Around The Web

August 7, 2021

Food Tech News: The Science of Chewing, Food Personality Platform, and Cell-Based Rainbow Trout

Welcome to the first Food Tech News round-up of August! To kick off this month, we have pieces on Bluu Biosciences, a new platform called Foodqu!rk, Motif partnering with dental experts, and Good Catch’s new distribution partner.

Bluu Biosciences ramps up the production of various cell-based fish species

Berlin-based Bluu Biosciences produces cell-based seafood, and this week the company announced that it would be increasing production of three popular fish species: Atlantic salmon, rainbow trout, and carp. According to the article on Food Ingredients First, the company is currently working on optimizing its cell lines for ideal nutrition, fat content, and Omega 3s. Bluu Biosciences aims to offer its cell-based seafood at a price comparable to conventional seafood, with a future product range that will likely include fish balls, sticks, and fillets.

Foodqu!rk launches “food personality” platform

With so many people living with dietary restrictions or having specific food preferences, a new platform called Foodqu!rk has been launched to help people identify what their food personality is. To sign up, users take a quiz about their eating habits, food preferences, and relationship to certain foods. The quiz result is generated through an algorithm that determines your FQ, or what Foodqu!rk calls your food personality. There are five categories that define your food personality: Naturalist, Striver, Creator, Enthusiast, and Guardian. After signing up and taking the quiz, users can access the platform to share quiz results, swap recipes, recommend restaurants, and connect with other community members. The platform is currently accepting users for early access on fooqu!rk.com.

Motif partners with dental scientists to understand the science of chewing

Plant-based meat and dairy products typically have a different mouthfeel than their traditional counterparts and can be challenging to create both realistic and appealing textures for alternatives. Motif Foodworks is a biotechnology company that develops alternative ingredients with the intention of mimicking properties of dairy, eggs, and meat. To understand the importance of texture in different foods, Motif is partnering with King’s College London and Imperial College London to study the mechanics of eating. The study will specifically focus on how chewing impacts the sensory perception of food. Mechanical engineers, oral biology, and dental experts will be working together with the company for this food science research.

Gathered Foods partners with Dot Foods to expand distribution

Gathered Foods, the parent company of alternative seafood brand Good Catch, announced Dot Foods as its new distribution partner. Dot Foods is the largest food distributor in North America, with 12 distribution centers and access to all 50 U.S. states. The partnership will enable Good Catch to expand its products to new businesses and food service accounts throughout the country. Good Catch products that will be available through Dot Foods include plant-based fish burgers, tuna flakes, breaded crab cakes, breaded fish fillets, as well as other appetizers and entrées.

July 31, 2021

Food Tech News: Food Waste Sneakers, Cell-Ag Children’s Book, and Bon Appétit’s New App

If you had a busy week and missed out on news in the food tech space, we’ve got you covered. In this round-up, we gathered some news on Bon Appétit’s recently launched app, HelloFresh’s new online marketplace, MoEa’s sneakers made from food waste, and a children’s book on cellular agriculture.

Bon Appétit launches ordering app for people with dietary restrictions

The Bon Appétit Management Company launched an app this week called Curated, which was developed by chefs and registered dieticians. The app was created to make ordering food from restaurant menus easier for those who have dietary restrictions and needs. Through the ordering system, diners can select from 12 different diets, including plant-based, low-carb, gluten-free, as well as dishes free from major allergens. Once a dietary preference is selected, Curated shows dishes and ingredients that are available and can accommodate. Diners can then customize their meal with ingredients, sides, and sauces that fit into their preferences. The app can be used at Bon Appétit cafes and dining service locations, and it is available for free through the Café BonApp mobile app on iOS and Android phones.

HelloFresh now offers an online marketplace

Meal kit company HelloFresh has now added HelloFresh Market to its online platform. The new market offer will offer a wide range of add-ons for customers’ weekly orders. The new options include snacks, fresh produce, desserts, sides, spices, breakfast items, and pantry essentials. HelloFresh offers predominately dinner meal kits, but the introduction of the market will provide customers with options for breakfast, lunch, snacks, and desserts. The offerings on HelloFresh Market will be rolling out to customers in the U.S. over the upcoming months.

