Former Chobani president Peter McGuinness – who has spent the last several years running a dairy company, albeit one that has recently launched several plant-based products - is set to take the helm at Impossible Foods, a firm on a mission to “replace...
While scientists are still unlocking the secrets of the gut microbiome, consumers increasingly understand that what we feed the armies of microbes that line our digestive tracts may be intimately connected to our physical – and mental - wellbeing. So...
Nearly a third of the world's crop fields will be unsuitable for food production by the end of this century unless carbon emissions are curbed, warns the latest instalment of the IPCC climate change report.
The draw of industrial biotechnology is compelling: beef without the cow, eggs without the chicken, almost every animal-based product that society has relied on for centuries having a non-animal replacement in the works. Maybe it’s just me, but with...
What up-and-coming plant proteins are the most exciting? Chickpeas? Hemp? Canola? Barley? Pongamia? What do we really know about the best overall dietary pattern to support a healthy gut microbiome? And how do we educate consumers about the benefits...
Originally designed to help babies grow, but not much else, traditional infant formula often falls far short of delivering the same benefits as breast milk, which also boosts immunity, contributes to cognitive development, is more easily digested, and...
As concerns about how to feed a growing global population expected to reach 8.5 billion by 2030 and consumer demand for health-forward food solutions build, ADM predicts that alternative proteins will soon transition from a niche alternative to center...
Microbes from yeast to fungi are now routinely used to produce some ingredients more efficiently than plants or animals. But next-gen ‘cell-free’ processes that deploy some of the biomolecular machinery inside the cell wall, could slash R&D lead times...
Fear and frustration related to the ongoing pandemic will continue to shape flavor preferences in 2022 with consumers gravitating to taste profiles that signal health benefits, hint at escape to far away lands, offer comfort or promise something new,...
With an infusion of $11.4 million in pre-series A funding announced today, Australian startup Provectus Algae is ready to rapidly scale the commercial production capacity of its sustainable and “complementary” biomanufacturing platform that leverages...
Two Good Greek yogurt has become a $200m+ brand, and the #2 contributor to dollar growth in the total yogurt category, in its third year on the market, claims Danone North America.
With the Jan. 1, 2022 deadline for compliance with the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (NBFDS) fast approaching, many companies are still struggling with compliance, even at this incredibly late stage, say industry sources.
While some recent foodtech innovations could be described as solutions in search of a problem, ‘animal-free’ dairy products featuring real whey and casein made without cows, give consumers – most of whom are unwilling to compromise at all, especially...
When Hain Celestial acquired Boulder-based organic and gluten-free baking co Rudi’s in 2014, its 2013 revenues were reported as $60m. Six years later, after Hain sold the business to private equity backed* Irish baker Promise Gluten Free in May 2020,...
Eclipse Foods – a plant-based brand on a mission to replicate the taste and functionality of conventional dairy rather than building a brand around ‘hero’ ingredients such as oat, almond or coconut – says early data from Whole Foods suggests its strategy...
While scientists are still unlocking the secrets of the microbiome, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the billions of bugs in our bodies are intimately connected to our health and wellbeing. But how far have we come since Jamie Lee Curtis first introduced...
When it comes to proteins, says Christian Koolloos, chief business development officer at Dutch startup The Protein Brewery, boring is good. In fact, the blander the better: “Fermotein [his firm’s fermented fungi protein] is extremely boring in its profile...
Global food ingredients giant ADM announced today it will acquire Deerland Probiotics & Enzymes, significantly expanding its capacity in microbiome-targeted ingredients.
Shiru - an Emeryville, CA-based startup producing proteins via microbial fermentation to create label-friendly alternatives to everything from methylcellulose to gelatin and casein - has closed a $17m Series A round* led by S2G Ventures that will help...
San Francisco-based Change Foods – one of a small group of startups making 'animal-free' dairy ingredients using microbes instead of cows - plans to launch its first consumer products (cheese) in 2023. FoodNavigator-USA got into the weeds with...
If plant-based dairy is going to go truly mainstream, brands need to reach consumers that right now, are not engaging in the category at all, says Santiago-based NotCo, which says most people don’t want to buy three different plant-based milks for different...
Hormel Foods is dipping its toes further into the meat alternatives space via its venturing arm 199 Ventures, which is teaming up with The Better Meat Co. to bring new products to market featuring the latter’s Rhiza mycoprotein ingredient, a filamentous...
Kingdom Supercultures – a Brooklyn-based startup specializing in building novel combinations of microbial cultures it claims can improve the flavor, texture and functional properties of everything from plant-based dairy products to kombucha - has raised...
MeliBio, a startup developing honey without bees, has unveiled its first products at a tasting in Berkeley, California, as it gears up for a soft launch supplying food service and CPG companies with its animal-free/vegan honey as a branded ingredient...
