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 decadent Chocolate Raspberry Cookie from locally based confectioner Bake Me Vegan nabbed a spot.
Credit: Bake Me Vegan
“The creamy, craveable Chocolate Raspberry Cookie from Bake Me Vegan 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.
Bake Me Vegan 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 Peanut Butter Cookie from Gingersnap Vegan Bakery in Moorhead, Minnesota.
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 gourmet stuffed Snickerdoodle-Do Cookie from locally based pop-up purveyor Top Drawer Sweets nabbed a spot.
The Snickerdoodle-Do Cookie. Credit: Top Drawer Sweets
“The craveable, cinnamon-loaded Snickerdoodle-Do Cookie from Top Drawer Sweets 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.
Top Drawer Sweets 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.
TikTok is an amazing place for people to share information, build communities, and promote positive change. We have our own TikTok page for all things PETA, vegan, and animal rights. And there are so many other vegan content creators to discover.
From scrumptious recipes to animal sanctuary stories, here are 14 creators to follow on #VeganTok.
Charlise Rookwood shares mouthwatering recipes and ideas. Check out this breakfast featuring vegan bacon. Intelligent, outgoing, and sensitive pigs spend their entire lives in intense confinement inside cramped, filthy warehouses. When you choose vegan bacon, you refuse to bankroll pigs’ suffering.
I’m at a loss for words …. I couldn’t even do a voiceover! @tfbakonstrips bacon is the WINNER You know I love @justegg waffle this bacon took it too another level! Don’t ask me a million questions about ingredients just follow @thrillingfoods on IG and check em out thank me later Have a blessed Saturday @luthervandross my king Keep pushing against the flow
Dan McKernan, the owner of Barn Sanctuary, has dedicated his life to providing a haven for rescued animals. He has nearly a million followers, and his friendships with animals will warm your heart.
Dan allows us to look behind the scenes and meet some animals he cares for, like Cora and Henry. He also offers interesting facts, such as the natural lifespan of cows—which is 20 years.
Bianca encourages others to be healthy by being vegan. Leading health experts agree that going vegan is the best thing we can do for our families and for ourselves. And vegan eating supports a lifetime of good health and protects against numerous diseases, including some of our country’s biggest killers: heart disease, cancer, and strokes.
What’s for dinner? Brad’s got you covered. This fantastic chef has amassed a staggering 2.7 million followers by turning vegan cooking into an art form. His recipes inspire cooks of all levels to whip up delectable vegan dishes. And he does it all with a gigantic smile.
These charismatic twin sisters don’t just share DNA—they also share a passion for being vegan. Their dynamic content showcases the joys of being kind to animals in style.
One example is their delicious vegan lasagna roll recipe. You help cows when you swap dairy for vegan cheese. To force cows to produce milk, farm operators typically impregnate them using artificial insemination every year. And shortly after birth, farmers separate mother and calf, causing them both distress. So don’t be tricked by “humane” labels.
The best dish for a dinner party Ingredients ⁃ 1 onion ⁃ Lasagna noodles ⁃ 1 cup vegan ricotta ⁃ 3 garlic cloves ⁃ mushrooms diced (as much as you like) ⁃ fresh spinach (as much as you like) ⁃ 1 jar of marinara sauce (half for the bottom half for the top) ⁃ Salt and black pepper to taste Vegan cheese sauce ⁃ 3 cups of any plant based milk ⁃ 3 tbsp nutritional yeast ⁃ 2 tbsp tapioca flour ⁃ 1/2 tsp onion flour ⁃ 1/2 tsp garlic powder
Jonathan Roehm’s witty take on life has earned him a following of 2.6 million. He uses his platform to advocate for animals, like when he showed his viewers the grim reality of glue traps—one of the cruelest methods of killing animals.
A glue trap can ensnare any small animal wandering across or landing on its surface. Animals trapped in the glue panic and struggle as the glue tears off their fur, feathers, or skin. Some break bones or even chew off their limbs as they desperately try to escape.
In the heart of Hawaii, Andrea Hannemann prepares tasty vegan meals for her five children—showing that compassionate meals make for a thriving family. On this page, caretakers can find recipes that kids love.
According to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, carefully structured vegan meals suit all stages of life, including pregnancy, breastfeeding, infancy, childhood, and adolescence.
Zacchary Bird’s upbeat approach to vegan cooking sets him apart on TikTok. His culinary skills and relationship with PETA showcase his commitment to making vegan living accessible and enjoyable.
Hannah Weseloh’s TikTok profile is a hub for cruelty-free makeup and vegan product reviews. Her focus on ethical beauty and delicious plant-centered cuisine provides valuable content for her followers.
For more cruelty-free products, check out our searchable database of companies that do and don’t test their products on animals. We list over 6,300 companies that don’t test on animals, including grocery store staples like Dove, e.l.f, and Herbal Essences.
ShantayeP (@guesswhosvegan)—Vegan Living Rock Star
Shantaye’s TikTok content revolves around being vegan. Check out her tips on how she stays vegan—which is easy-peasy. Grocery stores are stocked with delicious fruits and vegetables, and they now carry plenty of meatless options, too—including veggie burgers.
Orim’s TikTok account is dedicated to sharing creative vegan recipes. She also gives excellent pointers on nutrition, like when she discussed amino acids in vegan foods.
Dietitians confirm that plant-based foods contain a variety of nutrient profiles, and most vegans get their daily dose of complete proteins without even trying.
Joanne L. Molinaro, known as “The Korean Vegan,” shares traditional Korean recipes with a vegan twist. Her partnership with PETA reflects her dedication to advocating for animals and promoting compassionate cuisine.
Laura Clery is a down-to-earth, talented comedian and vegan TikTok star. Her collaborations with PETA demonstrate her dedication to spreading awareness about the benefits of vegan living.
With a heart as big as her following, Lexi Griswold stands out as a vegan to follow. Her platform spreads the word about vegan goods, making it easier for viewers to ditch animal-derived products.
An example is her video exposing gelatin, which is made from boiling skin, tendons, cartilage, ligaments, or bones—typically taken from cows, pigs, or fish—in water.
We’d love to connect with you on all our social platforms. We often follow up with comments that link to our free vegan starter kits or other resources to help people make personal changes that spare animals.
Impossible Foods is launching a plant-based beef hot dog that will be available in both grocery stores and restaurants next year. The announcement follows a UK foodservice deal with world-renowned chef Gordon Ramsay.
During a busy year filled with sales growth, new ad campaigns and a host of product launches, as well as a patent battle and employee layoffs, Impossible Foods is capping off 2023 by debuting its first hot dog product. Next year, the Californian company will launch a vegan hot dog dubbed the Impossible Beef Hot Dog. Hot dogs are a classic American food, and the news signals the company’s intention to appeal to meat-eaters as new customers over vegans or vegetarians who already buy its products. The product will be sampled in New York City during a one-day pop-up event on December 16.
This year saw Impossible launch six new products. In February, it added tenders, spicy nuggets and spicy patties to its chicken analogue line, followed by Beef Lite, an alternative to 90/10 lean beef, a few weeks later in March. And in June, it debuted the opposite of the latter – a juicier, premiumised Indulgent Burger. The company also introduced an unbreaded chicken fillet exclusively for foodservice in LA this summer (with eateries like Monty’s Good Burger and Crossroads Kitchen), which is rolling out more widely now.
The product innovation isn’t stopping, with the Impossible Hot Dogs slated to be the company’s first launch in 2024, which will be available across retail and foodservice. Impossible already has a bratwurst SKU with a “vegetal casing” – launched last year as part of a sausage link range – but it has been described as having more of a breakfast-y flavour. The forthcoming hot dog will be the first product made to replicate the quintessential American food. Asked whether the hot dog will aim to target sports and event stadiums, the company did not comment.
Is a healthy hot dog impossible?
Courtesy: Impossible Foods
Impossible has stepped up its health focus in recent months, as part of a concerted effort by the plant-based industry to amplify the nutritional credentials of its products. This has seen fellow vegan giant Beyond Meat doubling down on the health aspect with new dedicated commercial campaigns and certifications from the American Heart Association (AHA).
Impossible too gained the AHA’s Heart Check certification for its Beef Lite product last month, becoming only the second plant-based meat company to do so. This health spotlight continues with its new hot dogs, which the company says contain 50% less total and saturated fat than “a leading animal-based hot dog served in restaurants”, 12g of protein (vs 6g), and, of course, zero cholesterol.
Beloved by Americans nationwide, hot dogs are the epitome of processed food. In fact, processed meats like these are categorised as a Class 1 carcinogen by the World Health Organization. With the health credentials dialled up, would consumers be deterred from an ultra-processed food (UPF) – like the Impossible Hot Dogs – that is aiming to replace another UPF?
After all, plant-based meats have been criticised for their often ‘overprocessed’ nature by proponents of the meat industry. It has been a point of contention and led to the meat lobby curating targeted ads about the long ingredient lists on plant-based analogues, which Impossible famously responded to with its own spoof commercial.
Speaking to AFN last month, Impossible CEO Peter McGuinness was asked about Beyond CEO Ethan Brown’s assertion that “the [negative] health perception of the category is the most immediate and important variable to address in order to restore growth”. He responded: “We’ve got to counter this chemical, fake, overprocessed [narrative]. There have been a lot of things said about plant-based and some of it sticks. The processed [narrative] has stuck with consumers and we’ve got to fix it and attack it head-on.”
A Food Marketing Institute study last year found that 50% of Americans believed plant-based meats were healthy in 2020, but that number dropped to 38% in 2022. And a 1,022-person survey earlier this year found that health is the major reason Americans eat vegan or vegetarian diets, with six in 10 choosing it. And in terms of plant-based meat products like Impossible’s, ‘healthy’ is the most appealing labelling description.
American attitudes towards UPFs
Courtesy: Impossible Foods
So consumers are searching for healthier foods in terms of meat alternatives and other plant proteins – can the Impossible Hot Dogs fit the bill? If recent research published in The Lancet (and sponsored by WHO) is anything to go by, plant-based meat may not be all bad. It revealed that while UPFs are associated with an increased risk of multimorbidity (the medical term for when someone has two life-threatening diseases concurrently) of cancer and metabolic diseases, this is associated mostly with animal-derived foods and artificially sweetened or sugary beverages.
The study noted that plant-based meat, however, was not associated with the risk – thanks to the high fibre content and lower amount of saturated fat, sugar and calories than conventional meat. And a survey of 2,000 Americans in October found that 82% of consumers eat UPFs, and 43% don’t believe they’re bad for health.
Plus, nearly two-thirds (65%) would be open to incorporating UPFs in their diets if additional health or nutritional benefits were listed on-pack – this rises to 85% for parents with children under 18. And 67% of respondents would be willing to pay more for UPFs with more nutritious ingredients that delivered better health benefits, irrespective of their household income. Younger adults aged 18-34 are nearly twice as likely to pay more for healthier UPFs (84%) than those aged 65 and over (43%) – this is reflected in research suggesting that more American Gen Zers want to go vegan for their health than the environment.
“Hot dogs are an undeniably classic part of American culture and not to mention, they’re a burger’s best friend. It’s long been a priority to add them to our product portfolio” said McGuinness. “Our adaptation replicates that quintessential hot dog taste while offering consumers a nutrient-dense product that’s better for the planet.”
Hot dogs are far from a “healthy” food. An Impossible spokesperson told Green Queen that the new product is a testament to “our focus on making products that appeal to actual meat eaters”. They said the company is looking to reach and appeal to meat-eaters, not vegans or vegetarians already eating more planet-friendly diets. “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.
Details under wraps, but new foodservice link-up coming soon
Courtesy: Impossible Foods
Details about the product’s ingredients and availability are sparse for now, and Impossible remained tight-lipped on them when pressed by Green Queen.
Asked how the company is faring financially – it laid off 20% of its workforce (132 employees) in February after a 6% cut last October – the company declined to share this information at this time.
McGuinness did tell AFN earlier this year that the company’s retail performance is strong: “In the 52-week Nielsen [data], we’re still growing high single-digit, low double-digit in retail, which is great. We have a 50% repeat [purchase rate]… so every two people we get to try our product, one repeats, which is quite strong.”
Speaking to Green Queen last month, a company spokesperson said: “Impossible is doing its part to introduce meat from plants that rivals the animal and as a result, we’re responsible for driving a majority of the category’s growth. However, we need to increase the availability of products that taste as good or better than their animal counterparts across the category. Doing so will increase the probability that a consumer will have a positive experience and turn a sceptic into a believer.”
Impossible says its new hot dogs are meant to be cooked the same way as conventional ones, and work well with condiments like mustard and ketchup or as a topping on chilli. “We want people to see that there’s really no compromise when you choose Impossible products. It’s as easy as throwing an Impossible Hot Dog on the grill – right next to an Impossible Burger,” outlined McGuinness.
The growing importance of health doesn’t mean its eco credentials are on the back burner. The company highlights that its vegan hot dogs – or as it likes to say, “made from plants” – cause 84% fewer greenhouse gas emissions, require 77% less water and use 83% less land than a beef-based counterpart.
Courtesy: Impossible Foods
The announcement comes just a few days after the company extended its commendable foodservice record with a partnership with Gordon Ramsay Restaurants in London, becoming the first alt-meat to be offered at the Michelin-starred chef’s Street Burger and Street Pizza chains. It’s not the first time they’ve collaborated though, with Bread Street Kitchen locations in Singapore adding the Impossible Burger to their menu in 2019.
This link-up adds to long-running foodservice collaborations with American chef David Chang (seven years), hamburger chain White Castle (five years), Burger King, Starbucks (four years each) and Disney (three years). Impossible also recently teamed up with Ruby Tuesday with its Indulgent Burger.
As it prepares to launch its hot dogs, the company’s main competitors include Field Roast, Tofurky, Lightlife, Upton’s Naturals and MorningStar Farms. Can Impossible’s health link make it stand out from the crowd?
A unique study of identical twins – where one ate a vegan diet and the other a meat-based one for two months – has highlighted the cardiovascular benefits of the former, with lower ‘bad’ cholesterol levels, better blood glucose levels, and more weight loss.
All medical studies have their limitations, whether it’s the difference in participants’ genetics, upbringing or lifestyle choices. There is tons of research linking red meat consumption to increased risk of heart disease, and plant-based diets to a subsequent reduction. But these have similar limitations that are hard to control.
For example, in 2020, a study by the Stanford University School of Medicine revealed that replacing animal-derived protein with plant-based meat can reduce LDL (or ‘bad’) cholesterol and TMAO levels (a metabolite produced by gut bacteria linked with vascular and heart diseases). But it involved 36 participants from various backgrounds and lifestyles, which carried a degree of influence on the findings.
To limit these factors and control the genetic differences, the lead author from that study came up with the idea to analyse the effects of veganism and meat on identical twins, who grew up in the same households and reported similar lifestyles, including haircuts and clothing.
The new study, published in the JAMA Network Open journal last week, comprised 22 pairs of identical twins without any cardiovascular ailments from the Stanford Twin Registry – a database of both identical and fraternal twins who’ve agreed to participate in research studies – with one twin from each pair being put on either a vegan or meat-based diet. The findings reflect existing research about the impact of these foods on cardiovascular health, but with lesser influence from genetic and lifestyle factors.
Courtesy: Stanford University School of Medicine
A focus on healthy diets
The study describes both diets as healthy, rich with vegetables, legumes, fruits and whole grains, and devoid of sugars and refined starches. The omnivore diet consisted of chicken, fish, eggs, cheese, dairy and other animal-derived foods.
