of lower production volumes, increasing the underlying gross margin from 0.3% in 2023 to 21% in 2024.

    Moreover, Quorn magnified its focus on its cash on hand, which increased by 21% to reach nearly £21M. “This performance was driven by a reduction in inventories and reduced supply chain cycle times while preserving high customer service levels,” the company wrote in its financial filing.

    Marlow Foods is already seeing a momentum shift in 2025

    quorn revenue
    Courtesy: Quorn

    Quorn and Cauldron’s performance mirrors the wider challenges faced by the meat-free sector in the UK and the US, where sales fell by 10% and 7%, respectively, in 2024.

    In response, Marlow Foods initiated the aforementioned Transform to Win Together plan. Over the next two years, the programme will aim to increase operating agility and cost efficiency, return the business to profitability, and generate funds for future growth.

    The initiative saw the company restructure its UK operations, streamlining commercial and R&D, as well as preserving key innovation and customer-facing capabilities. Moreover, it kick-started an effort to make its supply chain more efficient and flexible via upskilling of teams and improved flow between locations.

    According to Cooper, Quorn and Cauldron are already witnessing a momentum shift this year. The decline in sales has slowed, with the company recording a 6% decrease in Q1 and a 5% decrease in Q2. Meanwhile, it has gained further market share by 1.6 percentage points in the UK.

    “Underlying losses have narrowed, and core EBITDA was positive in [the first half of 2025], supported by further efficiency gains, and an additional £18M capital has been injected from Monde Nissin,” he said.

    “As the UK’s number one meat-free brand, we are also stepping up our consumer engagement. 2025 has already seen a string of successful campaigns, from Meals in Minutes in January to summer’s Mission Snack Swap, which drove double-digit growth of our Quorn snacking range,” he added.

    “New-look Quorn Mince and Pieces, now free from artificial ingredients, also hit shelves in September, and our biggest frozen campaign in more than four years kicks off in October. We’re embarking on a ten-week mission, which includes TV, VOD, social, influencers, podcasts and PR set to reach millions of consumers.

    “We’ll also be dishing up our biggest-ever shopper marketing campaign in over 1,500 supermarkets in the UK, reaching shoppers at up to eight different touchpoints on their path to purchase.”

    Marlow Foods will hope that the marketing drive and restructured operations can further narrow losses and gain new consumers in a fast-moving alternative protein landscape.

    The post Quorn Owner Posts 9% Sales Decline, But Cuts Losses by 45% Amid Foodservice Success appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • This Japanese Dairy Giant is Embracing A Sustainable Protein from Alfalfa Leaves

    leaft foods rubisco
    4 Mins Read

    Tokyo-based dairy major Lacto Japan has teamed up with New Zealand startup Leaft Foods to bring its Rubisco protein to the East Asian country.

    A Japanese dairy giant is betting on a leaf-derived protein with an amino acid profile superior to whey.

    Lacto Japan has partnered with Leaft Foods, a New Zealand-based food tech firm, to commercialise the latter’s Rubsico protein in the local market.

    Rubisco, described as the world’s most abundant protein, is found in the leaves – not seeds – of green plants. Leaft Foods derives its ingredient from alfalfa, delivering a complete protein with significant functional, nutritional and environmental gains.

    “It is not every day that you discover such an exciting new protein,” said Takeshi Shimizu, Oceania general manager at Lacto Japan. “What impressed us most was not only the protein system itself, but the fact that we have been able to work with it in a range of promising applications from the start.”

    He added: “The quality, texture and flavour of the foods produced meet the exceptionally high standards that Japanese consumers expect.”

    Rubisco offers superior benefits to whey protein

    leaft blade
    Courtesy: Leaft Foods

    Scientists have been attempting to extract Rubisco from green leaves for over a century, but most efforts destroyed its delicate structure and rendered it worthless. Leaft Foods says it has developed a gentle, food-safe process that preserves protein integrity and unlocks its full potential.

    Its Rubisco protein isolate is rich in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and micronutrients. The ingredient outperforms plant proteins like pea and soy, as well as animal-derived incumbents such as whey, offering a superior amino acid profile and generating 97% fewer greenhouse gases than the dairy protein.

    From a functionality viewpoint, Rubisco boasts foaming, gelling and emulsification properties, setting just like egg whites in baked goods and posing as a clean-label alternative to methylcellulose in plant-based meat.

    This performance, the company argues, is delivered through a “commercialised production system that is backed by forward contracts and satisfies both quality and sustainability imperatives”.

    Speaking of sustainability, Rubisco is responsible for carbon fixation and has been targeted in studies looking to increase crop yields, which represents its positive potential to produce climate-friendly foods that preserve food security.

    In August, Leaft Foods launched its first consumer product in New Zealand, called Leaft Blade. It’s a pre-workout drink with 17g of protein that the body can digest up to six times faster than conventional proteins. It contains 50,000 green leaves in each 100ml serving, alongside L-tyrosine to sharpen focus and support brain function, leucine to trigger growth, and tryptophan to restore balance.

    A five-year, multi-million-dollar plan

    leaft foods lacto japan
    Courtesy: Leaft Foods

    Leaft Foods has already been delivering commercial-grade Rubisco protein to B2B customers in multiple innovation-driven markets, with the US a key focus.

    Now, it’s expanding its footprint to Japan, thanks to the collaboration with Lacto Japan, which has decades of experience in connecting Antipodean ingredient maker to major food players in the East Asian country.

    According to Leaft Foods, Lacto Japan’s deep integration within the sector and proven track record with protein ingredients make it an ideal launch partner in the country.

    “It has been tremendously exciting to work with Lacto, a capable and innovative partner, as we’ve sought to enter the sophisticated Japanese market,” said John Penno, co-founder of Leaft Foods. “Lacto’s role as our trusted local collaborator has been invaluable in providing essential market and supply chain intelligence and relationship management that can enable successful market penetration.”

    The two companies are already in talks with some of Japan’s largest food manufacturers across plant-based foods, bakery products, and sports nutrition categories. They plan to build a business worth tens of millions of dollars in the next five years.

    Founded in 2019 by Penno and his wife Maury Leyland, the startup has raised $15M in funding so far, and moved to a 30,000 sq ft commercial-scale demo plant in Canterbury last year, which can produce a tonne of Leaf Rubisco products per week.

    It is among a number of startups looking to leverage Rubisco protein, including Plantible Foods, which recently opened its own factory to produce hundreds of tonnes of the protein from duckweed in Texas, Israel’s Day 8, and Dutch player Rubisco Foods.

    The post This Japanese Dairy Giant is Embracing A Sustainable Protein from Alfalfa Leaves appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • US Startup Taps Into Menopause Market with Human-Identical Lactoferrin Capsules

    desert harvest lactoferrin
    4 Mins Read

    Women’s wellness startup Desert Harvest has launched a new supplement featuring Helaina’s precision-fermented human lactoferrin to manage menopause.

    US supplement brand Desert Harvest is combining its aloe vera expertise with a highly functional recombinant breast milk protein to support women navigating perimenopause and menopause.

    The company’s Super Strength Aloe Vera Capsules are powered by Effera, a precision-fermented lactoferrin ingredient created by New York-based Helaina. The protein is free from animal byproducts, hormones and dairy, and is structurally identical to the version produced naturally in the human body.

    By blending aloe vera with lactoferrin, Desert Harvest is aiming to boost women’s hormone, immune, and vaginal health. “Women deserve science-backed solutions that reflect the complexity of their bodies,” said its CEO, Heather Florio.

    “With Effera, we are introducing a human-specific immune protein that works in harmony with our patented aloe. This is not just a new formula. It is a new standard for menopause support,” she added.

    How human lactoferrin can support women in menopause

    helaina breast milk
    Courtesy: Helaina

    One of the most common effects of menopause is hot flashes, which are part of the vasomotor symptoms experienced by 80% of people at this life stage. Studies have shown that hot flashes can increase the risk of diabetes, osteoporosis, Alzheimer’s, and cardiovascular diseases, disrupt sleep, and harm overall well-being.

    Hot flashes are linked to declining oestrogen and iron imbalance, both of which lead to fatigue, mood swings, vaginal dryness, bone changes, and immune stress. For women already managing bladder health or bladder pain syndrome, all this can be especially overwhelming.

    Lactoferrin, though, can restore balance by supporting oestrogen pathways, enhancing iron absorption, boosting energy, and protecting bone and immune health.

    The whey protein is also found in cow’s milk, but is available in significantly larger concentrations in breast milk. Human lactoferrin is safer, gentler, and more effectively absorbed, too, according to Desert Harvest.

    However, its supplies are limited, since purified lactoferrin is hard to obtain, leading startups like Helaina to turn to microbes to produce recombinant versions instead. Its tech involves fermenting a yeast strain called Komagataella phaffii in bioreactors, in a process similar to beer brewing. The yeast is fed a specific set of nutrients to produce the protein, which is filtered out from the fermentation broth at the end.

    Effera boosts iron homeostasis and metabolism, and promotes a balanced immune response and beneficial microbiome. It can be used in functional foods, beverages, and supplements, across categories like women’s health, active nutrition, healthy ageing, and infant formula.

    Several other companies are working on recombinant bovine or human versions of the protein, including All G, Eden Brew, PFx Biotech, Daisy Lab, De Novo Foodlabs and Eclipse Ingredients.

    Effera and aloe vera combine to boost women’s wellness

    desert harvest aloe vera
    Courtesy: Desert Harvest

    Desert Harvest’s new capsules pair 300mg of Effera with a small amount of aloe vera to improve digestion and gentleness. They act on oestrogen receptors to ease hot flashes, vaginal dryness and hormonal fluctuations, while stimulating osteoblast activity for bone building and reducing inflammation to counteract the decline of oestrogen.

    In addition, the supplements offer superior iron absorption and regulation to lower the fatigue commonly experienced during hormonal transition and decrease the risk of anaemia. Plus, they promote a lactobacillus-friendly microbiome to boost urinary tract health and overall bladder wellness.

    Effera’s efficacy has been proven by a number of preclinical and clinical trials. A 2024 human safety study, for example, displayed no antibody production against Effera, even at high daily doses, confirming that the body recognises it as its own, not as a foreign protein. This is in contrast to the significant antibody response in those who took bovine lactoferrin.

    Furthermore, the protein breaks down into the same beneficial peptides as naturally occurring human lactoferrin, offering targeted support for immunity, gut health, and recovery. Plus, pepsin digestion and cross-reactivity assessments have confirmed that the ingredient has a low allergy risk.

    Helaina, which has raised $83M to date, is already cleared to sell Effera in the US, and each of its production runs now yields over 10 million efficacious servings. The ingredient is now part of eight consumer products targeting wellness and recovery, including Levelle Nutrition’s cycle-syncing protein powders. The latter is also working on a protein powder targeting menopause and post-menopause.

    Women’s wellness is a $1T market, and more and more companies are tapping into it with planet-friendly foods, beverages and supplements. Fellow precision fermentation firm TurtleTree, for example, launched a recombinant bovine lactoferrin supplement with prebiotics to support iron regulation, improve energy levels, and enhance gut health for women in the US.

    And beanless coffee startup Minus Coffee introduced an Instant Oat Milk Vanilla Latte targeting women’s wellness and cortisol balance, featuring half as much caffeine, a dose of L-theanine, and 6g of pea protein.

    The post US Startup Taps Into Menopause Market with Human-Identical Lactoferrin Capsules appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • 5 Minutes with A Future Food VC: FoodLabs’s Adrian Friederich

    adrien friederich
    4 Mins Read

    In our interview series, we quiz future food investors about the solutions that excite them the most, their favourite climate-forward restaurant, and what they look for in successful founders.

    Adrian Friederich is the Principal at FoodLabs.

    What future food technologies most excite you?

    Real excitement lies where deep science meets AI, decoding nature’s complexity at scale. Think MicroHarvest’s continuous fermentation, Van Heron Labs’s AI-driven medium optimisation, or Pacifico Biolabs’s highest-quality and lowest-cost mycelium production.

    These aren’t incremental improvements; they unlock entirely new food functionalities, pushing us beyond mimicry into next-gen nutrition and materials.

    What are three future food verticals you are actively looking at for 2025?

    • Novel crops and resilient inputs: Going beyond soy and wheat to crops with real agronomic and nutritional edge – think climate resilience, nitrogen fixation, and natural functionality. It’s about building a food system that’s shockproof, regenerative, and healthier for people and the planet.
    • Food-as-medicine, made for everyone: Backing science-driven solutions that nourish and heal while focusing on underserved groups like women, older adults, and those navigating chronic conditions or navigating GLP-1 related metabolic changes. From precision nutrition to bioactive delivery systems and functional formulations.
    • AI-powered ingredient design as an enabler: AI is fast-tracking how we understand and design food by predicting interactions, enhancing bioavailability, and bridging biology with formulation. It’s deep science, but applied faster for truly functional ingredients.

    What do you consider the food tech sector’s greatest achievement in the past five years?

    Trading buzzwords for breakthroughs. We’ve seen bold ideas mature into scalable, science-backed platforms under real-world constraints, whether in precision fermentation, molecular farming, or nature-based carbon removal like InPlanet does.

    If you could wave a magic wand, how would you fix plant-based meat?

    I’d rewire the protein matrix at the molecular level to mimic real muscle structure, while removing the dependency on ultra-processed binders. We need clean-label, scalable, delicious solutions. Ideally, one rooted in a local supply chain.

    What’s the top trait you look for in a founder?

    Relentless curiosity and hunger. The kind that drives a founder to challenge dogma, dive into the science, identify and open up markets, all while staying agile when plans inevitably evolve.

    The One That Got Away: What is the deal you wish you had gotten into, but didn’t?

    Basecamp Research is building the world’s largest biological database to design entirely new biological systems with a level of control and performance that’s way beyond the current standard. And it directly applies to food, whether it’s designing novel proteins with improved taste and nutrition, or engineering microbes that can produce sustainable ingredients more efficiently.

    It’s deep science with real-world application, and they’re building a platform with the kind of defensibility and impact we would have loved to back early on.

    What do you consider your most successful future food investment so far?

    For me, success is about more than just a strong exit; it’s also about systemic impact. Backing a company like Pacifico Biolabs really stands out. They’ve managed to solve the key challenges in alternative protein: taste, texture, affordability, and overly processed ingredients.

    Their Protein 3.0 platform isn’t just a better product; it’s a smarter system. By plugging into existing infrastructure, they’ve unlocked a path to scale that allows them to price competitively with meat, while avoiding its environmental and health drawbacks.

    What has been your most disappointing investment so far?

    We made an early investment in retail automation that, in hindsight, was just a bit too far ahead of its time. The team and vision were solid, but the ecosystem – affordable robotics and adaptable infrastructure – just wasn’t ready.

    Today, that’s changing fast. Robotics are becoming cheaper and more accessible, unlocking exactly the kind of progress we hoped for back then.

    What do people misunderstand/get wrong most about VC?

    That we’re only here for capital deployment. The best VCs are true operating partners, ready to roll their sleeves up to create true outliers that redefine categories.

    What is the most ‘future food’ thing you have eaten this month?

    I recently tried the aardaker, a native European tuber that’s now being domesticated by Wageningen-based Aardaia. It offers triple the protein yield of soy and fixes nitrogen naturally, making it ideal for regenerative farming.

    With a potato-like texture and subtle chestnut flavour, it’s versatile (think fries, mash, boiled or roasted), climate-resilient, and delicious. A prime example of nutrition, sustainability, and taste in one crop.

    Where is your favourite climate-forward restaurant/dish/place to eat anywhere in the world?

    Restaurant Nolla in Helsinki, a zero-waste restaurant offering seasonal flavours using local and organic ingredients only. The team is fantastic and creates outstanding dining experiences for their guests.

    What’s your ‘why’? What motivates you to do what you do?

    Food is foundational to health, culture and climate. Food systems have always changed, but will now inevitably do so at an accelerating pace as we find answers for the huge and growing challenges that we’re facing both on planetary and human health.

    Supporting founders who are reshaping this system is a privilege. Every breakthrough we help scale brings us one step closer to a more resilient, healthy, and delicious future.

    The post 5 Minutes with A Future Food VC: FoodLabs’s Adrian Friederich appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Richest 30% Drive 70% of Food Climate Costs: Eat-Lancet 2.0

    best diet for climate change
    9 Mins Read

    The Eat-Lancet Commission has released the 2.0 update to its report on the future of the food system and the Planetary Health Diet. Here are the big takeaways.

    Six years after releasing one of the most influential reports on the food system, the Eat-Lancet Commission has published an updated version highlighting the biggest challenges facing dietary transformation.

    The 2.0 report outlines the benefits of the plant-rich Planetary Health Diet first devised in 2019, emphasising a reduction in meat consumption and an increase in fruits, vegetables and plant proteins for a just, healthy and sustainable food system.

    It warns that food is the largest driver of the transgression of five planetary boundaries, noting that even if we phase out fossil fuels, the agrifood sector will alone breach the 1.5°C limit set by the Paris Agreement.

    The Commission suggests that governments are largely absent when it comes to effecting change, while corporate powers are exercised in a way that undermines public interests.

    “We are at a global crossroads, and governments, businesses, civil society, and individuals all have a role to play in realigning food systems for the benefit of all people and the planet,” says Walter C Willett, co-chair of the Eat-Lancet Commission, and an epidemiologist and nutrition professor at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health.

    Here are the key takeaways from the 2025 Eat-Lancet report.

    Planetary Health Diet is good for people and the planet

    planetary health diet
    Courtesy: Eat-Lancet Commission

    The report reinforces the Planetary Health Diet, which calls for a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes and plant-based proteins, with moderate amounts of meat, dairy, added sugar, saturated fat, and salt. In a nod to the war between tallow and seed oils, the Commission’s new evidence supports emphasising “unsaturated plant oils over saturated fats”.

    The Commission notes that the guideline is entirely based on health effects, though there’s good evidence that it would lower the climate impact of most current diets.

    Evidence shows that this diet helps lower the risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, several cancers, dementia, obesity and depression, helping prevent around 15 million premature deaths a year (or 27% of the global total).

