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Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

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Food Tech News: GROW Impact Accelerator 2021 Cohort, US Plastic Pact Sets 2025 Goals

Welcome to the weekend, and the weekly Food Tech News round-up. This week, we gathered news regarding GROW’s 2021 food and ag-tech cohort, the US Plastic Pact’s goals, Sonic’s international expansion, and Kind Healthy Snack’s free dietician program.

GROW Impact Accelerator accepting applications for 2021 Impact Accelerator Program

GROW is a Singapore-based agriculture and food tech accelerator backed by AgFunder, and it recently announced that it has opened its application for the 2021 cohort. Selected applicats will receive mentorship, funding of $200,000, and access to the accelerator’s network. The program is open to food tech and agriculture tech start-ups and will be held virtually for now. Applications close on February 28th.

Photo by tanvi sharma on Unsplash

US Plastic Pact sets goals for 2025

The US Plastic Pact, led by The Recycling Partnership (TRP) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF), is comprised of 84 public and private sector stakeholders in the plastics value chain. The pact recently set forth its upcoming goals for the next few years, which includes ensuring all plastic packaging is 100% compostable or recyclable, taking action to compost or recycle 50% of all plastic packaging, and guaranteeing that at least 30% of plastic packing is comprised of recycled content or bio-based content. The US Plastic Pact aims to achieve these goals by 2025.

Screengrab via Sonic

Sonic unveils plans to expand internationally with new model

Sonic’s president shared that the fast-casual restaurant chain currently has plans to expand internationally with an updated restaurant design.Sonic didn’t say which countries will be on the list, but the expansion will roll out in the next few years. Sonic debuted an updated restaurant model last summer, which included wider car docks, different drive-thru formats, and an “order ahead” option through its app.

Image via Kind Healthy Snack

Kind Healthy Snacks launches Kind RD Connect to link consumers with local dieticians

Kind Healthy Snacks, known for its bars and granola, recently announced the launch of its new platform called Kind RD Connect. The platform aims to assist customers who are looking to improve their diet and will match them with local registered dieticians. Three thousand, 15-minute virtual call sessions where customers can ask nutrition-related questions will be offered completely free of charge. Kind RD Connect is currently available and will be running until February 18th.

Food Tech News: Muniq Raises $8.2M for Protein Powder, Danone Launches Plant-Based Cheese

Welcome to this week’s Food Tech News round-up! This week, news that caught our attention included Muniq’s recent funding round, Danone’s new plant-based cheese, Torchy Taco’s new contactless services, and Zero Egg’s restaurant debut.

Muniq raises $8.2 million for blood sugar regulating protein powder

Muniq, a protein powder created specifically for blood sugar control and gut microbiome health, raised $8.2 million in its Series A round. The round was led by Alpha Edison and Acre Venture Partners, with participation from Baron Davis (former NBA star and investor) and Cathy Richards (founder of SimplyProtein). The protein powder contains a high amount of prebiotic resistant starch that can help regulate blood sugar and weight management, and it was developed specifically with those who live with diabetes or struggle with weight loss in mind. Muniq’s five flavors of protein powder include Chocolate, Vanilla Creme, Mocha Latte, Vegan Vanilla, and Vegan Chocolate. A bag of protein powder with 28 servings costs $99 and is available for purchase on the company’s website.

Photo from Danone’s website

Danone launches plant-based cheese through So Delicious Brand

Danone’s So Delicious brand recently announced the release of new dairy-free cheese products, which include plant-based shredded cheese, slices, and spreads. All of the cheeses are vegan, gluten-free, soy-free, and non-GMO, but it is currently unclear what the main ingredient in these new products is. The shredded and sliced cheese products are now available in stores such as Target, Walmart, Market Basket, Fresh Thyme across the US. The cheese spreads will be released sometime in March.

Photo from Torchy’s Taco website

CardFree and Torchy’s Taco partner to develop contactless services

Torchy’s Taco, a fast-casual taco chain, partnered with CardFree, a provider of modern ordering services, to revamp online ordering and contactless services in the restaurant’s location. Customers eating at Torchy’s will now be able to use the Text-to-Pay solution, which enables them to pay on a mobile phone for both phone-in and drive-thru orders. The new Order@Table solution allows customers to add to their order while dining in without getting back in line or interacting with a cashier. The taco chain is also trialing curbside pickup with “I’m Here” notifications for curbside pickups; the customer can simply send this notification from their phone to let the restaurant know they have arrived. These new features and services are now available in Torchy’s 83 locations across seven states.

