April Highlights from the plant based sector: 42% of global consumers now flexitarian, and much more

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text el_class=”page-lid”]While the world slowly shifts to a new normal in which the corona crisis is not disappearing anytime soon, the plant-based sector is exploding, both in terms of constantly increasing consumer demand and an ever-expanding uptake by the corporate sector. A key news item this month reveals that 42% of global consumers now consider themselves to be flexitarian, helping to fuel this ongoing expansion. Read more below, along with lots of other exciting news from the plant-based sector.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

TRENDS & PROJECTIONS 

• According to a new report from Euromonitor, 42% of global consumers are flexitarians driving the mainstream shift to plant-based eating.
• As the plant-based category develops, experts predict that it will move beyond mimicking animal products and soon ‘stand on its own feet’, in this discussion piece in FoodNavigator.
• The US plant-based sector has hit US$7 billion, while Nestlé and Beyond Meat are doubling down on alt-meat production in Asia, reports Food Ingredients 1st.
• A new survey by electoral-research firm Kieskompas has found that the majority of Dutch citizens favour meat-reduction policies.
• Government buy-in will be crucial if the cultured-meat sector is to hit production-cost parity by 2030, suggests a new report from the Good Food Institute.
• Amsterdam based research startup Future Grocery Shopping has produced a report on the plant-based-cheese sector in Germany.
• According to a new report by Fact. Mr, the global plant-based seafood market is predicted to hit a staggering $1.3 billion by 2031.

RETAIL FOODS

• Lidl Germany is expanding its vegan ‘Vemondo’ range, with over 450 carbon-neutral products.
• Plant-based butchers are continuing to gain traction around the world, with new UK entrant Faux selling out three days in a row.
• Beyond Meat is expanding its retail shelf space in Europe in response to robust demand.

FOODSERVICE CHAINS/CATERERS 

• New Wave Foods will be unveiling its plant-based shrimp in foodservice companies across the US, according to Green Queen.
• Spanish pizza chain Papa John’s has launched a new vegan pizza.
• Dunkin’, formerly known as Dunkin’ Donuts, is launching an extensive new range featuring more than 40 vegan donuts variants.
• In response to an increase in demand for vegan products in Poland, Burger King has launched plant-based nuggets developed in cooperation with the Vegetarian Butcher.
• Taco Bell is testing a new plant-based beef at a location in California, while also developing a new plant-based protein with Beyond Meat.
• In Singapore, the world’s first commercially available cultured-chicken product from Just Eat is now available for home delivery.

FOOD MANUFACTURERS

• As consumers clamour for more variety in plant-based meat, Nestlé’s Sweet Earth brand is taking the “opportunity to ride the chicken wave” as it fights to become a market leader in the fast-growing segment.
• MeliBio, the California-based start-up making real honey without bees, has recently closed US$850,000 in a pre-seed funding round.
• Dutch plant-based producer Schouten Europe recently debuted its plant-based chicken and beef, which provide sustainable and healthy alternatives to conventional meats.
• Beyond Meat is expanding its international reach with an end-to-end manufacturing facility in China, its first such facility outside the US.
• In this interview with Food Ingredients 1st, Tofurky CEO Jaime Athos talks about double-digit growth, fighting labeling laws, and the role of fat in plant-based meat.

INGREDIENTS SUPPLIERS/NEW TECHNOLOGIES 

• Anheuser-Busch is investing $100M in facilities to upcycle discarded barley from the beer-making process into food products and other beverages.
• Bell Flavors & Fragrances has unveiled masking solutions for flavour elevation in plant-based foods.

ONES TO WATCH OUT FOR

• “In the future, the end product will not differ in taste from wild-caught fish,” says Sebastian Rakers, MD and Cofounder of Bluu Biosciences, talking about the company’s plans to scale up cell-based seafood.
• Singcell, the first contract-development and manufacturing organisation dedicated to cultured meat, has entered into a technology-development agreement with the National University of Singapore aimed at solving cost and scalability issues in the cultured-meat industry.
• From fresh alt milk to pea-and-coconut cheesecake, FoodNavigator explores some of the latest developments in the UK’s plant-based sector.

STARTUP & FINANCIAL

• In order for cultured meat to go mainstream, the cost of the growth medium needs to be dramatically reduced. FoodNavigator looks at how much progress is being made on this front.
• Cultured-fat startup Mission Barns has raised $24M to help scale up its technology and build a pilot plant.
• Czech startup Bene Meat Technologies is bringing cultured meat to Eastern Europe.
• Solar Foods, which literally makes protein out of air, has received €10 million in funding from the The Finnish Climate Fund.
• Those Vegan Cowboys are developing plant-based casein, using precision fermentation.
• Revo Foods has raised €1.5M for its 3D-printed seafood.
• Meat giant JBS is looking to gain a stronghold in the plant-based sector with its €341M acquisition of Vivera, the third largest plant-based protein company in Europe.
• Clara Foods is teaming up with ZX Ventures, the innovation arm of the world’s largest brewer AB InBev to help realise its dream of making egg proteins on an industrial scale, using microbes instead of chickens.
• A collaboration between global food giant Cargill and Dutch plant-based startup Bflike promises alt-meat and fish products that are “virtually indistinguishable” from their animal-based counterparts.

STAKEHOLDER INTERVENTIONS

• Established plant-based producers Quorn and Roquette have tasked start-ups, via the next Future Food-Tech innovation challenge, to make products that can mimic whole meat cuts and deliver new gastronomic experiences to consumers.
• Legumes offer a more sustainable and nutritious approach to European agriculture, according to a new study published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems.
• China has established its first voluntary standard for plant-based meat products.

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