    A shift towards the Planetary Health Diet would lead to a 42% cut in antimicrobial use due to a decrease in animal protein production, helping combat antimicrobial resistance. Plus, it would curb biocide contamination and nitrogen pollution of drinking water, and lower emissions by 15% by 2050.

    That said, combining healthy diets with more efficient agricultural productivity and a reduction in food waste is the most ideal way forward, collectively slashing emissions by 20% by mid-century.

    Red meat is a villain

    meat warning labels
    Courtesy: Durham University/Nilsz/Getty Images/Green Queen

    Beef, pork and lamb may be high in protein, heme and some minerals, but the cons far outweigh these pros. Red meat is high in saturated fat and cholesterol, and compared to plant-based protein sources, increases blood levels of LDL cholesterol and the risk of heart disease.

    Additionally, these animal proteins have been linked with an elevated risk of type 2 diabetes, unhealthy weight gain and mortality in countries that have been overconsuming them for many decades.

    It’s why the Planetary Health Diet suggests limiting red meat intake to just 15g a day, or one serving a week. In contrast, legumes, nuts and seeds are a healthy source of protein, and people should eat 125g of them every day.

    The transformation to this diet would require a 33% decrease in red meat production and a 63% growth in fruits, vegetables, and nuts, according to the Commission.

    Animal proteins are the major cause of agricultural emissions

    how does the eat lancet commision decide on the diet
    Courtesy: Eat-Lancet Commission

    The food system generates around 30% of global emissions, split into farming, land conversion, and supply chains (a third each).

    Most agricultural emissions come from animal proteins, primarily meat and poultry, due to enteric fermentation and manure management. Further, cattle farming is the leading driver of land use change; in fact, 37% of the world’s land is used for agriculture, two-thirds of which is covered by animal grazing.

    The Commission outlined three future pathways for 2050. Under a business-as-usual scenario, temperatures would rise by 2°C above preindustrial levels, with greenhouse gas emissions up by 33%, water consumption by 13%, and land use by 4%.

    Under the Eat-Lancet transformation (which combines healthy diets, productivity gains, and halved food waste), emissions could be lowered by 20% and land use by 7%. Moreover, food would become more affordable, with the share of income spent on food falling from 7% to 4% globally.

    The report looked at another scenario titled Eat-Lancet Mitigation, too, which pairs the above with ambitious climate policies. This would have the biggest benefit, reducing emissions by 34% and land use by 14%, thanks to decreases in ruminant (-37%), non-ruminant (-35%) and dairy (-15%) production.

    The Commission proposed keeping annual food system emissions below five gigatonnes by 2050 to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. Eat-Lancet’s scenario alone would meet the threshold by cutting emissions by 60% compared to the business-as-usual pathway, while complementary climate policies would take this even further.

    Where are unhealthy diets most prevalent?

    eat lancet diet
    Courtesy: Eat-Lancet Commission

    Less than 1% of the world’s population is currently in a “safe and just space”, where their rights and food needs are met within planetary boundaries. And 3.7 billion people live below social foundations, while 6.9 billion have diets that would breach planetary limits if adopted globally.

    However, the richest 30% of people drive over 70% of food-related environmental impacts, according to the report. And while food justice requires healthy diets to become more affordable – which will be the case as economies and family incomes grow – this will not necessarily result in healthier diets.

    Ultra-processed foods, red meat, and sugary beverages will continue to be more accessible, while exposure to unhealthy food advertising will increase. So globally, diet quality is lowest in upper-middle-income and high-income countries (HICs), particularly among men, while rates of overweight and obesity are highest in these same regions, particularly among women.

    But healthy diets remain unaffordable for many within wealthy countries, resulting in lower quality and higher obesity among low-income populations living in these nations.

    The report suggests that middle-income countries are also where most of the world’s people live and most population growth will occur, so the availability and affordability of healthy diets are of “critical global importance”.

    Planetary Health Diet is a threat to the livestock sector

    planetary health diet
    Courtesy: Changing Markets Foundation/X

    Investigations have shown that the meat industry is already planning its backlash on the 2.0 report, in a similar vein to its reaction to the first edition. The Eat-Lancet Commission knows this.

    It cites the sponsorship of scientific studies that align with the sector’s interests as an avenue of corporate influence, alongside “the dissemination of misinformation aimed at discrediting independent scientific evidence – such as in cases involving scientists sponsored by the meat industry”,

    Here’s why: to match nutritionally healthy meat consumption, the number of cattle farmed globally would decline by 26%, dairy cows by 4%, and poultry and pigs by 19% by 2050. This would correspond to a 43% decline in production across the terrestrial livestock sector, equivalent to $650B and resulting in a halving of employment numbers.

    “The meat and dairy sectors are the most affected by shifts to healthy diets,” the report says. “Although we recognise the contentious and complex nature of animal-sourced food production and consumption, a smaller livestock sector creates opportunities to improve animal health and wellbeing, environmental outcomes, and labour quality.”

    The Commission outlines several opportunities and considerations for the industry to navigate this transition, from gains in efficiency and technology and animal welfare to nature-positive rangeland management and integrating plant and animal production systems.

    Are meat alternatives a viable solution?

    is plant based meat healthy
    Courtesy: ProVeg Nederland

    The Eat-Lancet report notes how plant-based, fermentation-derived and cultivated meat provide alternatives to both meat and traditional plant proteins, which consumers may find difficult to adopt due to convenience, culture and taste barriers.

    It confirms that plant-based alternatives have “substantially lower environmental impacts compared with meat”, whereas cultivated meat and microbial proteins could be more polluting, but still less so than meat (or at similar levels). This mainly depends on the use of renewable energy sources, which studies have shown can drastically reduce the climate impact of novel proteins.

    Plant-based meat products that have high amounts of legumes, vegetables and nuts have favourable nutritional profiles, thanks to an increased intake of fibre and folate, and reduced saturated fat consumption, the Commission says.

    However, some of these products have high amounts of salt or saturated fat, and further research is needed on the bioavailability of vitamins and minerals.

    From a food justice perspective, there’s a question mark about the price of meat analogues – although rising meat prices are already making many plant-based options cheaper than animal proteins. This industry may also generate and shift employment from rural to urban areas, while market consolidation remains a concern as large multinationals enter this market.

    The three key goals set out by Eat-Lancet report

    eat lancet
    Courtesy: Eat-Lancet Commission

    The Commission identifies three primary goals, divided into eight solutions, to benefit public, planetary and societal health simultaneously.

    The first involves achieving the Planetary Health Diet for all. This can be done by combining taxes on unhealthy foods with subsidies for nutritious ones, boosting living wages and employment, integrating the recommendations into dietary guidelines and linking them to schools, and supporting local, underconsumed produce, nuts and legumes.

    The Planetary Health Diet must also be produced within planetary boundaries. This can be done by improving yield efficiencies and curbing pollution, reorienting subsidies towards plant-rich food systems, halting land conversion of intact ecosystems, and reducing food loss and waste across the supply chain.

    Finally, we need to secure social foundations. Child and forced labour need to be banned, and workers must be protected from pollution. Marginalised groups must be secured with broad protections like school meals, disability support, and maternity benefits. And there should be more transparency around research funding and lobbying.

    Political leadership over healthy and sustainable diets is lacking

    us food insecurity
    Courtesy: Samuel Corum/Getty Images

    According to the Eat-Lancet Commission, politicians have been “notably absent” in driving transformative food policy agendas and committing resources to long-term change.

    Short electrical cycles discourage support for policies whose benefits are realised over a single term, which is compounded by the need for substantial upfront investments and the risks they pose to employment and inflation.

    Government subsidies often favour large corporate actors over public welfare, and current arrangements “fail to systematically address and integrate agriculture and the environment, health and nutrition, infrastructure, energy, growth, and equity” into policies.

    Governance issues are further complicated by the high degree of corporate concentration in the food industry, which has considerable power and resources to block initiatives that don’t meet business interests.

    “Corporate actors use tactics such as directly lobbying governmental officials to undermine political priorities, including dietary guidelines and regulatory intervention,” says the Commission.

    These issues are the two primary barriers to food systems change, addressing which is part of a wider set of transformation roadmaps outlined by the report. These include establishing context-specific policies for different regions, setting and tracking targets for shared accountability, building a coalition of diverse actors, and unlocking finance at scale.

    The Eat-Lancet report says the sector’s transformation would need up to $500B annually until 2050 – but the benefits that would bring amount to over $5T a year.

    “We now have robust global guardrails for food systems, and a reference point that policymakers, businesses, and citizens can act on together,” says Johan Rockström, co-chair of the Commission and director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.

    “The evidence is undeniable: transforming food systems is not only possible, it’s essential to securing a safe, just, and sustainable future for all.”

    The post Richest 30% Drive 70% of Food Climate Costs: Eat-Lancet 2.0 appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Miyoko Schinner Wants You to Get Back in the Kitchen

    miyoko schinner
    8 Mins Read

    Plant-based dairy pioneer Miyoko Schinner takes us behind the scenes of her new cookbook, The Vegan Creamery, which embraces fermentation to take at-home vegan cheese to the next level.

    A decade after her seminal plant-based dairy cookbook, The Homemade Vegan Pantry, Miyoko Schinner is taking things up a notch.

    In September, Ten Speed Press released her seventh recipe book, The Vegan Creamery, which the author has described as “a whole new approach to making everything from milk to cheese to ice cream using all kinds of ingredients”.

    “There are some techniques in there that are unique, haven’t been seen before, and I am not applying for patents,” Schinner had told Green Queen earlier this year, outlining her hope that this would be “the book that launches 10,000 vegan cheese companies”.

    Since her last cookbook in 2021 (dedicated to making plant-based meat at home), the vegan pioneer has had a major career transformation. In 2022, she left the non-dairy company she founded, Miyoko’s Creamery, following legal disputes over trade secrets and IP.

    Schinner has been focusing on Rancho Compasión, the animal sanctuary she opened a decade ago, which educates about 50 kids each week about humanity and the food system. In addition, she has embraced her role as a teacher, hosting cooking classes at culinary schools and online, as well as leading a course on food systems transformation at UC Berkeley.

    Now, the chef and entrepreneur is looking to educate home cooks further with the next generation of homemade plant-based dairy products, with a big focus on fermentation. Some of the recipes include watermelon seed mozzarella, a mung bean halloumi, additive-free butter, vegan ghee, and barista-style milks.

    In a wide-ranging interview with Green Queen, Schinner describes the different ingredients and techniques that power The Vegan Creamery, why it’s the most in-depth cookbook ever written on the subject, her favourite plant-based dairy brands, and whether she misses running Miyoko’s Creamery.

    This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

    Green Queen: Why did you decide to write a cookbook, and why now? Do you feel people still cook as much as they used to?

    the vegan creamery
    Courtesy: Ten Speed Press

    Miyoko Schinner: People certainly don’t cook as much as they used to, but they should. We’ve traded food autonomy for convenience and efficiency, and have ceded control over our diets to corporations.

    So it’s time for people to reclaim their kitchens and understand not only how food comes together, but [also] be the catalysts for creating community and nurturing others through the act of breaking bread together.

    If we are truly interested in creating an equitable, just, and sustainable food system for all, we need to think deeply about how best to go about that.

    Is that through carefully protecting potentially groundbreaking IP for ourselves in order to make money off of it and further consolidating power in our food system in the hands of a few players? Or would it be to try to democratise food and hope that more people can help push the needle along by all participating in it, creating more opportunities for more entrepreneurs, small producers, artisans, and just ordinary people?

    GQ: What can people expect from this book that’s different from your previous works, especially The Homemade Vegan Pantry?

    MS: The Homemade Vegan Pantry was my first effort to take the mystery out of products and foods you’d normally buy in a package, and show people how easily most of them were made at home, more economically, healthfully, and sustainably.

    The Vegan Creamery takes this to new heights in a realm of products that almost never come out of a home, but always in a package – milk, cheese, butter, ice cream and more. It is a deep dive into the science and art of plant milks and their potential, providing a diving board for others to join and jump in and further discoveries in the evolution of plant dairy.

    miyoko's cheese
    Courtesy: Eva Kolenko

    GQ: Can you tell us more about the new ingredients and techniques you’ve discovered for making vegan cheese? How did you come across them?

    MS: I really wanted to understand the behaviour of different plant milks and their potential to behave like animal dairy – not exactly in terms of flavour, but in creating their own category of flavours and textures while being recognisable as ‘cheese’, ‘butter’, etc., and serve a purpose in cuisines across the world where such ingredients were called for.

    For this book, I spent a lot of time on the bench exploring different nuts, seeds, legumes, making milks, seeing how they behaved in various applications, whether or not they would form curds for cheese, whether their fats and proteins would break down during fermentation (lipolysis, proteolysis), etc.

    I believe this may be the most in-depth cookbook written to date on this subject, with not only recipes, but light science around why certain things work or not (if there is another book, I apologise – I am not aware of it).

    I have developed techniques for foods I have not seen before, such as making butter without an emulsifier out of simply three ingredients, or making cheese by actually making curds and whey and pressing and ageing the curds.

    I tried to minimise oils and adjunct ingredients, trying to capitalise on the main ingredients themselves to create the flavours and textures I wanted. For example, while almond milk won’t thicken alone as yoghurt without adjuncts such as starch or gels (found in most commercial yoghurts), I was able to combine it with chickpeas and utilise their natural thickening abilities to create a thick, rich yoghurt, delivering the best of both worlds.

    I also learned that a little coconut oil is essential for the development of blue cheese flavour from Penicillin roqueforti due to its lauric acid component that breaks down in a specific way (the addition of other oils to the base ingredients did not work). I also found ice cream bases that would result in a rich and creamy ice cream without the use of any added oils.

    Interestingly, studying traditional cheesemaking led the way for many of the recipes, including the feta cheese, which is made exactly like dairy feta (without added starches or gels like agar) to yield a firm and crumbly texture.

    miyoko's butter
    Courtesy: Eva Kolenko

    GQ: What makes the best dairy-free ice cream base? What challenges do these ingredients have to solve when replacing specific dairy ingredients?

    MS: Most commercial vegan ice creams rely on coconut milk or oil to render a rich and creamy mouthfeel. I was interested in achieving this without either – I’ve heard many people complain about how coconutty vegan ice creams are, or how high they are in added oils.

    In the book, I provide three simple ice cream bases without added oils that you can use to create your own flavours, although I include many specific recipes as well.

    Watermelon seed milk is a rich, creamy, and neutral base that also delivers protein to your ice cream. The other two bases include a cashew milk with either cooked rice or oats, with the cooked grains helping create that creamy mouthfeel that would otherwise come from the oil.

    GQ: What makes watermelon seeds particularly suitable for alt-dairy?

    MS: While it isn’t suitable for everything, watermelon seed kernels make incredibly milky milk with a mouthfeel akin to full-fat cow’s milk (if made in the right ratios of seeds to water). Due to their high albumin content, they also coagulate upon heating, which means you can make curds from them.

    They are great fun to work with, and have become a base for many of the recipes in the book, from yoghurt to cheese to ice cream.

    GQ: Barista milks are the holy grail of homemade plant-based dairy – how did you go about developing this? What bases work best, and how do you account for acidity and curdling?

    MS: I found that sunflower seed milk foams beautifully. With every milk, I tried heating, foaming, freezing, etc. to see how they performed. Sunflower seed milk was the only one that foamed. On the other hand, hazelnut milk is delicious as a creamer, and I did include a creamer recipe that minimises curdling.

    miyoko
    Courtesy: Eva Kolenko

    GQ: Can you give us some insight into your recipe development process?

    MS: A lot of time “on the bench” (in my kitchen)! I am always watching to see how ingredients behave, and sometimes I get ideas when I’m on a run or in the middle of the night. I get an inspiration, then test, observe, and test again. Sometimes it works on the first go, and sometimes it’s multiple iterations later.

    GQ: Do you miss running Miyoko’s Creamery?

    MS: I don’t. My thinking about food systems has evolved much in the years since, and in many ways, I am grateful for this. We have a big problem to tackle for the animals, humanity, and the planet, and I feel better situated now to do so than if I were running a company.

    GQ: What are your current favourite non-dairy brands/products?

    MS: Truth be told, at this point, I buy almost no products. I make all of my own milks and butters.

    I am fond of many vegan cheeses, however, made by small, artisanal producers the world over. In Italy last year, I discovered a mozzarella by a small company called Dreamfarm that was voluptuous, silky, and delicious. I believe Les Nouveaux Affineurs [in France] was acquired, but their bloomy rinds were excellent as well.

    Generally speaking, the products I’ve found in Italy and France have been of higher quality than the ones coming out of the US.

    vegan cookbook
    Courtesy: Megan Thompson

    GQ: Given everything that’s happened in the last five years in the industry – lack of sales, social media misinformation, political climate denial – what do you think people who want to enact food system change should be doing?

    MS: They should get back into their kitchens and reclaim it. 70% of what we eat comes out of a package, and likely from one of 10 multinational corporations.

    If we want to ensure a healthy, democratic food system going forward, then each of us has to reclaim our kitchens and understand how to make food to feed ourselves and our communities.

    I’m writing a book now on this very subject, on how to take control of your own food system and combat the oligarchy that controls it.

    The post Miyoko Schinner Wants You to Get Back in the Kitchen appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Future Food Quick Bites: Vegan ‘Proffee’, Bread Waste Pasta & Slutty Vegan

    vegan protein coffee
    5 Mins Read

    Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Gregorys Coffee’s plant protein coffee, Wasted’s upcycled pasta, and a new plant-based meat brand in Thailand.

    New products and launches

    US specialty coffee company Gregorys Coffee is jumping on the ‘proffee’ trend with Protein Buzz, a plant-based protein coffee drink devised with Nuzest‘s pea protein powder. It’s available at all Gregorys stores nationwide.

    gregorys protein coffee
    Courtesy: Gregorys Coffee

    Plant-based milk brand Elmhurst 1925 has launched a three-pack of its Unsweetened Cashew Milk exclusively for Costco. It’s available at the hypermarket’s Los Angeles and Hawaii stores for $13.69.