“I’m really into equipoise or balance in my studies — I don’t have a wonderfully healthy vegan diet and a crap strawman diet to be knocked over,” lead author Christopher Gardner told CNN. “People who ate the omnivorous diet ate more vegetables, more whole grains, less added sugar and less refined grains than they did in their usual habitual diet. Nor did they get crappy meat, it was all good quality. So, they actually had some dietary improvements.”
Over the first four weeks, the participants received 21 meal deliveries – breakfast, lunch and dinner – each week, while they cooked their own dishes for the rest of the four weeks. There was a registered dietitian on call to offer advice and answer questions, while the twins were interviewed about their consumption and maintained a log of the food they ate.
Of the 44 participants, 43 completed the study – only one person on a vegan diet didn’t. “This suggests that anyone who chooses a vegan diet can improve their long-term health in two months, with the most change seen in the first month,” said Gardner, a professor at the Stanford Prevention Research Center. This is the same principle that campaigns like Veganuary are based on.
But the study also came with its own limitations, as he explained to CNN: “To be honest, twins on the vegan diet had less satisfaction because it was so restrictive. So, there’s certainly the flip side of this: ‘Oh, I could have eaten more, but I just wasn’t hungry for more grains and more vegetables.’”
How vegan diets affected the twins’ health
The researched weighed the participants and drew their blood at three timepoints, and – as Gardner revealed – the most amount of change was seen in the first month, with people on a vegan diet exhibiting lower levels of LDL cholesterol, insulin and body weight – all factors associated with better cardiovascular health – than those eating meat.
The average baseline LDL cholesterol level was 110.7 mg/dL for vegans and 118.5 mg/dL for the meat-eaters at the beginning of the study. By the end, the former dropped to 95.5 and the latter to 116.1 (the optimal LDL cholesterol level is below 100). Since the participants already had levels close to the optimal range, Gardner said there was less room for improvement, and predicted that people with higher baseline LDL cholesterol would show greater change.
Additionally, the vegan participants showed a 20% drop in fasting insulin – higher insulin levels are a risk of developing diabetes – and lost an average of 4.2 lbs (1.9kg) than the omnivores. “Based on these results and thinking about longevity, most of us would benefit from going to a more plant-based diet,” Gardner said.
Courtesy: Stanford University School of Medicine
But he added that these improvements were to be expected, explaining to CNN: “The vegetarians got more fibre, less saturated fat. That’s going to explain the LDL cholesterol. More fibre is going to explain less fasting insulin because they just have a slower release of glucose in the bloodstream. And all the vegetables and fruits and grains are bulkier than meat and so people could be more satiated and eating fewer calories.”
Gardner noted that the vegan participants did the three most important things to better their heart health: cutting back on saturated fat, increasing the intake of dietary fibre, and losing weight.
He acknowledged that everyone won’t go vegan, but increased consumption of plant-based foods can go a long way for their health: “A vegan diet can confer additional benefits such as increased gut bacteria and the reduction of telomere loss, which slows ageing in the body.”
Gardner, who himself has been on a plant-forward diet for 40 years, advocated for reduction over elimination as a more pragmatic approach. “What’s more important than going strictly vegan is including more plant-based foods into your diet.”
Ahead of New Year’s Eve, PETA sent a letter to Greg Bracale, the chair of the Community of Lebanon Association, A Lebanon Foundation Organization, urging him to upgrade his group’s annual Bologna Drop to a vegan event and offering to provide the delicious vegan meats free of charge. PETA points out that dropping vegan bologna would still honor tradition but update the event for the 21st century, as vegan meats aren’t cruelly produced, are lower in saturated fat and cholesterol, and are far more sustainable than meat made from animals.
“Grinding up smart, sensitive, and social cows for a piece of meat dangling from a disco ball is a load of bologna,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “By switching to animal-friendly vegan bologna, Lebanon can turn its New Year’s Eve drop into a celebration everyone can groove to.”
Prior to slaughter, cows are shipped to feces- and mud-filled feedlots, where they’re crammed together by the thousands in all weather extremes. At slaughterhouses, workers shoot cows in the head with a captive-bolt gun, hang them up by one leg, and cut their throats—often while they’re still conscious. Each person who goes vegan saves nearly 200 animals every year; reduces their risk of suffering from cancer, heart disease, strokes, diabetes, and obesity; and dramatically shrinks their carbon footprint.
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. 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 Bracale follows.
December 4, 2023
Greg Bracale
Chair
Community of Lebanon Association
Dear Mr. Bracale:
Greetings! I’m writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals—PETA entities have more than 9 million members and supporters globally, and PETA U.S. is the largest animal rights organization in the world. Given that bologna is a processed meat that’s bad for animals, the planet, and our arteries—as well as implicated in the risk of developing cancer—will you please celebrate the new year by upgrading to vegan bologna for the next Lebanon Bologna Drop? PETA would be happy to supply vegan vittles free of charge—that’s no load of bologna—and help promote the new, inclusive, animal-friendly event to our members and supporters in the area.
Cows are gentle, curious, and clever animals, but bits of their bodies end up in bologna. To become the bologna dangling from a disco ball, these sensitive beings are shipped to filthy feedlots, where they’re crammed together by the thousands in all weather extremes. They’re then packed onto trucks for a frightening journey to a slaughterhouse, where they face a cruel and painful death. Many government slaughterhouse inspectors refuse to eat meat after witnessing these awful conditions.
Raising animals to eat is now recognized as an environmental calamity, as it requires colossal amounts of land, food, energy, and water. A comprehensive study concluded that vegan eating is the “single biggest way” to reduce a person’s environmental impact, shrinking carbon footprints by up to 73%. And since eating vegan foods reduces deforestation and loss of biodiversity, vegan bologna is the sustainable star that the Lebanon Bologna Drop deserves.
This New Year’s Eve, we hope two vegan bolognas descend on the disco ball—not just as a boogie to tradition but as a hustle toward progress. Thank you for your time and consideration. May your celebration be filled with joy, compassion, and a touch of mirror-ball magic.
While recognizing that there are more delicious vegan cookies this year than Santa could fit in a supersized sack, PETA made a list—yes, we checked it twice—and is naming its top 10 Favorite Festive Vegan Cookies. From extraordinary frosting-stuffed cookies to comforting classics such as chocolate chip and peanut butter, all of PETA’s winners are egg- and dairy-free delights to please even the most finnicky—or lactose-intolerant—holiday guest. Here are the sinfully delicious (naughty) cookies that made PETA’s (nice) list:
In the eastern U.S., winners include the gourmet stuffed Snickerdoodle-Do Cookie from Top Drawer Sweets in Jacksonville, Florida; the Marzipan Cookie—a crispy-edged cookie with a chewy center—from Sweet Maresa’s in Kingston, New York; and the nostalgic Oatmeal Raisin Cream Pie Cookie Sandwich filled with maple buttercream frosting from Celebrated in Richmond, Rhode Island.
In America’s heartland, winners include the zingy Ginger Pine-Apricot Cookie, sprinkled with pieces of dried pineapple and dried apricots, from Like Mom’s Only Vegan in Cincinnati; the chocolatey Salted Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie from Spacecat V-stro in Ferndale, Michigan; and the classically delicious Peanut Butter Cookie from Gingersnap Vegan Bakery in Moorhead, Minnesota.
In the western U.S., winners include the heavenly Matcha Sugar Cookie from Orange & Blossom Modern Patisserie in Portland, Oregon; the scrumptious Black and White Cookie from Ben & Esther’s Vegan Jewish Deli, also in Portland; the sprinkle-covered Birthday Cake Cookie, a perfectly sweet and festive treat from Quickie Too in Tacoma, Washington; and the Chocolate Raspberry Cookie, a decadent delight from Bake Me Vegan in Teton Village, Wyoming.
“Whether you are vegan or not, these craveable cookies deliver 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. “From chocolate to cinnamon and ginger, PETA’s picks celebrate peace on Earth to all living beings in this season of goodwill.”
Each winner will receive a framed certificate from PETA and bragging rights for the holiday season.
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 on PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.
The holiday season just wouldn’t be complete without freshly baked cookies. Not only are vegan cookies free of saturated animal fat and cholesterol, they also spare animals immense suffering. For milk and butter, calves are torn away from their mothers shortly after birth, and in the egg industry, parts of chickens’ beaks are cut off with a hot blade when they’re just a few days old. Playful cows and intelligent chickens deserve respect, which is why we’re highlighting some of our favorite vegan holiday cookies from establishments serving animal-friendly baked goods.
In no particular order, here are PETA’s picks for the best vegan holiday cookies of 2023:
1800 N.E. Alberta St., Portland, OR 97211 (with other locations in San Diego and Seattle)
Can’t decide if you love chocolate or vanilla more? These oversized black-and-white cookies are the perfect compromise. Ben & Esther’s also makes Hanukkah cookies, available at all locations.
Bake Me Vegan owner Courtney Jakubowski is a home baker who offers pickup in the Jackson Hole/Wilson area. She makes six varieties of delicious egg- and dairy-free cookies, and this Chocolate Raspberry flavor has received rave reviews for its perfect crunchy-gooey bite.
Lovers of unique flavor combinations are flocking to Like Mom’s Only Vegan for its Ginger Pine-Apricot cookies, which feature freshly grated ginger, dried pineapple, and apricot. They can even be made gluten-free! Find these goodies at Findlay Market in Cincinnati, or order them for delivery online.
Sweet Maresa’s is a vegan bakery making animal-friendly cookies, cakes, macarons, and more. Its Marzipan Cookie is a chewy sugar crinkle cookie with a crisp edge and a sweet almond flavor—we can’t get enough. The bakery also ships its cookies nationwide, so you can enjoy these treats wherever you live.
Orange & Blossom Modern Patisserie is an elevated vegan pastry shop located in Northeast Portland with menu items inspired by local flavors. Its Matcha Sugar Cookie is made with matcha from local brand Mizuba Tea Co. and flour from Oregon-based Camas Country Mill.
Oatmeal Raisin Cream Pie Cookie Sandwich from Celebrated
5 Stilson Rd., Richmond, RI 02898
Whether you prefer local pickup or online shipping, everyone in the U.S. can enjoy Celebrated’s take on the nostalgic Oatmeal Raisin Cream Pie Cookie Sandwich, filled with a maple buttercream frosting and free of any ingredients that harm cows or chickens.
Everything is made to order from scratch at Gingersnap Vegan Bakery, including its soft, classic peanut butter cookies. Pick up a dozen, or mix and match flavors to sample a variety.
Salted Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie from Spacecat V-stro
255 W. Nine Mile Rd., Ferndale, MI 48220
This twist on the classic chocolate chip cookie features browned vegan butter and a salty-sweet burst of flavor. Enjoy one after a tasty vegan meal at Spacecat V-stro.
Based in Jacksonville, Florida, but travels across the U.S.
These aren’t your typical snickerdoodle cookies—they’re stuffed with a decadent brown sugar cinnamon buttercream filling. Check out Top Drawer Sweets on Instagram to see where it will pop up next, or order online for nationwide shipping.
At a major APAC food tech conference in Singapore last month, I spoke to four alt-meat founders from India, China, the Philippines and Australia to find out what Asian consumers want from plant-based meat products.
Last month, as part of the Singapore International Agri-Food Week (SIAW), the Asia-Pacific Agri-Food Innovation Summit organized by Rethink Events welcomed over 1,000 global leaders to meet and learn about Asia’s agri-food system to “accelerate the transition to a climate-smart food system” as organizer Rethink Events states on the event website.
As part of the week’s programming, I chaired a discussion about the ‘Healthier Proteins Shaping the Future for Plant-Based Innovation’ on stage. Joining me were four founders and leaders from plant-based meat startups in the APAC region, each representing some of the biggest markets in India, China, the Philippines and Australia, as well as the APAC Science and Technology Director from one of the world’s leading flavour companies.
Our discussion spanned a range of topics, from how important are clean labels to whether Asian consumers are still actively purchasing these products. We talked about what factors influence decision-making, what new ingredients are being developed in the sector, and what brands can do to build confidence in the nutritional value and overall quality of plant-based products
Most of all, the question we were trying to answer was: what does the Asian plant-based consumer want? The key takeaway from the discussion is that each Asian market is unique and its consumers have very specific and very different needs.
The below transcriptions have been edited for clarity and concision.
Anand Nagarajan, Co-Founder at Shaka Harry on Indian Consumers
Courtesy: Shaka Harry
On the Indian plant-based meat consumer: India is not one market. We’ve got 1.4 billion people, so it’s important not to view the Indian market as one ubiquitous market. The relationship to meat is complicated. In terms of who our consumer is, we have a very simple definition: anyone who has an affinity for the taste of meat is the consumer we’re looking for. We are going after the two-thirds of Indians who eat meat. Culturally, a large percentage of the Indian population that still consumes meat would abstain from it for close to 150 days of the year for various reasons. Some people abstain from meat on certain days. Some people will not eat meat at home. Some people only eat meat when they travel. Some people won’t eat meat on festival days. But all these people may want something that’s a familiar taste. This is where we position Shaka Harry.
On creating products for specific occasions: How do we create salience in a customer’s life, rather than trying to over-intellectualize the conversation? If something needs a lot of education…it won’t scale. We can’t educate a billion people individually. Even if I were to take the 100-200 million high-end consumer market, I can’t sit down and educate every single one of them. Instead, we focus on occasions. How do I win breakfast? How do I win school lunch prep? How do I win at a Saturday family gathering? We’re saying: here’s a very good product, it’s priced well and it is tasty. We’ll give you an occasion for when you need to have this at home. And we find that a far easier method to scale, rather than pursuing micro-markets.
On whether Indians want healthier products: Do Indian consumers want healthier products? There’s a disconnect between what the consumer tells you they want versus what they’re ready to pay for. When they go into the store, and you give them two products, one being healthier but with a 20-30% price premium, they will choose the value product. That’s what we are seeing.
On We have an entire line of clean-label products coming out soon with easy-to-read, natural ingredients. Thanks to consumer insights, we’ve developed a millet range. Millets is something that traditionally Indians have consumed a lot and consumers have very positive connotations about it. But here the point is not to mimic a meat experience. Rather we’re saying: here’s a very good product. We’re going to ‘de-junk’ your regular roti and paratha. We’re taking the gluten out. We’re adding natural fiber. The initial market response has been fantastic. So de-junking regular meals and giving consumers a superior version of everyday foods is working really well.
Shaka Harry is a plant protein company based out of India with a range of ready-to-eat products designed for the Indian palate and for Indian cuisines.
Astrid Prajogo, Founder and CEO at Haofood on Chinese Consumers
Haofood co-founder Astrid Prajogo exhibited the new peanut-based pork dumplings in Berlin | Courtesy: Haofood/LinkedIn
On the Chinese consumer base: Our consumer base is very interesting. They’re not flexitarian, but they’re gym-goers. So they choose our product because they are looking for specific protein with specific features- that’s one type of consumer that is pretty loyal to us. We also have the forein vegan community. Although not a large group, they have strong purchasing power. They also have a voice, which can be powerful. Finally, we have the local Chinese vegan community as well, they continue to support our products.
