Image source: New York Times

Every week we track the business, tech and investment trends in CPG, retail, restaurants, agriculture, cooking and health, so you don’t have to. Here are some of this week’s top headlines.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine is threatening to cut off international shipments of wheat, spurring shortages and pushing the price of the crop higher amid spiraling inflation and supply chain challenges. The two countries make up nearly a quarter of the world’s global supply of wheat.

Cell-cultured and plant-based meats continue to go head-to-head in the race to dominate the alternative protein market. Both Wildtype and Next Gen Foods raised $100 million for their cultured salmon and plant-based chicken, respectively.

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Check out our weekly round-up of last week’s top food startup, tech and innovation news below or peruse the full newsletter here.

1. Ukraine Invasion Threatens Global Wheat Supply – New York Times

Russia and Ukraine together produce nearly a quarter of the world’s wheat, and coming disruptions could fuel higher food prices and social unrest.

2. Can $100M Get Wildtype’s Cell-Grown ‘Sushi-Grade’ Salmon into the Wild? – TechCrunch

The company plans to use funding to begin distributing its product to high-end chefs and grocery stores. It is still currently awaiting FDA approval.

3. Singaporean Plant-Based ‘Chicken’ Maker Snags $100M – Bloomberg

Next Gen Foods plans to expand to the US, starting with major cities, pitting it against Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat.

4. Arizona Starbucks Stores Votes to Unionize, As Reorganizing Drive Gains Momentum Across the US – The Counter

The Mesa Starbucks store is the third company-owned location to vote in favor of unionization since December.

5. Kristen Bell Invests in Cottage Cheese Maker Good Culture’s $64M Round to Build a Sustainable Cultured Foods Platform – Forbes

Cottage cheese makers touting nutrient-dense ingredients and sustainable agricultural practices are staging a massive comeback for the category that was once twice the size of the yogurt market in the US.

6. Kraft Heinz Creates Joint Venture with AI-Powered Foodtech Startup NotCo – Food Navigator

The plan is to combine NotCo’s patented tech and expertise in plant-based formulation with Kraft Heinz’s brand portfolio and scale.

7. Geltor Celebrates Commercial Scale Manufacture of Animal-Free Collagen – Food Dive

The partnership with Arxada increased Geltor’s fermentation production capacity from tens of thousands of liters to millions of liters in just two years.

8. Black Farmers Fear Foreclosure as Debt Relief Remains Frozen – New York Times

Lawsuits from white farmers have blocked $4b of pandemic aid that was allocated to Black farmers in the American Rescue Plan.

9. Moss.Earth Is Using NFTs & Crypto Carbon Credits to Fight Climate Change in the Amazon – AFN

NFTs and other “web 3.0” tools are how the Brazilian startup plans to digitalize carbon credits and preserve the Amazon rainforest.

10. Amsterdam: PlantLabs Nabs $57M As Indoor Farming Funding Surges – Crunchbase

The funds will be used to open more production sites outside the Netherlands, in North America and in Europe.

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The post Ukraine Invasion Threatens Global Wheat Supply, Wildtype and Next Gen Foods Snag $100M + More appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Image source: New York Times

Every week we track the business, tech and investment trends in CPG, retail, restaurants, agriculture, cooking and health, so you don’t have to. Here are some of this week’s top headlines.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is threatening the global food supply, specifically for low-income countries that rely on wheat and fertilizer imports from that region already suffering from pandemic-related supply chain disruptions.

Last but not least, chefs and restaurants have hopped onto the NFT train, minting everything from recipes to exclusive dining clubs.

Check out our weekly round-up of last week’s top food startup, tech and innovation news below or peruse the full newsletter here.

1. What the War in Ukraine Means for the World’s Food Supply – New York Times

After only days of fighting, global commodity markets have been roiled. Shipping in the Sea of Azov was brought to a standstill last week. Wheat futures jumped 12% on the Chicago Board of Trade. This increase topped already inflated prices.

2. Welcome to the NFT Restaurant Boom – Eater

Chefs like Tom Colicchio are minting NFT pizzas, recipes and even limited-edition gin bottles. But is the rest of the food world along for the ride?

3. Weee! Delivers Second Big Funding Round in a Year, This Time Backed by SoftBank – TechCrunch

Coming off of a year where monthly active users grew 150% year over year, multicultural e-grocer Weee! secured $425m in funding, boosting its valuation to $4.1b.

4. 2021 Record Year For Alt Protein Investment, With APAC Showing Significant Funding Growth – Green Queen

Alt protein companies raised $5b worldwide, with $312m invested in APAC. Highlights included a 60% increase in funding into the sector on a global level, with fermentation and cultivated projects claiming more funding than ever before.

5. Starship Technologies Raises Another $42M to Fuel the Growth of Its Fleet of Self-Driving Delivery Robots – TechCrunch

The company plans to expand its current footprint in the US and Europe, double down on more markets and exploring new form factors and a wider range of business models.

6. War In Europe’s Breadbasket Reverberates in an Unlikely Place – Forbes

War in Ukraine, Europe’s breadbasket, may reverberate to an unlikely place: the American organic chicken refrigeration case.

7. Here Comes the Full Amazonification of Whole Foods – New York Times

A newly revamped store in Washington shows how thoroughly Amazon has woven itself into the grocery shopping experience.

8. DoorDash Acquires Restaurant Ordering Platform Bbot – Fast Company

Bbot makes order-and-pay software for restaurants and other hospitality venues. The acquisition is the first since DoorDash bought Wolt for $8b in November 2021.

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The post War in Ukraine Puts Global Food Supply At Risk, NFT Restaurant Boom + More appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Image source: TIME

Every week we track the business, tech and investment trends in CPG, retail, restaurants, agriculture, cooking and health, so you don’t have to. Here are some of this week’s top headlines.

A study has found that farms that used regenerative agriculture practices such as no-till farming, cover crops and diverse crop rotations produced crops with higher levels of certain vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals than farms using conventional practices.

In other news, President Xi Jinping has referenced alternative proteins in a speech during which he underlined his support for domestic food innovation – a potential boon for China’s alternative protein sector.

Check out our weekly round-up of last week’s top food startup, tech and innovation news below or peruse the full newsletter here.

1. Study Shows Nutritional Benefits in Regenerative Agriculture Crops – World-Grain

Farms that used regenerative agriculture practices such as no-till farming, cover crops and diverse crop rotations produced crops with higher levels of certain vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals than farms using conventional practices.

2. President Xi References China’s Alt-Protein Sector In National Food Security Speech – Green Queen

Speaking at a meeting with agricultural, social welfare and social security sector figureheads, he made statements that positively impact the country’s burgeoning alternative protein industry.

3. Food Companies, Long Symbols of the West in Russia, Pause Operations – New York Times

After years of cultivating the Russian market, McDonald’s, Starbucks, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola said they would temporarily close locations or stop selling products there.

4. Gene-Edited Beef Cattle Receive Regulatory Clearance in the US – Los Angeles Times

The FDA cleared the way for sale of beef from gene-edited cattle, bred to withstand warmer temperatures, in the coming years. Cattle that aren’t stressed by heat might pack on weight more easily, making for more efficient meat production.

5. Impossible Foods Sues Startup Motif FoodWorks for Patent Infringement – CNBC

Impossible Foods is suing Motif FoodWorks for patent infringement, claiming that the startup’s beef alternative that uses heme technology that too closely imitates its own version.

6. Indian Food Delivery Giant Swiggy Eyes $1B IPO – TechCrunch

Swiggy said in January that it had nearly doubled its food delivery business’ gross order value, and Instamart, its instant delivery service, was on track to reach an annual GMV run rate of $1b in the next three quarters.

7. Swiftly Quickly Gets Brick-and-Mortar Stores Set Up to Cater to Online Customers – TechCrunch

The company has raised $100m to expand into new verticals outside of grocery retail, such as beauty, home improvements and sporting goods.

8. AiFi Adds New Funding into Its Cart to Expand Autonomous Retail Footprint – TechCrunch

The startup has raised $65m to launch stores faster and more efficiently – a process that the company can execute within a week.

9. Once Upon a Farm Closes $52M in New Funding – Food Business News

The funding comes on the heels of its acquisition of Raised Reel, a DTC consumer baby food business. It plans to expand its innovation platform and fuel ongoing growth.

