Future Food Quick Bites: Beyond Meat x Taco Bell, Crowdfunding Galore & Marigold Protein
Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Taco Bell’s Beyond Meat partnership, Sproud’s sales and emissions records, and a wave of crowdfunding campaigns.
New products and launches
Fast-food giant Taco Bell has teased a new partnership with vegan giant Beyond Meat to create a new plant-based protein that will be tested within this year. The chain said it chose the latter due to its track record of attracting young consumers. They previously tested a meat-free carne asada steak quesadilla and tacos offered at price parity.
US vitamins brand Perelel has launched Daily Resilience Complex, a new daily supplement featuring TurtleTree‘s precision-fermented lactoferrin ingredient, LF+. It isn’t vegan, however, since the powder also contains bovine collagen.
In time for grilling season, whole-food brand Actual Veggies has rolled out a 10-pack of its vegan black bean burger at most Costco locations across the US.
Likewise, whole-cut plant-based meat pioneer Chunk Foods has gained a listing at Whole Foods Market across the Northeast for its steak filet, pulled steak and a new Moroccan Cubes SKU with 19g of protein.
Speaking of vegan steak, Dutch startup Rival Foods‘s clean-label alternative has landed in its home country. The pulled beef is available in 2kg packs for foodservice operators on InstockMarket, and contains 31g of protein per 100g.
Weeks after securing $2.3M in fresh funding, French vegan cheesemaker Jay&Joy has expanded its footprint through a listing at 400 new points of sale at German organic retailer Denns BioMarkt.
Fellow French company La Vie‘s plant-based ham, sandwiches and snacks are now being stocked at 180 TotalEnergies service stations across the country.
In more good news for France’s plant-based shoppers, a new fully vegan grocery store, Herbivores, has opened on Lyon’s Rue Pasteur street.
Singaporean bean-free startup Prefer has brought its coffee alternative to Japan, launching an iced black coffee using its PreferRoast ingredient in collaboration with Tokyu Land, a member of local conglomerate Tokyu Group.
And in the UK, Shicken Foods has launched plant-based kofta kebabs into Costco stores. They feature 21g of protein per serving and are high in fibre.
Company and finance updates
Swedish pea milk startup Sproud has achieved its lowest-ever average carbon footprint, reducing its emissions by 11.45% to reach 0.301kg of CO2e per litre of product. Moreover, annual sales hit a new record, growing by 28% to reach 74.9 million kronor ($8.1M), with volumes up by 33%.
Californian cultivated seafood startup Finless Foods has opened a crowdfunding campaign on Republic, with a goal of securing $75,000. It has already entered the pre-market consultation process with the US Food and Drug Administration for its cultivated tuna, with approval expected in 2027.
Weeks after receiving $700,000 in seed funding, Danish mycelium meat maker Tempty Foods has kicked off a crowd investment round on Republic. It has already landed nearly all of its €355,000 ($415,000) target.
In more investment news, British eco material player Ponda has also launched a crowdfunding effort on Republic with the aim of raising €230,000 ($270,000) to build out its capacity and expand production of BioPuff, a bulrush-based alternative to goose down and polyester fibres.
Speaking of eco materials, Australia’s Uluu has moved into a new industrial facility in Henderson, Western Australia, which will allow it to scale up production of its seaweed-derived bioplastics. This follows a $10.5M investment round in November.
US industrial biotech startup Fermeate has raised $2M in seed funding to advance its optogenetic control tech for precision-fermented products and accelerate price parity for them.
Belgian beanless coffee startup Koppie has reached a major milestone in its scale-up efforts, producing 12 tonnes of its fermentation-derived alternative.
Climate advocacy group Madre Brava has closed its Thailand programme, according to its former director.
Policy, research and awards
Dutch startup NoPalm Ingredients – which makes palm oil alternatives from food waste, yeast and fermentation – has been named as one of the four finalists of the 2026 Food Planet Prize.
Catering giant Sodexo has become the first employee restaurant chain in Poland to monitor the share of plant-based proteins on offer, with analysis using the Protein Tracker tool revealing that 30% of its 2024-25 protein portfolio was sourced from plants.
Two new studies by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine show that low-fat plant-based diets cut greenhouse gas emissions by 55-57% and cumulative energy demand by 44-55%.
A study led by scientists at the University of Georgia suggests that dried marigold flowers – 40% of which end up wasted – show potential as a sustainable plant protein source, exhibiting high levels of glutamic and aspartic acids, greater heat stability than peas and chickpeas, and excellent emulsifying capacity.
Researchers at the University of Warwick have published the results of their meta-analysis of clinical trials involving 541 participants, finding that plant-based eaters were associated with significantly lower levels of C-reactive protein – a widely used marker of systemic inflammation – than omnivores.
Finally, in Veganuary‘s 2026 participant survey, a third (32%) of those who weren’t vegan before said they planned to continue following a plant-based diet after the monthlong campaign, while 79% intended to halve their intake of animal products.
Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.