On what Chinese consumers are looking for from meat: We have spent the last couple of years studying how Chinese consumers approach buying meat. Not just plant-based meat, just meat. That’s what we want to understand. And taste is absolutely key, especially umami. China is the land of tasty food, every single part of the country has great-tasting food. So first: taste – they demand great taste. Second is safety. McKinsey published research earlier this year that revealed that for Chinese consumers, health and safety are the most important. Part of safety is for a product not to contain ingredients that consumers deem less safe, like methylcellulose or added gums so our definition of clean-label is free from added artificial ingredients, be it binders or perseveratives. We combine different types of plant proteins and we work with fruit fibres, so we can make a clean-label product where the cost is actually reasonable- we’re down to under $3.5 per kilogram.
Haofood is a Shanghai-based specialist in Asian plant-based meat designed for Asian applications.
Stephen Michael, Co-Founder and CEO at WTH Foods on Filipino consumers
Courtesy WTH Foods
The Philippines is a pretty sizable country- we have over 110 million Filipinos, and it’s a very meat heavy culture. As a predominantly Catholic country, we don’t have any dietary restrictions, so I’m jealous of my Thai and Malaysian friends whose vegetarian market exists already. In the Philippines, it’s almost non-existent and that’s what we are up against. Culturally and traditionally, a lot of dishes are meat-based, so putting out a plant-based meat product might not be the best idea. We’re continuously trying to figure out what the Filipino consumer wants. It seems they see something as healthy when it is local with added functional benefits in terms of beauty or physical aspects. So for example, if plant-based meat products are helpful for slimming, or if eating these products can help radiate beauty- that’s a driver. The entry point for the Filipino market is health, more than whether something is plant-based. Sustainability and animal welfare are very, very far down the list in terms of our consumers adopting plant-based meat.
When Filipinos think about health, they go for descriptive words like ‘organic’ or ‘cholesterol-free’, ‘low sodium’, ‘low fat’, ‘low sugar. Adding to that, Filipino consumers want their food to be more fortified or to have a unique ingredient like a local oil. For example, we’re trying mungbeans as an additive to respond to that demand- it’s a local and natural ingredient. to add a more local and natural ingredient to that. Consumers want to avoid preservatives and flavor enhancers so they do look at the ingredient list and want a cleaner label as well. For more of our plant-based meats, we fortify with local proteins or local ingredients to give them a more local and healthier profile.
There’s actually been a bit of pushback with plant-based meats when we offer Filipino favourites like sisig and sausages and holiday hams, where Filipinos will go for the real thing instead of the plant-based version, which has been a difficult scenario. So we’re done pretending to be meat. Achieving something as close to meat as possible will require that long list of ingredients and our customers are looking at labels, and if they don’t understand certain ingredients, they deem it to be less healthy. So we are actually in the midst of a pivot in terms of products. We are decreasing the number of our ingredients for our second generation of products and we don’t try so hard to be the meat product. I believe in the alternative protein industry and I believe there will be increased demand and need for protein, so we’re looking into high-protein snacks in more shelf-stable formats. The Philippines is an archipelago shipping frozen meat across all the islands is a logistical nightmare. So it’s a triple challenge: how do you ship your products across an archipelago, while making them shelf-stable and reducing the number of ingredients so they can be clean-label?
WTH Foods is a plant-based alternative protein startup based in Manila.
Chris Coburn, General Manager APAC at v2food on Australian plant-based meat consumers
Courtesy: v2food
On why Australia is different from the rest of Asia: I would say Australia is a little bit different from the rest of Asia, where I think we’re still seeing animal protein as being aspirational. Consumers in the rest of the region are looking to purchase animal products now that there’s more wealth available and a growing middle class. In Australia, as in a number of the developed markets, we’re seeing this trend to be a reducetarian, where people who have reached peak meat consumption are probably looking to come back the other way. If you look at animal consumption per capita in Australia, obviously it’s at levels that are close to the UK and US, unlike the rest of Asia.
On v2foods’ Australian consumer base: I would say v2food’s consumer base is the conscious consumers, those who are looking to reduce their meat intake, so we have a different challenge to the rest of Asia. Probably half of our retail sales are from this younger demographic -the millennials / the single-income-no-kids / the double-income-no-kids / those coming into families over the next 10 years- those conscious consumers looking to reduce meat consumption and consume alternatives.
On clean labels: I think from a portfolio point of view, we’re looking at the clean-label issue in two different ways and trying to distinguish from those more indulgent occasions where consumers are looking for that great taste and probably a treat and those everyday occasions where people are looking for more healthy options. In the first group of our products, we have burgers and sausages, and we’re competing against animal protein products which are highly processed, and for those, we are really trying to drive taste as the priority for our target consumers. Our biggest fear is that sometimes our competitors’ products are not good, and consumers are having a bad experience. So we really feel like taste is important for the category of products like sausages, burgers, and nuggets.
v2food is Australia’s number-one plant-based meat company.
Ai Mey Chuah, APAC Science & Technology Director at Givaudan Singapore on Asian Consumer Tastes
Courtesy: Givaudan
Ultimately for our customers, the most important thing is taste. If their products don’t taste good, and don’t look appealing, they won’t get a repurchase by the consumers. So in our business, what we do is customize the solutions to meet the needs of their consumers from the regions that they are marketing their products to.
I would say that in APAC cost is still a very important factor. So while for our Europe and US business, clean-label and natural solutions are very important, for the APAC region cost is still the determining factor- we help our clients change their label to be more cost-effective, rather than clean-label, as our [clean-label] solutions tend to be more expensive.
Some markets like China have well-educated consumers who don’t like artificial ingredients or additives in their products, so when it comes to replacing ingredients like methylcellulose, Asia is slowly gaining traction and we have products in our portfolio like citrus fibre that can act synergistically with certain proteins to actually provide that texture that is meat-like, juicy and succulent.
Givaudan is a global leader in fragrance and flavour; the company develops tastes and scents for food companies all over the world.
Without further ado, here are PETA’s predictions for 2024’s top vegan food trends:
Veggie Focused and Futuristic Vegan Meats
We think the vegan meat market will expand in two directions: products made with whole-foods ingredients (such as beans, mushrooms, and nuts) and cultivated meat, which is real animal flesh produced without breeding and killing billions of animals. Actual Veggies’ vegetable-forward burgers and Wild Earth’s animal-free food for dogs are just two examples. Either way, we’re excited to see what’s to come.
We predicted this one back in 2022, and we think the fish-friendly seafood boom will still be going strong in 2024. While we’ll always love tried-and-true products like Gardein’s crabless Mini Cr’b Cakes, we’re also looking forward to trying new products like Seed to Surf’s tinned “snow crab” made with enoki mushrooms and “whitefish” made with smoked celeriac root.
Artificial intelligence (AI) was all the rage in 2023, and more vegan food brands are sure to put this technology to work next year. Vegan brand NotCo already uses an AI chef, Giuseppe, to develop products with the taste and texture of animal-based foods without using animals at all, while Climax Foods is using machine learning to develop a plant casein to make vegan cheese that stretches, melts, and browns just like cheese made with cow’s milk.
The “quiet luxury” trend is mainly associated with fashion, but we’ll be seeing it spill over into the food world, too. What will this look like? It means that people will splurge on the things that really matter: high-quality olive oils, locally made vegan cheeses, and unique items to help elevate the everyday—like this indulgent vegan Pistachio Cream made with Turkish pistachios (which apparently evoke quiet luxury on their own).
From Crossroads Kitchen to Hart House, we’re seeing more celebrities supporting and opening vegan restaurants. Singer Billie Eilish and her brother, producer Finneas O’Connell, announced that they’re opening Argento, a vegan Italian spot, in Los Angeles at the end of 2023. The restaurant is sure to be a hit, and we think more celebs will follow in their footsteps in the new year.
The largest shopping district between Denver and Minneapolis will be lit up this holiday season with sky-high appeals from animals to leave only cruelty-free gifts under the tree this Christmas as PETA unveils a series of new ads just feet from The Empire Mall, home to dozens of retailers worthy of the “naughty” list, such as Coach and lululemon, which peddle skins and down, and within eyeshot of meat-centric restaurants such as Texas Roadhouse.
“Christmas should be a time of peace and joy, but year-round, animals suffer for their skin, their flesh, and their feathers,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA urges shoppers to honor the compassionate spirit of the holidays by choosing vegan gifts that allow everyone to live in peace.”
The digital billboard, located at 4309 S. Louise Ave., #101, will play five ads from PETA’s “I Am Not” campaign that feature a cow, a chicken, a goose, a sheep, or a lizard imploring viewers to see them for the thinking, feeling individuals they are—rather than as products for the taking.
People are increasingly aware that buying shoes, clothes, meat, or anything else made using animals supports industries responsible for horrific suffering and needless killing. PETA investigations into more than 100 wool suppliers have exposed shearers beating sheep, cutting their skin to shreds, and hastily sewing them back up—without painkillers. Workers in the meat and leather industries castrate, brand, string up, skin, and dismember cows, sometimes while they’re still conscious. At down factories, workers hang ducks and geese upside down, drag them through electrified water, and stab them in the throat. Meat industry workers pack chickens densely on top of one another in filthy cages, where they often die after their legs break under the strain of their own weight. And in the reptile-skins industry, workers hack apart lizards with machetes while they’re still conscious.
Compassionate shoppers can get the best gift for themselves and animals by requesting PETA’s free vegan starter kit—as each person who goes vegan not only spares about 200 animals each year but also improves their own health, since vegans are less prone to heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and strokes. For other Christmas list needs, PETA’s shopping guide makes the holidays a piece of (vegan) cake.
A cow with the message “I am not a jacket, a pair of boots, or a steak.” Credit: PETA
A chicken with the message “I am not a nugget or a drumstick.” Credit: PETA
A goose with the message “I am not down filling or foie gras.” Credit: PETA
A sheep with the message “I am not a sweater, a scarf, or a lamb chop.” Credit: PETA
A lizard with the message “I am not a handbag, a belt, or a pair of shoes.” Credit: PETA
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat, wear, or abuse in any other way”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information on PETA’s investigative newsgathering and reporting, please visit PETA.org, listen to The PETA Podcast, or follow the group on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, or Instagram.
World leaders addressing the climate catastrophe should ditch meat, eggs, and dairy. The 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as the Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP28)—taking place November 30 through December 12 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates—got a powerful wake-up call from animal advocates.
On the conference’s second day in session, PETA U.K.’s animal defenders urged leaders at the event to go vegan to spare animals and help protect the environment. Police eventually arrested and removed the advocates.
Why COP28 Must Go Vegan
On December 1, a PETA U.K. supporter bodypainted as a black-and-white cow held a provocative sign reading, “Beware the Butchers! They’re Killing the Planet, Us, and You, Too.” At her waist, she wore a “Go Vegan” button. Alongside her was a PETA U.K. advocate dressed as a butcher to cut to the point more clearly. Although police ended up detaining the animal defenders, attendees of the conference couldn’t ignore PETA U.K.’s message.
COP28 previously announced that it would go “mostly vegan,” which is an important step, but world leaders must set an example for everyone else by going all the way. PETA entities have been pushing the COP conference to stop using animals as food for years—for instance, PETA Asia’s “Lettuce Ladies” appeared at COP27. And celebrities urged COP26 to adopt the Plant Based Treaty. The conference could easily go vegan, and many groups along with PETA have called for this shift.
If the event intends to protect the environment, its menu must be completely animal-free.
Unsurprisingly, meat, egg, and dairy promoters are also at COP28 to sow misinformation about the impact of animal-derived foods. The Guardian even published a feature about the animal agriculture industry’s plan “to be on the ground at COP28 in large numbers” along with industry lobbyists. According to some documents, JBS Foods, Global Dairy Platform, and the North American Meat Institute are among those expected to be sending representatives.
Meat Is Murder, and Bovine Mammary Secretions Are for Calves, Not Humans
An animal is not a meal. We must see every living, feeling being as someone and stop exploiting our fellow animals for their flesh and secretions. Mother cows produce milk for their babies to help them grow. Although cow’s milk is most commonly referred to as “dairy,” that term is a misleading euphemism that the industry relies on for marketing and sales.
As future COP events take place, PETA will do everything possible to persuade the conference to go vegan and fully align with its own stated objectives. No truly environmentally conscious meeting would serve flesh, eggs, or bovine mammary secretions.
Take Action for Animals and the Environment
Go vegan, and hold leaders who make climate-related promises accountable. Do your part to help fight the climate catastrophe by making compassionate choices every day.
US pea milk maker Ripple Foods has secured $49.2M in its latest funding round, taking total investment in the company to over $274M. The financing comes amid a rise in interest in the pea milk category, which outpaced the overall alt-dairy segment year-on-year (but has been down in recent weeks leading up to July).
Ripple Foods’ $49.2M investment takes the Californian pea milk brand’s total capital raised to more than $274M. According to an SEC filing – first reported by Forbes – the funding came from a total offering of $55.4M via equity, debt, and securities that can be acquired upon the exercise of an option or warrant in the future.
The latest funding round follows a $60M Series E raise in 2021, which was led by S2G Ventures, Bloom8 and Ajax Strategies. Other previous investors include TAO Capital, Siddhi Capital, Prelude Ventures, Khosla Ventures and GroundForce Capital.
Courtesy: Ripple Foods
Creating a ripple in the alt-milk sector
The investment is among a very small number of large VC investments to women-led businesses – Pitchbook data shows that women-founded startups receive less than 2% of all VC. While Ripple, which makes plant-based milk and protein shakes from yellow peas, was founded in 2014 by two men, Adam Lowry and Neil Renninger, it is currently helmed by a female CEO, Laura Flanagan.
While there hasn’t been a statement about the latest funding, Flanagan had noted after the Series E raise that the company was outpacing the expansion of the overall plant-based milk industry by threefold, and was well-positioned to further accelerate this growth: “This capital raise will enable us to accelerate innovation and growth across product categories, and expand into new channels and global markets. It allows us to further achieve our mission of making plant-based foods that are better for people, and better for the planet, on an even larger scale.”
Since then, Ripple has added a blended Oatmilk + Protein oat and pea milk (though it seems to have been out of stock for a while) to its lineup of vanilla (sweetened and unsweetened), chocolate, original and sweetened milks. It expanded its kid-friendly line too, with an unsweetened version joining the original DHA- and calcium-rich milk. Moreover, its smoothies come in chocolate, coffee and vanilla flavours.
The company’s USP is its pea protein, called Ripptein, which is made from patent-pending tech that eliminates “the impurities like flavonoids and tannins that can give other plant-based milks their plant-ey flavour”, resulting in what it claims is the “purest, cleanest-tasting non-dairy milk”.
Courtesy: Ripple Foods
The US pea milk market
Ripple’s raise comes at a curious period for plant-based milk in the US. In 2022, it saw a 9% annual growth in dollar sales, which reached $2.8B, commanding 15.4% of the total milk market. This sector also penetrated 41% of households, with 76% of consumers repeating their purchases. Despite this rise, unit retail sales were down by 2% from 2021, suggesting the growth comes on the back of price hikes.
In fact, Ripple was among the top 10 leading brands in terms of alt-milk sales in 2022, when the pea milk category grew by over 27% year-on-year. And while that trend has continued over the past year – with SPINS data showing an increase in dollar sales by 17.3% and unit sales by 4.1% for the 52 weeks to July 16, 2023 – this market has faltered in recent weeks, seeing a 4.8% drop in dollar sales and 2.8% drop in unit sales in the 12 weeks ending July 16.