10. Finless Foods Bringing Plant-Based Tuna To the Masses, Ramping Up Cell-Cultured Plans with $34M in Series B Funding – Forbes

Next up is finalizing construction of a 11k-sq-ft pilot facility for Finless to scale up production of cell-cultured bluefin tuna for US regulatory approval and sales to consumers.

11. Groundbreaking UN Resolution Connects Animal Welfare and Environmental Sustainability for the First Time – Green Queen

The move is seen as historic and, potentially, a catalyst for widespread governmental action to protect animals and the environment.

12. Relocating Farmland Would Reverse 2 Decades-Worth of CO2 – Green Queen

New research suggests relocating farmland could increase carbon sequestration and biodiversity while reducing freshwater use and minimizing environmental impact.

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The post Study Finds Regen Ag Improves Nutrition, Xi References Alt-Protein for Food Security + More appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Image source: Local 338 RWDSU/UFCW

Every week we track the business, tech and investment trends in CPG, retail, restaurants, agriculture, cooking and health, so you don’t have to. Here are some of this week’s top headlines.

The Netherlands’ House of Representatives has just passed a motion to make cultivated meat samples legal, adding pressure to other countries to define their frameworks ahead of commercial approval.

Meanwhile, the pandemic has put the impacts of income inequality on stark display and galvanized a movement of farm and food workers to unionize.

Last but not least, Impossible Foods founder Pat Brown is stepping down as CEO, after a roller coaster two years for the plant-based meat industry and amid a recent slump in sales. He will be replaced with Chobani’s departing operating chief, Peter McGuinness.

Check out our weekly round-up of last week’s top food startup, tech and innovation news below or peruse the full newsletter here.

1. The Netherlands Edges Closer to Cultivated Meat Approval with Samples Now Legalized – Green Queen

Formal acceptance of cultivated technology in the Netherlands adds pressure on other countries to define their frameworks ahead of commercial approval.

2. What a Surge in Union Organizing Means for Food and Farm Workers – Civil Eats

Amid historic protests, walkouts and union votes, the pandemic put the impacts of income inequality on stark display—and galvanized a movement.

3. Impossible Foods Taps Chobani Executive As New CEO, Founder Pat Brown Steps Down – CNBC

Brown will continue working at the company as chief visionary officer and will report to the board. Chobani’s departing operating chief, Peter McGuinness, will take the helm.

4. Sustainable Global Consumer Trends and What It Means for Farmers – Evoke

Alpha Foods co-founder and co-CEO Mike Lee observes the top four consumer trends and the opportunity areas for farmers to take charge in designing solutions that will help shape the future of food, which he believes is currently led by celebrity chefs.

5. Our 2022 Hospitality Forecast – Oyster Sunday

Key shifts that will influence independent operators in the coming year include smaller teams with better benefits, a more thoughtful approach to sourcing and the rise of secondary and tertiary markets.

6. Bowery, Plenty Announce Strawberry Plans on Same Day As Competition Heats Up – AFN

Bowery has started selling strawberries, while Plenty and Driscoll’s plan to commence production of the fruit for the Northeastern US.

7. Shake Shack Tests Bitcoin Rewards to Lure Younger Consumers – Wall Street Journal

Shake Shack is offering the cryptocurrency bitcoin as a reward for purchases made at the burger chain using Cash App, a digital wallet offered by Block Inc.

8. India’s Licious Raises $150M for Its Fresh Animal Protein E-Commerce Platform – TechCrunch

The startup has built a supply chain network across several Indian cities to be able to procure meat and seafood, keep them fresh and deliver within hours of the order.

9. Kenya: African B2B E-Commerce Platform Wasoko Raises $125M in Series B Round – AFN

Wasoko – formerly known as Sokowatch – enables informal grocery retailers to restock and finance their stores via its mobile app.

10. Bear Robotics Targets Restaurant Staffing Shortages with Another $81M Raise – TechCrunch

The company has seen some recent success in the deployment of its system into more restaurants in Japan. In the US, it has partnered with Chili’s, Compass Group, Denny’s, Marriot and Pepsi.

11. Bobbie Drinks Up $50M to Expand Infant Formula Product Line – TechCrunch

The company is currently the only DTC company in the infant formula market and touted as being the first in the US to include organic whole milk.

12. Mori Secures $50M to Advance Its Food Shelf Life Extension Process – Built in Boston

The company uses a process with salt, water and heat to slow the time in which food spoils.

13. Zomato and Blinkit Reach Agreement for Merger – TechCrunch

The acquisition comes at a time when Blinkit has been struggling to raise funds and compete with younger and heavily-based firm Swiggy.

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The post Netherlands Approves Cultivated Meat, Union Organizing Surges + More appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Image source: New York Post

Every week we track the business, tech and investment trends in CPG, retail, restaurants, agriculture, cooking and health, so you don’t have to. Here are some of this week’s top headlines.

At the G-7 Summit, President Biden warned that there could be global food shortages as a result of the Russian invasion, amid rising inflation and lingering supply chain issues.

Meanwhile, a new report found that agrifoodtech startups raised a record $52 billion in 2021, nearly doubling the previous year’s total.

Check out our weekly round-up of last week’s top food startup, tech and innovation news below or peruse the full newsletter here.

1. Biden Warns of ‘Real’ Food Shortage Risk Over Russia’s Invasion into Ukraine – The Hill

President Biden warned Thursday that there could be global food shortages resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine and announced steps to prevent a potential crisis.

2. Agrifoodtech Ventures Raised Record $52B in 2021, Nearly Doubling Previous Year’s Total – AFN

That represents an 85% increase over 2020’s $27.8 billion total, indicating the accelerating — and increasingly urgent — demand from investors and consumers for technologies that can enable more sustainable and resilient food systems.

3. Beyond Meat Bets On Vegan Jerky As Initial Product Launch For PepsiCo Partnership – Green Queen

The move represents Beyond’s first foray into shelf-stable products.

4. Turkey: Getir Officially Announces $768M Series E Round, Now at Decacorn $11.8B Valuation – Tech.eu

Across Europe and the US, the company now boasts a network of over 1.1k g-stores and close to 40m app downloads across 9 countries, delivering almost one million orders daily.

5. Indonesian E-Grocery Startup Sayurbox Raises $120M in Series C Funding – Forbes

The startup was founded with the social mission of providing market access to local farmers through the digitization of Indonesia’s agri-supply chain. It currently works with more than 10k farmers.

6. As Sanctions Bite Russia, Fertilizer Shortage Imperils World Food Supply – Reuters

Western sanctions on Russia, a major exporter of potash, ammonia, urea and other soil nutrients, have disrupted shipments of those key inputs around the globe. Growers are scrambling to adjust.

7. To Raise a Fund, This Agtech Outfit Built a Content Company First (Now It Has $60M to Put to Work) – TechCrunch

The capital will go toward AgFunder’s new fund that it expects will reach $100m over the next couple months.

8. Instacart Just Gave Grocery Retailers the Keys to the Castle – Forbes

Instacart’s new offering will allow retailers to essentially white-label many elements of Instacart’s digital and retail operations capabilities – a boon for smaller retailers who lack the capital to invest in building their own omnichannel capabilities.

9. Sustainable Global Consumer Trends and What It Means for Farmers – Evoke

10. US Farm Groups Urge Sowing on Protected Land As War Cuts Off Ukraine Supply – Reuters

Farm groups are urging the USDA to allow farmers the ability to plant on acres set aside for conservation, to help fill the absence of Ukrainian corn, wheat and sunflower oil amid Russia’s invasion of the country.

11. Sweetgreen to Open First Drive-Thru in Chicago Suburb – Restaurant Dive

The restaurant will also feature an observation window so customers can watch meal preparation from their cars as they wait to pick up their orders.

12. The Brave New World of Legalized Psychedelics Is Already Here – The Nation

Welcome to the strange new world of “psychedelic capitalism,” where dozens of startups have already raised millions to commercialize psilocybin, DMT, mescaline and LSD–despite the fact that all of these “classic psychedelics” are still ranked as Schedule I drugs.

