Food+Tech Connect’s Post

Food Industry Executive's recent piece underscores the role of commercial partnerships in the journey of cultivated meat from labs to consumers' plates, highlighting the potential to reshape the global meat market. With established brands throwing their weight behind the cultivated meat industry, could we stand on the brink of a paradigm shift wherein "cultivated" could soon lose its "alternative" tag? Competitive pricing, consumer acceptance, and technological scalability can all be influenced by relationships with household-name partners. #cultivatedmeat #futureoffood #foodandbeverage

Despite challenges ranging from scale-up costs to potential legislative roadblocks, makers of cell-cultivated meat remain optimistic about the category’s potential, agreed panelists in a Thursday Future Food-Tech session titled “Overcoming Obstacles in Advancing Cell-Based From Vision to Reality.” “We are on a road that has been long and hard,” said Amy Chen, CEO of pioneering cultivated meat maker UPSIDE Foods. Among the latest challenges confronting the category are proposed regulations in several states banning the sale of cultivated meat. “I think it’s a disservice to consumers,” said Chen, noting that “consumers are smart” and capable of making their own decisions about what they choose to eat. Sandeep Sibal, CEO of Demolish Foods, developer of a platform for creating "slaughter-free meats," saw a potential upside to such moves. “The silver lining I see here is that it’s made the topic relevant. Even though it’s entering in the wrong way, it’s still part of the public dialogue.”   Sibal, Chen, and fellow panelist Daan Luining, cofounder and chief technology officer of Meatable, emphasized the importance of staying committed to the cell-cultivated cause. “There is no other option,” said Chen. “The planet literally can’t sustain the way we are eating today.” Processes will continue to improve at rapid pace, Luining reflected. “We can make our process more efficient,” he said. “Try doing that with a cow.” “I’m deeply optimistic about the future,” Chen concluded. #Future Food-Tech #Food Technology #IFT #UPSIDE Foods #Meatable #Demolish Foods

Silicon Valley start-ups are shaking up the meat industry, with companies like Impossible Foods gaining major distribution to challenge traditional meat consumption. 🌱 Impossible Foods has secured US-wide distribution, backed by investors like Bill Gates, aiming to make plant-based burgers more appealing to meat-eaters. 💡 Venture capital is pouring into food-tech companies like Beyond Meat and Memphis Meats, signaling the tech world’s push to disrupt the meat industry. 🍔 Scaling challenges: Unlike software, food industries face tough margins and heavy regulation, making innovation slower and more expensive. 📊 Market impact: Despite three decades of development, plant-based meats represent just over 2% of the US meat market, with red meat consumption continuing to rise. 🔬 High-tech burgers: Impossible Foods took five years to develop a burger that mimics real meat, even oozing a blood-like substance when cooked, debuting in select restaurants in 2016. 💵 Premium pricing: Distributors pay more for these innovative products, with restaurants charging higher prices for Impossible’s burgers, positioning them as a premium alternative to beef. #FoodTech #PlantBased #Sustainability 🌍 Flexitarian growth: The rising demand for plant-based proteins comes from consumers seeking to reduce their meat intake while not fully giving it up. 🏭 Production scale: Impossible’s Oakland facility now produces over 1.4 million pounds of burgers monthly, reflecting growing demand. ♻️ Repost if you enjoyed this post and follow me, César Beltrán Miralles, for more curated content about leadership! https://lnkd.in/g9BPtm-2

Food is intrinsically tied to emotions, comfort, memories and togetherness. The first thing to note is that emerging food technologies like cultivated meats tend not to be top-of-mind concerns for consumers. Consumers seem divided on whether technology will solve problems such as food security and climate change. Convenience, Freshness, Speed, Variety are the drivers of consumer acceptance. This is in tension with the public desire for a greater connection with our food system, with ‘natural’ or 'whole' foods and with the social aspects of eating. For regulators and manufacturers, this means we need to apply some of the thinking from behavioural science in our assessment of how people will perceive risk. Take the time to explain it, to persuade where necessary and understand that minds do not change quickly. Also understand that the most vocal groups do not necessarily represent the majority. In the meantime, let's work on the Functional Active ingredients space whilst our cultivated meat colleagues scale up and produce sufficient quantities consistently for human and pet consumption.

Last week’s top food innovation news 📰🍜 DayDayCook (DDC Enterprise Limited) buys Omsom to become the 'General Mills for Asian food.' Larissa Zimberoff explores light-based protein, hidden food costs, and fake pistachio ice cream. Sparkling water startups boom as health-conscious consumers ditch soda for zero-calorie alternatives. meati™ loses alt meat patent battle, accused of “sandbagging and shenanigans.” Perfect Day files $200M counterclaim accusing ex-partner Olon of fraud and misconduct. Collaborative Fund raises $125M for investments in climate, health, and food sectors. Researchers secure $85M to use ancient eDNA for climate-resilient crops. Asian groceries like H Mart reshape American eating habits and the grocery market. #foodtech #foodstartups #foodbiz  #agrifoodtech #omsom #culturedmeat #meatifoods

🐟 Umami Bioworks is launching operations in the UK to address overfishing and dwindling fish stocks, starting with white fish To advance the commercialization of their cultivated seafood products, the Singapore-based startup is partnering with UCL and Imperial College, tapping into the UK's strong biotech expertise. With 70% of seafood imported and local fishing industries under pressure from overfishing and post-Brexit regulatory challenges, the UK seafood market is at a tipping point The UK government’s initiative to create Europe's first regulatory sandbox for cultivated meat is a strong sign of its commitment to supporting food innovation, providing a favourable environment for companies like Umami Bioworks. Mihir Pershad ✉️ Hungry for more updates on biotech-enabled agrifood businesses and breakthroughs? Devour the free subscription: betterbioeconomy.com

