Author

Anay Mridul 2864 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.

Funding News

With New Round, Finally Foods Hits $2.6M in Funding to Grow Dairy Proteins in Potatoes with AI

Anay Mridul Apr 10, 2026

Molecular farming startup Finally Foods has closed a pre-seed funding round, bringing its total raised to $2.6M, with another $4-6M targeted to expand production of its casein-containing potatoes. Finally Foods, an Israeli startup…
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Health

RFK Jr Asks Hospitals to Prioritise Non-UPF Proteins, Including Plant-Based Options

Anay Mridul Apr 9, 2026

US health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has directed hospitals to align their food purchases with the dietary recommendations or risk losing funding – but unlike the guidelines, the fine print is in favour of plant-based proteins. …
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Alt Protein

Blended Proteins 4% Cheaper Than Meat As Supermarkets Drive Category in Netherlands

Anay Mridul Apr 9, 2026

Private-label products make up the majority of blended protein launches in the Netherlands, which are 4.4% cheaper on average than meat and dairy, according to a new analysis. Whether it's the local grocer or the Grand Prix, blended…
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Alt Fats

Äio’s Yeast-Derived Fat Enters the Cosmetics Market with Tilk’s Skin-Boosting Serum

Anay Mridul Apr 9, 2026

Estonian startup Äio has debuted its upcycled, sustainable fat alternative, RedOil, in a skin-boosting serum created with personal care brand Tilk. Accelerating the drive to phase out harmful tropical and petroleum-based oils from the…
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Alt Protein

Swapping Processed Meat with Plant-Based Alternatives Boosts Health, Show Two Studies

Anay Mridul Apr 9, 2026

Replacing processed meat with plant-based analogues – even if they're ultra-processed – has been found to increase fibre and reduce saturated fat intake in two new UK studies. The outcry over the omnipresence of ultra-processed…
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Alt Protein

Impossible Foods Partners with Madison Square Garden, New York Knicks & Rangers

Anay Mridul Apr 8, 2026

Madison Square Garden, the New York Knicks and the New York Rangers have made Impossible Foods their official plant-based burger partner, with the brand opening a new concession stand at the arena. In a major leap forward for its foray…
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Zero Waste

Japan’s Kanematsu Taps 2nd Nature’s AI Tech to Upcycle Ag Waste Into Functional Foods

Anay Mridul Apr 8, 2026

Japanese trading giant Kanematsu Corporation has teamed up with US startup 2nd Nature to use AI to explore the potential of its agricultural sidestreams as sources of high-value functional ingredients. Artificial intelligence (AI) is…
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Future Food Quick Bites

Future Food Quick Bites: This Isn’t Steak, MorningStar Burger & NIQ Million Club

Anay Mridul Apr 8, 2026

Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers This's whole-cut steak fillet, Planet A Foods's cocoa-free Easter eggs, and Morningstar Farms's veggie burger. New…
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Chocolate

UK Startup Fermtech Gets $3.3M to Make Climate-Friendly Cocoa Alternative from Waste & Fungi

Anay Mridul Apr 8, 2026

UK food tech firm Fermtech has raised £2.5M ($3.3M) to scale up production of Koji Cocoa, a planet-friendly ingredient derived from cocoa shells and fermentation. Big Chocolate is going big on cocoa alternative startups, whether they're…
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Alt Dairy

How Cocojune Captured the US Dairy-Free Yoghurt Category with Protein & Probiotics

Anay Mridul Apr 7, 2026

A plant-based protein yoghurt that matches its dairy counterpart? Only Cocojune's coconut alternative fits this description in US taste tests, and the company explains why. As sales of plant-based dairy go, yoghurts are only behind milk…
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Alt Fats

Clean Food Group Unveils Eco Cosmetics Oil Made from Yeasts Fed on Surplus Bread

Anay Mridul Apr 7, 2026

UK biotech startup Clean Food Group has launched CleanOil, a waste-derived yeast fat that can help the beauty and cosmetics sector shift away from the planet-harming palm oil. As more consumers seek cleaner, more sustainable…
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Alt Protein

India’s ‘Smart Protein’ Sector Gets Another Boost with Two Govt-Backed Biotech Facilities

Anay Mridul Apr 7, 2026

In its latest biotech drive, the Indian government has launched a new incubator for food tech startups and begun construction on a $4.5M biofoundry for alternative proteins. India's vision to shore up its biomanufacturing sector has…
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Green Business

Meat-Free Restaurant Chain Clover Food Lab Seeks New Buyer to Avoid Closure

Anay Mridul Apr 7, 2026

US fast-casual chain Clover Food Lab, one of Greater Boston's most well-known meat-free establishments, risks mass layoffs and closure if it doesn't find a new buyer before June. One of Massachusetts's longest-standing vegetarian…
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UPFs

California Certified: America’s Largest State Proposes Non-UPF Label for Food Producers & Supermarkets

Anay Mridul Apr 6, 2026

California is considering a new bill seeking to create a non-ultra-processed seal that food manufacturers can use on packaging, and grocery stores would be required to prominently display. Taking a leaf out of the organic food playbook,…
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Fermentation-Based Alt Protein

Novonesis & DTU to Convert Carbon Into Protein As Part of Bill Gates-Backed Project

Anay Mridul Apr 6, 2026

Novonesis has partnered with the Technical University of Denmark's Bright hub to transform waste CO2 into sustainable protein as part of the Acetate Consortium backed by the Gates and Novo Nordisk Foundations. As gas protein gains…
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Alt Protein

Japan’s Umami United & Tokyo Denki University to Recreate Egg Proteins with Plants

Anay Mridul Apr 6, 2026

Japanese vegan egg producer Umami United has partnered with the Tokyo Denki University on a research project to recreate the functionality of eggs with plant-based ingredients. Whether it's okonomiyaki or soufflé pancakes, some of…
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Policy & Regulation

Bipartisan Bill Seeks to Expand US Plant-Based Biomanufacturing with Tax Incentives

Anay Mridul Apr 6, 2026

A new bill in the US House of Representatives is aiming to provide tax cuts to incentivise the production of bio-based chemicals and materials through plant-based crops. In a bid to bolster demand for plant-based crops and strengthen…
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Alt Protein

Starbucks Brings Protein Drinks to Europe, Including Lattes with Alpro Soy Milk

Anay Mridul Apr 3, 2026

Starbucks has teamed up with Danone to launch protein lattes featuring Alpro's protein-boosted soy milk in Central Europe. Plus, it has introduced protein cold foams in EMEA, although they're not plant-based. Following rollouts in North…
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Future Foods

World’s Largest Food Companies Call on EU to Include Novel Foods in Regulatory Sandboxes

Anay Mridul Apr 3, 2026

The EU's decision to exclude novel foods from regulatory sandboxes under the Biotech Act is facing pushback from the food industry, including a trade group representing the sector's largest companies. Novel foods are the only category…
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Alt Protein

‘Still Serious’: Beyond Burger & Steak the First Plant-Based Meat Products Certified As Climate Solutions

Anay Mridul Apr 3, 2026

Amid debate about the company's shifting priorities, Beyond Meat's burger and steak have become the first plant-based meat products to qualify for the climate solutions certification. "We're still serious about fighting climate change……
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Alt Protein

JBS, the World’s Largest Meat Company, Opens $37M ‘Superprotein’ Centre in Brazil

Anay Mridul Apr 3, 2026

Brazilian meat behemoth JBS has opened a $37M facility to produce what it calls "superproteins", which include microbial and cultivated proteins, targeting supplements and precision nutrition. The world's largest meat company just made…
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