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Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

The New CPG

Hormel Joins the Meatless Meat Movement With New Portfolio of Plant-based Products

Add one more to the list of major CPGs looking to capitalize on the public’s insatiable appetite for plant-based meat. This week, Hormel Foods, who owns brands like Skippy and Applegate, announced the launch of its Happy Little Plants product line. This is Hormel’s first project under what the company’s new plant-based foods division called Cultivated Foods.

The new portfolio’s flagship product is a ground protein offering the Happy Little Plants’ website says you can cook “just like you would with ground beef or ground turkey.” The product contains 20 grams of non-GMO soy protein and is gluten-free.

Right now, Happy Little Plants products are available at select Hy-Vee stores in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, and Wisconson. Further expansion is in the works, though Hormel didn’t name specific cities or timeframes.

Like most big CPGs bringing plant-based meat alternatives to market right now, Hormel is emphasizing the meat-like qualities of its meatless product. In a bid to appeal to more flexitarians — those wanting to curb meat consumption without going full vegan or vegetarian — food companies are currently creating alternatives to meat that cook, look, taste, and feel like the real thing. In other words, they’re trying to live up to the industry standard set by Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat.

Hormel is one of a growing list of CPGs launching such products. Tyson announced its Raised & Rooted brand of plant-based meat alternatives this past June. Nestle is selling meatless meat patties to QSR chains in Europe and Israel. And just yesterday, Kelloggs-owned MorningStar Farms announced its own new line of more meat-like, plant-based products called Incogmeato.

These companies have long histories in the food industry, but as The Spoon’s Catherine Lamb pointed out when reporting on the MorningStar news, that could be more hindrance than help. As evidenced by events like Beyond selling out of its meatless chicken wings in less than five hours, consumers are flocking to trendy upstart brands in the alt-meat space who can tout health and environmental benefits and don’t have a history of selling SPAM in grocery store aisles. Like Kellogg, Tyson, and others, Hormel is one more company that will have to find a way to leap the divide between its legacy products and consumer demand for new and different ways to do meatless meat.

Cargill Makes Additional $75M Investment Into Beyond Meat Supplier Puris

Mega-corporation and food producer Cargill has invested an additional $75 million into Puris, North America’s largest pea protein producer and supplier of Beyond Meat. This is the second investment Cargill has made in Puris, following a $25 million deal made in January 2018.

According to the press release, the new investment will allow Puris to “more than double its pea protein production” at the company’s Dawson, Minnesota plant.

The move lets Cargill keep pace with other food producers historically known for their roles in traditional meat production but who have lately set their sights on the alternative meat market, among them Tyson and Nestle.

More importantly, speeding up production will help Puris, not to mention Beyond, more easily fulfill demand for plant-based protein — a market that’s already been hampered by supply shortages in the past. In August of 2018, Beyond had to delay its UK launch due to supply shortages. More recently, Beyond’s chief competitor, Impossible, experienced its own supply issues that affected availability in restaurants.

While both those situations have been resolved, demand for plant-based meat keeps growing, and pea protein consumption by tonnage is expected to increase 300 percent by 2025. Puris president Tyler Lorenzen said in the press release that the Cargill investment will give his company “the ability to support more food companies, more farmers and more consumers faster.”

That said, production won’t speed up right away. Puris will have to first retrofit the Dawson facility to make it suitable for pea production, a process that will take time. The Dawson location is expected to be operational in “late 2020.”

How quickly makers of plant-based proteins can scale to meet demand may at some point require a change in the way they approach their ingredients. As Spoon contributor Christie Lagally noted over the weekend, “the plant-based meat industry has to stop ignoring how the veggie sausage gets made and adopt new machinery that’s actually optimized for the industry’s unique needs. When this happens, plant-based meat can finally become widely available at an accessible price.”

In the meanwhile, Puris operates two other pea-protein-focused facilities, one in Turtle Lake, Wisconson and the other in Oskaloosa. For now, those will have to be enough when it comes to helping Beyond keep pace with demand for plant-based meat.

Startups, Take Note: Food Tech Accelerator Programs Taking Applications in August

August may be vacation time for many. But in the world of food tech accelerators, it’s business as usual, with a fresh offering of programs taking applications throughout the month. Some are courtesy of major corporations, others have sprouted from more local operations. All are in search of startups using technology to change the way we farm, transport, cook, and eat our food.

To keep you up to date on the many, many programs out there and what they offer, every month The Spoon picks a few of our faves and shares their basic details. Since this is never an exhaustive list, if you have a suggestion for a food tech accelerator or incubator you don’t see here, email us so we can be sure to consider it for future versions of this post.

Image via Brinc.

