Future Food Quick Bites: Wicked Kitchen, Believer Meats & Green Party
Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Wicked Kitchen’s UK return, Tetra Pak’s new bioreactor, and the Green Party’s plant-based policy proposal.
New products and launches
Wicked Kitchen, the plant-based brand founded by Derek and Chad Sarno and now owned by Ahimsa Companies, is back on UK shelves following a partnership with local plant protein player Shicken Foods, with savoury dishes centred on tempeh and mushrooms, as well as sweet options like waffles and sticky toffee pudding.
British oat milk maker Oato has introduced a limited-edition fresh matcha latte on direct-to-consumer platform Modern Milkman. It costs £2.50 per pint, and can be used hot or cold.
Swiss meat alternative maker Planted has launched its nuggets, crispy burger and steak bites in supermarkets across Italy, and has teamed up with bars and restaurants to offer free aperitivi featuring its products.
Also in Italy, AltroFood has earned a listing at Cadoro, a retailer operating across the Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, and Emilia Romagna, for its meat and egg alternatives.
HappyVore, the best-selling plant-based meat company in France, has rolled out two frozen pizza SKUs at Carrefour: La Royale with plant-based ham and La Bolognaise with vegan mince. They will be stocked at other retailers beginning in September.
US companies Axiom Foods and NNB Nutrition have teamed up to help food brands across Asia and North America formulate the next generation of Protein+ functional plant-based nutrition products.
Also in the US, fast-food chain Slutty Vegan is doubling down on its expansion efforts, having announced its latest franchise deals in Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio.
Swiss food packaging and processing giant Tetra Pak has launched its first industrial-scale line of bioreactors for fermentation-derived proteins and ingredients, following its acquisition of Bioreactors.net in December. Called Bioreactor RF, they’re available in 10- to 50,000-litre scales, and can lower operational costs by 12%.
Aussie plant-based producer Integra Foods has launched its Pure: Faba brand of fava bean protein powder and flour in independent stores in South Australia.
And Thai plant-based dairy producer Swees has expanded beyond vegan cheese, introducing a range of soy yoghurts in original, Greek, and strawberry variants in retailers across the country.
Company, finance and policy developments
The UK’s Green Party is reportedly set to debate a policy proposal that could legally require restaurants and caterers to offer plant-based products under the Equality Act, as well as introduce sustainability standards for food procurement, if the party came into power.
Israeli cultivated meat startup Believer Meats, which abruptly ceased operations last year after failing to raise funds amid mounting debt, has published an invitation to submit bids for the acquisition of its assets.
Two months after hitting a production breakthrough for its fermentation-derived emulsifiers, Californian startup Ruby Bio has signed a commercial partnership with chemical and ingredient distributor LBB Specialties to advance the market readiness of its clean-label emulsifier platform.
Finally, Keller & Heckman LLP, an international law firm focused on food and feed additives, has become the latest member of the APAC Society for Cellular Agriculture.
Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.