    Meanwhile, Maïzly‘s original and chocolate corn milks have gained listings in 600 more retailers across the US, including ShopRite, Hannaford, Redner’s, Albertsons United Supermarkets, and Market Street.

    maizly corn milk
    Courtesy: Maïzly

    Nutrition company L-Nutra has rolled out the Prolon L plant protein bar to support muscle health and healthy ageing. Each bar contains 14g of protein from black beans, chickpeas and peas, and the product is initially available in a Chocolate Coated flavour.

    As Hain Celestial pulls Yves Veggie Cuisine products from the market by the end of the year, fellow Canadian brand Gusta is looking to fill the gap with similar offerings starting October, when it will launch vegan deli slices, burger patties, and hash browns.

    gusta plant based
    Courtesy: Gusta

    Speaking of Canada, fast-food chain A&W has introduced a housemade vegan burger to its 1,070 locations nationwide. It’s made from a base of pea protein, soy protein isolate, coconut oil and beet juice concentrate.

    Danish startup Wasted has launched an upcycled caserecce pasta made from bread waste. It is available on its website for 249 Danish kroner ($39) for six 400g packs, and can be shipped across the EU.

    bread waste pasta
    Courtesy: Wasted

    Swiss meat alternative leader Planted has introduced a Crispy range of mycoprotein products in Germany and Austria. The chicken schnitzel, burger and nuggets are available at Rewe, Edeka, Interspar, Eurospar and MPreis, with a wider European rollout in the works.

    Dutch B2B company Schouten Europe has launched a new vegan tuna described as “a significant step forward in both texture and taste”.

    bosh ready meals
    Courtesy: Bosh

    UK plant-based duo Bosh has launched eight vegan ready meals in Tesco stores, spanning pizzas and pasta to curries and noodles.

    And in Thailand, Swees Plant Based Foods has expanded from vegan cheese with the rollout of a new brand of meat alternatives called CleanBean, starting with Beev Steaklets and Chick*n Bites (offering 20-22g of protein and 7-8g of fibre per 100g).

    Company and finance updates

    British oat milk brand Oato has been selected for the 2025 Accelerator Programme by Tesco, the country’s largest supermarket group.

    oato oat milk
    Courtesy: Oato

    Queensland University of Technology‘s Pioneer BioPilot, a pilot-scale fermentation facility in Mackay, has been upgraded with an A$18M ($11.8M) investment from federal and state governments, including Australia’s Food and Beverage Accelerator (FaBA).

    Aussie plant protein startup Harvest B, which is targeting blended meat applications, has raised A$3.5M ($2.3M) in pre-Series A funding, with the state government’s Breakthrough Victoria fund participating in the round.

    harvest b complementary proteins
    Courtesy: Harvest B

    In the Netherlands, the Klerken family, owner of Scelta Mushrooms, has acquired Ecovative Spawn & Substrate from its Dutch subsidiary of US mycelium startup Ecovative. The business is now called OurCelia.

    In the US, Louisville Vegan Jerky Company – maker of the top-selling jerky in Whole Foods – has been taken over by CPG holding company Louisville Brands.

    louisville vegan jerky
    Courtesy: Louiseville Vegan Jerky Company

    Cult-favourite fast-food chain Slutty Vegan has introduced a financing model after months of turbulence, which involved insolvency, an ownership change, and the return of founder and Pinky Cole.

    Research, policy and awards

    Portland, Oregon has been named the best US city for vegans and vegetarians in an analysis by WalletHub, covering 17 metrics. It’s followed by Los Angeles and Austin.

    Vegan Vibrationz, a business owned by twin brothers, has become the first vendor serving exclusively plant-based food in the State Fair of Texas’s 139-year history.

    Speaking of events, Hungary will host its first plant-based conference on November 22. Called the Vegan Summit Budapest, it will feature over 600 participants.

    In New Zealand, the Vegan Society of Aotearoa will host the country’s first-ever Vegan Pastry Awards, with bakeries from across the nation competing for the Supreme Winner title at Auckland’s Crave Café on October 13.

    spins gen z
    Courtesy: Spins

    A report by market research firm Spins has revealed that 29% of millennials and 36% of Gen Zers in the US eat plant-based, much lower than the 53% and 59% focusing on a high-protein diet, respectively.

    When it comes to dog food, plant-based diets have the lowest environmental impact, a new University of Nottingham study has shown.

    pet food climate change
    Courtesy: Pixelshot

    Finally, plant-based protein is a $1.43B market, but its share of the protein powder industry has shrunk by 3.7% since 2022. Pea protein, in particular, is the largest vegan source, according to a new nutrition and weight management report by Informa Markets‘s Nutrition Business Journal.

    Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.

    The post Future Food Quick Bites: Vegan ‘Proffee’, Bread Waste Pasta & Slutty Vegan appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Japanese Food Giant Addresses Soaring Tuna Prices with Cheaper Plant-Based Alternative

    vegan tuna japan
    4 Mins Read

    Japan’s Mitsui DM Sugar will launch a new brand of vegan tuna next year to tackle the rising costs of the fish and declining seafood production.

    The world’s largest tuna consumer is facing supply challenges, and one food giant is betting on plants to save the day.

    Mitsui DM Sugar, a producer of sugars and functional foods, will target the challenges of low seafood production and high costs with a new plant-based brand of tuna, as reported by Nikkei Asia.

    Set to launch next year, the Osakana Kakumei (or ‘Fish Revolution’) brand replicates maguro, or bluefin tuna, the most prized form of the fish. The product has been developed by Mitsui DM Sugar subsidiary Taisho Technos, a food additive specialist whose tech has helped replicate the texture and appearance of tuna.

    A plant-based fish cheaper than tuna

    plant based tuna
    Courtesy: Guido Montaldo/Getty Images

    Bluefin tuna is a highly sought-after seafood delicacy, thanks to its velvety texture, buttery flavour and nutritional attributes. The species is the ocean’s fastest and longest-distance swimmers, which makes them difficult to raise in captivity, thus commanding a higher price and their use in high-grade sushi and sashimi.

    This also means the tuna’s supply is limited and extremely variable in quality, and its stocks face declines due to overfishing and illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing.

    Continued demand is driving the species towards endangerment and has prompted governments to place strict quotas to limit its fishing. Plus, tuna is one of the most polluted fish in the oceans, often contaminated with plastic debris and extremely high levels of heavy metals like mercury.

    Some companies, like WandaFish and BlueNalu, are taking the cultivated meat route to solve this problem, whereas Mitsui DM Sugar is betting on a more established technology to keep costs low.

    Its tuna alternative is made from konjac, seaweed and bamboo fibre, echoing the fish-free seafood options traditionally found in Asian markets. It contains 6g of fibre per 100g, and can be used in sashimi or as part of other delicacies.

    The USP lies in the price tag. Mitsui DM Sugar’s plant-based tuna will cost ¥2,000 ($13.50) per kg, undercutting the wholesale price of conventional tuna at Tokyo’s Toyosu fish market, which stood at ¥3,262 ($22) per kg last month, according to Nikkei Asia.

    “We seek to foster [Osakana Kakumei] into a food that is as beloved as imitation crab meat,” a Mitsui DM Sugar representative told the publication.

    How Mitsui DM Sugar is setting itself up for success

    bluefin tuna alternatives
    Courtesy: Promo Link/Getty Images

    The impending launch of the vegan bluefin tuna comes after Japan’s seafood production fell by 20% in the previous decade, with the number of fishers down even further by 30%.

    Other local companies, like Azuma Foods and NH Foods, make vegan seafood with konjac flour too, though they’re currently too expensive to be adopted on a mass scale. For example, Azuma’s product is priced at ¥990 ($6.67) per 230g, equating to $29 per kg.

    Low manufacturing volumes drive higher prices for plant-based alternatives, and while investment boomed at the turn of the century to help scale up production and enable widespread adoption, funding has fallen off a cliff in the years since. Last year, global investment in plant-based companies declined by 64%.

    Established manufacturers like Mitsui DM Sugar have a competitive advantage, given their preexisting large-scale supply chain. The company said it expects to produce 10 tonnes of the Osakana Kakumei tuna every year starting in 2028.

    Another strategy to overcome the plant-based slump is to market the tuna alternative to a specific set of consumers who can’t eat sashimi. Think: patients in nursing homes, where raw foods like sashimi are rarely served due to the risk of poisoning, as well as pregnant women and hospitals.

    While promoting the product as ‘plant-based’ is one option, one official said: “We decided to focus on the fact that there is a surprisingly large number of people who want to eat sashimi but can’t.”

    As it prepares for the tuna’s launch in 2026, Mitsui DM Sugar will also explore developing products containing nutrients other than just dietary fibre, and plant-based versions of other seafood options, like salmon or squid.

    The post Japanese Food Giant Addresses Soaring Tuna Prices with Cheaper Plant-Based Alternative appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Beyond Meat Stock Sinks to All-Time After Proposal Wipe Off $800M of Debt

    beyond meat debt
    3 Mins Read

    US plant-based giant has proposed an exchange offer for convertible bonds to eliminate over $800M of debt, sending its stock to a record low.

    Beyond Meat’s shares plunged to $1.23, a 36% drop, on Monday, the lowest in its six-year history as a public company.

    The vegan meat giant’s stock was down by nearly 82% from 12 months ago, following the announcement of an exchange offer that would wipe out more than $800M of the company’s debt.

    It comes after a turbulent couple of years for the Californian firm, which saw revenues drop by 15% in the first half of the year, and was forced to deny a wave of bankruptcy rumours last month.

    Nearly half of Beyond Meat’s creditors agree to debt restructuring

    beyond meat stock
    Courtesy: Nasdaq

    Beyond Meat is currently $1.15B in debt, thanks to 0% convertible notes that will mature in 2027. But under the new exchange offer, this would be swapped for higher-interest 7% notes that are due in 2030, plus stock shares.

    The new debt arrangement will only take effect if 85% of the company’s holders agree to swap. So far, 47% have done so, amounting to $203M of new bonds and 325 million shares of Beyond Meat stock. Other creditors have until October 28 to accept the proposal (those who do before October 10 will receive a premium).

    The deal, called payment in kind, will allow Beyond Meat to pay interest with additional debt (at a rate of 9.5% per year) instead of in cash.

    “As we continue our business transformation, we have simultaneously worked to strengthen our balance sheet and are today pleased to announce that we are launching an exchange offer for our existing convertible notes,” said Beyond Meat founder and CEO Ethan Brown.

    “The exchange offer is intended to significantly reduce leverage and extend maturity, two outcomes that meaningfully support our long-term vision of being the global plant protein company,” he added.

    Layoffs, low sales and brand identity plague Beyond Meat

    beyond meat rebrand
    Courtesy: Beyond Meat/Green Queen

    The move is Beyond Meat’s latest attempt to turn its fortunes around. The company recorded its lowest quarterly revenue in Q1 2025, reaching $69M. It also secured $100M in debt financing from Unprocessed Foods, a subsidiary of Ahimsa Foundation, a non-profit advancing plant-based diets.

    The firm has blamed its poor sales performance on softening demand and reduced distribution in US retail, and low sales of its burger products to restaurants internationally. Overall sales of plant-based meat plunged by 7% in the US last year, as concerns around pricing and ultra-processing have driven consumers away.

    In February, Beyond Meat announced that it would lay off 9% of its global workforce, or 64 employees, which included all its staff in China, where it has suspended operations. And last month, it said it would let go of 44 employees in North America, though it isn’t clear if this is part of the same job cuts as above, or an additional round of layoffs.

    It has also hired John Boken, managing director of corporate restructuring consultancy AlixPartners, as its interim chief transformation officer. The aim is to drive its operational footprint into the current revenue environment and improve margin to become EBITDA-positive within the second half of 2026.

    Moreover, the company is dropping the word ‘Meat’ from its name to focus on traditional plant proteins. Its next product, Beyond Ground, features just four ingredients – fava bean protein, potato protein, water and psyllium husk – and isn’t intended to mimic meat.

    It remains to be seen whether Beyond Meat can convince 85% of its holders to take up the debt resructuring offer. Regardless, the move has raised some alarm bells and sent its stock crashing down. Can it dig itself out of the hole?

    The post Beyond Meat Stock Sinks to All-Time After Proposal Wipe Off $800M of Debt appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Ajinomoto Teams Up with Singapore’s Fattastic to Advance Plant-Based Fats

    fattastic
    3 Mins Read

    Singapore startup Fattastic Technologies has partnered with Ajinomoto Thailand to explore applications for its healthy plant-based alternative to animal and saturated fats.

    A fast-emerging player in Asia’s alternative fat field, Singapore-based Fattastic Technologies has begun an exploratory R&D partnership with food conglomerate Ajinomoto Thailand.

    The collaboration will focus on the startup’s innovative vegan fat ingredient, FattFlex, which uses encapsulation technology to replicate the mouthfeel, texture and taste of animal and saturated plant-based fats for a variety of applications.

    “This exploratory partnership represents an exciting opportunity to investigate new ways for foods to offer products that balance taste, health considerations, and sustainability goals,” said Fattastic founder and CEO Satnam Singh.

    Fattastic aims to replace saturated fats in food

    plant based fats
    Courtesy: Satnam Singh/LinkedIn

    A former researcher at Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singh founded Fattastic in 2022 after becoming disillusioned with the existing crop of meat and dairy alternatives.

    The startup’s proprietary oil structuring tech transforms the physical structure of plant oils, turning them into solid formats to resemble animal fats and conventional plant-based lipids like palm or coconut oil.

    Its ingredients offer the same functionality as these conventional fats – widely used in bakery, confectionery, and alternative protein products – but without the deforestation, land use, emissions, or high amount of harmful saturated fat content.

    Fattastic can tune the melting temperature of FattFlex, which has low calories, 80% lower saturated fat content, and encapsulated flavours and nutrients.

    Its standard fat has a high melting point (between 60-100°C) that prevents it from leaking out when cooking, while being low in calories, making it suitable for plant-based meat and bakery applications.

    The startup also offers customised fats for a wider set of innovations, including confectionery, plant-based dairy, and the aforementioned products. Here, flavour encapsulation shields against heat to enable sustained flavours, and these ingredients can be fortified with vitamins and omegas too.

    Sustainable fats in vogue amid Ajinomoto’s future food focus

    plant based fat vs animal fat
    Courtesy: Fattastic

    The Ajinomoto Thailand partnership will involve the “exploration of more sustainable alternatives to conventional fats” and the application of FattFex trials in food formats to optimise functionality.

    According to Singh, trials with Fattastic showed potential for the ingredient as a substitute for conventional fats, given it maintained the same taste while helping reduce saturated fat content.

    The firm has received funding from Entrepreneur First, ProVeg incubator, Better Bite Ventures and Space-F, and was part of the Techbite Accelerator Program with Ajinomoto and KX Knowledge Xchange. It was also a finalist in FoodHack’s 2025 FoodTech World Cup.

    It is among a number of startups making sustainable alternatives to animal fats and palm oil for the food industry, with others including Nourish Ingredients, Time-Travelling Milkman, NoPalm Ingredients, Clean Food Group, Äio, Melt&Marble, Lypid, and more.

    And earlier this month, fellow Singaporean startup Terra Oleo secured $3.1M to scale up production of its waste-derived precision-fermented palm oil and cocoa butter substitutes.

    Ajinomoto, for its part, has signed several partnerships with sustainable food brands globally. It is developing plant-based meat products with Daring Foods and its new parent company, v2food, and its Europe arm is working with France’s Standing Ovation to produce animal-free casein proteins.

    In Singapore, its Atlr.72 brand has released mooncakes and ice cream sandwiches with Solar Foods’s CO2-derived Solein protein, and the food giant’s Thai division has a commercial deal with Singaporean bean-free coffee brand Prefer.

    The post Ajinomoto Teams Up with Singapore’s Fattastic to Advance Plant-Based Fats appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Savor Plans Large-Scale Facility to Take on Dairy & Palm Oil with Carbon Butter

    savor butter
    9 Mins Read

    On the heels of its first product launch, US startup Savor plans to ride the alternative fats momentum with big plans for its carbon-derived butter.

    In early September, hundreds of Americans lined up at the patisserie of San Francisco’s Michelin-starred outpost, One65, to try the world’s first desserts made from animal- and plant-free butter.

    Visitors got a taste of bonbons and cookies made from Savor’s novel fat, which is made from a thermochemical process involving point-captured carbon dioxide, green hydrogen, and methane.

    The Californian startup had unveiled its agriculture-free butter earlier this year, lining up launches with several establishments. The first, at One65, was a roaring success.

    “The consumer reaction from those who’ve tried our bonbons made in partnership with One65 has been overwhelmingly positive and incredibly encouraging for our team,” Savor co-founder and CEO Kathleen Alexander tells Green Queen.

    “We exhausted our supply of bonbon samples within the first hour. One65 also reported selling hundreds of bonbons within the first few hours of them going on sale in their display case,” she says.

    The reactions were similar both at One65’s patisserie and during several events at Climate Week NYC, including a pop-up at a United Airlines airport Club and sampling experiences hosted by Food Tank, Rainforest Alliance and Regen House.

    “People in each of these settings have said they can’t tell the difference from conventional butter-based confections, which is exactly what we hoped for,” says Alexander.

    The response has led Savor to make three flavours of the vegan bonbons available for sale in the US. The Butter Ganache Dark Chocolate, Earl Grey Milk Chocolate, and Raspberry Dark Chocolate can be found at One65 for $3.75 a pop, and online on Savor’s website as part of a six-pack for the holiday period for $22.50.

    savor butter one365
    Courtesy: Savor

    Savor butter takes shape in croutons and croissants

    Founded in 2022 by Alexander and Ian McKay, Savor transforms gases into carbon chains called lkanes, which are turned into fatty acids through a controlled combination of temperature and pressure.

    The fatty aids are then purified and assembled to produce high-quality short-, medium- and long-chain triglycerides (SMLCT) to replace conventional fats in a variety of food applications.

    These lipids are “chemically identical” to conventional fats, just in varying concentrations. The main ingredients in Savor’s butter are MLCT oil and its dairy fat formulation, which are complemented with water, sea salt, sunflower lecithin, natural flavour and beta carotene.

