This week's innovation gallery features two IP-protected ways to produce cheese alternatives: one using melon seeds and the other leveraging root vegetables as a base ingredient. We also learn about a new tie-up between Unilever's The Vegetarian...
Santiago-based NotCo – a food tech company deploying a proprietary artificial intelligence (AI) platform called ‘Giuseppe’ to bring a new level of sophistication to the formulation of meat and dairy alternatives – has raised $70m in a series D1 round*...
Motif FoodWorks has filed a suite of new petitions with the US Patent and Trademark Office challenging US patents held by Impossible Foods over the use of heme proteins in meat alternatives as it defends itself against accusations of IP infringement....
Plant-based meat start-up Meat.The End (MTE) is announcing its first commercial collaboration, with Burger King in Israel. MTE CEO Dr Yishai Mishor explains how its veggie burger and plant-based nuggets ended up on the QSR major’s menu.
IFF has unveiled SUPRO TEX, a shelf-stable textured protein made via low-moisture extrusion claimed to deliver “a texture to meat alternatives close to what a high moisture extruded product is able to deliver,” at a significantly lower cost.
Five new products have been added to Redefine Meat’s plant-based New-Meat portfolio, including a plant-based tenderloin and striploin. These premium cuts will be distributed across Europe thanks to a new partnership with meat imports major Giraudi.
While plant-based is still one of the hottest trends in food and beverage, sales and consumer engagement with alternative proteins have slid in recent quarters – prompting some players in the space to rethink their strategy.
Innovators developing novel alternative proteins from mycelia – the root-like structure from which fungi grow – are keen to launch in Europe. We look at the hurdles standing in their way.
The food-tech start-up’s proprietary combination of high-moisture extrusion and fermentation technology is central to addressing the challenges in the meat alternative sector, FoodNavigator hears.
The pressure of inflation and general consumer disillusionment are causing an overall downward trend in self-reported consumer usage of plant-based categories, finds new research from Evergi, Brightfield Group's research platform.
While weakening retail sales and grim quarterly earnings from some publicly listed players have prompted intense debate about the future of meat alternatives, the “crisis of confidence” this has prompted has overshadowed the fact that amid all this noise,...
What do kids think about plant-based meat alternatives? Is a meat-free diet even suitable for children? As a growing number of studies seek to answer these questions, FoodNavigator brings you the findings.
Forty-three studies investigating the healthiness and environmental impacts of swapping out meat products for their plant-based alternatives have been reviewed by researcher Christopher Bryant from the University of Bath, UK.
Investing in the alternative protein sector has one of the biggest impacts on decarbonization when assessed in terms of the market value of avoided CO2e emissions per dollar invested in mitigation efforts, claims a new report.
Belgium-based food-tech company Paleo has unveiled details of its GMO-free animal heme proteins made via precision fermentation to help food manufacturers improve the taste, aroma, colour and nutritional qualities of plant-based meat.
Retail sales in western Europe rose 19% to a record €2.4 billion in 2021, according the Good Food Institute, an NGO. But that doesn’t tell the whole picture in different countries.
Tie-ups between plant-based retail brands and out-of-home operators are opening up new channel expansion opportunities for the category. This in turn is boosting availability and driving trial.
Britain risks falling behind China and EU in making and selling meat substitutes and other alternative proteins because the government lacks a coherent strategy for their development, a think-tank says.
California-based Impossible Foods is making its European debut in the UK this week with the launch of plant-based chicken nuggets and sausage patties, formulated without its flagship soy leghemoglobin ingredient, which is not yet approved in the UK or...
The new culture range is designed for use in pure plant-based meat alternatives, as well as precision and biomass fermentation-derived products, to improve shelf-life and food safety.
Despite recent setbacks, the outlook for Beyond Meat is looking rosier in 2022, insisted CEO Ethan Brown during the firm’s Q4 earnings call Thursday as growth in international markets and a recovery in foodservice sales were offset by double-digit year-on-year...
In a new report the Good Food Institute investigates what ingredient requirements will help the plant-based meat industry achieve 6% penetration of the global meat market by the end of the decade.
Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Brown urged analysts to “differentiate between short term variability on the one hand, and ongoing strong progress toward a long term vision of becoming tomorrow's global protein company on the other,” during the plant-based...
Researchers in Lithuania and Finland say a new plant-based product made with soybean pulp, otherwise known as okara, has the potential to change the meat analogue landscape.
Fresh research in Sweden is exploring why, when pressure is building to reduce environmental impact by reducing meat consumption, some consumers are reluctant to do so.
The next iteration of the Beyond Burger - featuring 35% less saturated fat and 75% more iron than 80/20 beef burgers, a comparable level of B vitamins, and a meatier flavor – will hit grocery stores next week and restaurants in June, with a leaner version...
Israeli start-up SavorEat is celebrating going public on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE), which co-founder and CEO Racheli Vizman says represents an industry first for food tech.
While all the key brands in plant-based meat are exploring new protein sources, most still use soy or pea as the primary protein source. Oats, rapidly emerging as star players in the plant-based milk category, have not, however, made any real impact in...
A new plant-based meat report has highlighted the sector’s health merits over conventional processed meats, but stressed they should not replace whole foods such as legumes, vegetables or moderate amounts of meat as staples for a balanced diet.
In an open letter slammed by Impossible Foods as cynical and disingenuous and dismissed by one commentator as a “PR stunt,” Lightlife Foods has attempted to distinguish itself from ‘food tech’ rivals in the plant-based meat arena by positioning itself...
New Zealand alternative protein firm Sustainable Foods is planning a 2021 launch for its hemp-based meat analogues, which will be made will locally-grown hemp and processed using a private hydroelectric power plant.
Adults who swapped out animal protein for plant-based protein saw lower levels of LDL cholesterol, moderate weight loss, and similar sodium intake and blood pressure levels (compared to animal protein consumption) after eight weeks, revealed a two-phase...
The LIVEKINDLY co., which launched in March with the ambition of becoming one of the largest plant-based food companies, has acquired Swedish plant-based meat brand, Oumph!, known for its soy-based burgers, strips, and pulled meat products.
New technology could reduce saturated fat and significantly improve the taste and texture of plant-based meat and dairy products, claims Motif FoodWorks, which is working on a variety of ingredients to make these foods more “craveable.”
While a new cell-based meat company emerges from stealth mode almost every month, the amount of money invested in the embryonic sector to date pales in comparison to the megabucks poured into plant-based meat over the past couple of years. So is slaughter-free...
UK meat analogue start-up THIS has secured £4.7m in seed funding, which co-founder Andy Shovel says will help finance R&D, manufacturing capabilities, and ultimately, international expansion.
There is a lack of robust evidence to confirm link between meat eating as part of a healthy diet and the development of Western diseases, according to a paper that contends there are a wide range of benefits delivered by meat that are not always easily...
Virginia-based Nutriati has commercialized what it claims is the world’s first textured chickpea protein, providing plant-based meat formulators with a Non-GMO protein source that rivals soy, wheat, and peas in the functionality and nutrition stakes,...
Getting consumers to try trendy plant-based meat alternatives is a relatively low hurdle compared to encouraging long-term adoption of these products, which requires more convincing on the part of brands, says Nielsen, noting that the sector is "ripe...
Citrus fiber – a byproduct of the juicing process – has properties that make it an appealing alternative to methyl cellulose (in combination with agar, native starch, and psyllium) as a binder in plant-based meat products for brands looking for a more...
'People will start to see plants as filling and delicious, providing protein and satiety...'
High-profile launches notwithstanding (the Impossible Slider is now at White Castle and the Beyond Burger is at TGI Fridays) 45 out of the top 100 restaurant chains in the US still don’t offer a plant-based entrée, according to the Good Food Institute’s...
While researching how to bioprint human tissues, medical scientist Giuseppe Scionti discovered a way to "bio-hack" plant-based proteins so they have a meaty texture.
US retail sales of plant-based meat up 23% year on year
The notion that plant-based or cell-cultured meat will only ever capture a minority share of the conventional meat market is based on a false premise, says Impossible Foods, which is developing plant-based products seeking to precisely mimic the flavor,...
