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Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

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Food Tech News: Food Waste Protein Powder and Nike Coffee Sneakers

It’s that time of week! Food Tech News is here, and stories on protein powder made from food waste, a cell-based protein ingredient for skin care, and Nike’s new coffee sneakers.

Nutrapharma is making protein powder from food waste

Nutrapharma, a UK-based pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and agri-tech lab, shared this week that they are creating a protein powder made from food waste. The company is using excess fruits and vegetables and produce scraps and turning them into a protein-rich powder that can be added to a variety of different supplements. It was undisclosed if the company is using any particular types of fruit or vegetables, but it did share that some of the first samples of the protein powder are higher in protein than whey protein. Because the powder is made from dried and milled fruit and vegetables, it will also contain nutrients like a variety of vitamins and minerals.

Photo from Zellulin’s website

Avant Meat enters skincare industry

Avant Meats, which produces cell-based fish maw and sea cucumber alternatives, announced this week that it has entered the skincare industry with a new anti-aging ingredient product. The company is using its cell-based biotechnology to create marine protein peptides, which are typically found in supplements, face creams, and other beauty products. The product is called Zellulin, and will be used as an ingredient for anti-aging skin care products. Like Avant’s other cell-based products, the cell-based protein-peptide does not require any animals to be slaughtered or harmed. The company shared that they will be able to commercialize the cell-based marine protein-peptide product faster than its cell-based seafood products because it does not require pre-market approval.

Photo from The Drop Date website

Nike’s coffee themed shoes

Maybe this isn’t directly tied into the world of food tech, but it’s still neat. Nike unveiled a new line of shoes called the “Coffee Pack” on the website called The Drop Date this week. There are three styles, including the Daybreak, the Air Max 97, and the Air Force 1 Low. Each shoe showcases the different colors of coffee beverages, like the dark brown of black coffee and the creamy tan color of a latte. A cat sitting in a coffee mug is printed on the insole, while the heel and tongue of the shoe read “Roasted by Nike”. The shoes are currently only available in Asia, but will launch in the US at some point as well.

Supply Change Capital Aims to Diversify Investments in Food Companies

Too often, women and minority-owned start-ups are overlooked by venture capital firms, and most venture capital money goes to college-educated white males. Specifically in the food tech, less than 3% of funding went to female founders in 2020. Supply Change Capital, founded by Shayna Harris and Noramay Cadena at the end of 2020, aims to flip this standard and invest in food and food tech companies with female, BIPOC, and LGBTQ founders.

To learn more about Supply Change Capital, I spoke on the phone with Shayna Harris, one of the cofounders. Harris said there is essentially a $100 billion opportunity to invest in companies that are making food products that appeal to the growing minority population in the US, which is currently estimated to be around 40% of the total population but will increase to over 50% in the next 25 years.

“With the demographic shifts in this country and a new majority that we will have by 2045, basically with the demographic trends flipping for the first time in our country’s history,” said Harris, “There’s a huge opportunity to ensure that the founders of food companies and food tech companies mirror the demographics of this country.”

There are existing food companies and products that appeal to Black, Latinx, and Asian consumers but many might be considered generic or inauthentic. Harris also shared that through the firm’s research, these minority groups have a strong preference for foods considered “natural and healthy.” Therefore, Supply Change Capital is essentially looking for a few traits when investing in a food company, including sustainable ingredients, unique and flavorful ethnic ingredients, and the ability to appeal to the masses.

Since the firm is just a few months old, it has not yet invested in any start-ups. Harris said the company will be investing in early-stage food start-ups, including both consumer-facing brands and ingredient companies, cutting checks for up to $1 million.

Gates-Backed Nature’s Fynd Unveils Initial Products Made From Fermented Fungi

Nature’s Fynd, which produces protein made from fermented fungi, unveiled over the weekend its first two products made from its proprietary protein: a dairy-free cream cheese and meatless breakfast patties.

Nature’s Fynd uses a member of the fungi family called Fusarium strain flavolapis for its protein, which was discovered in the geothermal hot springs of Yellowstone. The fungi are fed a combination of nutrients and as they grow, layers of fibers comparable to muscle fibers are formed. After just a few days of growth, the fungi can be harvested and used to make the company’s alternative protein products.

