St. Augustine diners just might think twice about chowing down on fried chicken after they see—and hear—“Hell on Wheels,” PETA’s guerilla-marketing campaign featuring a life-size chicken transport truck covered with images of real chickens crammed into crates on their way to a slaughterhouse, complete with actual recorded sounds of the birds’ cries and a subliminal message every 10 seconds suggesting that people go vegan. The vexatious vehicle will traverse St. George Street—just three minutes from Chick-fil-A and close to other meaty eateries—before moving on to confront local diners at The Blue Hen Cafe, Mojo Old City BBQ, Zaxby’s, Dick’s Wings & Grill, Buffalo Wild Wings, Candlelight South, and Brisky’s BBQ as part of the group’s East Coast tour.
When: Thursday, December 14, 12 noon
Where: At the intersection of St. George Street and Cathedral Place, St. Augustine
“Behind every barbecued wing or bucket of fried chicken is a once-living, sensitive individual who was crammed onto a truck for a terrifying, miserable journey to their death,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA’s ‘Hell on Wheels’ truck is an appeal to anyone who eats chicken to remember that the meat industry is cruel to birds and the only kind meal is a vegan one.”
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview, and offers a free vegan starter kit on its website.
Today, PETA sent a letter to the mayor of Marlin, Susan Byrd, offering to provide the group’s first-of-its-kind Fish Empathy Quilt for the city to display in order to show support for marlins of the aquatic variety—not just its human namesake, John Marlin—and promote friendliness to all fish. PETA’s quilt has made a splash nationwide, including a monthlong stay at Eureka City Hall in California—and if Marlin agrees to be the quilt’s next stop, PETA will arrange for a delivery of delicious fish-free meals and an appearance from its crowd-pleasing Tiffany Tuna mascot at the festive unveiling event.
Panels from PETA’s Fish Empathy Quilt. Credit: PETA
“Fish are smart, empathetic, and playful beings who deserve the same consideration and care as humans, dogs, and every other animal,” says PETA Senior Vice President Colleen O’Brien. “PETA hopes Marlin will champion this quilt, pay tribute to the billions of aquatic animals killed each year in the fishing industry, and tip the scales toward humane vegan meals.”
The Fish Empathy Quilt measures more than 300 square feet and is composed of more than 100 unique, handcrafted squares from PETA members and supporters, including cartoonist Harry Bliss and oceanographic explorer and film producer Jean-Michel Cousteau.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.
PETA’s letter to Byrd follows.
December 12, 2023
The Honorable Susan R. Byrd
Mayor of Marlin
Dear Mayor Byrd:
I’m writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals—PETA entities have more than 9 million members and supporters worldwide—with a suggestion that would show everyone that Marlin is marlin-friendly. We recognize that the town was named to honor John Marlin, a pioneer patriot, but its fishy name gave us an idea that we hope you’ll reely embrace. We’d love to loan a thought-provoking item to display at Marlin City Hall Council Chambers or elsewhere in the city: the world’s first and only Fish Empathy Quilt. It has been well received wherever it has been cast ashore and has made quite a splash in towns from California to Alaska. So, will you agree to having it land in Marlin?
The quilt is a vibrant, creative depiction of marine life. It features more than 100 unique squares contributed by individuals from across the country, including a few famous ones, such as cartoonist Harry Bliss and French oceanographer Jean-Michel Cousteau. Collectively, they’ve created an artwork that continues to grow as people’s sensitivity to the plight of animals increases. It consists of six sections of varying dimensions, which can be displayed separately or clipped together as one large exhibit (over 300 square feet).
Ever more people are concerned these days about the unsustainable global fishing industry, and the market for vegan seafood is projected to reach $1.6 billion in the next 10 years. An ocean of evidence demonstrates that fish suffer enormously when they’re dragged from their homes in nets or impaled. Just like dogs and cats—and humans, for that matter—fish have individual personalities. They communicate with each other, show affection by gently rubbing against one another, and are extremely resourceful and intelligent. More and more people now realize that fish deserve to be treated with kindness, not cruelty. PETA’s Fish Empathy Quilt beautifully reflects this new awareness.
In November, three of the quilt’s panels were exhibited outside the Council Chambers at Eureka City Hall in California. Marlin would be the quilt’s perfect next stop! We’d be delighted to offer delicious fish-free meals and even a visit from our mascot Tiffany Tuna, who could hand out free coloring books and crayons to children at the unveiling or launch. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you for your consideration.
British vegan entrepreneur Heather Mills has announced that her legacy plant-based meat brand VBites is entering administration this week, after failing to secure funding amid rising costs. The 30-year-old company’s collapse comes amid a rough time for alt-meat, which Mills says is suffering from misinformation and corporate greed.
Spanning 30 years, 140+ products and 28 countries, British plant-based meat brand VBites is entering administration, owner Heather Mills announced in a lengthy statement on her website.
The entrepreneur said the news was “extremely distressing” for her employees and herself, having personally invested “tens of millions of pounds” and “offering every solution” she feasibly could to keep going. However, the efforts had been “thwarted by a demand that I stepped away from day-to-day management” to secure essential investment.
She added that this was exacerbated by a combination of “corporate greed and poor management”, increasing ingredient and energy costs, the cost-of-living crisis, and the “current state of the manufacturing economy” in the UK. Mills, a former model and previous wife of Paul McCartney, also ascribed the collapse to misinformation and gaslighting initiatives by the meat and dairy industry, as well as celebrities who backed these campaigns.
‘Blood, sweat and tears’
Courtesy: VBites
Launched in 1993, VBites originated as Redwood Wholefood until 2009, when it was bought by Mills. The name was changed to VBites to match the moniker of the entrepreneur’s restaurant in East Sussex. It has an extensive product range – including plant-based sausages, burgers, fish fingers and cheeses – and used to have a supplier deal with McDonald’s for its meat-free range.
Mills was introduced to veganism as part of an alternate therapy to traditional medicine in the aftermath of a 1993 accident, which led to her losing part of her left leg. She has previously stated her aim to turn northeast England into the “Silicon Valley of plant-based foods”, and is the owner of an omega-3 algal oil brand and a vegan makeup company. Additionally, she is a patron of the British vegan charity Viva!.
“Anyone that knows me well, knows the blood, sweat and tears that my team and I have put into the business, for the sole purpose of furthering the plant-based movement, of which we have been the pioneers for over 30 years and effecting a major shift in global human health, the preservation of the environment and the protection of animal welfare,” wrote Mills.
She added that her mission has always involved being “a facilitator of the plant-based transition” and advancing the “growth of our market” to show consumers that eating more sustainably, healthily and ethically can be delicious and possible. “That mission doesn’t change. I will continue to strive for this.”
She sold a 25% stake in VBites to Germany’s Pfeifer & Langen in 2021, months before her company announced a 25% profit for the 2021-22 financial year despite post-pandemic pressure. But things have come to a head since then. Mills stepped down from the company’s board earlier this year, which saw an overhaul with five new directors (one has since left).
‘Corporate greed’ forced Mills out
Courtesy: VBites
This could be what Mills was alluding to as part of her reasoning for the brand’s fall into administration. “It is unsurprising and inevitable that where profits are to be made, amorphous corporate entities will follow and unfortunately their practices too often undermine the entrepreneurial spirit, flexibility and agility of movement that saw plant-based entrepreneurs have so much success,” she explained.
“There is too often a tendency to treat their investments as short-term experiments and opportunistic flights of fancy, embalm them in restrictive governance and then either walk away or enforce a takeover when the market hits a bump.”
She compared her situation to the one at US vegan cheesemaker Miyoko’s Creamery, whose namesake founder Miyoko Schinner was ousted from the company last year, in a long-drawn saga that ended in lawsuits and bitter statements. The two parties settled earlier this year, with the business naming a new CEO and Schinner focusing on a new cookbook and pondering a potential restaurant.
“Sadly, I have many close friends and business owners in the sector that have had similar experiences and have either been forced out of their companies or gone under in the last few years,” said Mills. “There is a balance – we need capital to grow, but it needs to be well-intended capital and it needs to be married with strategic vision and belief in a brighter future.”
Plant-based unity key against meat and dairy misinformation
Courtesy: Heather Mills
The other factor that Mills said VBites fell victim to was the “galvanised” misinformation campaigns from the meat and dairy industry, which she described as “well-funded gaslighting initiatives that detract from the facts and sow the seeds of doubt in consumers who deserve to know the truth”.
In the US, for example, alt-meat companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods have been the target of coordinated attacks for years, challenging the overprocessed nature and long ingredient lists of their products, and bringing into question how that affects human health. In fact, plant-based brands have been looking to form a coalition in the style of marketing groups behind ads like Got Milk? – something Mills namechecked too – which Impossible CEO Peter McGuinness has called “a collective opportunity to extol the benefits of the category” (though this effort is facing headwinds).
These misinformation campaigns by the meat and dairy lobby have been successful in deterring consumers – at least if you’ll believe social media, where almost a quarter of analysed posts in a study labelled meat and dairy alternatives as ultra-processed “Frankenfood” that lack nutrition and cause serious diseases and “turbo cancers”. These posts attacked everything from long ingredient lists and overprocessing to nutritional aspects, diseases and health effects.
“The plant-based industry needs to take a lead from the dairy industry in unifying its voice, but as a force for good and promotion of the facts – as opposed to a litany of lies and misinformation,” said Mills, criticising certain celebrities who have backed the meat dairy industries but “should take their responsibilities as influencers much more seriously”. Actresses Aubrey Plaza and Emma Roberts have both come under fire for featuring in dairy commercials
The 55-year-old added: “We also need to work harder to demonstrate the long-term profitability of plant-based farming and manufacturing to the meat and dairy industries. If you want to enter the house, you need the keys – and working with the incumbent players in our food sector is the only way to effect meaningful and sustainable change.”