Brinc’s Food Technology Accelerator Program
Hong Kong

Brinc operates its three-month-long Food Technology Accelerator Program twice a year in Hong Kong. The program has a very specific list on its website of areas it will invest in: plant-based alternatives, processed food or food ingredients, cooking aides, functional foods, sports performance foods, insect proteins, biodegradable food packaging, and animal/plant agricultural solutions. Startups who apply should have a product that fits into one of these areas. They should also have at least two co-founders and a scalable business model “with high growth potential.”

Brinc offers $80,000 in exchange for 10 to 15 percent equity. (Note that there is a separate $30,000 participation fee, which can be deducted from the investment amount.) Additionally, participants receive in-house mentorship sessions, customized curriculum, one-on-one office hours, and continued support once the program wraps. Startups are expected to be in Hong Kong for one month of the program for onsite training.

Applications close August 10.

Image via AgFunder.

GROW
Singapore

As we covered in-depth last month, GROW is a joint program from VC firm AgFunder and agri-food accelerator Rocket Seeder. It looks for early-stage companies working in the agtech space and using technology to either improve operations on the farm or in the food supply chain. The program also aims to bring more investment to Singapore’s still-nascent food tech space.

Participants receive up to $120,000 in equity funding, $80,000 in-kind benefits, coaching and mentorship sessions, and access to testing labs. They are expected to be in Singapore for at least part of the three-month-long program.

Applications close on August 19.

The first BSH Future Home Accelerator cohort.

BSH Future Home Accelerator
Munich, Germany

BSH hosted the first class of its Future Home Accelerator, powered by Techstars, this year, with ckbk, Pantri, and MealiQ among the participating companies. As BSH is a top appliance maker, the credo behind its accelerator is finding startups innovating on the future of the home — and in particular, the kitchen. The program also welcomes companies working on B2B-focused solutions.

For the three-month program, participants head to Munich, Germany to work with mentors at BSH across the company’s design, engineering, marketing, digital, and business engineering departments. BSH/Techstars will invest $20,000 in each company and receive a 6 percent common stock exchange. All companies participating in Techstars accelerators, including those for the BSH program, get offered a $100,000 convertible note upon acceptance.

Applications close October 13.

APPLICATIONS OPENING SOON

Image via The Food Foundry.

The Food Foundry
Chicago, IL

The Chicago-based program founded by Relish Works looks for early-stage startups across a range of areas in the food industry, including everything from third-party delivery to blockchain to vertical farming.

For the 16-week program, the Food Foundry provides participating companies with $75,000 of VC funding. They also receive mentorship opportunities with individuals from Relish Works and its program partners, Gordon Food Service and Chicago startup hub 1871. Actual programming is a mix of learning curriculum, mentor sessions, and visits to Gordon’s facilities. According to The Food Foundry’s FAQ, participants should be willing to relocate to Chicago for the program.

Applications open on August 14.

Future Food: Why Labeling Laws Won’t Slow Plant-Based Meat

This is the web version of our weekly Future Food newsletter. Be sure to subscribe here so you don’t miss a beat!

Order in the plant-based court

This past week we spoke with Tofurky’s CEO Jaime Athos about why the plant-based meat company is leading a suit against a new Arkansas law that restricts the use of certain terms — like “burgers” or “sausages” — on meat alternative labels.

In short, large meat corporations and cattlemen’s associations, which are helping to push these laws forward, don’t seem to be doing so because they actually think people have trouble distinguishing a veggie burger from a beef one. They’re just running scared.

“Tofurky is reacting by pointing out that this is completely unfair,” Athos told me over the phone. “We know why [meat companies] are doing this and it’s a pretext to say it’s about consumer confusion.”

I understand why meat companies might feel threatened by the recent spike in flexitarian diets and the rise in popularity of plant-based proteins. What I don’t get is why they think making a law to restrict labeling will do anything to help their cause.

Big Meat trying to quash alterna-meats’ popularity by telling companies how they can or can’t label themselves feels protectionist and ineffective, not to mention desperate, at this point. After all, the flexitarian movement is gaining strength not because consumers are unclear about whether the burgers they’re buying are made from plants or beef; rather, it’s bolstered by growing environmental and ethical concerns, health reasons, or because meatless meat is a media darling.

Instead, meat producers — whose local lobbying groups, the Cattleman’s Association, are key players in pushing these labeling laws forward — would do better to diversify their own product offerings or even invest in the competition. They could launch a line of blended meat products, acquire or invest in new plant-based (or cell-based) meat companies, or even just offer more grass-fed, ethically raised options.

Or they could realize that they really don’t have a reason to worry. In the U.S., the number of flexitarians might be on the rise, but so is meat consumption. In fact, in 2018 the USDA predicted that Americans would eat more meat that year than ever before. This dual rise is likely spurred because of our national obsession with protein, and it means one thing: when it comes to the meat aisle, it’s not an either-or.

