Proteins

Benson Hill goes public accelerating plant-based food ingredients technology

10-May-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Benson Hill, a crop improvement company which has developed an ultra-high protein soybean variety, will become a publicly traded company through a SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) transaction with Star Peak Corp II.

Kellogg's MorningStar Farms and Incogmeato brands bolster Q1 2021 sales growth

07-May-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

More than a year out from the onset of the pandemic, and Kellogg's organic net sales remain elevated at +4% for Q1 2021 (compared to Q1 2020) largely driven by growth of its frozen foods portfolio.

NEWS IN BRIEF

Synergy Flavors acquires Innova Flavors fueling plant-based food and beverage product development

07-May-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Synergy Flavors (part of Carbery Group) has acquired savory flavor and ingredient supplier, Innova Flavors, from Griffith Foods Worldwide, ramping up its savory product development of plant-based alternatives.

Beyond Meat Q1: ‘We have recently begun to see a slow thaw occurring within foodservice’

07-May-2021 By Elaine Watson

Beyond Meat posted a 11.4% increase in net revenues to $108.2m in the first quarter (ended April 3) and a net loss of $27.3m, with solid growth in retail (+45% to $81.025m) dented by declines in foodservice (-34% to $27.139m), although execs say they’re...

Impossible Foods targets K-12 foodservice market after securing USDA Child Nutrition Label for its plant-based meat

06-May-2021 By Elaine Watson

Impossible Foods is heading into K-12 schools across the US this month via pilot programs in California, Washington, and Oklahoma ahead of a wider K-12 market entry in the fall, after securing a Child Nutrition Label for its burgers from the USDA's...

Brave new ‘animal-free’ world: When animal products are no longer made from animals, what do we call them? (And are they vegan?)

05-May-2021 By Elaine Watson

Thanks to advances in synthetic biology, with the right set of instructions, an army of microscopic little food factories (yeast, fungi, bacteria, algae etc) can now make animal proteins without animals, from collagen and egg albumin to whey protein if...

Impossible Foods applauds 9th Circuit ruling over safety of its heme, slams ‘anti-science, anti-GMO activist group’ for ‘spreading lies’

04-May-2021 By Elaine Watson

Impossible Foods has applauded a decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold the FDA’s approval of soy leghemoglobin (aka 'heme') - the star ingredient in its plant-based burgers - as a color additive.

Demand for premium rises: ‘It’s not just wealthy people who are buying more expensive stuff,’ IRI says

04-May-2021 By Elizabeth Crawford

While only a small percentage of consumers qualify as “cooking enthusiasts” and an even smaller number could be considered “confident cooks,” these two groups represent an outsized opportunity for retailers, meat processors and CPG brands looking to hold...

Tattooed Chef acquires two new manufacturing facilities targeting $1bn frozen Mexican food category

03-May-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Tattooed Chef has entered into agreements to acquire New Mexico Food Distributors, Inc. and Karsten Tortilla Factory, LLC (collectively referred to as “Foods of New Mexico”) for approximately $35m to ramp up production of its plant-based frozen foods...

‘Asian food is international food…’ OmniPork gears up for nationwide US launch of plant-based pork

02-May-2021 By Elaine Watson

Asian plant-based meat sensation OmniPork is gearing up for a nationwide retail and foodservice launch in the US market later this year after debuting in a handful of restaurants in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Honolulu to celebrate Earth Day.

New kid on the plant-based block? TerViva to commercialize oils (2022) and proteins (2023) from Pongamia trees

29-Apr-2021 By Elaine Watson

TerViva – a California-based firm seeking to commercialize ingredients from low-input, high-yielding Pongamia trees – aims to have commercial quantities of 'golden buttery' oil available by mid-2022, with ‘highly soluble’ protein isolates to...

Cell-based caviar: the mass-market health food star of the future?

28-Apr-2021 By Oliver Morrison

A British company is developing the world’s first lab-grown ‘compassionate’ caviar to allow more people to experience the delicacy’s unique taste and nutritional benefits.

