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Wine Bottles Can Now Be Reused Thanks to Good Goods’ Return Program

You have probably heard the popular waste management phrase, “Reduce, reuse, and recycle.” The order of these words represents the hierarchy of what option is best, and that certainly applies when it comes to glass bottles. While a glass bottle is easy enough to recycle, reuse is better since recycling requires energy, water, and other resources and can even release pollutants.

When it comes to wine bottles, a New York-based startup Good Goods hopes to keep the containers out of landfill and recycling bin through its wine bottle return and reuse program. The company launched its program in New York City in 2020. Two years prior, it had launched a grab-and-go food brand in reusable containers, which gave them the framework to create the model they use now.

Today, Good Goods takes a multi-pronged approach to bottle reuse. First, they work with about 60 wine producers and brands across the U.S. and sign them up for the bottle reuse program. Then, standardized bottles (branded with Good Goods’s label along the bottom edge of the bottle) are provided to the wineries. These bottles are filled with wine, and then eventually shipped to participating retailers.

Customers then purchase bottles of wine at the participating retailers. When the wine is finished, empty wine bottles can then be returned to the same store from which it was initially purchased or to another participating retailer. Good Goods operates a customer loyalty program to incentivize the bottle return, and customers receive $1 off their next purchase.

Good Goods gathers the used bottles and brings them to its facilities, and then a third-party company sanitizes the bottles. The bottles are redistributed to wineries, and the process starts again.

A visual explanation of how Good Goods operates

According to the Good Goods, customers have returned 20,000 wine bottles to date. Over 50 retailers located in New York and New Jersey have joined the program, and the company currently has a waitlist of 100 retailers wanting to sign up. By the end of 2022, Good Goods’ goal is to expand to New York, California, Texas, and Washington and onboard 600 retailers.

In 2022, Consumers Want to Order Healthier Delivery Food

At the beginning of every year, millions of people set intentions to better themselves, and many of their resolutions revolve around health and wellness. Of course, food plays a crucial part in health, so it’s no surprise that many resolutions end up being specific to food. This year, Nextbite, a virtual restaurant company, conducted a survey to understand what exactly customers want when it comes to delivery food and their diet goals.

The company surveyed 1,046 US consumers aged 13-54 years old in December 2021. One key takeaway from the survey was that 49 percent of the consumers plan on ordering healthier delivery food in 2022. Of these consumers, 59 percent of them order food for delivery at least once a month or more, while 41 percent plan on ordering more food for delivery this year.

Eating healthier is not a surprising resolution, as it is one that often makes it in the top three most common resolutions. In the survey, 49 percent reported that they desired to eat healthier this year, and this was a top goal of consumers aged 18-34 years old. Eating healthier does not necessarily mean following a specific diet; only 6 percent of consumers said they planned on trying to follow a trend diet like Whole360 or keto.

In 2020 and 2021, we turned to comfort food to deal with the emotional and mental impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yelp gathered up data in 2020 to determine what the most popular delivery items in different states were during the COVID-19 pandemic and created the map above. As you can see, many of the items, such as donuts, pizza, nachos, Belgian fries, and hot wings, would not be classified as health foods. According to DoorDash, the top two popular items ordered in 2020 were chicken sandwiches with a side of fries and mac and cheese.

Often reliant on quick-service chains, delivery food is traditionally viewed as unhealthy. However, by adding fresh and nutritious food dishes to delivery menus, restaurants, and ghost kitchens can change that perception while encouraging health-motivated customers to keep ordering food for delivery.

February is the month where upwards of 80 percent of New Year’s resolutions fail. Consumers may want to commit to vegan grain bowls and green smoothies now, but later this year, revert back to ordering hot chicken wings and deep-dish pizza. Despite the surge in the new COVID-19 variant at the moment, 2022 looks promising due to the fact children are returning back to school, adults are working in-person, and events are being held again. The way 2022 plays out may be a determining factor if consumers turn back to comfort food or stick to wholesome options.

Cream Cheese and Champagne Shortages? No Fear, Food Tech is Here to the Rescue

In the past few months, supply chain issues have been cited as a reason for major delays in everything from food to holidays gifts. Last week, USA Today published a piece detailing the food and beverages that are in demand for the holiday season but are experiencing shortages throughout the country. A Christmas meal without ham and a New Year’s Eve party without champagne might be a major bummer, but luckily, companies in the food technology space have alternative options for these popular commodities.