    In March, Savor announced collaborations with Michelin-starred eatery SingleThread and beloved establishment Jane the Bakery in San Francisco. “Both partnerships, while in the early stages, are going incredibly well and really showcase the versatility of our milkfat across different culinary applications,” says Alexander.

    “Chef Kyle Connaughton and the team at SingleThread received their first shipment of Savor butter this month, and they’ve enjoyed working with it in the kitchen to design truly memorable dishes. It’s currently being served in a herbed croute paired with bread that accompanies a new dish: an homage to their Cioppino made with all-California seafood and peppers from their farm.

    “They’re also working on integrating it through specific swaps in dishes that traditionally use butter, particularly focusing on providing dairy-free and vegan guests with the same exceptional dining experience.”

    Jane the Bakery, owned by Amanda Michael, created croissants with Savor’s butter for a pop-up event at SF Climate Week this spring. “We gave away hundreds of samples and people absolutely loved how buttery and flaky they were – exactly the response you want for croissants. We’re working together to get croissants made with our butter on Jane’s regular menu in early 2026,” reveals Alexander.

    savor animal free butter
    Courtesy: Savor

    Could Savor’s butter appear in supermarkets?

    Outside the foodservice world, Savor is in talks with CPG companies, too. While partnership details remain under wraps, Savor has participated in Mondelēz International’s CoLab Tech Accelerator Program, and was selected in the Upfield Innovation Challenge through Future Food-Tech (FFT).

    “We also co-created a first-of-its-kind whipped topping with Alamance Foods to demonstrate how quickly our fat can be integrated into existing manufacturing processes. That product was sampled for the first time by attendees at FFT’s Chicago summit,” says Alexander.

    “Participating in each of these projects has helped validate our approach, showing that established food companies see the potential for our ingredients to help them meet sustainability goals and consumer demand with high-quality product formulations.”

    Savor expects to announce more collaborations once it scales up production. What kind of products could its carbon-based fats be part of? “The most likely scenario is that consumers will see other brands’ products on supermarket shelves that use our fats as key functional ingredients,” its CEO notes.

    “Our business model is focused on being the ingredient supplier that enables food companies to create more sustainable versions of the products people already love – whether that’s baked goods, confections, spreads, or prepared foods.

    “We think there’s much more impact in powering hundreds of different products across multiple categories than trying to compete directly in the crowded butter aisle.

    “As for a Savor-branded butter specifically… never say never, but that’s not where we’re focusing our energy right now.”

    non dairy whipping cream
    Courtesy: Eric Michael Clarke

    Why sustainable fats are everywhere right now

    Savor’s launch comes during a breakthrough year for alternative fat companies. Whether it’s precision-fermented meat fats being approved for sale in the US, startups securing funding for palm oil alternatives, or companies unveiling cell-based dairy fats, this space is sizzling.

    Alexander feels the food industry is at an inflexion point, as manufacturers look for ways to safeguard their supply chains from future disruptions and speed up their adoption of sustainable fats and oils. “These same companies are seeking new ways to reduce their environmental footprint, and consumers are increasingly interested in seeing them take these actions,” she suggests.

    “We know the real pain lives in supply chain fragility and that certain consumer targets have strong values associated with sustainability, but it is almost never the first purchase driver.

    “What’s really exciting is the scalability of our technology and process. We’ve ramped up production from very small-scale demonstrations of what we can do to our first phase of commercial production in a relatively short period of time.

    While we’re still in the early stages, we have a path to grow production in a timeline that would have previously been thought to be impossible. Our fats can match the functionality, flavour and mouthfeel of conventional fats, so our partners don’t have to compromise, and neither do the consumers who will enjoy the finished products.”

    carbon butter bill fates
    Courtesy: Savor

    Fats have a ‘clearer value proposition’ than alternative proteins

    Alexander says the tide on this burgeoning industry hasn’t fully turned yet, though the “momentum is undeniable”. That’s in stark contrast to the alternative protein sector, which has lost some steam as investors and consumers retreat.

    Alexander explains that fats face fewer perception hurdles because when people think about plant-based meat, they’re often comparing it directly to a beloved experience, such as a juicy burger.

    “With fats, we’re talking about an ingredient that’s typically invisible to the consumer. People don’t sit down to eat fat. They enjoy what fat imparts on cookies, pastries, or sauces where the fat is seamlessly integrated,” she says.

    “If our butter delivers the same rich mouthfeel and functionality in a croissant, for example, consumers have the end product they expect without needing to think much about the underlying ingredient innovation. And our fats definitely do pass the ‘can it croissant?’ test.

    “From a stakeholder perspective, the value proposition is often clearer with alt-fats. Food manufacturers can achieve significant sustainability improvements and supply chain resilience without asking consumers to accept a fundamentally different eating experience. It’s innovation that works behind the scenes to deliver the products people already love, just made in a better way.”

    carbon butter
    Courtesy: Savor

    Capacity expansion is a key focus ahead of GRAS notice

    Savor self-affirmed its butter as Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) last year, clearing the way for the product’s market entry. This was “supported by extensive scientific evidence and two formal consultation meetings with the Food and Drug Administration”, says Alexander.

    However, things are changing fast. Under the directive of health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, the FDA will likely scrap this provision next year, mandating companies to submit a GRAS notice and wait for a ‘no questions’ letter from the agency before selling new ingredients.

    “We’re preparing our next submission to secure the FDA’s official ‘no questions’ letter, which we anticipate will be in late 2026 or early 2027,” Alexander notes.

    The FDA’s change will not affect ingredients already self-determined as GRAS today. However, it is likely to spur food tech startups into action to get ahead of any further regulatory uncertainties under a chaotic administration.

    “Our approach to food safety and regulatory compliance has always been grounded in rigorous science and transparency, regardless of who’s leading the federal agencies,” says Alexander. “If anything, the current focus on food ingredient scrutiny reinforces the importance of having robust safety data and clear regulatory pathways, which is exactly what we’ve been building from day one.”

    Right now, Savor’s main focus is on expanding capacity. “Over the past 12 months, the biggest change has been not just in what we can make, but in how deeply we now understand the latitude of our platform,” she says.

    “We launched our butter as the first proof of concept. It is a familiar, nostalgic format that everyone can connect with. That early success unlocked other opportunities for our platform, and we’ll be sharing more on that soon. What we’re building isn’t about one product. It’s about building an entirely new toolkit for food manufacturers’ R&D teams.”

    savor funding
    Courtesy: Savor

    Savor raising Series B to build a 10,000-tonne facility

    Alexander earmarks 2026 as a “pivotal year” for Savor, with an eye on “scaling up production and really nailing our early restaurant and bakery partnerships”.

    The company is pursuing a 100-fold expansion in capacity of its 25,000 sq ft pilot facility in Batavia, Illinois, as well as strengthening foodservice and CPG collaborations. “We need to demonstrate that we can consistently deliver the volumes and quality that food manufacturers require,” the CEO says.

    “We are already matching premium butter pricing for our early restaurant and bakery partners. As we continue to scale up at our production facility and pursue additional fats beyond milkfat, our efficiencies will increase,” she adds.

    “In parallel, we are designing and plan to build a commercial plant, which will operate at 10,000 tonnes of annual capacity. At that stage, we will be able to reach parity with cocoa butter, as well as specific palm- and coconut-derived products.”

    Fundraising is naturally part of its growth strategy. Savor has raised $33M to date, with Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures one of its lead backers. Other investors include Synthesis Capital and United Airlines Ventures, which Alexander describes as “mission-driven investment funds” focused on speeding up innovations that can significantly slash emissions.

    “We’re fortunate to have a diverse coalition of investors who have been instrumental in our journey,” she says. Now, Savor is launching a Series B funding round.

    “As we continue scaling, fundraising is naturally part of our growth strategy. To reach our pilot facility’s designed annual capacity of 1,000 tonnes and eventually build a commercial facility to scale production to 10,000 tonnes, we’ll need additional capital investment,” she explains.

    “At that 10,000 tonne scale, we’ll be able to produce our milkfat at costs that compete with conventional milkfat, and at larger scales, we’re targeting price parity with palm oil, which would be a real game-changer for the industry.”

    The post Savor Plans Large-Scale Facility to Take on Dairy & Palm Oil with Carbon Butter appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • ‘From Millilitres to A Million Litres’: Clean Food Group’s Yeast Oil Production Gets Big Boost

    clean food group oil
    4 Mins Read

    UK startup Clean Food Group has acquired the assets of Algal Omega 3, giving it access to a million litres of fermentation capacity to produce its yeast-derived oils.

    Two weeks after securing regulatory approval in multiple markets, Clean Food Group has hit another major milestone with its sustainable yeast oils.

    The British firm has acquired the assets of Algal Omega 3, a microalgal oil producer that went into administration in May, including its 12-acre site in Knowsley, Liverpool.

    The deal gives Clean Food Group immediate access to one million litres of fermentation capacity – this, it claims, makes it the world’s largest manufacturer of yeast-derived fats and oils.

    “With this acquisition, we have fast-tracked our route to market, leapfrogging the traditional, capital-intensive path from pilot to demo to new build commercial plant, which can take years and cost upwards of $100M,” said CEO Alex Neves.

    Acquisition will slash costs and support commercial-scale production

    clean food group facility
    Courtesy: Clean Food Group

    Already recognised as a centre of biotech excellence, the Knowsley site houses extensive R&D facilities and provides a significant opportunity for future expansion. It joins Clean Food Group’s demonstration plant in Ledbury as a production hub for its yeast-derived lipids.

    Clean Food Group has already validated its technology at commercial scale, completing a 60,000-litre production run to yield two tonnes of its oils last month, with support from Döhler Ventures.

    This achievement showcases the robustness of the company’s tech platform and “derisks the acquisition” of Algal Omega 3, proving its ability to scale in existing manufacturing environments without building costly new infrastructure.

    The transaction will significantly slash the capital expenditure for Clean Food Group’s sustainable fats, enabling it to price them competitively with agricultural equivalents across the food, cosmetics and pet nutrition markets.

    “Clean Food Group’s decision to establish their new biotech manufacturing facility here is testament to the strength of our local skills base and the supportive business environment we have built,” said Tony Brennan, cabinet member for economic development at Knowsley Council. “This acquisition will not only create high-value jobs, but also positions our area at the forefront of biotech innovation in the UK.”

    The firm has enlisted Bill Thurston, former managing director of Dawn Foods and CSM Bakery, as head of the Knowsley factory. Thurston is an industry veteran with extensive experience in oils and fats, having led the acquisition of Unilever’s edible fats business as CEO of CSM.

    Clean Food Group plans Series A fundraise in 2026

    clean food group
    Courtesy: Clean Food Group

    Clean Food Group’s tech is based on a 10-year research effort from co-founder Chris Chuck at the University of Bath, which was aided by £7.5M in state funding. The firm uses waste bread to feed non-GMO yeast strains, which turn it into “bio-equivalent alternatives” to resource-intensive and highly polluting oils during fermentation, lowering production emissions by up to 90%.

    Its proprietary Clean OilCell platform has spawned several products that can be produced at price parity to farmed alternatives. Clean Oil 40 is meant for confectionery and spreads, Clean Fat 50 for bakery and dairy, whereas Clean Protein+ is an emulsifier for mayo and pet food.

    Meanwhile, Clean Oil 25 is meant for a variety of industries, including food and personal care. This month, the startup announced it had received regulatory approval to sell this ingredient for cosmetic use in the UK, the EU and the US.

    Clean Food Group worked with THG Labs, the product development arm of UK personal care giant THG, and specialty chemicals company Croda, to create this oil.

    “With commercial-scale validation already established at our new Knowsley facility, Clean Food Group is ready to capitalise on the $20B market opportunity ahead, and to advance its planned Series A funding round, now expected for H1 2026,” said Neves.

    Sustainable alternatives to planet-harming tropical fats like palm and coconut are on the rise, especially as companies look to greenify their supply chains and lower emissions. The EU’s deforestation regulation was meant to accelerate this shift, banning the import of deforested palm oil, but lawmakers are planning to delay it by yet another year, citing IT problems.

    The post ‘From Millilitres to A Million Litres’: Clean Food Group’s Yeast Oil Production Gets Big Boost appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • US Startup Oobli Gets Third FDA Approval Letter to Use Sweet Proteins in Food

    oobli sweet proteins
    4 Mins Read

    Known for its novel sweet proteins, US firm Oobli has secured its third FDA approval letter to sell one of its ingredients as a sweetener for food and drink products.

    Californian food tech startup Oobli has received its latest ‘no questions’ letter from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for one of its precision-fermented sweet proteins.

    The letter confirms that brazzein-54, a natural sweet protein up to 550 times sweeter than sucrose, is Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) for use as a sweetener in a range of food and drink products.

    It is the third such regulatory letter received by the startup, following the approval of brazzein-53 and monellin (naturally found in the serendipity berry and even sweeter than brazzein).

    “The ‘no questions’ letter from the FDA is further testament to the strong potential that sweet proteins have to disrupt our global dependence on sugar and alternative sweeteners,” said Oobli CEO Ali Wing.

    How sweet is Oobli’s newest protein?

    oobli
    Courtesy: Oobli

    The company derives its name from the Oubli fruit, which is native to West Africa and contains brazzein, though in quantities that make large-scale production impossible.

    So Oobli uses precision fermentation instead, inserting the DNA sequence of brazzein into Komagataella phaffii (a yeast strain with a long history of use in food), which are added to a fermentation tank filled with a nutrient-rich broth. The microbes feed on the sugars in the broth to produce the proteins, which are filtered out and purified.

    It secured the FDA letter for brazzein-53 (a minor isoform with 53 amino acids) in April 2024, intending to use it as a sweetener in products spanning packaged drinks, non-dairy milk and yoghurts, granola, energy bars, smoothies, and even gummy bears, in concentrations ranging from two to 99mg per 100g.

    Now, the startup is extending its portfolio with the major isoform of brazzein, which contains 54 amino acids, thanks to the addition of N-terminal pyroglutamic acid residue.

    There is a difference in sweetening ability too. Oobli’s brazzein-53 ingredient contains 48% of the minor isoform and is 360 times sweeter than sucrose. But its version of brazzein-54 comprises 51% of the major isoform at a sweetness level 280 times higher than table sugar, giving a new option to manufacturers looking to formulate healthy, sugar-free products.

    “The oubli fruit sweet protein can be safely used in a wide range of foods with support from the scientific community and the FDA,” said Wing. “It can replace 70% or more of sugar in products such as sodas, teas, baked goods, and more, making the opportunities to reduce our sugar consumption virtually endless.”

    Oobli working on launches with Ingredion and Grupo Bimbo

    oobli chocolate
    Courtesy: Oobli

    Sweet proteins bind to and activate the same taste receptors on your tongue that sugar does, enabling us to “taste sugar without ingesting sugar”, and digest and metabolise sweet proteins just like any other protein.

    Since the amount of sweet proteins needed is minuscule, the ingredients don’t have any impact on your daily protein intake, but instead help with glucose management and weight loss.

    “Sweet proteins are a class of proteins that deliver a sugar-like sweetness but don’t affect blood sugar, insulin, or the gut microbiome,” said Oobli founder and CTO Jason Ryder. “Oobli is changing the future of sweetness through the use of sweet proteins as a replacement for traditional cane sugar and other alternative sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose, stevia and erythritol.”

    Americans eat 17 teaspoons of sugar every day, much higher than the recommended amount. The calorie-rich ingredient has been a major contributor to America’s obesity epidemic, which plagues 42% of its citizens. Meanwhile, over 11% of US consumers have type 2 diabetes.

    It’s why four in five Americans find it important to reduce the overall sweetness of their diet, citing healthy eating (49%), blood sugar control (43%), and weight management (41%) as their main motivations. The shift is also spurred by the rise of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, which have turned users away from sugar more than other dietary elements.

    Aside from the health benefits, sugar is also bad for the planet, thanks in large part to extensive land use, which will further spur the $7B sugar alternatives industry into action.

    Oobli, which has raised nearly $50M to date, currently sells a line of dark and milk chocolates sweetened with its proteins. It is now preparing to launch into new categories through partnerships with ingredient giant Ingredion and Grupo Bimbo, the world’s largest producer of baked goods.

    The post US Startup Oobli Gets Third FDA Approval Letter to Use Sweet Proteins in Food appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Approved by A Barista Champion, Indonesia’s Arummi Bags $2M to Expand Cashew Milk

    arummi cashew milk barista
    5 Mins Read

    Indonesian plant-based startup Arummi has raised $2M in seed funding to expand the distribution of its cashew milk line nationally and across Southeast Asia.

    Arummi, a Jakarta-based producer of cashew milk, has secured $2M in financing from international investors to scale up its operation.

    The round was led by Singaporean VC firm Beenext, Korea Investment Partners (the VC arm of one of South Korea’s largest private financial groups), and Switzerland-based Fondation Botnar.

    “The funds are going toward scaling distribution, deepening brand awareness, and product development to expand our range over time,” CEO Nacitta Kanyandara, who co-founded Arummi with Raja Abdalla in 2022, tells Green Queen.

    The firm is banking on Indonesia’s standing as one of the world’s top cashew producers. Most cashew farms in the country are owned by smallholders, so the nut is vital to the local economy.

    Further, Arummi aims to address the high prevalence of lactose intolerance (representing over two-thirds of children and older adults) and the growing interest in plant-based milk (over seven in 10 consume these products once every fortnight).

    arummi cashew milk ingredients
    Courtesy: Arummi

    A cashew milk endorsed by the World Barista Champion

    “Each region has its own ‘hero’ plant-based milk ingredient: soy in China, almond in the US, oat in Europe,” notes Kanyandara. “In Asia-Pacific, which produces more than 60% of the world’s cashews, cashew is the natural choice. It’s familiar in local diets, naturally creamy, and well-suited for the region. Over time, this local advantage also supports our goal of making plant-based milk more accessible.”

    Arummi’s current range comprises a classic cashew milk and a barista edition. The former contains 6% cashews, emulsifiers and stabilisers, synthetic cashew and vanilla flavourings, and a vitamin and mineral premix. The barista version, meanwhile, has 5.5% cashews, plus sugar, salt, and some of the aforementioned additives.

