Future Food Quick Bites: Carvel Non-Dairy, Trubar Pro & Oatly x Air Canada
Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Carvel’s dairy-free ice cream menu, Trubar’s high-protein bars, and Parima’s regulatory progress in Australia.
New products and launches
US ice cream chain Carvel has teamed up with dairy-free startup Klimon to launch a new permanent non-dairy menu across its more than 300 locations nationwide. It includes soft serves, scooped desserts, shakes and Flying Saucer ice cream sandwiches, with nine flavours and over 25 toppings.
Months after being acquired by Turkey’s Eti Gıda, US firm Trubar has unveiled Trubar Pro, a range of plant-based bars with higher protein than its core range. Available in Chocolate Pea-nut Job, Caramel But Make It Salty, and Cake It ‘Til You Make It variants, each 60g bar offers 18g of brown rice and pea protein and 12g of fibre. The range is available at Target, CVS, Wegmans, Big Y, Lowe’s Grocer, and Amazon.
Canadian flag carrier Air Canada has teamed up with Swedish plant-based giant Oatly to roll out oat milk on its beverage carts across North American routes.
Italian cocoa-free chocolate startup Foreverland has partnered with Italian food company Apulia Distribuzione to roll out three new snacks featuring its carob-derived Freecao ingredient at its stores.
Thai soy milk brand Lactasoy has introduced a high-protein, no-added-sugar soy milk under its Benefitt brand, delivering 19g of soy and pea protein per 250g pack.
Swedish mycoprotein startup Smaqo has secured a listing for its range of blended meat products on Stockfiller, a digital procurement platform for the food industry.
In Switzerland, meat alternative leader Planted has launched a limited-edition whole-cut Smoky Roast SKU, which is characterised by meat-like fibres and a juicy mouthfeel. It’s available at select Coop stores across the country.
French plant-based meat startup La Vie is taking over London greasy spoon Terry’s Cafe on October 29 to offer 100 free dishes featuring its vegan pork alternatives.
And in more news from the UK, vegan meal delivery brand Planty has added five gluten-free dishes to its frozen lineup, including cocoa-banana and tomato-herb pancakes, mushroom and scrambled tofu, shoyu ramen, and a ham hock pot.
Company and finance updates
British supplements company Dr. Vegan has rebranded to DRV+, removing the word ‘vegan’ after finding that only 13% of its consumers identified as vegan.
Austrian cooking class startup 7hauben has acquired German Vegan Masterclass, a plant-based digital culinary school, supported by a mid-six-figure financing round from Traxit.
Estonian food tech firm Sunfly has announced its plan to launch a crowdfunding round on Republic Europe to scale up and expand its portfolio from sunflower-seed-based spreads and snacks to milk alternatives, protein bars, and more, following a near-fourfold growth in revenue last year.
Also crowdfunding is US cultivated meat startup Livestock Labs, which has kickstarted its campaign on WeFunder with a goal of raising $50,000 (it has already secured over $30,000 so far).
Policy, research and awards
The Food Standards Australia New Zealand board has approved changes to the food code to permit the use of French cultivated meat startup Parima‘s duck product, sold under the Gourmey brand. The application now awaits ministerial approval, a process that can last up to 60 days.
Mycoprotein giant Quorn Foods‘s Protein Bites have won the Meat-Free Category Champion honour at The Grocer New Product Awards.
Californian startup Savor, which makes carbon-derived lipids for food and cosmetic use, has been named on Norresken Foundation‘s Norrsken100 2026 list, which recognises early-stage companies taking on global challenges by outperforming the systems that created them.
In another honour for a Californian firm, cultivated meat startup Upside Foods‘s co-founder and CEO, Uma Valeti, has been recognised as one of Goldman Sachs‘s Most Exceptional Entrepreneurs of 2026 at its Builders and Innovators Summit.
Finnish oat-based dairy startup Mö Foods has won the Best No-Goat Vegan Cheese award for its chèvre substitute and the Best Greek-Style Vegan Cheese honour for its Greek alternative at the Vegan Cheese Awards.