The company’s new dairy-free cream cheese includes Fy Protein (Nature’s Fynd fermented fungi protein), coconut oil, and sugar, and contains 1g of protein. The meatless breakfast patties use Fy Protein as the main ingredient, along with soy and fava bean protein. The serving size of two patties has 12 grams of protein.

Nature’s Fynd has raised an impressive $158 million to date, from backers including Al Gore and Bill Gates. Gates appeared on 60 Minutes this past weekend and spoke about Nature’s Fynd and the environmental benefits of using fungi as an alternative protein source. Gates and Anderson Cooper sampled the company’s dairy-free yogurt, which presumably will be rolled out soon.

Using fungi as an alternative protein source is considered a more sustainable option over animal protein because it does not require vast amounts of water, feed, and land that animals do. Other companies in the space include Meati, which uses fungi, specifically mycelium, to create plant-based steak and chicken alternatives, and AtLast, which makes a plant-based bacon. Prime Roots uses another fungus called koji to produce its plant-based beef, pork, and chicken products.

Nature’s Fynd is currently accepting pre-orders for its first products on its website. The items are for sale as a bundle for $14.99 with $10 shipping.

Food Tech News: Vegan Waygu Beef, Coca-Cola Transitions To New rPET Bottles

If you haven’t heard, The Spoon is hosting the Food Tech Job Fair. If you feel like you need to get up to date on news and information in the world of food tech before attending, the Food Tech News round-up is a great place to start. This week we have news on vegan wagyu beef, Coca-Cola’s transition to rPET bottles, a new whole cut plant-based chicken product, and an engagement program for snack startups.

Plant-based waygu beef to be trialed throughout US

Canadian-based Top Tier Foods, a manufacturer of plant-based sushi items, announced that it will be trialing vegan waygu throughout the US. The company has partnered with Advanced Fresh Concepts for the rollout, which owns over 4,000 sushi locations in the US. The vegan waygu will be trialed at only certain locations owned by Advanced Fresh Concepts (locations were not disclosed), as well as inside of Rouse supermarkets located in Louisiana. The wagyu will be soy protein-based, and seasoned in a teriyaki marinade.

LIVEKINDLY Collective partners with Rival Foods to create whole cuts of plant-based chicken

LIVEKINDLY Collective, a collection of plant-based start-ups, and Rival Foods, a plant-based meat alternative producer, announced at the beginning of this week that they will partner to create plant-based chicken. Rival Foods has the technology and capabilities to produce whole cuts of different meat analogues, so the new product will be a whole cut of plant-based chicken. It was undisclosed what the plant-based chicken will be made from, or when it will be available.

Samples of the new rPET bottles

Coca-Cola and brands begin transition to r-PET bottles

Coca-Cola announced this week that it will begin the transition to using rPET (recycled polyethylene terephthalate) bottles starting in February. Initially, 13.2 oz Coca-Cola and Sprite bottles will be available in California, Florida, and the Northeastern US. Coca-Cola sent me samples of three bottles with the new rPET packaging, and I honestly could say I would not have been able to tell the difference between the rPET packaging and virgin plastic. The corporation aims to make 50% of its packaging from recycled materials by 2030.

Photo from Unsplash

Mondelez launches program to support snack start-ups

Mondelez’s International innovation and venture lab, called SnackFutures, just launched an engagement program for early-stage snack start-ups. The program is called CoLab, and it will support snack start-up brands targeting the well-being sector. Up to ten snack food start-ups will be selected for the 12 week program. Start-ups accepted into the program will receive a $20,000 grant, and receive customized support and a curriculum. Applications are open now.

Legendary Vish Rebrands to Revo Foods, Plans to Host Tasting for 3D Printed Salmon Soon

When I last spoke to Robin Simsa, the CEO of Legendary Vish, the company was working on a prototype of a 3D printed plant-based salmon fillet. Now, the company has rebranded to Revo Foods, plans on launching three new products, and will host a tasting in March.