MoEa is using food waste to make vegan leather sneakers

Companies have developed technology to make leather from mushrooms and prickly pear fiber, and now a company called MoEa is using food waste to craft alternative leather. Specifically, the company sources leftover grape pulp from the Italian wine industry, cactus leaves, non-edible corn, pineapple leaves, and apples that would otherwise be wasted. Customers can pick out what type of leather they want for the shoe, and each type of leather is offered in two colors. The company currently has a Kickstarter campaign for the shoes, and backers who pledge €86 or about $108 USD will receive a pair of shoes in September 2021.

A new book on cell-ag for children

Called “Where Do Hot Dogs Come From?“, authors Alex Shirazi and Anita Broellochs explain how cellular agriculture works through a story of a family barbeque. Geared towards children aged 3 to 7, the purpose of the book is to teach children about the sustainability of cell-based meat and inspire the next generation of scientists working on alternative protein options. There is currently a Kickstarter campaign for the book, and backers who pledge $25 or more will receive a copy of the book in October 2021.

July 24, 2021

Food Tech News: Online Food Bank, Upcycled Cacao Fruit Bites, and $10M for Gluten-Free Snack Brand

If you feel like you’ve fallen behind in the fast-paced world of food tech, you’ve come to the right place. In this week’s Food Tech News roundup, we have stories on Feeding America’s new online platform, Costco’s partnership with Uber, a snack brand’s $10 million funding round, and one of the first companies to receive the Upcycled Food Certification.

Food bank launches online grocery ordering for those facing food insecurity

Feeding America is one of the largest food banks in the country, and this week the non-profit began offering online ordering. Called Order Ahead, food is ordered through a Feeding America network food bank or partner food on a smartphone, tablet, or computer. The order can then be picked up at schools, libraries, or a drive-thru distribution center. Certain markets will also be offering home delivery. Those requiring food assistance unfortunately might feel embarrassed or stigmatized, so offering an online platform allows for the option of being more discreet.

CaPao is one of the first companies to receive the Upcycled Food Certification

CaPao has created a snack product that is made from upcycled cacao fruit. The brand was developed in Mondelēz International’s SnackFuture innovation and venture hub, and this week announced that it is one of the first companies to receive the recently launch Upcycled Food Certification. After cacao beans have been extracted from the cacao pod, there is about 70 percent of the pod remaining goes to waste, and this remaining fruit is used in the snack product. CaPao sources this potential food waste from Cabosse Naturals, a food and beverage company that uses cacao pods to make various ingredients. Using the upcycled cacao fruit, CaPao produces three flavors of snack bites: mango cashew coconut, golden berry apricot chia, and cherry almond cocoa. The products are available for purchase on the company’s website and retailers in Southern California.

Costco partners with Uber to trial same-day delivery

Costco is currently trialing same-day grocery delivery with Uber at 25 Texas locations in Dallas, Houston, and Austin. Uber has announced that its drivers will be able to deliver groceries in minutes to a few hours. To use the service trial in Texas, customers must order at least $35 worth of Costco groceries and products. Costo currently also works with Instacart to offer same-day delivery.

Gluten-free snack maker raises $10 million

Quinn produces various gluten-free snacks, and this week the company secured $10 million in its Series B funding round. NewRoad Capital Partners led the round, and Echo Capital, Boulder Food Group, and Sunil Thakor also participated. The capital will be used for product innovation, company growth, and be put towards Quinn’s mission of supporting regenerative agriculture. Quinn uses gluten-free ingredients like sorghum, cassava, and corn for its pretzels sticks and chips, stuffed pretzels, and flavored popcorn. The company provides a map of where its ingredients are sourced and a list of farmers (who are taking steps to reduce their environmental impact) it buys from to provide transparency to consumers. Quinn’s products are available for purchase in approximately 10,000 retailers nationwide.