Factories, employee layoffs and immediate future
Courtesy: VBites
Mills owns multiple factories as part of her plant-based empire, including an ex-Coty plant near Newcastle, which offers storage and office spaces to vegan manufacturers, and the former plant-based meat production premises of Boston, Lincolnshire-based Plant & Bean, which itself fell into administration in June.
VBites, meanwhile, operates two sites in northeast England: in Peterlee, County Durham, and Corby, Northamptonshire. Mills remarked on the challenges the British manufacturing industry has faced since its exit from the EU in 2020: “Brexit has been an utter disaster for the supply and maintenance of the sector, and the government doubtless has a lot to answer for. So do the opportunistic utility companies and their broker networks, [which] through an array of nefarious practices now under investigation, have hiked up prices so that companies simply cannot afford to operate.”
She called on legislators to “clamp down on this form of malpractice”, “allocate funding, resources and support in the right places to promote manufacturing”, and “funnel subsidies towards industries such as ours” instead of planet- and health-harming conglomerates.
VBites has appointed Interpath Advisory as administrators, which will continue to trade from the Peterlee site while a buyer is found. The firm said 54 members of staff across the two sites had been retained, but 24 from across the business have been let go.
“Our immediate priority is to provide support and assistance to those employees impacted by redundancy, as well as seeking a buyer for the business and its assets. We would encourage any interested parties to make contact with us at the earliest opportunity,” said James Clark, the joint administrator and managing director at Interpath.
The UK’s struggling plant-based sector
Courtesy: VBites
VBites’s collapse comes amid a volatile period for the plant-based market in the UK (reflected by a wider trend globally). As investors have tightened their pockets around food tech and consumers have become more cautious in a cost-of-living crisis, vegan brands have been hit hard.
Apart from Plant & Bean, fellow British company Meatless Farm came close to administration before being rescued by vegan chicken maker VFC. Many have pulled their products from UK retail shelves, Coca-Cola-owned Innocent Drinks discontinued some of its smoothies, Heck cut its meatless range from 10 products to just two, Nestlé dropped its Garden Gourmet and Wunda brands, and Oatly withdrew its entire ice cream range. Meanwhile, industry giant Quorn announced a loss of £15.3M in its yearly accounts.
This has extended to foodservice, too. In 2022, sandwich chain Pret A Manger announced it was closing down most of its Veggie Pret stores, just as several independent eateries in north England did, including V Rev, JJ’s Vish and Chips, Zad’s (all Manchester), Frost Burgers (Liverpool) and Donner Summer (Sheffield).
This year too, fast-casual chain Clean Kitchen Club permanently shut its Notting Hill location in London in February, for example, while Flower Burger exited the UK market in September and Edinburgh’s Harmonium closed in April. And last month, popular vegan restaurant V Or V in Sheffield announced it was closing its doors, and Lewis Hamilton-backed fast-food chain Neat Burger said it will close four of its UK stores by the end of the year.
The UK is Europe’s second-largest vegan market – with retail sales for meat and dairy alternatives reaching £964M in 2022. But the market has stagnated and total investment in plant protein R&D has been overtaken by cultivated meat in the last decade. According to industry think tank the Good Food Institute Europe, UK plant-based sales fell by 3% between 2021-22, with alt-meat purchases sliding by 8%.
“VBites is one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of vegan food products, but unfortunately, and in common with many other companies across the food manufacturing sector, had seen trading impacted by rising commodity and energy prices,” said Clark.
Thanking her staff, Mills concluded her statement on a slightly more optimistic note: “I am hopeful that as a unified force we can turn things around – and hopefully before it is too late.”
As PETA’s “Hell on Wheels” tour stopped in Augusta to show locals how chickens suffer on slaughterhouse-bound trucks, an 18-wheeler transporting chickens crashed into a power pole Wednesday in Ridge Spring. The chickens who weren’t killed on impact were likely loaded onto another truck headed for the slaughterhouse—but the next morning, PETA members found two survivors hiding in bushes nearby and rushed them to receive veterinary care. Once they’ve recovered, the duo—now named Pinky and Cole after the founder of the Slutty Vegan restaurant chain, whose birthday is today—will be taken to a sanctuary.
“Having gone from a crowded, filthy transport truck bound for slaughter to a safe and caring sanctuary, Pinky and Cole will never be caged or killed for their body parts,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA urges everyone to go vegan to spare chickens from terrifying deaths and to get these deadly trucks off the streets.”
The U.S. transports and slaughters nearly 10 billion chickens every year, and PETA points out that transport truck crashes like this one are shockingly common—nearly 70 animal-related accidents have occurred in 2023.
This story has a happy ending for Pinky and Cole, who will have the opportunity to engage in their natural behavior at a sanctuary—such as scratching for food, taking dust baths, roosting in trees, and sitting in the sun—but the two survivors have a long road to recovery. Both are struggling to stand and walk because the meat industry bred them to grow so large so quickly that their legs are crippled under the weight. Their chests are devoid of feathers and red with ammonia burns from being forced to sit in giant sheds filled with excrement.
Every person who goes vegan spares nearly 200 animals each year daily suffering and terrifying deaths and reduces their own risk of developing heart disease and cancer. PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help those looking to make the switch.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.
Pinky Cole, the founder of the Slutty Vegan restaurant chain, is getting two presents for her birthday today: a pair of rescued chickens named in her honor after an 18-wheeler transporting chickens crashed into a power pole on Wednesday in Ridge Spring, South Carolina. The chickens who weren’t killed on impact were likely loaded onto another truck headed for the slaughterhouse—but the next morning, PETA members found two survivors hiding in bushes nearby and rushed them to receive veterinary care. Once they’ve recovered, the duo—now named Pinky and Cole—will be taken to a sanctuary.
“Having gone from a crowded, filthy transport truck bound for slaughter to a safe and caring sanctuary, Pinky and Cole will never be caged or killed for their body parts,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA urges everyone to go vegan to spare chickens terrifying deaths and to get these deadly trucks off the streets.”
The U.S. transports and slaughters nearly 10 billion chickens every year, and PETA points out that transport truck crashes like this one are shockingly common—nearly 70 animal-related accidents have occurred in 2023.
This story has a happy ending for Pinky and Cole, who will have the opportunity to engage in their natural behavior at a sanctuary—such as scratching for food, taking dust baths, roosting in trees, and sitting in the sun—but the two survivors have a long road to recovery. Both are struggling to stand and walk because the meat industry bred them to grow so large so quickly that their legs are crippled under the weight. Their chests are devoid of feathers and red with ammonia burns from being forced to sit in giant sheds filled with excrement.
Every person who goes vegan spares nearly 200 animals each year daily suffering and terrifying deaths and reduces their own risk of developing heart disease and cancer. PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help those looking to make the switch.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.
Smack-dab in the middle of the busy holiday travel season, PETA is erecting digital appeals on 34 screens in a platform takeover at Newark Penn Station—featuring a chicken, a turkey, a cow, a pig, or a fish—each urging passengers to see animals as fellow beings, not as food, and to celebrate the season of goodwill by tucking into savory vegan meals that leave animals in peace, not in pieces.
“All animals feel pain and fear and value their lives, and it’s wrong to carve their bodies up when their lives are as precious as our own,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA urges everyone to consider the individuals who suffer for our fleeting cravings and go vegan.”
Cows, pigs, turkeys, and chickens raised and killed for food endure extreme crowding, routine mutilations without pain relief, terrifying trips in all weather extremes to slaughterhouses, and violent, painful deaths on blood-soaked floors. In the fishing industry, aquatic animals are impaled, crushed, suffocated, dropped into pots of boiling water, or cut open and gutted, all while conscious.
Each person who goes vegan spares nearly 200 animals every year; reduces their own risk of suffering from cancer, heart disease, strokes, diabetes, and obesity; and dramatically shrinks their carbon footprint. PETA offers a free vegan starter kit for those looking to make the switch.
PETA’s “I’m ME, Not MEAT” ad featuring a chicken. Credit: PETA
PETA’s “I’m ME, Not MEAT” ad featuring a turkey. Credit: PETA
PETA’s “I’m ME, Not MEAT” ad featuring a cow. Credit: PETA
PETA’s “I’m ME, Not MEAT” ad featuring a pig. Credit: PETA
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.
Move over, Rudolph—here comes Toby! This beguiling little bird is the star of PETA’s new Christmas special encouraging viewers to leave turkeys in peace, not in pieces, which will run on the local Cox Cable service during family-friendly holiday shows from today through Christmas.
The video opens with Toby—a beloved member of a human family—watching TV in a cozy home, only to be confronted by a horrifying ad for a turkey dinner. Panicked, he races around the house, right into the arms of his adoptive human mother. As a few of his feathers fall to the floor, no one knows what happens to Toby—until the final scene, which, to the viewer’s relief, shows him at the table, not on it, tucking into a savory vegan roast with his loving human family.
“Turkeys are smart, curious individuals who love their families, and each one has a story that shouldn’t end on a fork,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “Only a grinch would eat someone like Toby, so PETA is encouraging everyone to show animals goodwill by choosing an animal-friendly, vegan repast at Christmastime and always.”
In nature, turkeys spend their days caring for their young, building nests, foraging for food, taking dust baths, and roosting in trees—but approximately 22 million of them are killed every year in the U.S. for Christmas alone. Workers hang the young birds upside down, drag them through an electrified bath, slit their throats, and dump them into scalding-hot water in defeathering tanks—often while they’re still conscious.
Earlier this year, eight former workers at Pennsylvania-based Plainville Farms, a self-professed “humane” turkey supplier to Wegmans, Publix, Harris Teeter, and other grocers, entered guilty pleas to cruelty charges after a PETA undercover investigation showed them punching and stomping on birds and a ninth worker pleaded no contest. In total, Pennsylvania State Police brought 141 counts of cruelty to animals, the largest number in any factory-farmed animal case in U.S. history, to workers there; however, such cruelty is systemic in the meat industry.
