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Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

Alternative Protein

LegenDairy Rebrands to Formo, Announces Plans to Bring Products to Market

LegenDairy, a precision fermentation alterative dairy company, announced today that it has rebranded to the name Formo, and that it will focus on consumer-facing products with plans to unveil its first products later this year.

To create its animal-free milk proteins, Formo uses microorganisms instead of cows. These undisclosed microorganisms are first encoded with the DNA sequences of milk proteins. A fermenter is then used to grow the cells, which are harvested when enough protein has been raised. From this point, the cultivated milk protein can be used to make cheese.

Plant-based ingredients, like different fats and carbohydrates, are added to the milk proteins to create the base of cheese products. Like traditional cheese, the product is heated until it turns into curd. After this step, a wide spectrum of cheese products can be created from this base and packaged as fresh or ripened to create a stronger flavor.

Formo shared that it is first focusing on specialty European cheeses, like ricotta and a few ripened/aged kinds of cheese. The company will launch its products where customers are most excited about it (based on its upcoming consumer acceptance study) and where it can get regulatory approval.

In addition to Formo, a few other companies use precision fermentation to create alternative dairy and cheese products. Perfect Day applies its precision fermentation process through its spinoff brand, Brave Robot, to create an animal-free ice cream that is molecularly identical to real dairy. Change Foods uses precision fermentation to develop its cheddar and mozzerella, and plans on launching its product on the market in 2023.

Formo is currently expanding its team of scientists and executives in preparation for its initial product presentation in Europe this year, and market launch in 2023. Prior to the launch, the company will host a tasting this summer for its alternative cheese products with Ricky Saward, the first plant-based Michelin star chef.

Big Idea Ventures Unveils the Third Cohort for Alt-Protein Accelerator

Food tech investment firm Big Idea Ventures (BIV) this week unveiled the companies chosen for Cohort 3 of its alt-protein-focused accelerator program. Fifteen early-stage startups will participate in the five-month-long program, either in NYC or Singapore, according to a press release sent to The Spoon.

BIV looks for companies developing both plant-based and cultured protein products and ingredients. Food tech companies related to the alt-protein space are also considered. Past program participants include companies from the plant-based protein space, cultured protein, and corresponding technologies. Evo, MeliBio, and WTH Foods have all taken part in the program.

BIV says its third cohort is focused on sustainably feeding a growing world population.To that end, chosen companies include:

NYC Program:

  • AquaCultured Foods: A seafood alternative using microbial fermentation
  • The Frauxmagerie: A plant-based cheese using cultures without dairy
  • Innocent Meat: A B2B cell-based meat production system
  • incrEDIBLE: An edible cutlery to reduce single-use plastics
  • Blue Ridge Bantam: A cell-based ground and whole-cut turkey
  • New Breed Meats: Plant-based burgers, grounds and sausages
  • Plant Ranch: Plant-based Mexican meats

Singapore Program:

  • Angie’s Tempeh: Tempeh fermentation technology to create protein-rich foods
  • Animal Alternative Technologies: Cell-based meat services including bioreactors and software
  • Farmsow: A B2B ingredients company developing sustainable alternatives to tropical oils and animal fats
  • GreenGourmet Foods: Plant-based dairy 
  • Haofood: Alternative chicken protein from peanut focused on the Asian market
  • MAD Foods: A plant-based beverage 

Two companies — plant-based yogurt maker Wellme and a food tech startup called Meat. The End — will participate in both NYC and Singapore.

Beside $125,000 in cash investment and $75,000 on in-kind investment, chosen companies also get access to co-working space, including test kitchens, for the duration of the program, as well as mentorship and networking opportunities.

BIV is also currently taking applications for Cohort IV, which will take place during summer 2021. Applications are taken on a rolling basis.

Singapore: Eat Just and foodpanda Partner for Cultured Meat Home Delivery

Alternative protein company Eat Just and delivery service foodpanda announced a partnership yesterday that will see the two companies offer the world’s first home delivery of cell-cultured meat.

