Author

Anay Mridul 2882 posts 0 comments

Anay is Green Queen's resident news reporter. Originally from India, he worked as a vegan food writer and editor in London, and is now travelling and reporting from across Asia. He's passionate about coffee, plant-based milk, cooking, eating, veganism, food tech, writing about all that, profiling people, and the Oxford comma.

Food & Nutrition

5 Ways Weight-Loss Drugs Like Ozempic & Wegovy Will Change the Food Industry

Anay Mridul Feb 26, 2024

Semaglutide drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy are making headlines daily as more and more people get prescriptions; here's how these drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy could change the food industry. With a third of Americans clinically obese,…
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Food & Nutrition

While French Ministers Fight Alternative Protein, Health & Climate Experts Call for Dietary Guidelines to Reduce Meat

Anay Mridul Feb 26, 2024

As France restricts plant-based meat labels, pushes to ban cultivated meat, and encourages factory farming, nutrition experts and climate activists are urging the national dietary guidelines to recommend a reduction in meat consumption. …
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Policy & Regulation

Italy Rethinking Its Plant-Based Meat Labelling Ban to Avoid ‘Conflict with Italian Companies’

Anay Mridul Feb 23, 2024

Despite its hard-line stance on alternative protein in the last few months, Italy is reconsidering its ban on using meat-like terms on plant-based product labels, with Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida indicating that he doesn't…
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Fermentation-Based Alt Protein

Unilever to Launch Breyers Ice Cream with Perfect Day’s Precision-Fermented Whey

Anay Mridul Feb 23, 2024

CPG giant Unilever has teamed up with precision fermentation pioneer Perfect Day for a new SKU, a lactose-free ice cream under the Breyers brand, to bolster its climate strategy and net-zero plans. As it seeks to cut supply chain…
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Cell-Based News

South Korea Establishes Framework for Regulatory Approval of Cultivated Meat, With Applications Expected Soon

Anay Mridul Feb 23, 2024

South Korea has opened up the regulatory approval process for cultivated meat, after the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety established the framework for these applications. During the launch of the APAC Regulatory Coordination…
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Alt Protein

70/30 Food Tech Closes $700K Seed Extension & Launches Research Lab for Mycelium Protein

Anay Mridul Feb 22, 2024

Singapore-based 70/30 Food Tech has closed a $700,000 seed extension round, which has helped it launch a research lab to develop mycelium-based protein products, starting with shredded chicken. 70/30 Food Tech's latest fundraiser saw…
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Animal Rights

Cage-Free Policy: New Zealand & Israel Lead APAC’s Animal Welfare Standards, While SE Asia Lags

Anay Mridul Feb 22, 2024

New Zealand has the most robust cage-free policy framework across Asia-Pacific, while Bangladesh, Malaysia and Vietnam have the joint worst, according to a new 17-country report. With consumer unease over animal welfare increasing – a…
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Coffee

Prefer Brews Up $2M in Seed Funding to Make Beanless Coffee from Surplus Bread, Soy Pulp & Spent Grain

Anay Mridul Feb 22, 2024

Singaporean food tech startup Prefer, which makes beanless coffee from food industry sidestream ingredients, has raised $2M to fund a larger production facility and its Asia expansion. How do you Prefer your coffee? If you ask Jake…
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Alt Protein

Beyond Meat IV: Meatier, Healthier & Costlier Plant-Based Burgers

Anay Mridul Feb 21, 2024

Californian plant-based giant Beyond Meat has unveiled its first beef product reformulation in three years, with the Beyond IV burger and mince now featuring avocado oil, fava beans and lentils. It's a more nutritious product, but it's…
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Alt Protein

10,000 Locations by Year-End: Meati Appoints New CEO, Lays Off 13% Staff in Bid for Profitability

Anay Mridul Feb 21, 2024

US mycelium meat maker Meati has appointed a new CEO and cut 13% of its workforce in a right-sizing move aimed at reaching profitability. Meati has switched up its C-suite by making Phil Graves its new CEO. The former Patagonia…
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Cell-Based News

Israel’s Aleph Farms Partners with Thailand’s First Cultivated Meat Manufacturing Facility

