Alternative Protein

November 23, 2021

Big Idea Ventures Unveils Start-ups in Newest Accelerator Cohort

Big Idea Ventures is an early-stage investor in food technologies, and this week the firm announced the list of start-ups that are a part of its bi-annual accelerator program.

For this cohort, 17 start-ups focused on food and climate challenges were selected to receive pre-seed investment through the firm’s offices in New York, Singapore, and Paris. This is the first cohort for the Paris program and the fourth cohort for the New York and Singapore programs. The accelerator program is part of Big Idea Venture’s New Protein Fund, which invests in alternative protein products and ingredients.

Here’s more info about the selected companies:

New York Program

Fybraworks Foods – grows real animal meat proteins with microbes and is the first company to develop recombinant muscle protein for food applications.

De Novo Dairy – the first African company to use precision fermentation technology, this start-up is replicating dairy to create animal-free cheese, yoghurt, and ice cream.

Prosel Biosciences – uses microalgae to produce bioidentical food proteins and selenoprotein-modified industrial enzymes.

BetterMilk – using mammary cells and a genetic engineering platform, the B2B company will sell their alternative milk and milk ingredients to companies in the food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industry.

Liven Proteins – produces animal-free protein ingredients through the fermentation of agriculture and food industry by-products (gelatin is the company’s first product).

Maya Milk – uses precision fermentation to produce animal-free dairy proteins and fats with the same sensory experience that animal-based dairy provides.

Singapore Program

Phyx44 – using precision fermentation, the start-up is producing animal-free dairy proteins & fats to recreate milk.

LILO Desserts – sourcing fruit waste and low-grade fruit not fit for grocery stores, LILO is creating snacks and desserts, such as plant-based cheesecake.

Fisheroo – the first to use cellular agriculture technology to create surimi, a minced fish paste commonly found in East Asian cuisine.

Mogale Meat – with its proprietary biobank of stem and satellite cell lines, Mogale is producing cultivated meat analogs, with a focus on African game meat.

Paris Program

Bright Biotech – with the goal of bringing cell-based meat to consumers quicker, this start-up has developed a plant-based technology that uses chloroplasts as chassis to manufacture large amounts of affordable growth factors.

Green-On – developing saturated fat and fatty acids to replace palm oil using only carbon dioxide, electricity, and, water.

Little Bandits – developing non-dairy, soy-free products for children.

Luyef Biotechnologies – a cell-based meat company that has developed myoglobin protein to provide the flavor and aroma of real meat for plant-based meat alternatives.

The VERY Food co. – creating plant-based ingredients for cooking, including eggs, cream, and butter.

YOFI – creating organic plant-based milk alternatives with peas.

MOA foodtech – transforming food waste and agriculture byproducts into a “next-generation protein” through the use of artificial intelligence and biotechnology.

Amongst the selected start-ups, developing alternative dairy is one of the predominant focuses. The alternative dairy market is the most developed category in the plant-based space, and it is expected to reach a value of $54 billion by 2028. YOFI, The VERY Food Co., and Little Bandits are entering this crowded space using explicitly plant-based ingredients to develop their alternative products. On the other hand, Maya Milk, Phyx44, and De Novo Dairy are each using precision fermentation to create animal-free dairy products, while BetterMilk makes alternative milk using mammary cells and its’ genetic engineering platform.

In 2020, $366 million in funding flowed to companies developing alternative meat using cellular agriculture. Cultivated meat and seafood, a global market expected to be worth $25 billion by 2030, is another theme in this cohort. Fybraworks Foods, Luyef Biotechnologies, Bright Biotech, Mogale Meat, and Fisheroo fall into this category.

*LILO Dessert’s packaged cheesecake made from fruit waste and damaged fruits*

Global food waste is a major issue that has garnered attention in recent years, and one that companies in the food and agriculture tech space have attempted to provide solutions to. In this cohort, MOA Foodtech and LILO Desserts are each using some form of food waste to develop new products.

To date, Big Idea Ventures has invested in 65 alternative protein companies, including this current cohort. Currently, the firm is accepting applications for its next accelerator cohorts (beginning in early 2022) in New York, Paris, and Singapore.