Zero Egg makes debut in Birmingham, AL restaurant

Plant-based egg producer Zero Egg made its first restaurant debut at Tropicaleo, a Puerto Rican restaurant in Birmingham, Alabama. The restaurant created a special menu to celebrate Veganuary, and several of the menu items showcase Zero Egg’s soy, potato starch, and chickpea-based eggs. The speciality dishes include breakfast sandwich with vegan cheese, Zero Egg biscuit, and Beyond Meat patty, as well as a rice bowl with Zero Egg scramble, Beyond Meat sausage, and sweet plantains. These menu items are available now, and it is unclear if they will become permanent menu fixtures.

Food Tech News: DeliverZero Reduces Food Delivery Waste, N!ck’s Ice Cream Partners with Perfect Day

Welcome to our weekly Food Tech News round-up. This week, we have stories on DeliverZero’s waste-free food delivery, a partnership between N!ck’s Swedish Ice Cream and Perfect Day, changes to Albertson’s delivery fleet, and Daily Harvest’s new product.

DeliverZero uses reusable packing for food delivery

DeliverZero is a third-party food delivery service (like DoorDash or GrubHub) based in NYC, but what differentiates the company is its use of reusable packaging. When the food is delivered to customers, it arrives in reusable clamshell packaging made from BPA-free polypropylene plastic. Customers won’t have to worry about a pileup of reusable to-go containers, though. For each order they make, a delivery driver will also retrieve the previous order’s packaging and return it to the participating restaurant. If the packaging is not returned within six weeks, the customer gets charged $3.25.

At the moment, DeliverZero has partnered with over 100 restaurants in NYC. The company also announced that it will soon be expanding to Amsterdam and Chicago.

N!ck’s Swedish Ice Cream uses Perfect Day’s tech to create vegan ice cream

N!ck’s Swedish Ice Cream shared in a press release that it recently partnered with Perfect Day to produce several new vegan flavors. The company will use Perfect Day’s animal-free dairy proteins and a plant-based fat called EGP (N!ck’s has 14 patents for this) to create an ice cream that boasts a smooth and creamy texture. The new line will contain seven vegan flavors, will be keto-friendly, and contain no added sugars. Three flavors, Swedish Mint Chip, Choklad Choklad, and Karamell Swirl, are currently available for purchase on N!ck’s website, and one pint goes for $9.99. The rest of the flavors will be available on the website in February, and several undisclosed retailers will carry the ice cream in Spring 2021.

Albertsons will stop operating its own delivery fleet in several markets

Albertsons announced this week that it will stop using its own delivery fleet to fulfill grocery deliveries in several markets starting February 27, 2021. Which states and markets this will affect remains to be announced, though it was confirmed that California-based Albertsons, Vons, and Pavilions will cease using their own delivery fleets. The grocer will instead transition to using an undisclosed third-party delivery service. In the past, the company has used a combination of third-party delivery services like Instacart and Shipt with its own fleet. Due to the increase in home deliveries, the company said this transition will allow Albertsons to compete more effectively in the home delivery market.

Daily Harvest adds plant-based Mylk as an option

Daily Harvest is a trendy subscription service that targets millennials with delivered boxes of pre-made smoothies, bowls, and flatbreads. Now, the company has added a new product called “Mylk.” The plant-based milk comes in two flavors, vanilla and plain, and contains no artificial flavors, fillers, or gums. Interestingly, the almond milk does not come in liquid form, but rather a triangular cube that must be blended with water to create liquid almond milk. One order of almond Mylk costs $7.99 and makes eight 8-ounce servings.

Food Tech News: Virtual Restaurant Accelerator Progam Launch, Mycelium-Based Adidas Shoes

Welcome to our weekend wrap-up of food tech news from around the web.