Photo: JUST.

Chicken or the egg?

Last week I wrote all about how I thought chicken was the next opportunity for plant-based meat companies. But this week, I’ve been thinking about what came before the chicken: and it just so happened that Vox wrote an interesting story on how egg substitutes are also primed for a renaissance.

Right now there aren’t many players out there making eggs from plants — or at least not many options that actually taste good. The most notable is JUST, whose mung bean-based eggless scramble just went mainstream when it hit Costco shelves a few weeks ago.

Though the scramble is indeed tasty, I think the real opportunity for JUST Egg is in its other product: a pre-formed plant-based egg patty, like the eggs you find on fast-food breakfast sandwiches. These patties could potentially have a more widespread impact because they’re targeted for large-scale foodservice use — in fast-food, sports stadiums, or cafeterias — which means they could spur some large-scale eggless egg adoption. Especially once JUST Egg gets cheaper than the real thing.

Beyond does brekky

Speaking of eggs, how about a Beyond Breakfast Sausage Sandwich? You can get one for under five bucks — as long as you live in New York City.

Yesterday Beyond Meat announced a new partnership with Dunkin’, which will start selling breakfast sandwiches featuring Beyond’s breakfast patties — developed specifically for Dunkin’ — in all of its Manhattan locations.

First of all, I absolutely want to try this. My colleague Chris Albrecht got to try Beyond’s plant-based breakfast sausage when he toured their facilities last year and gave it a 10/10. Second of all, this is just a crafty way for Beyond to make its way onto our plates (or fast food bags) at all times of day — including first thing in the morning.

The company is also reportedly developing meatless bacon, which is not only a big departure from their previous repertoire of ground meat products but also sounds dang delicious. If they can pull it off.

Protein ’round the web

  • It’s still just a rumor, but this week Livekindly shared whispers that McDonald’s in the U.K. could be adopting vegan breakfast items later this year.
  • After four months, Impossible Foods says its product shortage is over! Huzzah.
  • Cultivating black fly larvae cuts food waste and is a good source of protein. So why aren’t we doing more of it? (h/t Washington Post)

Eat well,
Catherine

Mars Announces Startups for Inaugural Seeds of Change Food Accelerator

This morning, CPG giant Mars unveiled the six startups participating in the company’s first-ever cohort for its Seeds of Change accelerator program, which helps early-stage companies with health- and sustainability-focused offerings hit their next phase of growth.

As a consumer-focused brand, Seeds of Change has been in operation since 1989, initially selling organic seeds to farmers and gardeners before launching a food line in the late 1990s.

The new accelerator program, which was announced in March of this year, is an extension of the brand’s focus on health and sustainability.

Participants were selected this past weekend, when 10 finalists from the application pool headed to Chicago and presented their companies and ideas to a panel of judges. Each will receive a grant of $50,000 and participate in a four-month-long program that includes curriculum and mentorship sessions designed to help startups scale up their operations.

For this first cohort, the program looks to be focused mainly on ingredient innovation:

Fora produces non-dairy butter and is on track to release other yet-to-be-named plant-based dairy alternatives.
Prommus makes a protein-enhanced hummus, and also runs a program that provides meals to school children in food-insecure parts of the world
Brooklyn Delhi makes India-inspired condiments and sauces.
Tru Made Foods turns condiments like BBQ sauce and Sriracha into superfoods by replacing sugar with vegetables
NoBull Burger makes plant-based burgers.
Oxtale sells starter packs that let consumers cook traditional Asian meals in under 30 minutes.

The six companies chosen over the weekend were selected for Seeds of Change’s U.S.-based program. The company also runs an Australia-based version of the accelerator, for which applications just closed.

Mars, at this point, is better known for candy and pet foods than it is for sustainable eating. But like a growing number of major CPGs out there, the company is looking to double-down on food innovation by partnering with younger, leaner companies, and also align more with the growing consumer demand for things like health, transparency, and sustainability. Dairy Farmers of America, who works with some of the world’s largest food producers, has a new(ish) accelerator program that’s been getting attention as of late, and numerous other CPGs, from Kraft-Heinz to Nestle to BSH run programs.

A Few Summer Deadlines for NYC Food Tech Accelerators

You can count on a few things for any summer in New York: the hum of thousands of air conditioning units, lengthy sessions in the park, the unmistakable smell of garbage on the curb. And nowadays, you can also count on a few lingering applications deadlines still open for the city’s fast-growing tech accelerator scene.

While many programs have already wrapped their application process, we dug up a few more NYC-specific ones that are still taking applications, with cohorts slated to start around fall 2019.

