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.

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Else Nutrition CEO Slams US FDA for ‘Unacceptable’ & ‘Outdated’ Regulation of Dairy-Free Baby Formula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

5 Minutes with A Future Food VC: Siddhi Capital’s Steven Finn

Anay Mridul Jun 5, 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. Steven Finn is the Co-Founder and…
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Circular Economy

New Era for Green Burials? Mycelium Caskets Make US Debut in Maine Funeral

Anay Mridul Jun 5, 2025

Mark C Ancker was laid to rest in a casket made from mushroom mycelium, a first for North America. It signals the growing popularity of green burials in the US. In rural Maine, artist Marsya Ancker buried her father Mark on a quiet…
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Cell-Based News

Leading Islamic Authority Approves Consumption of Cultivated Meat for Muslims

Anay Mridul Jun 5, 2025

In its latest conference in Doha, the International Islamic Fiqh Academy ruled that Muslims can consume cultivated meat if certain conditions are met. The world's two billion Muslims can eat cultivated meat, according to a fatwa by a…
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Green Business

Dutch Poultry Giant Plukon Acquires Meat-Free Startup Vega Insiders

Anay Mridul Jun 4, 2025

Plukon Food Group, a Dutch poultry producer, has snapped up local meat-free startup Vega Insiders to strengthen its alternative protein portfolio. Netherlands-based poultry giant Plukon Food Group has acquired Vega Insiders, a producer…
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Future Foods

Future Food Quick Bites: Vegan RXBar, NotMilk Avena, Pre-Frozen Tofu

Anay Mridul Jun 4, 2025

Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Kellanova's plant-based RXBars, Vivera's pre-frozen tofu, and a cultivated seafood tasting event. New products and…
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Cell-Based News

Wildtype Cultivated Salmon Gets FDA Approval, Now on US Menus

Anay Mridul Jun 4, 2025

San Francisco startup Wildtype has become the world's first startup to get US regulatory approval to sell cultivated seafood, with its salmon now on the menu at Kann in Portland, Oregon. Cultivated seafood has cruised to become a…
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Health

Replacing Meat with Plant-Based Food Leads to Weight Loss in People with Type 1 Diabetes

Anay Mridul Jun 4, 2025

For people with type 1 diabetes, switching from animal products to plant-based foods is an effective strategy for weight loss. While vegan alternatives to animal products are often labelled as unhealthy due to their classification as…
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Food & Nutrition

UK Urged to ‘Make Beans More Appealing’ As Meat Consumption Goes Into Overdrive

Anay Mridul Jun 3, 2025

The UK eats twice as much meat as the global average, putting both public and planetary health at risk. The solution lies in plant-based whole foods, especially beans. Making whole foods like beans more appealing and increasing the…
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Alt Protein

Green Rebel x 7-Eleven Philippines: Southeast Asian Startup Expands Meat-Free Meals to 2,000+ Stores

Anay Mridul Jun 3, 2025

Indonesian plant-based meat pioneer Green Rebel Foods has rolled out two products at 7-Eleven Philippines, both as retail offerings and as part of in-store meals. While sales of meat alternatives are falling in certain markets, global…
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