Future Food Quick Bites: Rafael Nadal, Guinness World Records & Matthew Kenney
Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Rafael Nadal’s Alpro shoutout, Matthew Kenney’s new plant-based eatery, and an LCA for Prefer’s bean-free coffee.
New products and launches
Danone-owned non-dairy brand Alpro has received a shoutout from Rafael Nadal in the new Netflix docuseries, Rafa, where the tennis legend said he feels “so much better” when he eats its vegan yoghurt.
Fresh off of becoming France’s best-selling plant-based meat brand, HappyVore is attempting the Guinness World Record for the largest meat-free barbecue ever hosted. Pre-registration is open for the event, which will take place at Paris’s Ground Control on June 29.
Also in Paris, fellow meat alternative maker La Vie has opened a 600 sq m guinguette on the banks of the Seine for the summer, featuring vegan charcuterie boards, focaccia and sandwiches, and signature cocktails.
US plant-based food brand Blackbird Foods has added a new organic seitan block to its whole-food portfolio, which can be found at Whole Foods Market stores in the Northeast.
California’s Urban Remedy has introduced protein-boosted shroom coffee and matcha lattes, featuring 20g of plant-based protein, adaptogens, antioxidants, and other wellness compounds. They’re available nationwide at the brand’s grab-and-go kiosks at Whole Foods Market, as well as online, for $9.99 per 16oz bottle.
Celebrity chef Matthew Kenney, whose plant-based restaurant empire is vast and controversial, has opened Besos, a new vegan eatery in Detroit, Michigan.
British fast-casual chain Farmer J has teamed up with Bold Bean Co to use its butter beans in three new dishes: a tomato, bean and fennel salad; a chunky butter bean hummus; and a bean, avocado and feta egg pot.
Speaking of new restaurants, London’s meat-free outpost Bubala is opening its largest site yet in Covent Garden this September.
And in Asia, Taiwan’s Ministry of Agriculture has teamed up with vegan fine-dining brand YM Spring to co-launch the Taiwan International Plant-Based Festival in Singapore, which is running from May 30 to September 30.
Company and finance updates
Israeli whole-cut meat alternative producer Steakholder Foods has raised $1.1M from a new warrant exercise, while issuing new warrants that could generate an additional $2.2M if exercised. It comes days after the firm filed a prospectus for the resale of shares that could result in an $8M equity raise.
Swiss plant-based meat leader Planted has posted a 46% hike in year-on-year sales in Q1 2026 in Germany, where the overall category has experienced a 7% uptick.
Singaporean food tech startup Prefer has published the results of an independent life-cycle assessment of its bean-free coffee ingredient, PreferRoast, which generates 3.3kg of CO2e per kg of product, up to 8.8 times less than conventional coffee.
At the Livekindly Collective, Constantin Fink has taken over as the Germany, Austria and Switzerland head for the Like brand of plant-based meat. He replaces Matthias Miege, who took up the role just four months ago.
German tofu startup Omami‘s founder and CEO, Christina Hammerschmid, is exiting the business as it gets fully integrated into its parent, The New Originals Company.
Fellow Israeli firm Amai Proteins, which uses precision fermentation to make sweet proteins, has appointed Rena Cohen-First as its sales and business development director for North America to accelerate the rollout of its Sweelin ingredient.
A year after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, vegan restaurant chain Planta has closed its two remaining locations in Canada. It continues to operate seven eateries in the US under a new entity that emerged out of the insolvency process.
Policy and research developments
The Malaysian Bioeconomy Development Corporation, operating under the country’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, has joined the APAC Society for Cellular Agriculture.
Indian plant-based milk brand So Good, owned by Life Health Foods, has been announced as the title sponsor of the Vegan India Conference 2026, which will be held in Mumbai from June 6-7.
Seoul National University has filed a patent for a gel scaffold that could give cultivated meat a real structure, instead of producing a uniform paste. The core-shell design holds muscle cells in one compartment and fat cells in the other, and this lets the tissue build the layered, marbled look of animal muscle.
Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.