Back in 2013/14, no food innovation conference was complete without at least one session promoting edible insects as the next big thing in ‘alternative protein.’ Since then, the field has become littered with the corpses of bug-fueled startups that ran...
BIOMILQ – a North Carolina-based startup culturing human mammary cells that lactate – has closed an oversubscribed $21m series A round to support its ambitions to bring cell-cultured human milk to market.
Berkeley-based startup Mission Barns – which has developed a platform to cultivate fat from animal cells, outside of the animal - has teamed up with gourmet sausage maker Silva Sausage Co to produce hybrid sausages combining cell-cultured fat and plant...
A consumer study funded by Israeli startup Future Meat Technologies suggests US consumers are surprisingly open to cell-cultured or ‘cultivated’ meat (from animal cells grown outside an animal), although the firm acknowledges the true test will come when...
Online food marketplace BUBBLE – a fast-growing platform enabling new and emerging natural food brands without the bandwidth to set up DTC operations seek new routes to market – has launched a self-service platform enabling vendors to get approved and...
Indoor farming pioneer AeroFarms and Spring Valley Acquisition Corp., a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), have mutually agreed to terminate a previously announced agreement to take the company public.
AgTech startup Pivot Bio, which is retooling bacteria in soil to more effectively convert nitrogen from the air into food – eliminating the need for synthetic nitrogen fertilizer – is taking its sustainability message directly to consumers with the launch...
As Vejii prepares to go public on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) in the coming weeks, co-founder and CEO Kory Zelickson shares how the company is leveraging its data and consumer insights to create the best plant-based shopping experience for...
Can we reverse engineer every dairy product and rebuild it with plants, molecule by molecule, or are there some applications such as yogurts or cheese where plants just don’t deliver the taste, functionality, or nutrition consumers are looking for?
PURIS - a key supplier of pea protein to Beyond Meat – has opened a new facility in Dawson, Minnesota that more than doubles its production capacity, and cements its position as the leading supplier of pea protein in North America.
Oishii, a vertical farm growing Japanese Omakase berries sought after by Michelin star chefs for their unrivaled sweetness, has opened its second indoor growing facility in Los Angeles.
Singapore-based startup Next Gen Foods is gearing up to enter the burgeoning plant-based chicken category in the US next year following a successful debut in restaurants in Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau, Kuala Lumpur, and the UAE.
Cauliflower-fueled startup Outer Aisle Gourmet has accused bakery giant Bimbo Bakeries USA of a “behind-the-scenes ambush,” which it claims prompted Amazon to delist its fast-growing cauliflower sandwich thins just as Bimbo was preparing to launch its...
Israeli firm InnovoPro – which recently launched a US subsidiary in Chicago – has unveiled a textured vegetable protein (TVP) combining chickpea and pea protein that it claims will enable food manufacturers to expand the ingredient toolbox for plant-based...
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...
Square Baby, a direct-to-consumer baby food company offering veggie-forward meal solutions, is making the leap from a regional brand serving the West Coast to a full-blown national operation, a milestone that couldn't have been achieved without a...
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...
‘Animal-free’ protein startup Clara Foods has rebranded as The EVERY Company and unveiled EVERY ClearEgg, a highly soluble, "nearly invisible" functional egg protein, its second product produced via precision fermentation using genetically engineered...
Boston-based startup Slate Milk – maker of ultra-filtered, high-protein, lactose-free chocolate milk in shelf-stable cans - has raised an additional $3.3m in a seed round backed by the founders of RXBAR, Halo Top, Drizly, Yasso, and consumer-focused investment...
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...
Most Americans' idea of Mexican cuisine is limited to cheese quesadillas, greasy nachos, and overstuffed burritos, argue the founders of a new brand called SOMOS ('we are' in Spanish), which is challenging this common consumer perception...
The Urgent Company – best known for Brave Robot ‘animal-free’ ice cream– is moving into new territory with the launch of Modern Kitchen lactose-free cream cheese, its second brand featuring Perfect Day’s animal-free dairy proteins (made with microbes,...
Upton's Naturals has been quietly pioneering the plant-based foods category, first with its seitan products, which were among the first to hit retail fifteen years ago, followed by jackfruit and banana blossom plant-based meat alternatives now sold...
In-store demos are one of the most effective ways to drive new product trial, but they are also one of the most expensive strategies – especially now that some retailers prohibit open sampling due to the pandemic.
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...
Berkeley-based startup Perfect Day – which makes dairy proteins using microbes instead of cows – has made its first move into the foodservice arena via a partnership with Villa Dolce to incorporate ‘animal-free’ whey into two new categories: gelato and...