To hear about the details of Revo Foods’ recent news, I hopped on a Zoom call with Simsa this week. Simsa said the company rebranded to Revo Foods so they were not tied down to just producing fish alternative products. The company has now decided to prioritize other plant-based salmon products and one tuna product. Revo Foods wanted to focus first on products that could be consumed cold with no prep, but will still be working on the salmon fillet on the side.

The two products that will be launched by the company are plant-based smoked salmon strips and a smoked salmon spread. The main ingredients in these products include pea protein, citrus fiber, and algae oil, and 3D printing will not be used to create these products. Revo Foods will apply 3D printing techniques for the creation of its salmon sashimi, which uses similar ingredients to the previously mentioned products. The company has plans to work on a tuna product as well, but details are not made available yet.

As far as we know, Revo foods is the only company combining plant-based ingredients and 3D printing to produce alternative salmon products. US-based Sophie’s Kitchen produces smoked salmon lox using konjac as the main ingredient. Hooked, a Swedish start-up produces a shredded plant-based tuna. Other plant-based seafood companies like Good Catch and New Wave are focused on providing alternatives for other seafood species, like tuna and shrimp.

The plant-based salmon products from Revo Foods will be ready to launch around the summer of this year, and the company has partnered with several restaurants throughout Vienna, Austria for the launch. Revo Foods will be hosting a tasting of its plant-based salmon products on March 6 in Vienna.

Aleph Farms Makes a Cultivated 3D-Bioprinted Ribeye Steak

Israel-based startup Aleph Farms and its research partner, the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering at the Israel Institute of Technology, said today that they have developed a cultivated 3D-bioprinted ribeye steak. The steak contains muscle, fat, and structure identical to what would be found in a steak from a cow, according to a press release sent to The Spoon.

To create the cultivated ribeye steak, a technique called 3D bioprinting was used. This is different from 3D printing because living cells, which have been extracted from living animals, are actually printed. Once the living cells are printed, they are incubated to grow and interact to form tissues and structures identical to those found in a steak from an animal. Other companies that use 3D printing to produce meat alternatives, like NovaMeat and Redefine Meat, print plant-based proteins and fats.

In 2018, Aleph Farms unveiled a cultivated thin-cut steak. At the time, the steak was not produced using 3D bioprinting, and Aleph Farms was limited to making its first product just a few inches long and a few centimeters thick. At the end of last year, the company shared that it had created a platform for the commercial production of its cultured meat, called BioFarm, which the company hopes to have fully operational by 2022.

It is still early into 2021, and in addition to Aleph Farms’ news, there has already been a plethora of cultured meat news. At the end of January, NovaMeat announced that it had created the world’s largest piece of 3D-printed cultivated meat. Mirai Foods raised $2.7 million a few weeks ago to accelerate the commercialization of its cultured meat. Eat Just made headlines at the end of last year with its first commercial sale of cultured meat.

Aleph Farms says now that it has successfully created an entire steak it can essentially create any shape and type of steak. In the press release, the company shared that it will continue to expand its portfolio of cultivated meat products.

Food Tech News: Artificial Pollination for Almond Orchards, Brave Robot Available Nationwide

If you’re anything like me, the days blur together easily after months of stay-at-home orders, and you probably have to look at a calendar to determine what day it is. However, our Food Tech News is out today, which means it’s a Saturday! This week, we have stories on artificial pollination in almond orchards, Brave Robot’s nationwide expansion, Keurig’s phone app, and a fully plant-based Starbucks location.

Edete to use artificial pollination for Australian almond orchard

Edete Precision Technologies for Agriculture, an ag tech startup based in Israel, recently signed a contract with one of Australia’s largest almond orchards. This August, when the almonds trees begin to bloom, Edete will apply its artificial pollination technology to the almond trees. The company’s machines collect flowers and then separate out the pollen. The collected pollen can be stored for up to a year, and when trees are ready to be pollinated, the machines dispense the optimal amount of pollen per flower. Due to the decline of pollinators and issues like bee colony collapse disorder, crops that require insect pollination (around 75% of all crops) are at risk for severe yield declines, so Edete’s technology may become crucial in the upcoming years. The company also plans to work with almond growers in California.