Cream Cheese

Cheesecake is a popular dessert option during the holiday season, and bagels with cream cheese are an easy breakfast option for visiting guests. However, according to the USA Today article, bagel shops throughout the country are experiencing shortages, and a cheesecake factory in New Jersey has had to cease production twice due to shortages. Mainstream brands like Philadelphia may be in low stock, but there are quite a few food tech companies that offer alternative cream cheese options. Nature’s Fynd uses fermentation and microbial proteins to create two flavors of cream cheese, while Miyoko’s Creamy uses cashews to craft several different varieties. Spero uses sunflower seeds to produce cream cheese flavors like pumpkin spice, herb, and blueberry.

Champagne

Popping bottles of bubbly is an iconic part of New Year’s Eve, but this year, you may find it more difficult to get your hands on champagne. According to Wine Enthusiast, we are at the beginning of a multi-year champagne shortage. You may want to start “dry January” early and try some alcohol-free sparkling wine options. A few companies that offer varieties of zero-proof champagne or sparkling wine are TÖST, Noughty, and Surely.

Chicken Tenders

With kids at home on holiday break, chicken tenders may be a favorite request for lunch. The price of chicken has been rising, and the meat industry has been experiencing labor shortages. If chicken is pricey or difficult to find, plant-based chicken is certainly one option. The plant-based space recently experienced a “chicken war” where companies were racing to get their alternative chicken products on the market quickly. As a result, Beyond and Impossible now offer chicken tenders and nuggets. Other companies like Daring, Rebellyous, Simulate, and Nowadays all offer plant-based chicken nuggets as well.

Cat and dog food

Our beloved furry family members are susceptible to food supply chain disruptions too. Owners have reported that it is more challenging to find certain wet food brands that they are used to buying. This could be the result of an aluminum shortage on top of delays within the supply chain. In the realm of food tech, Wild Earth offers plant-based pet food and is currently working on a cultivated meat pet food product.

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.

Maya Milk’s milk protein product

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.


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

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. Read the full article here.

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 140o 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.

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.

Photo by Rick van Houten on Unsplash

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.

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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

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. Read the full article here.

Meet Bloom, a Machine That Aims to Make Growing Spirulina at Home as Easy as Brewing Coffee

Spirulina is a blue-green algae considered a “superfood” due to its nutrient density, and it contains iron, B vitamins, and Vitamin E. A start-up called Canopi launched an Indiegogo campaign for its countertop machine named Bloom, which enables people to cultivate spirulina in their own kitchens.

Canopi aims to make growing spirulina with its system is just as easy as brewing coffee. Once the user adds water, a nutrient tablet, and living spirulina culture to the Bloom’s two growing pods, the machine optimizes light, heat, and airflow to create a perfect environment for spirulina to bloom.

With Bloom’s mobile app, users can track the growth of the spirulina, and be notifed once it is ready to harvest. After day five, users can simply press a button on the machine to turn the liquid spirulina into a paste. This paste can then be used in smoothies, soups, dressings, sauces, water, or even frozen into cubes for later.

The double pods provide a total of 10 grams of spriulina every five days (the recommended serving size is 5 grams), which equates to 14 servings per month. The Early Bird pre-order price for Bloom is £174 GBP (~$237 USD), and it comes with three months worth of nutrients.

In 2018, we covered a company called Spirugrow that had launched a campaign on Kickstarter for its at-home spirulina growing machine. This machine was bulky and costs €471 ($549 USD). Spirugrow, as The Spoon predicted, failed. Rob Russell, one of the creators of Bloom, said that the company learned from Spirugrow’s mistakes, and used this to inform its own machine design. Bloom is cheaper, smaller, and appears to be more streamlined compared to Spirugrow.

Of course that’s if and when they deliver the product. While Canopi has finished the Bloom design, they still need to go through testing and ramp up manufacturing. As readers of The Spoon know, manufacturing is usually the most challenging phase for young hardware startups.

Finally, although Bloom seems like an overall better design and concept compared to Spirugrow, it still begs the question: is there enough demand for homegrown spirulina? According to its Indiegogo campaign, there might be. Bloom has raised $116,987 USD of its $20,462 target, exceeding its goal by 571 percent. There are four days left in the campaign, and preorders for Bloom are still available.

Alt. Protein Round-Up: Smoked Salmon, Funding Rounds, and Brave Robot’s Cake Mix

Alternative protein news has been dropping in faster than fall leaves, and so we’ve gathered some of this week’s top stories, including Revo Foods’ product launch, Aquacultured and Daring Foods’ funding rounds, and Brave Robot’s new cake mix.