    Is the startup concerned that the long ingredient lists may deter clean-label-seeking consumers? “We’re always improving our products, including simplifying ingredients where possible while maintaining quality,” says Kanyandara. “All of our products are BPOM-approved, Halal-certified, and go through strict quality control, so consumers can be confident in what they’re drinking.”

    Though the protein content is low (1g per 100g), Arummi’s real USP is in the micronutrient mix in the classic flavour, which offers 45% of the daily recommended intake of vitamin B2 and E, 35% of vitamin B9 and D, 30% of calcium, and 20% of vitamin B12 per serving.

    As for the barista milk, Arummi has roped in Mikael Jasin, the 2024 World Barista Champion, as its brand ambassador, working with him on the R&D to ensure the product works well in coffee and tea, the two main vehicles of milk consumption in Southeast Asia.

    “In fact, it was used in his winning routine at the 2024 World Barista Championship. That level of recognition speaks to the quality of our product and its ability to meet the highest global standards,” says Kanyandara.

    arummi cashew milk founder
    Courtesy: Arummi

    Arummi works with co-manufacturers in Indonesia, with its current capacity able to support distribution across 10 cities and having the flexibility to scale as demand grows. This also helps it keep costs low.

    “Our 200ml pack retails at Rp9,900 (60 cents) and our one-litre pack at Rp39,000 ($2.30), positioned competitively within the plant-based milk category,” she says. “Thanks to regional sourcing and scale efficiencies, we see a clear path toward reaching price parity with dairy.”

    Arummi expects a strong 2025 after sales tripled last year

    The company’s products are already available in more than 650 retail stores and 3,000 coffee shops and restaurants. To date, it has sold over 750,000 litres of its cashew milks.

    Armed with the fresh capital, it is now eyeing further expansion. “Right now, our priority is Indonesia, where dairy alternatives are still in an early stage. In the long run, we see strong potential across Southeast Asia given the region’s close ties to cashew production and consumption,” outlines Kanyandara.

    “Our focus remains on making cashew milk the hero product. At the same time, we’re exploring product development opportunities that build on cashew’s strengths and meet everyday consumer needs,” she adds.

    Its $2M raise comes amid the most dire landscape for food tech investment in a decade. Last year, funding for plant-based food startups fell by 64% in 2024, reaching $309M. That trend has continued, with these companies receiving just $180M in the first six months of 2025, $100M of which came from a single debt financing deal for Beyond Meat.

    arummi cashew milk
    Courtesy: Arummi

    So how did Arummi convince investors to back its cashew milk? “Our pitch was rooted in both the market potential and our execution. More than 70% of Indonesians and Asians are lactose-intolerant, yet dairy is still the default,” explains Kanyandara.

    “There’s a massive opportunity to provide a locally relevant, affordable alternative. We’ve stayed focused on one product and clear about our vision, and we’re fortunate to have partnered with investors who believe in that vision.”

    It didn’t hurt that Arummi’s revenue skyrocketed too. “We’ve seen strong momentum. Our sales more than tripled between 2023 and 2024, and 2025 is shaping up to be another strong growth year. What’s exciting is that this is driven by a single product, with growth coming from velocity and repeat purchases,” the CEO reveals.

    Over the next 12 months, Arummi plans to strengthen its retail presence, expand café partnerships, and improve its supply chain efficiency. “In five years, we see Arummi as the leading plant-based dairy brand in Southeast Asia – proof that a local ingredient can go global,” she says.

    The post Approved by A Barista Champion, Indonesia’s Arummi Bags $2M to Expand Cashew Milk appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Aleph Farms CEO on Cultivated Meat Launch & Regulatory Plans for UAE & EU

    aleph farms
    9 Mins Read

    Aleph Farms CEO Didier Toubia on why the cultivated meat firm hasn’t launched yet, its plans for the UAE, its ongoing fundraise, and comparisons with the dotcom bubble.

    It has been 21 months since Aleph Farms was approved to sell cultivated beef in Israel, 15 months since it laid off 30% of its staff, and six months since it raised $7.5M in the first closing of a fresh funding round.

    A rollercoaster would be a good way to describe the startup’s previous two years, which included regulatory applications in Switzerland, the UK, and Thailand, and a $21.5M via a SAFE that converted earlier this year.

    It is one of the longest-standing cultivated meat companies around. Whether cultivated meat is a technology trigger, at its peak of inflated expectations, or under the current trough of disillusionment in the Gartner hype cycle, Aleph Farms has been there for the whole ride.

    Now, the industry is fast-approaching the next stage: the slope of enlightenment. Aiming to lead the way is what co-founder and CEO Didier Toubia calls “Aleph Farms 2.0”.

    “Aleph Farms today is very different from the Aleph Farms of 2021-22,” he tells me. “We implemented a lot of changes… to make sure that Aleph Farms is actually in the best position to lead this new category for cultivated meat.”

    In 2023, the model of the cultivated meat industry was to go big and fast—expand scale at all costs and launch as quickly as possible. As capital costs increased and investors became more risk-averse, Aleph Farms began focusing on profitability instead by becoming leaner and more capital-efficient.

    “We have paused our investments in large plants and big facilities, and postponed our launch to really take the time first to reduce our costs, improve the scalability of our platform, and build the foundations right before we expand,” says Toubia.

    He adds that the layoffs last year were part of this – today, the firm has around 40 employees. Moreover, it has decided to recede from the US, instead prioritising smaller markets with lower volumes first. This would help reach profitability faster, which in turn would make it easier to raise money.

    Regulatory updates and plans for UAE and EU

    uk cultivated meat
    Courtesy: Aleph Farms

    Toubia says Aleph Farms is likely the most advanced company in the regulatory approval processes in Switzerland and the UK (where at least four others have filed). In the latter country, the firm is part of the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) regulatory sandbox, and was the first to reach the ‘validation’ and ‘suitability’ phases, leaving it three steps away from approval.

    “The FSA in the UK is very professional, and I think they’ve really taken to this issue proactively,” he says. “There are good chances that they would actually be the next to prove a cultivated meat product. Of course, I hope it will be Aleph Farms. But, you know, any approval is good for the industry.”

    The startup’s filing in Singapore predates these applications. The city-state was the first to clear cultivated meat for sale (back in 2020), and has since issued another approval. Aleph Farms – like a dozen or two others, according to Toubia – is still awaiting a decision.

    “It has been delayed for a bunch of reasons,” he says. “After being the first country to approve cultivated meat at the time, they really want to make sure that they are not perceived as a country where it is easy to get approvals.”

    The raft of applications has put a strain too. Toubia believes many companies that have filed for approval don’t actually intend to conduct business in Singapore – they just thought it would be easy to get clearance.

    “We do see Singapore as a hub for Asia,” he argues. “We’re big believers in Singapore. We believe that the potential is great and that it’s a great footprint for us in Asia. So we remain very committed and excited about the opportunity in Singapore.”

    Further, Toubia reveals that Aleph Farms plans to pursue regulatory approval in the EU (where two companies have already filed), as well as the UAE, which would be an entirely new region of focus for cultivated meat.

    “We have a strong agenda in terms of food security at Aleph Farms, which is raising a lot of interest, essentially because of the geopolitical tensions, tariffs and disruptions of supply chains globally, especially for animal proteins,” he explains.

    Aleph Farms optimises tech and production strategy

    aleph farms facility
    Aleph Farms operates a 65,000 sq ft facility in Rehovot, Israel | Courtesy: Amit Goren/Aleph Farms

    Speaking of approvals, when Aleph Farms earned the green light in Israel, it was contingent upon clearing a Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) inspection for its production facility. That is still pending, though the company has transferred its production onto its new “platform 1.2”.

    This is an optimised, simplified version of its initial tech, with faster timelines, greater efficiency, and fewer steps. “We are now in the process of completing the GMP and all the other certifications to be able to start producing commercially with this new platform,” says Toubia.

    “We want to make sure that when we launch, we have continuity in the delivery of products,” he adds. “We’ve seen in the industry that sometimes, launching a product which is very expensive, not available, then pulling it back from the market is actually doing more harm than good.”

    A recent independent analysis showed that Aleph Farms’s cultivated steak could be produced at $6.45 per lb and sold in wholesale for $12.25, generating annual net profits of $78.5M. With further process enhancement, the cost of goods sold could fall to just $4.08 per lb.

    The firm operates a 65,000 sq ft plant in Rehovot, Israel (with a capacity to initially produce 10 tonnes of cultivated steak annually),  has signed a co-manufacturing deal with Singapore’s ESCO Aster, and is building a factory in Thailand with biotech firms BBGI and Fermbox Bio.

    Moreover, this month, Aleph Farms teamed up with The Cultured Hub, a biotech facility situated in The Valley in Kemptthal, Switzerland, to produce cultivated meat. It’s meant to be a regional hub that serves as a “cornerstone” for expanding capacity in Europe.

    “We’re walking the talk, building and setting up production capacities closer to our markets, and taking operations out of Israel. It also demonstrates the feasibility of our strategy for relying on partners for production,” says Toubia. “The plan with The Cultured Hub is to use the existing plant in the capital, but also to further explore opportunities to operate additional, larger-scale plants, with a focus on Europe.”

    Where would these be located? “It could be, of course, in Switzerland, but [we’re] also looking at opportunities in the UK and in Eastern Europe.”

    ‘Indulgent like beef, healthy like chicken breast’

    lab grown meat approved
    Courtesy: Aleph Farms

    It’s not just the production process that Aleph Farms is fine-tuning. “We’ve also done a lot of work on the product itself,” says Toubia. “I think that it’s important to get the product right, at the right price and to the right consumer – more important than the technology itself.”

    He continues: “That’s something that sometimes other cultivated meat companies are not necessarily spending enough time on. There’s a lot of focus on technology and not necessarily on getting the product right.

    “People will not buy a product just because it’s a cool product made by an advanced technology. Aleph Farms is the only company cleared today [to sell] cultivated beef products with natural cells – not immortalised, not GMO – as whole cuts.”

    The firm’s first product is a Black Angus Petit Steak, and it’s working on a thicker steak too. “We’ve done a lot of work to really focus on trends for proteins… providing an optimised nutritional profile for the product that’s high in protein, low in calories and fat, high in micronutrients, to really target this segment of the market,” he says.

    Another trend that’s amplified of late (thanks to the rise of GLP-1 drugs) is healthy indulgence. “A lot of people today want to eat less, but want the portions to be both indulgent and tasty and healthy at the same time,” he explains.

    “And today, beef is considered indulgent and tasty, but not as healthy, for instance, as chicken breast, just because it’s heavier to digest, and richer in calories, fat, and cholesterol. Our goal is to deliver a new product that is healthy like a chicken breast, but indulgent like a beef fillet.”

    Toubia says this is a new niche that would appeal to several consumer groups: “We need to make sure we’re targeting a segment large enough to really drive scale-up and traction in the market.”

    Aleph Farms looking to raise up to $25M by year-end

    aleph farms eyal shani
    Courtesy: Aleph Farms

    To date, Aleph Farms has raised $147M, including the $29M it announced from the SAFE conversion and new funding. Now, it’s working on a second closing of the latter round by the end of the year, targeting a cumulative raise of $20-25M (including the $7.5M from March).

    “The refocus away from scale into building a profitable business also implies a plan where we intend to raise much less money than the plans we had in 2021-22, because today, investors really want to see capital efficiency,” says Toubia.

    “They want companies with less capital to reach more significant milestones and become profitable. So relying on external partners for the production is also where to minimise all direct investment in capex and equipment.”

    Aleph Farms has a three-phase plan to maintain its leadership in the industry. The first stage is centred on growth foundations, with the business aiming to launch products with restaurant partners in Israel and Singapore by 2027, as well as achieving positive gross margins.

    The second phase focuses on profitability between 2027 and 2028, and involves expansion in Asia-Pacific and the EU, building capacity, and garnering government support and offtake agreements.

    It’s only after 2028, in the third phase, that Aleph will go all-in on scale. The company aims to launch in the US and Japan, while introducing new products and entering premium retail stores.

    Cultivated meat akin to the dotcom bubble

    lab grown beef
    Courtesy: Aleph Farms

    Toubia compares the cultivated meat sector to the dotcom bubble of the late 90s. “We saw a lot of companies raising a lot of money and valuations going to the sky. A lot of junk and not very good companies were funded, with a strong focus at the time on scale and gaining a user base, rather than focusing on profit,” he recalls.

    Then came the crash, with the value of the Nasdaq index sinking by 78%. “Companies were able to really rethink their business and their focus on building real, profitable businesses,” he says. Those who did – Apple, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft among them – emerged from the slump and own the market today.

    “It’s not a perfect analogy, but the same process is happening with complementary proteins,” he says. In 2020-21, a lot of money flowed into the space, but capital in this sector has shrunk alarmingly in the years since.

    “After this excess of 2020, we’ve seen an opposite kind of excessive situation where, in 2023-24, many investors stopped completely investing in the space,” he explains. “Today, we’ve started seeing a kind of a rebound of the sector, which is much more rational and focused on… analysis of the fundamentals of the companies.

    “In the next five years, we see a smaller group of companies really emerging as the category leaders. And those companies would be the ones which understand the market and the consumer, which are developing the right product at the right price for the right consumers, which are going to maintain the costs and focus on operational efficiency,” says Toubia.

    “I believe Aleph Farms will be part of those few leaders emerging from the last two years of downturn.”

    The post Aleph Farms CEO on Cultivated Meat Launch & Regulatory Plans for UAE & EU appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Animal-Free Fat Maker Nourish Ingredients Sets Up Global Commercial Hub in Netherlands

    nourish ingredients
    5 Mins Read

    Aussie startup Nourish Ingredients has established a global commercial hub in Leiden, Netherlands to scale its precision-fermented fats, amid an ongoing $15M fundraise.

    A month after being cleared to sell its animal-free meat fat in the US, Nourish Ingredients has set its sights on the global market with a new commercial hub in the Netherlands.

    Set to be fully operational by 2026, the facility is located at Leiden’s BioPartner 5, a circular, energy-neutral laboratory that aligns with Paris Agreement targets.

    “Our Leiden facility is Nourish Ingredients’s global commercial hub, housing innovation, product development, customer demonstration facilities, and commercial operations. It’s designed to bring us closer to Europe’s food innovation ecosystem and global partners,” James Petrie, co-founder and CEO of the Canberra-based startup, told Green Queen.

    Co-founder and CTO Anna El Tachhy has relocated to lead the firm’s European operations, as it looks to scale up its meat- and dairy-like fats produced via fermentation. “Europe offers an ideal environment for the next stage of our growth, with a highly supportive ecosystem and some of the world’s leading food companies based here,” said El Tahchy.

    “Combined with a deep pool of scientific and commercial talent and its reputation as a hub for food innovation, Europe is the natural next step in our global journey,” she added.

    Positioning itself in the EU will allow Nourish Ingredients to tap into the region’s robust food manufacturing ecosystem, forge deeper partnerships with global companies, access public funding for sustainable foods, and accelerate its regulatory efforts in the bloc.

    New facility features demo kitchen and product development labs

    nourish ingredients facility
    Courtesy: Nourish Ingredients

    Nourish Ingredients’s “designer fats” rely on naturally occurring lipids scaled through precision fermentation, which provide the distinct flavour and cooking properties of animal fats when used in plant-based meat and dairy alternatives.

    Precision fermentation involves inserting a specific DNA sequence into microorganisms (Mortierella alpina, in this case) to instruct them to produce the desired molecules when fermented.

    Nourish Ingredients’s innovations serve as a “sweet spot” between tropical fats like palm and coconut oil (which can be a climate nightmare and are often mixed with a long list of synthetic flavours), and significantly more expensive cell-cultured fats.

    Its first ingredient is Tastilux, a meat-like fat that facilitates the Maillard reaction, giving products an aroma, taste and cooking experience akin to meat. It is effective at just a 1% inclusion rate.

    The Australian startup aims to address the taste, labelling and consumer satisfaction issues plaguing the plant-based protein market, while also targeting the blended meat space. Tastilux is set to enter other major food categories as well, including snacks, ready meals and tallow replacements.

    The company has also developed Creamilux, a fat alternative for non-dairy applications. It has partnered with New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra to create both dairy and plant-based products with the ingredient.

    Speaking of which, the BioPartner 5 hub will position Nourish Ingredients as a neighbour to precision-fermented dairy protein maker Vivici, which is backed by DSM-Firmenich and Fonterra. It opens up the possibility of future collaborations between the two startups.

    The facility will feature a state-of-the-art demonstration kitchen for Nourish Ingredients to showcase its fats to manufacturers, as well as specialised food and sensory laboratories to develop new applications and support rapid product customisation for global markets.

    Nourish Ingredients raising $15M and eyeing EU regulatory approval

    nourish ingredients tastilux
    Courtesy: Nourish Ingredients

    Last year, Nourish Ingredients teamed up with Chinese synbio firm Cabio Biotech to scale up and streamline its production, and this April, that resulted in its first industrial-scale manufacturing cycle. Additionally, it has partnership agreements for Tastilux in the US, Australia, New Zealand and the Middle East.

    “Cabio Biotech remains our current manufacturing partner for Tastilux, with production capability to meet 170,000 tonnes of end-product demand,” said Petrie. “When it comes to Creamilux manufacturing, while we can’t share official details yet, we’re preparing for our first commercial-scale run with our partner and expect progress to be quick.”

    The microbial strain for Tastilux was determined to be Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) by the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association in the US last month, paving the way for sales to manufacturers in the country.

    Nourish Ingredients is additionally focusing on Singapore, Australia, the UK, and the EU. “While we haven’t submitted a regulatory application for the EU yet, we are actively advancing our regulatory and commercial pathway for Europe and other global markets, with testing and progress continuing in the background,” Petrie noted.

    Choosing the EU as its global hub will also give it access to grant and financing opportunities specifically designed for companies developing sustainable ingredients.

    “Our aim in accessing EU support is to accelerate growth and deepen our integration into one of the world’s strongest food ecosystems. By leveraging Europe’s extensive customer and supply chain networks, we can fast-track commercial traction and better serve our priority global markets,” said Petrie.

    “Equally important, Europe offers a strong framework of government support and innovation funding. Engaging with this ecosystem allows us to unlock strategic partnerships, align with policy, and create de-risked pathways to scale.”