The spot will run on AMC, Hallmark, TBS, TNT, and Freeform. It will also run during holiday shows airing in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and Providence, Rhode Island.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.
Today, PETA sent a letter to the mayor of Spearfish, John Senden, offering to provide the group’s first-of-its-kind Fish Empathy Quilt for the city to display in order to counteract its violent name and promote friendliness to fish instead. PETA’s quilt has made a splash nationwide, including during a monthlong stay at Eureka City Hall in California—and if Spearfish agrees to be the quilt’s next stop, PETA will arrange for a delivery of delicious fish-free meals and an appearance from its crowd-pleasing Tiffany Tuna mascot at the festive unveiling event.
Panels from PETA’s Fish Empathy Quilt. Credit: PETA
“Fish are smart, empathetic, and playful beings who deserve the same consideration and care as humans, dogs, and every other animal,” says PETA Senior Vice President Colleen O’Brien. “PETA hopes Spearfish will champion this quilt, pay tribute to the billions of aquatic animals killed each year in the fishing industry, and tip the scales toward humane vegan meals.”
The Fish Empathy Quilt measures more than 300 square feet and is composed of more than 100 unique, handcrafted squares from PETA members and supporters, including cartoonist Harry Bliss and oceanographic explorer and film producer Jean-Michel Cousteau.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.
PETA’s letter to Senden follows.
December 11, 2023
The Honorable John Senden
Mayor of Spearfish
Dear Mayor Senden:
I’m writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals—PETA entities have more than 9 million members and supporters worldwide—with a suggestion that would show everyone that Spearfish is fish-friendly, despite its name. We understand that the city is named after the creek that runs through it and that the earliest residents used to spear fish in the clear waters, giving the creek its name. Nowadays, there’s no need to fish for food and many fish-friendly vegan varieties of everything from fish sticks and shrimp to caviar can be speared right off a supermarket shelf or hooked from a freezer case. Therefore, we’d love to loan a thought-provoking item to display at Spearfish City Hall or elsewhere in the city: the world’s first and only Fish Empathy Quilt. It has been well received wherever it has been cast ashore and has made quite a splash in towns from California to Alaska. So, will you agree to having it land in Spearfish?
The quilt is a vibrant, creative depiction of marine life. It features more than 100 unique squares contributed by individuals from across the country, including a few famous ones, such as cartoonist Harry Bliss and French oceanographer Jean-Michel Cousteau. Collectively, they’ve created an artwork that continues to grow as people’s sensitivity to the plight of animals increases. It consists of six sections of varying dimensions, which can be displayed separately or clipped together as one large exhibit (over 300 square feet).
Ever more people are concerned these days about the unsustainable global fishing industry, and the market for vegan seafood is projected to reach $1.6 billion in the next 10 years. An ocean of evidence demonstrates that fish suffer enormously when they’re dragged from their homes in nets or impaled. Just like dogs and cats—and humans, for that matter—fish have individual personalities. They communicate with each other, show affection by gently rubbing against one another, and are extremely resourceful and intelligent. More and more people now realize that fish deserve to be treated with kindness, not cruelty. PETA’s Fish Empathy Quilt beautifully reflects this new awareness.
In November, three of the quilt’s panels were exhibited outside the Council Chambers at Eureka City Hall in California. Spearfish would be the quilt’s perfect next stop! We’d be delighted to offer delicious fish-free meals and even a visit from our mascot Tiffany Tuna, who could hand out free coloring books and crayons to children at the unveiling or launch. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you for your consideration.
The Danish Foundation for Plant-Based Foods has announced the first 36 projects receiving investment as part of its $180M Plant Fund. It comes two months after it became the first country to introduce a national action plan to transition towards a plant-based food system.
First announced in 2021, Denmark’s Plantefonden (Plant Fund) is part of a 2021-announced climate agreement plan, which earmarked $180M to advance the plant-based sector as a “central element in the green transition”. About $97M of this was set aside for the fund, with the rest going as bonuses to farmers growing plant protein crops for human consumption.
Now, it has announced the 36 recipients that will be part of the first round of the financing, amounting to $8.4M. These projects span multiple realms, from developing new plant proteins and training kitchen staff to national information campaigns – and they were selected from 101 applications from startups, universities and others, requesting more than thrice the allocated budget.
“This is world history,” remarked the foundation’s president Marie-Louise Boisen Lendal. “Denmark is a pioneering country and has created the Plant Fund in a broad agreement at Christiansborg, which has now made the first commitments. We have previously called Plantefonden’s milestones important – but this one is probably the most important. It is in the commitments that we really move forward with the plant-based agenda.”
How the first round of Plantefonden stacks up
Marie-Louise Boisen Lendal, president of the Danish Foundation for Plant-Based Foods | Courtesy: Frej
Of the 36 projects, 33 will start work in January next year. The Plant Fund operates on three governing strategic development areas: stimulating demand, stimulating supply, and building sector bridges. In the call for this year’s applications, it was stressed that the focus would be on the former, which is why 31 of the projects address this as the primary development area, with 78% of the round’s funding going to these projects. The remaining 22% of the pool focuses on stimulating supplies.
Nearly half (46%) of the funding supports a rise in “the proportion of plant-based food in public and private commercial kitchens and foodservice”, while 30% is earmarked for increasing citizens’ private consumption of vegan food. A further 17% is dedicated to enhancing the quality and quantity of products entering the market, as well as growing the demand for locally produced food on the export market. The final 5% is to ramp up both land- and marine-based plant protein production.
“In this round, we have prioritised commitments to the smaller projects with the goal in mind that the Plantefonden’s funds have as broad an impact in society as possible,” said Boisen Lendal. “I hope that when we look back on this moment in 10 years, we look back on something that was not just the starting point for a broad national success, but also the moment that set off a global trend.”
The largest part of the funding ($629,000) went to research and awareness project FIGO, a partnership between the Danish Vegetarian Foundation, the Vegetarian Society of Denmark, Tempty Foods Food Solutions A/S, and Professionshøjskolen Absalon. Normplant (a plant-based catering solutions provider) and Make It Easy (a legume promotion campaign) followed with $548,000 and $519,000, respectively.
Calls for increased plant-based funding in Denmark
Rune-Christoffer Dragsdahl, secretary general of the Vegetarian Society of Denmark | Courtesy: Vegetarian Society of Denmark
The announcement comes two months after Denmark became the world’s first country to announce a national plan to shift to a plant-based food system, which was part of a 2021 climate agricultural plan that aimed to cut food emissions.
The plan laid out by Denmark’s Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries involved training chefs in both public and private kitchens on the preparation of vegan meals, a higher focus on plant-based diets in schools and the education system, expanding the exports of locally produced vegan food through embassies, and increased investment more in R&D for this sector.
This is key, given that the sector remains “severely underfunded”, according to the Vegetarian Society of Denmark. Experts from several of the country’s universities have pointed out that funding must increase by at least sixfold, reaching $55M annually. And while retail sales of plant-based food in Denmark increased by 10% from 2021 to 2022, reaching €105.1M, it’s still amongst the smallest markets in Europe, accounting for less than 2% of the continent’s total.
“Both we and many other dedicated forces in the plant-based sector are determined to make the mission succeed, but it also requires further investments throughout the value chain,” said Rune-Christoffer Dragsdahl, secretary general of the Vegetarian Society of Denmark. “And here, the money does not match the ambitions.”
He added that the national action plan lacked concrete objectives: “There are a lot of great visions in the action plan, but it is unclear which goals will be achieved and how they will be achieved. If Denmark’s constructive path is to be a credible alternative to, for example, the Dutch approach – which led to large demonstrations in the country – the visions need concrete figures.”
But he acknowledged that being the first country to introduce such a plan was “internationally groundbreaking”. Shortly after, South Korea was second on that list, unveiling its own dedicated plan to bolster plant-based food production and promoting alt-protein consumption.
Canadian brand Daiya has launched its updated vegan cheese lineup, made from a base of its oat cream and using age-old traditional fermentation techniques to mimic dairy cheese better.
Nine months after announcing a multi-million-dollar investment in fermentation technology, Canadian alt-dairy leader Daiya has launched its resultant product, a reformulated version of its vegan cheeses. The new offerings are made from the company’s oat cream blend, which replaces the chickpea protein base it used in the previous iterations of its cheeses. As part of the reformulation, Daiya has refreshed its logo and packaging.
The company has switched to a natural fermentation recipe to combine traditional cheesemaking techniques with modern tech, with its fermentation site housed in its British Columbia facility, which it claims is “the largest standalone plant-based facility of its kind in North America”.
The new cheeses – part of its expansive portfolio that features pizzas, mac and cheese, cream cheeses, cheesecakes, flatbreads and dressings – will replace the existing crop on the shelves of all the over 25,000 North American stores Daiya is stocked in, and at the same price.
Daiya turns back the clock for a creamier future
Courtesy: Daiya
Daiya’s new cheeses are headlined by a base of fermented gluten-free oat cream, which comprises oat flour, water, pea protein, proprietary vegan cultures and enzymes. This is now a building block across its range of plant-best shreds, slices, blocks and sticks.
The company says the use of fermentation enables its cheeses to reach “dairy parity”, promising that they melt just like their conventional counterparts. Daiya adds that the new products are “creamier” than their predecessors, and “tastier, meltier, and stretchier than any other on the market”.
“We believe that the future of plant-based cheese achieving parity to dairy lies in traditional fermentation techniques,” former Daiya CEO Michael Watt had said when announcing the fermentation investment in March. “I don’t believe any brand has fully cracked the code on a formula that cheese lovers feel entirely confident in – Daiya is going to change that.” (Watt was replaced as CEO by Hajime Fujita, who was a VP at its parent company, Japan’s Otsuka Pharmaceuticals, last month.)