Brave Robot’s animal free ice cream made in partnership with fermentation company Perfect Day Source: Perfect Day

Brave Robot is now available in 5,000 stores across US

Brave Robot, a brand of The Urgent Company, shared that its animal-free flora-based ice cream is now available in 5,000 locations across the US. The ice cream comes in eight flavors, and uses Perfect Day’s proprietary animal-free whey. Although the ice cream does not require the use of cows for milk, it does contain dairy because the whey protein is essentially an exact replica of whey protein from cows. Brave Robot ice cream is available in stores like Kroger, Sprouts, Safeway, Lassen’s, and Ralph’s throughout the US.

Keurig Commercial Remote Brew App

Keurig announces new phone controlled and touchless brewing feature

Keurig Commercial announced a new touchless feature available for its commercial coffee makers intended for workplaces. Users can download the Keurig Remote Brew App, and through the app select which coffee or specialty beverage they would like to brew. Developed with the existing Bluetooth Kit, the Remote Brew App can be used with Eccellenza Touch and Eccellenza Momentum models. This new feature was created to make coffee in a COVID-19 safe manner for those employees who may be returning to the workplace.

Photo from Starbuck’s website

Starbucks to pilot fully plant-based location

An existing Starbucks location near Seattle, Washington will be piloted for offering only plant-based menu items. This was announced by Starbucks CEO in the recent Q1 earnings call, but it is unclear when the plant-based transition will occur, or which exact location it will be. On the Starbucks website, an article was released in January 2021 that shared that plant-based items will continue to be added at Starbucks locations globally as part of the company’s sustainability initiatives. New plant-based items being trialed in the U.S. include an Impossible breakfast sandwich, vegan bagels, oat milk, and a variety of almond milk-based beverages.

Vivino Raises $155M Series D for its Wine App and Online Marketplace

Mobile wine app and online marketplace, Vivino announced today that it has raised a $155 million Series D round of funding. This round was led by investment firm Kinnevik and Sprints Capital, with participation from GP BullHound and Creandum. This brings the company’s total funding to $221 million USD.

This most recent round of funding will be used for Vivino’s continued geographical expansion and to incorporate more personalized AI (artificial intelligence) into its platform. The company will focus its expansion efforts in markets in the US, UK, Germany, Portugal, and Japan. Its AI will be improved to create better wine recommendations for its customers.

Vivino’s community can use the mobile app or online marketplace to see reviews and ratings of different wines, and view personal recommendations based on their preferences. Customers shop for wine online through the website marketplace or app, and have wine shipped directly to their homes. Vivino allows the customer to shop for wine based on grape or region, and offers wine pairing recommendations for a variety of foods. Once the wine delivery arrives, customers can use the accompanying app to scan each bottle and receive additional information about the wine. For those unsure which bottle of wine to pick out, Vivino uses its AI-based recommendation platform to make suggestions.

E-commerce alcohol sales have significantly increased since the start of the pandemic, and this sector seems to be having its moment. Vivino’s fundraise comes just one day after alcohol delivery service and online marketplace Drizly was purchased by Uber for $1.1 billion.

Currently, 50 million people worldwide are part of the Vivino community of wine drinkers. The Vivino app is free, and available for both Apple and Android phones.

Food Tech News: The World’s Largest Piece of Cultured Meat, Coca-Cola Delivery Via Drone

Welcome to this week’s Food Tech News round-up! We found some interesting tidbits this week, including the world’s largest piece of cultured meat, Coca-Cola’s drone delivery, Carnival Cruise’s step towards sustainability, and funding for HIPPEAS chickpea snacks.

NovaMeat produces the world’s largest piece of cultured meat

3D meat printer NovaMeat announced that it had successfully created what it is calling the world’s largest piece of cultured meat, with a volume of 22500 mm3 (1.4 cubic inches). NovaMeat has so far created 3D-printed steak and pork made from plant-based proteins, but is now creating hybrid meat alternatives through the combination of plant-proteins and cells from cultivated meat. After announcing this accomplishment, the company shared it will hold an investment round in the next few months and aims to increase the production speed of its 3D-printed meat to 100Kg/hour.