    The startup has so far raised nearly $40M from investors, and is now in the middle of another fundraise. “We are currently raising a $15M round, which will enable us to accelerate our commercial operations and drive the business to profitability,” revealed Petrie. “We’re deliberately building a capital-light company, with a strong focus and strategy on commercial growth.”

    The fat alternative space is expanding rapidly. California’s Yali Bio, New York’s C16 Biosciences and Sweden’s Melt&Marble, and Estonia’s Äio are using precision fermentation to produce fats and lipids too. Bill Gates-backed Savor, meanwhile, transforms carbon into triglyceride blends via a thermochemical process to produce animal-free fats.

    The post Animal-Free Fat Maker Nourish Ingredients Sets Up Global Commercial Hub in Netherlands appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Future Food Quick Bites: Stranger Things, Walnut Mince & Veganuary Poll

    babybel stranger things
    4 Mins Read

    Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Bel Group’s Stranger Things-inspired vegan cheese, Planta’s return, and Veganuary’s six-month poll.

    New products and launches

    French dairy giant Bel Group has partnered with Netflix to launch a spicy vegan version of its Babybel cheese, called Hellfire, in the UK to mark the final season of Stranger Things. It’s available at Sainsbury’s and Morrisons for £2.45 per 120g pack.

    stranger things hellfire
    Courtesy: Bel/Nikolay Popov/Getty Images

    UK firm Whitworths has introduced a walnut-based minced meat alternative, calling it the country’s “first unprocessed meat-free mince”. The Nutty Kitchen Supermince comes in original, Indian, Italian and Mexican flavours, and will be available on its website and on Ocado.

    Meanwhile, plant-based leader Beyond Meat has launched its steak pieces in nearly 250 Sainsbury’s stores and on Ocado.

    In London, legacy vegan restaurant Mildreds has partnered with ready meal player Grubby to offer some of its signature dishes for at-home cooking, including kiri hodi, bokkeumbap, and a Korean fried chicken burger. The limited-edition menu will launch on October 2.

    milreds grubby
    Courtesy: Mildreds/Grubby

    British oat milk startup Moma has launched four new products targeting flavour and functional trends. These include a pistachio oat milk, a salted maple and hazelnut oat milk, a ready-to-drink chai latte, and an immunity-support oat milk with five essential micronutrients. The former two are available at Morrisons and Waitrose, and the latter two will launch at Waitrose on October 12.

    Also in the UK, dairy-free dessert brand The Coconut Collab has released Pistachio Pots at Morrisons and on Ocado, with more retailers to follow next month. They’re available for £2.95 per four-pack of 45g pots.

    Dutch producer Schouten Europe has unveiled a new vegan sausage with an “innovative” animal fat replacer and plant-based casing, which it will exhibit at the Anuga fair in Cologne (October 4-8).

    cultivated meat lca
    Courtesy: Bene Meat Technologies

    And Czech pet food firm Bene Meat Technologies has launched a Try & Share programme for pet parents to trial its cultivated meat dog treats in the EU.

    Company and finance developments

    Germany’s Planethic Group (formerly Veganz Group) has decided to acquire IP Innovation Partners Technology to optimise costs and boost its 2D-printing expertise – it markets oat milk sheets under the Milik brand.

    veganz mililk
    Courtesy: Veganz

    Canadian mycelium protein startup Maia Farms has received C$1.75M ($1.27M) in funding from Genome British Columbia’s Industry Innovation Fund.

    Brazilian mycoprotein player Typcal has been accepted into the Biotope incubator, through which it will receive €350,000 ($412,000) in financial support.

    Meanwhile, US startup CoryPro Ingredients, which creates proteins from guar gum industry sidestreams, has signed a deal with Mexican guar gum producer Polymerals to establish a guar protein processing facility in Torreón, Mexico.

    planta acquisition
    Courtesy: Planta

    After being rescued from bankruptcy this month, US vegan sushi chain Planta has announced that eight of its 18 locations will continue operating.

    Future-Proof Group Media has acquired the Cultured Meat Symposium to its global portfolio of alternative protein events, with the first joint conference set for February.

    Israeli food tech player Steakholder Foods has agreed to take over digital dyeing tech company Twine Solutions to add to its existing 3D-printing solutions.

    steakholder foods 3d printing
    Courtesy: Steakholder Foods

    In the UK, Dave Sparrow has left his role as CEO of Vegan Food Group, the parent company of VFC, Meatless Farm, Clive’s Purely Plants, and Tofutown.

    Research and awards

    French cultivated meat player Gourmey has been selected by the European Innovation Council (EIC) to join its EIC Scaling Club accelerator programme.

    lab grown foie gras
    Courtesy: Sherry Hack

    Caroline Cotto, director of sensory research agency Nectar, has been named on the 2025 Grist 50 list of climate leaders shaping a sustainable future.

    Australian precision fermentation firm All G‘s animal-free lactoferrin, LFX, has exhibited several skin benefits in pre-clinical testing, including reduced inflammatory cytokines, stronger collagen-1 protein production, and lower beta-galactosidase activity.

    veganuary statistics
    Courtesy: Veganuary

    Finally, Veganuary‘s six-month follow-up survey found that a third are still vegan, and another third are eating 75% less meat and dairy. Moreover, three in five reported improvements to general health.

    Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.

    The post Future Food Quick Bites: Stranger Things, Walnut Mince & Veganuary Poll appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • Bill Gates & Ozempic Maker Renew Project to Turn Carbon Into Food with $26M Investment

    novo nordisk bill gates
    4 Mins Read

    Gates Foundation and Novo Nordisk have extended the Acetate Consortium initiative by another two years with a $25.6M investment to turn CO2 into proteins.

    It was in June 2023 that Bill Gates’s philanthropic foundation teamed up with the company behind Ozempic and NovoRapid to set up a 200 million kroner ($29M) project to produce nutritious food from carbon dioxide.

    Now, Gates Foundation and Novo Nordisk have renewed the initiative, called the Acetate Consortium, for another two years, pumping in up to 162.2 million kroner ($25.6M) to scale the technologies developed in the first phase and produce food prototypes.

    “When the consortium began its work two years ago, making food derived from CO2 seemed like something taken from a science fiction movie. Within the next two years, we can expect to see actual prototypes of food products that will be tested by consumers,” said Claus Felby, VP of agrifood at the Novo Nordisk Foundation, which owns the eponymous pharmaceutical giant.

    Acetate Consortium developed acetate-eating microbes in phase one

    co2 protein
    Courtesy: Novo Nordisk

    The idea behind the project is to produce alternatives to planet-harming animal proteins via fermentation. But instead of using sugar as a feedstock for the microbes, the consortium has sought ways to replace it with CO2-derived acetate, or vinegar.

    By eschewing sugar, the process can free up vast swathes of agricultural land, aligning with the Acetate Consortium’s aim to mitigate climate change as well as food insecurity.

    The acetate is procured from captured carbon through electrochemical processes, turning emissions into valuable proteins that can potentially feed over a billion people annually.

    In phase one, the consortium developed an integrated platform to convert CO2 into acetate for single-cell and precision proteins. Its members developed microbial strains that grow on 100% acetate and contain more than 40% protein.

    In addition, this stage saw the completion of pilot facilities at Aarhus University in Denmark for individual acetate production modules. Moreover, the consortium identified electricity and infrastructure as the two key cost drivers of the process.

    In the second phase, the group will comprise 10 partners, such as Novo Nordisk Foundation’s CO2 Research Center, Novonesis, Orkla Foods, Topsoe, and several universities. It also includes Spora, the food innovation centre founded by Rasmus Munk, head chef at Alchemist, a two-Michelin-starred restaurant in Copenhagen.

    Spora’s role would be to make the results “taste more like dinner than science”. “The technology developed in phase one can reshape how we produce food, and I look forward to turning it into nutritious and above all delicious ingredients for the future,” said Munk, who was voted the world’s best chef in 2024.

    Second phase will scale up tech and develop food prototypes

    gates foundation novo nordisk
    Courtesy: Novo Nordisk

    Gates Foundation and Novo Nordisk’s renewal of the project will allow its members to focus on optimising and scaling the technologies and methods, as well as developing and testing food prototypes in the second phase.

    As part of this next stage, the consortium will model the technical, economic, and environmental impact of the technological solution it has developed.

    According to Novo Nordisk, Denmark has a “strong tradition of collaboration” between industry and researchers within food and biosolutions, and the country’s gastronomic space is a leader in experimenting with food.

    Munk and Spora’s involvement is a sign of that. “The goal is to develop delicious, protein-rich everyday foods with a low impact on the planet – and broad appeal, especially for families in the communities that need it the most,” said Spora CEO Mette Johnsen.

    “One of Denmark’s strengths is the ability to bridge research, industry, and gastronomy. This makes us an ideal test country for new technologies such as this, where CO2 can be used as a raw material for future food,” said Felby.

    “Here, we can develop and test prototypes in close collaboration with researchers, companies, and chefs, and share our findings to benefit communities and industries worldwide,” she added.

    Denmark is already a leader in the protein transition. Its government was the world’s first to introduce a carbon tax on meat and dairy production and a national action plan for plant-based food. And it’s pushing for an EU-wide version of the latter during its ongoing presidency of the European Council.

    Novo Nordisk, meanwhile, has already been at the forefront of food industry disruption through the success of its GLP-1 drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, and has also invested in a $7.6M AI-led project to develop less processed plant proteins.

    The Acetate Consortium isn’t the only initiative turning carbon dioxide into proteins. Solar Foods, Air Protein, LanzaTech, Jooules, Aerbio, and Unibio are among several startups leveraging gas fermentation for food production.

    The post Bill Gates & Ozempic Maker Renew Project to Turn Carbon Into Food with $26M Investment appeared first on Green Queen.

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  • Animal-Free Meat & Dairy Could Bring £10B to the UK Economy Every Year

    uk precision fermentation
    4 Mins Read

    Novel fermentation methods to produce alternatives to meat, dairy and eggs could add £9.8B annually to the UK economy by 2050, new analysis shows.

    Modern approaches to an age-old food production technique could bring in an economic windfall for the UK, boosting its net-zero plans for 2050.

    Fermentation has been around for millennia, but many companies are employing new technologies that make use of this method to create sustainable alternatives to animal proteins.

    And as the Food Standards Agency (FSA) launches a new initiative to boost its scientific understanding of novel fermentation methods, analysis by Systemiq and the Good Food Institute Europe has revealed that these technologies can generate £9.8B in annual economic value and £2.4B in exports for the UK.

    “Fermentation is an ancient technology being reimagined to tackle the modern-day challenges facing our food system. These figures reveal the value to the UK economy of a thriving fermentation sector producing familiar, tasty and nutritious food,” said Linus Pardoe, senior UK policy manager at GFI Europe.

    UK could be a world leader in fermentation

    uk fermented foods
    Courtesy: Systemiq/GFI Europe

    The research covers two types of fermentation tech. Biomass fermentation utilises fast-replicating natural microorganisms, like fungi or algae, to produce high-protein biomass. Here, the microbes themselves are the end product. The best-known use case of this method is the mycoprotein produced by Quorn.

    Precision fermentation involves inserting specific DNA into microorganisms to teach them to produce the desired compounds when fermented. The process has been widely used for decades to produce insulin, rennet for cheesemaking, and vitamin supplements.

    Food producers are now using these technologies to produce proteins and fats that resemble (or, in the case of precision fermentation, are bioidentical to) animal-based foods like meat, dairy, and eggs. Moreover, some companies are making alternatives to palm oil, chocolate, cotton and leather.

    According to the report, a business-as-usual scenario would entail the UK maintaining steady progress with modest public R&D support and the inclusion of fermentation in engineering biology solutions. The FSA would provide a functional yet slow regulatory process, while a broader use of clear terminology would improve consumer and investor confidence.

    These policies would put the UK’s fermentation market on track to be valued at £2.4B by 2050, equal to just 1% of the current consumer spend on food and drink.

    A low-ambition scenario, in which the UK falls behind global leaders due to regulatory delays, a lack of funding, and strict, uncoordinated naming rules, would see the sector contribute only £600M to the economy.

    However, the real potential is in the high-ambition pathway, where the strong R&D and infrastructure funding and a coordinated national strategy make the UK a leading fermentation hub. The FSA would be well-resourced to enact fast regulatory approvals, while laws allow these products to use terms like ‘milk’ and ‘cheese’ on-pack.

    This could boost the size of the fermentation market to £5.9B by 2050, with precision-fermented dairy and eggs driving a third of the growth.

    From labelling to investment, how the UK can support fermentation

    fermentation market size
    Courtesy: Systemiq/GFI Europe

    The analysis found that the total gross value added contribution of the fermentation sector could reach £9.8B, with biomass fermentation making up two-thirds of this share.

    When factoring in sales of equipment and raw materials, the UK’s overall fermentation market could be valued at up to £8.2B, alongside £2.4B in exports (10% of the food, feed and drink export value in 2024).

    The report suggests that the UK government’s stance towards fermentation is “broadly positive”, as momentum grows towards modernised regulation and greater investment. Since 2021, public funding into alternative proteins has crossed £75M, although that’s just 60% of the investment recommended by Henry Dimbleby’s National Food Strategy in 2021.

    To unlock further growth, Systemic and GFI Europe called on public and private investors to pump £150M per year into R&D to reach taste and price parity and unlock revenue opportunities. Additionally, the sector needs £860M a year to develop fermenters and facilities at various scales.

    The UK government must also recognise the role of fermentation in its new food strategy, reform the Precision Breeding Act to enable some fermentation-derived products to enter the market without novel or GM food authorisation, and revise dairy nomenclature rules to enable animal-free innovations to use terms like ‘milk’ and ‘yoghurt’.

    So far, no precision-fermented meat or dairy has been approved for sale by the FSA, but the regulator has launched a year-long Innovation Research Programme to enhance its capabilities and expertise on these technologies.

    The initiative is backed by £1.4M in funding from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s new Regulatory Innovation Office, and aims to provide greater clarity to fermentation companies on how to apply for approval, and support food innovation through enhanced regulatory capacity.

    “The FSA’s new programme is an important step, helping bring new fermentation-made products to market that meet the UK’s gold standard safety regulations, but the government and industry need to invest in order to unlock this full potential,” said Pardoe.

    The post Animal-Free Meat & Dairy Could Bring £10B to the UK Economy Every Year appeared first on Green Queen.

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  • ‘Unmatched’: This Egg-Free Mayonnaise is Made From Air

    solein mayo
    4 Mins Read

    Finland’s Solar Foods has developed an egg- and dairy-free mayonnaise made with Solein, its signature protein derived from CO2. It’s also three times cheaper.

    In response to the egg industry’s supply chain and price volatilities, Finnish food tech company Solar Foods has swapped chickens for carbon in its new mayonnaise.

    The spread is made from Solein, a protein derived from gas fermentation. Its “excellent emulsifying properties” can replace egg yolks in mayo production and enable stable supplies and significant cost savings.

    Solar Foods’s yellow powdered protein yields three times more mayo than the same amount of egg yolk powder, providing what the firm claims is “unmatched value” for the food industry.

    “Egg yolk powder prices have fluctuated wildly in recent years,” said chief commercial and product officer Troels Nørgaard. “With Solein, companies can lock in multi-year agreements at a fixed price, having more control and de-risking from sudden spikes and market disruptions from disease outbreaks and climate conditions to geopolitical upheavals.”

    Solein-based mayo a solution to egg crisis

    solein protein
    Courtesy: Solar Foods

    Solar Foods produces Solein by feeding microbes on carbon dioxide, hydrogen and oxygen, instead of sugar, which eliminates the need for farmland, water for irrigation, and fertilisers and pesticides.

    The microbes are grown in a liquid form, and later dried into a flavourless powder that has 78% protein, 6% fat, and 10% dietary fibre. Its macronutrient profile is said to be akin to dried soy or algae, and it contains iron and B vitamins.

    Solar Foods calls Solein the “most sustainable protein” on Earth. The main raw materials for production are carbon dioxide and renewable energy, resulting in emissions equal to just 1% of those generated by conventional meat, and 20% of plant proteins.

    When it comes to mayo, which is traditionally produced by emulsifying oil with egg yolks, Solein offers the same functionality, but at a lower cost. The fact that it can yield thrice the amount of mayo means food companies need fewer raw materials, giving them better efficiency and a direct cost advantage.

    The egg-free mayo market is already worth $4.9B, and it’s set to grow by 6% annually to reach $6.6B by the end of the decade. A major driver of the growing demand is the avian flu outbreak that has pushed egg prices to all-time highs in the US (in some cities, eggs cost $1 a pop) and a decade-long record in Europe.

    Anticipated price corrections have led some producers of powdered eggs to delay purchases, causing a supply gap. Combined with the wider impact of food prices amid the cost-of-living crisis, it has created a perfect storm.

    Solar Foods’s mayonnaise can replace egg yolks both partially or completely and be used in the same way, from sandwiches and salads to dips and dressings. The gas-fermented protein offers a creamy, indulgent mouthfeel with a neutral flavour, which can form an ideal base for flavoured spreads like chilli mayo or garlic aioli.

    Solar Foods prepares to build new factory to meet demand for Solein

    egg free mayo
    Courtesy: Solar Foods

    Solar Foods is already cleared to sell Solein in Singapore and the US. In the former, it debuted in 2022 as part of a vegan chocolate gelato at Italian eatery Fico. It was also the base of a Taste the Future chocolate snack bar released by Fazer (a majority shareholder of Solar Foods) in the city-state, and a line of mooncakes and ice cream sandwiches rolled out by Japanese food giant Ajinomoto.

    The company’s strategy stateside is to home in on the health and performance nutrition market, having recently unveiled a ready-to-mix protein shake powder for athletes and gymgoers looking to enhance their performance and recovery.

    Solar Foods has additionally signed supply partnerships with US-based GLP-1 wellness company Superb Food (worth €1.39M) and Italian food firm KelpEat (worth €500,000), alongside three commercialisation deals that could account for half of the production capacity of its upcoming facility.