R&D director Jamie Siu added: “We’ve worked with experts to develop a facility and formulation that is world-class. For our team to be able to deliver this fermented product has been no small task. It has involved extensive research and development in the traditional art of cheesemaking, applied in a plant-based setting.”
At that time, the company had noted how it was trying to stand out from brands incorporating “GMO techniques such as precision fermentation” by investing in traditional fermentation for its dairy-free cheeses. While introducing its new cheeses, it has doubled down on this rhetoric: it references not just precision fermentation, but even producers that “continue to incorporate oil-based ingredients”, and how the brand itself is perfecting vegan cheesemaking “the natural way”.
It’s a curious statement to make, given that the 15-year-old cheesemaker’s reformulated recipe still has coconut oil listed as the second ingredient on all its cheeses, after the oat cream base. Other established brands making fermented vegan cheese in North America include fellow Canadian player Spread’em Kitchen Co., as well as US-based Miyoko’s Creamery and Vertage – proving that there is room for success with this approach.
Giving consumers what they want
Courtesy: Daiya
“Our fermentation process can take anywhere from 10-20 hours before we age the product further to really capture that cheesy aroma,” Siu told VegNews in October. “While it now takes longer to produce our cheeses, this is all in pursuit of a much superior product.”
And there isscientific proof that fermentation can make for a superior dairy-free cheese. Danish scientists have found that fermenting yellow pea protein through bacteria can produce compounds normally found in dairy-based cheeses. Daiya’s use of pea protein alongside oats is a case in point, and separates it from the aforementioned challengers, which use a base of nuts.
“While there are a lot of people who would like to eat plant-based cheese, they aren’t satisfied with how it tastes and feels in the mouth,” said Carmen Masiá, the lead researcher behind this Danish project. “In the end, this means that no matter how sustainable, nutritious, etc. a food product is, people aren’t interested in buying it if it doesn’t provide a good experience when consumed.”
That point hits the nail on the head: Americans want better plant-based cheese. Despite recording $233M in dollar sales last year, vegan cheese saw a 2% drop in that figure year-over-year, with retail sales down by 5% too, according to SPINS data crunched by the Good Food Institute. With just a 1.1% share in the overall cheese category, dairy-free alternatives have only entered 5% of all US households, and only half of consumers who try them repeat their purchase.
And a study leveraging Kroger data from 60 million American households revealed that nearly three-quarters (73%) of Americans are unhappy with the flavour (which they describe as “plastic” or “unnatural”) and texture (“grainy”) of vegan cheese. They want cheeses that taste better, melt well and have a creamy texture – all attributes that Daiya has ascribed to its new oat-based lineup.
But it’s not just the recipe that’s been updated – the cheesemaker has also revamped its visual identity with a new logo and tagline and overhauled packaging. The refresh aims to appeal to a wider market beyond just vegan consumers, with the packs reading: “100% plant-based. Even if you’re not.” It’s a nod to the flexitarian market that is key to plant-based brands’ growth, and a shift away from what Daiya terms an “all or nothing” approach to veganism.
“We expect this advancement to not only rejuvenate consumer confidence in the category,” said chief commercial officer Melanie Domer, “but revitalise the category’s market potential, finally offering retailers a product that truly bridges the gap between consumer expectations and dairy-free offerings.”
While recognizing that there are more delicious vegan cookies this year than Santa could fit into a supersized sack, PETA made a list (yes, we checked it twice) of its Top 10 Favorite Festive Vegan Cookies—and the scrumptiously spiced Ginger Pine-Apricot Cookie from local bakery Like Mom’s Only Vegan nabbed a spot.
The Ginger Pine-Apricot Cookie. Credit: Like Mom’s Only Vegan
“The craveable pineapple and apricot –loaded Ginger Pine-Apricot Cookie from Like Mom’s Only Vegan delivers fabulous flavor without using a single egg or splash of milk,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk, who knows her vegan cookies, having eaten them for over 50 years. “Every delicious cookie on PETA’s ‘nice’ list helps bring peace on Earth to all living beings in this season of goodwill.”
On a more somber note, every person who goes vegan spares nearly 200 animals each year daily suffering and terrifying deaths and reduces their own risk of developing heart disease and cancer. PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help those looking to make the switch.
Like Mom’s Only Vegan will receive a framed certificate from PETA and bragging rights for the holiday season. Other winners include the Black and White Cookie from Ben & Esther’s Vegan Jewish Deli; the Marzipan Cookie from Sweet Maresa’s in Kingston, New York; and the Chocolate Raspberry Cookie from Bake Me Vegan in Teton Village, Wyoming.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.
Today, PETA sent a letter to the mayor of Fishkill, Kathleen Martin, offering to donate the group’s first-of-its-kind Fish Empathy Quilt for the city to display in order to counteract its violent name and promote friendliness to fish instead. PETA’s quilt has made a splash nationwide, including during a monthlong stay at Eureka City Hall in California—and if Fishkill agrees to be the quilt’s next stop, PETA will arrange for a delivery of delicious fish-free meals and an appearance from its crowd-pleasing Tiffany Tuna mascot at the festive unveiling event.
Panels from PETA’s Fish Empathy Quilt. Credit: PETA
“Fish are smart, empathetic, and playful beings who deserve the same consideration and care as humans, dogs, and every other animal,” says PETA Senior Vice President Colleen O’Brien. “PETA hopes Fishkill will champion this quilt, pay tribute to the billions of aquatic animals killed each year in the fishing industry, and tip the scales toward humane vegan meals.”
The Fish Empathy Quilt measures more than 300 square feet and is composed of more than 100 unique, handcrafted squares from PETA members and supporters, including cartoonist Harry Bliss and oceanographic explorer and film producer Jean-Michel Cousteau.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.
PETA’s letter to Martin follows.
December 8, 2023
The Honorable Kathleen Martin
Mayor of Fishkill
Dear Mayor Martin:
I’m writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals—PETA entities have more than 9 million members and supporters worldwide—with a suggestion that would show everyone that Fishkill is fish-friendly. We do realize that “kill” there means “creek” or “stream” and always did, but that’s not the way the public perceives the name, of course, as we pointed out back in 2005 when we asked your predecessor to change the town’s name to Fishsave. That idea sank like a lead weight, but now we have a new concept that we hope you’ll reely embrace. We’d love to loan a thought-provoking and historically significant item to display at the Office of the Village Clerk or elsewhere in the city: the world’s first and only Fish Empathy Quilt. It has been well received and has made quite a splash in towns from California to Alaska. So, can its next stop be in Fishkill?
The quilt is a vibrant, creative depiction of compassion for fish and other marine life. It features more than 100 unique squares contributed by individuals from around the country. Collectively, they’ve created an artwork that continues to grow as people’s sensitivity to the plight of animals increases. It consists of six sections of varying dimensions, which can be displayed separately or clipped together as one large quilt (over 300 square feet).
Ever more people are concerned these days about the unsustainable global fishing industry. Because of this increased awareness, the market for vegan seafood is projected to reach $1.6 billion in the next 10 years. An ocean of evidence demonstrates that fish suffer enormously when they’re dragged from their homes in nets or impaled with metal hooks. Just like dogs and cats, fish have individual personalities. They communicate with each other, show affection by gently rubbing against one another, and are extremely resourceful and intelligent. More and more people are realizing that fish deserve to be treated with kindness. PETA’s Fish Empathy Quilt beautifully reflects this awareness.
In November, three of the quilt’s panels were exhibited outside the Council Chambers at Eureka City Hall in California. Fishkill would be the quilt’s perfect next stop! We’d be happy to offer delicious fish-free meals and even a visit from our mascot Tiffany Tuna, who could hand out free coloring books and crayons to children at the unveiling or launch. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you for your consideration.
What if your vegan burgers could be juicier, meatier and less processed? Some scientists have found a way to do just that, using an enzyme that breaks down amino acids to allow burgers to retain more moisture and get rid of a lot of the beany flavour associated with soy protein.
Last month, research by scientists at the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences explored people’s preferences when it comes to food textures, based on how their mouths processed what they ate. When it came to burgers, juiciness was a desirable characteristic, as was a lack of greasiness. A rubbery or chewy mouthfeel was a no-no.
Now, food scientists at Japan’s Amano Enzyme Inc. Innovation Center have come up with a way to make vegan burgers that everyone, with a trick to make it juicier, meatier and more easily digestible, along with a clean-label formulation and fewer ingredients.
Published in the Plos One journal, the study involved heat-treating soy protein with an enzyme called protein-glutaminase, which breaks down amino acids by turning glutamine into glutamic acid, resulting in a burger with multi-pronged benefits.
How the scientists assessed the burgers’ properties
Courtesy: Plos One
The researchers experimented with soy-based textured vegetable protein (TVP) and soy isolate, treating them with the protein-glutaminase at 50°C for three hours, then boiling the solution for vie minutes to stop the reaction. This was to find out how much deamidation – the chemical process where an amino acid in a protein (glutamine in this case) is converted into an ammonia molecule (glutamic acid, or glutamate).
Then, the scientists sought to explore how the proteins would perform in oil or water, mixing the dried proteins in the liquids and letting them sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. These were spun to separate the solids from the liquids, which allowed the researchers to calculate how much water or oil these proteins could hold on to per gram of protein. They also assessed the emulsifying properties of the proteins by mixing them with canola oil.
After all the testing, they began preparing the optimal plant-based burger. To make the patties, they took dried TVP and soaked it in water for 30 minutes. This rehydrated mixture was then treated with the protein-glutaminase for three hours at 50°C, and complemented with methylcellulose – a binding and gelling agent commonly used in meat alternatives. Then, they added some water, canola oil and potato starch.
The ingredients were blended and shaped into a dough-like patty, which was rested for two hours at room temperature. Then, the burgers were grilled and cooled to be assessed. The researchers found that the enzymatic activity stopped after grilling, which means in terms of regulatory rules, the enzyme isn’t an additive.
