Future Food Quick Bites: Protein Mac & Cheese, Wildtype Funding & Meat Sales
Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Daiya’s protein mac and cheese, Nueva Pescanova’s aborted octopus farm plan, and Wildtype’s crowdfunding success.
New products and launches
Canadian plant-based dairy brand Daiya has launched two protein-boosted mac and cheese SKUs in the US. Packed with 10g of plant protein per serving, they’re available in Cheddar and garlic-and-herb flavours for $34.32 per eight-pack on Amazon.
Fellow Canadian firm Healthy Crunch has rolled out three-ingredient dark chocolate chips with coconut sugar and 48% cacao vegan white chocolate chips in Kroger stores across the US.
Detroit-based ice cream parlour Dairy Whip reintroduced its Mountain Moo soft serve, a dairy-free Mountain Dew-flavoured ice cream that was available as a limited-edition option until July 26.
In Michigan, vegan burger chain Unburger has begun franchising, with its first such site set to open next month at The Yard near the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
And as it rolls out a high-fibre, no-added-sugar line, Italian cocoa-free chocolate startup Foreverland has entered Greece through a collaboration with Cereal Food.
Company and finance updates
Czech startup BeneMeat, which sells cultivated meat for pets, welcomed representatives of the Czech Meat Processors Association to showcase its pilot production facility to demonstrate the commercial viability of these future-friendly proteins.
Californian cultivated seafood startup Wildtype has surpassed its crowdfunding target with a $90,000 raise from over 280 investors on Kickstarter. It will use the funds to begin direct-to-consumer sales of its salmon lox and launch a marine complex supplement for skincare.
Spanish seafood company Nueva Pescanova has abandoned plans to build a large-scale octopus farm, which was set to farm 1,000 of these molluscs with a 3,000-tonne yield each year, following years of pushback from welfare organisations, scientists, and other campaigners.
In other seafood news, plant-based fish maker Oshi made a major marketing splash with a giant billboard on New York City’s Times Square. The slot was offered to the startup for free by another entrepreneur.
German mycelium meat maker Nosh.bio has updated the life-cycle assessment of its koji protein, which is now associated with 93% lower greenhouse gas emissions, 99% less water use, and 97% less land use compared to raw French beef.
Fellow German player MicroHarvest has entered the planning and design phase for its industrial-scale microbial protein plant at the Leuna Chemical Park in Saxony-Anhalt, enlisting Drees & Sommer to handle project management and planning.
Policy and research developments
A new poll by The Harris Poll on behalf of The Vegetarian Resource Group shows that two-thirds (67%) of Americans eat vegetarian meals, and 33% consume vegan dishes. Among the 2,100 adults surveyed, 5% identified as vegetarian, and 3% as vegan.
At the same time, Circana sales data published by 210 Analytics has found that meat volumes in the US fell by 2.3% in June, continuing the decline from May, despite high prices pushing sales value up by 1%.
Scientists behind the ongoing EU-funded Prism-LT project have developed a 3D bioprinting technique that grows living bone, fat, and muscle tissue. Instead of extruding a continuous stream of cells, the platform assembles tissues from tiny capsules that carry living cells, a gel scaffold, and genetically engineered microbes, which can be used for applications including cultivated meat.
Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.