February Highlights from the plant based sector: cultured-food products continue to accelerate and more

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text el_class=”page-lid”]The cultured-food sector is growing exponentially as more and more companies begin to recognise the potential for cultured and fermented alternatives to conventional animal-based products. Read on to find out more about this exciting development, along with other highlights from the plant-based sector.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

TRENDS & PROJECTIONS 

• China’s alternative-protein space is set to grow significantly due to the rise of flexitarianism and plant-based eating, according to a new report from Beijing- and Singapore-based Asymmetrics Research.
• A new report from MarketsandMarkets states that the global plant-based-protein sector is now worth US$10.3 billion.
• Plant-based food boards are tipped to be one of the biggest food trends in 2021.
• Food Ingredients First looks at some of the other leading plant-based trends for 2021.
• In Israel last year, sales of plant-based protein grew 13 times faster than that of animal-based products.
• Plant-based producers looking to take a larger chunk of the US$1.3 trillion meat sector will need to strengthen their appeal to flexitarian consumers, according to Food Navigator.
• Food Ingredients First explores the dynamic state of the plant-based-dairy sector.
• Cultured-milk producer Perfect Day weighs in on what the dairy aisle will look like in 2030.

RETAIL FOODS

• Heura, Spain’s leading plant-based-meat brand, is entering the Italian Market.
• UK vegan-fried-chicken brand VFC has experienced remarkable success in the two months since its launch.
• Impossible Foods has again slashed its retail prices as it gradually moves towards price parity with conventional ground beef.
• Perfect Day has launched a cultured-dairy ice-cream product in Hong Kong.
• PepsiCo is partnering with Beyond Meat to create plant-based drinks and snacks.

FOODSERVICE CHAINS/CATERERS 

• Fast-food seafood-chain Nordsee has launched two plant-based-fish menu items made by Dutch producer Novish.
• McDonald’s has officially debuted its vegan McPlant range in Denmark and Sweden in order to gauge consumer interest.
• Starbucks Indonesia has launched a plant-based menu created by Green Butcher.
• New US plant-based-chicken chain Next Level Clucker plans to open in 1,000 locations in next 10 years.

FOOD MANUFACTURERS

• Danone has added the Follow Your Heart brand to its plant-based portfolio.
• Nestlé CEO says plant-based innovation can ‘reinvigorate’ broader food categories.
• Thai Union, the world’s largest tuna brand, is launching a plant-based shrimp product.
• Cargill’s new red seaweed powder, which accentuates smoothness and creaminess of texture is tipped to make a splash in the dairy sector.
• Big Idea Ventures, which is involved in early stage investment in the food technology sector, is strengthening its presence in Europe.
• Unilever is focussing its investment on functional nutrition and plant-based products, with a view to long-term sustainable growth.
• Spanish cultured-meat producer NovaMeat has developed the world’s largest piece of cultured meat.

INGREDIENTS SUPPLIERS/NEW TECHNOLOGIES 

• US-based startup Geltor has developed a plant-based collagen for use in the food, beverage, and nutrition sectors.
• In the US, Clara Foods is leveraging precision-fermentation technology in order to develop animal-free egg proteins.
• Israeli start-up Kinoko-Tech is tapping fermentation to produce new alternative protein products from fungal mycelium growing on legumes and grains.

ONES TO WATCH OUT FOR

• Singapore’s TurtleTree Labs has launched TurtleTree Scientific to produce food-grade and pharma-grade growth factors and cell-culture media.
• Wageningen University in the Netherlands will soon be offering a specialised module on the shift to alternative proteins.
• Shanghai based alternative meat startup, Hero Protein, has closed an $850K pre-seed funding round, aiming to become the leading plant-based brand in China.
• Aleph Farms has unveiled a thicker cut of its cultured ribeye steak.
• Israel-based Future Meat Technologies has gotten the price of a cultured-chicken breast down to about $7.50.

STARTUP & FINANCIAL

• Oatly has filed for an initial public offering with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
• Redefine Meat, a producer of 3D-printed alt meat, is looking to expand its product line and roll out its plant-based beef alternatives into Israel, Germany, and Switzerland, before moving into the Asian and US markets.
• California’s New Age Meats has announced a US$2M seed extension to fund the manufacture of its hybrid cultured/plant-based meat-alternative products.
• UK-based cell-culturing startup CellulaREvolution has raised £1m for its continuous cell-culture technology.
• Legendary Vish has rebranded as Revo Foods and plans to host tastings of its 3D-printed salmon this month.
• German biotech firm LegenDairy is combining precision fermentation and the heritage of European cheesemaking to develop “stretchable, meltable and delicious” cheese alternatives.
• Russia is set to host its first plant-based incubator programme. The newly-formed Association of Alternative Food Producers is a collaboration between ProVeg International and Julia Marsel and Tim Ponomarev, two of the founders of Greenwise, a ProVeg Incubator alumnus startup.
• Zurich’s Mirai Foods, the first Swiss clean-meat startup, has raised $2.4 million in first-round financing.

STAKEHOLDER INTERVENTIONS

• Scientists at the University of the Free State in South Africa have warned that factory farming raises the risk of future pandemics.
• Big Idea Ventures has launched a $125m fund to commercialise IP from some of the US’s leading universities.

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