5Mins Read Who’s leading the way forward in fixing our food system? These nine startups are making big progress. Last year during the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit, nine exciting Asia-based startups pitched their sustainable technologies aimed at building up our food system’s resilience to crises in the post-pandemic world. Without further ado, below is a round-up of […]
3Mins Read In an oversubscribed Series C funding round, Bay Area platform The Every Company has raised an additional $175 million for its precision fermentation egg protein, bringing its total funding to more than $230 million. A roster of new and existing investors co-led the new Every funding, including McWin, Rage Capital, Temasek, Grosvenor’s Wheatsheaf Group, TO […]
3Mins Read Digital publisher DayDayCook has announced plans to launch an accelerator program. The initiative will support food tech startups within Hong Kong. The Good Food Accelerator Program is designed to grow the food tech sector, bringing world-class products to market. It is powered by the Good Food Movement and endorsed by Cyberport. DayDayCook has selected eight […]
3Mins Read A freshly established association, Belgium-based Cellular Agriculture Europe has been founded to create industry unity and transparency. 13 companies have joined, including Dutch pioneer Mosa Meat, whose head of public affairs sits as the first president. Industry-wide challenges will be a primary focus, with issues such as labelling and stakeholder education taking top priority. Cellular […]
3Mins Read Estonian startup Gelatex Technologies has secured €1.2 million in seed funding. The investment will be used to continue the development of plant-based polymer scaffolds. Up to 90 percent cheaper than alternatives, the scaffolding could allow cultivated meat to be rolled out and cost-effective. New premises are being constructed to increase production, ahead of predicted demand. […]
3Mins Read A recent £4.5 million seed plus round brings alternative dairy startups Mighty’s total funding to £8 million. Funds are being earmarked for international expansion, alongside bringing a new precision fermentation-based plant milk to market in early 2022. The latest funding for Mighty was led by two of Germany’s leading brewing families. Bittburger Ventures and Schadebery […]
4Mins Read Meat made via harvesting cells from animals should, in the future, be referred to as “cultivated” meat according to alt-protein company Upside Foods. The comment is in response to the United States Department of Agriculture’s advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) around labeling cultured meat titled “Labeling of Meat and Poultry Products Comprised of or […]
3Mins Read South Africa’s De Novo Dairy, the continent’s first precision fermentation dairy startup, has announced the close of a successful round of pre-seed funding that will enable to company to push forward on R&D. One of a growing number of startups using pioneering precision fermentation around the globe, the company is creating dairy proteins identical to […]
3Mins Read Biotech startup Tiamat Sciences has announced that it is developing a new cellular agriculture growth medium. The move is intended to significantly reduce the cost of producing cultivated meat and allow for faster progression to large-scale manufacturing. Traditional growth factors are typically cost-prohibitive, but new plant-based biomolecules can take their place. Having just secured $3 […]
Libre Foods’ fungi-based bacon product created using fermentation (precision) technology is designed to meet the growing EU demand for pork—currently a $53 billion industry—that offers an alternative to the disadvantages of commercial pig farming. The fungi bacon was unveiled to investors and food-tech community members at Libre Haus in Barcelona last November. We put it to the test.
Founder and CEO Alan Iván Ramos told Green Queen Media: “Libre exists out of impact. Not many people know this, yet pork is the second-largest market category globally behind beef and the sole largest in Europe. Moreover, bacon is often the product that meat-eaters refuse to give up. We’re out to change that, starting with our Libre Bacon.”
Bacon first, steak to follow
With a successful pre-seed round closed last year, which saw Sustainable Food Ventures and Good Seed Ventures coming onboard, Libre Foods has been pressing ahead with creating animal-free proteins. Last year, Green Queen reported that Libre Foods was hoping to develop a whole-cut beef steak using fungi fermentation technology, but the company has pivoted to bacon after developing a deeper understanding of the intricacies at play.