In contrast, the overall plant-based dairy sector saw dollar sales rise by 7% and unit sales fall by 5.4% year-on-year, but has experienced a fall in both metrics in the 12-week period (-3.6% and -2.5%, respectively). Similarly, while conventional dairy dollar sales were up by 4.6% annually, unit sales declined by 2.3% – and in the 12 weeks to July 16, both were down (-3.6% and -2.5%, respectively).
So while the pea milk segment has seen a slightly larger decrease in the number of packs sold as well as total sales in recent weeks, it has outpaced both conventional and the overall plant-based dairy sectors in the last 12 months. And as health becomes an even larger influence on purchasing decisions in the US – with Gen Zers going vegan more for health than environmental reasons, and brands pushing nutritional aspects in product messaging – you could make the case that Ripple is poised for growth.
Courtesy: VMG Creative/Ripple Foods
The brand’s pea milk is soy- and nut-free (making it more inclusive for people with allergies), and has half the sugar, 50% more calcium and the same amount of protein compared to semi-skimmed cow’s milk. Ripple is also synonymous with the North American pea milk industry, where it’s available in over 20,000 retail locations.
The sector includes players like fellow Californian brand Bolthouse Farms and Swedish producer Sproud. Perhaps its closest challenger at present, though, is Chilean food tech company NotCo, which uses yellow pea protein as a primary ingredient in some of its alt-milks. It has raised over $433M to date, and just launched a vegan mac and cheese with Kraft Heinz.
French food giant Danone has signed a letter of intent with Canadian brand Else Nutrition to make a move into the vegan infant formula segment. Already commanding 71% of the UK market with Aptamil, Nutricia and Cow & Gate, the move will see Danone license Else’s products under its own branding.
Danone is expanding its plant-based operations via the lucrative and often controversial infant formula market. Through a letter of intent (LOI) signed earlier this month, the French dairy and drinks giant announced a collaboration with Israel-founded, Canada-based, vegan baby formula maker Else Nutrition.
According to one estimate, the global infant formula sector is currently worth $50.7B, and is set to expand by 5.6% annually to reach $66.4B. But it’s a market dominated by dairy-based formula, with around 90% of manufacturers relying on cow’s milk as the base ingredient, though a handful of alternative players rely on soy and rice.
Else takes a different approach, using ingredients like almond butter, buckwheat flour and tapioca maltodextrin. It has two products for toddlers: a complete nutrition powder, and one containing omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids for brain development.
Else Nutrition’s rapid growth
Courtesy: Else Nutrition
Danone is the world’s second-largest baby formula maker – housing three brands in Aptamil, Nutricia and Cow & Gate – but is now venturing into the vegan market via a multi-stage partnership with Else. This will see Danone license the latter’s products for sale under its own branding, with the first part of the collaboration allowing the French company to produce, market and commercialise Else’s products as part of its own portfolio. The two will then negotiate other opportunities in addition to commercialisation. The two parties expect to conclude negotiations and sign a definitive agreement by the end of Q1 2024.
Else says its vegan instant formula is nutrient-dense, containing easy-to-digest, gluten-free carbohydrates, as well as a primary source of protein, fat, fibre and vitamin E. The company has won several awards for its products, including the Best Dairy Alternative honour at the 2021 World Plant-Based Awards and the Best Health and Diet Solutions award at Milan’s Global Food Innovation Summit 2017.
Until last month, Else’s offerings were only available in North America, where the infant formula market has been facing headwinds for over a year now. In February 2022, Abbott Nutrition shut its largest plant (controlling a fifth of the total US supply) and initiated one of the largest formula recalls in the country. It sparked an infant formula shortage that – while having improved – is still being felt. What’s worse is, it could happen again.
Many doctors warned parents against giving their toddlers cow’s milk, as it could trigger allergies, intestinal bleeding and electrolyte imbalances. This is what makes alternatives like Else crucial – and it certainly seems to have had an effect on the Canadian startup’s market presence, which expanded its retail presence from 3,000 to 13,000 stores across North America between Q2 2022-23. It also experienced a year-on-year revenue growth of 35% in the first half of 2023.
Baby formula market under investigation
Courtesy: Danone
Last month, Else released its plant-based formula for toddlers to the UK, marking the first stage of a wider European expansion. This raises an important question for Danone’s agreement to sell Else’s products under its name – the French giant controls a whopping 71% of the country’s market, which is now under investigation by the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).
The CMA has found that manufacturers have raised prices by 25% in the last two years and increased profit margins amid the cost-of-living crisis. It says there are too few options in the market, with very limited supermarket private-label products, adding that not many parents are switching to cheaper alternatives.
The investigation was part of a larger retail inflation report by the watchdog. “We’re concerned that parents may not always have the right information to make informed choices and that suppliers may not have strong incentives to offer infant formula at competitive prices,” said CEO Sarah Cardell. “We will investigate this further and consider whether changes to regulations are necessary to ensure parents can get the best deal possible.”
Danone – whose revenue hit €27.7B in 2022 – paid out £175.6M in dividends to shareholders to shareholders last year. In response to the CMA investigation, it said its experience was that the baby formula market was competitive. “We recognise the challenges faced by parents due to inflation. During this difficult period, we have worked very hard to absorb the significant cost increases we have faced, make savings, and minimise any price increases,” a spokesperson for Danone UK and Ireland said.
“We are committed to best practices to maintain this and will work constructively on ways we can continue to deliver value and innovation to parents. We will also continue to engage with the CMA over the coming months,” they added.
Else’s entry into the UK market does diversify offerings a little – but the scope and areas of its partnership with Danone remain to be seen. The latter has previously dabbled with incorporating plant-based ingredients in its infancy formula, introducing a Dairy & Plants blend in the Netherlands.
Nestlé, which has a 14% market share in the UK, has filed a patent for a potential vegan baby formula. But it already sells a soy-based formula under its Good Start brand in Canada. Other makers of plant-based infant formula suitable from birth include Australia’s Sprout Organic (Australia) made from rice and pea protein, ProSobee® Plant-based Infant Formula, Earth’s Best® Non-GMO Plant Based Infant Formula (both soy-based and both in US) and Bebe Mandorle Organic Anti-Reflux Rice-Based Infant Formula (French).
Some companies are also making lactoferrin via cellular agriculture. This is a whey protein found in human milk and bovine colostrum produced just after birth (sometimes called ‘first milk’) and often used in infant formula. Singapore’s TurtleTree (which earned a self-affirmed USDA GRAS approval recently) and New York-based Helaina are the two major players in this space, both using precision fermentation technology to create these proteins aimed at the formula sector. Israel’s Wilk (cell cultivation) makes lactoferrin too, though it’s using its proteins to create a breast milk alternative, while North-Carolina based BIOMILQ is making cell-cultured breast milk, as does French newcomer Nūmi.
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 patrol downtown Columbia on Saturday before moving on to confront diners at Chick-fil-A, 92 Chicken, Home Team BBQ, Dave’s Hot Chicken, Doc’s Barbeque, Buffalo Wild Wings, Bernie’s Chicken, and PDQ as part of the group’s East Coast tour.
When: Saturday, December 2, 12 noon
Where: Main Street (between the South Carolina State House and Elmwood Avenue), Columbia
“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.
Kraft has unveiled a vegan version of its famed boxed mac and cheese in the US, the third innovation as part of its collaboration with Chilean food tech startup NotCo. The NotMac&Cheese will roll out in supermarkets in December through early 2024 in two flavours.
Borne out of its Kraft Heinz Not Company venture with NotCo, Kraft will soon launch the third product to come out of the collaboration – and it promises to be the most sought-after yet.
The 85-year-old food giant is giving its famous boxed mac and cheese a vegan makeover, releasing two flavours of the pasta – original and white Cheddar – in the US, starting December through early 2024. Priced at $3.49 per box, it follows the launch of plant-based NotCheese Slices and NotMayo last year.
Courtesy: The Kraft Heinz Company
While this isn’t the first time Kraft has unveiled a vegan mac and cheese – it has been selling this in Australia since 2021 – it does mark its US debut. “The Kraft Heinz Not Company creates plant-based versions of fan-favourite foods that taste like the real thing, yet don’t require people to drastically change their eating habits,” said Lucho Lopez-May, CEO of the Kraft Heinz Not Company. “NotCo brings its revolutionary AI technology that has a proven track record in creating mouthwatering plant-based foods to Kraft.”
Is Kraft’s vegan mac and cheese healthy?
The Kraft Heinz Company and NotCo announced their link-up in February 2022, with the venture being kept completely separate from their respective companies, leveraging the market expertise and distribution channels of the former and the artificial-intelligence-led technology and innovation of the latter.
The idea was to create vegan versions of Kraft products using NotCo’s patented tech. The Chilean startup’s platform (called Giuseppe) uses AI and machine learning algorithms to match thousands of different plant-based ingredients and find the combinations best suited to replace animal-derived foods. It is the brains behind the company’s range of plant-based milks, chicken and burgers.
Kraft cited IRI data to reveal that the distribution of better-for-you mac and cheese products is outpacing the overall category by over six times. It’s joining more and more food manufacturers in being more vocal about the nutritional aspects of its products, something Americans are increasingly concerned about.
Courtesy: Anthony Boyd Graphics/The Kraft Heinz Company
Research has suggested that more American Gen Zers want to go vegan for their health than the environment. And 1,022-person survey by the International Food Information Council (IFIC) in May found that health is the major factor behind US consumers eating vegan or vegetarian diets, with six in 10 choosing it.
Health is an omnipresent conversation in the US, with an alarming rise in rates of obesity and type 2 diabetes – over two-thirds (69%) of Americans are overweight and 36% are obese. Having said that, the Kraft vegan mac and cheese isn’t necessarily healthier than the original. When prepared according to its instructions – using almond milk and margarine – a cup of the pasta has 450 calories, compared to 350 calories for the original macaroni and cheese made with 2% milk and margarine.
The dry NotMac&Cheese mix (made from faba bean and coconut oil powder) is also higher in fat and carbohydrates. But, being a plant-based product, it doesn’t contain any cholesterol and additionally boasts higher protein and fibre content – the two nutrients Americans are trying to consume more than any other this year, according to the International Food Information Council (IFIC).
Taste and texture paramount for vegan cheese
Health is one aspect – taste is just as important. Numerator data reveals that vegan mac and cheese only has a 30% repeat purchase rate in the US, with consumers citing taste and texture as deterring factors. It chimes with IFIC research that shows taste is the top driver for food and beverage decisions among Americans.
Similarly, a study leveraging Kroger data from 60 million American households revealed that texture is the aspect Americans dislike most about vegan food, followed by high price (Kraft’s vegan mac and cheese is nearly three times as expensive as the original). In fact, when it comes to vegan cheese, 73% of US consumers are unhappy with the flavour (“plastic” or “unnatural”) and texture (“grainy”). They want cheeses that taste better, melt well and have a creamy texture.
The US plant-based market has faltered over the last couple of years, owing to the post-pandemic supply chain and inflationary pressures, as well as consumer concerns about overprocessed ingredients. According to SPINS data crunched by the Good Food Institute, the country’s vegan cheese sector saw $233M in dollar sales last year, a 2% drop from 2021. Retail sales (47 million) were also down by 5%.
Moreover, plant-based cheese only has a 5% household penetration rate, and makes up 1.1% of the overall market share. But this won’t discourage Kraft, a food giant that sells a million boxes of boxed mac and cheese every day, and had net sales of about $26B last year. Other players in this space include Amy’s, Annie’s Homegrown, Upton’s Naturals, Wicked Kitchen, and Gal Gadot-owned Goodles.
Now, the Kraft Heinz Not Company plans to continue its scale-up into several other categories and begin international expansion next year. Maybe we’ll all be whipping up a vegan boxed mac and cheese while watching old Hollywood alongside our dogs in no time, à la Brad Pitt.
Want the Ultimate Vegan Experience in Greece? Here’s How to Bid
Longing for a Getaway to Greece? This Could Be Your Chance
Experience the blue roofs and waters of Santorini with a three-night stay at the island’s first 100% vegan hotel. Bid on this item now in PETA’s end-of-year auction, which helps animals.
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 circle One South at The Plaza—home to Chick-fil-A, Tupelo Honey, and other meaty eateries—before moving on to confront Charlotte diners at Dave’s Hot Chicken, Haberdish, Bossy Beulah’s, LuLu’s Express, Viva Chicken, The Eagle Food & Beer Hall, and Buffalo Eatz as part of the group’s East Coast tour.
When: Thursday, November 30, 12 noon
Where: One South at The Plaza, E. Trade and S. Tryon streets, Charlotte
“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.
When the chips are down and batteries low, a dumpling dinner can cushion the blow. Open your freezers and the microwave door, and ready yourself for plant-based goodness galore. Here are the best frozen vegan dumplings to save you from midweek depression.
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like a good dumpling. I mean, how can you hate it? It’s seasoned filling wrapped in dough that can be steamed, boiled, fried or baked, with a dope dip that just leaves you wanting more.
Dumpling dinners and lunches (or breakfasts, let’s be real) have been my saviour countless times when the last thing I had time for was cooking, but I needed feeding and a break from instant ramen. It used to be all-veggie frozen gyozas that I’d pan-fry and make a 50-50 soy and rice vinegar sauce with, but now, there are countless options for people looking for a vegan dumpling fix.
So, to save your weekdays and nights as well, here are the best frozen vegan dumplings you can buy. (This is by no means an exhaustive list!)
OmniPork Plant-Based Potstickers
Courtesy: OmniFoods
Hong Kong’s famous vegan export OmniFoods (a sub-brand of Green Monday) released a dumping offering as part of a wider product launch in the US last year, featuring its soy protein pork.
The frozen plant-based potstickers contain a mix of the OmniPork and vegetables like cabbage and wood ear mushrooms, plus a host of seasonings and aromatics. Each serving of four pieces contains 5g of protein and 2g of fibre (one 200g pack contains 10 pieces).
The frozen OmniPork gyozas can either be pan-fried or deep-fried for three to four minutes, air-fried for five to six minutes, and steamed for six to seven minutes, or until fully cooked. They can also be heated up in the microwave for 1.5 to two minutes – though you won’t get that delightful crunch.
You can find Omni’s plant-based potstickers at various retailers and online stores across the US, including Walmart, Whole Foods and Instacart from $5.98.
Too Good to Be Foods Dumplings
Courtesy: Too Good to Be
The consumer-facing brand of Triton Algae Innovations, Too Good to Be was launched earlier this year, featuring the former’s Hardtii green algae superfood ingredient. The ingredient can be used to give plant-based meat and seafood products a more realistic look and flavour.
While Triton Algae began innovating with a tuna analogue, its first product is a plant-based frozen dumpling filled with vegan pork (using Hardtii) and cabbage. The wrapper is infused with the green algae as well, offering a striking visual appearance. The pork and cabbage are supplemented with alliums, seasonings and spices.
The dumplings can be steamed for eight to 10 minutes, or pan-fried until golden brown. Each three-dumpling serving contains 7g of protein and 2g of fibre.
You can find Too Good to Be’s frozen algae dumplings at online store GTFO It’s Vegan for $8.99 per 10oz pack.
Sobo Foods Dumplings
Courtesy: Sobo Foods
North Carolina’s Sobo Foods, which launched out of stealth earlier this year, was launched by Eric Wu (co-founder of Gainful) and Adam Yee (formerly a scientist at Motif FoodWorks), raising $1M in funding for its mission to provide better-for-you Asian comfort food to consumers.