July 17, 2021

Food Tech News: Lab Grown Chocolate, Lupin Bean Eggs, Cultured Sushi Tasting Room

The summer days are going by fast, but it feels like the rate at which news is breaking in the food tech space is even faster. In this week’s Food Tech News roundup, we have pieces on chocolate being grown in a lab, a tasting room opening in San Franciso for cultured sushi, a new Canadian egg alternative, and a Russian plant-based company’s recent funding round.

Lab-grown chocolate in Switzerland

We live in a chocolate-crazed world, but unfortunately growing cacao for the production of chocolate can cause deforestation and make use of child labor. Some chocolate companies choose to source their cocoa beans from farmers and suppliers that use ethical practices, but this is not always the case. Scientists at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland may have found another option: growing chocolate in a lab. One of the food scientists had the idea to extract cell cultures from cocoa beans to attempt to produce a compound found in chocolate called polyphenols (important for the sensory effects in chocolate). Cocoa beans are cut into quarters and then incubated in a culture medium. After about three weeks a callus grows over the surface of the bean, which can be continuously be replicated. The new material is added to shaking flasks and mixed with suspension culture, and then multiplied in a bioreactor. The cultured cells can then be used to make chocolate.

The scientist said that there is currently no plan for commercial production of lab-grown chocolate. The process is considerably more expensive than conventional chocolate, and they will be continuing to study and compare the production processes of conventional and lab-grown chocolate.

Wildtype set to open a cultured sushi tasting room

Wildtype, a cell-ag company focused on seafood, shared that it will be opening a tasting room for cultured sushi in San Francisco. The tasting room will serve as an opportunity to educate consumers on the benefits of cell-based agriculture and provide transparency on this process. Wildtype is focused on creating cultured sushi-grade salmon, and it sources living cells from Pacific salmon. Its pilot plant will soon be capable of producing 50,000 pounds of seafood per year, with a maximum capacity of 200,000 pounds. The tasting room is expected to open in fall 2021.

Nabati launches a plant-based egg product made from lupin beans

Nabati is a Canadian-based plant-based brand, and this week it announced it is filing patents for its plant-based egg product currently being developed. The new egg product will be in liquid form, like Just Egg, and this is the first Canadian-made egg alternative product. Nabati is filing patents for the product in Canada, the United States, and Australia, with the intention to also eventually file in Europe, and China. The egg, called Nabati Plant Eggz, contains no cholesterol, 90 calories per serving, and six grams of protein. Lupin beans and pea protein are the main ingredients used, and the product is both soy and gluten-free. The new egg alternative is expected to be available for purchase sometime later this year.

Russian plant-based brand raises $1.5 million in Series A round

Welldone is a plant-based meat alternative company in Moscow, Russia, and this week it raised $1.5 million in its Series A round. The round was led by Phystech Ventures and Lever VC, and this new capital will be used to increase production and distribution, as well as bring Welldone’s products to new markets. Welldone currently produces alternative cutlets, burger patties, and minced meat made from a base of soy, coconut oil, and cellulose. Plant-based alternatives in Russia can be pricey, and Welldone has set the goal of reaching price parity with meat.

July 10, 2021

Food Tech News: Indoor Farming as Art, Cover Crop Snacks, and Alcohol-Free Spirits

Welcome to your weekly Food Tech News round-up, where we gather interesting pieces of news you might have missed this week:

Edible artwork is now growing at the Gagosian gallery in New York City

A small, but fully functional, indoor urban farm is now on display at the Gagosian Gallery’s New York City location. The installation, created by artist Linda Goode Bryant and architect Elizabeth Diller, is a part of the “Social Works” exhibit (curated by Antwaun Sargent). The exhibit aims to showcase the relationship between different spaces, like personal, institutional, public, and psychic spaces, and Black social practice. The indoor farm exhibit, called Are we really that different?, features a 40-foot-tall structure in a long hallway that houses plants. Given water and nutrients through dripping IV pouches, the plants receive sunlight through skylights in the gallery. The plants consist of edible flowers and vegetables that are harvested daily for visitors to munch on. The exhibit is on display now until August 13, 2021.