Happy New Year! I am excited to both say goodbye to the most bizarre year of my life and share some Food Tech News with you. This week, some news pieces that stood out to us included a new accelerator program for virtual restaurants, Adidas shoes made from mycelium, a vegan-friendly Subway sub, and how you can support New York restaurants with a T-shirt.

An accelerator program for “pandemic-proof” virtual restaurants

The Melon Kitchen Food Entrepreneurship Accelerator will be opening a culinary program to Black and Latinx entrepreneurs to assist in the launch of new virtual restaurants. The program will begin in mid-January and take place at AMP (Artisinal Marketplace) in the tech district of Indianapolis. It is a free three-month program that will accept several cohorts consisting of five to seven participants. Through the use of ghost kitchens and delivery through DoorDash, the program aims to build “pandemic-proof” virtual restaurants. The marketplace will open to the public March 2021, and participants are eligible for start-up funding after the completion of the program.

Photo from Bolt Threads’ website

Adidas shoes made from mushroom leather

Adidas announced that they will be launching vegan-friendly shoes made from mycelium-based leather; mycelium is essentially the root system of mushrooms. To produce this new shoe, the company partnered with sustainable materials producer Bolt Threads, which created a mycelium-based leather called “Mylo“. It is currently unclear when the new Adidas shoes will be available for purchase.

Vegan chicken subs at Subway

Now available at Subways in the UK and Ireland, the T.L.C (tastes like chicken) Sub uses soy protein chicken strips to mimic the company’s classic roast chicken breast strips. The new sub will be fully vegan and will also use Violife vegan cheese. The new menu item was added on December 30th, and it is not yet determined if it will be a permanent menu item. Subways located in the UK permanently added a Beyond Meatball Marinara Sub this year, and last year the same sandwich was trialed in the US and Canada.

Morning News clothing company launches T-shirt to support NY restaurants

Clothing company Morning News launched a T-shirt to help struggling local restaurants in New York. The back of the 100 percent cotton T-shirt reads “Support Your Local Restaurants” in hopes of encouraging residents of the state to remember to do so. Additionally, 40 percent of the proceeds from T-shirts will be donated to restaurant owners and employees through ROAR (Relief Opportunities for All Restaurants). Big cities like NYC have experienced a greater number of closures due to the high cost of rent, and over 1,000 restaurants have permanently closed here since March 2020.

Food Tech News: First Indoor Saltwater Hydroponic Farm + A Boozy Advent Calendar

It’s our weekend food tech wrap-up of stories you might have missed from around the web.

If you celebrate Christmas, we hope you enjoyed the holiday even if it looked a bit different this year. Maybe your loved ones gifted you something from The Spoon’s 2020 gift guide, and you’re busy playing around with your brand new Bonbowl or BEERMKR. Between new gift admiring and leftover cookie scarfing, we invite you to take time to catch up on some Food Tech News. This week we rounded up news on the first indoor saltwater hydroponic farm, Bombay Sapphire’s advent calendar, and a new vegan vending machine in Las Vegas.

Heron Farms is the first indoor saltwater hydroponic farm

Based in Charleston, South Carolina, Heron Farms uses the most plentiful resource on the planet, ocean water, to grow crops in an indoor hydroponic farm. This is apparently the first indoor saltwater hydroponic farm, and it is currently focused on growing sea beans. Sea beans have a crisp, crunchy texture with a flavor close to asparagus, and can be used in dishes such as salads and stirfries. The farm replaces freshwater, which is a resource being drained faster than its being replenished, and uses micronutrient-rich and abundant seawater to feed the crops.

Bombay Sapphire creates an advent calendar

Most advent calendars are filled with chocolate or candies and distributed at the start of December. Bombay Sapphire has partnered with the London Graphic Centre to provide an atypical boozy and artsy advent calendar that celebrates the days between Christmas and the new year. Behind each door of the calendar, there is some type of tool relevant to either making cocktails or art. The calendar comes with a cocktail-making guide, and behind each window of the calendar, there is a QR code that takes you to a website that provides videos and additional instructions.

