Wander around leading UK food retailers and you’ll see aisles of fresh prepared meals, soups, salads and desserts, dominated by private label. So, will the US market move in the same direction?
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.
Target Corp. has selected 11 food and beverage brands to take part in Target Takeoff, the retailer's product-focused accelerator program, now in its fifth year.
After growing steadily across channels on and offline, better-for-you snack brand Quinn is poised to enter its “next phase of growth” with $10m in series B funding announced today that will support upcoming new product launches, expanded distribution...
Growing biltong brand Stryve, which also owns Kalahari Snacks, making it the #1 air-dried meat snack brand in the US, has completed a business combination with Andina Acquisition Corp III, a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).
New York-based direct to consumer brand Little Spoon – which delivers chilled fresh food for babies, toddlers and young children to homes across the continental US - has raised $44m in a Series B round led by Valor Equity Partners, with participation...
Nature’s Fynd - a Chicago-based startup growing protein-packed food from microbes with a fraction of the environmental footprint of meat or dairy – has raised $350m in a Series C round (taking its total financing to >$500m) as it gears up to launch...
Swedish keto-friendly brand Nick’s – which entered the US in late 2019 with low carb light ice cream pints – is on course to triple its US sales in 2021 (vs 2020) with continued growth in bricks & mortar retail, sharp growth in its fledgling direct...
The Good Crisp Company is eyeing up the growing market opportunity for snacks with immune support benefits with the recent launch of its better-for-you cheese balls featuring Kerry's Wellmune ingredient.
Suja Juice, which helped mainstream the cold-pressed juice category, has been acquired by private equity firm Paine Schwartz Partners for an undisclosed sum, following a year of "unprecedented revenue and profit."
Comet Bio – a startup developing functional fibers and sweeteners from upcycled ingredients – has closed a $22m Series C round led by private equity firm Open Prairie, with support from Louis Dreyfus Company, BDC Capital, and existing investor Sofinnova...
Canadian startup Noblegen has opened a CAD$500m Series C capital raise as it seeks to commercialize a suite of products from the ‘ancient microorganism’ euglena gracilis, which can produce everything from proteins that behave like animal proteins, to...
Wicked Kitchen – a plant-based brand developed by chefs and mushroom enthusiasts Derek and Chad Sarno that has been a hit in the UK – is hoping to make a bigger splash this side of the Atlantic after securing $14m in a Series A round co-led by Unovis...
Austin, Texas-based Springdale Ventures, a venture capital firm which has invested in a number of high-growth CPG brands, is on the cusp of its next chapter of growth with the appointment of a third general partner and is embarking on plans to raise its...
Oregon-based Honey Mama's and its truffle-like chilled cocoa bars made from five organic whole food ingredients is entering Whole Foods stores nationwide, where the brand is aiming to bridge the gap between the chocolate and wellness bar categories....
Instacart has appointed one of its current board members and former Facebook exec, Fidji Simo, as CEO of the online grocery shopping platform, effective August 2, replacing current CEO and founder Apoorva Mehta who will be transitioning to the role of...
Despite overall declines of the snack and nutrition bar category over the past year, NuSkool Snacks (formerly MCTco) saw demand for its brand – and other low-sugar bar products like it increase – reports founder and CEO Joe Christensen.
As the #1 selling brand in Australia, New Zealand, and the UK, and the fourth largest kombucha company globally, producing more than 90 million cans per year, Remedy Drinks is seeking to replicate its success in the US market where it says consumers are...
Olipop – a functional beverage brand forging new territory in the soda category with 9g fiber per can – is on course to more than triple revenues this year vs 2020, says co-founder Ben Goodwin, who launched the brand with David Lester in late 2018.
Chobani has filed a confidential draft registration statement for a proposed initial public offering (IPO) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The number of shares of common stock to be sold and the price range for the proposed offering...
Meati Foods – which is carving out new territory in the meat-alternative space with a fungi-based platform capable of producing ‘steaks’ and other whole cuts – has raised $50m in a Series B round co-led by new investor BOND and long-time Meati investor...
Online personalized shopping platform, Sifter, is hoping to make label reading a thing of the past with a tool that instantly tells consumers which products fit their dietary needs and lifestyle.
For a fraction of the price and hassle of in-person sampling or focus groups, the new product discovery and data analytics platform Snack Drop allows emerging brands to offer goods directly to consumers in exchange for honest feedback and detailed information...
Wildland Coffee has launched its first product, coffee in a tea bag, targeting outdoor enthusiasts and potentially, the broader audience of on-the-go consumers who may not have the time nor access to coffee-making equipment while on the move.
Stevia-sweetened zero-calorie beverage brand Zevia – which first hit the market in 2007 – enjoyed a stellar year in 2020, increasing net sales by 29% YoY to $110m, while increasing gross margins from 43% to 45%, according to a prospectus released ahead...
