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.

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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Seafood

Unhooked: Alt-Seafood Startups Face Headwinds Despite Urgent Need for Fish-Free Solutions

Anay Mridul Feb 16, 2024

San Francisco-based New Wave Foods and Germany's Ordinary Seafood have become the latest casualties in the alternative protein sector, spotlighting the troubles experienced by the vegan seafood category in recent times. In a short space…
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Alt Protein

Cargill Invests in ENOUGH’s Series C & Expands Partnership to Create Mycoprotein Products

Anay Mridul Feb 16, 2024

Cargill has added to Scottish-Dutch food tech startup ENOUGH's Series C funding round with an undisclosed sum to expand their existing partnership, which will see the meat giant co-create and market products with the latter's ABUNDA…
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Cell-Based News

42% of Japanese Consumers Open to Trying Cultivated Meat, But Safety Remains Key Concern

Anay Mridul Feb 16, 2024

Over four in 10 Japanese consumers are willing to give cultivated meat and seafood a taste as long as it's safe, but 58% have never heard of it, highlighting the challenge for the country's alternative protein sector. In April, the…
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Vegan

Meet the Entrepreneur Taking Hong Kong’s Vegan Bakery & Cheese Scene to the Next Level

Anay Mridul Feb 16, 2024

The Cakery founder Shirley Kwok speaks to Green Queen about her new businesses shaking up Hong Kong's plant-based scene: vegan cheese brand Cultured and plant-forward bakery Maya. Shirley Kwok is one busy lady. Under her entrepreneur…
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Vegan Dining

Smashburger Jumps on Whole-Food Plant-Based Trend with Jack & Annie’s Jackfruit Burger at All 235 US Locations

Anay Mridul Feb 15, 2024

US fast-casual chain Smashburger has partnered with jackfruit meat producer Jack & Annie's to debut a new burger across its locations nationwide, the latest example of a QSR embracing whole-food plant-based products. With health and…
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Fashion

Q&A with Redress & The R Collective Founder Christina Dean: ‘Our Work is Just a Few Little Sprinkles of Goodness Right Now’

Anay Mridul Feb 15, 2024

Christina Dean, founder and CEO of Redress and The R Collective, speaks to Green Queen about the evolution of sustainable fashion, what she's learnt in her 17 years as an activist, and the impact of online shopping and e-commerce. A…
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Fermentation-Based Alt Protein

TurtleTree Achieves First Vegan Certification for Precision-Fermented Dairy Proteins

Anay Mridul Feb 15, 2024

Singaporean startup TurtleTree has become the first precision fermentation dairy company to earn a vegan certification, with its animal-free lactoferrin protein LF+ now sporting the Certified Vegan logo by Vegan Action. Called LF+,…
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Alt Protein

Plant-Based Meats Grow by 14% in Australian Retail, with Burgers Making Way for Deli Meats & Ready Meals

Anay Mridul Feb 15, 2024

Despite facing a tough time globally, Australia's plant-based meat sector has proliferated in the last few years, with the number of products on sale in retail channels growing by 14% from 2022-23, according to alternative protein think…
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Food & Nutrition

54% of Europeans Avoid Plant-Based Meat Because It’s Ultra-Processed, with 65% Concerned About Health Impact

Anay Mridul Feb 14, 2024

A new 17-country survey says that 65% of Europeans are concerned about the health implications of ultra-processed foods, with over half of respondents avoiding plant-based meats because they are ultra-processed. With an increasing focus…
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Fermentation-Based Alt Protein

New Culture Earns ‘World’s First’ Self-Affirmed GRAS Status for Precision-Fermented Casein

Anay Mridul Feb 14, 2024

US precision fermentation company New Culture has obtained what it claims is the world's first self-affirmed GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) status for animal-free casein in the US, paving the way for its market entry with Nancy…
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