While almond milk and oat milk dominate the plant-based milk category in the US, Hope & Sesame sesame milk – which has a creamy texture and comparable protein levels to dairy milk (with the addition of some pea protein) – is gaining traction, generating...
'Cocoa used to be in a fruit on a tree. Through technology we make it in a cell mass in a bottle...'
While the plant-based meat category has experienced a recent slowdown in growth, demand for plant-based versions of traditional comfort foods is increasing, says cauliflower crust pizza pioneer CAULIPOWER, which has thus far weathered the inflationary...
New data from IRI and SPINS shows continued steep declines in sales of refrigerated meat alternatives but pockets of growth in frozen products and some plant-based milk, cheese, and yogurt subcategories, which do not all behave in the same way (spoiler...
Does cultivated meat have a lower environmental impact than conventional meat? Given that no one is yet operating a commercial scale facility, definitive data is not yet available. However, a life cycle assessment (LCA) conducted by Ohio State University...
After eight years of research and development, Joywell Foods has rebranded as Oobli, and unveiled the first food products – chocolate bars boasting 70% less sugar – to feature the sweet protein brazzein.
In part three of our gallery of highlights from FoodNavigator-USA's recent trip to Israel, we profile startups exploring everything from high-tech indoor vanilla cultivation to the manufacture of no-sugar-added snack bars using compression and ultrasonic...
Santiago-based NotCo – a food tech company deploying a proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) platform called ‘Giuseppe’ to bring a new level of sophistication to the formulation of meat and dairy alternatives – has raised $70m in a series D1 round*...
In part two of our gallery of highlights from FoodNavigator-USA's recent trip to Israel, we profile startups exploring everything from upcycled yeast proteins and carob to antimicrobial proteins. Best viewed on a laptop!
Israeli startup BELIEVER Meats (formerly Future Meat Technologies) has broken ground on a 200,000-square-foot facility in Wilson, North Carolina, that it claims will be the largest cultivated meat production facility in the world with the capacity to...
Berkeley-based Orbillion Bio – which is carving a distinct path in the nascent cultivated meat industry by concentrating on premium ‘heritage’ breeds from Wagyu to elk – has teamed up with bioprocessing specialist Solar Biotech to scale up production...
The German ingredients supplier is investing in UK-based Clean Food Group (CFG) – a start-up developing a bio-equivalent cultivated alternative to palm oil – via its investment arm, Doehler Ventures.
It's got a population of under nine million, but in the food innovation stakes, Israel punches way above its weight. FoodNavigator-USA headed to Tel Aviv for the Food Tech IL annual innovation event organized by The Strauss Group’s The Kitchen FoodTech...
While plant-based meat sales have slowed significantly over the past year with many commentators blaming the inflationary environment, Daring - a premium brand deploying pricy high-moisture extrusion to make its plant-based chicken pieces – is going from...
Israeli food tech startup Amai Proteins is finalizing the initial closing of a $100m funding round as it gears up to launch its first product next year: a designer sweet protein up to 3,000 times sweeter than sugar with a clean taste and excellent heat...
US-based MeliBio is partnering with organic food producer Narayan Foods to bring its plant-based bee-free honey product to Europe under the Better Foodie brand.
What’s the most efficient way to make meat, outside of an animal, at scale? Startups in the nascent cultivated meat space are deploying multiple approaches from hybrid strategies combining cell biomass and plant-based protein, to tissue engineering and...
Precision fermentation specialist Perfect Day has completed its acquisition of Indian firm Sterling Biotech Limited (SBL) – which will double its production capability in the near-term - and secured the green light from the Food Safety and Standards Authority...
In the US, a cultivated meat product has successfully completed the FDA’s pre-market safety review, moving it one step closer to commercialisation. What implications does this regulatory greenlight have for Europe’s cell-based meat sector?
Biomanufacturing everything from ‘animal-free’ dairy and egg proteins and high-intensity natural sweeteners to heat-and pH-stable red pigments is a hot topic in food tech. But which microbes will be the production workhorses in future, will new cell-free...
Utilized in everything from lipsticks and moisturizers to baked goods and confectionery, palm oil comes with environmental and societal costs – displacing tropical forests across Asia, Latin America and West Africa, and destroying the habitats of endangered...
Torr FoodTech - an Israeli startup deploying an intriguing new approach to creating snack bars by deploying pressure and ultrasonic energy instead of sugary binders to ‘weld’ natural ingredients together - has raised $12m in a series A round as it expands...
If you’re making cultivated meat in a bioreactor instead of a living, breathing animal, and you want to introduce it to consumers for the first time, what’s the best launch vehicle? A chicken nugget or fillet, a thin beef steak, a high-value item such...