What enzymes do to soy protein
Courtesy: Beyond Meat
The results were encouraging. The enzyme-treated burgers saw a reduction in water and oil loss during cooking compared to the control patties (those that skipped the enzyme process). Similarly, emulsion loss decreased in the former. This meant that liquid retention was higher in the protein-glutaminase-treated burgers, and that led to a juicier texture. And while both patties had similar chewiness, the cohesion and springiness of the deamidated TVP burgers was higher (and the control patties were harder).
Unexpectedly, the scientists also found that there’s a way to reduce the beany off-flavour often associated with soy protein, which they said “limits the consumer acceptability” of plant-based meat. This characteristic is caused by a mix of multiple volatile compounds derived from fatty acids and their derivates during the growth and processing of soybeans.
While methods like breeding, fermentation, and physical, chemical and genetic engineering can be a solution, they’re not sufficient enough. The study discovered that by washing the TVPs before forming them into a patty, one can reduce that beany taste by 58-85% with the enzyme-treated burger.
Finally, there were benefits for digestion as well. The deamidated TVP patties had a higher amount of free amino nitrogen (FAN), which made it easier to break down with digestive enzymes and absorb nutrients.
The race for better vegan burgers
Courtesy: Future Farm
By using this technique, the researchers said plant-based meat manufacturers can use less saturated fats (like coconut oil) and eliminate the need for flavour enhancers, resulting in cleaner-label formulations. This is key as the focus on clean eating increases – a global survey in 2020 revealed that more than half of respondents find it important for products to have a short ingredient list, with follow-up research finding that 78% would spend more money on products with ‘natural’ or ‘all-natural’ packaging claims.
Plus, texture and taste are increasingly crucial to plant-based meat consumers. A 2022 international poll revealed that alt-meat’s taste and texture are as important as their conventional counterparts for over 75% of consumers, but only about 60% were actually satisfied with the mouthfeel of vegan analogues.
It’s why researchers have been attempting to find ways to break through these barriers and deliver more satisfactory products. A study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry earlier this year, for example, suggested that fermenting alliums like onions, leeks and chives with fungi can produce natural chemicals resembling the savoury scent of meat.
Glutamates (which is what the glutamine is converted into by the protein-glutaminase) are responsible for the characteristic umami flavour in cooked meats, and it’s a substance naturally found in foods like soy sauce, mushrooms and tomatoes. It’s this feature that manufacturers attempt to amplify with monosodium glutamate (or MSG).
“Enhancing the juiciness of plant-based meat alternative patties using protein-glutaminase might be a new strategy for meeting new clean-label requirements,” concluded the enzyme study. “This strategy could help food manufacturers develop clean-label PBMAs that are more attractive to consumers.”
Does plant-based meat have an image problem? Peter McGuinness, CEO of Impossible Foods – one of the largest companies in the space – believes as much. To counter the off-putting “wokeness” associated with these products and take on Big Meat more effectively, he’s now planning a rebrand to make the alt-meat giant bigger and more inclusive.
“There was a wokeness to it, there was a bicoastalness to it, there was an academia to it… and there was an elitism to it – and that pissed most of America off.”
This was Peter McGuinness’s assessment of the product his company has built its name and fortune on. Speaking at the Adweek X conference earlier this week, the Impossible Foods CEO reflected on the challenges faced by the plant-based meat industry, and how it can overcome them.
We’ve heard about the flavour, texture and price battles being fought by these products. Texture is the component Americans dislike the most about vegan food, followed by price. Meanwhile, across the larger food and beverage industry, taste is the top driver for purchasing decisions in the country. These factors come together to form what McGuinness notes is an image problem – and one that needs fixing stat.
This is because even if meat alternatives reach parity with their conventional counterparts on taste, price and convenience, current consumers would continue eating the latter primarily, according to a study by Rethink Priorities in August. But – at least on the cost issue – plant-based meat has some way to go still.
It’s been a tough couple of years for the industry, with retail sales suffering and brands going out of business as investors turn their backs on food tech. In the year ending July 2, meat analogues suffered from a 21% drop in sales volume, according to Circana data, while dollar sales have fallen by over 20% too over the last year. Citing this data, research firm CoBank ascribes this to high prices among a cost-of-living crisis, which means consumers are driven towards cheaper products (conventional meat, in this case). Now, alt-meat faces a “tipping point”.
Invite, don’t insult
Courtesy: Impossible Foods
Without change, these headwinds will likely persist. Impossible’s chief marketing officer Leslie Sims admitted that brands have an uphill task to convince meat-eaters – who really should be the target audience – to try meat analogues.
In his TED-style chat with Adweek CEO Will Lee, McGuinness said that this might be because many founders in this space are historically “climate warriors” using sustainability as a USP. There was also the early messaging positioning alt-meat companies as food tech, which he believes alienated consumers: “We don’t eat technology,” he explained. All this “narrowed the aperture and made the category smaller than it needs to be”, going on to describe the aforementioned wokeness that has peeved Americans.
“The way to get meat-eaters to actually buy your product is not to piss them off, vilify them, insult them and judge them,” he said. “We need to go from insulting to inviting, which is a hell of a journey.”
But it’s a journey Impossible is already on. Vegans aren’t its target market – they never have been. The focus has always been on flexitarians and meat-eaters, aiming to entice them to consume more of its products. One survey puts the number of flexitarians in the US to about a fifth of the total population – but the more important figure is the 347g of meat Americans eat per day.
Speaking to Green Queen during the announcement of its new beef hot dogs, an Impossible spokesperson confirmed this direction. “We’re trying to reach meat eaters – not vegans, vegetarians or those already eating sustainable diets. That’s why we focus on making products that appeal to actual meat eaters,” they explained, adding: “Our goal is not to compete with fruits, vegetables, and other whole foods, but to offer meat eaters products that are better for them and the planet.:
(Not) fighting off the meat lobby
The plant-based meat category also hasn’t been helped by the constant attacks it has faced from the meat lobby. The meat industry interest group Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) has been on the offensive at companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible, taking a shot at their overprocessed composition and long ingredient lists.
Its largest effort came during the 2020 Super Bowl, with an ad featuring Spelling Bee participants struggling with words like methylcellulose (which it claimed were “chemicals” used for “synthetic meats”). “If you can’t spell it or pronounce it, maybe you shouldn’t be eating it,” concluded the spot. Within a few days, Impossible bit back with a parody ad. The moderator – played by Impossible founder and then-CEO Pat Brown – asked a child to spell “poop”, noting how there’s “lots of poop in the places where pigs and chickens are chopped to pieces to make meat”. The ad ends with the line: “Just because a kid can spell ‘poop’, doesn’t mean you or your kids should be eating it.”
But if Impossible truly is to conquer the meat-eating consumer base and “go from insulting to inviting”, a change of tact might be in order. This is because plant-based meats are surrounded by a “massive amount of myths about plant-based products and the process” used to make them.
So the focus needs to be on emphasising its own value, rather than what it’s fighting: the $1.5T “highly coordinated, highly funded, highly lobbied” and highly subsidised animal agriculture industry. Alt-meat is worth $8B in sales, a “0.0001% share”, as McGuinness called it. “We don’t want to get into a kind of pissing match with meat – we will lose that,” he explained.
McGuinness and Sims want to relaunch their brand “in a very inclusive way”, spotlighting aspects like high protein content, zero cholesterol and half the saturated fat found in conventional meat. We’re already seeing this: Impossible has hopped aboard the health bandwagon with its recent launches. Most notably, its lean Beef Lite (one of six new launches this year) is now certified by the American Heart Association’s Heart-Check Food Certification Program, following Beyond as the only other meat alternative maker on the list.
A marketing coalition hits a snag
Courtesy: Impossible Foods
In August, Adweek reported that leading US vegan food manufacturers were looking to create a coalition similar to the marketing groups behind ad campaigns like Got Milk? and the Incredible Edible Egg, which was earmarked for a 2024 launch. Impossible is a part of this proposed alliance, but there have been setbacks.
“We have like 200 plant-based businesses, half are going out of business, we’re highly uncoordinated, no one has any money, everybody’s out for themselves. It’s a total mess,” said McGuinness. The Impossible chief still feels there’s “a collective opportunity to extol the benefits of the category,” but acknowledges that a lack of coordination and cohesion is stalling things.
Impossible will now amp up its educational efforts, with a focus on its soybean supply chain in Decatur, Illinois, and manufacturing in Chicago, Los Angeles and Oakland, California. The plant-based meat giant will also target a rise in household awareness about its brand and products, which is only at 15% across the US. Additionally, it will focus on expanding its retail and foodservice footprint nationwide.
McGuinness, who has previously outlined how vegan food marketers (including Impossible) haven’t sold themselves well enough to consumers, further explained his thinking: “My job is not to steal share from Beyond Meat – then I’ve just moved the deck chairs around, and the category stays at the same size. We have to make the category bigger.”
Open AI’s artificial intelligence system ChatGPT has predicted that the world will go almost entirely vegan by 2073, two years after which the animal agriculture industry becomes obsolete. It was based on a prompt by the Daily Mail, which input data from a recent NPD Group survey to elicit the results.
Did you take ChatGPT for a fortune teller? Because I didn’t.
But that’s exactly what the Daily Mail has done, turning Open AI’s viral chatbot into a trend forecaster. Using data from a recent Future of Food report by the NPD Group, which conducted a study about Gen Z and millennials sparking a movement that could lead to an all-vegan world in the future, the British newspaper asked ChatGPT to create a timeline of events that could lead to a plant-forward planet.
“As consumers continue to prepare more meals in the home and younger generations cook more, plant-based foods and ingredients will be a part of their repertoire,” says Darren Seifer, a food industry analyst at NPD, and co-author of the study.