Las Vegas is getting a vegan vending machine

The Vintage Vegan Diner in Las Vegas, Nevada has been doing catering, curbside pick-up, and delivery of its American-style vegan food since May of this year. The business will now be launching the city’s first vegan vending machine. The machine will contain the most popular dishes from the diner, including tofu bites, sliders, and cookie dough. The retro pink vending machine will pop-up at different areas throughout Las Vegas, eventually settling in one location.

Food Tech News: A New Potato Preserving Technology, Zomato Closes $660M Round

If you need a break from COVID-19 and vaccine-related news, you’re in the right place. In this week’s Food Tech News, we rounded up pieces on a new technology that helps preserve potatoes, Zomato’s latest funding round, a holiday Pepsi flavor, and carbon-neutral oat milk.

Funding for potato preserving technology

Hazel Technologies received an undisclosed amount in grant money this week from the USDA for its new potato preserving technology. The technology is called Hazel Root, which looks like a small package and is placed in a bin of potatoes after harvesting. The small package emits an undisclosed active ingredient that prevents potatoes from prematurely sprouting. Prior to this new development, Hazel Technologies focused on preserving fresh fruits for longer and has received a total of $900,000 in grant money. Last year, the company also raised $13 million in funding in an oversubscribed series B round.

Zomato closes $660M series J funding round

Indian delivery service Zomato closed its series J funding round this week, totaling $660 million USD. The recent round saw participation from Kora, Tiger Global, Luxor, Fidelity, D1 Capital, Baillie Gifford, Mirae, and Steadview. Zomato is currently valued at $3.9 billion USD, and Deepinder Goyal, the CEO of Zomato, shared that the company may launch its IPO sometime in the first half of next year.

Cocoa Cola for Christmas

On Twitter this week, PepsiCo announced that a new flavor is in the works: “Cocoa Cola.” Pepsi said if its tweet reached 2,021 reposts, the company would begin production of the new flavor. As of now, that tweet has been reposted 4,400 times so far, so it’s safe to say the new drink will go into production. It will have tasting notes of chocolate, marshmallow, and the classic cola flavor, and is expected to reach stores sometime this winter. Near Thanksgiving this year, PepsiCo also released a holiday flavor: a limited batch of apple pie-flavored soda.

Carbon neutral oat milk

Minor Figures, a London-based company that produces oat milk, announced this week it has become carbon neutral. The company partnered with EcoFye, a firm that helps companies lower their carbon footprint and purchase carbon credit for carbon offsetting projects. Becoming carbon-neutral has been quite the buzzword this year, with major companies like Starbucks, Amazon, and Microsoft also making the pledge.

Food Tech News: Fake Meat Capital of Europe, Plastic Made From Citrus Peels

It’s your weekend food tech news wrapup!

Plant & Bean Ltd. opens massive plant-based meat factory in Europe

Plant-based meat makers Plant & Bean opened a new factory in Boston, England. The factory is capable of producing 55,000 tons of alternative protein products, which will make Boston the faux-meat capital of Europe. The company uses soy as its main ingredient to produce a variety of different plant-based meats such as sausages, burgers, nuggets, and more. Plant & Bean is looking to continue to expand and open more factories, with potential factory locations opening in the next few years in the US, China, Thailand, and Brazil.

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland creates plastic from produce

A new technology was developed at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland that uses agricultural waste to produce a more sustainable plastic, PEF (polyethylene furanoate). Agricultural waste such as citrus peels, sugar beet pulp, or other produce containing pectin can be used to develop the plastic. Fossil fuel-based plastic PET (polyethylene terephthalate) is commonly used for food and beverage packaging; according to the press release, replacing packaging with PEF would reduce the packaging’s carbon footprint by 50%.

Photo from Nestlé Japan

Whiskey barrel-aged Kit Kat bars to be released in Japan

Japan has released the most exciting flavors of Kit Kat bars over the years, with 400 different flavors like matcha, ube, yuzu, adzuki bean, and purple sweet potato to name a few. The newest flavor, a whiskey barrel-aged Kit Kat bar, will be released on December 15th in Japan. This new flavor was developed by Yasumasa Takagi, a pastry chef and former Iron Chef competitor The bar is made from Ghanaian cacao nibs that have been aged in Scotch whiskey barrels for 180 days, and will cost ¥300 ($2.88 USD).