13. Food Businesses Lose Faith in Instagram After Algorithm Changes – New York Times

Instagram’s choice to prioritize videos over photos creates unforeseen costs for small companies, leaving many owners disheartened.

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The post Ag and Food Tech Startups Raised $52B in 2021, Biden Warns of Food Shortage + More appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Join 600+ entrepreneurs, investors, executives, advocates and more to explore strategies and tactics for reducing societal consumption of animal products and ending factory farming at the fourth annual Reducetarian Summit on May 12 – 14, 2022 in San Francisco. The theme of this year’s conference is “inclusivity.” In addition to several moderated panels, lightning talks and fireside chats, the summit will also feature a full expo showcasing delicious plant-based food, skills building workshops and curated networking opportunities.

At the Reducetarian Summit you will:

Hear from world-renowned speakers
Attend moderated panels and lightning talks
Participate in skills-building workshops
Enjoy networking opportunities (including happy hours and a dance party)
Learn about the latest plant-based, fermented, and cell-cultured products and services

Hear from 100+ industry leading speakers, including:

Tim Carman (The Washington Post)
Alexandr Samocha (Wild Type)
Ben Williamson (Compassion in World Farming)
Chloe Sorvino (Forbes)
Arjan Stephens (Nature’s Path)
Talib Visram (Fast Company)
Craig Watts (Farmer)
Andrew D. Ive (Big Idea Ventures)
Maisie Ganzler (BAMCO, Bon Appétit Management Company)
Stephanie Chen (Stray Dog Capital)

Taste foods from top food & beverage brands, including:

Silk/So Delicious
Miyoko’s Creamery
Quorn
Meatless Farm
No Evil Foods
Meati Foods
Loca
MeliBio

Use code FoodTechConnect10 for 10% off

The post Attend the Reducetarian Summit May 12-14 in San Francisco [Sponsored] appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Image source: New York Times

Every week we track the business, tech and investment trends in CPG, retail, restaurants, agriculture, cooking and health, so you don’t have to. Here are some of this week’s top headlines.

A handful of employees at Amazon’s massive warehouse on Staten Island, operating without support from national labor organizations, took on one of the most powerful companies in the world–and won. Meanwhile, six Starbucks stores have won their union campaigns, providing major insight into the future of the American labor movement.

Plant-based sales hit $7.4 billion in 2021, growing at a rate three-times greater than all other food in the grocery store.

Meanwhile, soaring diesel prices are rippling through the global economy, straining costs at every step of the supply chain and making their way to shoppers.

Check out our weekly round-up of last week’s top food startup, tech and innovation news below or peruse the full newsletter here.

1. Amazon Workers on Staten Island Vote to Unionize in Landmark Win for Labor – New York Times

Despite heavy lobbying by the company, workers at the facility voted by a wide margin for a union. It was seen as a rebuke of the company’s treatment of its employees.

2. Plant-Based Food Sales Hit $7.4B in 2021 – Food Dive

Plant-based grew at a rate three times greater than all other food in the grocery store, which had a 1.8% growth rate last year. Plant-based milk leads the way when it comes to dollar sales, now representing 16% of the entire milk category.

3. Soaring Cost of Diesel Ripples Through the Global Economy – New York Times

Farmers are spending more to keep tractors and combines running. Shipping and trucking companies are passing higher costs to retailers, which are beginning to pass them on to shoppers.

4. War-Fueled Global Hunger Catastrophe on the Way with Solutions Tough to Come By – Forbes

Tens of millions of people, from Europe to Asia, Africa and the Middle East, are expected to go hungry this year due to a grim combination of factors made significantly worse by Putin’s unprovoked war in Ukraine.

5. Indoor Farming to Reach an Estimated $155.6B by 2026 – Food Dive

The indoor farming space raised a total of $1.6b through 70 deals in 2021, marking a more than 36% increase year over year.

6. New UN Climate Report Urges Food Systems Solutions—Before It’s Too Late – Civil Eats

The latest report from the IPCC notes that, while eliminating fossil fuels is the first priority, land- and diet-based solutions could provide a quarter of world’s urgently needed emissions cuts.

7. MycoTechnology Raises $85M for Innovation and International Expansion – Food Dive

The mushroom ingredients powerhouse has created solutions that block bitter flavors, reduce salt and enhance protein in food. It plans to expand to Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

8. Israeli Robotic Beehive Maker Raises $80M in Private Funds – Reuters

Beewise operates climate controlled, robotic beehives fit with automated harvesting and solar panels. The AI tech can detect threats to a honeybee colony.

9. Philippines-Based MSME Platform GrowSari Raises $77.5M Series C – TechCrunch

The new capital will be used for expansion into new store formats, such as small eateries and roadside shops. It offers tools for small businesses such as inventory management, pricing tools and working capital loans.

10. Heirloom Raises $53M in Series A for Its Cost-Effective Carbon Capture Tech – Green Queen

Funding will go towards financing the first low-cost and scalable direct air capture process. The company’s aim is to remove one billion tons of CO2 from the environment by 2035.

11. Yami Bags $50M Series B to Boost Its Online Asian Marketplace – TechCrunch

The LA-based DTC marketplace offers Asian food, skincare products and household goods with over 4k brands. It plans to use funding to open up a warehouse in New Jersey.

12. How Starbucks Workers Unionizing Could Inspire Other Chains to Organize – Eater

Workers at more than 140 Starbucks locations have announced plans to unionize, and at least six of those stores have won their union campaigns, demanding higher wages, better health insurance and better safety protocols during the pandemic.

13. Why 48K California Grocery Workers Have Authorized a Strike – Forbes

Unionized grocery workers have voted to strike in a bid to secure higher wages and safer working conditions in Southern California.

14. What to Know About the Bird Flu Outbreak – New York Times

More than 15m chickens and turkeys from infected commercial and backyard flocks in 19 states have been killed.

15. The Better Meat Co to Debut Mycelium Foie Gras – Food Dive

The foie gras, which will be made from the company’s mycelium-derived Rhiza protein, will first appear on restaurant menus.

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The post Amazon Workers Unionize, Plant-Based Sales Hit $7.4B in 2021 + More appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Image source: Healthline

Every week we track the business, tech and investment trends in CPG, retail, restaurants, agriculture, cooking and health, so you don’t have to. Here are some of this week’s top headlines.

A major new report by IPES-Food, The Politics of Protein: Examining claims about livestock, fish, ‘alternative proteins’ and sustainability, sheds light on misleading generalizations that dominate public discussion about meat and protein, and warns of the risks of falling for meat techno-fixes.

In other news, the war in Ukraine has paralyzed harvests, destroyed granaries and crops, and brought potentially devastating consequences to a country that produces a large share of the world’s grain. It has created a global food crisis that will have the biggest impact in poorer countries such as Sudan, Afghanistan and Egypt.

Check out our weekly round-up of last week’s top food startup, tech and innovation news below or peruse the full newsletter here.

1. Fake Meat Won’t Solve the Climate Crisis – Civil Eats

A new report, “The Politics of Protein,” questions the dramatic environmental claims that alternative proteins can save the planet, disrupt the status quo or challenge the power of the corporate food industry.

2. War Hits Ukraine’s Farms – New York Times

Farmland covers 70% of the country and agricultural products were Ukraine’s top export. The country now has 13m tons of соrn and 3.8m tons of wheat that it cannot export using its usual routes.

3. Vertical Farms Expand as Demand for Year-Round Produce Grows – New York Times

The industry is expected to grow to $9.7b worldwide by 2026, but it faces challenges, including high energy costs, technological limitations and the ability to scale.

4. Putin’s War Has Started a Global Food Crisis – New York Times

The prices of commodities like wheat and corn are global, but their shocks are inequitable. These are the countries that will be most affected by rising food prices.

5. UK Becomes First Country to Regulate CBD Products As Food, ‘De-Risks Category for Investors’ – AFN

CBD products that are orally consumed, legal and cleared for sale in the UK will now appear the Food Standards Agency’s CBD List.

6. Australia’s Plant-Based Products Predicted to Reach Up to $9B Valuation by 2030 – Green Queen

Current figures suggest the sector is worth $140m. Key drivers will be domestic grocery partnerships, increased international exports and tech-driven innovation.

