Author

Anay Mridul 2872 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.

UPFs

US FDA to Develop Definition of Ultra-Processed Foods

Anay Mridul Jun 12, 2025

The regulation of ultra-processed foods has been the talk of US food policy ever since Robert F Kennedy Jr took office – the FDA will soon weigh in. The conversation surrounding ultra-processed foods (UPFs) in the US is about to be…
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Future Foods

5 Minutes with A Future Food VC: Future Food Fund’s Silla Scheepens

Anay Mridul Jun 12, 2025

In our interview series, we quiz future food investors about the solutions that excite them the most, their favourite climate-forward restaurant, and what they look for in successful founders. Silla Scheepens is a General Partner at…
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China

V-March Interview: Meet the Team Behind the Campaign That Helps Chinese People Go Vegan

Anay Mridul Jun 12, 2025

When it comes to plant-based diets, the V-March campaign says Chinese consumers are motivated primarily by health and food trends. With China's protein consumption surpassing that of the US, and a majority of it coming from plants, the…
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Zero Waste

Tastewise Raises $50M to Scale AI Platform That Helps Food Companies Cut Waste

Anay Mridul Jun 12, 2025

Tastewise has secured $50M in a Series B round to scale its AI platform for food companies across the globe, part of which includes tackling food waste. Already working with some of the world's largest food and beverage companies,…
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Alt Protein

Cheap Private-Label Products Drive 2% Growth of Plant-Based Sales in Europe

Anay Mridul Jun 11, 2025

Retail sales of plant-based food in Europe grew by 2% in 2024, thanks in large part to inexpensive private-label offerings from supermarkets. Over the last year, a wave of retailers in Europe has pledged to increase the share of plant…
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Cell-Based News

Everyone Who Tasted Cultivated Meat Opposed A Ban, Finds Tufts Study

Anay Mridul Jun 11, 2025

A study of Upside Foods' cultivated meat tasting shows what consumers want from these proteins and what they don't want from their lawmakers. On June 27, 2024, a California company took a stand against the state of Florida. Upside…
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Future Foods

Future Food Quick Bites: Oatly Lookbook, Kraft Heinz NotCo & McDonald’s Jackfruit Burger

Anay Mridul Jun 11, 2025

Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Oatly's recipe lookbook, Villareal CF's tofu seminar, and People Magazine's plant-based awards. New products and launches…
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UPFs

The 20 Things Plant-Based Brands Should Know About Ultra-Processed Foods

Anay Mridul Jun 11, 2025

UPFs have become public enemy number one, and the plant-based meat sector has been caught in the media crossfire. Here's everything CPG brands and founders need to know. There are many explanations for why plant-based meat isn't selling…
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Alt Dairy

The Rise of Hybrid Dairy: Can It Follow in Blended Meat’s Footsteps?

Anay Mridul Jun 10, 2025

From Kerry's Smug Dairy lineup to a new Dutch-Danish range of 'hybrid milks', could blending cow's milk with plant-based ingredients be a winning solution? At Amsterdam's World of Private Label International Trade Show this week, two…
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Cell-Based News

Regulatory Approvals for Cultivated Meat Will Bring Investors Back, Predicts Simple Planet CEO

Anay Mridul Jun 10, 2025

Along with its upcoming fundraise, Simple Planet is about to submit dossiers in South Korea and Singapore for regulatory approval – a feat its CEO says will make cultivated meat resurgent. Despite continued declines in funding and…
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Zero Waste

Top Hong Kong Chefs Team Up with HKU, Food Waste App to Unveil Sustainable Cookbook

Anay Mridul Jun 10, 2025

The University of Hong Kong, sustainability charity Green Hospitality, and food-saving app Chomp, have launched a cookbook to tackle food waste in the city. From cucumber peel and tofu tzatziki to overripe tomato miso soup, a new…
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Cell-Based News

Cultivated Meat Study: Media Coverage Shapes Regulatory Progress, May Have Caused Approval ‘Slowdown’

Anay Mridul Jun 10, 2025

Researchers have uncovered eight themes that prevailed in the media coverage of the USDA's first two approvals of cultivated meat in 2023, which had implications. Is cultivated meat 'real meat'? Does it pose any benefits? Is it an…
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Alt Dairy

Else Nutrition CEO Slams US FDA for ‘Unacceptable’ & ‘Outdated’ Regulation of Dairy-Free Baby Formula

Anay Mridul Jun 9, 2025

In an op-ed published in the Washington Times, Else Nutrition CEO Hamutal Yitzhak urged the FDA to modernise its regulation of plant-based infant formula amid RFK Jr's Operation Stork Speed. The US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA)…
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Fermentation-Based Alt Protein

Portugal’s PFx Biotech Raises €5M for Precision-Fermented Human Milk Proteins

Anay Mridul Jun 9, 2025

Portuguese startup PFx Biotech has secured €2.5M in seed funding, matching a recent EU grant for its recombinant human milk proteins. Making breast milk alternatives from yeast, Porto-based firm PFx Biotech has bagged €2.5M ($2.85M) in…
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Alt Protein

A Quarter of Americans Are Limiting Meat – But Plant Proteins Still Don’t Do It for Them

Anay Mridul Jun 9, 2025

In the US, 24% of consumers are cutting back on meat this year, but enthusiasm for plant-based alternatives remains low – here's why. While Americans may have spent more on meat last year than ever before, nearly a quarter (24%) of them…
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Pets

Vegdog: German Plant-Based Dog Food Firm Raises $10M After Sales Grow by 66%

Anay Mridul Jun 6, 2025

Munich-based vegan pet food startup Vegdog has raised €9M ($10.2M) in Series A funding to expand its European presence, after seeing sales hike by 66% in 2024. While startups working on alternative proteins for humans continue to face…
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Cell-Based News

Australian Lawmakers Get A Taste of the Future at Cultivated Meat Tasting in Parliament

Anay Mridul Jun 6, 2025

Australian cultivated meat startup Magic Valley held a tasting for politicians in the New South Wales parliament last week. Just months before cultivated meat makes it onto restaurant menus in Australia, some of the country's…
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Fermentation-Based Alt Protein

Arkeon, A Startup Turning CO2 Into Protein, Files for Insolvency

Anay Mridul Jun 6, 2025

Austrian biotech firm Arkeon, known for its gas fermentation technology to make proteins from air, has filed for insolvency. Vienna-based gas fermentation firm Arkeon has filed for insolvency, a marker of the investment and financial…
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Alt Dairy

Bel Group to Shutter Plant-Based Cheese Brand Nurishh After Failing to Turn A Profit

Anay Mridul Jun 6, 2025

French dairy giant Bel Group has announced that it will discontinue its Nurishh brand of vegan cheese by the end of the year after failing to capture enough consumers. Despite its efforts to expand its plant-based cheese offering,…
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Alt Protein

California Sets Up Special Committee to Drive Alternative Protein Innovation

Anay Mridul Jun 6, 2025

Home to a host of leading future food startups, California has established a special committee to advance innovation in the alternative protein sector. While several states in the US are banning (or hoping to ban) cultivated meat from…
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Alt Dairy

US Senate Advances Bipartisan Bill to Offer Non-Dairy Milk in School Meals

Anay Mridul Jun 5, 2025

The US Senate Agriculture Committee has voted in favour of a bill that would allow students access to plant-based milk in their school lunches. Democrats and Republicans have unanimously advanced legislation that will put almond milk in…
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