Michael Jordan’s beer and snack- delivering drones

The Grove XXIII, Michael Jordan’s golf course that opened last year, now has drones that deliver boxes of beer and snacks to players. The drones bring beers in a box, while snacks come delivered in a brown paper bag. This new addition to the golf course allows golfers to avoid additional interactions with cashiers or employees.

Food Tech News: Food Waste For Solar Energy, DoorDash Announces New Gifting Feature

Food waste used to produce solar energy

A recent winner of the Sustainability 2020 James Dyson Award, Carvey Maigue (a student at Mapúa University in the Philippines) created a technology that converts food waste into UV light-capturing windows and walls. The system, called AuReus, traps luminescent particles from certain fruits and vegetables (which would otherwise be wasted) in a resin substrate. The particles then absorb and reflect the light, and PV cells along the side of the walls and windows absorb this light. Lastly, the captured light is converted to DC electricity.

DoorDash announces new gifting feature

This week, DoorDash announced its new gifting feature for the holiday season. Users can now send favorite food items to friends and family located anywhere in the country through the app. To send a food gift, a user simply needs to enter the recipient’s address on the app, and then customize the order with a digital card. Not sure what to send? According to DoorDash, the most popular requests include french fries, burrito bowls, and cookies.

Ikea pledges to make 50% of menu items vegan

By 2025, Ikea’s goal is to make half of its menu items and 80 percent of its packaged meals vegan. The multinational chain already carries vegan items like meatballs, soft-serve, and hot dogs. After reading scientific reports and consumer research studies, the company aims to do its part in reducing global greenhouse gas emissions through providing foods with a lower carbon footprint.

UK Pizza Huts adds Christmas Pizza

Do you think that pineapple on a pizza is a weird topping? I personally think traditional Christmas dishes as pizza toppings might triumph over pineapple for being even stranger. Pizza Hut locations in the UK are now carrying a Christmas pizza, which includes shredded chicken, bacon, sage & onion stuffing, and a red wine gravy. The pizza is available now and until supplies last.

Food Tech News: $45M Raised for Mycelium Leather, Pistachio Milk Launches in U.S.

With COVID-19 cases spiking once again and winter creeping in, today might be the perfect time to get cozy and catch up on some Food Tech News. This week we have stories on mycelium leather, pistachio milk, a seasonal Pepsi flavor, and a line of formal wear created by your favorite stuffing brand.

MycoWorks raises $45m Series B round

MycoWorks raised a $45m Series B funding round this week, led by WTT Investment and DCVC Bio. New investors include two celebrities, John Legend and Natalie Portman, as well as Valor Equity Partners, Humboldt Fund, and Gruss & Co. MycoWorks makes an animal-free leather from mycelium, which is essentially the root system of mushrooms. In addition to the funding news, the company announced the opening of a new manufacturing plant in Emeryville, California. This funding round will be used to open several more manufacturing plant locations.

Táche launches “first true” pistachio milk

Táche, a New York-based startup, made its pistachio milk available for purchase this week. The milk is the first to be made purely from pistachio nuts and is free of other nuts and added oils; the milk also comes in a sweetened and unsweetened version. During the past few months, the company has raised $1.1 million through angel investors and friends, with one notable investor being the former CEO of Stonyfield Farms. A 32-ounce carton of Táche’s pistachio milk costs $7.99, and customers can purchase a six-pack of the milk on the company’s website. The milk is also available in some coffee shops and cafes in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and California.

Pepsi releases limited addtion apple pie flavor

Pepsi’s release of this seasonal special aims to emulate all of the goods things in a fresh-baked apple pie: cinnamon, a buttery crust, and warm apples. The company wanted to provide an option for those who don’t have baking skills but want to enjoy the flavors of an apple pie. However, there is a catch; not everyone can get their hands on a bottle of this limited-edition soda. In order to enter for a chance to receive a free 2-liter bottle, participants must share a photo of their baking fails on Twitter or TikTok with the hashtag #PepsiApplePieChallenge.