Revo Foods launches plant-based salmon in Austrian grocery stores

This week, plant-based seafood startup Revo Foods launched its alternative salmon product in the Austrian supermarket chain Billa Plus. The product now available on retailer shelves is Revo’s plant-based smoked salmon, made from a base of pea protein and algae oil. Additionally, Revo Foods recently appeared on the Austrian show “2 Minuten 2 Millionen” (similar to Shark Tank), where the company garnered interest from potential investors. In 2022, the company has plans to launch plant-based tuna, smoked salmon spread, and sashimi products.

Aquacultured raises $2.1 million in oversubscribed seed round

Alt-seafood startup Aqua Cultured has raised $2.1 million in pre-seed funding. Unlike many other alt-seafood startups using a straight plant-based or cell-cultured approach, Aqua Cultured uses microbial fermentation techniques to create whole-muscle cut seafood alternatives. The company has developed formulas for tuna, whitefish, squid, and shrimp that leverage its novel fungi as the primary ingredient. Investors include Supply Change Capital, Aera VC, Sustainable Food Ventures, Hanfield Venture Partners, Lifely VC, Conscience VC, Kingfisher Capital, Big Idea Ventures. $2.1 million, a nice pre-seed raise, is even more impressive considering the company only started last month.

Brave Robot releases cake mix

Brave Robot, the first consumer products spinout of precision fermentation platform company Perfect Day, unveiled a new product this week, the “Climate Hero Super Cake.” The yellow cake mix uses the same animal-free milk protein found in the company’s ice cream and replaces the equivalent of three eggs. The mix – which is packaged in a compostable bag – contains other standard ingredients like wheat flour and sugar and requires added oil and water to prepare. One bag of the mix makes two 8-inch round cakes and costs $18.

Daring raises $65 million, launches in Walmart

Daring Foods, a plant-based chicken brand, announced this week that it has closed a Series C round totaling $65 million, and that it will launch its products in Walmart. The round was led by Founders Fund, with D1 Capital Group, and celebrities such as Naomi Osaka, Cameron Newton, Steve Aoki and Chase Coleman participating. This brings the company’s total funding to $120 million. Daring’s plant-based chicken will be available in 3,000 Walmart locations nationwide.

Alt. Protein Round-Up: Hybrid Chorizo Sausages and Impossible’s Burger Stand

Government programs around the globe are increasingly getting more involved in the alternative protein space. This month, the Danish government allocated 1.25 billion kroner (~$194 million USD) for research into plant-based proteins. A few weeks ago, the USDA awarded Tufts University $10 million to establish “a cultivated protein center of excellence”. Most recently, a European agency called REACT-EU set aside $2 million in funding to help decrease the costs of producing cultivated meat (see below).

In this Alt. Protein Round-up, we also have news pieces on Mission Barns’ product unveil, Black Sheep Foods plant-based lamb, Impossible Meat’s burger stand, and ADM’s investment into precision fermentation.

Mission Barns and Silva Sausages unveil first product

Cultivated fat producer Mission Barns and sausage manufacturer Silva Sausages unveiled their first product produced in partnership: chorizo sausages. The sausages are a hybrid product, made with undisclosed plant proteins and Mission Barn’s proprietary cultivated fat. This is the first production run of the product, and this trial exemplified that the companies have the capabilities to produce the sausages on a large scale. In the multi-year partnership, Mission Barns will use Silva’s facilities (which can produce up to 50,000 lbs of sausage per day) and distribution network. There is no date set for an official launch of the hybrid chorizo sausages

European REACT-EU grants $2 million for “Feed for Meat” project

The “Feed for Meat” project was started by Nutreco and Mosa Meat, and it aims to lower the cost of producing cultivated meat. The European REACT-EU recovery assistance program just awarded the project $2 million to support efforts in commercializing cultivated eat throughout Europe. This funding will specifically be used for R&D efforts for reducing the costs of cultured cell media. This component is typically the most expensive part of cultured meat; however, Mosa Meat has shared that it has successfully reduced the cost of one of the growth nutrients by 98 percent.

Black Sheep Foods Launches Plant-Based Lamb in San Francisco Restaurants

This week, alternative protein startup Black Sheep Foods’ plant-based lamb made its debut in San Francisco restaurants. The launch is a big step for the Black Sheep team, which wants to offer more variety to plant-based meat eaters. “Our first product is lamb because it’s both alien and familiar in America,” company co-founder Sunny Kumar told The Spoon this week over Zoom. “Everyone knows about lamb, but no one really eats it at a high cadence.” Read the full article here.

