Future Food Quick Bites: Caramel Waffle Milk, Food Waste Flavours & Blue Bottle
Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Oddlygood’s caramel-waffle milk, Rival Foods’s low-sodium vegan steak, and Blue Bottle’s oat milk U-turn.
New products and launches
Finnish non-dairy brand Oddlygood has rolled out a limited-edition caramel-waffle-flavoured barista oat milk at Sainsbury’s in the UK, responding to the 11% year-on-year growth of flavoured plant-based milks (which are outpacing plain versions).
Fresh oat milk maker Oato, meanwhile, has rolled out its chocolate-flavoured alternative in a one-litre bottle at 285 Tesco stores and 225 Waitrose stores across the UK for £2.20.
British plant protein firm Tofoo & Co has teamed up with ready meal company Factor, which now offers a Texas Tofu Chilli and a Caribbean Spiced Tofu Bowl on its menu, with more options in development.
In Italy, Bjorg has launched Avena Matcha, a ready-to-drink oat milk infused with the viral green tea. It’s available in one-litre packs for €2.99 in supermarkets including Esselunga.
Dutch plant-based meat startup Rival Foods has launched low-sodium vegan steak pieces for the country’s healthcare industry. The product contains 31g of protein and just 0.6g of salt per 100g.
Danish firm Reduced, which uses fermentation to turn food waste into savoury flavour enhancers, has partnered with foodservice wholesaler Transgourmet to deliver its organic bases across Germany, including its vegetable concentrate.
Also in Germany, Planted has collaborated with vending machine startup Foodji to launch a new wrap with its plant-based kebab at workplaces nationwide.
Across the Atlantic, Califia Farms has added coconut creamers in vanilla crème and toasted flavours to its Simple & Organic lineup in the US, featuring a clean and short ingredient list. They’re available for $6.99 per 750ml bottle at retailers nationwide.
PlantBaby has introduced a protein-boosted plant-based milk under its Kiki brand, leveraging sacha inchi, an ancient Amazonian seed that contains all nine essential amino acids. It’s combined with oats, pumpkin seeds and macadamias, delivering 10g of plant protein and 4g of fibre per serving, alongside omega-3 fatty acids.
Ambrosia Collective has expanded its collaboration with Finland’s Solar Foods, using the latter’s gas-derived Solein protein for a new melted chocolate flavour of its Planta protein powder.
And Daring Foods‘s single-serve, microwavable plant-based entrée bowls have landed in Kroger banner stores in the west, including Fred Meyer, King Soopers, Quality Food Centers, and Ralphs.
Company, finance and policy developments
Speaking of plant-based milk, US chain Blue Bottle Coffee has removed oat milk as its default plant-based milk option in-store and on its app, with whole milk now being displayed as the standard option in response to evolving guest preferences. Oat milk will still be offered at no extra charge.
US plant-based holding company Livekindly Collective has completed its acquisition of meat-free manufacturer Dalco Food from Hilton Food Group. The deal, first announced in July, is worth £5.4M ($7.1M).
Dutch startup Kokumi, which ferments legumes to turn them into savoury meat alternatives like mince, burgers and chunks, has secured €50,000 in growth capital as one of three winners of food tech accelerator Food Pioneers‘s 2026 pitch event, while also winning three awards.
British newcomer Barejaw has begun a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, seeking £54,000 to fund further formulation, testing and pilot-scale work for its line of yeast protein milks.
Food tech startups Better Nature, Planetary and Upcycled Plant Power have been selected for Blue Earth Summit‘s 2026 BE100 list, which recognises climate-friendly companies transforming their industries. They will pitch at the event on October 14, with at least one winner in each of the 10 categories set to receive a minimum of £100,000 in funding.
Finally, in Thailand, spending at this year’s vegetarian festival (October 9-18) is set to reach a six-year high of ฿46.9B ($1.4B), up by 2.2% from 2025, according to the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce. That said, the share of people planning to participate has dipped by two percentage points to 32%.
Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.