Future Food Quick Bites: Alpro x McDonald’s, Leon Shiitake Burger & Vegan Hospitality
Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Alpro and McDonald’s matcha collab, Leon’s partnership with Fable Food, and Sainsbury’s kid-friendly plant-based milks.
New products and launches
Alpro, the plant-based dairy leader owned by Danone, has extended its collaboration with McDonald’s in Germany, offering an in-app coupon for the chain’s iced strawberry matcha latte with the brand’s oat milk, as well as branded sports socks.
French startup Green Spot Technologies, which uses fermentation to upcycle food waste into high-value ingredients sold under the Milatea brand, has supplied its Févercoat innovation to dairy-free ice cream brand Sÿba for a tonka, vanilla and straciatella flavour, which is available for the foodservice channel in 120ml tubs.
UK restaurant chain Leon has teamed up with Australian mushroom innovator Fable Food to launch its new Love Burger, which features a shiitake mushroom patty with a signature burger sauce, vegan cheese, lettuce, tomato, and pickles.
British supermarket Sainsbury’s has launched kid-friendly soy and oat milk under its private-label brand. They’re suitable for children aged one and above, and are fortified with calcium, iodine, and iron, as well as vitamins A, D, B2, and B12.
Speaking of which, Sainsbury’s food-to-go fixture is now stocking Tiba Tempeh‘s protein bites, which can be bought as part of a meal deal.
Also in the UK, vegan food influencer Giuseppe Federici, who goes by the handle ‘sepps’, is opening Giuseppe’s Tiramisu, a plant-based tiramisu store at London’s Boxpark Shoreditch.
Danish pet food producer Globe Buddy has introduced a new Hearts range of semi-dried treats for dogs, which includes a plant-based Sweet Potatoes & Marigold variant.
US food tech startup Abbot’s has partnered with Kroger to bring its plant-based beef mince and chorizo crumbles to a range of the retailer’s stores, including Ralphs, King Soopers, City Market, Mariano’s, Fred Meyer, and Quality Food Center.
Vegan seafood maker Oshi has gained a listing with Whole Foods Market, which will begin carrying its salmon and whitefish alternatives in the US in December.
In Canada, plant-based dairy brand Earth’s Own has rolled out protein-boosted oat and barista soy milks, which deliver 3.2g of soy protein per 100ml. They’re available at all major grocery stores nationwide.
South Korean budget airline Eastar Jet has introduced biodegradable containers for in-flight meals, made from pulp derived from plant-based materials, including bamboo and sugarcane.
And Singaporean food tech startup Prefer has signed a distribution deal for its bean-free coffee drinks with Freemen Nutra Group, kicking the partnership off at the Vitafoods Asia trade show in Bangkok, Thailand.
Company and finance updates
UK plant-based meat player This has enjoyed continued growth over the last year, with value sales rising by 19% in the last 12 months, 23% in the last 12 weeks, and 28% in the last four weeks, compared to the same period in 2025. The overall plant-based category has begun rebounding recently, too.
Already France’s best-selling plant-based meat brand, HappyVore‘s sales are now twice as large as Nestlé’s meat alternative business in the country, representing over a quarter of the market.
As it prepares to roll out its lentil-based whipping cream, New Zealand’s Andfoods has completed its first production run, demoed its product in Singapore, sold its sidestream to a CPG giant, and developed two new products in its pilot plant.
Animal rights charity Mercy for Animals has appointed plant-based food industry veteran David Benzaquen as its managing director for the US and Canada.
Dutch startup Vegan Visboer, which makes plant-based and blended meat products, has changed its name to Lou Foods to reflect its diversified portfolio.
Israeli firm Amai Proteins has secured regulatory clearance for Sweelin, a precision-fermented sweet protein inspired by serendipity berries, in its home country, following approvals in Singapore and the US earlier this year.
Policy, research and awards
Australian precision fermentation startup Eden Brew has progressed through the next stage of its regulatory application for animal-free beta-casein, with the Food Standards Australia New Zealand finding no public health or safety concerns and now considering consultation feedback. Current timelines indicate that the ingredient could receive approval by January 2027.
US non-profit Vegan Hospitality, which works with the hotel industry to expand plant-based dining solutions, has won the Gold Award in the International Centre for Responsible Tourism‘s Adapting to Climate Change category, as well as third place in the Accessible Tourism Category of the SKAL Sustainable Tourism Award.
Dutch precision fermentation startup Fooditive Group, which makes animal-free casein protein for next-generation cheeses, is the only European finalist in New York state’s $3M Grow-NY food and agriculture competition for 2026.
In Spain, the regional Galicia government has named alternative proteins and cultivated meat amongst the list of areas it will support through its €805M biotech strategy, which runs until 2030.
Finally, the Korea Food Research Institute has opened an online resource bank for companies to search and request microbial strains isolated from traditional fermented foods (like kimchi and doenjang) for use in the food and biotech industries,
Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.