“In addition to providing a variety of plant-based foods and ingredients, food manufacturers should also focus efforts on Millennials and Gen Zs since they will be driving the category’s growth. Their concerns for sustainability and animal welfare should also be taken into account when messaging them.”
The prompt the Mail used was: “Provide a timeline of the world going vegan starting in 2024 when Gen Z and millennials raise awareness on animal agriculture.”
Here’s the vegan timeline ChatGPT came up with:
2024-2030
Courtesy: AI-Generated Image via Canva
As Gen Zers and millennials continue to raise awareness about the environmental, ethical and health issues linked to livestock farming, flexitarianism will become more widespread by 2027. By 2028, major food tech companies will have released more varied plant-based meat options, which will become more affordable and widely available as alt-protein investment increases.
A year later, vegan diets will be growing in Europe and North America. Some countries and regions will then introduce policies and incentives to promote plant-based eating and reduce meat consumption by 2030.
2030-2040
In 2032, ChatGPT predicts a breakthrough in food tech will lead to even more affordable and convincing meat and dairy analogues, aided by increased adoption of plant-based food and reduced meat consumption, particularly among younger generations and in urban areas.
Around this time, some areas will witness a decline in traditional livestock farming, while cultivated meat (which isn’t vegan but similarly sustainable) and other alternative proteins will become more accessible and ingrained into the mainstream food supply.
In 2037, there will be a legislative breakthrough, with North American and European governments implementing subsidies for plant-based agriculture – which would be significant considering that currently, the livestock industry receives 800 and 1,200 times more funding than alt-protein in the two regions, respectively. In Europe, 50% of farmer incomes currently come from direct subsidies.
2040-2055
Courtesy: Eat Just
Vegan diets will spread across a border cross-section of the population in this period, as many begin reducing their meat and dairy intake. And even more governments begin implementing policies to address the climate impact of animal agriculture and promote a shift towards a planet-friendly food system.
The AI chatbot predicts that 2048 will see the first Climate Action and Veganism Day be celebrated (World Vegan Month is currently celebrated on November 1, also the start of World Vegan Month). This event will be endorsed by the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and Natalie Portman, who will be 74 and 67, respectively.
But despite traditional meat consumption falling significantly, plant-based diets will still be a minority in some regions.
2055-2075
A longer time period, the next 20 years will bring a lot of developments. In 2057, veganism will become “widely accepted and normalized in many parts of the world”, with athletes like Lewis Hamilton (who is already vegan) and Selena Gomez (currently following a plant-forward diet) pushing to make the lifestyle mainstream in 2059 – they will then by 74 and 78, respectively.
ChatGPT forecasts 2064 to be the first year when Global Vegan Week will become an international event, and four years later, the world’s current largest fast-food chain, McDonald’s, will “reintroduce the McVegan” (it currently offers a plant-based McPlant burger) as part of a wider shift towards a fully vegan menu. The company has pledged to have net-zero emissions by 2050, though its climate footprint has been going in the opposite direction in the last few years.
By 2070, most of the younger generation will have up with plant-based diets as the norm and played a dominant hand in shaping a “predominantly vegan world”. And it’s by 2073 that the AI tool predicts the world will almost go entirely vegan, before the traditional animal agriculture sector – which would have undergone a transformation toward more sustainable and ethical practices, and become a niche industry already – becomes obsolete in 2075.
At this point, meat consumption will be “a rare and special occasion in some cultures”.
Is ChatGPT right about veganism?
Courtesy: Sobo Foods
ChatGPT stressed that this is all purely speculative, as “it’s impossible to predict the future with certainty” and “the actual timeline may vary widely by region and culture”. It’s best to take this all with a grain of salt, of course. And here’s why.
When Green Queen put the same prompt forward to the chatbot (albeit without the knowledge of the NPD Group report), it reported similar predictions, but at a much more accelerated pace – for example, the points about animal agriculture becoming more sustainable and ethical and veganism being the mainstream choice are made in a timeline between 2036-2040.
Even when prompted to provide a timeline through 2075, the developments differ in timescales and events between these two predictions – for example, it says “celebrities, influencers, and public figures embrace veganism and advocate for sustainable living” in the 2030-2040 period.
Here’s another reason why AI chatbots may not be your go-to fortune tellers. Green Queen asked ChatGPT to provide a similar timeline, but one where meat consumption grows as the same two generations “raise awareness about sustainable animal agriculture”. Lo and behold, it came up with a timeline through to 2075 where governments prioritise green livestock farming practices, with a ‘conscious carnivore’ movement appearing and cultivated and plant-based meat part of a balanced diet with these, rather than being the norm.
So it seems ChatGPT may predict whatever you want it to – which kind of defeats the purpose. But it’s a fun exercise, and the way things are going, this latter forecast might be the one that actually comes true. The chatbot, though, is right about one thing: its nearest prediction, the rise of flexitarianism. As for the rest, let’s wait for 74-year-old Jack Dawson.
Unmissable, stilt-walking PETA supporters dressed as sprinkled sweet treats will visit the Big Apple on Friday to help climate activists hand out several thousand vegan doughnuts, along with information about economist Kate Raworth’s doughnut model of economics, an environmental action plan that asks everyone to stop eating animal-derived foods to not only save animals’ lives but also the planet.
When: Friday, December 8, 12 noon
Where: At the intersection of Seventh Avenue and W. 46th Street, New York
The action is in support of the Plant Based Treaty’s appeal to put food systems at the forefront of combating the climate catastrophe—an initiative that treaty representatives will discuss during a news conference at COP28 in Dubai on Sunday. COP28 is awash in meat and dairy industry representatives who realize that people are becoming aware of the impact of animal-based agriculture on greenhouse gas emissions.
“Animal-friendly foods mean a hole in one for our future, whereas meat and dairy are spelling disaster for the world, our arteries, and animals,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “A huge percentage of greenhouse gases, particularly methane, come from the meat and dairy industries, so every resident must take personal responsibility to dry up demand.”
The United Nations reports that a global shift toward vegan eating is vital in order to combat the worst effects of the climate catastrophe.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.
While recognizing that there are more delicious vegan cookies this year than Santa could fit into a supersized sack, PETA made a list (yes, we checked it twice) of its Top 10 Favorite Festive Vegan Cookies—and the nostalgic Oatmeal Raisin Cream Pie Cookie Sandwich filled with maple buttercream frosting from local bakery Celebrated nabbed a spot.
Oatmeal Raisin Cream Pie Cookie Sandwiches. Credit: Celebrated
“The craveable, frosting-filled Oatmeal Raisin Cream Pie Cookie Sandwich from Celebrated delivers fabulous flavor without a single egg or splash of milk,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk, who knows her vegan cookies, having eaten them for over 50 years. “Every delicious cookie on PETA’s ‘nice’ list helps bring peace on Earth to all living beings in this season of goodwill.”
On a more somber note, every person who goes vegan spares nearly 200 animals each year daily suffering and terrifying deaths and reduces their own risk of developing heart disease and cancer. PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help those looking to make the switch.
Celebrated will receive a framed certificate from PETA and bragging rights for the holiday season. Other winners include the Ginger Pine-Apricot Cookie from Like Mom’s Only Vegan in Cincinnati; the Marzipan Cookie from Sweet Maresa’s in Kingston, New York; and the Chocolate Raspberry Cookie from Bake Me Vegan in Teton Village, Wyoming.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.
Local diners just might think twice about chowing down on fried chicken after they see—and hear—“Hell on Wheels,” PETA’s guerilla-marketing campaign featuring a life-size chicken transport truck covered with images of real chickens crammed into crates on their way to a slaughterhouse, complete with actual recorded sounds of the birds’ cries and a subliminal message every 10 seconds suggesting that people go vegan. The vexatious vehicle will start in downtown Valdosta and confront local diners at The Wooden Nickel Pub, Buffalo Wild Wings, Hooters, Sonny’s BBQ, Chicken Salad Chick, Zaxby’s Chicken Fingers & Buffalo Wings, Smok’n Pig Bar-B-Que, Cook Out, and Chick-fil-A.
When: Sunday, December 10, 12 noon
Where: At the intersection of E. Central Avenue and N. Ashley Street, Valdosta
“Behind every barbecued wing or bucket of fried chicken is a once-living, sensitive individual who was crammed onto a truck for a terrifying, miserable journey to their death,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA’s ‘Hell on Wheels’ truck is an appeal to anyone who eats chicken to remember that the meat industry is cruel to birds and the only kind meal is a vegan one.”
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview, and offers a free vegan starter kit on its website.
Santa’s “elves” are coming to town—and they’re bringing vegan turkey! On Sunday, PETA supporters dressed in North Pole couture will head to Cook Street Village to give away free Gardein Turk’y Cutlets to help people celebrate Christmas with vegan feasts that let there be peace on Earth for all.
When: Sunday, December 10, 2 p.m.
Where: Cook Street Village (near the intersection of Cook and Oxford streets), Victoria
“Leaving turkeys off the holiday table is a surefire way to stay on Santa’s ‘nice’ list,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is encouraging everyone to spread comfort and joy for animals this Christmas by opting for delicious vegan fare.”
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat” and which opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview—offers a vegan holiday guide on its website.
Local diners just might think twice about chowing down on fried chicken after they see—and hear—“Hell on Wheels,” PETA’s guerilla-marketing campaign featuring a life-size chicken transport truck covered with images of real chickens crammed into crates on their way to a slaughterhouse, complete with actual recorded sounds of the birds’ cries and a subliminal message every 10 seconds suggesting that people go vegan. The vexatious vehicle will debut at Maryland Fried Chicken on N. Slappey Boulevard before moving on to confront Albany diners at Baby Shane Southern Fried Chicken, Guthrie’s, Blackbeard’s B & B Bar-B-Que, Sonny’s BBQ, and Cook Out.