November 20, 2021

Alt. Protein Round-Up: Microalgae Cheddar and Redefine Meat’s Commercial Launch

Many voiced frustrations that at the recent COP26 summit (2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference), food and agriculture were largely left out of the conversation about climate change. In the food tech space, climate change, sustainability, and food security is often the forefront of the conversation. Animal agriculture is known to be harmful to the environment and a contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, while alternative protein sources are frequently cited as a potential solution.

One voice at COP26 that made sure to touch on animal agriculture and alternative protein was the CEO and founder of Impossible Foods, Pat Brown. During his opportunity to talk, Brown said that if we end animal agriculture, we will be able essentially to turn back the clock environmentally to the year 2000. Alternative meat analogs (like Impossible’s) offer a solution to make animal protein obsolete (according to Brown).

In other alt-protein news this week, we’ve gathered stories on Sophie’s Bionutrients, Redefine Meat, Helaina, and Next Gen Foods. Read on!

*Photo of Sophie’s Bionutrient’s microalgae milk, which is the base of its new cheddar cheese product*

Sophie’s Bionutrient’s launches cheese made from algae

Singapore-based Sophie’s Bionutrients grows microalgae in bioreactors, and this week, the company unveiled that it has developed alternative cheddar cheese in partnership with Ingredion Idea Labs innovation center. The cheese is made from a base of the company’s microalgae milk, which was announced in May of this year as the first dairy-free milk made from this ingredient. Alternative dairy and cheese products are commonly made from soy, coconut, cashew, and oats, but as far as e know, Sophie’s is the first to use microalgae for this application. The novel cheese product aims to mimic the sharp taste and texture of semi-hard cheddar cheese, and a single serving of it will offer double the recommended amount of vitamin B12.

Redefine Meat Commercially Launches Plant-Based Whole Cuts of Meat

Israel-based Redefine Meat has created a line of whole cut plant-based meats called New Meat This week, the company parterened with chefs throughout the UK, Netherlands, Germany, and Israel for the initial commercial launch of New Meat in high-end restaurants. The first meat analogs in the New Meat line up include beef and lambs cuts, including kebabs, sausages, ground meat, and burgers. Mimicing the texture of real meat within alternative protein products has been a challenge, and a many companies in this space have been vying to commercially launch a viable product as REdefine Meat has now done.

Precision fermentation company Helaina raises $20 million for breast milk proteins

Helaina uses precision fermentation to create immune-equivalent proteins found in breast milk, and this week the start-up announced that it has raised $20 million in funding. The Series A round was co-led by Spark Capital and Siam Capital along with other investors, bringing the company’s total funding to $24.5 million. The new capital will be put towards itsmanufacturing and commercialization process, building its team, and executing its go-to-market strategy.

Next Gen Foods Launches TiNDLE Plant-Based Chicken in Amsterdam, Opens Innovation Center in Singapore

November 16, 2021

Food & Ag-Tech Companies Make TIME’s Best 100 Inventions of 2021 List

Every year, TIME puts together a list of 100 inventions that change the way we live for the better. The publication judges contenders, who were nominated by TIME’s editors and correspondents, based on creativity, originality, efficacy, ambition, and impact.

The list spans multiple categories, such as accessibility, artificial intelligence, consumer electronics, fitness, medical care, transportation, and of course, food and drink. This year the list featured a whole bunch of food tech, including many companies The Spoon has previously covered like SAVRPak, MeliBio, InnerPlant, and Upside Foods.

Here are just a few that made the list:

Kuleana

This San-Francisco-based food tech start-up has developed a “sushi-grade” plant-based tuna made from ingredients like algae, koji, radish, bamboo, and potato. Kuleana‘s tuna deep red color mimics ahi tuna, and it also contains nutrients like B-12, iron, and omega-3 fatty acids. Like regular tuna, alternative tuna filet can be eaten in poke bowls, sushi, and ceviche. The start-ups next planned product is plant-based salmon.

SAVRPak

The goal of SAVRPak is to eliminate food waste, and keep delivery food warm and not soggy. In October of this year, the company unveiled a prototype of its delivery packaging aimed at keeping food at 140^o or above for more than 20 minutes. The start-up has also developed small packs that can be placed inside to-go food boxes that absorb moisture to keep food fresh and crisp.

