In our weekly column, we bring you the latest updates from the alternative protein and sustainable food industry. This week’s edition of Future Food Quick Bites features 7Up’s new vegan sauces, a series of plant-based milk facilities, and significant layoffs at Ginkgo Bioworks.
New Products and Launches
Soft-drink brand 7Up has launched a new trio of vegan BBQ sauces in the UK. The lineup includes a Zesty Mayo, a Zesty Hot Sauce, and a Tangy Salad Dressing. This limited-edition range is available only at select pop-up locations across the country.
Kallø, a UK natural foods company, has expanded its product line with three new organic tomato-based dips. The new dips, available in lentil, olive, and spicy variants, are priced at £3 per 135g jar on Ocado.
In Indonesia, plant-based meat leader Green Rebel has introduced Korean BBQ slices in its home market and Malaysia. This frozen product, which contains zero trans fat, is made from soy and wheat protein.
Indian vegan startup Plantaway has launched a chicken fillet made from pea protein. Each pack of two fillets contains 19g of protein and is available on its e-store, as well as on Swiggy and Zomato in select cities for ₹399 ($4.78).
In the US, Crafty Counter has released its vegan Deviled WunderEggs at Whole Foods locations nationwide. Each pack comes with a ready-to-mix filling sachet made with Fabalish Foods‘ aquafaba mayo.
Chefs Kyle Connaughton and Daniel Humm, from the three-Michelin-starred restaurants SingleThread and Eleven Madison Park respectively, will host a 10-course, fully plant-based dinner in Healdsburg, California. Reservations for this event start at $486 per person.
Oatly has signed a multi-year sponsorship deal with the US cycling team EF Pro Cycling, becoming the Official Performance Partner for both the women’s and men’s teams. The women’s team will now be known as EF-Oatly-Cannondale, and the team’s training camps, including those for the Tour de France, will be called Oatly Performance Camps.
In Canada, vegan cheese giant Violife has released what it claims is the country’s first dairy-free cream cheese block. The Creamy Block is available at retailers nationwide, including Save-On-Foods and Longo’s, with plans to roll out at select Loblaws banner stores.
Chilean food tech startup NotCo has launched a line of vegan protein shakes in Brazil, featuring flavors such as banana pancakes with cinnamon, strawberry with dates, chocolate, coffee caramel, and vanilla with coconut.
Slovenian plant-based meat maker Juicy Marbles has secured a foodservice listing with MTNV in Germany for a revamped version of its controversial ribs, which feature edible bones.
Finance and Company Updates
Two years after announcing its move, Lactalis, the world’s largest dairy company, has reopened a former dairy manufacturing plant in Sudbury, Canada, as a plant-based milk factory for its new brand Enjoy.
SunOpta, the company behind plant-based milk brands Dream, Sown, and West Life, has invested $26 million in a new oat milk facility in Modesto, California. This is the second-largest expansion in the company’s history and will increase oat milk base production for milk, yogurts, and ice creams by 60%.
New Zealand oat milk maker Otis has opened a purpose-built facility in East Auckland, enabling the company to move production locally after five years of operations in Sweden.
Danish food company Palsgaard has received a 37 million kroner ($5.3 million) grant, including state funding, to develop vegan alternatives to fresh and dried egg ingredients through its Plant-based Ingredients for Egg Replacers (PIER) project, in collaboration with Aarhus University and R&D firm Nexus.
UC Berkeley’s Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology (SCET) has received an $800,000 two-year grant from Open Philanthropy to support programs under its Alternative Meats Lab, where student researchers will explore sustainable food solutions.
NASDAQ-listed synthetic biology firm Ginkgo Bioworks, parent company of Motif Foodworks, has announced a round of layoffs, expecting to cut 35% of its workforce by June 2025. This move is anticipated to cost the company $12 million, and it plans to consolidate its facilities further.
Canada’s Above Food is now trading on the NASDAQ following a merger with Bite Acquisition Corp. This comes just days after it acquired the Spanish plant-based meat brand Brotalia, trading as Foody’s.
Italy’s Sant’Anna School and its Institute of Plant Sciences will contribute to a two-year project funded by the Ministry of University and Research-European Union, aiming to boost the production of plant proteins such as beans, peas, chickpeas, and lentils.
In Singapore, Cellivate Technologies, a startup specializing in cell-based solutions for cultivated meat, leather, and cosmetics, secured the largest investment on Channel News Asia’s reality show The Big Spark, with S$4.15 million ($3.05 million) in potential funding from five venture capital firms.
Policy and Research Developments
An Oklahoma judge has ruled that the Plant Based Foods Association does not have standing to challenge a vegan meat labeling law. The judge stated that the association failed to show that its members, including Tofurky, faced a credible prosecution threat since the Meat Consumer Protection Act only applies to those who sell meat.
In the Netherlands, plant-based milk sales dropped by 7% following a change in consumption taxes this April. The new law increased VAT on milk alternatives, making them 12 cents more expensive, while conventional milk became four cents cheaper.
Also in the Netherlands, supermarkets SPAR and Picnic have joined animal rights organization Wakker Dier’s pledge to ensure that half of all proteins sold will be plant-based by 2025, with the goal of increasing to 60% by the end of the decade.
A YouGov survey conducted on behalf of the Good Food Institute Europe revealed that 68% of Italians believe plant-based companies should be allowed to use meat-related terms on product packaging. This follows Italy’s reconsideration of its labeling ban, which was imposed alongside a cultivated meat ban in November.
Amidst the discussions around plant-based meat, ultra-processed foods (UPFs), and heart health, a new review has found that vegan meat analogues consistently lower cardiovascular disease risks compared to animal-based meat.
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