When: Saturday, December 9, 12 noon
Where: Maryland Fried Chicken, 510 N. Slappey Blvd., Albany
“Behind every barbecued wing or bucket of fried chicken is a once-living, sensitive individual who was crammed onto a truck for a terrifying, miserable journey to their death,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA’s ‘Hell on Wheels’ truck is an appeal to anyone who eats chicken to remember that the meat industry is cruel to birds and the only kind meal is a vegan one.”
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview, and offers a free vegan starter kit on its website.
British naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough has given his most direct endorsement of a vegan diet in the latest episode of his BBC One series, Planet Earth III.
The longtime TV host highlighted the vast amount of land used by animal agriculture, and how freeing that up could help feed the world. Delivering a piece-to-camera in a green field surrounded by vegetables and cute video effects of blossoming produce, in his most direct on-screen assessment of the food system and livestock industry yet – and in front of millions, Attenborough said: “If we shift away from eating meat and dairy and move towards a plant-based diet, then the sun’s energy goes directly into growing our food.”
As a naturalist with possibly the most enviable filmography, Attenborough has travelled the world and warned the world about the destruction we humans are causing. His new BBC One docuseries, Planet Earth III, has been airing since October, shedding light on deforestation and biodiversity loss. The seventh and latest episode, Humans, focuses on how animals and wildlife adapt to and survive in a rapidly changing human world. And it’s when he gave his strongest message of support for plant-based diets.
What David Attenborough said about vegan diets on Planet Earth III
It’s not like the broadcaster hasn’t highlighted the issues of meat consumption before. In 2020’s A Life On Our Planet, he said: “We must radically reduce the way we farm. We must change our diet. The planet can’t support billions of meat-eaters.”
Highlighting biodiversity loss, he added: “Half of fertile land on Earth is now farmland, 70% of birds are domestic, majority chickens. There’s little left for the world. We have completely destroyed it.
“By 2080, global food production enters crisis, soils overused, weather more unpredictable… a sixth mass extinction is well underway. Our garden of Eden will be lost. I wish I wasn’t involved in this struggle. I wish I wasn’t there.”
But while his rhetoric has veered more towards human-caused destruction. But this time, he’s taken a more pragmatic, more optimistic, and yet more direct approach in an attempt to hit his point home better with viewers. On Sunday night, the 97-year-old made the aforementioned statement about the sun’s energy going into growing our food.
Expanding on that, he said: “And because that’s so much more efficient, we could still produce enough to feed us, but do so using a quarter of the land. This could free up an area the size of the United States, China, the European Union and Australia, combined – space that could then be given back to nature.”
He had prefaced this moment with various nods to the effect of livestock farming on the environment. “Currently the vast majority of agricultural land – more than 75% – is used to raise livestock and this is very inefficient,” he said.
Attenborough also said: “We rear 70 billion farm animals each year and every one of them needs feeding… Producing food for such numbers of domesticated animals is having a profound impact on the natural world.”
Honing in on the environmental aspect, the broadcaster continued: “Year after year, we clear over two million hectares of the Amazon rainforest – that’s the size of Wales. We use nearly all of it to make more space for cattle and to grow soya to feed livestock… Today, habitat destruction is the biggest problem we’ve created for wildlife around the world.”
Why this is a big deal
Courtesy: COP26
The Brit’s statements arguably make for a landmark moment in TV this year. It might seem unremarkable, but this is a man who has been covering the natural world and environment for 72 years now, so he knows a thing or two.
He is also one of the most universally loved figures in the UK and carries huge influence. Take this survey from 2021 that highlighted ‘the Attenborough effect’ as an example. When 2,000 Brits were asked about people their views on environmentalists, the biologist was top of the list in terms of inspiring people to be greener and make more sustainable choices, with 59% choosing him.
That Attenborough highlighted the land use aspect is significant. Research has shown that shifting to an entirely plant-based diet would cut global land use for agricultural purposes by 75%, thanks to a reduction in grazing and a smaller requirement to grow crops. This is because it takes about 100 times more land on average to produce a kcal of beef or lamb versus a vegan analogue. In fact, lamb, mutton, and beef use up the highest amount of land than any other food – over three times the next on the list, which is cheese.
And as Attenborough – an Earthshot Prize council member – alluded to, 77% of agricultural land is used for livestock (pasture grazing and animal feed), which produces only 18% of the world’s calories and 37% of its protein. The 23% of land used for crops for human consumption – plant-based food – accounts for 82% of calories and 63% of proteins.
Agriculture is also the biggest driver of deforestation – the expansion of pasture land to raise cattle is responsible for 41% of tropical deforestation. As our consumption needs increase (global meat-eating is set to grow by 14% by 2030), this will only become a bigger problem.
Are Brits paying heed to Attenborough’s words with their actions? The jury’s out. A recent government survey revealed that meat and dairy consumption are at their lowest in 49 years (when record-keeping began), but intake of fresh fruits and vegetables has dropped too (by 14% year-over-year). Cheese, meanwhile, has soared, with the UK eating more cheese per week in the last two years than any other year.
The entire world going vegan is unlikely, but even a 50% swap of meat and dairy to plant-based alternatives can bring tremendous benefits – a 31% cut in agriculture and land use emissions, a halt in deforestation, and 12% less land needed for farming – which is what Attenborough has been saying for years before last weekend’s more blatant remarks.
Will the kinder, more direct approach work? Seeing the progress (or lack thereof) on food systems change at COP28 makes it feel like it very much needs to.
What are we looking forward to most in 2024? It has to be the chance to try all the new animal-friendly products that will be hitting store shelves. Companies are always experimenting with new ways to make flavorsome new vegan foods that are free of meat, eggs, dairy, and honey. These items will help spare the lives of countless cows, chickens, fish, bees, and other animals—all of whom deserve our respect.
Here are some of the new vegan food products we’re looking forward to trying in 2024.
For sweet and sour lovers, Better Sour’s better-for-you gummy candies are made without gelatin, which is made from the boiled bones, ligaments, and skin of cows, pigs, or fish.
Everyone’s talking about Climax Foods’ vegan brie, feta, chèvre, and blue cheeses. That’s because the brand is using science to mimic animal-based ingredients like casein, which gives cheese its stretchiness. You can already find Climax Foods’ cheese at several restaurants—including three Michelin–star Atelier Crenn—but it will also be popping up at specialty retailers.
Instead of stealing honey from hardworking bees, we’ll be using Mellody Golden Clover vegan honey, which is as sweet and thick as the stuff that bees make.
Crunchy snacks are always crowd-pleasing, and we can’t wait to bite into these Outstanding Stuffins, available in three flavors: Chedda, Nacho Cheese, and Pizza Partay. All of them are deliciously dairy-free—a choice that helps keep mother cows with their babies.
These hemp- and pumpkin seed–based cheeses are packed with heart-healthy omega-3s and vegan protein and fermented with a blend of vegan lactic bacteria, which gives them a gut-healthy tang. We’re particularly excited to try the Marinated Feta.
This vegan, gluten-free, and flavor-packed snack is great for grabbing on the go and will satisfy your urge to eat instant ramen straight out of the pack.
Oat milk won’t be going anywhere, but we’re always up for trying new nut milks. Atlanta-based brand Treehouse Naturals’ Pecanmilk is creamy, rich, and sold in a chocolate version, too.
We already love WunderEggs’ Plant-Based Hard Boiled eggs. Now the brand is launching vegan egg white patties (which are perfect for breakfast sandwiches) and, for a limited time, Deviled WunderEggs.
In the caviar industry, workers often cut open female sturgeons and remove their eggs from their ovaries while they’re still alive. That’s the real cost of this “luxury” food. Knowing this, Zeroe makes vegan caviar from seaweed for a product that’s kind to animals and the oceans.
While recognizing that there are more delicious vegan cookies this year than Santa could fit into a supersized sack, PETA made a list (yes, we checked it twice) of its Top 10 Favorite Festive Vegan Cookies, and the Marzipan Cookie—a crispy-edged cookie with a chewy center—from local treat vendor Sweet Maresa’s nabbed a spot.
The Marzipan Cookie. Credit: Sweet Maresa’s
“The deliciously soft Marzipan Cookie from Sweet Maresa’s delivers classic, comforting almond flavor without a drop of dairy,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk, who knows her vegan cookies, having eaten them for over 50 years. “Every delicious cookie on PETA’s ‘nice’ list helps bring peace on Earth to all living beings in this season of goodwill.”
On a more somber note, every person who goes vegan spares nearly 200 animals each year daily suffering and terrifying deaths and reduces their own risk of developing heart disease and cancer. PETA’s free vegan starter kit can help those looking to make the switch.
Sweet Maresa’s will receive a framed certificate from PETA and bragging rights for the holiday season. Other winners include the Ginger Pine-Apricot Cookie from Like Mom’s Only Vegan in Cincinnati; the Snickerdoodle-Do Cookie from Top Drawer Sweets in Jacksonville, Florida; and the Chocolate Raspberry Cookie from Bake Me Vegan in Teton Village, Wyoming.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.
after they see—and hear—“Hell on Wheels,” PETA’s guerilla-marketing campaign featuring a life-size chicken transport truck covered with images of real chickens crammed into crates on their way to a slaughterhouse, complete with actual recorded sounds of the birds’ cries and a subliminal message every 10 seconds suggesting that people go vegan. The vexatious vehicle will make a stop at Chick-fil-A before moving on to confront Macon diners at Shark’s Fish & Chicken Chicago Style, Jeneane’s at Pinebrook, Fried Green Tomatoes, Biddy’s, and Francar’s Buffalo Wings.
When: Friday, December 8, 12 noon
Where: Outside Chick-fil-A, 140 Tom Hill Sr. Blvd., Macon
Credit: PETA
“Behind every barbecued wing or bucket of fried chicken is a once-living, sensitive individual who was crammed onto a truck for a terrifying, miserable journey to their death,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA’s ‘Hell on Wheels’ truck is an appeal to anyone who eats chicken to remember that the meat industry is cruel to birds and the only kind meal is a vegan one.”