Sfoglini Cascatelli

This invention is relatively low-tech, but as one of the three best inventions in the “food and drink” category, it’s worth a mention. Dan Pashman, foodie and the host of The Sporkful podcast, could not find a pasta shape that held the ideal amount of pasta sauce, stayed on the fork, and was satisfying to sink your teeth into. He, therefore, decided to invent, the Cascatelli pasta, which is a short, ruffled noodle that has a half tube shape. The pasta is manufactured by pasta company Sfoglini, and it costs $19.96 for 4 lbs.

MeliBio

Using synthetic biology and precision fermentation, MeliBio has developed plant-based honey that has the same taste, texture, and mouthfeel as honey made from bees. Earlier this year in March, the start-up raised a pre-seed round totaling $850,000. To hear more about the company, watch The Spoon’s interview with the founder Darko Mandich.

Upside Foods

Upside Foods announced in May of this year that its first product will be cultured chicken, which is still pending regulatory approval. Since then, the start-up unveiled its state-of-the-art facilities (totaling 53,000 square feet) in Emeryville, California where it will be capable of producing up to 50,000 pounds of cultivated chicken every year. Check out a glimpse inside the new facilities here.

InnerPlant Innersoy Living Sensor

InnerPlant edits the DNA of plants to enable them to glow a certain color when the plant is stressed from lack of water or under attack from pests or fungal infection. The start-up has so far worked with tomato and Arabidopsis plants, and InnerSoy is the plant it is currently working on commercializing. InnerPlant recently gave The Spoon an exclusive viewing of its glowing living sensor plants, and you can watch the video here.

November 15, 2021

Next Gen Foods Launches TiNDLE Plant-Based Chicken in Amsterdam, Opens Innovation Center in Singapore

Singapore-based startup Next Gen Foods announced last week that its flagship alternative chicken product (named TiNDLE) has touched down in Amsterdam restaurants.

TiNDLE debuted in Singapore in early 2021 before launching in Hong Kong, Macau, Kuala Lumpur, and the UAE. The Amsterdam launch marks the beginning of TiNDLE’s expansion into Europe and beyond: Next Gen plans to introduce the product in Germany, the U.K., and the U.S. next year.

“Amsterdam is a trailblazing city when it comes to food innovation and sustainability on the plate,” company co-founder and CEO Andre Menezes said in a press release emailed to The Spoon. Amsterdam is also a strategic European starting point for Next Gen because the company’s manufacturing operations are located in the Netherlands.

When I met up with Menezes last month to talk about the New York City sneak peek of TiNDLE, he told me that the Next Gen team had been working hand-in-hand with chefs to develop innovative recipes using the product. “Chefs are creative, but they’re also scientists in a way,” Menezes said. Instead of selling TiNDLE to restaurants in a premade shape, he said the team wanted to offer a kind of “Playdoh, or a canvas” that chefs could experiment with.

You can see the results of those partnerships in the range of different dishes that are now on Amsterdam menus—from the buttermilk-fried TiNDLE burger, to the taco with pickled cucumbers, to the roulade with shiitake mushrooms and kimchi. Among the six restaurants now serving TiNDLE are chic brunch spots; a Mexican cocktail bar and eatery; a vegan comfort food cafe; and a self-described chicken rotisserie “guilty pleasure bar.”

And while Next Gen is expanding TiNDLE’s global reach, it’s also investing in research and development for new products. The company announced today that it has partnered with the Food Tech Innovation Centre (FTIC), an accelerator and innovation hub, to establish an R&D facility in Singapore.

“Accelerating the transition to a more sustainable food system will require the ability to not only have commercially scalable products for our consumers, but also be on the cutting edge in terms of food innovation,” Menezes said in a press release shared with The Spoon. “We’re thrilled to be the first tenant and a long-term partner of the Asia Sustainable Foods Platform and A*STAR’s FTIC, where we’ll be able to significantly expand our R&D capabilities to drive new technologies and sustainable solutions.”