Snack brand uses regenerative cover crop as its main ingredient

Chasin Dreams Farm produces a flavored popcorn-like snack, but instead of using corn, sorghum is the main ingredient in the product. Sorghum is a grain that is drought-resilient, and the company sources its sorghum from farms using regenerative practices. Additionally, sorghum is a cover crop that can be planted after other crops have been harvested to protect the soil from erosion, smother weeds, and add healthy, organic matter to the soil. Chasin Dreams Farm currently has three flavors, Sweet & Salty, Cocoa, and Cinnamon. According to the company, its popped sorghum snacks have around 94 percent less fat than traditional popcorn snacks. Currently raising money on Republic, Chasin Dreams Farm has already met its goal by 171 percent with 61 days left in the campaign.

Scientists discover that microorganisms in the stomach’s of ruminants can help break down plastic

Plastic is a problem due to its negative environmental and health impacts, and despite the fact that humans were the ones that created it, we are always trying to find new solutions to replace it, get rid of it, upcycle it, or break it down in a sustainable manner. A group of scientists from various universities recently discovered that particular microbes found in the stomachs of ruminants can actually help break down certain types of plastic. Ruminants like cows consume a naturally occurring polyester that is produced by plants, called cutin. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is the type of plastic typically used to make soda bottles and food packaging, and it has a similar chemical structure to cutin.

Due to this, researchers hypothesized that microbes found in the rumen (the largest part of a ruminant’s stomach) could break down PET and other polyesters in the same manner that cutin was broken down. To test this, the scientists placed different plastics in rumen liquid for one to three days. It was found that the rumen liquid broke down PET, polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT), and polyethylene furanoate (PEF), with the bacteria-rich liquid breaking down PEF the most effectively.

Optimist: a plastic and alcohol-free spirit

To accommodate the rise of adults looking to cut back on alcohol consumption or be sober, there has been an influx of “alcohol-free” spirits hitting the market. One of these brands, Optimist, has developed three botanical-infused, alcohol-free spirits, completely free from plastic. Intended to be a direct replacement for alcohol spirits, Optimist can be drunk straight up, on the rocks, or mixed into a cocktail. The spirits contain 10-15 botanical distillates, with three different flavors available: Bright (lemony and light, drinks like vodka), Fresh (full of herbs, drinks like a botanical gin), and Smokey (flavors of wood and spice, drinks like a tequila). Both the bottle and cap of the spirits are made from glass, and plastic is intentionally not used in any part of the production, packaging, or distribution process. A 16.9 oz bottle of Optimist is available for $35 on the company’s website.

July 7, 2021

Fexy Media Launches Relish+ as Premium Paid Feature on Relish.com

Relish.com, a web app created by Fexy Media for meal planning, recipes, and grocery shopping, announced today that it has launched a premium feature called Relish+. The new service will now allow users to have access to a library of over 100 meal plans for a monthly fee starting at $3.75.

The new meal plans on Relish+ are developed by nutritionists, and the recipes are sourced from popular recipe developers and food bloggers. Called “Fodcasts”, users can subscribe to the meal plans that match their interests, just like they would to a podcast.

Once subscribed to the meal plans, users can then add them to a calendar to plan all meals for the entire week or even the next month. The meal plans are customizable and can be edited to change the serving size, alter or delete certain recipes, and add or delete certain days. With the premium subscription, users can also create their own meal plans by dropping their desired recipes into a blank meal plan template.

Ingredients found within the meal plans can be consolidated to create a grocery list. This is list can simply be used by the user to go shopping or sent to a grocery delivery service that is integrated into the app (both of these features are currently available with the free version of Relish.com).

Meal planning and grocery shopping can be tiresome, especially after 15+ months of predominately eating at home, so services like Relish.com and Relish+ are very relevant at the moment. Another app, Whisk, allows users to discover and save recipes, and then shop for the ingredients through the app. Samsung announced at the beginning of this year that it added shoppable recipes and guided cooking through its SmartThings Cooking mobile app.