Stove Top creates a line of formal wear for Thanksgiving

Stove Top, a brand of Kraft Heinz known for it’s packaged stuffing mixes, created a line of formal wear for Thanksgiving. The line includes items such as “Stufflinks” (featured above), a stuffing-print shawl, and a headband. Surprisingly, many of the items have sold out already, with the exception of the $30 crushed velvet jacket with a stuffing print lining. The line of formal wear can be found on LetsGetStuffy.com.

Anova Launches New Line of Plastic Neutral Vacuum Sealer Bags

Sous vide specialist Anova announced they had launched a new line of plastic neutral vacuum seal bags through a partnership with Plastic Bank, a social enterprise focused on reducing the amount of plastic entering the waste stream. Companies within the Plastic Bank program become plastic neutral goal through the purchase of plastic reduction offset credits from the Plastic Bank, which use the funds to reclaim ocean-bound plastic and recycle it. Anova’s new bags also feature an accelerated degradation additive so they break down faster when exposed to air and light.

Food Tech News: Potato-based Chicken R&D, Good Catch Launches D2C Platform

If you’re reading this week’s Food Tech News, that means we’ve made it past Friday the 13th, 2020. Congrats! A few stories stood out to us this week, including potato-based chicken alternative development, Good Catch’s D2C platform, and a funding announcement in AI-driven vertical farming.

Large Nordic chicken producer invests in potato-based, chicken alternative

Scandi Standard, the largest producer of chicken in Nordic countries, announced this week its partnership and investment in Veg of Lund, which is a producer of bottled plant-based smoothies. It seems like an unlikely duo, but Veg of Lund has patented its smoothie base of potato and rapeseed oil, which will be used to create the plant-based chicken alternative. The meat producer has invested in a two-year research project to create the chicken alternative, with the investment totaling SEK 4 million (approximately $460K USD).

Good Catch & Alpha Foods now offer home-delivery

Good Catch Foods, producers of plant-based seafood, and Alpha Foods, a plant-based meat company, have now made its products available direct to consumers. The home delivery service can be used by those based in the USA. Consumers can purchase plant-based tuna made from a blend of legumes directly from Good Catch’s website. The company’s other products are not yet available for home delivery, and there is a three tuna pouch minimum order requirement.

On Alpha Food’s website, consumers can purchase plant-based chicken nuggets, burritos, and pouches of “beef” crumbles. The company’s products are sold in bundle packages, with the option of reoccurring shipments every month.

Good Catch and Alpha Foods join companies like Beyond, PepsiCo, Impossible, and many other brands in launching its own D2C platform.

Swegreen secures funding for AI-driven vertical farming

Swedish-based Swegreen and research partners have received an investment totaling 9.1 million Swedish Krona (approximately $1.05M USD) from Vinnova. Research partners include Mälardalen University and RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, and the three entities will be working together to continue to develop Swegreen’s AI-platform for vertical farming. Swegreen additionally aims to advance the digital supply chain and achieve climate neutrality through its urban food production.

Food Tech News: Greenhouse Gas Straws, Improved Amazon Grocery Delivery

If you’re ready for a break from all those political memes, here’s your chance to catch up on some final pieces of food tech news from the past week. A few stories that stood out to us include foodware made from greenhouse gases, improved Amazon grocery delivery, PBR’s THC-infused seltzer, and a limited-edition plant-based tuna melt.

Straws made out of pollution

Newlight Technologies, a biotech company based in Southern California, launched commercial foodware and fashion lines made from pollution-eating microorganism secretions. In the company’s Huntington Beach facilities, ocean water conditions are recreated in vats, and then microorganisms are added. Then the vats are purposefully polluted with collected greenhouse gases. Microorganisms then gobble up greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, and their excretions are gathered to be dried and formed into pellets. The substance that is molded into pellets in called AirCarbon, and it is then melted and molded to make things like straws, utensils, and wallets. The end products are actually carbon-negative since the gases did not end up in the environment.

Amazon adds feature to improve grocery delivery

If you tried ordering a grocery delivery through Amazon at the start of the pandemic, you might remember checking for available slots around 10 times a day with no luck. Or you might have been one of those people who woke up in the middle of the night to reserve a slot. Amazon just announced a new feature as a solution to this problem: if there are no available slots at the moment, a customer can sign up to wait for the next open delivery time. With the new feature, customers will be given an estimation of when the next available spot will be then notified when it opens. They will have two hours to place an order.