Beyond Meat unveils the Beyond Burger 3.0 with likeability scoring ‘on-par with 80/20 ground beef burgers’

27-Apr-2021 By Elaine Watson

The next iteration of the Beyond Burger - featuring 35% less saturated fat and 75% more iron than 80/20 beef burgers, a comparable level of B vitamins, and a meatier flavor – will hit grocery stores next week and restaurants in June, with a leaner version...

Epicurious drops beef going forward in favor of more plant-based recipes – but is the move ‘elitist’ or ‘one of the best decisions’?

27-Apr-2021 By Elizabeth Crawford

The popular recipe and home cooking platform Epicurious is dropping beef from its repertoire going forward in favor of more plant-based options to amplify the conversation about sustainable diets, stem the steady uptick in beef sales in the US and give...

Cell-cultured milk: Tech fantasy or a liquid goldmine? BioMilk goes public

23-Apr-2021 By Elaine Watson

Visitors to BioMilk’s website are asked a simple question: ‘What is milk?’ a question that - until relatively recently - had a pretty obvious answer: the white stuff lactating mammals produce. Today, however, there’s plant-based milk; there are products...

Where next for dairy milk? Value-added products drive future of the category, says DMI

23-Apr-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

While fluid milk consumption has been declining since the 1970s, US retail sales rose 7.1% last year (52-weeks ending Jan 2, 2021, according to NielsenIQ Total U.S. xAOC data). However, is this trend indicative of an actual revitalization of the $15.1bn...

Acosta: Frozen food sales continue to outpace overall food, signaling a long-term shopping shift

23-Apr-2021 By Elizabeth Crawford

As consumers looked to keep kitchens stocked between fewer grocery trips during the early days of the pandemic, frozen foods emerged as a breakout winner that continues to outperform overall edible sales even as restaurants begin to reopen and shoppers...

EverGrain and Bright Future Foods team up to develop ‘climate-friendly’ snacks

22-Apr-2021 By Elaine Watson

EverGrain, a barley ingredients company backed by brewing giant Anheuser-Busch that makes proteins and fibers from AB InBev’s spent grains; and Bright Future Foods, a subsidiary of Post Holdings utilizing oats grown on zero CO2 emission farms; are teaming...

WEBINAR HIGHLIGHTS

Snack bar trends: What's next for the category?

22-Apr-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

With so many emerging bar brands vying for space in a crowded market dominated by large CPG -- Clif Bar, KIND (Mars), RXBAR (Kellogg's) -- and retail sales still down in 2021, what's the future of the bar set, and how can brands punch above...

USDA undertakes ‘top to bottom assessment’ to identify, repair ‘supply chain-bottlenecks and vulnerabilities”

22-Apr-2021 By Elizabeth Crawford

The US Department of Agriculture is asking for help conducting a “top to bottom assessment” of the US food system in an effort to avoid the empty store shelves, food waste at farms and destruction for animals due to broken supply chains experienced in...

Egg proteins… without chickens: Clara Foods teams up with innovation arm of world’s largest brewer

21-Apr-2021 By Elaine Watson

Bay area startup Clara Foods has teamed up with ZX Ventures, the innovation arm of the world’s largest brewer AB InBev - which knows a thing or two about large-scale fermentation - to help realize its dream of making ‘animal-free’ egg proteins using microbes...

Better Brand’s “Grain-changing Technology” takes the guilt, not the pleasure, out of refined carbs

21-Apr-2021 By Elizabeth Crawford

For many consumers a freshly toasted bagel is a source of joy, comfort – and guilt, but thanks to food-tech startup Better Brand Inc.’s proprietary Grain-changing Technology, Americans can soon enjoy a clean label option that tastes and functions like...

Very Good Food Company boosts production of plant-based 'butchered' meat alternatives by 2,500+%

20-Apr-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

The Very Good Food Company Inc. -- part of Eat Beyond Global Holdings' portfolio of alternative protein brands -- has upgraded its manufacturing facility to significantly expand production of its plant-based 'butchered' meat alternatives....

JBS on its acquisition of Vivera: ‘It is an important step in our plant-based trajectory’

20-Apr-2021 By Katy Askew

Brazilian meat giant JBS has entered into a deal to acquire Vivera, Europe’s third-largest plant-based food company. The agreement is an ‘important step’ in its efforts to expand in the plant-based protein and value-added food segments, FoodNavigator...