The Relish+ meal planning library will continue to expand after today’s launch with new meal plans added each week. The subcription starts at $3.75 per month if paid for the entire year up front, and 3-month and 6-month memberships exists starting at $4.95 per month.

July 3, 2021

Food Tech News: Next Meat’s Alternative Egg, Wagyu Beef Art, and $20K Plant Grants

Before you fire up the grill and bask under the glow of fireworks this weekend, we invite you to catch up on some food tech news. This week we have pieces on a new alternative egg product in Japan, a pricey item that fuses art and Wagyu beef, a new menu item for Just Salad, and a grant program aimed at supporting Black-owned restaurants.

Next Meat launches new egg alternative product

Next Meat, an alternative meat company in Japan, announced this week that it has developed a new fully plant-based egg alternative. The egg alternative is called NEXT EGG 1.0, and will first roll out as a B2B product in Japan and then be offered as B2C. Although Japan is one of the top consumers of eggs in the world, the country currently does not have a commercial alternative egg product. The ingredients of the NEXT EGG 1.0 and the release date were not disclosed. This announcement comes after Next Meat’s recent successful launch of its alternative BBQ ribs products in the U.S., which sold out within a day.

Highest-ranked Wagyu beef in Japan becomes art

Hyotana, a restaurant based in Shiga, Japan, partnered with Kaya, a creative firm, to create a fusion of food and art that represents Japan’s rich history. For the project, 700 grams of A5 grade Wagyu beef gets packaged in artwork, specifically famous images from Hokusai‘s “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji” series of woodblock prints. Pieces of the artwork are cut out to showcase the bright red meat, as depicted above. After the beef is removed from the packaging and consumed, Hyotana recommends filling in the empty space by placing red paper behind the artwork. Called Art Beef Gallery, the item is priced at ¥13,000 JPY (~$108 USD) and can be purchased for consumers in Japan on the Hitotema Art Beef Gallery page.

Just Salad launches menu item to support regenerative ag

Just Salad has partnered with nonprofit Zero Foodprint and restauranteur Anthony Myint for a new menu item that will support regenerative agricultural practices. Fifteen percent of sales from the Zero Foodprint Salad will be donated to the nonprofit to help provide grants to farmers switching to regenerative soil practices that restore soil health and sequester carbon. The partnership marks Zero Foodprint’s first fast-casual restaurant partner on the east coast. The Zero Foodprint salad contains a vegan feta cheese alternative, mint, wheat berries, pickled red onions, pita chips and grape tomatoes on a base of mixed greens.

Violife and RZA launch Plant Grants

Violife, a plant-based cheese company, is partnering with RZA, hip hop artist and founding member of Wu-Tang Clan, to launch Plant Grants. This new grant program encourages plant-based eating through mentorship and funding, and this year’s program will focus on assisting Black-owned restaurants struggling from the aftermath of the pandemic. Two plant-based chefs involved in the program, Lemel Durrah and Laricia Chandler, will assist restaurants in introducing plant-based ingredients, menu development, and conversion of original recipes to a plant-based version. Grants of $20,000 will be awarded to five restaurants that meet the criteria, and applications for the program are open now until July 21, 2021.

June 29, 2021

Recon Food, a Social Media App Connecting Users Through Food, Launches Today

Social media has been under scrutiny in the past few years for its potential negative effect on mental health and overall well being. Today, a new social media app launched with the aim of being a positive space for users to connect and share their love of food. The app is called Recon Food, and it was created by Spencer Rascoff, the co-founder of Hotwire and Zillow, and his daughter Sophia Rascoff.

Instead of meeting up with loved ones at restaurants to connect over a meal during the pandemic, over this past year we connected over social media by sharing photos of trending recipes like banana bread and whipped coffee. However, there are many other tricky things to navigate through on social media like non-stop news, targeted ads, politics, and controversial topics. The father-daughter Rascoff duo was inspired to develop an app like this because of the many aspects of social media that felt unhealthy, and food was something that brought their own family together during the pandemic.

