Future Food Quick Bites: Huel Summer, Grubby x Zoe & Meat Exhaustion Day
Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Huel’s new meal replacement drinks, Oatly’s matcha collab with Lidl, and a Gen Z dietary survey in India.
New products and launches
Huel, the British plant-based nutrition brand now owned by Danone, has introduced four summer-skewed meal replacement drinks in its home market: pineapple-coconut and blueberry under the Black Edition line (with 35g of protein), and mango and vanilla-match as part of its Lite lineup (25g of protein).
Also in the UK, vegan meal kit brand Grubby has teamed up with Zoe, the gut health startup co-founded by Tim Spector, to launch a limited-edition line of meals with at least 14g of fibre and seven plant points. The eight-strong range includes a Cajun tofu and black bean salad, harissa cauliflower with muhammara, and a curried mango-chickpea traybake.
French plant-based meat startup La Vie has notched a listing at discount retailer Asda in the UK, with its vegan bacon now available at the supermarket for £3.34 per 125g pack.
Fellow Parisian firm Yofi has launched a 100% organic range of barista milks, featuring oat, almond and coconut variants. These can be found in more than 60 stores in the French capital starting this month.
Meanwhile, in Hungary, oat milk giant Oatly teamed up with Lidl to roll out the Matcha Mobile in Budapest, as part of an activation to promote the launch of its ready-to-drink matcha latte at the discount supermarket.
The world already reached its “meat exhaustion day” – the day by which it has consumed more than the recommended yearly amount of meat – on June 24, according to animal welfare organisation Four Paws, which has launched a tool for consumers to calculate their personal meat intake.
In the US, plant-based dairy company Forager Project has expanded its non-dairy coffee creamer lineup with golden salted caramel, banana bread, and Mexican chocolate flavours. Each 20oz bottle is available for $6.99.
And in a new video by YouTuber Brandon William, members of the Vegan Strong PlantBuilt Team outperformed meat-eaters in a series of physical challenges designed to test power, endurance, and overall athleticism.
Company, policy and research developments
US precision fermentation contract manufacturer Liberation Bioindustries has paused construction of its 60,000-litre facility in Richmond, Indiana as the company – which has already raised $71.5M to date – seeks more funding.
A new survey by Faunalytics has revealed that 58% of Indian Gen Z consumers identify as meat-reducers. Strikingly, half of non-vegans say they’re likely to go vegan within the next year, and 53% believe their parents would probably do the same.
Food discovery platform WhatsVegetarian.com has published the 2026 Vegetarian Restaurant Index, ranking 99 major US chains on how vegan-friendly they are. Chipotle topped the list, followed by Cava and Taco Bell, while Arby’s came last.
Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.