Wow no cow! Leonardo DiCaprio hails Perfect Day’s ‘forward-looking vision’ as lifecycle assessment shows non-animal whey protein has far lower environmental impact

19-Apr-2021 By Elaine Watson

Berkeley-based startup Perfect Day has underscored its sustainability credentials with the release of a lifecycle assessment suggesting its ‘non-animal’ whey protein - produced by microbes - produces up to 97% fewer greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than...

Hungry Planet raises $25m to meet ‘pent up demand’ for plant-based meat beyond burgers, sausage

19-Apr-2021 By Elizabeth Crawford

After finetuning a diverse range of plant-based meat and seafood that goes far beyond the burger- and sausage-heavy offerings of today, Hungry Planet is ready to ramp up production and distribution of all nine of its proteins across retail, foodservice...

Vejii acquires Vegan Essentials and announces CAD$10m capital raise: 'We anticipate going public'

16-Apr-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Vejii Holdings, an online retailer of plant-based products, has acquired VeganEssentials.com and announced a C$10m capital raise, becoming the largest online marketplace in the US that exclusively sells vegan products, says Vejii CEO Kory Zelickson.

Meat… from mycelium? Fungi fueled startups Meati Foods and Atlast Food Co raise cash to make Holy Grail of alt meat: whole cuts

15-Apr-2021 By Elaine Watson

Meati Foods and Atlast Food Co - two fungi-fueled startups blazing a trail in the alternative meat market with ‘whole cut’ products made from mycelium, the fibrous root structure of mushrooms – have both announced significant funding this week as they...

Chickapea closes CAD$9.3m Series C funding round fueling additional US expansion

14-Apr-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Canadian chickpea pasta brand Chickapea has closed a CAD$9.3m Series C funding round co-led by District Ventures Capital, InvestEco Capital, and Export Development Canada (EDC) to support new product innovation and the brand's distribution growth...

Register now: Free webinar exploring snack bar trends Wednesday April 21

14-Apr-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

While a downturn in sales for snack bars in the past year suggest consumer demand has softened, snacking behavior has hit a fever pitch and innovation in this set is hotter than ever as brands evolve to meet shifting consumer demands.

Territory Foods closes $22m funding round to expand chef-crafted, nutritionist-designed meal delivery service

13-Apr-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Territory Foods, a fresh-prepared direct-to-consumer (DTC) meal delivery service that partners with local chefs to create flavorful nutritionist-designed dishes, has closed a $22m funding round led by US Venture Partners.

Impossible Foods hires former Apple creative exec as chief experience officer

12-Apr-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Steve Turner, the former global executive creative director for Apple's Media Arts Labs (where he worked with Steve Jobs to launch a number of iconic Apple products), has been appointed as chief experience officer at Impossible Foods, where he will...

Conagra benefits from sustained and elevated at-home demand in Q3 2021

12-Apr-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Still benefiting from a sustained consumer shift to at-home eating over a year past the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic, Conagra has registered a nearly 10% increase in organic net sales for Q3 2021 compared to the same period last year.

Tofurky CEO on double-digit growth, fighting state labeling laws, and fat in plant-based meat: ‘There’s a juiciness problem…’

09-Apr-2021 By Elaine Watson

With VC-backed food tech startups deploying molecular biologists and astrophysicists now competing for shelf space in the red-hot meat and dairy alternatives market with equally deep-pocketed multinational meat and CPG companies, where do independent...

Beyond Meat expands international reach with first end-to-end manufacturing facility outside the US: 'We're committed to investing in China as a region for long-term growth'

07-Apr-2021 By Elaine Watson

Beyond Meat has opened its first end-to-end manufacturing facility outside the US in the Jiaxing Economic & Technological Development Zone (JXEDZ) near Shanghai.

Gathered Foods secures $26.35m funding to dramatically expand reach of Good Catch plant-based seafood

07-Apr-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Gathered Foods, parent company of plant-based seafood brand Good Catch, has secured $26.35m in a B-2 Bridge Funding Round to ramp up product innovation and dramatically increase its retail footprint.