Next Gen plans to expand its portfolio of plant-based products at the new R&D center, which is scheduled to open in late 2022. The company plans to accelerate hiring and double its current number of R&D roles. It’ll be interesting to see which alternative protein space the team sets its sights on next: According to the company, it could be an alternative dairy, seafood, or meat product.

November 13, 2021

Alt Protein Round-up: Funding for Cell-Based Milk, A Glimpse Inside UPSIDE’s Factory

According to Forbes, 4.5 million plant-based turkeys will be consumed this year on Thanksgiving in the U.S. That sounds like a lot of alternative roasts and Tofurkey’s gracing holiday gatherings, but compared to the number of regular turkeys that will be consumed (46 million) it’s not much. Maybe next year, we’ll have the option to serve cell-based turkey to our guests?

In this edition of the alternative protein round-up, we’ve gathered together the most interesting stories from the past week in the plant-based, cell-cultured and even bug protein worlds, including TurtleTree’s funding, locusts in the EU, Beyond Meat’s sales, an inside look at UPSIDE’s fancy new facility, the animal-free egg ClearEgg, and cell-based pet food.

Turtle Tree raises $30 million in Series A round

TurtleTree, a Singapore-based biotech company, announced recently that it has raised $30 million in a Series A round of funding, with VERSO Capital as the lead investor in this round. This brings TurtleTree’s total funding to $40 million. In September of this year, TurtleTree opened a 24,000 square foot R&D facility in Sacramento, California, where it is expanding upon its precision fermentation technologies. The start-up is developing cell-based milk as an alternative to infant formulas, as well as a compound found in human milk called lactoferrin. The funding will be used to continue this R&D as well as bring on new hires.

Locusts are approved as a sustainable food by European Union

Insects have long been recognized as a sustainable protein source due to their low carbon footprint, and very minimal water and land use. Although many cultures around the world already frequently include insects within their diets, this is not often the case in developed first-world countries. However, this week, the European Union approved the migratory locust as food for humans. This action is a push for bringing awareness to more sustainable foods, especially alternative protein sources. The EU said that locusts, which are high in fat, protein, vitamins, and minerals, would be considered snacks foods or food ingredients,

Are Beyond Meat’s Flagging Sales a Sign Big Cattle’s Negative Messaging is Working?

This week, Beyond Meat had some lousy news for Wall Street: US sales were down 13.9% year over year. According to the company, the culprit for the sales drop was a softening in their grocery and foodservice markets. For some, a sales drop for a high-flying alt-meat pioneer like Beyond might come as a shock. Like Impossible Meat and others in the fast-growing plant-based meat industry, the company has had mostly good news over the past few years, watching as revenue heads up and to the right on the back of new sales channels, geography expansion, and growing consumer demand. So what’s going on here? Why is an alt-meat bellwether like Beyond suddenly seeing its sales drop? Read the full article here.

What Does a Cultivated Meat Plant Look Like? Take a Video Tour of UPSIDE Foods’ New Production Facility to Find Out

At this time, Singapore has been the only country to offer regulatory approval for the commercial sale of cultivated meat, and Qatar is expected to be next to do so. Despite this, several companies in the cultured meat space have opened up state-of-the-art facilities to develop their alternative meat products in anticipation of receiving regulatory approval sooner than later. One of these companies is UPSIDE Foods (formerly Memphis Meats). Last week, UPSIDE Foods hosted a ceremony to celebrate the unveiling of its 53,000 square foot Engineering, Production, and Innovation Center (EPIC for short). The center will be used for the production of cultivated meat and the development of new types of meat and product formats. Read the full article and watch the video here.

Animal-Free ClearEgg Debuts in Protein Smoothie

Last month, The Every Company rebranded from Clara Foods and announced the launch of its animal-free egg protein product. Now, the company’s egg protein, called ClearEgg is being used as an ingredient in a limited-time Pressed smoothie.The smoothie is called “Pineapple Green Protein”, and the added ClearEgg boosts the protein content up to 10 grams. Other ingredients include apple, pineapple, banana, spinach, and avocado. Read the full article here.