The program kicks off on April 22 in Singapore, where Eat Just made the world’s first sale of cultured meat in December 2020 at restaurant 1880. For the new program, customers will be able to order dishes from 1880 featuring Eat Just’s GOOD Meat cultured chicken for home delivery via foodpanda.

Yesterday’s announcement is noteworthy because it marks the first time consumers will be able to eat cell-based meat from the comfort of their own homes. Up to now, cultured meat has only been available to consumers via exclusive taste-testings like those at Supermeat’s kitchen lab in Israel, where customers offer feedback on dishes instead of payment. 1880 remains the only restaurant in the world right now to have made an actual sale of cultured meat.

Wider acceptance of cultured meat are coming, though. Cultured protein is being heralded as a way to fight climate disaster, since it requires fewer resources (land, water) than traditional animal agriculture. And startups around the globe have received massive amounts of funding of late, including Eat Just, who recently raised $200 million. Other cultured meat startups raising funds include Future Meat, Mosa Meat and CellMEAT.

Before more sales (and deliveries) can happen, though, cultured meat needs to get regulatory approval from more governments, and ideally needs to reach price parity with animal based protein.

For those in Singapore inside 1880’s delivery radius, GOOD Meat dishes available include Chicken & Rice with coconut rice, pak choi, sweet chili, chrysanthemums, microgreens; Katsu Chicken Curry with jasmine rice, heritage carrots, micro shiso, edible flowers; Chicken Caesar Salad with kale, romaine, edible flowers, shaved radish, plant-based Caesar dressing.

GOOD Meat and foodpanda said they plan to collaborate with other restaurants in Singapore, too. Starting in mid-May, GOOD Meat selections from JW Marriott Singapore South Beach will be available.

Plant-Based Meat Maker Hungry Planet Raises $25M

St. Louis, Missouri-based Hungry Planet announced today it has closed an oversubscribed $25 million Series A round of funding. Post Holdings led the round, with participation from Singaporean investment group TRIREC, and “other leading plant-forward investors,” according to a press release.

Aided by these new funds, Hungry Planet says it will expand its line of plant-based meats across retail and foodservice, domestically and in international markets. The company’s current product line includes chicken, pork, beef, lamb, turkey, crab, chorizo, breakfast sausage, and Italian sausage alternatives.  

Hungry Planet says its products are now in thousands of venues across the U.S., Australia, and New Zealand restaurants, retail, and foodservice outlets. A broader retail launch is currently happening across the USA and Singapore, with more markets planned for the future.

Hungry Planet’s fundraise comes on the heels of the Good Food Institute (GFI) and the Plant-Based Foods Association (PBFA)’s recent announcement that retail sales of plant-based foods in the U.S. reached $7 billion in 2020. Additionally, an earlier report from March found $2.1 billion had been invested in plant-based foods in 2020.

The $25 million raised by Hungry Planet is just the latest in a number of recent fundraises by plant-based meat-makers, including Israeli startup Redefine Meat’s $29 million Series A round, Gathered Foods’ $26.3 million, and AtLast’s $40 million from last week.

One thing that may help Hungry Planet compete with all this competition is its partnership with Post Holdings. The deal, first announced in January 2021, gives Hungry Planet access to Post’s Foodservice and Retail units, through which the company can expand its own distribution.

Additionally, Hungry Planet CEO and co-founder Todd Boyman said in today’s press release that the Series A round will allow the company “to expand further and faster.” Boyman founded the company in 2014 with his sister Jody Boyman. With the new funding, Hungry Planet has raised a total of $25.5 million to date.

Jellatech Raises $2M for Its Animal-Free Collagen and Gelatin

Jellatech, a company making animal-free gelatin and collagen ingredients, announced today it has raised $2 million in pre-seed funding. Green Queen was first to break the news. The round included participation from Big Idea Ventures, Sustainable Food Ventures, Iron Grey, YellowDog, 7 Hound Ventures, Capital V, Sentient Investments and Bluestein Ventures. 

Raleigh, North Carolina-based Jellatech came out of stealth mode in November 2020. The company grows gelatin and collagen in bioreactors, rather than sourcing those ingredients from the bones and skin of animals and fish. The company says it does not need to ship animals anywhere or slaughter them in order to develop its products. Rather, it uses animal cells to grow the collagen and gelatin.