Cultivated meat – made from animal cells grown in bioreactors instead of living breathing animals – has edged one step closer to commercialization in the US after the FDA sent Berkeley-based UPSIDE Foods a ‘no questions’ letter affirming the safety of...
Instead of coffee beans, Minus Coffee is taking ingredients such as chicory root, dates, and lentils, which undergo a fermentation process that its founder claims precisely replicates the taste and aroma of cold brew coffee, but in a much more sustainable...
“It's very frustrating to hear people talk all the time about transportation and power [in conversations about climate change] when right in front of you three times a day, there is a solution that's more impactful,” observed Beyond Meat founder...
Chicago-based kids lemonade brand Poppilu has been acquired by American Beverage Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Harvest Hill Beverage Company (makers of Juicy Juice and SUNNYD), to build upon the brand's success of establishing the kids...
Buoyed by a $120m series B funding round, Israeli startup Remilk is building what it claims is the world’s largest precision fermentation facility in Denmark. FoodNavigator-USA visited the firm’s HQ in Rehovot last week to taste some animal-free dairy...
Growing meat from cells in bioreactors instead of living breathing animals should logically be more efficient, as resources are spent on growing only the cells that make up the meat product rather than keeping an animal alive. But it’s never been done...
Having outgrown its three facilities in Colorado, Bobo's is moving into its two-years-in-the-making 'super bakery' which will give it enough capacity to triple its output of bars and put it on track to eclipse $100m in revenue next year.
Two US-based precision fermentation startups making real dairy ingredients using microbes instead of cows have announced significant developments as they gear up to launch next year in the emerging ‘animal-free dairy’ category.
'Molecular farming’ startup IngredientWerks has developed corn varieties that express everything from casein proteins to meaty-tasting heme proteins, in an approach it claims is more efficient than precision fermentation for producing ingredients...
San Diego-based cell-cultured seafood company BlueNalu has set up a scientific advisory board bringing together experts in consumer research, sensory science, product development, bio-engineering, and systems biology to accelerate its commercialization...
Will a large percentage of flavors, colors and sweeteners be made in bioreactors by 2050 or are the costs and challenges associated with precision fermentation technology such that it only makes sense to produce a handful of high-value ingredients in...
Solein, Solar Foods’ protein grown with CO2 and electricity, has received regulatory approval from the Singapore Food Agency (SFA). Commercial launch is planned for 2024, CEO and co-founder Pasi Vainikka tells FoodNavigator.
The 45 startups selected to participate in the FoodBytes! By Rabobank food and ag innovation program in 2022 provide a neat snapshot into trending topics in food and agriculture, from personalized nutrition and upcycling to robotics and farm biologics.
Terviva – a California-based firm commercializing ingredients from low-input, high-yielding pongamia trees – has teamed up with food ingredient supplier Ciranda to launch the first commercial supplies of ‘Ponova’ oil by mid-2023.
Three years after its “no deal” television appearance on Shark Tank, Slate Milk has raised over $5m in seed money and continues to expand its shelf-stable ultra-filtered, high-protein, lactose-free chocolate milk footprint.
Indoor farming company Local Bounti has secured a $23.3m private investment in public equity (PIPE) investment to scale up its proprietary Stack & Flow Technology, which the company argues leads to improved superior unit economics.
SPINS data shared with FoodNavigator-USA ahead of our Futureproofing the Food System virtual summit (Nov 15-17) shows a mixed picture for US retail sales of plant-based cheese, with overall dollar sales down -2.3% to $218.94m and unit sales down -3.6%...
Researchers are calling on clinicians and the healthcare system to screen for food insecurity and better promote food access programs after discovering that Americans with limited or uncertain access to adequate food is on the rise and they are more likely...
The long-term imperative behind reducing our reliance on animal agriculture seems fairly compelling: The planet can’t sustain it. But with less engaged consumers dipping in and then out of the meat alternatives category as budgets tighten, and a subsegment...
The 100+ Accelerator wants to help sustainably-focused start-ups make a real difference in the supply chain. Representatives from AB InBev and Coca-Cola explain how in this Rabobank Liquid Assets Podcast.
Nourish Ingredients – one of a new breed of startups deploying synthetic biology to program microbes to produce more animal-like fats - has raised $28.6m in a series A round led by Horizons Ventures and supported by Main Sequence Ventures and Hostplus...
PURIS - which recently opened a facility in Dawson, Minnesota that more than doubled its production capacity, cementing its position as the leading supplier of pea protein in North America - has moved into new territory with its first consumer brand dedicated...