Bond Pet Food Teams Up With Hill’s To Make Meat Protein for Pets Using Precision Fermentation

Bond Pet Food, an alternative protein company for pet food, and Hill’s Pet Nutrition, a biology-based pet food company, announced this week that they have partnered to develop an alternative meat protein for pet food using precision fermentation. Precision fermentation makes animal-identical proteins without slaughtering/harming animals. Bond sourced a small blood sample from a heritage hen, and this sample was used to extract the genetic code of chicken protein. Read the full article here.

November 11, 2021

Are Beyond Meat’s Flagging Sales a Sign Big Cattle’s Negative Messaging is Working?

This week, Beyond Meat had some lousy news for Wall Street: US sales were down 13.9% year over year.

According to the company, the culprit for the sales drop was a softening in their grocery and foodservice markets.

For some, a sales drop for a high-flying alt-meat pioneer like Beyond might come as a shock. Like Impossible Foods and others in the fast-growing plant-based meat industry, Beyond has had mostly good news over the past few years as revenue went up and to the right on the back of new sales channels, geography expansion, and growing consumer demand.

So what’s going on here? Why is an alt-meat bellwether like Beyond suddenly seeing its sales drop?

The company cites a number of issues, including supply chain constraints, restaurant labor challenges, and ordering uncertainty in the face of never-ending pandemic. They also say new competition is putting downward pressure on market share.

I have no doubt these reasons are true in varying degrees, especially increased competition. More alt-meat alternatives are coming to market all the time, giving grocers and consumers more choice.

Still, from what I can tell, Beyond Meat products are ubiquitous on the shelves of every grocery store or warehouse club I walk into. So if the product is still widely available, I have to wonder: is this a Beyond Meat-specific problem? Or, more specifically, are consumers buying more plant-based meat in general and just less Beyond?

Maybe. Market watchers have estimated that plant-based market grew 12.1% year over year for the month ending July 31st 2021, which shows the industry doesn’t necessarily have a sales problem, at least yet. Personally, I’d love to know what Impossible’s sales have done over the same period. The two companies are the Coke and Pepsi of alt-meats, and if Beyond’s sales drop while Impossible’s continue to go up, that would be a bad sign.

At this point, it’s worth emphasizing I have no idea if this is the case, only that it’s a possibility. Remember, unlike factory-farmed cow or chicken meat, plant-based meats are unique. They are essentially designer products, different in taste, mouth feel and other flavor attributes. I know some people who like Impossible but won’t eat Beyond, and vice versa. Maybe there’s just more of the former than the latter.

I also suspect there might be another non-Beyond meat factor at play here, which is this: a growing negative perception of some plant-based meat products.

Like many who follow the plant-based meat industry closely and are overly aware of the techology-powered ingredient list and carbon footprint of the products, I’ve had friends who don’t spend nearly as much time thinking about plant-based tell me they’ve heard these products are highly processed, unhealthy (or outright bad for you) and less natural compared to the “real thing”.

All of which sounds a lot like the messaging I’ve watched come from the Cattleman’s Association over the last few years. The large meat-growers trade group and other lobbying organizations have continued to push out thought pieces and commentary putting plant-based (and cell-based) meat in a negative light. The messaging is all focus-group tested and aimed to directly appeal to a variety of consumer values and it appears it may be working.

So: Is this a Beyond problem, or is it a canary in the coal mine indicating a growing perception problem for alt-meat? I suspect it may be a little of both. Either way, I am sure the plant-based meat – as well as the factory farming industry – are all watching what happens very closely.

November 11, 2021

Bond Pet Food Teams Up With Hill’s To Make Meat Protein for Pets Using Precision Fermentation

Precision fermentation makes animal-identical proteins without slaughtering/harming animals. Bond sourced a small blood sample from a heritage hen, and this sample was used to extract the genetic code of chicken protein. Then, the code is mixed with specialized yeasts, sugar, vitamins, and minerals and fermented in stainless steel vats to eventually produce meat proteins.

Bond Pet Food produces bio-identical chicken, beef, fish, and other meat proteins that have the same nutritional value as their animal counterparts. Last year, the company unveiled that it had developed a chicken protein prototype for pet food.

Through the partnership, the two companies will develop a pet food formula that acts as an alternative to Hill’s most popular meat proteins for both cats and dogs. The goal is to craft a product that is more sustainable than other pet foods, while simultaneously providing food that contains high-quality nutrition.

