Author

Anay Mridul 3136 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

These Sisters Grew Up On A Dairy Farm. They’ve Just Raised $2.8M for Oat Milk Cheese

Anay Mridul Jan 16, 2026

Finnish oat-based cheese startup Mö Foods, founded by sisters raised on a dairy farm, has secured €2.4M ($2.8M) in funding to fuel its European expansion. A decade ago, eco anxiety forced a lifestyle change for Annamari Jukkola and…
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Alt Protein

Swedish Plant-Based Meat Startup Hooked Foods Calls It Quits Amid Sector Slowdown

Anay Mridul Jan 16, 2026

Swedish plant protein startup Hooked Foods, known for its vegan seafood and chicken products, has declared bankruptcy after running out of cash. Hooked Foods, a Stockholm-based producer of meat and seafood analogues, has become the…
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Funding News

This Startup Uses Ancient Korean Fermentation to Make Future-Friendly Bean-Free Coffee

Anay Mridul Jan 16, 2026

Seoul-based Wake has secured new funding for its Sans beanless coffee, which marries traditional Korean fermentation techniques with "molecular hacking". As climate change makes bean-free formats increasingly essential to the coffee…
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Alt Protein

Beyond Immerse: Plant-Based Meat Giant is Now Selling Protein Drinks

Anay Mridul Jan 15, 2026

Plant-based giant Beyond Meat has diversified past food for the first time, launching a line of clear protein drinks called Beyond Immerse to support gut and muscle health. Ethan Brown wasn't kidding. It was in July last year when…
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Vegan

Gen Z Leads the UK’s Meat-Free Wave, Despite Young Men Eating Too Much Animal Protein

Anay Mridul Jan 15, 2026

Young men's meat consumption is rising faster than any other age group in the UK. Still, Gen Z remains the most likely demographic to follow a vegan or vegetarian diet. The UK has long been a trailblazer in the meat-free movement. It…
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Policy & Regulation

New Trump Bill Expands Access to Non-Dairy Milk in US School Meals

Anay Mridul Jan 15, 2026

The US president has signed the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act into law, which includes provisions to make it easier to access non-dairy milk in school meals. While whole milk may be at the centre of US food policy right now, a new…
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Future Foods

Backed by Bezos, UK-Australian Project Turns Food Waste Into Microbial Protein with AI

Anay Mridul Jan 15, 2026

Australian national research agency CSIRO and the UK's University of Leeds are developing an AI tool that can convert food waste into sustainable protein, in a project funded by the Bezos Earth Fund. Replacing ruminant meat with more…
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Alt Protein

This Meat-Free Platform Brings Food Companies Together to Win Over ‘Open Omnivores’

Anay Mridul Jan 14, 2026

Meat Free Made Easy, a UK campaign to help people eat less meat, has launched a new platform that leverages collaborative marketing to attract more people to the plant-based sector. Months after bringing together more than 50 food…
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Fermentation-Based Alt Protein

‘Open-Access Capacity is Critical,’ Says GEA After Deal to Build Novel Fermentation Scale-Up Line

Anay Mridul Jan 14, 2026

German engineering company GEA has teamed up with Bio Fermentation Factory to deliver a precision and biomass fermentation line at the latter's open-access facility in the Netherlands. When it comes to the future of food, open-access…
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Future Food Quick Bites

Future Food Quick Bites: Beyond Chicken, Mini Babybel & Shake Shack

Anay Mridul Jan 14, 2026

Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Beyond Meat's new chicken products, Upside Foods's cultivated meat tasting, and Shake Shack's vegan menu. New products…
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Food & Nutrition

‘Cholesterol Cartel’: US Govt Asked to Withdraw Dietary Guidelines Over Meat & Dairy Influence

Anay Mridul Jan 14, 2026

A physicians' non-profit has petitioned the US health department to withdraw and reissue its national dietary guidelines, alleging a conflict of interest with the meat and dairy industry. In the hours after the US released its…
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Eco Packaging

EU Awards €4M Grant to Prince William’s Earthshot Prize-Winning Seaweed Plastic

Anay Mridul Jan 13, 2026

UK sustainable packaging firm Notpla and 14 supporting partners have received a €4M ($4.7M) grant from the Horizon Europe programme to create a plastic-free, home-compostable coffee cup. Can seaweed help the coffee industry win its…
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Cell-Based News

Pint to Protein: Scientists Tap Beer Waste to Grow Cultivated Meat

Anay Mridul Jan 13, 2026

Researchers in the UK have devised a method to turn the yeast left over from beer production into edible scaffolds for affordable cultivated meat. When it comes to meat, nose-to-tail eating could give way to a "pint to plate" approach,…
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Alt Dairy

60% of Germans Back Tax Cut on Plant-Based Milk to Match Dairy VAT

Anay Mridul Jan 13, 2026

A majority of people in Germany are in favour of a lower VAT rate on plant-based milk, which is bought by nearly half of the country's consumers now. People in Europe's largest plant-based market want its government to level the playing…
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Alt Protein

Over Half of Canadians Want More Plant-Based Food As Inflation Bites

Anay Mridul Jan 12, 2026

New data shows surging demand for plant-based food in Canada, but prices remain both an opportunity and a challenge for companies in this space. More than half of Canadians are looking to increase the amount of plant-based food they…
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Alt Protein

Starbucks India Launches Yeast Protein Cold Foam with SuperYou

Anay Mridul Jan 12, 2026

Starbucks India is targeting the country's protein boom with a new line of cold foams made with SuperYou's yeast protein, which is available across all its 500 stores nationwide. First it was McDonald's, then came Starbucks. The world's…
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Alt Protein

Impossible Foods Taps Equii for Protein-Packed Plant-Based Innovation Amid GLP-1 Surge

Anay Mridul Jan 12, 2026

Amid the GLP-1 boom, Impossible Foods has partnered with Equii to cater to America's protein demand by combining plant-based meat with grain-based pastas and breads. Days after the new Dietary Guidelines for Americans emphasised greater…
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Kids

These Better-for-You Kids Brands Are Creating Food For A Climate-Conscious Generation

Anay Mridul Jan 12, 2026

Children's health is garnering more attention amid rising obesity and ultra-processed food concerns – here are seven brands that are truly better for kids, and simultaneously planet-friendly. At the start of this year, the UK's ban on…
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Alt Dairy

Non-Dairy Milk Now Free at Caribou Coffee’s 500 Locations in the US

Anay Mridul Jan 9, 2026

Minnesota-based chain Caribou Coffee has become the latest company to drop the plant-based milk surcharge, as dairy alternatives become free across its nearly 500 locations nationwide. After years of advocacy efforts, Caribou Coffee has…
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Alt Protein

Rebellyous Foods Lowers Plant-Based Meat Prices with Production Milestone After $3.5M Raise

Anay Mridul Jan 9, 2026

Leading plant-based meat maker Rebellyous Foods has commercially launched its Mock 3 Production System on the back of a 30% sales growth and $3.5M in new funding. In the alternative protein world, most companies continue to face…
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Seafood

Aqua Cultured Foods: US Fish-Free Startup Shuts Amid Scale-Up & Funding Challenges

Anay Mridul Jan 9, 2026

Aqua Cultured Foods, a fermentation startup known for its cellulose-based seafood, has ceased operations after being unable to secure financing "without taking on undue risk". Fish-free seafood maker Aqua Cultured Foods has reached the…
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