7. Jüsto Grabs New Capital As It Expands Grcoery Delivery in Brazil, Peru – TechCrunch

The company claims to be the first supermarket in Mexico with no physical store that enables customers to buy groceries directly from its website or an app. It has raised $152m to expand into new cities.

8. The World’s First Genetically Engineered Wheat Is Here – The Breakthrough

Argentina’s new genetically engineered, drought-tolerant wheat could have large environmental benefits.

9. House Passes Bill That Would Inject $42B into Restaurant Revitalization Fund – Restaurant Dive

If HR 3807 passes the Senate, the 177k restaurants that were approved for but didn’t receive RRF grants will be in a queue to receive funding.

10. NY Gov Hochul to Sign Bill Legalizing To-Go Cocktails Until 2025 – Restaurant Dive

The bill applies to restaurants and other retail license holders that sell alcohol on-premises, but requires customers to buy “a substantial food item.”

11. Four Million Dead Chickens Tell Grim Story of Ukrainian Farm – Wall Street Journal

War has hammered the country’s globally important farming sector, and left one poultry plant with a dangerous cleanup.

12. The $120B Global Grain Trade Is Being Redrawn by Russia’s War in Ukraine – Bloomberg

Across Ukraine’s farm belt, silos are bursting with 15m tons of corn from the autumn harvest, most of which should have been hitting world markets.

Our newsletter is the absolute easiest way to stay on top of the emerging sector, so sign up for it today and never miss the latest food tech and innovation news and trends, Already signed up? Share the love with your friends and colleagues!

The post Politics of Protein, War Hits Ukraine’s Farms + More appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Image source: Washington Post

Every week we track the business, tech and investment trends in CPG, retail, restaurants, agriculture, cooking and health, so you don’t have to. Here are some of this week’s top headlines.

The Good Food Institute’s latest report which looks at the entire alternative seafood category across plant-based, cell-cultured, and fermentation-based products, said 2021 investment brought the total invested in the category to $313 million from 2013 through 2021. Investment in alternative seafood companies totaled $175 million in 2021, a 92% jump over 2020.

In other news, for more than three weeks, China’s most populous city, Shanghai, has been under strict lockdown orders in an effort to control a coronavirus outbreak, leaving its 25 million residents trapped at home, struggling to feed themselves or get medical help for sick family members.

Check out our weekly round-up of last week’s top food startup, tech and innovation news below or peruse the full newsletter here.

1. Investment in Alternative Seafood Startups Totaled $175M in 2021, Up 92% From Previous Year – The Spoon

GFI’s new report found that 2021 investment brought the total invested in the category to $313m from 2013 through 2021. Cultivated seafood startups commanded two-thirds of all investment in alt-seafood last year at $115m.

2. Shanghai’s Covid Siege: Food Shortages, Talking Robots, Starving Animals – Washington Post

For more than three weeks, China’s most populous city, Shanghai, has been under strict lockdown orders in an effort to control a coronavirus outbreak, leaving its 25m residents trapped at home, struggling to feed themselves or get medical help for sick family members.

3. The Netherlands: Dutch Government Awards €60M to Domestic Cellular Agriculture Ecosystem – Green Queen

The amount represents the largest ever single investment into cellular agriculture by a government globally.

4. Germany: Choco Gets Its Horn Amid Mission to Remove Food Waste from Supply Chain – TechCrunch

The company has raised $111m to expand the reach of its software that digitizes ordering, supply chain and communications for suppliers and restaurants.

5. Starbucks Prepares to Expand Worker Benefits That Might Exclude Unionized Staff – Wall Street Journal

Starbucks chief Howard Schultz is pushing the company’s campaign against unionization, warning that expanded benefits can’t automatically go to unionized workers.

6. The Future of the Grocery Industry — Will Walmart, Kroger & Amazon Remain Leaders? – Forbes

No one knows if traditional supermarkets can evolve to survive in what the industry will become.

7. PFAS: The ‘Forever Chemicals’ You Couldn’t Escape If You Tried – New York Times

Virtually indestructible, these artificial compounds are used in fast-food packaging and countless household items, but they have been found as far away as virgin forests.

8. John Kempf’s Innovation-Forward Regenerative Agriculture Business Advancing Eco Agriculture Raises $4.7M – AFN

Kempf counts some of the world’s leading agrifood companies as clients in a footprint of over 4m acres across North America. His business, Advancing Eco Agriculture, is on a mission to transition 80% of the world’s farms by 2040.

9. Palestinians Could Run Out of Wheat Reserves in Three Weeks in Ripple Effect of Ukraine War – Forbes

Gazans will be the first to experience hunger related to shortages and price hikes due to Russia’s unprovoked attack.

10. Baby Formula Shortage Strains Families, Forces Stores to Ration – Washington Post

Target, Walgreens, Kroger, CVS and others are limiting purchases as baby formula supplies run thin across the country.

Our newsletter is the absolute easiest way to stay on top of the emerging sector, so sign up for it today and never miss the latest food tech and innovation news and trends, Already signed up? Share the love with your friends and colleagues!

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Image source: Upside Foods

Every week we track the business, tech and investment trends in CPG, retail, restaurants, agriculture, cooking and health, so you don’t have to. Here are some of this week’s top headlines. This month’s newsletter is sponsored by Institute of Food Technologists (IFT).

Upside Foods has raised the largest funding round to date in the cultivated meat space. A whopping $400 million will allow it to build a commercial-scale manufacturing facility with an annual capacity of tens of millions of pounds of cultured meat.

As web3 further permeates into the world of F&B, it holds promise of improving upon existing dynamics and being leveraged for good. Andrea Hernandez discusses empowering “consumer communes,” non-fungible tastings and the cannabis market after dark in her newsletter, Snaxshot.

Check out our weekly round-up of last week’s top food startup, tech and innovation news below or peruse the full newsletter here.

1. Upside Foods Gets $400M Investment for Commercial-Scale Facility – Food Dive

The largest single funding round in the cultivated meat space to date included money from Tyson, Cargill and Givaudan, and will help the company bring cell-based animal products to market.

2. Community Packaged Goods – Snaxshot

3. Starbucks Is Having an Identity Crisis. Can Howard Schultz Fix It? – Wall Street Journal

The former CEO is back for his third stint running the coffee giant. But the company is in a very different place than when he left it.

4. 2022 AgFunder AgriFoodTech Investment Report – AFN

Venture capital investors pumped $51.7b into agrifood technologies in 2021; an 85% increase over 2020. Agrifoodtech sectors that took off in response to the Covid-19 pandemic not only remained the most popular investment categories; they exploded with new deals.

5. Thank God, the Era of Goop-Style Snacks Is Ending – Bon Appetit

These are the scams, the stars and the shifts that are defining the meals we eat between meals, according to Snaxshot writer Andrea Hernández.

6. Motif FoodWorks Hits Back at Impossible Foods in Heme Patent Spat – AFN

Motif FoodWorks has petitioned the US Patent & Trademark Office to revoke the patent at the center of the dispute.

7. Chipotle Hopes New $50M Fund Will Continue Its ‘Technological Transformation’ – AFN

Cultivate Next, the new fund, will invest in early-stage restaurant tech startups developing solutions that enhance both guest and employee experiences.

8. Netherlands: Just Eat Takeaway Is Exploring a Sale of Grubhub Barely a Year After Buying the Company – CNBC

The company bought the US food delivery platform for $7.3b barely a year ago. It’s faced calls from a prominent activist investor to sell Grubhub and refocus on Europe.

9. Netherlands: Land-Based The Kingfish Company Signs Up to $81M Debt Facility – Intrafish

Financing will allow for further development in the United States and Europe.

10. Leonardo DiCaprio Backed Climate Fund Regeneration.VC Closes $45M to Bring Sustainability Across Omnichannel – Forbes

The firm has so far closed six regenerative agriculture-focused deals, including Cruz Foam that uses shellfish waste to create styrofoam alternative, and CleanO2 which converts industrial emissions into fertilizers.

Our newsletter is the absolute easiest way to stay on top of the emerging sector, so sign up for it today and never miss the latest food tech and innovation news and trends, Already signed up? Share the love with your friends and colleagues!