“We realised just how complex a steak really was, so we want to take all the right steps to make sure that we do it well, focusing on all the learnings we obtain from our initial pipeline to bring them all together for our signature product, our Libre Steak,” said Ramos.
Fungi without mycelium
Developing a faithful replica of animal protein requires a focus on texture as well as taste, which is why mycelium, with its rugged fibrosity, has proven to be a suitable building block. The problem, however, is that E.U. approval is still in progress, meaning that current incarnations of Libre meats are fungi-based but mycelium-absent. This has not cooled enthusiasm for the product developments though.
Image courtesy of Atlast Food Co.
“The regulatory process for new technologies is especially lengthy and difficult in the E.U., yet we’re optimistic that the tide will soon turn toward innovation. We’re a rapidly increasing global population and will need tangible, innovative solutions to feed ourselves in the not-so-far future. Fungi can help do that,” explained Ramos.
Green Queen Media was sent a sample of the Libre animal-free bacon to test. Something exciting is happening: comparably smoky and deep, the cured pork-like notes come through clearly and the use of vegetable fat to recreate a streaky aesthetic adds authenticity. The addition of mycelium, when approved, will drastically alter the mouthfeel and has the potential to create one of the most considered alternatives to animal bacon, which 20 percent of adults in the UK alone have cited as smelling too good to stop eating.
“We’re focused on all the important characteristics that make bacon, bacon. The crispiness, the fattiness and just the right amount of smokiness to meatiness. If bacon is the product that meat-eaters refuse to give up, our Libre Bacon is here to change that,” said Ramos.
3Mins Read Slovenian startup Juicy Marbles has successfully completed a $4.5 seed round to scale its whole-cut vegan steak. Self-described as “fancy plant meat”, the Ljublijana-based company is zeroing in on the alt protein market to offer meat eaters an alternative to conventional premium prime cuts. The first product to be brought to market will be a […]
3Mins Read Sundial Foods, the startup behind the vegan chicken wing alternative that bears “skin and bone”, has attracted funding from Nestlé. Sundial Foods has announced the closing of a $4 million seed funding round, which saw participation from Swiss food giant Nestlé. Participating investors included SOSV, the venture capital firm behind the accelerator IndieBio that Sundial […]
3Mins Read Michroma is developing natural vegan-friendly food colourants powered by fungi to overhaul synthetic and animal-based, non-vegan food dyes. The food colourant market is dominated by synthetics and animal-derived products, but startups are now rising to the challenge with animal-free and natural solutions. One of them is Michroma, a synbio firm that says it has developed […]
4Mins Read 17 food tech startups have been chosen to join Big Idea Ventures’ accelerator programs in New York, Singapore and Paris. Big Idea Ventures (BIV) has announced today (November 22) its latest accelerator cohorts to join its programs in New York, Singapore and Paris. Hailing from all over the world, 17 food techs were chosen as […]
5Mins Read The plant-based and cultivated meat sectors are widely recognised in the alternative protein world, but there’s now a third category emerging – fermentation. Food scientists and companies are now innovating new ways to apply fermentation technology to create novel sustainable proteins as well as to enable the further development of both plant-based and cultivated meat […]
3Mins Read Wamame Foods, the Canadian firm behind the plant-based brand Waygu, wants to become a global vegan beef supplier. It just secured funding for a new project, which will see the food tech partner up with fellow Canadian companies Merit Functional Foods, Wismettac Asian Foods and Winecrush Technology, to co-create new high-quality vegan beef alternatives for […]
4Mins Read Temasek, the Singapore government-backed investment firm, has just established a new platform dedicated to scaling and commercialising sustainable foods and alternative proteins. Providing R&D advisory, pilot facilities and opening up manufacturing and investment support to food techs, the Asia Sustainable Foods Platform aims to tackle “friction-to-adoption” in the region. Temasek has launched the Asia Sustainable […]
