It truly is an exciting time to be part of the alternative protein industry, with last month seeing millions of dollars of investment in both the plant-based and cultured meat space, and Impossible Foods now having raised close to $2 billion since its founding in 2011. We also saw some exciting commercial collaborations with fermentation enabled alternative protein companies such as Perfect Day. Read on to find out more about these and other exciting developments.

TRENDS & PROJECTIONS

• With over 70 companies in the cultured meat space we take a look at the latest investments, partnerships and developments in the race to change the way the world gets its meat.
• A new survey by the International Food Information Council reveals that American consumers want plant-based chicken to be called chicken.
• New Europe-wide consumer research from Innova Market Insights highlights that choice and price are crucial for the continued plant-based food boom.
• World leaders have been urged to negotiate a global transition to a plant-based food system in an open letter signed by Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change (IPCC) Scientists, Nobel Laureates and MPs.

RETAIL FOODS

• New data from consumer research platform Attest discovered that out of all the key supermarket sections, the vegan aisle was the one consumers were most likely never to visit.
• Swiss retail giant Migros has launched a vegan hard-boiled egg which will be available in select Migros stores across the country. The plant-based picnic egg looks and tastes like its conventional counterpart even including its vegan yolk.
• Aqua Cultured Foods, the startup developing whole muscle cuts of seafood through microbial fermentation, is now teaming up with Migros, Switzerland’s largest retailer.

FOODSERVICE CHAINS/CATERERS

• Starbucks is trialling California-based Perfect Day’s “animal-free” fungi-based plant milk, made by precision fermentation, at locations in Seattle.
• Michelin-starred chefs are now serving up whole cuts of vegan beef and lamb flank developed by Israeli startup Redefine Meat.
• Ready Burger is working to craft the ‘world’s most’ affordable and accessible vegan menu, offering the world’s first’ £1.99 Vegan Burger.

FOOD MANUFACTURERS

• Danone, the multinational Paris-based company best known for its yogurts, has announced it will be converting one of its major factories to produce Alpro plant milks instead of dairy products.
• General Mills moves into the emerging ‘animal-free’ dairy category with a brand called Bold Cultr – a lactose-free cream cheese alternative utilizing dairy proteins from Perfect Day.
• TIME Magazine has recently published its list of the top 100 best inventions of 2021 which featured Kuleana‘s plant-based tuna.
• Shiok Meats has officially opened a “mini-plant” at its headquarters in Singapore to help the company’s R&D team with process optimization, technology transfer, and data-based development.

INGREDIENTS SUPPLIERS/NEW TECHNOLOGIES

• French plant-based ingredients specialist Roquette is to open what it claims to be the world’s largest pea protein plant in Canada.

ONES TO WATCH OUT FOR

• Upside Foods opens plant capable of making 50K pounds of cultured meat a year, the largest facility of its kind in North America, bringing cultured meat closer to reality.

STARTUP & FINANCIAL

• Impossible Foods closed a $500 million funding round, bringing its lifetime funding to more than $2 billion. This latest round was led by Mirae Asset Global Investments.
• JBS is entering the cultured meat space through the acquisition of Spain’s BioTech Foods and a $100 million investment in facilities.
• South-African cellular food-tech company Mogale Meat is working on solutions to face Africa’s food security issues and aims to make a significant contribution to feeding the next billion people with meat created from the cells of free-roaming antelope and cattle.
• Cell-cultured dairy company TurtleTree just closed a $30 million Series A funding round. The round was led by Verso Capital and brings the company’s total funding to almost $40 million.

STAKEHOLDERS INTERVENTION

• Edinburgh biotech firm Roslin Technologies has received a ‘major grant’ from the UK government to develop its cultured meat technology
• Mosa Meat shares cultured meats’ commercial viability in in a critical review to address the recently voiced skepticism about cultured meat
• V-Label just revealed the 11 winners of this year’s International V-Label Awards

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