Sobo has only recently its first product, a line of frozen vegan dumplings in three flavours. The Japanese-inspired curry potato has chickpeas, carrots, peas and pea fibre, the Chinese-influenced pork and chive features soy protein, cabbage, mushrooms, aromatics, seasonings and methylcellulose, and the Korean-inspired kimchi and mushroom contains tofu, gochujang, sweet potato starch, alliums and pea fibre.
These are available in 288g packs of 12 dumplings each, with protein content ranging from 12-19g and fibre from 4-7g for each 144g serving.
South Korean alt-meat brand Unlimeat has been making waves this year, establishing a flagship partnership with California’s Just Egg to offer vegan kimbaps in its home market, a week after introducing upcycled plant-based tuna to its lineup.
Unlimeat launched in the US last year via online channels, and offers two beef-filled Mandu (Korean dumpling) flavours: original and hot chilli. Both contain a base of its soy and pea mince, with cabbage, alliums, tofu, starches, oil and emulsifier, and seasonings, with the latter comprising some extra chillies.
Each 85g serving contains 7g of protein and 2g of fibre, while every pack weighs 400g. Unlimeat’s dumplings can be pan-fried for seven minutes or air-fried for 10.
You can find Unlimeat’s frozen Mandu dumplings on its webstore or online retailers like Plant X and Instacart starting at $10.99 per pack.
Dina’s Dumpling Frozen Offerings
Courtesy: Dina’s Dumpling
A food truck and catering service in Pasadena, Dina’s Dumpling makes a lot of, well, dumplings – they’re not all vegan, but it does have a wonderful vegan, all-vegetable option that you can buy frozen too.
The green, spinach-infused dumpling wrappers are filled with tofu, purple cabbage, green cabbage, celery, and wood ear and shiitake mushrooms.
This is a more gourmet option, and it’s reflected in the price tag. But it’s a wonderful way to have restaurant-style dumplings at home, and fulfil your veggie cravings.
You can find Dina’s Dumpling’s frozen offerings at its Pasadena location starting at $30 for 20 pieces.
Moo Shu Dumplings
Courtesy: Moo Shu Ice Cream
Another veggie-celebrating dumping maker, Canada’s Moo Shu is actually an ice-cream parlour, but spotlights Asian creations and offers a range of frozen vegan dumplings.
The Ottawa-based business makes three varieties: five-spice and pickled shiitake, cabbage and shiitake, and curried sweet potato and black lentil. Each contains a filling of its homemade tofu and seitan-based meats, and is packed with aromatics and seasonings.
These gourmet dumplings come with a sheet that comes with detailed instructions on cooking with a pan-frying method (which takes about 10-13 minutes), alongside multiple dipping sauce options.
You can buy Moo Shu’s frozen vegan dumplings via its online store or in person for $30.
Bibigo Organic Potstickers
Courtesy: Bibigo
Bibigo, a subsidiary of South Korean food giant CJ CheilJedang, is known around the world for its dumplings – and it has an extensive range in the US too, with one vegan option too.
The Organic Vegetable Potstickers are filled with brown rice, cabbage, tofu, textured soy flour, edamame, carrots, alliums and a bunch of seasonings, alongside soybean oil (which also features in the wrapper).
Bibigo’s frozen plant-based dumplings come in three sizes: 16oz, 32oz and 48oz, and each four-piece, 82g serving contains 6g of protein and 1g of fibre.
You can find Bibigo’s vegetable potstickers at Kroger, Costco and Instacart, starting at $7.
Months after teasing an expansion into Germany, Hooked Foods has delivered on that promise with a listing in 400 Rewe West stores across the country. The Swedish vegan seafood maker is launching four SKUs – including its Salmoonish and Toonish analogues – in Europe’s largest plant-based market.
Hooked Foods has landed on German shores with its range of vegan seafood analogues. The Swedish startup’s tuna and salmon chunks are now available in 400 Rewe West stores across the country, alongside two of its tuna mayo SKUs.
It caps off a year where the startup reeled in more than $1.3M in funding, including over $700,000 from a crowdfunding campaign in June. At the time, Hooked announced its intention to move into the German market, which is the largest for plant-based food in Europe. More recently, the company joined the inaugural cohort of Future Ocean Foods, a new global association of 36 companies to advance the alternative seafood sector and increase awareness about the health and environmental benefits of these products.
“At Hooked, we’re thrilled to finally bring our Swedish plant-based seafood range to Germany,” said Hooked co-founder and CEO Tom Johansson. “Our success in the Nordics has demonstrated a growing demand for innovative, sustainable alternatives, and we’re excited to introduce our iconic Swedish brand to German consumers.”
Clean-label vegan seafood
Courtesy: Hooked Foods
Hooked’s retail offerings in Germany include Salmoonish, Toonish and two mayo spreads made from the latter. Its vegan tuna combines a dual protein base of pea and algae with pea fibre, sunflower oil, aromas and natural colouring, while the salmon blends soy, pea and wheat protein with pea fibre, vegetable oils, algal oil, aromas, and natural colours, and is fortified with vitamins and minerals.
The former contains 17.1g of protein per 100g (versus 26g for conventional bluefin tun), while the latter boasts 17g of protein (compared to 20g for traditional salmon) – but being plant-based, Hooked’s seafood offerings contain over 3g of dietary fibre per 100g each, something that’s missing from their marine counterparts.
The relatively clean-label formulations – especially for the tuna analogue – are a win for the brand in a country whose consumers find shorter ingredient lists essential. A 1,026-person survey by retail association BVLH found that 66% of Germans would be deterred from buying plant-based products if they contained additives and extra ingredients – a number that rises to 72% for flexitarians, who would be a key target group for Hooked.
Meanwhile, the two spreads – Toonish Mayo and Toonish Curry – are a mix of its plant-based tuna (albeit with a different recipe, using soy and wheat protein) with vegan mayo and flavourings.
Hooked had already penned an agreement with sales agency Ooha, which has expertise in the German market, when announcing its crowdfunding round. “After extensive exploration and discussions with several vegan seafood companies, it became clear that Hooked possesses all the key ingredients for success,” an Ooha spokesperson said. “With their talented team, strong brand, and top-notch products at competitive prices, Hooked stands out as the ultimate challenger ready to conquer Germany.”
Speaking of price, the Toonish and Salmoonish retail at €3.19 for 180g, while the spreads set you back €2.79 for 120g. This is cheaper compared to competitors like Nestlé’s Vuna, which costs €4.29 for 175g, and BettaFish’s Tu-Nah, which is priced at €2.99 per 130g jar. Meanwhile, Revo Foods’ smoked salmon is priced at €4.49 for an 80g pack, and its tuna spread is more comparable with Hooked’s, at €2.99 for 140g.
Hooked makes its seafood analogues using high-moisture extrusion technology (HME). None of the other three employs this tech – Nestlé and BettaFish use textured vegetable protein (TVP), while Revo Foods uses fibre dispersion tech for some of its products (which involves combining plant proteins with individual fibre strands). HME allows companies to introduce more complex muscle fibres and flakiness and is typically a more expensive technology than TVP, so making its products cheaper than its competitors is a big win for Hooked.
Vegan seafood is expanding, but still has a long way to go
Courtesy: Hooked Foods
Conquering Germany would be a big feat indeed, given that it’s the European leader in retail sales for vegan food. The country saw purchases in this category grow by 11% from 2020-22, reaching €1.9B, according to the Good Food Institute (GFI) Europe. It’s also why Hooked chose this market for its European expansion. “We have a clear opportunity to deliver value to consumers in the market,” Johansson told Green Queen.
Additionally, Germany also boasts a large flexitarian population, with some putting it as the largest in the world – estimates have ranged from 40% all the way to 55%. This is an important consumer base for brands like Hooked – according to Mintel, 90% of Germans eat fish, and 28% of people have switched from meat to seafood for health reasons (though seafood itself has problems with high mercury levels, antibiotic use, sea lice infestation, and microplastic ingestion). Take into account the 59% of Germans who want to reduce their meat consumption, and one can sense that there’s a huge opportunity.
The German seafood market is set to grow by 3.2% annually to reach $9.59B in 2028. Alt-seafood players would be looking to capture a piece of the pie, after experiencing exponential growth across Europe in the last couple of years. While retail sales for meat alternatives have fallen, vegan seafood purchases increased by 60% from 2021-22 (and a whopping 326% since 2020), as per GFI analysis.
It is the fastest-growing plant-based category, as well as one of the only ones that witnessed a drop in average unit prices (down by 4% in 2022). Having said that, it still makes up for a fraction of the overall plant-based market (0.75%) in Europe, signalling that there’s still a long way to go.
Courtesy: GFI Europe
The brand is looking into foodservice too. “However, we found most success with retail in the Nordics, so we will continue focusing on retail, but are of course open to partnering with forward-thinking restaurants in Germany,” noted Johansson. He added: “We are focusing 100% on Germany right now. We will start in the western region to create a success case. Once we have it, we will continue to expand to other regions in Germany. Hopefully, [by the] end of 2024, we will be on the shelves in the most important regions in Germany.”
Hooked, which launched in 2019 and has raised over $6M in total funding, will be helped in its mission to convert the 12% of Germans who eat fish thrice or more per week by the country’s plant-forward nutrition strategy. Its food and agriculture minister Cem Özdemir says the government intends to build a comprehensive nutrition strategy to promote food system changes via early education and accessibility initiatives.
Other recent seafood developments in Germany include the EU-wide launch of Nestlé’s marine-style crispy fillets and nuggets and the unveiling of Esencia Foods’ whole-cut mycelium whitefish at the Anuga food fair in Cologne. Rewe Group’s Austrian vegan store Billa Pflanzilla, meanwhile, saw the debut of Europe’s first 3D-printed meat alternative, a salmon fillet by Revo Foods.
An appealing little calf has brought a can’t-miss message to Des Moines’ bustling Merle Hay neighborhood as she grazes the rooftops near McAlister’s Deli, other eateries, and shops, urging everyone to see her as the feeling individual she is.
“Cows are smart, sensitive beings who yearn for the same things humans do, such as escaping harm and finding joy in life, yet they’re violently slaughtered for meat and leather that no one needs in this day and age,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA urges everyone to put cruelty out to pasture by leaving animals off their plates and feet and opting for vegan everything.”
Cattle ranching is an environmental disaster, as the land used for and greenhouse gas emissions that come from raising and killing cows and other animals to produce meat and leather clothing and accessories are accelerating the climate catastrophe. The vast majority of the millions of cows killed every year in the U.S. are forced to endure confinement amid their own feces, castration, branding, tail-docking, and dehorning, in which their horns are burned or cut out. Then, after a miserable life, they’re shipped to slaughterhouses, where they’re hung up by one leg and their throats are slit before they’re skinned and dismembered—sometimes while they’re still alive.
Each person who goes vegan spares about 200 animals each year and improves their own health, since vegans are less prone to heart disease—the leading cause of death in Iowa—as well as cancer, diabetes, and strokes. Those looking to make the switch can use PETA’s free vegan starter kit.
The billboard is located across the street from Target and Merle Hay Mall at 6000 Douglas Ave. in Des Moines and can be seen through the end of the month.
British tempeh brand Better Nature is working on a new whole-cut vegan chicken ingredient made from tempeh mycelium and okara, the pulp left over from soy milk production. Speaking to Green Queen, the company spills the beans on the upcycled ingredient, its R&D and launch plans.
There’s a café chain in Indonesia called Titik Temu (“meeting point”). Each spot is beautifully designed and popular with expats, thanks to its speciality coffee and a menu of locally inspired classics. During my time in Bali, I passed by and was instantly drawn towards the eatery, and ended up visiting it a couple of times.
On my second visit, I tried a black pepper chicken dish, substituting the poultry for tempeh. But when I tasted it, I was apprehensive. This was chicken, not tempeh: it was fibrous, without the customary crunch of the whole soybeans, and tasted an awful lot like chicken. When I asked the staff, they assured me it was the latter, requesting me to break down a piece and proving that it was, indeed, a black pepper tempeh dish.
It blew my mind – Indonesia had already proven to me that tempeh can (unlike in many places in the west) be splendid. But I’d never had tempeh with this texture or flavour, and it opened my eyes to the potential versatility of this protein powerhouse.
So naturally, when Christopher Kong – one of the co-founders of London-based tempeh startup Better Nature – teased an ultra-realistic vegan chicken breast on his social media, I was curious and excited.
The company has gone from strength to strength this year, raising £3M in Series A financing, launching a £1M crowdfunding round, becoming B Corp certified, securing listings in Tesco and Lidl, and entering the German market. Now, its R&D has led to a product blending traditional plant protein with a whole-cut meat analogue – while Singapore’s Good Health Farm makes a beef mince from tempeh, nobody has introduced a tempeh-derived whole cut before.
A tempeh makeover
Kong described the prototype as Tempeh 2.0, boasting an amino acid profile that’s similar to beef. Speaking to Green Queen, Better Nature goes so far as calling it “the future of plant-based food”, an all-natural and nutritious (both key consumer concerns in the UK) protein ingredient.
So how is it made? You know the white part between the soybeans in tempeh? That’s mycelium. Better Nature grows this mycelium in a “nutritious broth” containing okara, the pulp left over from soy milk production. This is fermented using natural tempeh cultures from Indonesia, then drained and dried.
The company explains that there are multiple mycelium strains part of the “tempeh fermentation family”, including Rhizopus, Mucor and Neurospora. While it can’t yet disclose what it’s using, since the prototype is still in the development phase, Better Nature does confirm it’s a GRAS (generally recognised as safe) food component, which Kong said has been in use for decades – eschewing the need for any regulatory filings.
Courtesy: Getty Images via Canva
“The manufacturing process is also remarkably robust,” explained Kong. “Tempeh has been around for hundreds of years, so we’re not reinventing the wheel. We’re just giving it a serious makeover.”
CTO and fellow co-founder Driando Ahnan-Winarno noted that the development of the new product was possible thanks to a £350,000 grant it received from government-backed fund Innovate UK, and in partnership with microalgae R&D startup Neoalgae, nanotech expert Nucaps (both Spanish) and Estonian biotech solutions startup TFTAK.
Elevating tempeh’s appeal amidst a rise in whole-cut plant-based meat
A recent 7,500-person survey by the EU’s Smart Protein project revealed that 50% of Europeans don’t know what tempeh is. This is in stark contrast to its traditional soy counterpart, tofu, which 90% of people in the region recognise. Moreover, only 16% consume tempeh once a week.
Tempeh hasn’t yet hit the European protein mainstream the way tofu or plant-based meats have. But while the category is still niche, Kong said earlier this year that growing awareness means “it’s a matter of one year before tempeh becomes mainstream”.
This is part of the reason why Better Nature is working on this new tempeh product. “We want to widen the appeal of tempeh by creating 100% natural, nutritious, tempeh-based versions of category-leading formats like meat alt sausages, fillets, and nuggets, which we cannot currently do in a way that replicates meat with our regular tempeh,” the company explains.
Courtesy: Better Nature
Whole cuts have been described as the ‘holy grail’ of plant-based meat, and the upcycled tempeh mycelium chicken can be seasoned, sizzled and served just like its conventional counterpart. I personally like it in the form of nuggets because its bouncy and fibrous texture is great combined with the nuggets’ crust. Unlike traditional tempeh, there aren’t any whole soybeans in this product – it’s just mycelium grown in the okara broth. “Compared to regular tempeh, it has more bite, is chewier, and more fibrous,” says the brand, adding that its bouncy and fibrous texture is great for chicken nuggets.
