For plant-based producers to take a larger chunk out of the US$1.3trn meat market they will need to strengthen their appeal to flexitarian consumers. But how can this be achieved?
Kellogg Company has launched the Innovation Challenge, a collaborative initiative with Future Food-Tech, designed to give new talent in the industry a chance to shine on the virtual stage.
Traditional dairy players are likely to face market disruption as plant-based products continue to improve and new technologies, like the fermentation of dairy proteins, gain traction. How should traditional players respond?
By studying the interactions between plant-based proteins and biomolecules, food biotech POW! Foods is developing a line of vegan meat alternatives. Starting with chorizo, the start-up will be a ‘game-changer in the food industry’, says CEO and co-founder...
Israeli start-up Redefine Meat has pulled off the ‘world’s largest’ blind taste test for its 3D printed meat alternative. The taste test targeted meat-eaters and the results are in. The company secured over a 90% acceptance rate.
By René Floris, NIZO Food Research Division Manager
Welcome to the first edition of this new column from NIZO. Each month, René Floris, NIZO Food Research Division Manager and member of the FoodNavigator expert advisory panel, will examine some of the key challenges and issues facing the food industry...
The newly formed Association of Alternative Food Producers (AAFPP) is preparing to welcome its first cohort of start-ups in the plant-based space. The incubator is an industry first for Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), say its...
The Spanish National Center for Food Technology and Safety (CNTA) has issued a report looking at the trends that shaped R&D in 2020 and how it expects these to define the sector in 2021.
Demand for plant-based products is booming and many consumers identify the sector as being ‘natural’, ‘healthy’ and ‘artisan’, new research reveals. “There is an apparent disconnect between the consumer understanding of natural products and the reality...
Plant & Bean, a UK-based contract manufacturer, has opened Europe’s largest plant-based meat production facility. The investment is an important milestone on its strategic journey to establish what it says would be an ‘industry-first’: a global plant-based...
US plant-based seafood brand Good Catch is expanding in Europe, having secured listings in the Netherlands and Spain. “We have a passion for the culinary arts, for saving our oceans and for providing craveable plant-based products for consumers that believe...
Unilever’s Knorr brand is teaming up with Wageningen University to launch the Good Food Lab. “The Good Food Lab is an opportunity to build an engine room, driven by insights and founded in academic rigour,” April Redmond, Knorr Vice President, tells FoodNavigator.
What do European consumers really think of novel meat products that incorporate plant-based ingredients? An EIT-funded project led Dr Simona Grasso from the University of Reading has sought to find out.
Barry Callebaut is planning a global push for its La Morella Nuts business as it works to tap into growing demand for plant-based products and consumer interest in health and sustainability.
Marks and Spencer is launching the Innovation Hub, a new specialist team that will focus on ‘disruptive innovation’. As part of this initiative, the UK retailer is partnering with biotech start-up 3F BIO to develop a vegan range using ‘protein powerhouse’...
Plant-based ready meal company BOL Foods is joining the likes of Huel and Soylent in the meal replacement market with its newly launched Power Shakes. FoodNavigator catches up with founder Paul Brown to find out how his range sets itself apart in the...
Quorn Foods, a pioneer in the plant-based category, is expanding its culinary innovation team. Tim Ingmire, Head of Research, Development & Quality, tells FoodNavigator the investment will help ‘identify the next big product opportunities’.
VEAT – vending machines that exclusively distribute plant-based options – is a ‘positive example’ of the urgent, concrete actions that need to be taken to make the food system environmentally stable, said one of the investors of the startup’s recently...
Verso Food has secured a patent covering its fava bean processing technology for plant-based foods and meat analogues. FoodNavigator hears from the company's CEO Tomi Järvenpää about the product development opportunities it could unlock, the group’s...
Food manufacturers, supermarket retailers, and foodservice operators continue to step up their plant-based offerings. UK branch of animal welfare charity PETA highlights some of the most ‘exciting’ and ‘new’ vegan products in its 2020 Vegan Food Awards....
