Author

Anay Mridul 3145 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.

Alt Protein

Vegan Food Group’s Matthew Glover: ‘We’re Going Big, Because We Have To’

Anay Mridul Feb 29, 2024

Matthew Glover, co-founder of the Vegan Food Group, speaks to Green Queen about the decision behind acquiring its portfolio companies, the ambition to become a "vegan Unilever", the challenging period for the sector, and the need for a…
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Policy & Regulation

Los Angeles County Passes Law to Make All Departmental Food Purchases Plant-Based

Anay Mridul Feb 29, 2024

Los Angeles County has passed a motion to make all departmental food purchases plant-based by default, citing the environmental and human health benefits of vegan diets. US politicians Lindsey Horvath and Hilda Solis have spearheaded a…
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Vegan

In Five Years, Plant-Based Pioneer Just Egg Has Sold Half a Billion Worth of Eggs

Anay Mridul Feb 28, 2024

California's Eat Just has reached a significant milestone, with its plant-based Just Egg completing sales equivalent to 500 million chicken eggs. The development comes weeks after the startup, which owns 99% of the vegan egg market,…
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Alt Protein

Bye Bye Jerky: Beyond Meat Posts Better-Than-Expected Q4 Sales, Plans Price Increases for 2024

Anay Mridul Feb 28, 2024

Plant-based giant Beyond Meat witnessed an 18% decrease in annual net revenue in 2023. Despite posting losses in Q4 too, its sales were better than expected, sending the company's shares soaring and signalling a turnaround in fortunes for…
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Future Foods

Future Food Quick Bites: Fresh Oat Milk, Maple Leaf Merger & Vegan Easter Eggs

Anay Mridul Feb 28, 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 Oato's oat milk launch in retail, Maple Leaf Foods' consolidation, and a…
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Alt Protein

Vegan Food Group to Acquire Germany’s Tofutown in Latest Consolidation Deal to Drive Profitability

Anay Mridul Feb 28, 2024

Following its rebrand from VFC Foods last month, the newly formed Vegan Food Group is set to acquire German tofu manufacturer Tofutown for an undisclosed sum. With four businesses under its portfolio, the company aims to bolster revenue…
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Health

Too Much Sugar, Not Enough Fibre? This Startup Kills Two Birds with One Enzyme

Anay Mridul Feb 27, 2024

UK startup Zya has emerged from stealth with a dietary solution that can convert sugar into fibre for your gut, with hopes to get regulatory approval and commercialise in 2026. American adults eat 17 teaspoons of added sugar every day –…
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Alt Protein

Price Parity: 6 Steps to Make Plant-Based Meats Cheaper Than Conventional Meat

Anay Mridul Feb 27, 2024

With even the cheapest plant-based meat products usually more expensive than conventional protein, cost remains a key consumption barrier for vegan alternatives – a new report shows how these can reach price parity. Plant-based meat has…
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Food & Nutrition

Two-Thirds of the UK’s Biggest Food Companies Make Money from Unhealthy Products Marketed to Children

Anay Mridul Feb 27, 2024

Seven of the 10 largest food companies are reliant on unhealthy products for a majority of their sales in the UK, with each of these using influential child-appealing packaging, finds a new report. In the UK, one in three children are…
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Fermentation-Based Alt Protein

Precision Fermentation: Industry Stakeholders Release Refined Definition as Alt-Protein Sector Heats Up

Anay Mridul Feb 26, 2024

The Precision Fermentation Alliance (PFA) and Food Fermentation Europe (FFE) have together announced a refined definition of precision fermentation to provide clarity and distinction from other food technologies, in the face of rapid…
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Alt Dairy

Not ‘Mylk’: Plant-Based Industry to Fight New UK Proposal That Could Force Alt-Dairy Products to Change Their Labels

Anay Mridul Feb 26, 2024

A British trade standards group is pushing for guidance that would ban the use of alternative descriptors like 'mylk', 'cheeze', or 'yoghurt-style' on plant-based dairy packaging. The UK could soon issue new guidance prohibiting…
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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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