Plus, its nutritional credentials are potentially even greater than tempeh. Better Nature’s tempeh, for example, has 19g of protein and 6.6g of fibre per 100g. The Tempeh 2.0, meanwhile, can contain 50g of protein and 10.3g of fibre per 100g of dry weight – though “these numbers will change since we are still optimising the production process”. (A conventional chicken breast, meanwhile, consists of 31g of protein per 100g, and no fibre.)
Better Nature hopes to host public samplings of its tempeh mycelium chicken as soon as the development process is complete, but because it needs to go from pilot production to mass manufacturing, the earliest it can be launched is at the end of 2025.
Courtesy: Libre Foods
Whole cuts have been gaining ground in the plant-based meat scene of late. Catalan brand Libre Foods will soon be launching the EU’s first whole-cut mycelium chicken breast, France’s Umiami added $34.7M to its Series A round to scale up its vegan chicken, and Singapore-based TiNDLE Foods debuted its TrueCut chicken at a trade event in Chicago.
In terms of seafood, Revo Foods launched Europe’s first 3D-printed meat with its salmon fillet, Escencia Foods unveiled its whole-cut mycelium whitefish at the Anuga food fair, and three Canadian companies have collaborated to create a salmon analogue. Israel’s Chunk Foods, meanwhile, has made its way onto fast-food chains and steakhouses with its whole-cut beef – a meat that’s the focus of several other startups too.
Following a rollercoaster of a couple of years, Miyoko Schinner speaks to Green Queen about leaving Miyoko’s Creamery, news about the company’s potential sale, and her future plans.
It’s been a few months since Miyoko Schinner closed the chapter on the vegan dairy company she founded for good. There were disputes, lawsuits and some bitter words between her and Miyoko’s Creamery – but it’s all in the past now, and Schinner is moving on.
In an interview with Green Queen, the vegan dairy queen talks about her departure from Miyoko’s Creamery, what she’s been up to, and her upcoming plans (which include a seventh cookbook and featuring in a Netflix documentary). Whisper it, but there’s a potential restaurant tease too.
How Miyoko Schinner became a vegan cheese leader
Courtesy: Miyoko’s Creamery
Schinner has always been known as a plant-based pioneer, and for good reason. Having turned vegetarian when she was just 12 (in the late 60s, the “glory days of the hippie movement”), she learned how to cook for herself since her mother didn’t support the shift. After a decade or so, realising she was lactose intolerant, she went vegan.
This sparked an entrepreneurial instinct that turned Schinner into who the force she is today. She began selling okara pound cakes from her backpack – a business called Madam Miyoko – before her yearning for cheese led her to start Now and Zen, an all-vegan eatery in San Francisco in 1988. The restaurant, which became popular for its plant-based turkey, was sold in 1997, evolving into a namesake natural foods company.
When the business shut in 2003 – amid family responsibilities and personnel issues – she ascribed it to a lack of investor interest in vegan food. But that didn’t stop Schinner the innovator, who already had three cookbooks to her name by then.
Her everlasting love for cheese culminated in her own company in 2014, Miyoko’s Creamery (then called Miyoko’s Kitchen). What began as a fledgling plant-based artisanal cheese business turned into an industry giant producing butters and spreads as well. Schinner was hailed as the queen of vegan cheese, with her cashew-based innovations reaching over 20,000 retail spots and another cookbook acclaimed as a game-changer for the industry.
Credit: Miyoko’s Creamery
The company gained B Corp status in 2019, and won a landmark legal labelling battle against the State of California two years later, which allowed it to use the term ‘butter’ on its packaging, with the judge noting “the State’s showing of broad marketplace confusion around plant-based dairy alternatives is empirically underwhelming”.
Legal disputes and exiting Miyoko’s Creamery
By June 2022, Miyoko’s Kitchen was worth $260M, according to one estimate. But this was also when things began unravelling. Schinner was ousted as CEO that month, being sued by the company she founded earlier this year for an alleged breach of contract, a violation of trade secrets, and stealing company IP.
Schinner countersued, saying she was “blindsided” and alleging that sexism led to her dismissal. She claimed that recently hired male executives discriminated against women in the company, and that multiple HR complaints about the same are what led to her being forced out. Schinner accused COO René Weber of “openly denigrating women, their expertise and their contributions at Miyoko’s”, adding that after raising an HR complaint about an operational consultant hired at an investor’s request, the company “swiftly retaliated against [Schinner] by demoting her and then terminating her”.
Courtesy: Miyoko Schinner
The board, however, claimed Schinner’s exit came as she lacked the necessary skills to take Miyoko’s Creamery to the next level as its CEO. However, two months later in May, there was a resolution between the company and its founder, with both withdrawing legal claims and settling their disputes.
Since then, Miyoko’s Creamery has revamped its website and branding and hired former Beyond Meat CMO Stuart Kronauger as its CEO. In September, the brand launched its first product since the fallout, a range of cheese spreads. But now, the company is closing its Petaluma factory in Sonoma County, with 30-40 jobs being affected as it moves to a co-manufacturing setup.
And according to Bloomberg, the company is now raising funds and preparing for a potential sale after sales fell by 24% on the back of sustained deficits for years.
Schinner, who remains a minor shareholder in the company, spoke to Green Queen about this news and what she’s up to now.
Green Queen: Are you still involved in the company or with the board?
Miyoko Schinner: I’m not involved anymore, am no longer on the board, and am only a minor shareholder, so I know nothing other than what I read in the news. I’ve heard nothing but good things about Stuart Kronauge, however. She sounds like the right person to lead the company. In a different life, I might even enjoy working with her.
GQ: How do you feel overall about having exited Miyoko’s Creamery?
MS: I have had a good year and a half to reflect on my life, the economics of the food industry, the role of innovation in defining the future of food and what we need to watch out for in order not to repeat the mistakes of the past, and the role of activism in business. I have lots of thoughts around all of that, and am beginning to share some of them, and will be doing more.
Courtesy: Matt Lever/Miyoko’s Creamery
GQ: What are you working on these days?
MS: I’ve been doing a little bit of this, a little bit of that. I am under contract with Ten Speed Press/Penguin-Random House on a new book, The Vegan Creamery, which is slated for publication in 2025 [her third book with the publisher, after 2015’s The Homemade Vegan Pantry and 2021’s The Vegan Meat Cookbook].
I’ll be sharing new ideas for many plant dairy foods, including new methods for making cheese and butter (no, the experimentation hasn’t stopped, and I’m at the top of my game again). I’m also looking forward to seeing a new four-part Netflix series about food that I am in (it airs in January, I think).
I started a fledgling, scrappy YouTube channel, The Vegan Good Life with Miyoko. And I’m also beginning to work on an autobiography/memoir. I’ve been speaking in various venues around the world, and am open to more speaking engagements, so reach out to me!
GQ: Where do you see yourself going as you look ahead to the next decade?
MS: I am entering a new chapter of life where I am focused on inspirational activism that will help build community so that people can be change makers together. I spend a lot of time helping to strategise the direction and growth of the sanctuary, Rancho Compasión [which she opened in 2015], as it enters a new phase focused on education – we have about 50 kids visiting each week, and we plan to expand our after-school and other programmes for humane education and food systems.
GQ: Would you ever start another company?
MS: I’m unsure if I will start another company. If I do, it will likely be more experiential, based on activism, less on selling things (although I keep playing with the notion of a restaurant). It’s time to bring power to the people. I guess I’m becoming a revolutionary.
It’s only Thanksgiving and we might be hitting a tipping point with Christmas content already, so this is probably three months too late – but in case you’re like me and still planning your Christmas menu, here are a few cocktails (both boozy and non-alcoholic) that will spruce things up come Yule.
The other day, I was surfing the internet and – as you do – came upon a thumb-stopping stat. I’ve known for a long time that a third of all food across the world is wasted (and that my continent produces 50% of it) and that it’s worth about $1tn. But these numbers never really hit home unless you measure human impact, at least for me.
Anyway, say we, you know, didn’t waste so much food (just a thought) – did you know how many people we could feed with all that food loss? Two billion. Two fucking billion. That’s all of India, the US and Brazil, and then some change.
There are myriad reasons people waste food, and I’m yet to find a good one. And it gets worse on certain days of the year, like Christmas when the UK alone throws away 54 million excess plates of its food – enough to feed 80% of its population.
But excess is synonymous with Christmas. We eat loads, talk loads, drink loads. On that last one, alcohol isn’t super efficient either. For example, for every litre of tequila, about 5kg of pulp and 10-15kg of acidic waste are left over, both of which can contaminate soil and water supplies in its production regions.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t enjoy a drink, but how can we make our Christmas drinks better for the planet? What if there were a way to use up as much of each ingredient as possible, and produce zero-waste cocktails with zero compromise on flavour?
If you’re really into your food, you’ll know there are tons of things you can do to elevate zero-waste recipes. Food waste is among the climate solutions that can reduce the most emissions – so maybe let’s have our beverages and drink them too this year?
Here are a few zero-waste Christmas cocktails (with non-alcoholic swaps) that’ll leave you feeling light and your impact on the environment even lighter. Since These are all time-intensive recipes, as they rely on different techniques for better flavour – the payoff is massive, though, as you’ll mostly end up with spirits that can be used for many other cocktails too. Since Christmas is a month away, you can start working on these now.
(The quantities for certain ingredients are more instinctive than, erm, scientific – but that’s the point! Feel free to play around.)
Pecan-butter-washed Old Fashioned
Courtesy: Canva
Starting with the all-timer. I love fat-washing, it brings such a complex note and mouthfeel to a drink, and it just feels… elegant?
Old Fashioneds have been back in fashion ever since Mad Men took over our screens in the late 00s, and now there are so many versions of it, it can be head-spinning. Let me spin your head further with a fat-washed version.
Fat washing is a technique where you use fat to infuse flavour into a spirit (but it doesn’t have to be booze), and you ‘wash’ (separate) the fat once the infusion is done. It’s pretty neat. Many bars do this via a sous-vide machine – since most of us don’t have one at home, there are two other ways that are equally effective (if slightly more time-consuming). One is freezing, and the other is just letting time do its thing.
Another problem with fat washing is that a lot of the time, the leftover fat is thrown away – for no good reason! And as for Old Fashioneds, the customary orange peel is gorgeous, but I’ve personally seen people throw away a perfectly good orange after peeling it all.
What you’ll need: Islay Scotch (or another smokey whisky), pecans, light muscovado sugar, walnut and orange bitters (or whatever you fancy), a cinnamon stick and an orange.
How to make it: Take 250g of pecans and roast them in the oven at 165°C/330°F for 12-14 minutes. Transfer to a food processor and blend until the oils release and it turns into smooth pecan butter. In a large rectangular box, transfer all of the butter and smoothen it out in a layer. Now, pour the entire bottle of whisky over it (saving the bottle for later), but don’t stir. Pop a lid on and leave it in a dark place at room temperature for two weeks.
Once it’s infused, transfer the Scotch to a French press, squeezing the nut butter with a spatula to get most of the booze out (don’t worry too much about this, though). Plunge the French press and pour the whisky back into its bottle – and that’s your base spirit. (You can also pass this through a paper coffee filter for extra-fine filtration, but be prepared to wait hours, if not days).
Peel an entire orange in long strips for garnish, and cut the remainder into thin slices. Make a simple syrup with one part water to one part muscovado sugar, add the cinnamon and orange slices and simmer for 30 minutes. Spread the slices on a silicone mat to cool. Reserve the orange syrup (alongside the cinnamon) in a glass bottle.
Now to build the cocktail: pour a teaspoon of the syrup alongside half a tablespoon of the pecan butter and a few dashes of both bitters in a stirring glass, and stir. Add 50ml of the whisky, in batches so it’s all mixed well. Now fill with ice and stir until cold. Decant into a rocks glass, twist an orange peel in, and add a slice of the candied orange on top.
How to make it non-alcoholic: Since this is a whisky-forward cocktail, I’d recommend using a non-alcoholic spirit like Dochus Smokey Isle or Dandy Smoke.
Christmas orange negroni
Courtesy: Canva
Oranges are a very Christmassy fruit and are ubiquitous in cocktails too. But climate change is ravaging oranges so badly that there has been an orange juice shortage, with crop harvests in the US and Brazil falling significantly. Despite that, in the UK, one in five people throw away bags of oranges, instead of making the most out of them.
Negronis can be an any-season drink, but something about the red hue just screams Christmas. This twist on the popular cocktail sees the gin get infused with festive spices, and oranges used in a fun way that adds depth to the drink.
What you’ll need: Gin, Campari, Discarded zero-waste vermouth, star anise, cloves, green cardamom, cinnamon stick, rosemary and an orange.
How to make it: Toast the whole spices (crushing the green cardamom) in a pan on medium heat until fragrant, and add straight to the gin bottle along with a sprig of rosemary. Leave to infuse for a few days (at least 48 hours, but can be left indefinitely).
Peel the orange into long strips, and squeeze the juice out of the rest. As for the leftover orange pith, you can either dehydrate it, grind it into a powder and use it as a fibre-rich flavour enhancer, or compost it. Bring the orange juice to a boil in a saucepan, and simmer for about 15 minutes to half an hour, until reduced to a thick, syrupy consistency (about a quarter of the original volume). Cool and store in the fridge.
To assemble the cocktail, add 25ml each of the Campari, vermouth and gin (you may want to use a strainer to avoid any of the spices going in – just pop them back inside the gin when done) to a stirring glass, alongside a teaspoon of the orange juice reduction. You can adjust the quantity of the latter to your liking. Add ice and stir until cold, decant into a rocks glass, and finish with an orange peel twist and another sprig of rosemary.
How to make it non-alcoholic: Like the Old Fashioned, this is a spirit-forward cocktail too, so use alternatives like Strykk Gin, APRTF or Lyre’s 0% ABV Campari substitute, and Martini Rosso or Lyre’s non-alcohol vermouth. If you do drink but want to avoid the hangovers, swap the gin for Sentia Red.
Spent espresso martini
Courtesy: Canva
The espresso martini is a universally popular and ubiquitous cocktail. It’s also one of the easiest cocktails to make, given the short and simple ingredient list.
Coffee has a turbulent relationship with climate change, and the amount of waste it creates is insane. About 23 million tonnes of waste is generated via coffee production every year, while 75% of spent coffee – the grounds left over after brewing – ends up in landfill.
I’m aware there are time-consuming cocktails on this list, with days of prep. This one takes considerably less time (overnight), plus it’ll give you a ton of homemade coffee liqueur to use as you please.
What you’ll need: Espresso, spent coffee grounds, tequila (an eco-friendly one, please!), vodka (preferably vanilla), nutmeg, sugar and espresso.
How to make it: Brew 10 shots of espresso and add to a glass bottle (or a covered vessel) – store in your fridge (don’t worry, it’ll all work out). Leave the grounds to cool, and then transfer to a French press with 500ml of vodka. Leave overnight (ideally between 12-16 hours), and then strain through a paper coffee filter. You can finally compost your coffee grounds – whatever vodka is leftover in here is good for your soil and plans.
Make a simple syrup with a one-to-one ration of water and sugar (about 200g each), alongside some freshly ground nutmeg. Once boiled, cool for 15 minutes and add half to the coffee liqueur. Keep adding more and adjust to your liking.