Pet food raises concerns due to its use of factory-farmed meat, deeming much of what is available on the market as unsustainable and unethical. On top of this, pet food can contain slaughterhouse byproducts, undisclosed animal species, cheap fillers, and even toxic ingredients that lead to recalls. We have plenty of plant-based and alternative meat options for humans, but not as many for Fido.

Other competitors in the alternative pet food space include Wild Earth and Because, Animals. In September of this year, Wild Earth announced that it would begin developing pet food developed with cell-based meat after raising $23 million in funding. Because, Animals is developing cell-cultured mice meat for cat food.

For Bond, the deal is a big win, as Hill’s appears to be the first large pet food brand intent on bringing a product with animal-identical protein to market using precision fermentation. As more deals like this one are inked, it’ll only be a matter of time before we see a significant number of new alt-protein pet food products from the large players in what is a $30 billion pet food market.

November 10, 2021

Animal-Free ClearEgg Debuts in Protein Smoothie

The smoothie is called “Pineapple Green Protein”, and the added ClearEgg boosts the protein content up to 10 grams. Other ingredients include apple, pineapple, banana, spinach, and avocado.

While it might sound gross to have egg protein added to a smoothie, The Every Company’s egg protein product is actually completely tasteless and odorless. The company intended for its protein to be added to both cold and hot beverages, like juices, energy drinks, and protein shakes, as well as snacks like protein bars.

ClearEgg is created through precision fermentation, where yeast or other microorganisms are fermented and converted to create protein identical to those found in animals and their byproducts. Because the protein is identical, those who have egg allergies should avoid consuming ClearEgg.

The Every Company has been working on developing an animal-free egg since 2014, and is one of the early pioneers of the precision fermentation space. While lots of companies are developing plant-based egg alternatives – Float Foods, SavorEat, and Migros to name a few – The Every Company is the only one we’re aware of using precision fermentation for their alt-egg.

For now, the ClearEgg protein smoothie, which costs $7.95 will be offered at Pressed locations in Los Angeles and New York. Starting in 2022, the juice company will begin to carry the item at more locations

November 9, 2021

Researchers Use Bacteria To Transform Plastic Into Edible Protein

In 2018, the equivalent of about 3.5 million dumpster trucks’ worth of plastic waste was produced in the U.S. alone, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The COVID-19 pandemic has compounded the problem, driving increased demand for single-use plastic packaging and personal protective equipment.

Advances in microbiology suggest that bacteria and fungi could someday help us to tackle the problem of plastic waste. A 2020 review of this science identified some microorganisms capable of degrading different plastics (like a bacteria strain—found in the stomach of a waxworm—that can break down polyethylene, the most commonly used plastic polymer).

Two U.S.-based researchers have taken the idea of biological plastic recycling a step further. Not only are they using microorganisms to break down plastics; they’ve created a bio-based process that turns plastic waste into edible protein powder.

Ting Lu and Stephen Techtmann—professors at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Michigan Technological University, respectively—collaborated on the process. The researchers are using both naturally occurring and engineered microorganisms to metabolize plastic waste and turn it into food.

This summer, Lu and Techtmann received Merck KGaA’s Future Insight Prize, which recognizes groundbreaking science and tech solutions to humanity’s greatest health, nutrition, and energy problems. The researchers were awarded €1 million for their work. According to a press release from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, they plan to use the funding to make their process entirely bio-based; to boost the nutritional profile of the resulting protein powder; and to adapt the technology to work on a wider range of plastic polymers and other non-edible waste.

“When I first started my own lab at Illinois, I wanted to work on something that’s both intellectually challenging and societally impactful. Food generation is such a topic,” said Lu in the university’s press release. “As bioengineers, we are called to use science and technology in service of humanity by improving human health and nutrition. It’s a real privilege to use my knowledge and to partner with other researchers to tackle harrowing issues.”

Lu and Techtmann’s process brings together the worlds of microorganism-based plastic recycling and food industry precision fermentation. The big question is how the resulting protein powder compares to the products on the shelf today, and whether consumers would opt for a food product derived from plastic.