Marking its first acquisition for its new fund, Charlotte, North Carolina-based private equity firm Falfurrias Capital Partners has acquired raw and unfiltered honey brand, Local Hive Honey. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
New Age Meats has raised $25m in series A round* led by Hanwha Solutions of South Korea that will allow it to begin manufacturing sausage products combining cell-cultured and plant-based meat at a 20,000-square-foot pilot facility in Alameda, California,...
Not many companies would be satisfied with or even strive to produce a food or beverage that tastes ‘normal,’ but the founder of the better-for-you frozen dessert company Killer Creamery couldn’t be happier that the taste of brand’s new ice cream sandwich...
Pea protein-fueled brand Ripple Foods has raised $60m in an oversubscribed Series E round* that takes its cumulative funding to almost $250m, and will help the plant-based firm enter new categories, channels, and overseas markets, and extend its proprietary...
Fueled by its ultra-scalable, modular farm system, indoor farming startup Square Roots has recently acclerated its retail presence where the company aims to disrupt the packaged salad mix category with its unique blend of baby and micro greens.
Iron Ox – one of a flurry of high-tech indoor farming startups attracting significant interest from agtech investors in recent years – has closed a $53m series C round led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures (taking its cumulative funding to $98m) to help...
Supply chain challenges exacerbated by the pandemic have bolstered consumer interest in buying local to better support farmers, ensure product quality and reduce environmental impact, but many do not want to sacrifice the savings or year-around variety...
Plant based meat brand Tofurky has teamed up with San Diego-based Triton Algae Innovations to commercialize new ‘algae-based meat innovations’ featuring Triton’s protein-rich Non-GMO ‘essential red' algae for retail launch in Q1, 2022.
Startup Aqua Cultured Foods is carving out novel territory in the nascent alternative seafood space with a Non-GMO fermentation-based production platform capable of delivering high-protein, nutrient-rich ‘whole cuts’ of fungi-based seafood, with the first...
Berkeley-based startup Perfect Day has underscored its sustainability credentials with the release of an expanded lifecycle assessment suggesting its ‘non-animal’ whey protein - produced by microbes, not cows – has a dramatically lower environmental footprint...
Motif FoodWorks has submitted a GRAS notification for myoglobin, a heme-binding protein found in the muscle tissue of cows that Motif is expressing in a genetically engineered yeast strain. The protein – which the Boston-based firm reckons could be a...
For the co-founders of the better-for-you Asian American food startup immi, the most exciting part of closing their seed fundraise wasn’t the $3.8m that will help them relaunch an improved version of their low-carb, high-protein, plant-based instant ramen...
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...
A new platform for whole-cut texturization to produce plant-based meat alternatives and cell-based hybrids has been developed by Israeli firm Alfred’s FoodTech, Ltd.
Are investors throwing silly money at so-called 'alternative' proteins right now, or is it just more efficient and sustainable to grow protein in bioreactors vs crops or animals?
Outer Aisle Gourmet – which makes sandwich thins, pizza crusts, and wraps using fresh cauliflower as the #1 ingredient – is gearing up to open its third manufacturing facility to meet growing demand for its grain-free, low-carb products.
When it comes to packaging, is it always clear which is the most environmentally-friendly choice? Mixed material packaging combining high levels of paperboard, for example, is often touted as a greener choice than plastic, but if most of it ends up in...
Local Bounti is playing to win in the CEA (controlled environment agriculture) sector with a hybrid approach to growing its leafy greens that combines the best of vertical and horizontal greenhouse farming, which founder and CEO Craig Hurlbert says offers...
Provectus Algae – an Australian startup developing an automated growing platform it claims can unlock algae’s potential as a source of high-value ingredients – is building a large-scale manufacturing facility in Noosaville, Australia, that will start...
Plantible Foods - a startup producing protein from lemna, a fast-growing aquatic plant that can be harvested all year round, has raised $21.5m in a series A round* led by Astanor Ventures, as it gears up for a commercial launch in 2022.
Ari Raz - who helped introduce Americans to fresh baby food via the Once Upon a Farm brand – has taken the helm at The Coconut Cult, another California-based startup attempting to carve out a new category in grocery.
Climate change, labor shortages, inflation and strained supply chains threaten manufacturers’ and suppliers’ ability to ethically source, safely produce and efficiently deliver the foods consumers want at prices they can afford -- but what if there was...
After an initial launch in Canada, plant-based foods company Nabati Foods is rolling out its plant-based liquid egg product (Nabati Plant Eggz) in the US where it will be sold online through the company's direct-to-consumer website.