Once inside a bioreactor, these cells produce the collagen, which can then be isolated and used in a range of different products in the food, skincare, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals, to name just a few areas. As Green Queen points out, plant-based alternatives like pectin or agar haven’t yet been able to replace traditional collagen and gelatin because of their limited functionality.

Jellatech’s cell-cultured method isn’t completely animal free, since animal cells are required. However, as noted above, the cell-based method doesn’t require ant animal slaughter. 

Geltor is another company developing alt-gelatin, albeit via an entirely different method. Geltor uses microbes to “grow” collagen and its constituent proteins, including gelatin, via fermentation.

Both startups aim to decrease dependence on the traditional collagen/gelatin market, which Jellatech says is worth $3.5 billion dollars is expected to grow 9 percent annually.  

Funds from this pre-seed round will go towards further developing products for the food, skincare and medical industries. Jellatech also said its first samples will be sent out by the end of April 2021.  

Food Tech News: Compostable Milk Packaging, Vegan Fast Food Goes Public

Happy weekend, and welcome to the Food Tech News round-up this week. This week we have news on JOI’s new compostable packaging, Sunbasket’s single-serving prepared meals, and a vegan fast-food company that’s gone public.

If you haven’t heard, The Spoon is on Clubhouse! “Food Tech Live” is the name of the room, and every Friday The Spoon team discusses news in food tech.

JOI launches zero waste oat milk

JOI produces nut paste concentrates that can be blended at home to make fresh plant-based milk, and the company just released a new product, an oat powder concentrate in fully compostable packaging. The powder contains only one ingredient, oats, and the 12 oz container produces a gallon of oat milk when blended with water. Once used, the packaging can be composted at home or at a commercial composting center. Many other plant-based milk packagings cannot be recycled, nor composted, According to the company, this is the first fully compostable plant-based milk product on the market.

Sunbasket launches single-serving prepared meals

Sunbasket, a subscription-based meal delivery service, just released single portion sizes of its Fresh & Ready prepared meals. The Fresh & Ready meals do not require any prep like the company’s meal kits, and can be heated up in a microwave or oven within a few minutes. The prepared meals are delivered fresh, not frozen, and start at $8.99. Starting April 25th, the single portion meals will be available for purchase on the company’s website. Throughout 2021, 65+ new meals will be released.

The first vegan fast-food company to go public

Globally Locally, a vegan fast-food chain based in Canada, began publicly trading TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol GBLY yesterday, April 16th. Rather than IPO, the company entered an agreement with Black Lion Capital Corp to consolidate as Globally Local‎ Technologies Inc. Globally Locally manufactures and distributes its own plant-based protein and dairy alternatives, and can therefore offer prices comparable to other fast-food chains at its restaurants. Menu items include traditional fast-food fare made vegan, including burgers, wings, fries, shakes, and breakfast sandwiches. The eight restaurant locations primarily operate as smart kitchens offering pick-up and delivery. Within the next 12 months, the company aims to open at least 20 locations across North America. A few other vegan companies trade on the Canadian stock exchange, including The Very Good Food Company, Eat Beyond, and Modern Meat.

Atlast Food Co. Secures $40M Series A Round to Expand Whole Cut Plant-Based Meat Analogues

Atlast Food Co., which uses mycelium to produce plant-based meat alternatives, announced today in a press release that it has raised a Series A round of $40 million USD to create new whole cut meat alternatives. This latest funding round was led by Viking Global Investors and saw participation from 40 North, AiiM Partners, Senator Investment Group, Stray Dog Capital, Footprint Coalition, Applegate, Stonyfield, and Whole Foods.

This new funding will be used to scale the company’s technology, production, and team to bring its product to a commercial scale. To create the new whole cuts of alternative meat, Atlast is partnering with Ecovative, its parent company. Using Ecovative’s AirMycelium manufacturing platform, Atlast is currently building the largest aerial mycelium farm in the U.S. to supply its production of meat alternatives.