Cell-cultured meat pioneer UPSIDE Foods (formerly Memphis Meats) has brought in high-flying PepsiCo exec Amy Chen as its chief operating officer as it prepares to launch its first consumer product – UPSIDE chicken – later this year, pending regulatory...
Attempts to put plant-based meats “in the same category as Twinkies” because they are both “processed foods,” should be dismissed as “meat industry propaganda,” Impossible Foods CEO Dr Pat Brown told delegates at the Future Food Tech alternative proteins...
Cambridge University spinoff Xampla is reorganising plant proteins to develop biodegradable alternatives to single-use plastics. FoodNavigator catches up with Marc Rodríguez Garcia, Co-founder and Head of R&D, to find out how nature is inspiring the...
By Matthew Walker, managing director, S2G Ventures
A market with a variety of alternative meat sources provides ultimate flexibility for the consumer, and several emerging technologies have a role to play in the meat supply chain of the future.
Israeli startup Future Meat Technologies has opened what it claims is the first ‘industrial’ cell-cultured meat facility, capable of producing 500 kilos of meat a day (the equivalent of around 5,000 hamburgers), as it gears up for a US launch next year,...
Organic fresh baby food pioneer Once Upon a Farm has acquired organic direct-to-consumer frozen baby and toddler brand Raised Real for an undisclosed sum.
Nature’s Fynd has received a coveted 'no questions’ letter from the FDA in response to its GRAS safety determination for its ‘Fy’ fungi ingredient (Fusarium strain flavolapis*), a protein-packed naturally-occurring micro-organism with origins in...
Cactus water brand Pricklee is carving out a spot in the plant water category largely dominated by coconut water with a product it says delivers a more approachable taste profile, with half the sugar and calories than leading coconut water brands.
Upcycled food pioneer ReGrained continues to pave the way for the fast-growing but still nascent industry by becoming the first business with an ingredient certified by the Upcycled Foods Association – a move the company founder says will help “catalyze...
Motif FoodWorks – a Boston-based startup focused on high-impact ingredients that can be added to plant- based meat and dairy formulations in small quantities but make a significant difference to the eating experience – has raised $226m in Series B* funding,...
San Francisco-based Change Foods – one of a new breed of startups making 'animal-free' dairy ingredients using microbes instead of cows – has closed an oversubscribed $2.1m seed funding round,* and plans to launch its first consumer products...
After disrupting the sleepy dried fruit category with its skin-on, nutrient-dense, zero food-waste approach, emerging superfruit snack brand RIND is expanding into the salty snack aisle with the launch of thin-cut, crispy fruit chips with help from Valor...
Vertical Roots, a vertical farming company which grows its leafy greens in repurposed shipping containers year-round, has opened its third indoor farm in Atlanta, Georgia, reducing produce transportation and expanding access to fresh, locally-grown leafy...
“Global and local” dairy companies have approached Imagindairy - one of a clutch of startups using microbes (not cows) to produce milk proteins – about developing ‘animal-free’ dairy milks and other products, says the Israeli company, which lags some...
With US retail sales of cannabidiol-infused foods, beverages and supplements declining sharply in the past year and some early-adopters souring on the ingredient after experiencing lackluster ‘results,’ some players in the space are discontinuing their...
Geltor – which has developed a computational biology platform to create a range of ‘designer’ functional proteins via microbial fermentation - will launch the world’s first ingestible ‘animal-free’ vegan collagen for the food and nutrition markets this...
The Better Meat Co – a startup best-known for providing plant-based meat enhancers – has completed construction of a “substantial mycoprotein fermentation facility” in Sacramento that will produce fungi-based meat alternatives that “work phenomenally...
Israeli cultured meat firm Future Meat Technologies has its eye on Asia as a major market for its products with China and India as key targets, after notching-up two successes in significantly lowering production costs this year.
The plant-based meat category is not short of starry-eyed founders armed with me-too products and a lofty mission to fix the broken food system (spoiler alert, they probably won’t). But there is still room for new players with a genuine point of difference...
Poverty in the coffee industry is an “enduring crisis,” despite US consumers’ willingness to pay upwards of $16-$22 per 12-ounce bag of roasted coffee and a premium for products that promise to ethically source beans and pay farmers a fair price.
When it comes to meat alternatives, fat remains the final frontier for formulators, says Nourish Ingredients, which is harnessing the power of microbes to produce next-generation ‘animal-free’ fats it claims can deliver a ‘meatier’ experience than plant-based...
New Culture – one of a cluster of startups in the emerging ‘animal-free’ dairy space* engineering microbes to produce dairy milk proteins, without cows – is aiming to launch animal-free Mozzarella in late 2023.
Doozy Pots – a plant-based gelato made from organic hemp and oat ingredients and the brainchild of a former Ben & Jerry's product developer – is injecting some differentiation and innovation into the plant-based ice cream and frozen desserts...
