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🤝🏻 NEWS BITE FROM OUR SPONSOR
Brinc just released its 2022 Year in Review: "With over 300 companies accelerated, 53 investments made, and thousands of applications received, Brinc solidified its position as a leader in the startup ecosystem. The average successful follow-on funding raised by Brinc portfolio companies, meanwhile, reached an all-time high of US$3.48 million, demonstrating a maturing portfolio that is scaling." ➡️ Learn more.
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Image by Revo Foods
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✅ A partnership between Austria’s Revo Foods and Sweden’s Mycorena, with the goal of creating mycoprotein to replace seafood using 3D-printing technology, has yielded a €1.5 million grant from the Swedish innovation agency, Vinnova, the Austrian Research Promotion Agency, and the EU funding program, Eurostars.
TAKEAWAY: The companies turned to mycoprotein due in large part to its texture. 3D fibre printing is notoriously difficult, the companies say, though Mycorena’s proprietary process simplifies the risk.
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✅ A new research project from Respect Farms, underway with €900,000 in support funding from European governments, NGOs, and industry partners, aims to bring cultivated meat production to conventional agricultural operations.
TAKEAWAY: The group’s goal is to develop the world’s first cultivated meat farm. A mass shift to cultivated animal protein could help to decentralize cultivated meat production, allowing any farmer or rancher to produce it similar to other crops and animal products.
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✅ Mycelium mushroom meat producer Meati is opening a large-scale production facility it is calling a “mega ranch”, that it says can rival the output of conventional animal farms.
TAKEAWAY: Using just a teaspoon of mycelium spores, Meati says it can produce protein equivalent to “hundreds of cows” in just a few days’ time at a fraction of the resources. This, the company says, creates a “nearly infinitely scalable platform.”
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Image by TiNDLE
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🛒 PRODUCT INNOVATION & LAUNCHES 🛒
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✅ TiNDLE Foods has launched a line of six new plant-based chicken products in 2,200 EDEKA Group stores across Germany, as well as a limited-time release at 4,200 Netto stores.
TAKEAWAY: TiNDLE is also trialing a limited edition range of meal kits created in collaboration with celebrity chef Chad Rosenthal ahead of an anticipated US retail launch later this year.
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“We see our launch into thousands of retail outlets as a strong indicator that the category is continuing to grow.”
Andre Menezes, Co-Founder & CEO, TiNDLE
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✅ SolvPro, the new line of vegan plant protein blends from Osage Foods, is made using EverPro — the upcycled grain from beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev.
TAKEAWAY: EverPro is a first-of-its-kind barley protein that dissolves almost instantly when added to beverages.
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✅ Canada’s Moon Magic announced the launch of the “world’s first” vegan, no-sugar-added, low-calorie, milk chocolate.
TAKEAWAY: Moon Magic uses allulose, a sugar found in dried fruits and maple syrup that’s not metabolised by the body, delivering a net carb impact of zero, and is set to disrupt the $113 billion global chocolate market.
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Image by Impossible Foods
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📈 CONSUMER TRENDS & NEWS HIGHLIGHTS 📈
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✅ Citing an anonymous source ‘familiar with the matter’, Bloomberg reported that Impossible Foods is going to lay off 20% of its workforce, or approximately 100 employees.
TAKEAWAY: The maker of the Impossible Burger announced a 6% job cut in October of last year, which it attributed to company restructuring.
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✅ Oatly Group AB has added climate footprint labeling to select US products, starting with the brand’s newly reformulated Oatgurts, a range of plant-based yoghurts.
TAKEAWAY: The company says this new addition to its product labels reflects its belief that consumer choice and education play a vital role in shaping the future of the food system.
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✅ A new survey by Germany's GEA Group shows chefs around the world are embracing alternative proteins at a rapid pace and with optimism about the changing landscape.
TAKEAWAY: “The overall level of interest among chefs in using alternative proteins reinforces a growing body of data that tells us the following: new food is not just a possibility,” reads the report, “but the emerging new reality.”
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Image courtesy of Boldly
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⚡ QUICK BITES ⚡
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London-based Milltrust Ventures and Ireland’s Earth First Food Ventures have launched The Smart Protein Fund, a £242 million investment fund targeting alternative proteins.
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Elo announced a $10 million Series A round and unveiled its latest product, Smart Protein, the “first-ever protein product tailor-made for your biomarkers, goals, and activity data”.
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B Corp-certified plant-based seafood startup the ISH Company raised $5 million seed funding to further develop its portfolio, having successfully launched its Shrimpish products in early 2022.
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San Francisco’s Wildtype says it is waiting to complete the FDA’s pre-market consultation and expects to launch its cultivated sushi-grade salmon in restaurants later this year.
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Berlin-based BettaF!sh is launching new ambient TU-NAH Spreads into ROSSMANN, one of Europe’s largest drugstore chains.
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Daring has unveiled a new product: Daring Teriyaki Plant-Chicken Pieces.
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New plant-based food brand Boldly announced the upcoming launch of its line of 100% vegan seafood, including calamari, salmon and tuna sashimi, shrimp, crab sticks, and white fish filets.
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Frozen pizza brand Talia di Napoli, which ships authentic handcrafted pizzas directly from Naples, launched its first-ever certified vegan pizza, The Vegan Margherita.
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UK pub The Barn is set to become the latest to adopt a fully plant-based menu, and has already begun offering plant-based meals by default, with a surcharge of £2 to adapt a dish to a non-vegan diet.
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Fast casual burger chain Smashburger is joining forces with jackfruit meat producer jack & annie’s to trial a new limited-edition menu item, the Plant-Based Classic Smash Burger.
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Altdairy.org is launching a new ‘Hospitality heroes’ programme to endorse businesses that are giving dairy alternatives greater prominence, with a special Alt Dairy mark to signpost consumers to dairy alternatives, alongside social media and PR assistance.
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The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India has warned against plant-based ghee and butter products carrying “dairy terms”, calling them “misleading”.
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Green Queen's founder Sonalie Figueiras tells Gulfood's Let's Chew! podcast about her entrepreneurial journey, how she became interested in food, environmental issues, plant-derived proteins, and climate change, and gives an outlook on the plant-based & alternative proteins industry and why we should start with our plate to
create a more sustainable future for our planet.
Listen here.
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The New Food Invest APAC, taking place February 15th, will bring together international plant-based and cultivated food businesses, investors and venture capitalists to benefit from the growth of the alternative protein sector in the Asia-Pacific region.
Green Queen's founder & editor-in chief, Sonalie Figueiras, is speaking on a panel
at the event, so don't miss it! Sign up here.
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- 🗣️ Check out The Future of Protein Production Summit, taking place in London 21st-23rd February, to discover the latest industry trends, learn from industry experts, and grow your business. Get more details here.
- 🌟 The Vegan Women Summit 2023, happening May 18th-20th in New York City, just announced its selected finalists. Find out more and get your ticket here.
- 🔈 Join more than 5000 companies from 120 countries at Vegetarian Food Asia 2023, taking place 17th-19th February in Hong Kong. Sign up here.
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The world's food systems are undergoing a revolution- we've got close to 8 billion people to feed and alternative protein may just be the answer. From cellular agriculture to plant-based food tech to precision fermentation, we need to reform our global food production. The Green Queen Alt Protein Weekly newsletter is here to highlight the latest news, trends and insights for all members of the future food ecosystem.
Today's edition was brought to you by Nicola and Brinc, a venture capital and accelerator firm that empowers game changers to help solve some of the world's biggest challenges. |
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