The post Web3 and Community Packaged Goods, Upside Foods Raises $400M + More appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Image source: Civil Eats

The highest court in one of India’s 28 states ruled last month that “Mother Nature” has the same legal status as a human being, claiming that the natural environment is part of the human right to life, and that humans have an environmental duty to future generations.

Groups like Los Deliveristas Unidos are organizing delivery workers at Doordash, Uber Eats and other apps who are demanding better working conditions, despite a lack of employee protections—and often being undocumented.

Check out our weekly round-up of last week’s top food startup, tech and innovation news below or peruse the full newsletter here.

1. Indian Court Rules That Nature Has Legal Status on Par with Humans—and That Humans Are Required to Protect It – Inside Climate News

The judge invoked the power of the government to act as a guardian for those who cannot care for themselves.

2. The Next Frontier of Labor Organizing: Food Delivery Workers – Civil Eats

3. Brightseed’s First AI Detected ‘Phytonutrient’ Comes to Market Alongside a $68M B Round – TechCrunch

Brightseed’s machine learning platform Forager identifies and categorizes plant compounds. It has already mapped two million, considerably more than are characterized in scientific literature.

4. Courtney Boyd Myers: A Call to Clean Up the Plant-Based Food Industry – Vegconomist

Methylcellulose, soy lecithin, low erucic acid and tapioca maltodextrin are a handful of the unappetizing ingredients found in plant-based products. Myers calls out brands flooding the market with heavily processed foods and the resulting consumer distrust.

5. Estonia: Gelatex Claims to Have Solved One of Cultivated Meat’s Biggest Scaling Hurdles: Affordable Scaffolding – Green Queen

The company claims that its nanofiber scaffolding system is now able to support the production of 300 tons of cultivated meat per year.

6. Starbucks Plans Wage Increases That Won’t Apply to Unionized Workers. – New York Times

The initiative was announced as labor organizers have won initial votes at more than 50 stores, including several this week.

7. Indian Grocery Startup Zepto Raises New Funds at $900M Valuation – Reuters

The company has raised $200m to further expand, signaling growing investor interest in a sector where companies are luring customers with instant deliveries.

8. White House Will Host First Food Insecurity Conference in 50 Years – CNN

President Biden will convene a conference in September focused on ending hunger and improving nutrition across the nation, as the US sees higher rates of food insecurity amid the pandemic.

9. Diversity and Resilient Food Systems Are Crucial to Avoid Even Worse Global Food Price Crisis – Food Ingredients First

IPES calls for food industry players to build regional grain reserves, diversify food production and restructure trade flows, reduce biofuels, livestock numbers and reliance on fertilizers and fossil energy in food production.

10. Why Have There Been No Great Worker-Owned Restaurants? – MOLD

Few restaurants have turned to worker-ownerships as a means to radically reimagine the industry. Why is it that in conversations about ‘sustainability’ we talk about vegetables but not about people?

11. Sweetgreen to Open First Pickup-Only Location in DC – Restaurant Dive

The dining room-free format features grab-and-go shelves and will only take orders placed on its website, app or third-party marketplaces.

12. Stanford Gets $1.1B for New Climate School From John Doerr – New York Times

The billionaire venture capitalist said the study of climate change and sustainability would be the “new computer science.”

Our newsletter is the absolute easiest way to stay on top of the emerging sector, so sign up for it today and never miss the latest food tech and innovation news and trends, Already signed up? Share the love with your friends and colleagues!

The post Indian Court Declares Nature a Legal Person, Food Delivery Workers Unionizing + More appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Image Credit: Green Queen

Every week we track the business, tech and investment trends in CPG, retail, restaurants, agriculture, cooking and health, so you don’t have to. Here are some of this week’s top headlines.

Startups across the globe are on a race to scale cultivated meat. This week marked a major win for two companies: Australia-based Vow has unveiled its first factory dedicated to producing up to 30 tons of cultured meat per year, with Factory 2 on the way in 2024. Meanwhile, France-based Gourmey has raised €48 million to build Europe’s largest cultivated meat hub to date.

In other news, interest among venture capitalists in the medical potential of food has risen as the understanding of diet’s role in disease has grown. A coalition of investors have pledged $2.5 billion to startups looking to reduce hunger and improve health through food.

1. Australia: Vow Opens One of the Largest Cultivated Meat Factories in the World Ahead of Anticipated Regulatory Approval – Green Queen

Factory 1 is capable of producing 30 tons of cultured meat per year, while Factory 2–poised to open in 2024– can produce 100 times the amount of cultured meat as its sister site.

2. France: Gourmey Raises €48M to Build Europe’s Largest Cultivated Meat Hub – Sifted

The startup, which produces artificial foie gras as its flagship product, will use funding to build a production facility in Paris, set to be Europe’s largest cultivated meat production site.

3. ‘Food-as-Medicine’ Startups Draw Venture Capital – Wall Street Journal

A coalition of investors have pledged $2.5b to startups looking to reduce hunger and improve health through food.

4. Gene Editing Startup Inari Bags $124M to ‘Unlock the Full Potential’ of Seeds – AFN

Inari uses seed gene editing tools to enhance the natural diversity of seeds while enabling higher crop yields with fewer inputs.

5. Liquid Death Water Startup Valued at $700M – Bloomberg

The sparkling and still water brand is projecting $130m in revenue for 2022, and is on pace to double that number next year.

6. Biodiversity Quicky Rises Up the ESG Investing Agenda – Financial Times

Species loss is now seen as a problem as big as climate change.

7. Burger King, Popeyes and Jack in the Box Cut Ties with Ghost Kitchen Reef As the SoftBank-Backed Startup Continues to Face Operational Issues – Business Insider

The startup’s business model relies on deals with large fast-food chains like Wendy’s and Denny’s, and some larger ones have already cut ties.

8. The Rounds Raises $38M Series A for Its Sustainable ‘Household Restocking’ Service – TechCrunch

This Prime alternative has no annual fee, no packaging or waste and no tipping.

9. Typhur Cooks Up $20M to Channel Your Inner Sous Vide Chef – TechCrunch

Typhur’s Sous Vide Station includes all of the components needed for a home chef to try their hand at sous vide cooking, plus a digital touchscreen and video-guided recipes from Michelin-star chefs.

10. Farm Robotics Market Map: 250 Startups Automating Crop Production Indoors and Outdoors – AFN

There are 250 farm robotics startups automating various activities on crop farms both indoors and outdoors according to a new market map.

11. Low-Price Grocers Like Aldi Are Winning As Consumers Trade Down – CNN

With grocery prices soaring, consumers are changing the way they shop for food. That’s great news for discount grocers like bare-bones supermarket Aldi.

12. Key Takeaways from Biden’s Conference on Hunger and Nutrition in America – NPR

President Biden pushed for Congress to permanently extend the child tax credit, raise the minimum wage and expand nutrition assistance programs to help reduce hunger rates.

The post Cultivated Meat Factories Open in Australia and France, ‘Food-as-Medicine’ Startups Draw $2.5B in Venture Capital + More appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Image Credit: Carlos Bernate for The New York Times

Every week we track the business, tech and investment trends in CPG, retail, restaurants, agriculture, cooking and health, so you don’t have to. Here are some of this week’s top headlines.

The plant-based market has become crowded and noisy; the novelty has vaporized; and growth has slowed so much that Beyond Meat’s share price has cratered beyond belief, from a high of $109 to around $16. Brand strategist Adam Hanft discusses why plant-based meat is a branding catastrophe.

Two of the country’s largest supermarket chains, Kroger and Albertsons, announced plans on Friday to merge in a deal that could alter the food retail landscape but will also face intense scrutiny by regulators. Kroger said it would acquire Albertsons for $24.6 billion, creating a retail monolith with 5,000 stores across the country and $209 billion in combined revenue.

1. After Billions in Investment, Plant-Based Meat Is a Branding Catastrophe – AFN

There is zero differentiation or branding in the space; all the players are stuck in Motorola Land, going no further than saying “We are plant-based.”

2. Kroger and Albertsons Plan $25B Supermarket Merger That May Face Hurdles – New York Times

The deal, an effort to bulk up against deep-pocketed rivals Walmart and Amazon, is likely to invite serious antitrust scrutiny from regulators. Read why it might be a bad idea.

