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.

Consumer Trends & Insights

Stanford Study: Does Adding More Plant-Based Options Make People Choose Less Meat?

Anay Mridul Sep 5, 2025

A new study showed people a mock Chipotle menu with and without plant-based options to see whether it affected their decisions to choose meat. The results go against the grain. Will seeing more plant-based options on the menu make you…
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Alt Protein

Beyond Meat, Oatly Challenge Chinese Students to Develop Future Food Products

Anay Mridul Sep 5, 2025

As China's future food leadership grows, its students will compete to solve real-world problems by developing new products in ProVeg International's next Food Innovation Challenge. Already a pioneer in electric vehicles and green…
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Alt Materials

Hyundai Bets on Plastic-Free, Grain-Based Leather to Drive Sustainability

Anay Mridul Sep 5, 2025

South Korean carmaker Hyundai has partnered with US biomaterials startup Uncaged Innovations to develop animal- and plastic-free leather alternatives for its vehicles. Hyundai is the latest auto giant to embrace sustainable leather,…
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Funding News

Industry Consolidation: 40+ Major Alternative Protein Companies Have Shut or Been Acquired in Past Year

Anay Mridul Sep 4, 2025

The previous 12 months have seen a sharp increase in the number of alternative protein businesses that have ceased trading, come close to the brink, or been acquired. Here are all the major deals, starting September 2024. The…
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Alt Dairy

In the Netherlands, Shrinking Livestock Numbers Could Give Hybrid Dairy A Boost

Anay Mridul Sep 4, 2025

Cattle populations are declining in the Netherlands, leaving companies with an opportunity to foray into hybrid milk products. And consumers are here for it. Hybrid dairy has already been in Dutch headlines once this year, after retail…
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Health

US Cardiologists Recommend Plant-Based Diet, But Don’t Practice What They Preach

Anay Mridul Sep 4, 2025

Despite recommending patients to follow a plant-based diet, very few cardiologists actually do so themselves, a new study has found. The gap between heart doctors who prescribe a whole-food plant-based diet to patients and those who…
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Alt Protein

LiveKindly Collective Bucks Plant-Based Meat Slowdown, Expects Profitability This Fall

Anay Mridul Sep 3, 2025

Livekindly Collective is set to become profitable this fall, reversing the plant-based meat industry trend with strong brand building, private-label offerings, and Ed Sheeran. Fresh from relaunching its Like brand of plant-based meat in…
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Future Foods

Future Food Quick Bites: Impossible x Joey Chestnut, Billie Eilish & Cinnamon Roll Lattes

Anay Mridul Sep 3, 2025

Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Impossible Foods's Joey Chestnut partnership, Billie Eilish's emissions-cutting concerts, and Aleph Farms's Peta promise. …
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Alt Materials

Singapore Startup Greenitio Raises $1.5M for Plastic-Free Cosmetics with Mushroom-Derived Chitosan

Anay Mridul Sep 3, 2025

Singapore's Greenitio has closed a $1.5 million seed funding round to turn mushroom-based chitosan into functional biopolymers for cosmetics and specialty chemicals. A biotech startup from Singapore has attracted $1.5M from investors to…
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Cell-Based News

Umami Bioworks Gets EU Registration to Sell Two Cultivated Fish Products for Pet Food

Anay Mridul Sep 2, 2025

Singaporean food tech startup Umami Bioworks has registered two cultivated seafood ingredients for pet food in the EU, and is eyeing a Q2 2026 launch. In a year of milestones for the industry, cultivated pet food has landed on another. …
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Alt Fats

Dutch Firm Announces New Factory for Yeast-Derived Palm Oil Alternatives

Anay Mridul Sep 2, 2025

Dutch startup NoPalm Ingredients is scaling up its palm oil alternatives with a large factory at contract manufacturer Nizo Food Research's food innovation campus. Nearly five months after establishing a new consumer brand,…
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Funding News

Finnish Food Factory Gets $11.8M for Plant-Based Dairy Manufacturing

Anay Mridul Sep 2, 2025

Finnish Food Factory, a contract manufacturer of plant-based dairy products, has secured €10M ($11.8M) in scale-up funding from Taaleri Bioindustry. To support the expansion of Finland's plant-based dairy industry, Finnish Food Factory…
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Alt Protein

With 700% Rise, Lidl GB Exceeds Plant-Based Meat & Dairy Sales Target

Anay Mridul Sep 1, 2025

Lidl GB has blown past its target of increasing private-label plant-based sales by 400% by 2025, recording a rise of 694% in the last five years. Brits are increasingly interested in plant-based foods, and they're proving that with…
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Fermentation-Based Alt Protein

Yali Bio’s Yeast-Derived Fat Matches Breast Milk Purity Ahead of FDA GRAS Filing

Anay Mridul Sep 1, 2025

Californian firm Yali Bio has successfully produced a high-purity breast milk fat using precision fermentation, in a potential breakthrough for the baby formula market. US food tech startup Yali Bio has hit a critical milestone in its…
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Alt Protein

Vegan Finest Foods: Dutch Plant-Based Meat Brand Goes Bankrupt, Eyes Rescue Deal

Anay Mridul Sep 1, 2025

Dutch startup Vegan Finest Foods, which makes plant-based seafood, meat and sauces, has declared bankruptcy, citing softening demand and post-Covid difficulties. Vegan Finest Foods, the company behind brands like Vegan Zeastar and…
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Alt Protein

Taiwanese Legislators Call for Inclusion of Plant-Based Meat in School Meals

Anay Mridul Aug 29, 2025

Legislators and civil society groups in Taiwan are calling on the government to reform its school lunch programme, which they say stigmatises plant-based meat as processed food. Taiwan's school meal programme must be reformed to address…
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Policy & Regulation

NYC to Remove Processed Meats, Increase Plant-Based Proteins in Meal Programmes

Anay Mridul Aug 29, 2025

New York City has updated its food standards for public meal initiatives, clamping down on processed meats and requiring more plant-based proteins. As federal agencies work to define ultra-processed foods (UPFs) and face calls for a ban…
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Cell-Based News

UK Cultivated Meat Tech Firm CellRev Calls It Quits, Citing Funding Woes

Anay Mridul Aug 29, 2025

CellRev, a Newcastle-based bioprocessor of cell culture technologies, has ceased trading and appointed administrators to sell its assets. UK biotech firm CellulaREvolution (CellRev), an enzyme technology specialist for the cultivated…
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Alt Protein

Legacy Plant Protein Brand Yves Veggie Cuisine is Being Discontinued – and People are Mad

Anay Mridul Aug 28, 2025

Yves Veggie Cuisine, a 40-year-old Canadian meat-free brand, is being taken off shelves by owner Hain Celestial, sparking furore on social media. After four decades in operation, a fan-favourite brand of plant-based meat is being…
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Vegan Dining

As Philippines Embraces Plant-Based Food, Its Hotel Industry Follows Suit

Anay Mridul Aug 28, 2025

With interest in plant-based eating heightening in the Philippines, a wave of hospitality groups has committed to increasing meat-free options. In the Philippines, the hotel industry is increasingly aligning its food policies with the…
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Alt Dairy

Panther M*lk: Dairy-Free Liqueur Maker From Dragons’ Den Shuts Down

Anay Mridul Aug 28, 2025

Scottish startup Beastly Brews, which produced the oat milk liqueur Panther M*lk, has ceased trading after two supermarket listings fell through. Three years after appearing on Dragons' Den, the Glasgow-based producer of Panther M*lk, a…
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