As autumn gets into full swing, weekends shift into full-on cozy mode with hot apple cider, fuzzy blankets, and maybe some leaf peeping if you’re lucky. You know one of the best things to read while drinking apple cider under a fuzzy blanket with colorful leaves in the background? Food tech news.
This week we’ve got stories on fundraising to fight food waste in Sweden, Walmart making food retail moves in India, and reusable packaging for plant-based burgers. Enjoy!
Loop packaging partners with plant-based burger co. Teva Deli
Ever felt a pang of guilt over the excess packaging you have to throw away after you cook up a batch of plant-based (or any) burgers? Circular shopping platform Loop, which makes durable, reusable containers for a variety of CPG products, is partnering with plant-based burger company Teva Deli to deliver their products in sustainable packaging. Users will get their Teva burgers delivered in Loop’s metal containers, after which they’ll send back the packaging to be cleaned and reused. First launched in May, Loop is already available in 10 states in the Northeastern U.S.
Swedish Matsmart raises €17 million to fight food waste
Matsmart, the Swedish company with an online marketplace selling surplus food to consumers for extremely discounted prices, just raised €17 million (~$19 million) in late-stage funding, according to AgFunder News. The company raised €7.5 million ($8.3 million) last year, and this latest round brings its total funding to €40 million (~$45 million). Matsmart currently just sells to consumers in Sweden and Finland but plans to expand to Germany in 2020.
Walmart’s Flipkart to enter food retail market in India
This week Flipkart, the Indian e-commerce company which sold a majority stake to Walmart last year, announced it would be entering the food retail business (h/t Techcrunch), investing up to $258 million in the new vertical. Walmart has been investing heavily in international food retail companies over the past year or so as it battles for market share with rival Amazon. India already has Prime Now and Amazon Fresh, so Flipkart is smart to get into food retail now before Amazon corners too much of the local market.
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