3. Beyond Meat to Cut 19% of Its Workforce As Sales, Stock Struggle – CNBC

Shares of the company fell nearly 10% Friday, dragging the company’s market value below $900m.

4. Line Man Wongnai Is Thailand’s Latest Unicorn After Series B Funding – Deal Street Asia

The startup, which has raised $265m, offers food delivery, grocery delivery, taxi, messenger, restaurant reviews and restaurant solutions.

5. Soli Organic Secures $125M to Expand Soil-Based Vertical Farming Across the US – AFN

The company says it can grow leafy greens and herbs indoors via its soil-based vertical farming system for 30% less than it costs to grow outdoors.

6. The Climate Economy Is About to Explode – The Atlantic

A new report suggests that the Inflation Reduction Act could be even bigger than Congress thinks.

7. Reggaeton Star Maluma Bets on Colombian Cloud Kitchen Startup – Bloomberg

Foodology raised $50m with a roster of new investors. Money will help fund new locations and expansion in Brazil.

8. Spotted Lanternflies Are Feasting on US Grapevines and Putting Vineyards at Risk – CNBC

Fiore Winery in Maryland is among those experiencing the insect’s destructive effects, having already lost about 50% of its production this year because of the lanternflies.

9. Netherlands: Meatable Moves Closer to Becoming the World’s First Cultivated Pork Producer to Earn Regulatory Approval – Green Queen

Meatable says it’s poised to bring cultivated pork to Singapore through an exclusive partnership with the only approved contract cultivated meat manufacturer, ESCO Aster.

10. Inside the Global Effort to Keep Perfectly Good Food Out of the Dump – New York Times

Around the world, lawmakers and entrepreneurs are taking steps to tackle two of humanity’s most pressing problems: hunger and climate change.

11. Turkey: Delivery Startup Getir in Advanced Talks to Buy Gorillas – Bloomberg

The purchase will give Getir scale in key markets like the UK and Germany.

12. The Era of the Paywalled Restaurants Is Upon Us – New York Times

From private “clubstaurants” to NFT reservation tokens to concierge services, getting a table is a lot easier if you’ve got the money.

13. Carbon-Credit Surplus Could Soon Turn to Shortage – Wall Street Journal

Soon there might not be enough carbon credits to go around as hundreds of companies act to offset emissions they can’t eliminate on their own.

The post Plant-Based Meat’s Branding Catastrophe, Thoughts on the Kroger-Albertsons Merger + More appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Image Credit: Fast Company

Every week we track the business, tech and investment trends in CPG, retail, restaurants, agriculture, cooking and health, so you don’t have to. Here are some of this week’s top headlines.

New Harvest and the Good Food Institute are calling for open access research as a means to advance the field of meat alternatives. Weed is coming to 10 Circle K gas stations in Florida next year. Last but not least, Instacart is pulling plans to go public this year amid market turmoil.

1. The Future of Meat Requires New Intellectual Infrastructure. That’s What Isha Datar Is Building. – Vox

For meat alternatives to take off, we don’t just need startups — we need more research and new structures to advance the field.

2. Alternative Protein Research Should Be Open Access – AFN

Seren Kell from the Good Food Institute Europe speaks to AFN following a £20m pledge from two UK bodies to support the sector.

3. Weed Is Coming to Circle K Gas Stations in US Next Year – Bloomberg

Deal with Green Thumb Industries will begin with 10 stores in Florida. This could help marijuana go more mainstream.

4. Instacart Is Said to Pull Plans to Go Public This Year – New York Times

The food delivery company had been moving toward a public offering, but the window for such deals is shutting amid market turmoil.

5. V3 Ventures Launches to Put €100M into Startups in Health, Beauty and Food – TechCrunch

Verlinvest has previously funded a few well-known consumer brands like Oatly, Vita Coco, Tony’s Chocolonely and others. It now plans to target startups in the UK, Europe, US and India, focusing on pre-seed to Series A investments.

6. Regenerative Agriculture Is Anything but ‘Just Business’ – AFN

Capital holders are spending less time asking why they should deploy capital in the space and focusing more on how and where. But it could be a bumpy road ahead.

7. In-N-Out Burger, Del Monte & Kraft Files NFT & Metaverse Trademarks – The Crypto Times

The brands hope to expand their web3 presence with virtual restaurants and marketplaces.

8. Kevin Hart Details New Plant-Based Restaurant to Take on McDonald’s, Burger King – Yahoo!

This week, the actor and comedian opened his first Hart House in California, offering a menu of plant-based chicken and burgers.

9. How the Pandemic Has Forever Changed Restaurants (So Far.) – Grubstreet

Restaurants now have fewer workers and more seats, there’s an increased emphasis on sick days, and recipes are designed to be more malleable.

10. Robotics Use Growing “at Breathtaking Speed” As Food & Bev Industry Automation Increases 25% – AFN

The food and beverage industry in the US installed 25% more robots last year to reach nearly 3.5k units in 2021, according to a robotics report by the International Federation of Robotics.

11. 11 of the Best Food and Beverage Venture Capitalists in 2022, According to Deal Data and Other VCs – Business Insider

Investment in food-and-beverage startups has risen sharply over the past few years. Here are some of the top dealmakers in the space.

The post Alt Protein Research Should be Open Access, Weed Is Coming to Gas Stations + More appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Image Credit: Courtsey

Every week we track the business, tech and investment trends in CPG, retail, restaurants, agriculture, cooking and health, so you don’t have to. Here are some of this week’s top headlines.

Good Food Institute APAC, APAC Society for Cellular Agriculture, and more than 30 other key industry stakeholders came together and signed a nomenclature agreement that selected ‘cultivated meat’ as an industry-wide term. Despite a global decline in funding this year, Asia-Pacific agrifoodtech startups defied expectations. Investments reached just $5.3 billion in the first half of 2022, breaking records and defying expectations.

Last but not least, a study released Monday in the journal Nature Sustainability offers a new guide to weighing the total environmental impact of your diet, from crops to livestock to seafood.

1. Nearly Every Cultivated Food Startup in Asia Just Signed a Historic Nomenclature Agreement. – Green Queen

Cellular agriculture producers across the APAC region have come to a consensus: the preferred English-language term for the category is “cultivated.”

2. Here’s Exactly How Your Diet Affects the Planet, a Landmark Study Finds – Washington Post

A study released Monday in the journal Nature Sustainability offers a new guide to weighing the total environmental impact of your diet, from crops to livestock to seafood.

3. Asia-Pacific Agrifoodtech Startup Funding Defies Global Decline in 2022 – AFN

Investors poured $15.2b into Asia-Pacific agrifoodtech startups in 2021. In 2022, the region continues to break records.

4. Beyond Meat’s Plant-Based Steak Launches at More Than 5K Stores – Food Dive

The product, the first of its kind widely available in US grocery stores, could help turn the company’s fortunes, which have been mired recently by job cuts and slowing sales.

5. The Dutch Government Invests €60M in Cellular Agriculture – Green Queen

The Dutch government’s investment is now the largest government grant in the world. By 2050, it expects €1.25 – €2.0b in growth and a reduction of CO2 emissions by approximately 1.8m tons.

6. Reef Quietly Exists Houston As the SoftBank-Backed Ghost Kitchen Continues to Face Operational Issues and Loses Partnerships – Business Insider

The exit comes as the startup continues to face new violations, and after Jack in the Box and Burger King have ended partnerships with Reef.

7. Kraft Heinz Launches Plant-Based Cheese Slices Through NotCo Joint Venture – Food Dive

The product, which Bloomberg says will be in some Ohio stores next month, is the CPG giant’s first foray into new products made without animal-derived ingredients.

8. Solar Foods Earns Regulatory Approval in Singapore for Carbon-Captured Protein – Green Queen

Solar Foods is using a single-cell-based microbial tech to grow its protein with help from hydrogen and CO2 pulled from the atmosphere.

9. Israel: Trigo Nets $100M As It Eyes ‘Full-Sized’ Supermarkets – Grocery Dive

The Israeli frictionless checkout startup company plans to use the new funding in part to scale its computer vision-based technology for use in larger retail locations than it currently supports.

10. Workers at Trader Joe’s in Brooklyn Reject Union – New York Times

The loss raises questions about whether a national wave of unionization may be slowing. A union had won two previous votes at the grocery chain.