Clio Snacks debuts snackable parfait bars: ‘The bar category will continue to grow if innovation is injected into it’

07-Apr-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Fresh snacking brand Clio Snacks – known for its chocolate covered Greek yogurt bars – had a breakout year in 2020, says VP of marketing Rachel Moore. This year, the company is ramping brand awareness and customer trial with its newest product innovation:...

Moolec Science eyes egg replacement and alt dairy expansion: ‘All technology based on molecular farming can find white space’

07-Apr-2021 By Flora Southey

Ag-food tech company Moolec Science is expanding its alternative protein platform to cater to plant-based bakery and beverage categories. “Moving into egg and dairy alternatives was a natural next step for our roadmap,” explained CEO and co-founder Gastón...

Quorn and Roquette call for solutions to alternative protein shape, texture and taste challenge

07-Apr-2021 By Oliver Morrison

The companies have tasked start-ups, via the next Future Food-Tech innovation challenge, to make products that can mimic whole meat cuts and deliver newer gastronomic experiences to consumers.

‘2020 was a breakout year for plant-based foods…’ GFI, PBFA, SPINS, unveil 2020 retail sales data

06-Apr-2021 By Elaine Watson

Sales of plant-based foods that directly replace animal products - including meat, seafood, eggs, dairy, condiments and meals containing plant-based alternatives - grew by 27% to $7bn in measured channels in the year to December 27, 2020, according to...

‘We are meat’: Impossible Foods launches first national ad campaign targeting meat eaters

06-Apr-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Impossible Foods has launched its first national advertising campaign targeting meat eaters who haven’t yet tried Impossible products, specifically its flagship product, the plant-based Impossible Burger.

Study highlights ‘troubling’ absence of animal welfare knowledge in aquaculture

05-Apr-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

With traditional fishing methods in decline, aquaculture – the industrial farming of fish, shellfish, and other aquatic species – is on the rise, but with little knowledge of the impact it’s had on animal welfare, says a team of researchers at New York...

Kemin acquires clean label proteins firm Proteus Industries

05-Apr-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Kemin Industries has acquired privately-owned ingredient technology firm, Proteus Industries, Inc., expanding its portfolio of sustainable clean label solutions for meat manufacturing.

Reducing the cost of cell-cultured meat... Growth media in focus

05-Apr-2021 By Elaine Watson

For cell-cultured meat to go mainstream, the cost of the media used to grow animal cells must come down. A lot. And that will require significant movement in the price and availability of recombinant proteins and growth factors. So how much progress is...

Vejii builds online shopping destination for plant-based products

02-Apr-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

Online plant-based retailer Vejii wants to create a destination where consumers can easily and quickly shop for plant-based products and brands.

Ingredion expands texture, stabilization capabilities, with acquisition of KaTech

01-Apr-2021 By Elaine Watson

Ingredion has acquired KaTech - a privately held company headquartered in Lübeck, Germany that provides advanced texture and stabilization solutions to the food and beverage industry - for an undisclosed sum.

Investing in the Future of Food: RCV Frontline sees potential for startups to fill innovation demand post-pandemic

31-Mar-2021 By Elizabeth Crawford

A new early-stage venture capital fund sees significant upside for financing food and beverage startups that may be too small for many other VC investors, but which in a few years could help meet “pent up demand” for innovation from large CPG players...

Innovators, not imitators: Daymon discusses the rise of private label

30-Mar-2021 By Mary Ellen Shoup

No longer seen as the budget option by consumers, private label brands are continuing to differentiate themselves from national brands in quality and innovation, according to private label market research firm Daymon.

Plant-based dairy in focus: 'Cheese is the most technically challenging space in dairy alternatives...'

30-Mar-2021 By Elaine Watson

US retail sales of plant-based milk surged 21.9% to $2.542bn in measured channels in the year to Jan. 24, 2021, while sales of plant-based cheese and yogurt (far smaller categories) were up 43.6% to $233.9m and 16.4% to $346.2m respectively in the year...

Meat sales at retail surge despite rise of plant-based options and fewer consumers identifying as meat-eaters

30-Mar-2021 By Elizabeth Crawford

Sales and the amount of meat consumed at retail in the US increased double digits in 2020 over the prior year while household penetration held steady at 98.4%, despite an increase in flexitarians and a drop in meat-eaters, according to recently released...