Atlast offers its first product, mycelium-based bacon, through its brand MyEats. Dubbed MyBacon, it consists of six plant-based ingredients, is cholesterol-free, and the serving size of two slices contains 4 grams of protein. The Honest Weight Food Co-op in Albany, New York is the only retailer that carries MyEats bacon right now, but the product will be distributed to more grocery retailers as production picks up.

Mycelium works well as an ingredient for plant-based meat alternatives because of its fibrous texture that can mimic the muscle texture of animal proteins. Additionally, mycelium grows quickly, and its neutral flavor allows for any desired flavor to be absorbed. Meati is another start-up that produces mycelium-based meat alternatives, and the company trialed its mycelium-based steak last summer and is also developing mycelium-based chicken and jerky.

Atlast was not able to disclose exactly what variety of meat analogs it will be developing, but did say that mycelium gives them the opportunity to create a wide variety of meat alternatives like filet mignon, chicken breast, and even fish. The products will be made available to CPG, foodservice, and grocery industries, and Atlast plans on distributing its mycelium meat alternatives to these industries this year.

Yes, Mealworms Are Gross. Here’s Why They Matter

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Another step was made this week towards edible insects as a source of protein for humans. Question is, Will bugs ever become an ordinary part of the ordinary American’s diet?

This is not a new question. For years, the food industry, the media, and even the United Nations have urged cultures not historically acclimated to bugs to consider insects like mealworms and grasshoppers as more sustainable forms of protein. Mealworms, for example, are high in protein and require less land to produce than traditional meat sources like cows or chicken.  

And speaking of mealworms, this week, insect protein startup Ÿnsect announced it had acquired Dutch agtech company Protifarm, which raises mealworms for human food consumption. A press release from Ÿnsect noted that the deal will let the company speed up its manufacturing process for foods geared towards humans, providing yet another source of alternative protein for the planet. The news comes a few months after the European Food Safety Authority granted its approval of mealworms for human consumption. Ÿnsect also plans to file for GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status in the U.S.

Additionally, France-based Ÿnsect will be able to expand internationally with the integration of Protifarm, which has food customers in Germany, the Netherlands, England, Denmark, and Belgium. In fact, the acquisition makes Ÿnsect the world’s largest producer of insect food and animal feed, and bumps its portfolio of patents to nearly 300.

Were we talking about anything other than mealworms for human consumption, all the above points would suggest mainstream success is a likelihood if not a foregone conclusion.

But we are, in fact, talking about bugs, and any hope of eliminating (or lessening) the “ick” factor involved is going to require a seismic change in perception for many consumers. Roughly 2 billion people around the world eat insects on the regular, but they don’t typically live in the countries Ÿnsect is eyeing for expansion, which includes those listed above as well as the United States.

One way to potentially enable a perception change is to make insects an ingredient, such as a powder, that gets added to other foods, rather than a standalone item. Consumers might be more likely to buy a pasta made with mealworm powder than, say, dried mealworms in a vacuum-sealed bag for snacking.

Ÿnsect, for example, has a Buffalo mealworm ingredient that is part of biscuits, pastas, sport nutrition bars, and meat substitute products. The company also told AgFunder this week that it is targeting athletes first, who might be attracted to the health benefits of mealworm protein. Hardcore environmentalists are another group that could potentially be swayed, particularly those that want alternative sources of protein but are skeptical about the nutrition profile of the current pack of plant-based meats on offer. Making insects part of an experience, say, at a theme park, is also another avenue in. After all, Doritos were invented from trash at Disneyland, and so who’s to say cookies made with cricket powder wouldn’t be a hit in Fantasyland? 

Insects becoming a staple of the average Western household, however, still feels like a long shot. At the very least, it would take some serious marketing genius to even start to change mainstream consumers’ perceptions around eating bugs, to say nothing of the research and development that would have to go into creating products that taste as good or better than traditional protein sources. And there will always be those consumers that turn their noses up at the stuff on principle.

These issues aren’t actually unique to mealworms and other insects. In fact, as I write this, cultured meat is dealing with its own consumer perception challenges, albeit on a different scale, as well as hurdles around creating a product that tastes as good as traditional protein. 