With the Recon Food app, there are two tracks: restaurants and the home kitchen. Users can post photos of food and drink ordered from restaurants and leave a review, or upload photos of dishes they have created themselves. The app has geolocation, which enables users to tag the location of the restaurant and recommend their favorite dishes. Within the app, users can view a map (powered by Apple) to see where different restaurants are located, which can be helpful for finding new restaurants. Only restaurants that have been reviewed will show up on the map, and because the app is so new, there are currently only a handful of restaurants that pop up.

For those cooking at home, (this option does not allow geolocation), users can also post photos of foods or drinks they have created. The Recon app has computer vision technology that will search a user’s camera roll for food photos, and automatically upload them to the app privately or publicly.

Tradionally, people use platforms like Google or Yelp to view photos and reviews left by other diners to decide on where to eat. This is certainly helpful in making a decision, but a downside to these review platforms is that more often than not, a negative experience is more likely to produce a review. Additionally, it is hit or miss if someone actually recommends particular dishes in their review. With Recon Foods, hopefully, there will be a balanced mixture of honest positive and negative reviews, and more users will feel compelled to recommend dishes they’ve tried at a restaurant.

There are a few other food and restaurant-centric apps available besides Recon Food. Jybe is an app that can currently be used in major U.S. cities that helps conscious consumers see where eco-friendly restaurants are located. Diners that post high-quality restaurant reviews on the SynchroLife app are rewarded with the platform’s own cryptocurrency called SynchroCoin (SYC).

The Recon Food app is currently available for free for iOS phones in the App Store or as a desktop version.

June 26, 2021

Food Tech News: Consumer Acceptance Study on Precision Fermentation Dairy, Seaweed Cattle Feed, and Airdropped Beer

Welcome to the weekly Food Tech News round-up, where we gather recent stories you might have missed. This week a few pieces caught our eye, including a recently published consumer acceptance study on precision fermentation, a new facility for seaweed-based cattle feed, a university in Singapore offering an alternative protein course, and Busch Light dropping beer from a helicopter.

Consumer acceptance study on precision-fermentation-derived dairy products

Formo (formally LegenDairy), a Berlin-based alternative dairy start-up, announced this week that it co-published what it is calling the first-ever consumer acceptance study on precision fermentation-derived dairy products. The study was published in the peer-review journal “Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems.” A little over 5,000 people from the U.S., the U.K., Brazil, Germany, and India were surveyed on their attitudes towards animal-free dairy products, specifically cheese, that are molecularly identical to real dairy. The study found that strong enthusiasm from all five countries, with 71 percent of the participants saying they were willing to buy animal-free dairy cheeses and 79 percent willing to try these alternative cheese products.

A new $90 million facility for methane-reducing seaweed cattle feed

Pirie Meats and CH4 Global are partnering to build a $90 million dollar facility in Southern Australia at the end of this year to produce cattle feed made from seaweed. Cattle are a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, and their feed might be to blame for this. Research by CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization) found that by feeding cattle a mixture of regular cattle feed and a red seaweed called Asparagopsis, greenhouse gas emissions from cattle could be reduced by 90 percent. CH4 Global will initially supply Pirie Meats with enough red seaweed to feed up to 10,000 head of cattle.

A university in Singapore will now offer a course on alternative protein

Singapore has recently been gaining recognition as a hub for alternative protein, with it being the first country to offer regulatory approval of the sale of cultured meat and major players in the space opening up new facilities in this Asian city-state. Nanyang Technological University (based in Singapore) will be offering a new course that explores alternative proteins. The course, the first of its kind throughout Asia, will be available starting this upcoming school year for undergraduate students. Called “Future Foods – Introduction to Advanced Meat Alternatives,” the course was developed in partnership with the Good Food Institute and will be coordinated by Professor William Chen. Science and engineering students in their third or fourth year have access to the course that will touch on the three pillars of alternative protein: plant-based, cultured, and fermentation.