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview, and offers a free vegan starter kit on its website.
In our weekly column, we round up the latest news and developments in the alternative protein and sustainable food industry. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers the launch of Italian Christmas desserts made from cocoa-free chocolate, a new kind of seafood analogue, and an alt-dairy campaign for Swedish schools.
New products and launches
If you’re looking to cook 3D-printed meat, Isreal’s Redefine Meat has finally entered European retail with its ‘new meat’ products, six of which (two pulled and four minced) are debuting at Ocado in the UK and Albert Heijn and Crisp in the Netherlands.
Courtesy: Redefine Meat
Another beef launch has come from German manufacturer BENEO, which has unveiled two semi-finished products for plant-based alternatives – beef bites and mince. The pea- and mycoprotein-based innovations will be launched next year but were sampled at Fi Europe in Frankfurt last month.
More beef: whole-cut meat maker Chunk Foods‘ vegan steak is headlining a culinary experience at this year’s Art Basel Miami Beach by chef Paul Qui, as part of a Philly cheesesteak with cashew queso.
No more beef? Then McDonald’s New Zealand has got you covered with its Salad Burger, which feels like a slant for non-meat-eaters. That’s right, it’s just… salad ingredients in a bun, in an apparent response to Burger King’s version of the same thing in the country (which still has onion rings!).
Over in the dairy alternatives world, UK chocolate maker LoveRaw is expanding into the Netherlands, with its milk chocolate wafer bar available in about 200 Albert Heijn stores, and milk and white chocolate bars in 150 Shell stores.
Courtesy: Oatbedient
Hong Kong, meanwhile, has a new plant-based milk. Singapore-based Oatbedient has launched its oat and milk powders in original, chocolate and chia seed flavours. They’re available at select Market Place, 3hreeSixty and Wellcome stores across the island.
In Italy, cocoa-free chocolate maker Foreverland has launched its first products using its Freecao alternative: pralines and the Christmas classic, panettone. The products – made from carob-based chocolate – are available on its website, with the latter costing €32.90 for a kg.
UK vegan pizza chain Purezza has partnered with Chefs for Foodies to offer its vegan mozzarella as part of a create-your-own-pizza kit for home cooks, which comes with Quorn pepperoni, chopped tomatoes, red onions, fresh basil, dough balls, and – in a wonderful touch – flour for dusting.
Elsewhere, Canadian food tech company Cult Food Science has launched a third proprietary plant-based pet food ingredient, Bmeaty, which joins existing products Bmmune and Bflora. It’s made from yeast extract, hydrolysed yeast and carrier yeast, and boasts 40% protein, and the ingredients will appear in several pet food formulations next year.
Courtesy: WOOP4
Also in Canada, WOOP4 is a new alt-seafood brand with one product we’ve never seen before – a vegan piranha. Its lineup includes rice-protein- and konjac-based salmon and tuna alternatives as well, alongside a range of seafood-complementing flavoured mayos. You can buy these at certain indie food stores or online.
Another company that recently launched plant-based seafood products was CPG giant Nestlé – but it says that won’t be the focus of its upcoming plant protein portfolio in India. The company hints at innovations “more relevant to the Indian market”, but is keeping its cards close to its chest. Watch this space!
And California’s Heyday Canning Co.opened what became a TikTok-famous bean pop-up in New York City, with huge lines outside the viral store surpassing the expected footfall. The idea was to exchange a can of beans for Heyday beans, which would be donated to the food bank City Harvest. As co-founder and CEO Kathryn Kavner said: “People frigging love beans.”
Courtesy: Kathryn Kavner/LinkedIn
Finance and M&As
WNWN Food Labs, the UK brand making cocoa-free chocolate, has successfully completed the CoLab Tech accelerator with Mondelēz International. It will showcase its alt-chocolate bars, truffles and coated biscuits at the food giant’s North American HQ.
In Germany, food conglomerate Pfeifer & Langen has acquired a majority stake in sausage-maker-turned-vegan-meat brand Rügenwalder Mühle for an undisclosed amount, with product development and international expansion high on the agenda.
Fellow German brand MyriaMeat – founded by researchers at the University of Göttingen – has emerged from stealth mode claiming to be able to make cell-cultured whole-cut meat, and has already seen €40M in investment.
Australian food producer Wide Open Agriculture has received investment and a distribution deal for its lupin proteins from Sweden’s Ingå Group, which has injected $825,000 into the former and acquired roughly a 15% stake at a pre-money valuation of $4.8M.
Courtesy: Wide Open Agriculture
In the US, precision fermentation company Liberation Labs has secured a $25M loan from the USDA to support the construction of its 6,000-litre-capacity biomanufacturing hub, amid a Series A round it hopes to complete by the end of Q1 2024.
Similarly, New York-based biomanufacturing company Synonym has raised funding from Open Philanthropy to expand its research into gas fermentation tech to produce planet-friendly proteins and other foods.
In sadder news, Floridian duckweed startupLemnature AquaFarms, which develops proteins and fibres from lemna, has filed for bankruptcy, with an online auction for its assets being held on December 12.
And things are shaking up at the top for Simulate and its sub-brand Nuggs, with co-founder and CEO Ben Pasternak leaving his role amid investor pressure. Co-founder Sam Terris (previously COO) is taking over.
Policy developments
Cellular Agriculture Australia, a Melbourne-based non-profit, has launched a tool to standardise terminology across the cell ag industry. The Language Guide used input from leaders across APAC, and one of its recommendations chimes with previous research revealing that ‘cultivated meat’ is the preferred term for cell-based proteins.
Italy, meanwhile, has resubmitted its cultivated meat ban proposal to the EU, which might mean a breach of the single-market rules and hefty fines. Now, Italian policymaker Alessandro Caramiello is hosting an “informal dialogue” on the subject today.
The UK government’s new National Vision for Engineering Biology is investing £2B in R&D and infrastructure over the next 10 years, including in the country’s cultivated meat sector, as it says there’s a critical shortage of infrastructure for alt-protein scale-up, and making cultivated meat doesn’t require “over-engineered” equipment like the life sciences sector.
British microbial oil company Clean Food Group has received government funding too, with the £1M, 18-month project helping the producer scale up the manufacturing of its functional oils, including its palm oil alternative.
In the EU, the European Parliament Committee on Fisheries (PECH) discussed the use of fish-related terms for plant-based foods, where the European Vegetarian Union argued that people aren’t confused with these labels. Newly launched alt-seafood association Future Ocean Foods was also present.
Meanwhile, two research centres on climate and sustainable food are in the works in Ireland, backed by €70M in funding. The former will focus on the climate, biodiversity and water, and the latter on researching sustainable and resilient food systems, convening academics, industry and policymakers from Ireland, Northern Ireland and the UK.
The Czech Chamber of Deputies recently held a seminar promoting plant-based diets in the country for a healthier and more sustainable food system, with the parliament acknowledging the links and encouraging a shift towards vegan eating.
Courtesy: Oatly
In the Nordics, alt-dairy brands under the Plant-Based Sweden banner – including local Swedish favourites Oatly, DUG, Sproud, Planti and Oddlygood as well as international giant Alpro – have sent a letter to the government to include plant-based milk in the upcoming EU School Scheme review.
Further news from the region comes from Finland, which has a newPlant Based Food Finland consortium, headed by Oatly’s public affairs manager Niklas Kaskeala. There are 18 founding members which include Oatly, Lidl, WWF Finland, Nordic Umami Company, and Mö Foods among others.
Manufacturing and awards
And in news involving both these countries, Finnish company Fazer is moving the manufacturing of oat milk and oat-based cooking products to its Tingsryd factory in Sweden, with the facility in Koria, Finland focusing on oat yoghurts. The move – first mooted two months ago – will see 64 employees lose their jobs.
Meanwhile, the partnership between Israel’s Profuse Technology and Estonia’s Gelatex is bearing fruitful results, shortening the growth cycle of cell-cultured chicken muscle tissue to just 48 hours, with a fivefold increase in protein content.
In another partnership, French cultivated meat company Vital Meat has established a strategic link-up with cell-culture media producer Biowest to achieve successful repeat pilot productions of cultivated chicken in 250-litre bioreactors.
Courtesy: ChickP
Finally, at the Fi Innovation Awards, Hi-Food and Alianza Team Europe won the plant-based innovation award for their oil-based emulsions replicating animal fat attributes, alongside ChickP Protein for its 90% chickpea protein isolate. MycoTech won the health innovation award for its shiitake-fermented pea and rice protein powder. Meanwhile, Arkeon Biotechnologies received the Startup Challenge award for the most innovative plant-based or alternative ingredient – it makes proteins from air.
Local diners just might think twice about chowing down on fried chicken after they see—and hear—“Hell on Wheels,” PETA’s guerilla-marketing campaign featuring a life-size chicken transport truck covered with images of real chickens crammed into crates on their way to a slaughterhouse, complete with actual recorded sounds of the birds’ cries and a subliminal message every 10 seconds suggesting that people go vegan. The vexatious vehicle will debut at Chick-fil-A on Washington Road before moving on to confront Augusta diners at Chicken Salad Chick, DiChickO’s Peri Peri Cafe, Zaxby’s Chicken Fingers & Buffalo Wings, Frog & the Hen, and A Town Wings.
When: Thursday, December 7, 12 noon
Where: Outside Chick-fil-A, 3066 Washington Rd., Augusta
“Behind every barbecued wing or bucket of fried chicken is a once-living, sensitive individual who was crammed onto a truck for a terrifying, miserable journey to their death,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA’s ‘Hell on Wheels’ truck is an appeal to anyone who eats chicken to remember that the meat industry is cruel to birds and the only kind meal is a vegan one.”
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview, and offers a free vegan starter kit on its website.