All of which is to say, mealworms, crickets, and the like may yet have their moment. It will just probably look a whole lot different than what most of us still imagine when we hear the phrase “edible insect.”

Alt-Protein News From the Week

Revo Foods Raises €1.5M to Advance its 3D-Printed Alternative Salmon – The company will use the funding to accelerate its 3D food printing process, as well as expand its team.

Cultured Decadence Raises $1.6M to Make Lobster in a Lab – The Wisconsin-based cell ag company will use to the new funds to create what it says will be the first cell-cultured lobster meat in North America

Beyond Meat Boosts European Retail Presence – The plant-based meat giant said it is bolstering its presence at retail stores across Europe this spring, including those in Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

Revo Foods Raises €1.5M to Advance its 3D-Printed Alternative Salmon

Austria-based Revo Foods crafts 3D-printed salmon made from plant-based ingredients, and over the weekend the company announced that it has raised €1.5 million euros (~$1.78 million USD) in funding. This is the company’s first round of funding, and it included participation from Hazelpond Capital, Eva Summer (CPO of Peace of Meat), Friends2grow, Jens Schuman, MKO Holdings, and national support from the FFG Austrian Research Promotion Agency and Vienna Business Agency.

Revo Foods’ funding will be used to accelerate its 3D food printing process, as well as expand its team. The company has several plant-based salmon products that its plans on launching in Europe this year. Its smoked salmon strips and smoked salmon spread is made from pea protein, citrus fiber, and algae oil (these products are not made through 3D printing). The plant-based salmon sashimi is still being developed, and is created using a 3D printing process to create complex structures similar to real salmon.

The company held the first live tasting of its plant-based salmon products at the beginning of March. The tasting was held in Vienna, Austria and Revo Foods partnered with Budapest Bagels to serve its smoked salmon strips in the bagels. Only a handful of journalists were able to attend in person, and one food vegan food writer said, “It tastes too similar like fish, I can hardly eat it.”

There are a few other notable players in the plant-based fish space, however, these companies do not use 3D printing like Revo Foods. In the U.S., Gathered Foods (the parent company of Good Catch) raised $26.35 million in a B-2 bridge funding round at the beginning of April. Hooked is a Swedish-based company that produces plant-based tuna and shredded salmon alternatives. New Wave Foods announced the last week of March that its’ plant-based seafood alternative is now available for foodservice companies and restaurants.

Revo Foods plans on launching its smoked salmon strips first in Europe within 2021. In the next two to three months, the company expects to finalize the development of its plant-based salmon sashimi.

Cultured Decadence Raises $1.6M to Make Lobster in a Lab

Wisconsin-based cellular agriculture company Cultured Decadence announced today it has raised $1.6 million in an oversubscribed round of pre-seed funding. Investors include Bluestein Ventures, Joyance Partners, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, gener8tor, GlassWall Syndicate, Bascom Ventures, and China-based Dao Foods. The company also received non-dilutive funding from the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation administered by the Center for Technology Commercialization (CTC). 

Cultured Decadence will use to the new funds to create what it says will be the first cell-cultured lobster meat in North America. This financing follows work by Cultured Decadence in developing novel cell lines and reducing the cost of its cell-culture media. Cell-culture media is typically one of the key elements driving up the cost of a cultured meat product, so any company making progress on this step is good news for the whole industry.

Lobster may be the first dish Cultured Decadence is recreating in a lab, but the company said its technology can be applied across a range of seafood analogues, including carp, shrimp, and scallops. The goal is to help decrease the planet’s reliance on traditional seafood. Overfishing, ocean pollution, and human rights abuses are just a few of the issues plaguing the industry, and they were around long before “Seaspiracy” hit Netflix.  

The promise of cell-cultured seafood is that it doesn’t require the actual ocean to produce — a point underscored by Cultured Decadence’s Wisconsin headquarters, which is thousands of miles away from any major body of water. 

The company joins Singapore-based Shiok Meats in the quest to provide more sustainable lobster meat to consumers. Shiok unveiled its lobster meat to the world for the first time at an invite-only taste-testing event in 2020.