ADM Invests in Acies Bio to expand precision fermentation capabilities

Global nutrition and agriculture company, ADM, invested in the Slovenian biotechnology company, Acies Bio through its venture capital arm ADM Ventures. One of Acies Bio’s specialties is precision fermentation technology for food and agricultural applications, and this technology will be used to assist ADM accelerate its own precision fermentation projects. Making use of Acies Bio’s microbial capabilities and contract manufacturing services, ADM aims to meet the growing demand for products developed through microbial fermentation.

Impossible Foods Opens a Burger Stand in Seattle’s Climate Pledge Arena

This week Impossible and Climate Pledge Arena, the world’s first net zero-carbon sports arena, announced that the Impossible patty had been named the venue’s official burger. They also announced Impossible is opening two branded food stands in the home of the NHL’s newest franchise, the Seattle Kraken. Read the full article here.

Fruit Cells, Space Bread, and Cultured Meat Cartridges: Deep Space Food Challenge Announces Phase 1 Winners

On planet Earth, we face the challenge of feeding a rapidly growing population that is set to reach 9.7 billion people by 2050. In space, we face the challenge of feeding astronauts traveling through the galaxy for an extended period of time. Novel and innovative food technology could offer viable solutions in both realms.

For the first time ever, NASA and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) have come together this year to host the Deep Space Food Challenge. Companies competing in the challenge must be able to offer a solution to feeding at least four astronauts on a three-year space mission. The solutions should be able to achieve the greatest amount of food output (that is palatable and nutritious) with minimal input and waste. In addition to being used in space, the solution must also improve food accessibility on Earth.

This week, the winners of Phase 1 were announced:

MANUFACTURED FOODS

  • Astra Gastronomy
  • Beehex
  • BigRedBites
  • Bistromathic
  • Cosmic Eats
  • SIRONA NOMs
  • Space Bread
  • µBites
  • ALSEC Alimentos Secos SAS
  • Electric Cow
  • Solar Foods

BIO CULTURE FOODS

  • Deep Space Entomoculture
  • Hefvin
  • Mission: Space Food
  • KEETA
  • Natufia x Edama

PLANT GROWTH

  • Far Out Foods
  • Interstellar Lab
  • Kernel Deltech
  • Nolux
  • Project MIDGE
  • RADICLE-X
  • Space Lab Cafe
  • AMBAR
  • Enigma of the Cosmos
  • JPWORKS SRL
  • LTCOP
  • Team π

Many companies that were selected as Phase 1 winners use technologies that have steadily gained popularity in the food tech space, like 3D printing, using bioreactors for cultured protein, and vertical farming. In-demand “future food” ingredients like fungi, microbes, cultured cells/meat, and insects were also popular amongst competitors.

Out of the 28 winners, here are some of our favorites:

Beehex (Columbus, Ohio) – Some of you may remember Beehex for their work on a 3D pizza printer for NASA. For this competition, Beehex is proposing a UFF (Universal Food Fabricator) which can dehydrate plants and cultured meats into powder form foods, store them into hermetically sealed cartridges for 5+ years, and 3D print with the stored food in cartridges when needed.

Deep Space Entomoculture (Somerville, Massachusetts) – In this company’s proposed food system, dry-preserved insect cells will be brought up into space. Using a suspension bioreactor, the insect cells, along with other ingredients, will be reactivated and used to create traditional meat-like analogs.

Space Bread (Hawthorne, Florida) – As the name aptly suggests, this company’s tech allows for crew members to create bread in space. This food system includes a multifuntional plastic bag that is used to store and combine ingredients, and then bake a roll.

Mission Space Food: This company is making a system that will cultivate meat in space using pluripotent stem cells using cell cryopreservation and bioreactor. The creators say the system can can grow beef as well as be adapted to grow other meats such as pork or lamb.

AMBAR – (Bucaramanga, Colombia) – Operating as a small-scale ecosystem, AMBAR’s growing cabinet contains different compartments for various plants. Within this system, both terrestrial and aquatic are able to be grown for food.

Hefvin (Bethesda, Maryland) – This company produces berries by growing fruit cells in a nutrient rich media. Spherification (the culinary process used to shape liquid into squishy spheres) is used to encase different cells to create a full berry, complete with skin and pulp.

Space Cow: (Germany) – this company makes a system converts CO2 and waste streams straight into food, with the help of a food grade micro-organisms and 3D printing.

Each U.S. winner of Phase 1 has been awarded $25,000 to continue working on their solution and is invited to continue on to the Phase 2 competition.