3Mins Read Nuritas, a biotech company developing plant-based peptides, has closed its $45 million Series B round. The company, which lists Bono and The Edge of U2 fame among its key backers, says the financing will accelerate its global expansion and help unlock more plant peptides that can be used to develop sustainable functional foods, supplements and […]
3Mins Read SaladStop, the Singapore-headquartered salad chain with locations across Asia, has just closed its Series B with $8.8 million. The restaurant, which serves up Beyond Meat on its plant-forward menu, says the funding will fuel its expansion across the region. SaladStop has announced the closing of its oversubscribed Series B round with $8.8 million, led by […]
3Mins Read Mush Foods, an Israeli food tech developing mycelium, believes its flagship ingredient could be the answer to upgrading existing alternative proteins. Based in Tel Aviv, the startup uses fermentation and AI to efficiently produce its fungi-based ingredient, which it says could make everything from plant-based dairy to vegan steak tastier, healthier and more sustainable. Mush […]
3Mins Read Fancy a cup of lab-grown coffee? Finnish researchers have managed to produce coffee cells in a bioreactor using cellular agriculture. According to the team, it smells and tastes exactly like your regular cup, but comes at a fraction of the environmental cost. Scientists at the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland recently produced their first […]
3Mins Read Can Mycoprotein Save Our Food System? Novozymes Is Betting On It. Novozymes, the largest enzyme and microbial technology provider based in Denmark, believes that mycoprotein could help shape the future of sustainable food. Now, it’s issuing an Innovation Call to invite startups, researchers, corporations and NGOs to join its journey to co-develop new ways to […]
3Mins Read Despite the absence of discussion on the role of animal agriculture at COP26, the prestigious 100 Best Inventions of 2021 by TIME has spotlighted the potential of alternative proteins as a climate solution. Three food techs have just snagged a spot on the list, including cultured chicken maker Upside Foods, bee-free honey startup MeliBio, and […]
3Mins Read We recently had the chance to speak to Eugene Wang, co-founder and CEO of Sophie’s Bionutrients. The Singapore-based company, which grows microalgae in bioreactors, recently announced its expansion to Europe, and we wanted to know more about it. In this interview, Wang talks more about the startup’s plans for Europe and the rationale behind setting […]
3Mins Read Bettermoo(d), the Canadian plant-based dairy startup backed by rock legend Bryan Adams, is now gearing up to go public. The brand, which is set to release its Moodrink line of dairy-free milk this winter, announced an agreement with Happy Supplements Inc. for a potential go public transaction to be listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange. […]
3Mins Read Luya Foods, the Swiss startup turning tofu waste into vegan meat, has raised seed funding to enter the retail market. It also plans to use the capital to scale production and ramp up R&D, after having initially debuted its natural plant-based chunks and burger patties in foodservice. Luya Foods has announced an undisclosed seed funding […]
3Mins Read There’s no shortage of vegan cheeses available now, but this new plant-based alternative contains a superfood ingredient: microalgae. Developed by Singapore-based Sophie’s BioNutrients and the US ingredient giant Ingredion, the new dairy-free microalgae cheese not only tastes tangy and melts like the real deal, but is also loaded with vitamin B12. The latest innovation in […]
3Mins Read There’s a new plant-based meat in town and it’s not made from soybeans, peas or wheat. Instead, it’s made from upcycled cashew fruit—and Hawaiian startup Cajú Love has become the first to introduce this new vegan meat alternative to the US. Cajú Love just created the first cashew fruit meat introduced to the US market. […]
4Mins Read Akua, the startup behind the kelp-based vegan burger, is set to expand its plant-based range with crab cakes and ground meat after securing $3.2 million in a seed funding round. The New York-based food tech will also be using the funds to grow its team and marketing as it looks to capture the clean label […]
3Mins Read Alpro has ramped up its capacity amid surging demand for vegan milk. Its latest £17 million investment in a new high-speed production line at its Kettering facility in the UK will help it churn over 300 million litres of plant-based milk per year. Iconic dairy-free brand Alpro has just doubled down on production, investing £17 […]