Photo from Coca-Cola’s website

Coca-Cola delivers coffee flavored soda via drone

Coca-Cola partnered with Walmart and drone provider DroneUP to make aerial deliveries of its new beverage, a coffee-infused soda. The drone was launched from a Walmart in Coffee County, Georgia, and delivered to a select few consumers located within a mile of the Walmart. The coffee soda is infused with Brazilian coffee, and comes in three flavors, caramel, dark blend, and vanilla – with a sugar-free option in the vanilla and dark blend flavors. The 12oz cans are shelf-stable and offer 69mg of caffeine. The soda was trialed successfully in Japan in 2018, and as of it January 25th, 2021, the Coca-Cola with Coffee beverage is now available in the US.

Photo of a digester from BioHiTech’s website

Carnival Cruise Lines and Princess Cruise Lines aim to reduce food waste through BioHiTech’s food digesters

BioHiTech, which offers technology solutions and services to combat the environmental issues of landfill waste, will provide 14 cruise ships from Carnival Cruise Lines and Princess Cruise Lines with its Revolution Series food digesters for food waste onboard. The digesters process food waste through odorless, aerobiotic digestion and convert the waste into a liquid that can be drained into the cruise ship’s wastewater line. This prevents food waste from reaching the landfill and saves the cruise line costs associated with waste management. The order from BioHiTech totals approximately $2 million USD and will be completed in Q2 of 2021.

Photo from HIPPEAS’ Instagram

HIPPEAS raises $50M for chickpea snacks

Whole Foods predicted that chickpea would trend as an ingredient in 2021, and they certainly were correct. Chickpeas are being used in everything from alternative eggs to snack foods, and HIPPEAS Organic Chickpea Snacks announced that it has raised $50 million in funding this week from The Craftory Limited. The company will use these funds to increase production, expand distribution, and add to its positive impact projects. All of the company’s products are organic, vegan, gluten-free, and products include flavored chickpea puffs and chickpea tortilla chips. I can personally attest that HIPPEAS products are delicious, and it is too easy to crush an entire bag of the vegan white cheddar chickpea puffs.

Tevel Raises $20M For Its Flying Fruit-Picking Robots

Tevel Aerobotics Technologies, which develops flying fruit-picking robots that provide autonomous on-demand harvest, announced this week it has raised $20 million for its technology. Investors in this round include venture capital firms Maverick Ventures Israel, OurCrowd, AgFunder, as well as Asian agriculture equipment producers Kubota and Forbon. This brings the company’s total funding to $33.9 million, which includes a $2.5 million grant from the Israel Innovation Authority (news from AgFunder News).

Tevel, based in Tel-Aviv, Israel, has developed a patented platform called FAR (Flying Autonomous Robots) that is a combination of the actual flying robots, algorithms, AI, and data analytics. The flying robots are equipped with computer vision and AI that detects fruit and foliage, and identifies the type of fruit, size, and ripeness. Attached to the drone is a three-foot-long claw for grabbing and picking the fruit. Additionally, the small drones are capable of other tasks like pruning, trimming, and thinning of orchard trees.

Fruit picking is very dependent on the available labor force, which has been consistently declining throughout the world in the past few years, causing labor shortages in orchards. On top of this, even though agriculture workers are considered essential personnel, the pandemic has caused delays for laborers seeking visas to pick fruit in other countries. Tevel aims to provide a solution to this issue through its platform, which will also allow fruit farmers to use its services exactly when needed to fill unmet labor needs on an on-demand basis.

Tevel is the first flying produce picking robot we’ve covered at The Spoon; however, there are plenty of other agriculture companies using robots on the ground to reduce labor costs and increase efficiency during harvest. Root AI raised $7.2 million last summer for its tomato and strawberry harvesting robots. Companies such as Greenfield Robotics, Small Robot Company, and FarmWise use AI-powered robots to remove weeds from crop fields. My colleague Jenn Marston predicts that we will see more automation in agriculture in 2021, which will include more robots and software technologies that create the optimal environment for particular crops.