11. BioVeritas Gets $65M for Fermented Upcycled Ingredients – Food Dive

The company, which turns broken pasta and other food waste into ingredients commonly sourced from petrochemicals, plans to open a commercial-scale plant in 2025.

12. AquaBounty in Murky Water After Accusations of Safety Violations at GM Salmon Plant – AFN

A former employee shares evidence of violations ranging from mishandled chemicals to unsafe water at the genetically modified salmon factory.

13. Good Eggs Joins Forces with Momofuku on Fresh Meal Kits – Restaurant Dive

The online grocer has started selling kits that combine its produce, meat and seafood with the culinary brand’s sauces and spices.

14. Deranged Diners, Inflation and Staff Shortages: American Restaurants Are Struggling – The Guardian

Covid rules have been lifted – but things aren’t back to normal for staff or customers.

The post Asia Selects ‘Cultivated Meat’ As Industry Term, Landmark Study on Diet’s Environmental Impact + More appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Image Credit: Upside Foods

Every week we track the business, tech and investment trends in CPG, retail, restaurants, agriculture, cooking and health, so you don’t have to. Here are some of this week’s top headlines.

And this week, we are excited to announce launch of our new podcast in partnership with AgFunder: New Food Order, a nuanced investigation into the business of tackling our climate and social crises through food and agriculture. Read all about why we launched the podcast and check out our first two episodes:

#1: Introducing: New Food Order
#2: Is the world better with your business in it? With Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever

And be sure to subscribe and share!

In other news, Upside Foods has just received approval from the U.S> Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to sell lab grown chicken. This first approval of its kind is a major win for the cultivated meat industry and could pave the way for other companies to follow suite.

The outcome of the midterm elections will determine what gets included in the farm bill and the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act as well as whether the Biden administration will be able to move forward many of the anti-hunger initiatives unveiled at the White House Conference in September.

Industry leaders have come together to form the Fungi Protein Association (FPA), which will advocate for fungi as a sustainable protein in public policy, conduct consumer research and more.

1. Upside Foods Gets FDA Greenlight For Cultivated Chicken – Food Dive

This is the first regulatory approval for any cultivated meat in the U.S.The “no questions” letter from the FDA indicates regulators have found nothing unsafe about the cultured chicken the company makes. Upside Foods now awaits approval from the USDA in order to serve its chicken products to consumers.

2. All-Star List of Global Industry Leaders Unite to Form Fungi Protein Association – Vegconomist

The FPA will represent the interests of its member companies, including advocating for fungi as a sustainable protein in public policy, conducting consumer research and more.

3. How the Midterm Elections Will Impact Food and Agriculture – Civil Eats

Who wins in this election will impact key federal legislation including the farm bill and the Child Nutrition Reauthorization.

4. Farmland Values Hit Record Highs, Pricing Out Farmers – New York Times

Small farmers are now going up against deep-pocketed investors, including private equity firms and real estate developers.

5. With New Federal Funding, Has Agroforestry’s Moment Arrived? – Civil Eats

USDA’s new Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities funding program will invest up to $2.8b in 70 projects, including $60m to advance agroforestry.

6. Animal Agriculture Is Dangerous Work. The People Who Do It Have Few Protections. – Civil Eats

Federal OSHA protections don’t apply to 96% of the animal agriculture operations that hire workers in America. When people die on the job, the federal agency doesn’t respond 85% of the time.

7. How to Reduce the Climate Impact of Food: Increase Quality of Life – Sylvanaqua

Chris Newman argues that plant-based diets and grass fed cattle will not save us from climate crisis. The most practical things we can do to improve our personal and planetary health are planning meals, cooking at home and affording good food – all of which are actively contested by our economic culture.

8. New Zealand: A New AI Tool Says It Can Generate Vegan Content Such As Blog Posts and Recipes in Seconds – Green Queen

VEG3 has announced the release of what they describe as the “world’s first artificial intelligence marketing assistant for vegans.”

9. Colorado’s Vote May Boost the Gray Market for Magic Mushrooms – Bloomberg

Colorado’s legalization of magic mushrooms last week was just one of three ballot box initiatives that shifted the US toward wider use of psychoactive drugs — but it could be the one with the most impact.

10. How José Andrés’s World Central Kitchen Went to War – WSJ

After 12 years in operation, the humanitarian organization knows how to mobilize quickly and adapt to all kinds of disasters. But the war in Ukraine presented a new set of challenges.

11. Amazon Is Said to Plan to Lay Off Thousands of Employees – New York Times

The job cuts of approximately 10k, which would start as soon as this week, would focus on the company’s devices organization, retail division and human resources.

The post Lab-Grown Meat Gets FDA Approval, Industry Leaders Form Fungi Protein Association + More appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

The race is on to tackle our climate crisis through food and agriculture, and increasingly our social crisis. But how do we ensure that the solutions to these challenges truly best for all people and our planet? Is it possible to transform the existing system, or do we need a new food order?

These are some of the the questions Louisa Burwood-Taylor, head of media and research at AgFunder, and I started discussing last year. We were seeing increasing investment in things like plant-based foods, carbon markets, cellular agriculture and regenerative agriculture, which were being touted as climate solutions. We were also closely following the great resignation, increasing unionization and the rise in alternative and shared ownership models that distribute value more equitably across all stakeholders. We were seeing a lot of people evangelizing “solutions,” but the nuance was sorely lacking.

And so we set out on a learning and unlearning journey to unearth how we might design business and finance to have maximum positive impact for people and our planet.

This week, we launched New Food Order, a podcast about the business of tackling our climate and social crises through food and agriculture.

Each week, we’ll be bringing you conversations with nuance, debate and diverse voices that explore questions like:

Will plant-based, lab-grown meat and regenerative agriculture save the world?
What are the most people and planet friendly business and finance models?
Is carbon neutral enough?
How might we best honor and learn from indigenous communities?
What are the unintended consequences of these new innovations, and how might we avoid them?

You’ll be hearing from industry leaders like Paul Polman, the former CEO of Unilever, Sam Kass, former nutrition policy expert for the Obamas and a partner at Acre Ventures, Nathalie Kelley, hollywood actress and advocate for regenerative agriculture Indigenous peoples, James Beard Award Winning Chef Sean Sherman, and Oatly’s Julie Kunen and a whole lot more.

We embarked on this journey with more questions than answers. We checked our egos at the door and questioned everything we held to be true. Now, we’re inviting you to do the same and to join us by subscribing here.

And be sure to check out our trailer and first two episodes:

Thank you in advance for subscribing and sharing! This helps us ensure we reach as many people as possible. Together we can play a role in driving this industry forward in a truly positive way for all people and our planet.

The post Introducing: New Food Order appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Image Credit: Bloomberg

Every week we track the business, tech and investment trends in CPG, retail, restaurants, agriculture, cooking and health, so you don’t have to. Here are some of this week’s top headlines.

#1: Introducing: New Food Order
#2: Is the world better with your business in it? With Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever

And be sure to subscribe and share!

After becoming the world’s second approved cultivated meat, Vow raked in a record-setting $49.2 million to bring its cultivated quail to Singapore.

Meanwhile, the latest news on Beyond Meat has stirred trouble for the plant-based meat sector. Photos and internal documents from its plant in Pennsylvania show mold, unsafe use of equipment and other food-safety issues at a factory the company had expected to play a major role in its future. In late July, the company laid off 200 of its employees and several of its chief executives departed. Investors are now debating whether Beyond Meat’s struggles are specific to the company or a harbinger of deeper issues in the plant-based meat industry.

After Infarm announced its successful trials of wheat grown in its indoor vertical farm, critics questioned the viability of growing such a commodity crop at scale indoors. The news sparked a conversation around the realities of vertically-farmed commodities.

1. Australia: Vow Sets a Funding Record Ahead of Becoming the World’s Second Approved Cultivated Meat Brand – Green Queen

Vow has closed a record-setting $49.2m round to help bring its cultivated quail meat to Singapore. It expects approval from Singapore to begin selling its cultivated meat in restaurants later this year.