🌱𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗢𝗚 𝗣𝗟𝗔𝗡𝗧-𝗕𝗔𝗦𝗘𝗗 𝗥𝗜𝗩𝗔𝗟𝗦 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗔𝗧 𝗜𝗧 𝗔𝗚𝗔𝗜𝗡: 𝗜𝘀 𝗕𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗠𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝗼𝗱𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁??🏃🏼♀️🏃🏼♂️ ~Déjà vu! I’m getting flashbacks to 2017. ~ It was my second year at Disney Studios and plant-based was making its debut in food service. Vying for our business, one week we’d be tasting sneak previews of Beyond Meat’s new pea-protein products; the next we’d be learning about Impossible’s “HEME” technology. Thus began the epic rivalry between the two titans of the plant-based industry! Both in a race to claim their share of the marketplace, and that coveted 1st place spot. The saga continues. As the financial world waits for Impossible Foods to drop their much-anticipated IPO, Beyond Meat has been working hard to come back from a TKO round post-Covid, which resulted in a 2-year profit spiral. But there are some rumors that Beyond is coming back in a big, BIG way. CEO Ethan Brown doesn’t play fast and loose, but he’s not the type of business mogul to wait for the phone to ring either. Strategic inside moves to strengthen Beyond's supply chain, reduce co-packers, increase production capacity & operational efficiency, and an intensive Global Operations Review late last year, are being seen as a calculated approach to ensure they can handle the demand of an industry bounce-back and possible scale-up. Could Beyond Meat be positioning themselves for the acquisition of some young blood? Brown has often professed his unwavering commitment to plant-based products, but with lab-grown meats & cultivated milks dominating the news cycle, there might be some desire to capture a piece of that innovation. But there’s also a slew of new technology in the plant-based sector, including myco-proteins and mycelium – both of which are being touted as a new generation of non-GMO plant science. Beyond would make a fine umbrella company, I think, with its roots in scrappy guerilla tech and proven resilience. And with a pricey $1.1 billion credit note due back in 2027, Beyond will have to make some heavy moves to thwart Impossible’s surefooted stride towards #1. 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗿𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘁-𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲?? 𝗟𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘄! 👇

Do you know what’s being served in this dish? ⬇️     This is the first cultivated chicken meat dish served at a Michelin-starred restaurant in the US.     While it seems like we’re closer than ever to having cultivated meat on our supermarket shelves, there are still some barriers that need to be addressed:  🏭 Technology scale-up that can produce cultured meat in a profitable, yet sustainable way.  🐄 Ethical concerns around the reliance of animal-derived products in growth media.  📝 Regulatory reform to streamline approvals processes.    At our Novel Food Innovation Centre in Wilton, Redcar, we have the expertise to help accelerate this innovative alternative protein source to our supermarkets and transform our future food systems.    Jude Huggan, our Business Development Manager, tells us more ➡️ https://lnkd.in/eJ6gbG8m      Kris Wadrop Syed Kamal Bukhari John Carslake Jonathan Rand Deepan Shah     #CultivatedMeat | #FoodSystems | #CarbonEmissions  #LetsInnovateTogether | #Innovation | #Sustainability Image source: Upside Foods

🌱🥩 PROJECT EADEN: ‘THE FIRST MEAT ALTERNATIVE TO GET SO CLOSE TO ANIMAL MEAT’ So when someone like Jörg Förstera, owner of Berlin butchery Kumpel & Keule GmbH, endorses a plant-based meat product, it’s worth paying attention. After all, the only way animal-free meat producers will have an impact is by appealing to meat-eaters – and the people who sell and cook it for them. “For me, the meats from PROJECT EADEN are the first alternatives that get extremely close to the taste profile of animal meat,” says Förstera. “Really impressive.” The German startup – founded in 2022 by Dr. David Schmelzeisen, Hubertus Bessau, and Jan Wilmking – first made global headlines last year, when it came out of stealth to announce an oversubscribed €10.1M seed round, featuring EU food and climate VC stalwarts including Creandum, Atlantic Food Labs, Shio Capital and Mudcake. In less than two years, the company has successfully used its technology to create a wide range of whole cuts including sausages, pork loin, and beef steaks, “a full meat range for everyday life” as the company puts it. But also, ham. “Our technology essentially uses two main types of fibres to make delicious meat-like products,” explains Wilmking, the company’s managing director. “First, we use strong and thin fibres for connective tissue, which don’t stick together much, but help make the meat structure and bite experience feel real. Then, a large part of our product is made from a cheaper, juicier fibre that sticks together just enough to hold meat juice in small spaces, making it taste tender and yummy, like real meat.” Unlike many others in the industry, Project Eaden is opting for a retail-first approach and has secured a listing with a leading supermarket chain in the Germany, Austria and Switzerland (DACH) region. The first products are slated for a launch in early 2025. Learn more about Project Eaden in our exclusive interview with co-founder Jan Wilmking: https://lnkd.in/ekPDBUZ6 #GreenQueen #altprotein #futurefood #plantbasedmeat #foodtech #innovation #sustainability #foodsystems

NEW TODAY: Plant-based meat alternatives company THIS™ has raised a £20m Series C round from Planet First Partners 🍔 The company hired a new CEO, Mark Cuddigan — formerly CEO of organic baby food brand Ella’s Kitchen — earlier this year, and says it will use the fresh capital to grow its product range in the UK. In 2023, plant-based meat alternatives was one of the fastest-falling grocery categories in terms of sales in the UK, dropping by 13.6% year-on-year. But THIS saw its product presence per store go up by 42% last year, was named in the Sifted 100 list of fastest growing companies by revenue in the UK and Ireland and is aiming to have its first profitable quarter by the end of 2024. More here: https://lnkd.in/eQDeQcw5