Besides today’s, other recent fundraises in the cultured seafood space include Avant Meats’ $3.1 million round, also in December 2020, and BlueNalu’s $60 million fundraise in January 2021. While all of these companies focus on different products and specific processes, they share the end goal of advancing the cultured seafood industry, which is still an extremely nascent one.

Cultured Decadence said it would use the new funds to continue developing its lobster prototype and eventually launch commercially. No specific timeframe was given. 

Beyond Meat Boosts European Retail Presence

Plant-based meat giant Beyond Meat announced today that it is bolstering its presence at retail stores across Europe this spring.

In its press announcement, Beyond said that its products are already available at roughly 122,000 retail and foodservice outlets in more than 80 countries around the world. The new European distribution includes:

United Kingdom – Beyond Meat products recently launched in Sainbury’s and Waitrose, and will be available in 445 new retail stores throughout the UK.

Germany – Beyond Meat will be expanding its product offerings in more than 1,000 new retail stores via Kaufland, Tegut, Famila, and Real.

Austria – Beyond Mince will be available in nearly 1,500 new retail stores including SPAR, BILLA and BILLA PLUS.

Switzerland – Beyond Meat will be distributed to 155 Migros stores.

The Netherlands – Last month, Beyond Mince started selling through nearly 1,000 Albert Heijn and Jumbo stores.

Today’s announcement comes on the heels of a report last week Beyond’s chief rival, Impossible Foods, is preparing to go public this year. Impossible has yet to enter the European market, as regulators there raised flags over its use of soy leghemoglobin (heme). Beyond Meat is already publicly traded and its European expnsion will help solidify its first-mover position over there before Impossible potentially ramps up its own global ambitions after any IPO.

Beyond Meat has been making some big moves all around this year. In addition to its retail expansion in Europe, the company recently opened up a manufacturing facility in China, the company’s first outside of the U.S. Beyond also signed a big global distribution deals with McDonald’s and Yum Brands.

Numilk’s Home Plant-Based Milk Machine Blows Past Kickstarter Goal

I love my oat milk in the morning, but I don’t love the big plastic jugs it comes in. It just feels wasteful, especially since so little plastic actually gets recycled. With that in mind, could the Numilk Home be the key to more conscientious plant-based milk consumption? Given how quickly the company has blown past its Kickstarter goal, a lot of other people seem to think so.

The Numilk Home is a countertop version of the Numilk kiosk, which is a large plant-based milk dispenser installed at grocery stores across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. For the kiosk installations, users place an empty Numilk glass bottle under a dispenser and choose from a selection of plant-based milks.

For the Numilk Home, the main concept remains the same, only on a smaller scale. The countertop devices uses a combination of ingredient pouches and special bottles. The ingredient pouches contain a variety of different plain and flavored milks (almond, soy, oat, chocolate, etc.). The Numilk bottles have a special emulsifier at the bottom.

To make milk, users place the ingredient pouch in the top and push a button. The ingredients are dispensed with water into the special bottle. Special technology built into the base of the machine emulsifies the milk. We reached out for more details about how this emulsifying technology works (e.g., Are bottles single use?) and will update when we hear back.

Numilk founders actually pitched their device and company on a March episode of Shark Tank, accepting an investment offer of up to $2 million from Mark Cuban. Now Numilk is reaching out through Kickstarter to crowdfund the rest, and is off to a strong start. As of today, Numilk has pulled in nearly $210,000 in pledge funding, more than doubling its initial goal of $100,000. The campaign still has 27 days to go.

In some ways, the Numilk feels kinda like the Juicero, the infamously expensive juicing machine that flamed out a few years back. You’re not just buying a machine, you’re buying into the Numilk ecosystem, and will be reliant on their pouches. And, as with any hardware crowdfunding campaign, there is the chance that Numilk won’t be able to move from prototype to scaled production, a very real problem on the platform.

But if you want to back the project, a Numilk Home machine will set you back $199. Numilk ingredient pouches will cost between $3 and $5 and will be available through the Numilk website. The company says it will ship the devices in August of 2022.