Tevel’s new funding will be used to continue the production of its technology and launch its commercial services for orchards. The service is not commercially available for farms yet but the company says it will be conducting pilots of its platform this year in Spain, Italy, and the US. Tevel is also accepting additional equity crowdfunded investments directly and through the investment platform OurCrowd.

Mirai Foods Raises $2.1M CHF for Commercialization of Cultured Meat

Switzerland-based Mirai Foods, announced this week that it has raised $2.1M CHF (~$2.4 million USD) in funding in its initial Seed round (hat tip to FoodBev Media). The round included participation from seven investors in total, including the Pauling Group and Team Europe.

This most recent round of funding will be used to accelerate the commercialization of Mirai Foods’ cultured meat products. The company was founded one year ago, and after six months produced its first cultured meat prototype. Currently, the company is focused on creating cultured beef products, like minced beef, but will eventually work on other meat analogs as well.

Like other cultured meat companies, Mirai Foods extracts stem cells from living animals to produce its cultured meat. However, no animals are slaughtered or harmed in the process, and the extracted cells are grown outside of animals in large bioreactors. Because living animals are not raised by the company, there is no need for land, feed, or water for animals, thus resulting in the cultured meat product having a lower carbon footprint. According to its press announcement, Mirai is the only cultivated meat player in Switzerland. The company says it differentiates itself from other players in the space in that it does not genetically manipulate their cells but keep the cells as they naturally occur in the animal.

Mirai Foods is not the only company racing to accelerate its commercialization efforts in hopes of bringing cultured meat to market. At the very beginning of 2021, Aleph Farms actually announced that it would be bringing its lab-grown whole-muscle steak to Japan, and will be releasing a limited launch of its products in Asia in 2022. IntegriCulture aims to launch a cultured liver product in restaurants this year, and SuperMeat has a test kitchen/restaurant in Tel-Aviv, Israel dedicated to sampling its cultured chicken to consumers in exchange for feedback.

Lab-grown meat, as science fiction-y and futuristic as it sounds, is inching closer to popping up on restaurant menus and retailer shelves. Regulatory approval from governments is still a barrier that cultured meat companies must cross, but approval could come sooner than later after the Singapore government’s approval of Eat Just’s cultured meat. Mirai Foods has not announced when it aims on launching its cultured meat in the market but did say in its press release that it is focused on bringing cell-based meat to the market as quickly and safely as possible.

Entomo Farms Raises $3.7M CAD for Cricket Protein

Ontario, Canada-based Entomo Farms, a startup that produces cricket protein products, announced this week that it has raised $3.7M CAD (~$2.89M USD). The funding round was lead by undisclosed investors from Canada and Asia. This new capital follows and undisclosed Series A funding round lead by Maple Leaf Foods in 2018.

This new funding will be used to support the operational growth and expansion of Entomo Farms, and be put towards marketing efforts to increase brand awareness amongst consumers. Currently, the company operates in 60,000 square feet of production space, and produces cricket products through its own brand and for other food companies globally.

Entomo Farms offers a few different food products made from the crickets that it raises, including baking flour, whole roasted crickets, and protein powder. Additionally, the company supplies crickets to other companies for use in pet food, fertilizer, and snacks.

Crickets, although not yet as appealing to the Western taste bud, offer a high protein and sustainable alternative to meat from animals. Compared to chicken, fish, or pork, crickets actually have a higher protein content, and nearly just as much as beef. It takes much less land, water, and feed than land mammals to raise crickets, which makes this critter a more sustainable protein option.

Entomo Farms is not the only company trying to convince people to eat bugs for protein; Israel-based Hargol raised $3 million for its cricket protein powder last year. The Aspire Food Group farms crickets and palm weevil larvae and produces cricket-based bars through its brand Exo.

Although crickets are not currently a key component of the Western diet, funding for companies like Entomo Farms will help bring consumer awareness to the benefits of eating crickets for protein. With a ballooning global population of nearly eight billion hungry for protein, crickets may offer a solution to satisfying this vast and ever growing requirement.