If you want the lowdown on food tech accelerators and whether your company would benefit from one, check out The Spoon’s recent Food Tech Fireside chat.

Future Food Co
FutureFoodCo helps companies grow from early-product-market phase to having at least some mainstream appeal (a category often called “early majority”). The program looks for food projects and entrepreneurs ready to scale up on a proof of concept. It counts Zoni Foods, Shroom Snacks, and Ozuké among its alumni.

Four to eight participants are selected for each five-month-long cohort. FutureFoodCo looks for small companies on track to gross more than $1 million in annual sales. While the program is based in NYC, participants do not have to relocate full time in order to take part in the program.

All participants receive $10,000 (4–8 percent equity) along with mentorship and advising opportunities, as well as the usual access to networking and potential investment.

Applications for cohort 6 are open now.

Food-X
Food-X kind of doesn’t need an introduction to Spoon readers at this point. The 14-week program — one of the most well-known in the food tech sector — works with early-stage companies from across the food system, though Program Director Peter Bodenheimer noted earlier this year that ingredient tech and “advanced technology” are two ares of focus for Food-X.

For the Fall 2019 cohort, Food-X offers $65,000 in cash (for 8 percent equity) upon a participant starting the program, office space (participants must relocate to NYC), mentorship, access to the Food-X community, including alumni, and access to potential investment opportunities.

Food-X typically takes eight companies per cohort. Applications are open until July 14.

Accel Foods
While it’s more of a venture fund than traditional accelerator, Accel Foods works with up-and-coming CPG companies to scale their businesses and get products to market. Specifically, the fund looks for brands that already have some loyal customer base and are on track to grow to $250 million and above. The fund started in 2013 and since then has grown to managing three separate funds that equal $85 million.

Current members of the Accel portfolio include Alpha (Plant-Based) Foods, Soozy’s, who makes grain-free baked goods, and Wandering Bear Coffee.

Accel takes applications on a rolling basis, and participation is determined case by case. Interested companies can drop the fund a line to kickstart the process.

Purple Orange Ventures Announces Fellowship Program For Alt Protein Scientists

Purple Orange Ventures (P.O.V.), a seed fund based in Berlin, Germany, announced the launch of a new fellowship program aimed at alt-protein projects and ideas.

Dubbed The Entrepreneurial Scientist & Engineer Fellowship Program, the fellowship will provide grant money and mentorship for scientists and engineers using, well, science and engineering to create products that mimic the look, feel, and taste of meat, dairy, and seafood without using any animal byproduct whatsoever.

“We want to accelerate the animal-free foodtech movement in Europe, UK, Israel & Singapore,” P.O.V. investor and Managing Director Gary Lin wrote in a blog post when he announced the fellowship. In keeping with that, the fellowship is open to those currently residing in those regions or countries.

The Fellowship, for which P.O.V. has partnered with The Good Food Institute, New Harvest, ProVeg International, and the ProVeg Incubator, differs from the usual startup accelerator or incubator in a few different ways. Most notably, the selection criteria is much narrower: the Fellowship’s homepage states that applicants should have a “Ph.D in science, engineering or related field with ideally commercial work experience or Master’s degree with a minimum of 2 years of commercial work experience.”

It’s also different in that it’s not about growing a company, as startup accelerators do, but rather, to validate whether a project is strong enough to warrant starting a company. To that end, participants will spend time testing their projects in the lab setting, receiving feedback from potential customers and stakeholders, and adjusting the product based on that feedback. The end goal is to get a project closer to a commercial reality.

The chosen few get €120,000 (~$135,379 USD) in grant funding across 12 months. The grant is non-dilutive. Participants also receive coaching and mentorship, networking opportunities, as well as a chance to work at P.O.V.’s facility in Berlin and a lab setting in Berkeley, CA.

Should a fellow choose to incorporate their company by program end, there’s potential for P.O.V. to invest, though that’s not a foregone conclusion.

Fellowships in food, food science, and food technology are becoming more plentiful these days. P.O.V.’s program joins the likes of the Future Leaders for Food and Agriculture (FFar) Fellows program, UC Davis’ Innovator Fellowship, and the Kirchner Food Fellowship.

Podcast: The Sometimes You Just Want to Talk About Breakfast Cereal Episode

I love a good conversation about changing the world as much as the next person, but not every podcast has to be a TED talk, ok?

In fact, sometimes you just want to talk about cereal, and that’s what Chris Albrecht and I did in this episode as we break down the taste, ingredients and business model of Magic Spoon, a new “kid’s cereal for adults” we (mainly me) have been raving about the around the Spoon’s virtual (read Slack) water cooler.

So grab a bowl, a big spoon, and some milk and hit play below, on Spotify or download directly to your device.