    Speaking of which, Solar Foods currently operates its demo plant, Factory 01, in Vantaa, with an initial capacity of producing 160 tonnes of Solein per year, or 450kg daily (equivalent to the egg protein output of 50,000 hens). This is set to increase to 230 tonnes by 2026.

    Simultaneously, it has been working on an industrial-scale Factory 02, which would churn out 12,800 tonnes of its gas protein annually. It’s expected to be built in three phases, with the first set to be operational by 2028, and will allow it to produce Solein at €4.30-5.20 per kg, generating net sales of €80-200M.

    Solar Foods has already raised around €83M in equity and debt funding for its two facilities, with backers including the EU Commission and Business Finland.

    The latter, Finland’s official trade agency, has made a total of €110M in grants available to Solar Foods until 2035, and has already injected over €43M. It has set aside a total of €76M to help with the construction of Factory 02, if built on European soil. The decision on location is set to be made next year.

    “Solein excels as an ingredient in different health and performance nutrition products, but beyond that, we see Solein playing a pivotal role in transforming global food systems. When we talk about feeding 10 billion people, Solein’s unmatched value becomes a key advantage in all imaginable food categories,” said Nørgaard.

    The post ‘Unmatched’: This Egg-Free Mayonnaise is Made From Air appeared first on Green Queen.

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  • Onego Bio Gets FDA Approval to Sell Chicken-Free Egg Protein Amid GRAS Upheaval

    onego bio gras
    4 Mins Read

    Finnish startup Onego Bio has secured a ‘no questions’ letter from the US FDA, strengthening the regulatory status of its precision-fermented egg protein.

    As the US mulls changes to how new foods are regulated, some companies are getting ahead of the policy overhaul.

    Finland’s Onego Bio, which makes recombinant egg proteins using precision fermentation, has received a ‘no questions’ letter from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The regulatory body has concluded that the startup’s Bioalbumen ingredient is Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) for use in a wide variety of applications.

    It comes nine months after the firm first filed its GRAS notice to the FDA, and six months after it purchased land in Wisconsin to build a large-scale facility capable of producing the same amount of egg protein as six million hens.

    “The FDA’s conclusions now confirm our right to commercialise and give customers full confidence in incorporating Bioalbumen as a reliable food solution,” says co-founder and CEO Maija Itkonen.

    The regulator has moved to potentially eliminate the self-affirmed GRAS rule next year, which would force companies to submit notices for FDA review and potentially delay companies’ ability to bring new ingredients to market.

    And while the change would not affect ingredients that are already determined as GRAS, many producers would choose to pursue the FDA letter anyway to increase confidence among clients and customers.

    “Integrity and transparency are at the heart of everything we do – our business, our technology, our intellectual property, and our collaboration with customers and partners,” says Itkonen. “That’s why we pursued the full FDA GRAS review process.”

    How Onego Bio makes its chicken-free egg protein

    precision fermentation eggs
    Courtesy: Onego Bio

    A spinout of the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, Onego Bio uses a fungal strain called Trichoderma reesei to produce a bioidentical version of ovalbumin, which makes up 54% of the protein found in egg whites.

    Its precision fermentation process involves introducing the genetic blueprint of ovalbumin to the cells of the microorganisms, which are fed on sugar. Depending on the stage of the production process, they’re either starved with little food or allowed to “gorge on glucose” – once they consume plenty of glucose and are then starved of it, they start sweating proteins.

    These proteins are then filtered out and dried into a powder. The process requires 95% less land and 97% less water compared to conventional eggs, while generating 89% fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

    Onego Bio’s Bioalbumen is a complete protein with an amino acid sequence identical to ovalbumin and a protein digestibility score of 1.0 (the highest possible score). It has a two-year-long shelf life and can replace egg white protein powder or liquid egg alternatives in most applications.

    The FDA letter confirms that the chicken-free egg white protein can function as a foaming, gelling, and binding agent in baked goods, beverages, meat analogues, confections, sauces, and more.

    “We currently manufacture [on a] demo scale through a contract manufacturer in Europe, planning for larger volumes, and are progressing plans to build a flagship production facility in Jefferson County, Wisconsin,” Itkonen tells Green Queen.

    The plant will be located at the Food and Beverage Innovation Campus, built on a 26-acre piece of land Onego Bio bought for $777,000. The startup is expected to spend $250-300M to build the new facility, which is set to begin operations in 2028.

    Onego Bio gears up for fundraise amid US lawsuit

    onego bio
    Courtesy: Onego Bio

    Through its future-friendly protein, Onego Bio is tackling the egg crisis that has left the US food industry in a bind. The avian flu crisis pushed egg prices to record highs this year – in some cities, chicken eggs cost $1 a pop.

    Manufacturers have been looking for alternative solutions. Eat Just, maker of the mung-bean-derived Just Egg, saw sales of its vegan substitutes grow five times faster in January than in the past year, with 56% of shoppers returning to buy more (a three-point increase from 2024).

    But plant-based egg replacers can only go so far. Precision fermentation offers companies like-for-like functionality that can seamlessly bed into their processes. “Our priority is giving food manufacturers a dependable source of high-quality egg protein so they can count on consistent availability and stable, competitive pricing,” says Itkonen.

    “We’re continuing to supply Bioalbumen samples and trial support to a range of customers, from craft bakeries to large-scale food manufacturers. Collaborations cover everything from baked goods, sauces, confections, savoury products, and more,” she adds.

    The startup has raised nearly $71M to date, which includes $55.2M from Series A investors and an EU grant in 2024. Now, it’s gearing up for more. “We are excited to kick off our next fundraising round this fall,” Itkonen reveals.

    And earlier this month, it sued California’s The Every Company, a fellow precision-fermented egg protein startup, to invalidate a key patent granted to the latter in the US, accusing it of fraud. Shortly after, the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland (which Onego Bio spun off from) challenged one of Every’s patents in Europe.

    Itkonen says the two cases are not related. Asked to comment on its lawsuit in the US, she notes: “We filed this action to protect our ownership and to bring clarity around a recently issued patent that we believe is invalid.

    “Our intention is not to block progress but to safeguard it. We have deep respect for legitimate intellectual property and value fair competition, which we see as the foundation of a healthy market.”

    The post Onego Bio Gets FDA Approval to Sell Chicken-Free Egg Protein Amid GRAS Upheaval appeared first on Green Queen.

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  • Revyve Brews Up $28M in Funding to Replace Eggs & UPFs with Beer Waste

    revyve funding
    4 Mins Read

    Dutch food tech startup Revyve has secured €24M ($28M) in Series B financing to scale up its functional yeast proteins to replace eggs and ultra-processed additives.

    Food producers need an urgent solution to soaring egg prices and clean-label alternatives to ultra-processed ingredients – and investors are paying attention.

    In the Netherlands, one startup is upcycling beer waste and fermenting it to produce a protein that can replace eggs and additives like methycellulose in a range of applications, addressing health, sustainability, and price concerns all at once.

    A spin-out of Wageningen University & Research, Revyve has raised €24M ($28M) in a Series B round led by ABN AMRO Sustainable Impact Fund and Invest-NL (the national promotion agency).

    The investment also saw participation from the regional government via the Brabant Development Agency, as well as Danstar Ferment (the Swiss affiliate of Lallemand Bio-Ingredients), Grey Silo Ventures, and existing investors Oost NL and Royal Cosun. It took Revyve’s total raised past €40M ($47M).

    “The funding will be used toward three priorities: scaling up our first-of-a-kind production facility, expanding our team, and accelerating collaborations with food manufacturers to bring innovative products to market. This ensures we can meet demand on a commercial scale while realising positive margins,” Revyve CEO Cedric Verstraeten tells Green Queen.

    He adds: “This round secures us runway until we can operate at break-even, based on full capacity utilisation at our Dinteloord facility.”

    Revyve plans to scale up capacity for global customers

    methylcellulose alternative
    Courtesy: Peter de Klerk/Must n Stum

    Revyve produces highly functional powdered yeast proteins that replicate eggs and industrial additives in a range of applications, from meat and dairy alternatives to sauces, appetisers and baked goods.

    It does so by utilising spent brewer’s yeast, a byproduct of the beer industry. Given the amount of beer produced globally, this gives Revyve a virtually endless supply of yeast. Plus, valorising a waste product lowers both the climate footprint and eventual cost of the ingredient, both key metrics for manufacturers.

    “We use Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is commercially available from breweries and large yeast producers,” says Verstraeten. “This species has been used for centuries in baking, brewing and other food applications.

    “Our process is not novel [in] the EU, and in the US, our GRAS [Generally Recognized as Safe] status is confirmed by an expert consensus statement,” he adds, another tick in the box for its customers.

    Revyve washes the yeast to remove all beer and brewing-related off-noted, then micro-mills it to separate the protein and fibre to optimise firming, gelling and foaming capabilities.

    “Using our proprietary process, we mechanically process yeast to produce high-quality protein and fibre ingredients. This approach preserves the unique native functionality of yeast proteins. It’s a clean, sustainable process that can be scaled efficiently through existing infrastructure,” explains Verstraeten.

    Revyve’s production facility in Dinterloord is already running at capacity for several customers across Europe, the UK, the US, Canada, Mexico and Australia. And with the new investment, it will now expand the output to over 1,600 tonnes per year.

    “We are in-market with several products across different food categories like dressings and sauces, bakery and snacks, and meat alternatives,” says Verstraeten, though he declined to name specific companies in order to “preserve their competitive advantage” in using Revyve’s ingredients.

    How Revyve attracted investors in a venture capital drought

    yeast protein
    Courtesy: Peter de Klerk/Must n Stum

    Verstraeten notes that Revyve’s R&D and applications teams continue to find ways to broaden its portfolio of functional ingredients, with some “exciting longer-term projects” in the work too.

    “Our dual approach of having our own dedicated sales infrastructure with selected distributors ensures that we are able to reach new customers in different geographies with the right level of service and support,” he adds.

    It’s one of several other companies using brewer’s yeast to make egg replacers, including ProteinDistillery and Yeastup. But Verstraeten points to several key elements that differentiate Revyve from others.

    “Subtle but key differences in our proprietary process ensure that we have the most functional yeast proteins on the market, which is crucial to successfully replace egg ingredients or additives,” he says. “Most of our commercial production is from primary grown yeast; as a result, our ingredients are taste neutral and gluten-free, key requirements for the industry.”

    He continues: “Our first-of-a-kind production facility has been in production for [over] 12 months, and we have a track record of commercial production with all relevant certifications and customer service.”

    While funding for alternative protein companies fell off a cliff over the last couple of years, investors continued to bet on fermentation-focused firms. Financing for plant-based proteins (-64%) and cultivated meat declined by 64% and 40%, respectively, in 2024, whereas for fermentation-derived proteins, funding increased by 43% (reaching $651M).

    In the first half of 2025, however, this sector only received $148M in funding, as overall investment in alternative protein declined by 50% year-on-year. So how did Revyve’s get investors to pump $28M into its functional proteins?

    “Our pitch was simple: the world needs scalable, functional, and sustainable alternatives to animal proteins, and Revyve has the technology, partners, and market traction to deliver them,” says Verstraeten. “Investors saw not just the impact potential, but also the commercial case for a cost-competitive, scalable ingredient.”

    The post Revyve Brews Up $28M in Funding to Replace Eggs & UPFs with Beer Waste appeared first on Green Queen.

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  • The Protein Brewery Bags $35M from Dutch Govt & Ozempic Maker for Fungi Protein

    the protein brewery funding
    5 Mins Read

    Dutch fermentation startup The Protein Brewery has raised €30M ($35M) in Series B funding to bring its fungi-derived Fermotein ingredient to market. It’s also closing in on European approval.

    Breda-based food tech player The Protein Brewery is looking to supercharge the active nutrition, better-for-you snacking, and GLP-1 spaces with new funding for its low-cost fungi protein.

    The startup has secured €30M ($35M) in a Series B round, welcoming new backers in Invest-NL (the national government’s promotion body) and the Brabant Development Agency (BOM).

    They joined existing investors Novo Holdings (the parent company of Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk), Unovis Asset Management, and Madeli in the new financing round, taking the firm’s total raised to €52M ($61M).

    The Protein Brewery will use the capital to bring its high-protein, high-fibre Fermotein ingredient to market. It’s already cleared to sell the fermentation-derived innovation in the US and Singapore, with regulatory approval imminent in other geographies too.

    “We submitted our dossier quite some time ago in both the EU and the UK. “We are in the final stage of approval with both jurisdictions,” CEO Thijs Bosch tells Green Queen. “We are currently investigating to file in Canada, China and Mexico as well.”

    How The Protein Brewery makes Fermotein

    the protein brewery
    Courtesy: The Protein Brewery

    Founded in 2020 as part of a demerger of industrial biotech company BioscienZ BV, The Protein Brewery is aiming to commercialise low-cost, low-carbon ingredients that turn low-nutritive crops into nutritional powerhouse products.

    Its first solution is Fermotein, a whole-cell bioproduct derived from Rhizomucor pusillus, an extremophilic strain that can deal with low pH levels and high temperatures. 

    “Fermotein biomass is grown in fermenters under specific conditions, after which it is sieved and pasteurised. The product is then further de-watered and dried. The dried Fermotein is milled to achieve the desired particle size and packed in bags for shipment to our customers,” explains Bosch.

    “We use mainly glucose as a feedstock, and are working on solutions to utilise sugar-rich by-products as well,” he adds.

    The ingredient is rich in dietary fibre to support the immune system and healthy cholesterol levels, and is a complete protein. Its yield is 26 times more protein than meat, five times more than soy, and four times more than pea protein. On the climate front, compared to beef, it uses just 1% of the land, consumes 5% of the water and releases 3% of the emissions.

    Crucially, Fermotein has a natural taste, smell and colour, enabling food companies to use it without masking agents in a wide variety of applications. These include high-protein drinks, nutrition bars, non-dairy milks and yoghurts, and protein-boosted pancakes, tortilla chips, muffins, and more.

    It’s produced in The Protein Brewery’s pilot plant in Mijkenbroek, Breda, which can churn out 100kg of the mycoprotein daily. Armed with the new capital, the startup will now expand the facility’s capacity to ready itself for large-scale commercialisation.

    The Protein Brewery eyes active nutrition and GLP-1 markets

    fermotein
    Courtesy: The Protein Brewery

    Last year, the startup self-determined Fermotein as Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) in the US. However, with that rule set to be scrapped next year, many alternative protein companies have been filing GRAS submissions to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in pursuit of its approval.

    “Our dossier has been filed with the FDA,” confirms Bosch. “We expect a ‘no questions’ letter within six to nine months.”

    In 2024, the company said it was in talks with US allergen-free ingredients company Nepra Foods and Canadian distributor CK Ingredients for potential partnerships. Now, Bosch notes it’s working with several manufacturers to bring Fermotein to the US market in the coming months.

    “One of our customers is launching a vegan ready-to-mix product in the coming months, targeting the nutritional space with a healthy and sustainable protein/fibre mix. Active nutrition is a segment in which we get a lot of traction, thanks to the nutritional profile of Fermotein,” he says.

    “We also have several customers that are planning to launch with Fermotein in the better-for-you bakery and snacking segment, fortifying their products in terms of protein and fibre, and making them keto-friendly.”

    In addition, The Protein Brewery is targeting the lucrative GLP-1 space. One in eight Americans has tried weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, which have sent the food industry into a frenzy. But with side effects raising concerns, some startups have developed products that naturally boost the body’s GLP-1 hormone through food.

    “As Fermotein is rich in protein and fibre, it can be a good companion food,” says Bosch. “We are currently investigating the potential of Fermotein to be a natural GLP-1 booster.”

    Investors see climate and nutritional potential in Fermotein

    fungi protein
    Courtesy: The Protein Brewery

    Aside from scaling up and accelerating its commercial plans, the funding will help The Protein Brewery further develop its fermentation platform to unlock new nutrition and product applications.

    And as it prepares for launches in the UK and the EU, once regulatory approval comes through, it’s already expanding its business in Singapore.

    “We will exhibit during the Agri-Food Tech Expo Asia in Singapore early November and are working with a distribution partner in Singapore to scale faster in this market,” says Bosch. “We were approved by the Singapore Food Agency in 2024 and see significant potential in the active nutrition market.”

    While funding for alternative protein companies fell off a cliff over the last couple of years, investors continued to bet on fermentation-focused firms. Financing for plant-based proteins (-64%) and cultivated meat declined by 64% and 40%, respectively, in 2024 whereas for fermentation-derived proteins, funding increased by 43% (reaching $651M).

    In the first half of 2025, however, this sector has only received $148M in funding, as overall investment in alternative protein declined by 50% year-on-year. So the fact that The Protein Brewery raised $35M in such a tough landscape is a marker of investors’ confidence in its technology.

    “We have brought new investors on board (Invest-NL and BOM), which share our mission of scaling climate-friendly food ingredients and making a positive contribution to the Dutch food tech ecosystem,” says Bosch.

    He adds that the startup’s current shareholders reinvested because “they believe that our proprietary fermentation technology can be a very efficient and nutritious food source, once this is brought to full scale”.

    The post The Protein Brewery Bags $35M from Dutch Govt & Ozempic Maker for Fungi Protein appeared first on Green Queen.

    This post was originally published on Green Queen.

  • After Meat & Dairy, Seafood Becomes the Latest Blended Protein Innovation

    hybrid salmon
    4 Mins Read

    Dutch firm Vegan Visboer has expanded beyond animal-free offerings with a new blended salmon offering, combining the fish with mycoprotein and plants.

    Blended proteins are on an unstoppable streak, and the Netherlands is at the heart of the race.

    Lidl, Aldi and Albert Heijn have all released private-label products blending meat with plants, and the latter has also brought out two hybrid milk SKUs.

    Now, one Dutch startup is taking the idea further with a first-of-its-kind product, extending the blended protein portfolio to seafood.

    Based in Zwolle, Vegan Visboer (Vegan Fisherman) has unveiled a hybrid salmon fillet in collaboration with aquaculture company Tiptopp, which produces probiotics for feed and processes industry sidestreams.

    Vegan Visboer tackles Norwegian salmon sidestreams

    hybrid seafood
    Courtesy: Vegan Visboer

    Vegan Visboer already sells a range of plant-based seafood products, including fish fillets, nuggets, burgers and shrimp croquettes. But its move into blended proteins marks a departure from what its brand name promises.