Photo from Npr

Pabst Blue Ribbon releases THC-infused seltzer

Last week Pabst Blue Ribbon announced the release of its 4.2 percent hard cold brew coffee. This week, the company’s new THC-infused seltzer hit shelves. The lemon-flavored seltzer contains no alcohol and has 5mg of THC. The new beverage is targeted at consumers who are curious about cannabis and would prefer eating or drinking it rather than smoking it. Apparently the product is already popular, with both the first and second productions selling out quickly. Priced at $24 each, four-packs of the seltzer are available at dispensaries and online.

Veggie Grill launches Good Catch tuna melt sandwich

Gathered Foods, makers of Good Catch plant-based tuna, partnered with vegan restaurant chain Veggie Grill to release a limited edition tuna melt sandwich. Good Catch makes a protein-rich plant-based tuna from a blend of six legumes: peas, chickpeas, lentils, soy, fava beans, and navy beans. This January, Good Catch raised a $32 million Series B funding round, and Veggie Grill is the first restaurant that Good Catch has partnered with. The tuna melt sandwich will be comprised of a tuna salad, American cheese, pickles, and tomato on griddled rye bread, and it will be available until the end of the year.

Food Tech News: InnerPlant Launches Sensor Plants, $3.5 Million Grant for Cultivated Meat

I’m taking over the weekly Food Tech News post, and this week I bring you both plant-centric and meaty news. Money is being pumped into cultivated meat research, a plant-based burger company signed a partnership with a football team, and tomato plants can now tell you if they are feeling stressed. Oh, and the world’s smallest gum company raised $1.2 million in funding.

InnerPlant Launches “Living Sensor” Plants

InnerPlant, based in Davis, California, announced the launch of the InnerTomato™ this week. The tomato plants are fed a protein that amplifies the natural signals a plant releases to warn neighboring plants of different stressors. A farmer can use an iPhone, drone, or satellite to take a photo of the plants, and through augmented reality, will be able to see if the plant is a certain color. Different colors signal if the plant needs water, is stressed, or under attack from a certain disease or pest. This is InnerPlant’s first proprietary plant.

Photo from UC Davis’ Aggie Transcript

UC Davis Receives Funding For Cultivated Meat Research

UC Davis recently received a $3.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to research cultivated meat. One of the main goals of this five-year grant is to develop methods to amplify stem cells efficiently. Researchers aim to create methods that enable sustainably lab-grown meat to be an option for feeding a rapidly growing world population. This is the first major grant in the U.S. for cellular agriculture.

The World’s Smallest Gum Factory

Copenhagen-based True Gum just raised $1.2 million (USD) from a German VC Oyster Bay. True Gum makes plant-based gum that is free of petroleum ingredients (which are found in many gum brands), and instead uses a sustainably-sourced tree sap, called chicle, from South America as the main ingredient.

Planterra’s Brand, OZO, Partners With Denver Broncos

OZO, a brand of Colorado-based Planterra Foods, just signed a three-year partnership with the Denver Broncos. Planterra is a subsidiary of JBS Foods, the largest beef and pork processor in the world. OZO’s products include plant-based ground beef and burger patties made from pea protein, and are currently available in 12 U.S. states. As part of the partnership, OZO will be advertising at the Mile High Stadium and serving up its vegan burgers from its traveling food van.

The last time we brought up the Denver Broncos and the Mile High Stadium on The Spoon, it was to announce the installment of a beer-pouring robot at the stadium. Vegan stadium burgers and beer robots might be convincing enough to get me into a football stadium during a pandemic.

Tesco and Olio Team Up to Fight Food Waste

And in some non-meaty but still-sustainable news, Tesco and food-sharing app Olio announced this week they have partnered to fight food waste. Olio volunteers (of which there are around 8,000) will pick up surplus food at Tesco stores then upload it to the Olio app. Food is then distributed for free to households in need and community groups looking to help.

Tesco is launching this food-drive-like initiative across all 2,700 of its U.K. stores. The company said it was able to redirect 36 tons of food — which would have otherwise gone to waste — through an earlier trial of the program.