Author

Anay Mridul 2873 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.

Vegan Dining

Plant-Based Restaurants Are Shutting Down – This ‘Vegan McDonald’s’ Wants to Be the Exception

Anay Mridul May 14, 2025

Backed by the likes of Mike Tyson and Future, vegan fast-food chain Mr Charlie's is opening 18 locations in Arizona, despite widespread restaurant closures in the US. Here's why. It's never been easy to own a hospitality business; for…
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Climate Change

Brazil Beef Intake Must Reduce by Up to 94% to Meet Emissions Target, Says Study

Anay Mridul May 14, 2025

Home to some of the world's largest meat companies, COP30 host Brazil's beef industry is emitting more than twice the greenhouse gas limit outlined by the Paris Agreement. As it prepares to host the annual UN climate summit later this…
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Alt Protein

Brits & Germans Look to Cut Back on Meat & Eat More Plants

Anay Mridul May 13, 2025

More than two in five consumers in Europe's two largest plant-based markets want to eat less meat or are already doing so, a new poll has found. Half of adults in the UK and Germany want to change their diets by either reducing meat or…
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Alt Dairy

Swedish Farmers Take 10% Stake in Pea Milk Startup Sproud

Anay Mridul May 13, 2025

Swedish agrifood company Lantmännen has become a part-owner of Malmö-based pea milk maker Sproud, as part of its larger pea protein push. On the back of another year of sales growth, Swedish plant-based milk startup Sproud has gained…
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Funding News

Spain’s Plant-Based Meat Leader Bags €20M EU Bank Investment & Promises Q4 Profitability

Anay Mridul May 13, 2025

Spanish food tech startup Heura Foods has received a €20M ($22.2M) loan from the European Investment Bank to move beyond plant-based meat, and expects to become profitable by the end of this year. Sustained sales and product innovation…
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Health

More Plants, Less Meat Key to Longer Lives, Show Major Harvard & Sydney U. Studies

Anay Mridul May 13, 2025

Yet more evidence has emerged that diets rich in plant-based whole foods and low in meat are the key to longevity. Plant-rich diets will help you age better and live longer, according to two major studies that spotlight the ill health…
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Fermentation-Based Alt Protein

This NZ Startup’s Animal-Free Bovine Lactoferrin Has A Higher Yield Than Cow’s Milk

Anay Mridul May 12, 2025

Auckland-based food tech startup Daisy Lab has achieved a high-yielding recombinant bovine lactoferrin that surpasses the protein's concentration in cow's milk. Daisy Lab, a precision fermentation startup making cow-free whey proteins,…
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Alt Dairy

Danone Acquires Plant-Based Infant Formula Maker Kate Farms

Anay Mridul May 12, 2025

French dairy giant Danone is expanding its infant formula empire after agreeing to buy a majority stake in US plant-based company Kate Farms. Already the world's second-largest formula maker, Danone is looking to expand its US footprint…
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Alt Dairy

Animal-Free Whey Startup ‘Sidesteps’ Potential Tariff Concerns with US Manufacturing Deal

Anay Mridul May 12, 2025

To avoid any potential blowback from the tariff war, Dutch startup Vivici has struck a co-manufacturing deal to produce its precision-fermented whey proteins at Liberation Labs's upcoming facility. The uncertainty surrounding President…
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Cell-Based News

Scientists Create ‘Game-Changing’ Cultivated Meat Tech That Could Feed Astronauts in Space

Anay Mridul May 12, 2025

University of Edinburgh scientists have developed a pig fat cell line that promises efficient, scalable and consistent cultivated meat production, with the potential of going past the exosphere. Could astronauts enjoy a cultivated bacon…
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Consumer Trends & Insights

Meat, Masculinity & the Manosphere: How Misinformation is Driving Young Men Towards Beef

Anay Mridul May 9, 2025

The social media manosphere is driving young men towards meat, with 40% of 16- to 24-year-olds eating more animal protein than they did last year, according to environmental charity Hubbub. "No one wants to be the guy in the pub…
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Green Business

Tesco Admits Plant-Based Meat Target Is ‘Highly Unlikely’ Amid Changing UK Diets

Anay Mridul May 9, 2025

The UK's largest retailer is not on track to meet its goal of increasing plant-based meat sales by 300% by this year, as consumers show an appetite for vegetables, beans, and tofu instead. In a further sign of the UK's dietary shift…
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Vegan

Plant-Based Meals Offer Triple Win for Health, Planet & Wallet, Shows Study

Anay Mridul May 9, 2025

A comparison of like-for-like meat-based, vegetarian and whole-food plant-based meals shows that the latter can improve micronutrient intake, reduce climate impact, and lower costs. Plant-based meals in restaurants, cafeterias and…
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Alt Materials

UK Startup Raises $6.7M to Scale AI-Designed Microbial Protein Fibres for Next-Gen Textiles

Anay Mridul May 9, 2025

London-based Solena Materials has secured $6.7M in seed funding for its microbial protein fibres, which are created using AI and provide a plastic-free alternative for the fashion industry. Making fibres from microbial proteins, Solena…
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Future Foods

5 Minutes with A Future Food VC: Flora Ventures’s Gil Horsky

Anay Mridul May 8, 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. Gil Horky is the Founding Managing Partner…
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Alt Protein

As Sales Slide Again in ‘Disappointing’ Q1, Beyond Meat Nets $100M in Debt Funding

Anay Mridul May 8, 2025

Beyond Meat saw year-on-year revenue drop by 9% in what it termed "clearly a disappointing" Q1 2025, and announced a $100M debt financing deal to shore up its liquidity. Following two consecutive quarters of year-on-year revenue…
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Health

Despite Misinformation, 50% of Americans Still Find Plant-Based Diets Healthy

Anay Mridul May 8, 2025

Half of Americans recognise the health benefits of a vegan diet, but they need reassurance from their primary care doctors to eat more plants. While a majority of Americans say they are happy to eat more plant-based food and know it's…
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Cell-Based News

EU Must Cut the Red Tape for Cultivated Meat, Says Consumer Group

Anay Mridul May 7, 2025

Half of Europeans say eating less meat will become mainstream in the next decade, and a similar number are open to trying cultivated meat, if the EU food safety regulator approves it. The EU must remove roadblocks and speed up the…
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Future Foods

Future Food Quick Bites: Science Museum, Fermented Rapeseed & Shifting Shelves

Anay Mridul May 7, 2025

Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers the Science Museum's future food exhibit, Beyond Steak's UK debut, and a Dutch public-private plant-based partnership. …
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Fermentation-Based Alt Protein

Mycelium Protein Firm Meati to Be Sold for $4M After Bank-Induced Crisis

Anay Mridul May 7, 2025

Embattled alternative protein firm Meati Foods is set to sell for just $4M after an unprecedented financial crisis that turned the business on its head. Two months after a bank swept most of its cash reserves in an unexpected move,…
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Cell-Based News

‘Frankenstein Meets The Matrix’: Montana & Indiana Become Latest US States to Ban Cultivated Meat

Anay Mridul May 7, 2025

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte has signed a bill that prevents the production or sale of cultivated meat in the state, while Indiana has introduced a two-year prohibition. From October 1, manufacturing or selling cultivated meat in…
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