Future Food Quick Bites: Impossible x Big Boi, Oatly Strawberry Matcha & Upside Foods
Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Impossible Foods’s 404 Day party, Armored Fresh’s Piilk protein shakes, and Upside Foods’s cultivated meat lawsuit in Florida.
New products and launches
Impossible Foods has collaborated with hip-hop legend Big Boi to throw a free block party at Smorgasburg Atlanta on 404 Day (April 4), which will feature over 20 vendors serving the company’s plant-based meat products, as well as its own truck dishing out a Big Boi Double Smash Burger.
US sweet protein specialist Oobli has partnered with packaging supplier SIG to develop integrated reduced-sugar beverage concepts in long-life aseptic packaging.
Also in the US, alt-dairy startup Armored Fresh has released Piilk, a new line of 250ml protein shakes in chocolate and coffee flavours. The clean-label products contain 30g of complete yeast protein and only seven ingredients, and are available on its website for $9.99 for a three-pack.
Spanish plant-based meat startup Hi Vegs! is showcasing two new products at the Alimentaria trade show in Barcelona (March 23-26). SinFuá is a cashew-based alternative to foie gras, and Fresco Vegano Tipo Burgos Natural is a cheese wheel made from cashews and almonds.
As part of its planned product expansion, Oatly has rolled out coconut- and churro-flavoured barista oat milks and a ready-to-drink strawberry matcha latte in Belgium and the Netherlands.
And Scottish startup MiAlgae has teamed up with pet food producer Butternut Box to incorporate its upcycled fish-free omega-3 ingredient into the latter’s Ready Steady Veggie meal for dogs.
Company and finance updates
French dairy giant Danone has agreed to buy vegan meal replacement brand Huel for €1B ($1.16B), its second acquisition in the plant-based nutrition space in months, following its takeover of US startup Kate Farms.
US startup BlueNalu showcased plans for its cultivated bluefin tuna at Seafood Expo North America in Boston (March 15-17), suggesting that it expects approval from the Food and Drug Administration within weeks and has identified three Californian restaurants for its launch.
Danish mycelium meat startup Tempty Foods has raised 5.2 million kronor ($700,000) in seed funding from EIFO, Danish Business Angels, and Angella Invest. It has now kickstarted pre-registration for a crowdfunding round to add on to this sum.
German fermentation firm Formo has joined the Precision Fermentation Alliance in the US to support work on regulatory pathways, evidence-based approaches to defining ultra-processed foods, and infrastructure for biomanufacturing scale-up.
Israeli plant cell culture startup Novella Innovative Technology has appointed former ADM executive Antonio Martinez Descalzo as its new CEO.
Research and policy developments
A three-judge panel on the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected Upside Foods‘s appeal to overturn a ruling that blocked its attempt to throw out Florida’s ban on cultivated meat, ruling that the state’s regulation doesn’t interfere with the federal Poultry Products Inspection Act. The case is still ongoing, though, with the startup’s Commerce Clause claim being permitted by a court last year.
To enhance the cost efficiency of cultivated meat, a new study by the Good Food Institute and Next Rung Technology has suggested valorising and recycling spent animal cell culture media, including metabolites like lactic acid, for re-use in cultivated meat production or microbial fermentation.
Researchers at the University of Parma have published Cell-Based Meat in the European Union and Beyond, an open-access book providing science-based analysis of the cultivated meat industry.
Finally, confectionery giant Mars has filed a patent for a non-melting plant-based ice cream using black gram lentils, which offers a creamier mouthfeel and helps retain shape for at least two hours.
Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.