As the European Parliament prepares to cast its final vote on the use of names such as ‘burger’ and ‘sausage’ for vegetarian and vegan products, FoodNavigator hears from a plant-based campaigner, a meat market expert, and the British Meat Processors Association.
In a plausible scenario for the future of dairy, food majors worldwide source dairy ingredients from fermentation factories, say researchers from Lund University.
myAir has created a range of snack bars that contain proprietary botanical blends designed to deliver a specific stress-release effect depending on an individual’s cognitive response to stress.
French consumer watchdog Consommation Logement Cadre de Vie (CLCV) has put the nutritional composition of 95 vegetarian and vegan products on French shelves to the test. The result? ‘More water than vegetable protein’, the consumer group said.
FTW Ventures, an early-stage VC, has launched a new fund to support food and agri-tech start-ups that it believes can disrupt the sector. FoodNavigator speaks to founder and entrepreneur Brian Frank about the tech and trends he believes will come to the...
The argument that plant-based foods are healthier and more sustainable than animal-based products has become increasingly common. However, experts warn that the ‘unintended adverse consequences’ of any push to eliminate meat, dairy, eggs and fish from...
Solar Foods is preparing to build its first commercialisation factory for climate-friendly novel protein Solein, having closed a Series A financing round worth €18.5m.
According to the specialist in native and modified wheat starches, wheat proteins and wheat-based functional blends, consumers will increasingly demand sustainable, safe and uncomplicated products in the post-corona era.
French pulse and grains supplier Sabarot has joined the ranks of Danone and Atos by establishing itself as an entreprise à mission - a ‘company with a mission’ - under France’s Pacte Law, declaring its raison d'être through several social and environmental...
Big Idea Ventures is welcoming a second cohort of start-ups to its New Protein Fund accelerator. From cellular agriculture, to bio-fermentation and plant-based innovation, Managing Partner Andrew Ive shares his thoughts on building a more sustainable...
Glebe Farm, the maker of oat drink brand PureOaty, is developing its business-to-business model. Managing director Rebecca Rayner tells FoodNavigator the company expects to see a jump in demand, supported by category growth and Brexit disruption.
Danone believes that the cornonavirus pandemic will result in a polarization of the food sector, as consumers trade up to healthier products in some areas and trade-down to cut household expenditure in others. “There will be a polarization of the market....
Israeli start-up SavorEat has developed an automated, closed system that 3D prints and cooks plant-based meat alternatives for foodservice. “This robot can replace manufacturing practices,” CEO Racheli Vizman tells FoodNavigator.
Romanian food company Salconserv Food has invested €3m to grow its sustainable plant-based brand, Verdino, and the brand now has international ambitions. “The future of food is also produced in Romania,” CEO Eberhart Răducanu says.
Spanish food tech start-up Cubiq Foods has developed a vegan ‘smart fat’ that, it claims, behaves like animal fat within product formulations. Addressing some of the functional constraints of coconut oil, CEO and co-founder Andrés Montefeltro tells FoodNavigator...
Students in Demark aim to commercialise vegan alternatives to salmon and tuna in Europe, having developed 3D printing processes capable of printing plant proteins and binders in structured forms.
DuPont has launched Danisco Planit food and beverage range for plant-based product development in the industry, made with a ‘planet forward’ sustainable approach.
Redefine Meat today unveiled its trade-marked Alt-Steak, a plant-based 3D printed steak, with consumer testing to kick off in high-end restaurants this year. FoodNavigator speaks to co-founder and CEO Eshchar Ben-Shitrit to learn more about the path to...
Moving Mountains food tech company which launched the UK’s first plant-based ‘bleeding’ burger, is partnering with Ocado to offer a cook-at-home range of frozen products.
Demand for plant-based products is booming. However, meat- and dairy-free alternatives are facing something of a challenge as the nutritional content of products comes under the microscope. We suggest that the intersection between clean label and plant-based...
Consumer attitudes toward dairy alternatives are changing, as trendy dairy-free yogurts, ice creams and milks continue to gain shelf space. According to a recent report from Innova Market Insights on the global dairy alternatives space, the increased...