Airdropped apple-flavored beer

Busch Light is bringing back its apple-flavored beer, the Busch Light Apple, for the summer season. To celebrate the relaunch, the first batch of the flavored beer will be delivered to fans via helicopter. A small number of fans will be able to receive the airdrop at select locations in the Northwest and Midwest. To enter the free beer giveaway, fans must comment on Busch’s social media posts with the hashtags #BuschLightAppleDrop and #Sweepstakes before June 30th. Those who do not receive Busch Light Apple from the sky can buy the beer for a limited time from select retailers throughout the country.

June 21, 2021

Food Tech News: Vanillin Made From Plastic Waste, Plant-Based Pâté, and Strella Biotechnology’s Win

The sun is sweltering, the flowers are in full bloom, and food tech news is coming in hot. In this week’s roundup, we have news on the launch of a plant-based pâté, the winner of GS1 US Startup Lab Pitch Competition, scientists transforming used plastic into a food flavoring, and a fully compostable coffee pod.

Plant-based pâté launches in U.S.

Plantcraft shared in an email this week that its plant-based pâté has entered the U.S. market after launching in Erewhon’s (an organic grocer in the Los Angeles area) six locations. The plant-based pâté is made from a combination of ingredients including green banana flour, golden flax seeds, sunflower protein, and grapeseed oil. In the plant-based space, many companies produce meat analogs like burger patties, sausages, crumbles, and strips, but alternatives to charcuterie meats like pâté are uncommon. In addition to pâté, Plantcraft will also launch plant-based pepperoni slices, which will debut in August at the National Pizza Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada. If you do not live near an Erewhon, Plantcraft will be making its pâté available for foodservice locations and on its website in the upcoming months.

Strella Biotechnology wins first prize in lab pitch competition

Strella Biotechnology is an ag-tech startup that uses sensors to measure produce maturity, and it was recently announced the winner of the third-annual GS1 US Startup Lab Pitch Competition. The startup won the first prize of $10,000 and will be writing a white paper with GS1 about supply chain practices and how technology can be used to improve them. The company has recently been focused on is expanding its apples and pear packing business, where it monitors the storage of these perishables for packers. Additionally, Strella has gotten involved in monitoring shipping containers traveling overseas filled with perishable produce. Katherine Sizov, the founder of Strella, said the company is currently hiring and looking to partner with more retail chains.

Scientists convert post consumer plastic to vanillin

A team of scientists from the University of Edinburgh has discovered a novel method of converting post-consumer PET plastic to vanillin, an organic compound often used as a flavoring agent in the food industry. For the conversion, the team engineered the bacteria E. coli to transform a molecule derived from PET, called terephthalic acid. This transformation resulted in the molecule that gives real vanilla its taste and smell. Vanillin, produced from various sources such as wood pulp, raw petrochemical materials, or biomass, is cheaper and easier to come by than real vanilla, which is a product of orchids. The researchers believe that the vanillin they produced could be consumed by humans, but more research needs to be conducted to confirm.

NEXE launches fully compostable coffee pods

NEXE Innovations, a material company that develops plant-based products, shared this week about the launch of its new coffee products packaged in compostable pods under the brand XOMA Superfoods. The coffee pods can be used in a Keurig, and varieties include mushroom-infused, MCT-infused, and high-fat Keto coffee. The pod packaging is made from plant fiber, compostable polymers, and a bamboo casing, and is fully compostable in as little as 35 days. NEXE encourages consumers to dispose of the pods in the green commercial composting bins, but also says that pods can be added to your backyard composting set up. The pods are currently available for purchase, and the Xoma variety pack consists of 12 pods that costs $11.99.

June 17, 2021

Aqua Cultured Foods Is Creating Whole Muscle Cuts of Seafood Using Fungi

Seafood is the most traded commodity in the world, and it is estimated that 85 percent of wild fish stocks are overfished or fully exploited. As a way to address the plethora of environmental issues found within the commercial seafood industry, startup Aqua Cultured Foods is developing alternative forms of seafood using fermentation.