2. VCs Dish on Why Food Tech Investment Was So Light in Q3, While SAVRpak Bags Freshness Deal with Jüsto – TechCrunch

Both investment values and count were down 63% and 28.5% quarter-over-quarter, respectively. Despite the decline, the investors have a positive outlook on what the next generation of businesses can bring in terms of taste, consumer trust, and brand experience.

3. Beyond Meat Is Struggling, and the Plant-Based Meat Industry Worries – New York Times

A few years ago, business was booming. That growth has slowed, with some wondering if the number of consumers has reached its limit.

4. Beyond Meat Plant’s Dirty Conditions Revealed in Photos, Documents – Bloomberg

Products from the plant tested positive for Listeria on at least 11 occasions during the second half of last year and the first half of 2022. The facility in Pennsylvania illustrates the alt-meat maker’s ongoing difficulties.

5. Germany: Infarm’s Indoor Wheat Suggests We Re-Examine the Realities of Vertically-Farmed Commodities – AFN

War and supply chain issues make indoor wheat an attractive concept. Can the vertical farming industry manage to grow that crop at scale?

6. Israel: Wilk Makes Yogurt Using Milk from Cultivated Cells – Food Dive

The Israeli company is the first to create a finished dairy product that has been produced by cells grown outside of an animal.

7. Australia: Food Tech Company Me& Has Developed the First Fortified Human Breast Milk – Green Queen

The company recently closed an oversubscribed $2.5m seed round. It’s the latest company to bring novel tech to the infant formula category.

8. China: The Untold Story of How Starbucks Has Cozied Up to the Communist Party in Pursuit of Explosive Growth – Fast Company

Starbucks says that China will become its biggest market by 2025. To get there, the company is contorting its values—and taking on significant risk.

9. Deliveroo Just Shut Down in Australia – Startup Daily

The company failed to gain traction and a path to profitability amid heavy competition from rivals such as Uber Eats, DoorDash and Menulog, alongside new competitors regularly entering the market.

10. Is Regenerative Agriculture the Future of Farming or the Next Greenwashing Fad? – Fast Company

To lower emissions, companies from Stonyfield Farms to Pepsi to Cargill are investing big money to change how farmers treat their soil. Can it succeed—or is it just an excuse to prevent more radical changes?

11. For Food Industry to Reach Climate Goals, COP27 Highlights Areas of Improvement – Food Dive

As companies work to improve sustainability goals, activist groups and world leaders call for more reductions in emissions and waste.

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Image Credit: Gregory Bull for Los Angeles Times

Every week we track the business, tech and investment trends in CPG, retail, restaurants, agriculture, cooking and health, so you don’t have to. Here are some of this week’s top headlines.

#1: Introducing: New Food Order
#2: Is the world better with your business in it? With Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever
#3: Looking to Our Indigenous Past For a Regenerative Future, with Nathalie Kelley

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Chloe Sorvino rights about food as a human right, and the ways in which this concept has taken hold in different forms across the United States. She discusses the idea of a new public food chain, funded by the state or federal government, that could coexist with the current marketplace.

Fast food chains have experimented with plant-based proteins for years with limited success. The dream of its widespread adoption in fast food chains may as well be dead, reports the Business Insider.

Last but not least, global disruptions to our food supply chain caused by the pandemic and war abroad have resulted in more turbulent food prices.

1. Free Food for All? Absolutely. In This Age of Abundance, It Should Be a Human Right – Los Angeles Times

The US government already spends hundreds of billions of dollars on the food system. That investment should be transformative.

2. The Dream of Plant-Based Meat in Fast Food May Already Be Dead – Business Insider

Despite some exceptions like Burger King’s Impossible Whopper, plant-based fast food menu items have largely been featured as limited-time offerings. It is currently too expensive and complex for widespread adoption.

3. Globalized Supply Chain Brings More-Turbulent Food Prices – WSJ

Pandemic, war and other global disruptions have shown how the same complex supply chain that for decades has increased the variety and reduced the cost of food can also result in more turbulent prices.

4. California Farms Face $3B Loss From Historic Drought – Bloomberg

California’s worst drought has left growers in the top US agricultural state facing losses of $3b, just as producers brace for more widespread cuts to water supplies.

5. Beyond Meat’s Very Real Problems: Slumping Sausages, Mounting Losses – WSJ

Founder and CEO Ethan Brown has struggled to manage growth. His drive to roll out new products on rushed timelines led to missed deadlines, disappointed customers and wasted packaging and ingredients.

6. Unilever Calls Dairy ‘Problematic’ As It Explores Ice Cream Made From Microbes – Green Queen

The company is exploring precision fermentation as a means to address its portfolio’s climate impact.

7. For the Future of Meat, Food Tech Startups Look Under Mushrooms – San Francisco Chronicle

The past three years have seen a surge in businesses focusing on mycelium. There are an estimated 40 to 50 companies working with mycelium-based foods across the country today.

8. Mood Shifts on Gene-Edited Crops As Droughts and Wars Bite – Financial Times

The European Commission is considering easing regulation on the technology. But critics say it is an untested risk being pushed by Big Ag.

The post The Beginning of a Food Revolution, Free Food For All + More appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Image Credit: Christina Nuzzo / LifeMosaic Photography

Every week we track the business, tech and investment trends in CPG, retail, restaurants, agriculture, cooking and health, so you don’t have to. Here are some of this week’s top headlines.

And be sure to subscribe and share!

Led by Elly Truesdell and Hallie Bonnar, New Fare Partners is the latest female-led VC fund to close its first fund. The VC firm has so far raised $20 million in capital commitments for its inaugural fund investing in early-stage food and beverage businesses.

Animal-free dairy is coming to Asia in an industry first, with the arrival of Perfect Day’s Very Dairy line of milk products in Singapore.

Last but not least, the UFCW unions, which represent over 100,000 workers for Kroger and Albertsons, detailed their opposition to the merger. The group raised concerns the merger will decrease grocery industry competition, raise food prices and cause major job cuts.

1. De-Commodifying Carbon and our Industrial Food Systems, with Tom Goldtooth – New Food Order

Carbon markets are emerging as a leading tool for tackling our climate crisis, but are they actually getting to the root of the crisis? We speak to Tom Goldtooth (Dine’ and Dakota), executive director of the Indigenous Environmental Network about how businesses and communities might approach the climate and social crises.

2. New Fare Partners Is Latest Female-Led VC to Close First Fund – TechCrunch

Co-founded by Elly Truesdell and Hallie Bonnar, the firm secured $20m in capital for its inaugural fund investing in early-stage F&B businesses.

3. Singapore: Perfect Day’s Precision Fermentation Animal-Free Milk Comes to Asia In an Industry First – Green Queen

Very Dairy, the animal-free milk made from microflora, will be available across grocery stores in Singapore.

4. UFCW Local Unions Detail Opposition to Kroger-Albertsons Merger – Grocery Dive

A group representing more than 100k workers for the grocers raised concerns the merger will decrease grocery industry competition, raise food prices and cause major job cuts.

5. UK: Plant-Based Food Brand Huel Valued at $560M Following Idris Elba-Backed Round – TechCrunch

The European provider of nutritional products has sold more than 270m meals across the globe since Julien Heard started the company in 2015. Now with $24m in fresh capital, it plans to do even more.

6. How Israel Became the Global Center For Alternative Meat Tech – Time

Three of the first eight cultivated meat companies in the world started in Israel, and all three are poised for international distribution once local food regulators authorize sales of lab-grown meat.

7. Germany: Vertical Farm Network InFarm to Lay Off ‘More Than Half’ of Workforce, Downsize Operations – AFN

Infarm cites skyrocketing energy prices and the wider downturn as reasons for these latest cuts for indoor farming.

8. The World’s First Cultivated Fish Fat Dives Into the Cell-Based Fat Category – Green Queen

With a rich mouthfeel and increased nutrition profile, ImpacFat’s newly cultivated fish fat is the latest cultured fat poised to disrupt the alternative protein sector.

9. Leading Food and Beverage Companies Launch Agricultural Coalition to Scale Up Agronomic Support for Soil Building Practices Across the US – Sustainable Food Lab

General Mills, Anheuser-Busch, PepsiCo, Unilever and others will join the Trusted Advisor Partnership to amplify the adoption of profitable stewardship practices, starting in North Dakota.

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