Take 25ml of espresso, 25ml of your coffee liqueur and 50ml of tequila, add a pinch of salt, and shake in a cocktail shaker until well-mixed and frothy. Add to a martini or coupe glass, and garnish with some freshly grated nutmeg.
How to make it non-alcoholic: Use a no-ABV vodka like Strykk or USKO, and alcohol-free tequila like Lewis Hamilton’s Almave. You can also do away with both and just use cold brew concentrate, espresso and nutmeg-infused sugar syrup.
Vegan aged eggnog
Courtesy: Canva
We had to include the classic here. There are tons of vegan eggnog recipes out there – some using almond milk, some coconut cream, others a cashew base. Sure, all do their job in their own way.
But there’s a technique many people use that brings about more complex flavours and just hits differently: ageing. And since we’re twisting tradition anyway, we might as well add some Mexican flavours here. I promise this will blow your mind. Cooking the rice means no need to filter and waste any grains. And the booze will keep this for an insanely long time.
Bear in mind though: this needs time, so maybe start whipping it up now so it’s ready for a Christmas in a month. Or get it ready for next year! (Kudos to Jennifer Carroll and Alton Brown for inspiration!)
What you’ll need: Spiced rum, white rice, almonds, almond milk, cinnamon stick (preferably Ceylon), black peppercorns, tahini, vanilla (bean, powder, extract, whatever you can find), nutmeg and maple syrup.
How to make it: Boil 150g of rice alongside a couple of black peppercorns, plus – if using whole – the cinnamon stick, vanilla and nutmeg, until cooked and soft. Drain and once cooled, add to a blender along with the 2 tbsp tahini, about 4-6 tbsp maple syrup, a pinch of salt, and 500ml almond milk (if using powdered/liquid spices, add now). Blend until completely smooth, then add about 225g of booze. Pulse to combine and transfer in a clean glass jar.
Place this in the fridge, and age for at least two to three weeks, and up to a year. The alcohol will help preserve the rest of the ingredients – so fret not. Once it’s ready, you can add more almond milk if you find it too strong, or a little more maple if you want it sweeter.
How to make it non-alcoholic: The alcohol acts as a preservative, so it’s necessary for the ageing. For this one, it’s best to just ditch the booze and ageing – it’ll still burst with flavour. You can heat and infuse the almond milk with the spices too before adding it (make sure to cool before blending), and can make it a couple of days ahead.
Despite recent international launches from NYC to Milan, Neat Burger has announced the closure of half of its UK restaurants after losses grew by 145% last year.
The chain backed by the popular Formula One star, who has followed a vegan diet since 2027, will see four of its London sites shut before Christmas, while plans for four new locations have been shelved too.
Neat Burger, the fast-food chain backed by the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Leonardo DiCaprio, has faced a financial setback amid its expansion drive, with low footfall and increased losses forcing it to shut five of its stores in London (its grab-and-go concept has already been shut), halving its UK footprint.
Of Neat Burger’s nine UK sites – all in London. spread across Camden, Soho, Oxford Circus, Wembley, Canary Wharf, Victoria, Stratford, Liverpool Street and Dalston – the Oxford Circus (its debut location opened in 2019), Canary Wharf, Westfield Stratford and Liverpool Street are set to close, with the Dalston grab-and-go location (opened this August) already shut.
Neat Burger had planned three new locations in Queensway, Waterloo and King’s Road – as well as one in the O2 Arena – but these have now been shelved. The lease for the O2 Arena site, which was worth £100,000 annually with a 20-year commitment has been surrendered to the landlord, while the remaining lease term for the Dalston store – 12 years left on £45,000 annually – has been assigned to a third party.
Neat Burger’s closures driven by 145% loss
Courtesy: Neat Burger
The decision to close the stores and scrap plans for new ones comes after Neat Burger posted a £7.85M loss for the 2022 financial year, up 145% from the £3.2M loss reported in 2021. “As with any dynamic growing business, we’re constantly changing and adapting to the market, and so as part of our ongoing strategy, we are announcing the consolidation of four of our London operations,” the company told Restaurant Online (this is not counting the Dalston grab-and-go location).
“This decision is driven after an analysis of our consumer data and the shift towards hybrid work, leading to a natural decrease in footfall at some of our larger restaurants,” it added.
This is echoed in the statement by company co-founder and managing director Zach Bishti in its yearly accounts, where he noted that 2022 began as the UK faced another pandemic-induced lockdown due to the Omicron variant, though “a turbulent Q1 gave way to a steady recovery in trading during spring and summer”.
He explained that the nature of sales had changed compared to pre-pandemic, with Monday and Friday footfalls in London’s financial district and West End dropping with the rise of work-from-home. Plus, the demand for home delivery – which surged in 2021 due to lockdowns – declined, and this led Neat Burger to shutter its delivery-only kitchens.
“In light of changing work habits, the directors have identified that future expansion of the corporate estate should focus on smaller, compact units situated in high-footfall areas,” wrote Bishti.
International expansion among a turbulent time for UK vegan sector
Neat Burger opened its first location in Nolita, New York City | Courtesy: Neat Burger
Neat Burger secured $18M in Series B funding earlier this year, taking total funding to $100M, according to the Financial Times. Over the past few months, the chain has been accelerating its international expansion, with new sites in New York City and Milan joining its existing London and Dubai stores. The chain had announced plans to open another store in the Big Apple.
Bishti alluded to this in the company’s filing, stating: “International expansion remains a key strategic objective for the group, with our inaugural New York restaurant having opened in April 2023.”
At the time of the Manhattan store opening, Neat Burger CEO Tommaso Chaibra said: “With the successful launch of our New York location and record first quarter under our belt, we have demonstrated the strength of our brand, and are now well-positioned to bring our award-winning plant-based food to the growing number of consumers in the US and worldwide who are embracing a healthier and more flexitarian lifestyle.”
But according to This is Money, the restaurant group told staff that the company’s “future is at risk” now, and redundancies are being lined up.
“The last four years have been a roller coaster for any hospitality business. We’re facing macro pressures that we’re seeing reflected across the industry, and the strongest brands are having to adjust their sails to account for increasing energy costs, food price inflation and compounding interest rates,” the company told Restaurant Online.
Courtesy: Neat Burger
Neat Burger’s decision is reflective of the overall decline of the UK’s vegan market. According to industry think tank the Good Food Institute (GFI) Europe, plant-based sales declined by 3% between 2021-22 in the UK, with meat analogues dropping by 8% in the same period. Meat alternatives brand Meatless Farm was rescued from administration by fellow British player VFC, while mycoprotein giant Quorn reported a £15.3M loss in its yearly accounts, citing (like Neat Burger) post-pandemic inflationary pressures as part of the reason.
But this trend isn’t restricted to retail – a number of vegan restaurants have closed 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. In north England, V Rev, JJ’s Vish and Chips, Zad’s (all Manchester), Frost Burgers (Liverpool) and Donner Summer (Sheffield) all shut last year as well. In fact, earlier this month, popular vegan restaurant V Or V also announced it is closing.
“We believe that sometimes, taking a step back is necessary to make a bigger leap forward,” Neat Burger told Restaurant Online. We remain deeply committed to our mission of providing delicious, sustainable, plant-based dining, and are excited about our future growth prospects.”
We speak to Eat Just co-founder and CEO Josh Tetrick about recent concerns around the Californian food tech’s financial health and what the future looks like for cultivated meat.
Eat Just, the Californian food tech that makes the JUST Egg plant-based egg and owns the cultivated chicken company GOOD Meat, is facing allegations about its financial health.
The same day Tetrick was named in the TIME100 Climate list last week – a roundup of the most influential business leaders and the only alternative meat founder to be included – the company was cited in a Wired article that alleged it is facing several financial and legal challenges.
In September, Bloomberg reported that Eat Just received $16M in capital injection from existing investor VegInvest/Ahimsa Foundation and suggested that the company was facing a cash crunch. According to Bloomberg’s reporting, neither side of Eat Just’s business – vegan eggs or cultivated meat – is profitable, and the company has been “unable to pay bills from some of its business partners”, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter.
Wired’s reporting alleges that Eat Just – which has raised over $850M in funding from investors including UBS O’Connor, Qatar Investment Authority and Charlesbank Capital Partners – is the subject of at least seven lawsuits since 2019, has failed to pay its bills to multiple parties while continuing to commit to large projects in the meantime and writes that former employees claim that the pressure to achieve industry firsts led to poor financial planning.
Tetrick painted a different picture via email, telling Green Queen: “Eat Just, Inc. includes both JUST Egg and GOOD Meat, with JUST Egg making up 99.9% of the company’s current revenue. JUST Egg experienced a 173 percentage-point improvement in EBITDA in the first half 2023 vs full year 2022, and an 80 percentage-point improvement in gross margin in the first half 2023 vs full year 2022. Our business plan is on track to achieve break even in 2024, with half of our current SKUs selling at a positive margin today.”
‘We feel pressure to scale our impact’
Courtesy: Eat Just
In May 2022, Eat Just said it had teamed up with bioreactor company ABEC to build 10 bioreactors with a 250,000-litre capacity each – much larger than any other cultivated meat company had. This August, ABEC filed a court complaint alleging that the project was set to cost Eat Just north of $1B, and the bioreactor company stood to make over $550M from the partnership.
ABEC claims Eat Just was failing to make timely payments by the end of 2022, claiming $61M in unpaid invoices by March 2023. The manufacturer is suing Eat Just for over $100M, which also includes payments for changes to the scope of the bioreactor work.
Wired’s reporting mentioned other lawsuits involving food processor Archer Daniels Midland, lab equipment manufacturer VWR International, and the company’s landlord. Carrie Kabat, Eat Just’s head of communications, told Wired that all these lawsuits have been settled.
Eat Just is involved in some active lawsuits as well. In September, Clark, Richardson and & Biskup Consulting Engineers said the company owes $4.2M for unpaid work for a cultivated meat project, while food processing firm Pearl Crop filed a lawsuit alleging over $450,000 in unpaid invoices. And in October 2022, food processor Dakota Speciality Milling lodged a legal complaint against the company. The company declined to comment on active litigation.
“It was a very poorly kept secret that all employees knew about, that we weren’t paying our bills,” one former employee told Wired. One freelance contractor, who was owed $32,000, was allegedly only paid after they posted about their non-payment situation on social media.
In response to the above, Tetrick told Green Queen: “We felt, and still do feel, pressure to scale our impact – for the people, animals, and planet we serve.” Asked about the allegations around non-paid vendors, he repeated the statement he made to Wired: “The vast majority of our vendors throughout the company’s history have been paid on time and in full. At the same time, we recognise that if even one vendor is not paid on time and in full, it’s not acceptable and it’s on us to make it right.”
‘Focused on the daily execution of our zero-burn plan’
Courtesy: Eat Just
Eat Just says it is no longer working on the ABEC bioreactor deal, or the large-scale cultivated meat facility they were going to be housed in. “At the heart of our large-scale programme was an assumption that we would continue to raise capital for that large-scale facility,” Tetrick told Wired. “That did not happen.”
Speaking about this, Tetrick told Green Queen: “In the past few years we have invested a lot of capital in the design and engineering for a large-scale cultivated meat facility, knowing we would have to raise additional capital to complete the rest of the facility. Because of market conditions, we found ourselves in a position where it became very challenging to raise that additional capital. At this point, we’re re-assessing how we think about a large-scale facility in a more realistic way – which will still be very challenging.
He told Wired that GOOD Meat will shift focus towards finding ways to build cultivated meat facilities that cost less than $200M. “The reality for us now is we need to figure out a way to build large-scale facilities without spending north of half a billion dollars, because it’s simply not viable long-term,” Tetrick said. “There has to be a better way of doing it. And if we can’t figure out a different way of doing it, then what we’re doing won’t work.”
Looking ahead, Tetrick says the company is focused on revenue generation and profitability. “We own 90%+ of one of the fastest-growing categories in alt-protein and sell to millions of consumers – this having only created the category a few years ago,” he tells Green Queen. “JUST Egg, today, is available in more locations than ever before, the product is [of] higher quality than ever before, and we are selling at better margins than ever before. On the GOOD Meat side, we are the first company in the world to receive and sell cultivated meat, and one of only two that have sold cultivated meat in the United States.”
He adds: “Overall, we are focused on the daily execution of our zero-burn plan (i.e., cover operating costs through margin dollars) and serving our customers. If we execute, the company and its missions win. It’ll be challenging and hard – and it’s up to us to get it done.”
‘I hope to be leading the company for a long time’
GOOD Meat at Cop27 | Courtesy: Eat Just
Some ex-employees question whether he’s the right person to lead the company moving forward, calling his leadership “impulsive and dogmatic” and giving his management a “failing grade”. One staffer alleged he had a “very non-collaborative working style” that can make some uncomfortable.
But others, according to Wired’s reporting which cited multiple sources, praised Tetrick’s ability to fundraise and effectively communicate his ideas. One former staffer added: “Josh never gives up, and I’m sure he’s doing everything he can to bring that round in” and with another concurring that Tetrick “really does believe in the mission”.
In a podcast episode recorded with Green Queen founding editor Sonalie Figueiras earlier this year, Tetrick acknowledged that scaling cultivated meat is hard, but he remains undeterred. “One might say it’s too hard to scale as well, and when I hear that criticism, my answer is it’s really hard to scale it up, but ‘really hard’ is different than ‘impossible’ to scale up,’” he said. “So, it requires a ton of investment, time, energy and technical knowledge to scale it up, but it is still very much within the realm of what is possible to do, it is just a big technical and epic capital challenge.”
Tetrick said his ultimate goal is advancing cultivated protein, adding he wants “to do everything I can, through the people that we hire, technology that I’m pushing, capital that I’m raising, interviews that I’m giving, to increase the probability that cultivated meat as the main source of meat in the food industry happens sooner”.
Asked what his vision of success is, he told Figueiras: “Even though it is really hard, even when there’s only trying, even though it can be really frustrating, even though it can make you nauseous sometimes, I feel that to be useful, to feel like you’re doing everything you can to try and increase the likelihood of something so good happening- that’s what I want, and I hope to be doing this leading the company for a long time. This is where I think I could be the most effective.”
With additional reporting and research by Anay Mridul
In our weekly column, we round up the latest news and developments in the alternative protein and sustainable food industry. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers a host of developments for plant-based giants, corporate moves and a vegan meal donation campaign.
New products and launches
It’s a big week for big plant-based brands. Let’s start with Beyond Meat, which has extended its partnership with Pizza Hut UK through the launch of its pepperoni in the country, which features in the Big New Yorker and Beyond Pepperoni Feast pizzas, as well as the Beyond Pepperoni Melt.
Courtesy: Beyond Meat
It’s not the only pizza partnership going for Beyond Meat. In the US, it collaborated with vegan frozen brand Blackbird Foods for a relaunched version of the latter’s pepperoni pizza. Blackbird argues that Beyond’s pepperoni is meatier than its original house pepperoni, and the pizza will be available nationwide in retailers including The Fresh Market, Central Market, Earthfare and select Whole Foods stores.
Fellow Californian plant-based meat giant Impossible Foods has announced that it is the Official Plant-Based Burger of Walt Disney World Resort. The company, which has a fantastic track record for foodservice partnerships, has been working with Disney for three years.
