Future Food Quick Bites: Picard x La Vie, Vegan Stracciatella & McDonald’s Veggie
Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Picard Surgelés’s La Vie collab, Compass Group’s plant-forward hospital menu, and McDonald’s veggie breakup.
New products and launches
French food giant Picard Surgelés has collaborated with plant-based meat company La Vie to launch limited-edition meat-free versions of its burger, mac and cheese, and pizza across France and the Benelux region.
UK startup Bold Bean Co has expanded to the Netherlands, stocking its range of beans in over 900 Albert Heijn stores, which marks its largest retail listing anywhere.
Medirest, the healthcare sector arm of catering giant Compass Group, has teamed up with behavioural science non-profit Greener by Default to launch a three-month trial of a plant-powered menu for patients, staff and visitors alike in the UK and Ireland.
Also in the UK, London-based vegan cheesemaker Casadei Foods has gained a listing for its pea-milk-based stracciatella at Everyman Cinemas locations nationwide, where it will top the plant-based Pesto and Sundried Tomato Pizza
US plant-based dairy firm Rind has introduced Brie Crème, a spreadable alternative to brie made from cashews and tofu. It’s exclusively available for wholesale customers at online marketplace Faire.
And the Vegan Society of Aotearoa New Zealand has relaunched the FebNoDairy campaign to encourage locals to give up dairy for the month of February, which it suggests could slash their food-related emissions in half.
Company and finance updates
Indian plant-based dairy company 1.5 Degree has raised $1M in pre-Series A funding to scale up its production, deepen institutional partnerships, and fuel expansion across Tier 1 cities.
In Indonesia, meat-free pioneer Green Rebel Foods has successfully converted the loan agreement from its Series A funding round, netting the startup $12.5M at a slightly shortened valuation.
Japanese plant-based food producer Dishwill has secured an undisclosed sum in a new seed round, taking its total raised to ¥200M ($1.28M). The firm will use the funds to expand its technology that produces grains in plant factories without the need for climatic conditions, and take its range of meat alternatives global.
In the UK, McDonald’s has discontinued 80% of vegetarian options, taking the Veggie Dippers, Veggie Dipper Happy Meals, Spicy Veggie Wraps, and the Vegetable Deluxe sandwich off the menu, citing poor sales. The vegan McPlant burger remains available, but the move echoes the chain’s decisions in other markets.
Dutch whole-cut plant-based meat maker Rival Foods has appointed former Vivera marketing director Karin Löwik as its new CEO, with co-founder Birgit Dekkers transitioning to the COO role instead.
Research and policy developments
Spurred by Veganuary, Irish shoppers spent €838,000 ($1M) more on meat alternatives this January, compared to the same month a year ago.
The Court of Justice of the European Union has agreed to grant a hearing to End the Cage Age, a European Citizens’ Initiative, and over 170 intervening non-profits on March 5, where they will call on the EU Commission to fulfil its commitment to ban caged farming for all animal species.
Robinsons Hotels and Resorts, the largest homegrown hospitality group in the Philippines, has announced a pledge to make 30% of its menu plant-based across all 31 properties by 2029, joining a growing list of companies with similar commitments.
Food publication The Takeout has travelled across the US to collate a list of the best vegan restaurant in each of the 50 states.
Finally, a review of studies between 2020 and 2025 has revealed that whole-food plant-based diets generally cost less than omnivorous diets, primarily due to reduced spending on expensive animal products, and increased expenditure on fruits, vegetables, and legumes.
Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.