November 9, 2021

What Does a Cultivated Meat Plant Look Like? Take a Video Tour of UPSIDE Foods’ New Production Facility to Find Out

According to the Good Food Institute, there are approximately 70+ companies working on cultivated meat services, inputs, and end products. At this time, Singapore has been the only country to offer regulatory approval for the commercial sale of cultivated meat, and Qatar is expected to be next to do so. Despite this, several companies in the cultured meat space have opened up state-of-the-art facilities to develop their alternative meat products in anticipation of receiving regulatory approval sooner than later.

One of these companies is UPSIDE Foods (formerly Memphis Meats). Last week, UPSIDE Foods hosted a ceremony to celebrate the unveiling of its 53,000 square foot Engineering, Production, and Innovation Center (EPIC for short). The center will be used for the production of cultivated meat and the development of new types of meat and product formats.

It’s easy enough to find Youtube videos about how plant-based meat or real hamburger is made, but because the cultivated meat industry is so nascent, behind-the-scenes looks at this industry have been harder to come by. Until now. UPSIDE Foods shared a video tour of the inside of its EPIC facility. Take a look:

UPSIDE Foods Grand Opening

Watch this video on YouTube

The front of the facility hosts a kitchen for hosting tastings of cultivated meat. There are areas dedicated to the milling and mixing of cell feed, as well as areas for packaging and testing products. Products will be tested for safety and quality in EPIC’s quality assurance facilities. UPSIDE has also provided an office for federal inspectors to oversee every process, which is required in all meat and poultry processing facilities in the U.S

UPSIDE’s innovation center will employ about 50 people throughout different departments, including maintenance, production, quality & food safety, engineering, and plant management.

Less than half, or only about 40 percent, of Americans are willing to try cultivated meat. Hopefully, allowing consumers to get a glance into cultivated meat facilities might help them warm up to the idea of this alternative protein.

Want to see a cultivated meat facility in action for yourself? UPSIDE will begin offering in-person tours at its Emeryville, California facilities in January 2022.

November 6, 2021

Alt. Protein Round-up: Upside’s New Cultivated Meat Plant, Plant-Based Hard-boiled Egg

It was another action-packed week in alt-protein, including the launch of one of the industry’s largest production facilities to date for cultivated meat and the unveiling of a new plant-based hard-boiled egg.

If you missed them earlier, don’t worry – we’ve got you covered. Here are some of the week’s biggest stories from the world of alternative protein:

Upside Foods unveils cultured meat innovation center

Cultivated meat company Upside Foods (previously Memphis Meats) announced this week that it had completed its Engineering, Production, and Innovation Center. Located in Emeryville, California, the 53,000 square foot facility can produce up to 50,000 lbs of cultivated meat product per year. The facility is also flexible: Any species of meat or seafood in both whole-cut and ground form can be produced. Upside expects the facility to be fully operational by the end of the year.

Future Farm raises $58 million

Brazilian-based Future Farm (also called Fazenda Futuro), an alternative meat startup, closed a $58 million Series C round this week. The round was led by BTG and Rage Capital, with participation from XP Inc., Monashees, Go4It Capital, Turim MFO, and Enfini Ventures. The company will use the funding to expand its product availability to retailers throughout the U.S. and Europe. Additionally, Future Farm will begin developing dairy alternatives like milk and butter.

Yali Bio comes out of stealth mode to discuss future synthetic fat products

San Francisco-based startup Yali Bio aims to address the environmental concerns of both animal products and tropical oils by producing a synthetic, plant-based fat product. Apart of the Illumina Accelerator program (which runs from September 2021-March 2022), Yali Bio combines synthetic biology and genomics to develop its products. Read the full article here.

Migros launches plant-based hard-boiled egg. Watch this video to see how it’s made

The new egg, called The Boiled, is the latest from the company’s plant-based product line, V-Love. According to the announcement, The Boiled is made with fourteen different ingredients but gets its protein punch from soy. The alt-egg will be on sale this month in stores across Switzerland in four-packs and will retail for 4.40 Swiss Francs (~$4.84). Read the full article and watch the video here.