The company, based in Chicago, Illinois, is in the process of developing whole muscle cuts of alternative seafood using fungi. I spoke on the phone this week with Anne Palermo, the CEO and founder of Aqua Cultured Foods, who was looking for a solution that could help feed the rapidly growing global population. She said, “The more I looked into fermentation, the more I thought that was the way to do it. You can create whole, bioavailable proteins that are very efficient to produce anywhere in the world.”

Using its fermentation process, Aqua Cultured Foods can produce a wide variety of seafood analogs — shrimp, white fish, ahi tuna, scallops, and calamari, to name a few. According to Palermo, the products will have the slippery and delicate texture found in many types of seafood, and will also contain the vitamin B12, which can sometimes be challenging to acquire naturally in a vegan or plant-based diet.

When asked about the process and tech behind developing the whole-muscle cuts of seafood, Palermo said she could not share much at the moment. The startup currently has three pending patents for its alternative seafood and the process behind it, including one for its proprietary fungi.

The Good Food Institute considers the plant-based seafood industry a white space, and this sector currently only accounts for 1 percent of total plant-based meat sales. There are so many different types and species of seafood, so at the moment there are seemingly endless possibilities for innovation in this space.

For alternative seafood, there are three different categories: plant-based, cultured, and fermentation. Aqua Cultured Foods seems to be really the only company in the fermentation category, but Prime Roots and Quorn each have one alternative seafood product (lobster ravioli and fish sticks). Blue Nalu, Wild Type, Shiok Meats, Avant Meats are a few companies that fall into the cultured meat category. The plant-based category includes Sophie’s Kitchen, New Waves Foods, Good Catch, and Hooked.

Popcorn shrimp will be the first product launched by Aqua Cultured Foods, but the release date of the product has yet to be announced. The whole-muscle cuts of seafood will be available at some point after the popcorn shrimp on retailer shelves.

June 15, 2021

Green Rebel Foods Introduces Asia’s First Whole Cut Plant-Based Steak

Green Rebel Foods, an Indonesian-based alternative meat start-up, unveiled today that it has developed a plant-based whole cut steak, as well as an alternative chicken steak (h/t Green Queen). According to the company, this is the first whole-cut alternative steak option in Asia.

The Beefless Steak is made from a combination of soy protein, shiitake mushrooms, coconut oil, seaweed flour, and contains 12 grams of protein in a serving. The Chick’n’steak is not listed on the company’s website yet, so less information is available for this product; however, it is known that soy protein is the primary ingredient used. These two new innovations join Green Rebel’s wide portfolio of plant-based alternatives, including products like chickpea sausages, shroom balls, Chick’n katsu, and beefless black pepper chunks.

Plant-based steak is not just for vegetarians or vegans; there are several reasons why someone might want to avoid steak. Beef is generally considered the worst offender of all meats when it comes to releasing carbon emissions, and for every kilogram of beef produced, 60 kilograms of greenhouse gas emissions are released. Additionally, steak is a red meat that if eaten often, can increase the risk for heart problems and certain cancers.

People still love steak, whether it be for the succulent, juicy texture or for the fact that it is in many ways a status symbol. For those who don’t consume meat, there is not really a whole cut, plant-based steak option on the market readily available for consumers to purchase. Meati trialed its mycelium-based steak last year at a few restaurants but has yet to make its products commercially available. MeaTech 3D announced this past May that it has plans to develop a whole cut cell-based steak, but did not offer a concrete timeline on this. In February 2021, Aleph Farms shared that it had created a cultivated 3D-bioprinted ribeye steak, though the company did not say whether or not it had plans to commercialize this product anytime soon.

Green Rebel’s Beefless steak is now available for purchase on its website (only for those living in Indonesia), and one package costs Rp 75.000 (~$5.26 USD), while the Chick’n’steak will be added to the site in July. ABUBA Steak, a chain with 29 locations in Indonesia, and Pepper Lunch, a fast-food steak house, will incorporate the alternative steak products into several menu items this month.

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