    Its new innovation, manufactured at Kramer Fish in Urk, comprises 54% Norwegian salmon from sidestreams that “normally never reach consumers’ plates”.

    The rest of the ingredients include textured mycoprotein, textured rice flour, potato starch, bamboo fibre, rapeseed oil, salt, and paprika extract.

    “For many consumers, the step to go fully plant-based is still too big. Our Hybrid Salmon Fillet bridges that gap: the familiar taste of salmon, combined with the benefits of plant-based innovation,” the company said.

    It suggested that the product was developed with the intention of reducing the business’s carbon footprint, although adding a seafood product to an entirely vegan range isn’t exactly best practice on the environmental front. Rather, the fillet – as is the case with other blended meats – will help lower the climate impact of the seafood industry.

    Norwegian salmon is notorious for being overly dependent on global fish feed supplies – the sector’s feed footprint makes up 2.5% of global marine fisheries catch, and the forage fish targeted by the industry contain key micronutrients that are critical to healthy populations in West Africa, leading to experts accusing the sector of ‘food colonialism’.

    Globally, too, farmed salmon consumes 44% of the world’s fish oil, despite only accounting for 4.5% of seafood production by the aquaculture industry.

    To navigate this, Vegan Visboer works with Tiptopp to remove the salmon left over from filleting, and uses this residual flow to extract its ingredients and flavours. It then adds hypoallergenic rice grains to help bridge the gap between the fish and plant-based ingredients.

    Are blended proteins the answer to alt-seafood’s problems?

    vegan visboer
    Courtesy: Vegan Visboer

    Europeans are still reluctant to go fully plant-based. Less than one in five (18%) avoid animal products in their diet, and when asked what changes they’d like to make in their eating patterns, 12% wish to increase their intake of meat and dairy.

    At the same time, two in five actively avoid processed foods, a category that includes plant-based seafood as well as processed conventional fish products. Plus, 51% of Europeans want to eat healthier, versus just 9% who want to prioritise sustainability.

    “By combining the best of both worlds, we retain the authentic taste and nutritional value while still taking a step towards plant-based,” Vegan Visboer stated.

    “The ‘convenience generation’ is the future: health, sustainability, and food safety are more important than ever before. This generation is growing up with plant-based alternatives and is very conscious about making informed choices,” it added.

    The move is the latest marker of the embattled plant-based seafood industry. These products represent just 1% of both the vegan meat market and overall seafood sales. Over the last year, several alternative seafood startups have closed, including France’s Olala! and Dutch startups Upstream Foods and Vegan Finest Foods. In the US, celeb-favourite vegan sushi chain Planta filed for bankruptcy this summer and was recently acquired by a VC group for $7.8M.

    And despite consumers viewing fish as a healthier, more sustainable alternative to other meats, plant-based versions can still be lacking in protein and omega-3s. Vegan Visboer’s blended salmon contains 14g of protein and 2.5g of fibre per 100g, and is rich in minerals like selenium, magnesium and potassium, and omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.

    The firm plans to appeal to a broad target group, including flexitarians, eco-conscious consumers, and conventional fish lovers. It will debut the hybrid salmon fillet at Gastvrij Rotterdam and Anuga in Cologne, with a rollout set for January.

    Consumers have already taken to blended meat, with omnivores and flexitarians finding some of these products better than their conventional counterparts – will seafood have the same effect?

    The post After Meat & Dairy, Seafood Becomes the Latest Blended Protein Innovation appeared first on Green Queen.

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  • Time-Travelling Milkman Gears Up to Launch Dairy Fat Alternative with $2.3M Funding

    time travelling milkman
    4 Mins Read

    Dutch startup Time-Travelling Milkman, which uses sunflower seeds to replace dairy fats, has raised €2M ($2.3M) to support the launch of next-gen cream cheeses and desserts.

    Continuing what has been a bumper week for sustainable fat alternatives, Time-Travelling Milkman has secured €2M ($2.3M) in pre-Series A funding for its sunflower-seed-based ingredient.

    The investment round saw two new backers in Sparkalis (the venture arm of chocolate giant Puratos) and Evercurious, with participation from existing shareholder Oost NL. It takes the startup’s total raised to over $3.9M.

    The fresh capital will enable the Dutch firm to commercialise its Oleocream ingredient in the coming months, starting with cream cheeses and desserts that ditch the dairy.

    “For the protein transition to succeed, tasty and delicious dairy alternatives are a necessity,” said Jos Putker, investment manager for food at Oost NL. “With Oleocream, Time-Travelling Milkman has an innovative solution that contributes to more appealing alternatives.”

    Sparkalis managing director Filip Arnaut added: ”We are proud to support visionary startups like Time-Travelling Milkman, whose disruptive fat ingredient technology is reimagining the future of food. Their sustainable, plant-based innovation aligns perfectly with our mission to accelerate the transition toward a more responsible and resilient food system.”

    Time-Travelling Milkman bets on olesomes to replace dairy fats

    dairy fat alternatives
    Courtesy: Time-Travelling Milkman

    Time-Travelling Milkman was founded by Dimitris Karefyllakis and Saskia Tersteeg in 2020 as a spin-off of Wageningen University, after developing a fat-producing process that uses only sunflower seeds and water.

    The patented method preserves the seeds’ naturally occurring oleosomes. These are microdroplets for oil storage that are surrounded by a layer of phospholipids and proteins to keep the oil stable during emulsions. Instead of disrupting oleosomes to produce liquid oil, the startup keeps these oil bodies intact during extraction, which has been linked to lower processing levels and resistance to digestion.

    Olesomes offer a stronger emulsion than man-made alternatives while delivering a creamy texture similar to dairy fats, making them an ideal clean-label ingredient to enhance the texture of plant-based barista milks, non-dairy ice cream and cheeses, sauces, and even meat alternatives (including blended meat).

    Time-Travelling Milkman’s Oleocream is free from allergens and rich in unsaturated fats, while being highly compatible with high-heat, fermentation, and low-acidity applications.

    According to the startup, the ingredient is poised for commercial success thanks to Europeans’ shift away from processed foods – two in five consumers actively avoid these products. And among people who want to make changes to their diet, 60% are looking to reduce their intake of processed foods.

    Additionally, Oleocream can help companies move away from unsustainable tropical fats like palm and coconut oil, which are widely used in the plant-based food industry – the latter is a common base ingredient in vegan cheese, for example.

    These fats are linked to large-scale tropical deforestation, wildfires, and threats to Indigenous populations and wildlife. Within the EU, the upcoming deforestation regulation will ban the import of products with deforestation-linked palm oil, putting manufacturers in a scramble for cheap and effective alternatives.

    Time-Travelling Milkman claims its zero-waste production process helps Oleocream replicate the texture and functionality of dairy cream with 80% fewer emissions and a fraction of the cost.

    First products with Oleocream set to roll out soon

    milk fat alternative
    Courtesy: Time-Travelling Milkman

    The funding will help the firm accelerate commercial trials (which are already underway), support customer launches, and expand partnerships. These efforts will be helped by the fact that its fat alternative is plant-based and does not require regulatory approval.

    “We’re seizing a rare opportunity in a sector where both investments and sales have stalled,” said Karefyllakis, who is the managing director. “After years of optimisation and scaling, we’re ready to deliver Oleocream at commercial volumes, efficiently, consistently, and affordably.”

    Time-Travelling Milkman’s production is set to be scaled to 1,000 tonnes a year, enabling it to supply commercial volumes of Oleocream to both the plant-based and dairy sectors. The startup says its sunflower seed ingredient is well-suited for hybrid products that combine cow’s milk with plants – the Netherlands is already at the forefront of this shift, with Albert Heijn releasing two blended milk SKUs this year.

    Moreover, the Wageningen firm is aiming to launch its next-generation breakfast spreads and desserts in the coming months. These cream cheeses and sweet treats have undergone several pilot trials and consumer panels, and feature “significantly shorter, cleaner, and healthier ingredient lists”, free from stabilisers or tropical fats.

    Time-Travelling Milkman is also working on two other products: SunfloPro is a minimally processed protein-rich texturiser, and SunPulp is a fibre-rich ingredient that makes foods thicker and creamier. Plus, it’s part of an R&D project funded by the Utrecht province to develop Oleocream-enriched meat alternatives with Rival Foods and We’re Smart World.

    Its raise comes amid a flurry of developments in the alternative fat space. This week, Singapore’s Terra Oleo secured $3.1M to scale up production of its waste-derived precision-fermented palm oil and cocoa butter substitutes

    A day earlier, Dutch producer NoPalm Ingredients signed a deal with dairy giant Milcobel to use its whey permeate as a fermentation feedstock for its palm oil alternatives. It will also explore the feasibility of co-locating its first commercial-scale factory at the latter’s site in Langemark.

    Also this month, British firm Clean Food Group received regulatory approval in the US, EU and UK to sell its yeast-derived oil in cosmetic applications, and Estonia’s Äio completed a one-tonne production run for its palm oil substitute, eyeing market entry by year-end.

    The post Time-Travelling Milkman Gears Up to Launch Dairy Fat Alternative with $2.3M Funding appeared first on Green Queen.

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  • Germany’s Barnhouse Debuts Vegan Granola with ‘THIC’ Cocoa-Free Chocolate

    endless food co
    4 Mins Read

    German cereal producer Barnhouse has launched a new low-sugar vegan granola with Endless Food Co’s cocoa-free chocolate alternative.

    In Germany, granola giant Barnhouse’s latest innovation spotlights a future-friendly chocolate alternative devised by some of the world’s best chefs.

    The company’s new Krunchy Low Sugar (No) Choco features Danish startup Endless Food Co’s waste-derived cocoa-free chocolate, dubbed THIC (This Isn’t Chocolate).

    “This is a significant commercial milestone, as we’ve formally entered the German market, with our largest volumes to date,” Endless Food Co said.

    The plant-based granola is currently rolling out on supermarket shelves in Germany, and is available on Barnhouse’s website for €4.99 per 375g box.

    Barnhouse combines THIC with cocoa powder in new granola

    barnhouse granola krunchy
    Courtesy: Barnhouse

    Endless Food Co has Michelin-starred roots. The company was co-founded by Matthew Orlando, touted as one of the world’s best chefs, who was the owner of Copenhagen’s eco-minded Amass Restaurant and previously worked at The Fat Duck, Aureole and Le Bernardin.

    At Amass, Orlando was a colleague of COO Christian Bach (who has previously worked at Noma) and CEO Maximillian Bogenmann. The three built on the restaurant’s sustainability heritage by developing a solution to the chocolate industry’s climate issues while cutting back on food waste, which accounts for a tenth of global emissions.

    Endless Food Co’s chocolate alternative makes use of brewer’s spent grain (BSG), the solid residue from malted barley after beer production, and cocoa shells, which are paired with sustainable fats like wild-harvested shea and illipe butters, and organic beet sugar.

    The startup mimics traditional chocolate-making processes to turn BSG into a powder that can be embedded into a chocolate production line. Refining and conching help replicate the chocolate-like mass that speeds through a tempering and moulding line.

    “We are proud to be the first food company in Germany to work with this innovative product,” Barnhouse said on its website.

    The cocoa-free chocolate granola contains locally grown whole-grain oats, tapioca syrup, sunflower oil, chicory root fibre, puffed rice, desiccated coconut, and 1.7% of cocoa powder, complemented by 4.5% of the THIC ingredient. It contains 9.2g of protein and 15g of fibre per 100g, and just 4.2g of sugar.

    Endless Food Co tackling waste and emissions with cocoa-free chocolate

    cocoa free chocolate
    Courtesy: Endless Food Co

    One of the central themes around Endless Food Co’s existence – and the clue is in the name here – is food waste. By using BSG, it is valorising an ingredient that makes up 85% of the waste produced by the brewing industry. Every year, 36.4 million tonnes of BSG is manufactured globally, but 80% of this is repurposed into animal feed or biofuel, and the rest ends up in landfill.

    Cacao, meanwhile, is among the most wasted fruits in the world – around 70-80% of the fruit is thrown away during chocolate production, despite the discarded parts having high nutritional and functional value. Chocolate production itself is a highly polluting process, thanks in large part to the widespread use of deforestation-linked palm oil.

    THIC is positioned as a one-to-one replacement for chocolate, and according to a life-cycle assessment, it has an 84% lower climate footprint than conventional dark chocolate.

    Endless Food Co’s ingredient has already begun appearing in several formats in Scandinavia. Last year, it teamed up with 7-Eleven Denmark to launch cookies made from THIC for all 180 of its stores nationwide. And last month, its upcycled chocolate alternative was the base of a cocoa-free chocolate cheesecake at Stockholm’s Urban Deli.

    In late 2024, the startup raised €1M in a funding round led by Nordic Foodtech VC, with EIFO and Rockstart participating as well. This followed an investment from Innovation Fund Denmark in 2023, and was earmarked to help Endless Food Co expand production, set up a pilot plant, and grow its team.

    It is part of a growing list of companies working with cocoa-free chocolate, including Germany’s Planet A Foods, British startups Win-Win and Nukoko, US firms Voyage Foods and Compound Foods, Italy’s Foreverland, and Singapore’s Prefer, among others.

    The post Germany’s Barnhouse Debuts Vegan Granola with ‘THIC’ Cocoa-Free Chocolate appeared first on Green Queen.

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  • Backed by Bill Gates, Singapore’s Terra Oleo Raises $3.1M to Turn Waste Into Palm Oil Substitutes

    terra oleo
    4 Mins Read

    Singaporean sustainable fats startup Terra Oleo has emerged from stealth with a $3.1M funding round and selection in Breakthrough Energy’s 2025 Fellows cohort.

    Turning agro-industrial waste into sustainable alternatives to palm oil and cocoa butter, Singapore firm Terra Oleo has raised $3.1M in funding from ADB Ventures, The Radical Fund, Elev8.vc, Better Bite Ventures, and a “strategic corporate investor” from the palm oil industry, among others.

    The startup has also been named in the 2025 Fellows programme by Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy. The initiative helps founders bridge the gap from lab to market and supports early-stage innovators with capital and mentorship. Fellows are selected through a rigorous process to ensure their technologies can reduce emissions at scale, by at least five gigatonnes per year.

    Terra Oleo – whose waste-valorising, precision-fermented fats cut emissions by up to 86%, land use by 90%, and water use by 88% – was selected to solve the climate, regulatory, and supply challenges facing palm oil and cocoa supply chains. The organisation’s backing will help it scale up production and advance customer formulation testing and validation.

    “We are at lab-scale moving into pre-pilot scale. Several of our higher-value target ingredients are at price parity with their conventional equivalents,” co-founder and CEO Shen Ming Lee tells Green Queen.

    Sustainable fats from starch, biodiesel and olechemical waste

    palm oil substitute
    Courtesy: Terra Oleo

    Lee, who founded Terra Oleo with Boon Uranukul and Min Hao Wong, grew up in the palm oil industry, with her family’s business among the world’s largest producers of the oil. So she firsthand knows the problems posed by its production.

    The omnipresent fat is revered for its neutral flavour, smell and colour, and ability to withstand high temperatures and act as a natural preservative. But producing it is linked to mass tropical deforestation and wildlife and human rights abuses.

    Indonesia and Malaysia alone are home to 90% of oil palm trees – the former’s forests have been subject to wildfires emanating directly from palm plantations in 2019. Palm oil production has increased tenfold since 1980, and as demand increases, more forests are set to be burnt down, a form of mass deforestation that emits greenhouse gases, while removing trees that would help absorb them.

    Climate change is disrupting the cocoa industry too. Global stocks of the crop have slumped to their lowest in a decade. Plantations in the Ivory Coast and Ghana, the two largest producers, are the hardest hit due to extreme weather and crop diseases. That has caused cocoa prices to reach all-time highs.

    Terra Oleo is betting on waste and fermentation to decarbonise these two industries. Its precision fermentation process modifies yeast into lipids with customisable profiles for high-value palm and cocoa applications, and eschews the energy-intensive refining steps and toxic byproducts of oleochemical processes.

    “Our defensible tech edge lies in deep expertise in microbial strain engineering, which enables our yeast to directly produce application-ready specifications of high-value palm oil derivatives (specialty oleochemicals) and cocoa butter equivalents,” said Lee.

    “In parallel, we employ synthetic biology innovations to enhance process economics, from efficiently utilising low-cost agro-industrial waste streams to reducing downstream processing costs,” she added. “We source cost-effective waste streams from starch, biodiesel, and oleochemical production, which are abundant across Southeast Asia.”

    Terra Oleo is already testing palm and cocoa fat substitutes with companies

    cocoa butter substitute
    Courtesy: Terra Oleo

    Terra Oleo’s process overcomes the limits of natural microbes, delivering superior unit economics and faster market adoption than other solutions. “We’ve built strain capabilities across three yeast species,” Lee said, without disclosing the specifics.

    At full scale, its technology is predicted to remove 900 million tonnes of CO2 from the palm and cocoa supply chains annually, affecting products across the personal care, cosmetics, pharmaceutical and food industries.

    “We are manufacturing in Thailand and Singapore across all target products. We are product testing with several global and regional leaders in oleochemicals, food, personal care, and cosmetics. Product validation is underway,” said Lee.

    “We will use the funds to scale from lab to pilot and advance formulation testing and validation with key customers,” she said of the capital raise.

    Ashley Gross, VP of Breakthrough Energy, added: “We’re honoured to have the opportunity to work with talented founders who are tackling the most difficult climate and energy challenges around the world.”

    Terra Oleo’s raise comes amid rapid advancements in the sustainable fats sector. This month, British firm Clean Food Group received regulatory approval in the US, EU and UK to sell its yeast-derived oil in cosmetic applications, and Estonia’s Äio completed a one-tonne production run for its palm oil substitute, eyeing market entry by year-end.

    And yesterday, Dutch producer NoPalm Ingredients signed a deal with dairy giant Milcobel to use its whey permeate as a fermentation feedstock for its palm oil alternatives. It will also explore the feasibility of co-locating its first commercial-scale factory at the latter’s site in Langemark.

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