Ingredient optimized raises Series A funding to expand protein enhancement tech

November 3, 2021

Ingredient Optimized Raises Series A Funding to Expand Protein Enhancement Tech

Ingredient Optimized is a different kind of protein startup. While others in the space are focused on perfecting plant-based burgers and growing more protein-rich peas, the biotech company uses a novel process to alter the physical structures of proteins, making them easier for the body to absorb.

The company announced today that it has completed a Series A funding round led by Continental Grain. Last week, The Spoon joined company co-founder Stephen Motosko on Zoom to find out more about the company’s protein optimization technology and goals for this round of funding.

Motosko and his co-founder Chris Flynn-Rozanski both have personal connections to the issue of protein absorption. Both founders have family members who suffer from sarcopenia, age-related loss of muscle mass. “With my grandma, it started small, with her struggling to open a ketchup bottle. And as it progressed, she struggled to get out of a chair, and then couldn’t get out of bed by herself,” says Motosko. “That really opened our eyes to protein malabsorption.”

Insufficient protein intake can contribute to the condition, and older adults tend to synthesize protein less efficiently.

Motosko and Flynn-Rozanski set out to create a more efficient protein product that would be more readily absorbed by the body. There were existing technologies that could make protein more digestible—like hydrolysis, a process that breaks down long protein strands. But those technologies were far from perfect: Hydrolysis is expensive to perform, and gives protein powder a bitter taste.

Because of his background in the plastics manufacturing field, Motosko already had experience with ionized plasma technology. “It’s been around for a number of years, primarily in other industries, and it’s slowly starting to get into the food space,” he says. “We saw what it was capable of doing and thought, with this technology, combined with protein, we could actually make products better and less wasteful.”

The founders adapted the technology to break down proteins in a way that makes them easier for the body to absorb without changing what they are. Motosko compares the process to making a smoothie: “You take strawberries, you put them in a blender, you blend it. It’s still strawberries. All the components are the same. It’s just in a slightly different physical form that makes it easier for your body to actually digest it.”

The plasma technology would normally be used at a small scale, to process one or two grams of a powder at a time. Motosko says that scaling up the technology was one of the company’s biggest challenges. “If you’re doing a couple grams at a time, it’s never going to be commercially viable. We had to develop a process that not only works, but works at a high enough capacity that we could operate within the margins—which tend to be razor thin—of a CPG company.”

In order to understand the effects that the plasma process would have on the end ingredients’ delivery of nutrition, the team partnered with universities and researchers to sponsor a total of ten human clinical trials. “We’ve shown that we increase the absorption of whey protein; we increase the absorption of pea protein; you can actually use less protein in the formulation to get an equivalent result,” says Motosko.

Ingredient Optimized has already launched Performix, a sports nutrition brand that debuted in specialty retail stores like GNC and Vitamin Shoppe, and is now available in Walmart. But Motosko says that Ingredient Optimized views itself first-and-foremost as a technology company: “We don’t make the ingredients themselves. Our partners can continue getting their protein from whoever they want in their supply chain—we’re kind of protein agnostic. We take that protein, and make it better for the consumers.”

The company has also partnered with five brands, and plans to expand through further partnerships. “We’re looking for brands that can not just connect with consumers and sell products, but have an educational component as well,” says Motosko. “Our biggest challenge moving forward is: How do we educate consumers that the protein they’re consuming may not actually be completely absorbed, and that they could be getting a much better experience with something else?”

With the Series A round of funding, the company will work on boosting consumer education. The team also plans to expand their product line, getting io into new food products such as plant-based burgers.

The company did not release the dollar amount of the Series A raise. “We want the focus to be not on the addition of capital but on our validated, human-tested superior technology and products,” a company representative told The Spoon via email.

They’ll also explore new uses for the plasma process, like creating more nutritionally available animal feed. “If we can make an animal feed that has an increased absorption, we reduce the environmental impact of the livestock industry, which is a huge contributor to global warming,” says Motosko.

The global plant protein market could be valued at over $162 billion by 2030 (up from $29.4 billion last year), according to a Bloomberg Intelligence report. With a unique value proposition and a flexible technology, Ingredient Optimized seems well-positioned to take advantage of that growth.

Alternative Protein

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