TurtleTree, a biotech company using cell-based technologies to create dairy ingredients, has opened a new US-based research facility in Sacramento, California, accelerating its commercialization plans to bring its cell-based milk and dairy ingredients...
From 'whole cuts' of seafood from fungi, to plant-based lamb, to highly functional proteins from brewers' spent grains, here's a quick snapshot of some of the alternative protein startups participating in a virtual pitch slam at last...
More US shoppers report feeling unhappy with how grocery stores are handling the COVID-19 crisis now, including a prominent concern around the cost and price of their groceries, than earlier this year, according to dunnhumby in its latest Consumer Pulse...
Addressing the lack of public investment in the alternative proteins space, the Good Food Institute (GFI) is awarding nearly $5m to 22 research projects that the organization says will get closer to unlocking “the holy grail” of alternative proteins:...
Sophie’s Kitchen has secured a $5.6m investment led by venture capital firm Billy Goat Brands to help it expand its plant-based seafood empire, which now extends into multiple categories including ‘toona,’ crab cakes, fish filets, smoked salmon, and shrimp....
Interested in meat, dairy, and seafood alternatives? Is all the hype - and the wads of cash - truly justified? Are some formulations (think plant-based cheese and yogurt) really ready for prime time? Are the purchase drivers for plant-based seafood the...
Givaudan, Bühler and Migros have formed a new company, The Cultured Food Innovation Hub, with the aim of accelerating the development and market penetration of cellular agriculture.
Food tech company ENOUGH broke ground on what it says will be the ‘world’s largest’ fermented protein facility today (16 September). When fully operational the site will have the capacity to produce 50,000 tonnes of mycoprotein ingredient ABUNDA per annum.
Impossible Foods will start rolling out plant-based Impossible Chicken nuggets to the frozen aisle at grocery chains including Walmart, Safeway and Kroger later this month, with a view to reaching 10,000 stores by the year end, while restaurants nationwide...
Thanks to blockchain and other advances in traceability, it’s tempting to think that in the event of a problem (foodborne illness, adulteration, contamination, child labor question marks), we can trace everything in the food supply chain back to its source...
Impossible Sausage made from plants – a soy-based ground sausage product in savory and spicy variants – will make its retail debut this month and should be in 13,000 stores by the year end, says Impossible Foods, which says retailers have been encouraged...
Danone is hoping to make a splash in the small but rapidly growing plant-based yogurt segment with a Greek-style product under its Silk brand boasting 10g of protein from peas and a thick, creamy texture from coconut cream it claims will be a game changer...
Plant-based dairy brand Miyoko’s Creamery has raised $52m in a series C round led by PowerPlant Partners ($40m) that will help fund marketing and innovation at the firm, which generated a 70% increase in revenues in 2020, and is gearing up to launch an...
Unique bile acids produced by a distinct set of gut microbes may contribute to longevity by inhibiting the growth of gut pathogens, says a new study with 160 people over 100 years old in Japan.
From San Diego-based Debut Biotech, which is developing a range of high-value ingredients via a novel ‘cell-free’ biomanufacturing platform, to Virginia-based Bonumose, which has patented technology it claims could enable the “mass market adoption” of...
If you look at the ingredients lists of most plant-based burgers, they’re not wildly different – a combination of extruded plant proteins, hard and liquid fats, natural flavors, yeast, methylcellulose, starch, seasonings and perhaps added vitamins and...
Santiago-based food tech company NotCo has raised $235m in a Series D round led by Tiger Global and supported by DFJ Growth Fund, ZOMA Lab, athletes Lewis Hamilton and Roger Federer, and musician and DJ Questlove, taking its cumulative funding to $350m...
Plant-based brand Crafty Counter, best-known for its frozen lentil- and bean-based bites – has developed what it claims is an industry first: ready-to-eat plant-based boiled eggs, which it hopes to launch late this year or early next year.
The plant-based chicken category is heating up with Impossible Foods unveiling plans to enter the market in the fall with soy-based nuggets, going head to head with rival Beyond Meat, which has just launched pea-, and faba bean-based tenders.
Wellmune – a branded beta glucan ingredient claimed to ‘prime’ the innate immune system, the body’s first line of defense against invasion by pathogens – is attracting growing interest from food and beverage brands as well as supplement products as immunity...
Algae is potentially a hugely exciting food source. But with a couple of notable exceptions, it has yet to set the food industry on fire, says Provectus Algae, a startup developing an automated growing platform it claims can unlock algae’s potential as...
With a recent $8m cash infusion raised in a seed investment round led by several Israeli investors, Better Juice is scaling up the production capacity of its sugar reduction technology and focusing on deploying the technology in the US market, says Eran...
