Author

Anay Mridul 2876 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.

Cell-Based News

What Does Cultivated Meat Actually Taste Like? We Asked People Who’ve Tried the Real Thing

Anay Mridul Mar 24, 2025

With a number of cultivated meat startups hosting public tastings of their products, three taste testers take us behind the scenes of what it's like to bite into the future from cultivated fois gras to cell-cultured salmon. It was a…
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Alt Dairy

For Its Sustainable Butter, Savor is Ditching Cows for CO2 – and You Can Eat It This Year

Anay Mridul Mar 21, 2025

Californian food tech startup Savor has launched its farm-free, carbon-based butter, which will appear on Michelin-starred menus this year, ahead of a Series B funding round. "Life on Earth is carbon-based, meaning both we and the food…
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Green Business

Unilever to Sell Plant-Based Meat Brand The Vegetarian Butcher to JBS-Owned Vivera

Anay Mridul Mar 21, 2025

Unilever has agreed to sell The Vegetarian Butcher to fellow plant-based meat business Vivera, with the deal expected to be completed by Q3 2025. Four months after it first emerged that Unilever was planning to offload The Vegetarian…
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Policy & Regulation

Self-GRAS Uncertainty Looms Over Food Tech Leaders As FDA Spotlights ‘Transparency’

Anay Mridul Mar 21, 2025

The US's move to potentially remove the self-determination pathway of food safety could have significant implications for fermentation protein companies, with the FDA doubling down on safety while outlining its support for innovation. …
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Cell-Based News

Korean Muslim Federation Issues Fatwa Ruling Cultivated Meat As Halal

Anay Mridul Mar 20, 2025

South Korea's largest Muslim organisation has issued a fatwa recognising that cultivated meat can be Halal if it meets certain requirements, with one startup already pursuing the certification. Cultivated meat can be considered Halal…
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Alt Protein

5 Minutes with A Future Food VC: Better Bite Ventures’s Simon Newstead

Anay Mridul Mar 20, 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. Simon Newstead is a Founding Partner at…
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Eco Packaging

German Startup Bags $15.5M to Bring Tech-Led Reusable Food Packaging to the US

Anay Mridul Mar 20, 2025

Based in Cologne, Vytal Global has raised €14.2M ($15.5M) in growth funding to fuel the expansion of its reusable food packaging solutions. German eco packaging startup Vytal Global has secured €14.2M ($15.5M) in investment to scale its…
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Policy & Regulation

UK Dietary Guidelines in Need of Plant-Based Reform to Save the NHS Millions

Anay Mridul Mar 20, 2025

The UK government is being urged to update its Eatwell Guide in line with the Eat-Lancet Planetary Health Diet, with a plant-forward system predicted to save the NHS over £50M every year. As novel food regulation advances rapidly in the…
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Alt Protein

McDonald’s New Meat-Free Burger in Canada Is All About the Veggies

Anay Mridul Mar 19, 2025

McDonald's Canada is trialling the McVeggie, featuring a patty that ditches plant-based meat for vegetables. After the Beyond Burger failure in Canada, McDonald's is banking on vegetables for its latest meat-free main. The Golden…
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Future Foods

Future Food Quick Bites: Chia Seed Milk, Healthy Ham & Vegan Calcium

Anay Mridul Mar 19, 2025

Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Benexia's new chia seed milk, Violife's campaign with Chrishell Stause, and Holy Carrot's upcoming restaurant in London. …
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Fermentation-Based Alt Protein

Ahead of $15M Fundraise, The Better Meat Co Secures Mycoprotein Deal with South American Meat Giant

Anay Mridul Mar 19, 2025

The Better Meat Co has signed a letter of intent with one of South America's largest meat companies for the use of its mycoprotein in blended meat applications, just as it starts a new $15M fundraising round. US food tech startup The…
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Alt Protein

India: In the World’s Most Populous Country, Health is Putting Plants on the Plate

Anay Mridul Mar 19, 2025

A nation known for its meat-free culture, India's plant-based food market is on the "brink of transformation" as healthy eating and protein intake take centre stage. While many have spelt doom on the vegan food industry, its most…
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Fermentation-Based Alt Protein

McKinsey’s $250B Question: How Can Fermentation Attract Investors to Meet the Protein Demand?

Anay Mridul Mar 18, 2025

Fermentation tech could account for 4% of global protein production by 2050, but it needs $250B of investment to meet the capacity needs, according to McKinsey. By 2050, the global population will be approaching 10 billion, a number…
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Food & Nutrition

Minimum Dietary Diversity: UN Adopts New Indicator for Women & Children to Reach Zero Hunger Goal

Anay Mridul Mar 18, 2025

The United Nations Statistical Commission has adopted Minimum Dietary Diversity as a new indicator to track progress for its Zero Hunger goal in women and children. In a move to highlight dietary quality over calorie consumption, the…
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Alt Protein

‘Rivalling Tofu’? Plant-Based Innovator Juicy Marbles Rolls Out Whole-Cut Pork with Nutri-Score A

Anay Mridul Mar 18, 2025

Slovenian whole-cut meat analogue maker Juicy Marbles has released Pork-ish, the second product in its Meaty Meat lineup, its cheapest offering ever. Building on its new Meaty Meat range, Juicy Marbles has released a whole-cut pork…
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Health

The Latest Threat to Your Gut? Global Warming

Anay Mridul Mar 18, 2025

The exacerbating effects of climate change could wreak havoc on human gut health, especially in middle- and low-income countries, according to a new study. The growing popularity of Ozempic, GLP-1-supportive food and drink products, and…
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Health

AI Innovator NotCo Teases GLP-1 Booster That Acts As ‘Natural Alternative’ to Ozempic

Anay Mridul Mar 17, 2025

Always at the forefront of food trends, Chilean food tech startup NotCo has unveiled a GLP Booster that uses food as a natural Ozempic alternative. Today, nearly three-quarters of Americans aged 20 and above are overweight and…
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Climate Change

No Meat, No Fuel: Massive Attack’s Bristol Concert Breaks Record as Lowest-Carbon Live Music Event

Anay Mridul Mar 17, 2025

British trip-hop band Massive Attack's music festival in Bristol last summer produced the lowest emissions of any concert ever, according to a new report. Nearly seven months after Massive Attack hosted 32,000 people at a music festival…
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Alt Dairy

Ultra-Processed Furore & Raw Milk Craze Hike Dairy Sales, But Plant-Based Alternatives Are Here to Stay

Anay Mridul Mar 17, 2025

Consumption of non-dairy alternatives witnessed a dip at the start of the year, while conventional products like whole milk enjoyed growing sales. Whether it's the US or Europe, dairy seems to be having a renaissance, and that too at…
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Vegan Dining

Odd Burger’s Plan to Thwart Trump Tariffs Amid US Expansion? Go Local

Anay Mridul Mar 17, 2025

Canadian plant-based restaurant chain Odd Burger has detailed its US expansion strategy to tackle the impact of the ongoing trade war between the neighbours. As America's trade war with the world continues, one burger chain is opting…
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Future Foods

From Air to Aisle: Fazer Trials Gas-Fermented Protein Snack & Drinks

Anay Mridul Mar 14, 2025

Finnish food giant Fazer has teased a snack bar and two protein oat milk beverages made using Solar Foods's fermentation-derived Solein protein. How about some CO2 in your protein shake? Fazer is giving attendees at Future Food-Tech…
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