This week’s Food Tech News round-up is a great distraction from constantly refreshing election updates and bashing how slow Nevada is when it comes to counting votes. A few stories stood out to us this week, including Tesla’s Tequila, vegan fridges in bodegas, Beyond Meat pizzas at Pizza Hut, and an indoor farm company funding round.
Tesla Tequila sells out in hours
A few years ago on April Fool’s day, Elon Musk made a joke about the idea of Tesla Tequila. Fast-forward to 2020, and Tesla Tequila has come to life. The tequila is aged for 15 months in a French oak barrel and comes in a hand-blown glass lightning bolt bottle. The liquid itself has “a dry fruit and light vanilla nose with a balanced cinnamon pepper finish.” Even with a hefty price tag of $250 per bottle, it sold out in a few hours, and it is unclear if it will be restocked.
New York City bodegas get vegan fridges
Three bodegas in New York City will host Plantega, a collective that sources vegan products for in-store displays, and its vegan fridges for a 12-week trial run. The fridges will contain vegan products from brands like Just Egg, Miyoko’s Creamery, Beyond Meat, Good Catch, and No Evil Foods. Vegan products like these are normally found in health food stores, specialty stores, and Whole Foods. Plantega’s goal is to make vegan products more accessible to underserved communities that normally don’t see these products in their local stores. The three Plantega fridges will be located in bodegas in Bushwick, Cypress Hills, and The Bronx, and more locations may be added if the trial goes well.
UK Pizza Huts to add Beyond Meat pizzas
Pizza Huts located in the UK will add plant-based Beyond Meat sausage, beef, and pork on top of its pizzas. The new pizza flavors include 3 Meat Supreme, Italian Style Sausage, Beyond Beef Sizzle, and Beyond Pork & Sweet Chilli. The chain has been using Violife cheese to top pizzas in the UK, and will likely continue to use this cheese for its newest vegan pizzas.
80 Acres raises undisclosed funding round
80 Acres operates eight indoor farms throughout the U.S., and the company’s most recent funding round of an undisclosed amount was led by Barclays with participation by Virgo Investments, Orange Wings Capital, QuietStar Capital. 80 Acres produces salad greens, microgreens, herbs, and tomatoes, which can be found at Whole Foods, Kroger, The Fresh Market, and through distributors like Sysco and US Foods. The company’s total funding amount to date is $40M.
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