Anay Mridul Feb 21, 2024

Israeli cultivated meat leader Aleph Farms is advancing its Southeast Asia strategy with an "asset-light" approach through a deal that will involve the first production facility dedicated to cultured meat in Thailand. Aleph Farms has…
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Future Foods

Future Food Quick Bites: Million-Dollar Whoppers, Korean Vegan Tours & Plant-Based Cordon Bleu

Anay Mridul Feb 21, 2024

In our weekly column, we round up the latest news and developments in the alternative protein and sustainable food industry. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers South Korea's vegan tourism drive, a new hybrid cultivated beef rice,…
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Alt Protein

‘World’s Most Abundant Protein’ Cheap Enough to Replace Soy: Upcycled Rubisco Protein Startup Day 8 Nabs $750K Pre-Seed

Anay Mridul Feb 21, 2024

Israeli startup Day 8, which produces upcycled plant-based proteins from Rubisco, has secured a pre-seed investment of $750,000 from food tech incubator and investor The Kitchen Hub. Day 8 has closed a $750,000 pre-seed financing round…
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Beauty

The Body Shop: How the Ethical Beauty Pioneer’s Fortunes Soured, and What Happens Next

Anay Mridul Feb 20, 2024

The Body Shop has announced that its UK and German operations have gone into administration, with its business in other countries also in jeopardy. How did it get here, and what's next? A pioneer of cruelty-free beauty and a beloved…
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Alt Protein

Inside Meat the Mushroom’s Vegan Bacon Pitch on Shark Tank

Anay Mridul Feb 20, 2024

Black-owned plant-based meat company Meat the Mushroom secured investment from two Sharks in the ongoing season on Shark Tank – here's the inside story on how it all went down. "In Shark Tank, we have so many plant-based products – they…
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Cell-Based News

Alabama Senate Passes Bill to Ban Cultivated Meat, as Legislative Opposition Heats Up in Election Year

Anay Mridul Feb 20, 2024

Alabama has become the latest US state to take legislative action against cultivated meat, with the Senate passing a bill to ban these proteins. The bill will now move to the House of Representatives, where it could become law. It's…
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Seafood

With a $3.3M Pre-Seed Round, Pacifico Biolabs Bets on Fermentation to Perk Up Alternative Seafood Sector

Anay Mridul Feb 20, 2024

German startup Pacifico Foodlabs, which makes alternative proteins from biomass fermentation, has emerged from stealth with $3.3M in pre-seed financing. It is starting with seafood analogues. Founded in November 2022 by Washington…
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Alt Dairy

Oatly 2023 Earnings Reports: More Revenues, More Losses As Company Aims for Profitability with New Barista Milks

Anay Mridul Feb 19, 2024

The oat milk leader posted an 8.5% increase in year-on-year revenue, though annual losses grew by 6.2%, primarily due to abandoning the construction of three production facilities. The company has promised to focus on…
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Alt Dairy

Precision Fermentation Startup Vivici Earns Self-Affirmed GRAS Status to Sell Animal-Free Whey in the US

Anay Mridul Feb 19, 2024

Regulatory compliance for precision fermentation is speeding up in the US, with Vivici the latest to achieve self-affirmed GRAS status for its animal-free whey protein. The first products containing Vivici's beta-lactoglobulin are set to…
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Alt Dairy

Miruku: New Zealand Startup Raises $5M in Pre-Series A to Create Dairy Products with Molecular Farming

Anay Mridul Feb 19, 2024

New Zealand food tech startup Miruku has raised $5M in a pre-Series A financing round to expand its molecular farming platform for dairy proteins and fats, and conduct field trials in Australia. The $5M pre-Series A fundraiser was led…
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Alt Protein

South Korea’s Simple Planet Raises $6M in Pre-Series A Round to Speed Up R&D for Cultivated Meat Powder

Anay Mridul Feb 16, 2024

South Korean cultivated meat startup Simple Planet has raised ₩8B ($6M) in a pre-Series A funding round to optimise its technology for its powdered ingredient, secure regulatory approval, and expand internationally. Simple Planet's ₩8M…
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