Staying in this area, Bay Area company Eat Just – another vegan leader – has updated the product packaging for its mung-based JUST Egg. It will begin rolling out at Target and other retailers this month, with nationwide (and Canadian) availability expected by March 2024.
Courtesy: Eat Just
Swedish oat milk leader Oatly has had a busy week too. It has expanded its foodservice footprint with Insomnia Cookies, which will house its 11oz plain and chocolate oat milks across its over 250 locations in the US.
Meanwhile, in Spain, Better Balance has introduced three veggie burgers with a Nutri-Score A rating. The Huerta (peas, carrots and peppers), Eggplant and Spinach Burgers are available in El Corte Inglés, Carrefour, and Alcampo supermarkets.
Fellow Spanish brand Cocuus, which debuted its 3D-printed vegan bacon in Carrefour earlier this month, is prepping for a UK launch with the plant-based bacon analogue. Plus, vegan foie gras and tuna are planned for the months to follow.
In other pig-based meat alternatives news, German meat manufacturer Rügenwalder Mühle is continuing its link-up with fashion photographer Paul Ripke with a cleverly named Paulled Pork snack, which resembles a char siu bao and is part of the brand’s Veganuary campaign.
Also in Germany, dairy giant Bauer is teaming up with Austrian upcycled food company Kern Tec to launch ZUM GLÜCK!, an alt-dairy brand that leverages the latter’s apricot kernel fat. The milks and yoghurts will be available in January.
Courtesy: Eat Just
Over in the UK, vegan yoghurt maker The Coconut Collaborative has joined the plant-based milk world too, with a barista coconut M*LK that it swears froths, doesn’t split, and keeps a neutral flavour. It will initially launch through Ocado, with a wider rollout from January.
Meanwhile, discount retailer Aldi is reportedly expanding its own-label meatless offerings with a spin-off of its Plant Menu range, called Veggie Menu. Its IP filings have revealed that it will include cheese spreads, vegetarian sausages and quiches.
Away from retail for a second, London-based cocoa-free chocolate maker WNWN Food Labs has launched wholesale packs of its dark and vegan milk chocolates for bakeries, restaurants/foodservice, confectionery groups, and CPG/FMCG companies globally – something the brand hinted at in an interview with Green Queen in August.
Fresh off its first national TV campaign with Grace Dent – where it pointedly hit home on the health aspect of its vegan chicken – British plant-based brand THIS has updated its chicken pieces with a cleaner label, with a 50% cut in the number of ingredients.
In more British chicken news, VFC has entered the frozen category with two new SKUs: a plant-based chicken breast and chicken mince, which it claims is first to market. They will initially launch in Morrisons stores, with a wider rollout anticipated in 2024.
Courtesy: VFC
Speaking of mince, Singapore’s Good Health Farm, which debuted the world’s first tempeh beef mince in August, will be launching into 13 Fairprice stores in the city-state, with a sampling campaign, promotional pricing and local celeb chef Forest Leong.
The tempeh market is fermenting in India too, with Hello Tempayy releasing its new line of shelf-stable, tikka-style marinated tempeh thins in Tandoori, Korean BBQ and Thai Chilli flavours. These are available nationwide via online delivery.
In Australia, plant protein manufacturer The Harvest B has gained a listing on Woolworths‘ online platform Healthylife, which will stock the former’s locally produced lamb, chicken, beef and pork analogues.
And in news that will delight plant-based meat fans, Israeli 3D-printed meat producer Redefine Meat is entering European retail after expanding into foodservice footprint to 5,000 locations over the last year and a half. Its retail rollout will begin with the UK, the Netherlands and Sweden.
Funding and markets
In Germany, sugar giant Nordzucker will invest €100M ($109.5M) in the production of plant-based proteins, with a new dedicated facility planned for a 2026 opening, which will create around 60 jobs.
Similarly, Israeli mycelium meat producer Mush Foods – which provides its ingredient for use in blended meat applications – has been awarded $250,000 in the Grow-NY Food and Agriculture Business Competition.
In the UK, meat alternatives could account for a third of the nation’s protein market by 2040, according to a report by UK think tank the Social Market Foundation.
Meanwhile, in Italy, seven agrifood startups have been chosen for the FoodSeed Accelerator, including cocoa-free chocolate maker Foreverland, ozonated oil startup Agreen Biosolutions, and water management service Soonapse.
Dutch vegan cheese maker Willicroft has launched a crowdfunding campaign on the back of unveiling its plant-based butter, which is made using precise (not precision) fermentation – there’s a difference!
M&A and corporate moves
Canada’s Protein Powered Farms has acquired Lovingly Made Ingredients, the plant protein extrusion facility built and previously owned by Meatless Farm. It will offer customised protein blends, pea and fava proteins for alt-dairy and snack applications, and pulses-based fibre products, and be open for co-manufacturing opportunities.
And in the UK, artisanal vegan cheese maker Palace Culture has been acquired by The Compleat Food Group (formerly Winterbotham Darby), which owns fellow plant-based brands Squeaky Bean and Vadasz.
Courtesy: Palace Culture
This week has also seen quite a few corporate personnel moves in the food world. Jean Madden, who has been the chief marketing officer of TiNDLE Foods for three years, is now the brand’s chief operating officer and has been formally named as a co-founder of the company (she was part of the original 4-person founding team).
Beyond Meatreally is going full-tilt on the health aspects of plant-based meat. It has hired an official nutrition advisor in Joy Bauer, a registered dietitian and host of NBC’s Health & Happiness show and the health and nutrition expert on The Today Show.
Meanwhile, changes are afloat at Boston food tech firm Motif FoodWorks, whose CEO Dr Mike Leonard has departed and been replaced by industry veteran Brian Brazeau as the company embarks on a fresh round of layoffs.
Manufacturing, policy and events
Told you it’s been a busy week for Oatly. Toronto-based food packaging company Ya YA Food Corp. has announced a $92M investment into the expansion of its Business Depot Ogden plant in Utah – this was previously taken over from Oatly as part of the oat milk maker’s ‘asset-light supply chain strategy’, and will keep manufacturing oat milk and expand production for Oatly.
In Lisbon, biotech company MicroHarvest has opened a pilot plant to accelerate the commercialisation of its biomass-fermented single-cell protein. The 200 sq m plant can churn out 25kg of product per day.
Swiss equipment manufacturer Bühler has opened a new food innovation hub in Uzwil, Switzerland, which will house four application centres for food, flavour, protein and energy recovery. These will enable the development of processes to produce plant-based meat, drinks and ingredients – among other foods.
In the UK, while the King’s Speech left out some key social issues, it did include an animal welfare bill that will see the export of livestock for fattening and slaughter permanently banned.
Speaking of social issues, vegan supplements brand Complement, which has donated one plant-based meal to children in need for each product sold, has announced a no-purchase-necessary campaign through Christmas, where all you need to do is sign up to its emails, and it will donate a meal to kids globally.
Meanwhile, a study by the University of California, Irvinesays monocropping foods like soy, corn and palm for cooking oils are highly detrimental to the climate, and lab-grown fats – take your pick – can save tons of land, water and emissions.
Courtesy: Sodexo
To promote more eco-friendly eating, Sodexohosted its global Sustainable Chef Challenge, where eight of its chefs faced off to create two low-carbon practical dishes that minimised food waste. The winners were its UK and Ireland chef Sharon McConnell and Brazilian chef Ricardo Machado.
British plant-based meat brand Moving Mountainspartnered with food emissions expert Klimato for a life-cycle assessment of its products, and revealed that its burger emits 92% less CO2e than beef.
As we approach the end of the year, awards season is upon us too. Vegan Women Summit has announced its inaugural VWS Awards to commemorate leaders and organisations accelerating women’s leadership with positive social, planetary and animal welfare impact. There are nine categories – including founder of the year and best place to work – and nominations are open until December 31.
And finally, Toronto held the 2023 International Vegan Film Festival and Vegan Cookbook Contest last week, with The Smell of Money among the winners in the former category, and PlantYou by Carleigh Bodrug winning in the latter.
Food industry giants like Wagamama, Beyond Meat and Alexis Gauthier have joined a new campaign calling for UK restaurants to make 50% of their menus plant-based by 2025. 50by25 is a joint effort from British vegan charity Viva! and Citizen Kind co-founder Emma Osborne.
To keep pace with the climate crisis as well as other countries, the UK needs to invest £390M ($493M) in alternative proteins between 2025 and 2030, according to industry think tank the Good Food Institute (GFI) Europe. But with its volatile government’s volatile climate stance, it’s hard to know how that will happen, despite the country being Europe’s second-largest plant-based market.
One thing that might help push the needle is a concerted effort from the country’s food industry to move towards more vegan options – and that’s exactly what 50by25, a new sustainable dining campaign, is aiming to do. By 2025, can the menus at Britain’s restaurants be 50% vegan?
It’s what companies like Beyond Meat, Wagamama, Wicked Kitchen, and food professionals such as Alexis Gauthier and Derek Sarno believe- all of them have joined the 50by25 pledge.
How 50by25 will work
Courtesy: Wagamama
Launched by Viva! with Emma Osborne joining the team, 50by25 aims to reduce the UK food sector’s environmental impact – which accounts for 35% of the country’s total emissions – and encourage Brits to eat more plant-based meals.
Osborne, a long-time strategic consultant and co-founder of ethical recruitment agency Citizen Kind as well as alt protein events company Kind Earth.Tech, will lead the B2B partnerships and strategy of the campaign, working with brands, hospitality groups, distributors and wholesalers.
Government data shows that British consumers are eating the lowest amount of meat and dairy since records began, but they’re also consuming fewer fruits and vegetables. The country’s plant-based market has seen a 3% sales drop from 2021-22, as per GFI analysis, with meat alternatives down by 8%.
But vegan diets have tremendous benefits for the environment – one study found that they can cut emissions, land use and water pollution by 75% compared to meat-rich diets. Another, which underlines 50by25’s aim, revealed that replacing half of our meat and dairy consumption with plant-based alternatives can halt deforestation, reduce agricultural and land use emissions by 31%, and double overall climate benefits.
The campaign will see Viva! ask leading restaurants to replace meat dishes with plant-based alternatives, and similarly work with smaller eateries to facilitate the transition as well.
50by25 was launched at Plant Based World Expo in London (November 15-16), and Osborne described the response as “phenomenal”. “Everyone we spoke to said they thought it was a great idea and just the boost the plant-based industry needed,” she told Green Queen. “We aim to have industry-wide support to amplify this campaign, and brands need only send us their logo to kickstart their involvement.”
Asked if this was an initiative similar to challenges like Green Monday or Veganuary, she said the key lay in the timeline of December 2025, by which restaurants will have adapted their menus to 50% plant-based: “During this two-year period, we will be supporting them by sharing all the information they need to make a successful transition in the form of multimedia content.”
She added that the campaign does envisage becoming as ubiquitous in the UK as Veganuary – which saw 700,000 people sign up to its vegan pledge for January 2023 – and boosting the sector “by offering a new climate-positive way to eat out”.
How will 50by25 be represented in foodservice? “We have a logo that will feature on menus and windows, so diners can actively support restaurants who have made the pledge,” explained Osborne. “We will have a map in February showing all the outlets in the UK, and ask green-savvy customers to vote with their feet and their forks and show the industry that this is what they want.”
A roster of food giants and acclaimed chefs
A Parmentier dip with vegan brioche | Courtesy; Gauthier Soho
Wagamama, a pioneer in the sustainable dining space, made half its menu vegan in 2021 and has endorsed this pledge. IKEA has also made a similar pledge for 2025, and Burger King for 2030. Seeing them make these promises “without prompting shows that this is what restaurants need to do to lower their carbon footprint”, says Osborne.
50by25 will be working with Wagamama executive chef Steve Mangleshot, who will produce videos to guide chefs in the preparation of plant-based dishes. Other partners include Michelin-starred chef Alexis Gauthier, who owns three vegan restaurants in London, Rishim Sachdeva from plant-forward eatery Tendril, and plant-based chef Derek Sarno, founder of Wicked Kitchen. These experts will share tips and tricks, and restaurants that sign up will be able to access an exclusive Chef Insider Secrets video series.
Wicked Kitchen and vegan giant Beyond Meat are the first two brands who have signed up for the campaign. “Brits can still enjoy their favourite meal while making a difference to the planet simply by shifting the protein at the centre of the plate to plant-based meat, no sacrifice required,” said Steve Parsons, the company’s UK & Ireland foodservice manager.
“By crafting plant-based dishes that put taste and satisfaction front and centre, chefs and restaurants can profoundly shift eating habits and attract a new wave of devoted customers. These plant-based menu items aren’t just alternatives; they’re top picks,” added Sarno. “This is where true innovation blossoms. It’s where sustainability pairs with ‘surprise and delight’, and what’s been missing are the culinary leaders who truly understand taste, choice and impact.”
Courtesy: Wicked Kitchen
50by25 says endorsing the campaign will help companies achieve their ESG goals, while also increasing their customer base. “We know the UK is often a barometer for plant-based food, and so hope to be able to spread the love after a successful first 12 months campaign,” said Osborne. “People visiting the stand joked that it would be great if we went to France and asked them to go 10% by 2025!”
“The challenge French cuisine presents is one I am savouring and the creativity it has unleashed in me, has kept our diners entertained, happy and surprised,” said Gauthier, who transformed his flagship restaurant into a fully vegan kitchen in 2021. “50by25 offers the opportunity for UK chefs to embrace all the goodness the plant kingdom has to offer and add a sustainability and kindness lens to their work.”
As for the sceptics, who pointed out that “people like meat” at the campaign’s launch, even they agreed a 50-50 scenario – much like blended meat products – is a realistic target. “This campaign offers the hospitality industry a unique way to stand out from their competitors, whilst lowering their carbon emissions and keeping profits up,” said Osborne. “It’s win-win-win.”
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Each year in the U.S., about 46 million turkeys are killed and sold for Thanksgiving. That’s why Joaquin Phoenix and PETA are sharing a recipe for kindness with people across the country.
Below, please find a statement from PETA President Ingrid Newkirk regarding the “pardoned” turkeys who are being shipped to the University of Minnesota College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences and who may endure fates similar to those of Peas, Carrots, Bread, and Butter, the turkeys relegated, each alone, to a concrete-floored dog pen at Virginia Tech:
If past years are anything to go by, these birds have been sentenced to a life of privation in barren dog run–like pens at a university agricultural program in a top turkey-killing state, unable to feel sunlight, with no ground to scratch in and nothing to do or see. To some, life in solitary confinement is a fate worse than death.
PETA urges everyone to eat vegan and to see this public-relations gimmick for what it is: a meat industry–backed White House whitewashing that leaves turkeys miserable long after the president, the press, and the public have forgotten the whole fiasco.
Instead of living out their lives at a sanctuary, as was requested, the birds “pardoned” by former President Donald Trump ended up sorely neglected and confined to barren, concrete-floored enclosures at Virginia Tech and Iowa State University, unable to perch, dust-bathe, or engage in any other species-specific behavior vital to their mental and physical well-being. Photographs and more information about the fate of previously pardoned birds are available here, and a list of vegan holiday recipes can be found here.
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Have a blessed Saturday 
@luthervandross my king 
Keep pushing against the flow 
Beef Hot Dog. Hot dogs are a classic American food, and the news signals the company’s intention to appeal to meat-eaters as new customers over vegans or vegetarians who already buy its products. The product will be sampled in New York City during a one-day pop-up event on December 16.
