Future Food Quick Bites: Tempeh Protein Bites, Dairy-Free Cold Foam & Garden Gourmet
Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Tiba Tempeh’s protein bites, Prefer’s Brazilian bean-free coffee collab, and Garden Gourmet’s vegan tilt.
New products and launches
British plant protein firm Tiba Tempeh has unveiled Protein Bites, a chilled snack range delivering 12g of protein and 3.5g of fibre per 60g pack. It will be available in roasted and Southern-style flavours at Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Ocado from May 6, priced at £1.50 per pack.
Fellow UK startup Drink Lomi has debuted 10g vegan cold foam toppers for its single-serve matcha sachets, tapping into two of the biggest trends in the drinks category. The “cloud foam” contains a base of coconut oil and glucose syrup.
Also in the UK, The Coconut Collab has launched a gut-friendly Natural Kefir drink made by fermenting coconut milk and water. It’s available at Sainsbury’s and Ocado for £3.45 per 500ml bottle, with more retailers to follow in May and June.
French foodservice brand Tipiak has introduced a new Vegan Canapé Selection for the UK market, comprising 36 bites like falafels, tartlets, crackers, blinis, shortbreads, and carrot cakes.
A double launch for Beyond Meat this week. The Californian giant rolled out its spicy Buffalo-flavoured chicken pieces at over 2,000 Kroger stores, and its Korean BBQ-flavoured burger at retailers in Germany and the Netherlands.
Canadian chain Panago Pizza has rolled out Daiya‘s reformulated oat-cream-based cheese alternative across all its stores, with customers able to swap it in for dairy on any pizza at no extra cost.
Also in the Netherlands, The Vegetarian Butcher has unveiled a new BBQ-ready burger and chicken tenders at Albert Heijn, Dirk, Vomar, Boon, Dekamarkt and Hoogvlie.
German mycoprotein startup Nosh.bio’s blended beef mince is now officially listed with Artland Foodservice and live on the Transgourmet system, enabling foodservice providers to directly order the product into their kitchens.
Over in India, plant protein shows no signs of stopping, with RiteBite Max Protein launching a range of pea protein powders delivering 22g of the nutrient per serving. They’re available in seven flavours, including Alphonso Mango, Digestive Masala and Banana Caramel, for ₹2,499 ($26.50) per kg.
And Singapore’s Prefer, known for its bean-free coffee and chocolate, is expanding its horizons through a partnership with Sapiens Global. The two companies unveiled Sapiens Cafe, which blends 60% arabica with 40% PreferRoast, at FHA Singapore (April 21-14), ahead of rollouts in Brazil and Japan.
Company and finance updates
Nestlé-owned meat-free brand Garden Gourmet has turned its portfolio 100% plant-based after phasing out some vegetarian products.
Dutch manufacturer Van Loon Group has announced that its share of blended meat products increased from 3% in 2024 to 11% last year, with associated revenue growing from €31M to €122M. This has allowed the company to save one million kg of animal-derived raw materials.
Austrian mycoprotein startup Revo Foods has kicked off a new crowdfunding round at a €7.2M valuation, aiming to raise €1M in total funding.
New Zealand-based Nutrition From Water has completed its tech transfer to commercial scale, making its microalgae-derived Marine Whey Gold ingredient available for mass production.
C-suite veteran Karuna Rawal, whose most recent permanent role was chief revenue and marketing officer at Nature’s Fynd, has joined the board of directors of Finnish gas protein firm Solar Foods.
Molecular farming startup Alpine Bio has appointed Matt Crisp, CEO of Ichor Agriculture and co-founder of Quercus Biosolutions, to its board.
Fellow Californian firm The Every Company, which sells precision-fermented egg proteins, has brought on former Siemens Energy engineer Mario Patiño as its new chief revenue officer.
GNT Group has opened a sales and application office in Shanghai to meet demand for its plant-based food dyes under the Exberry brand in China.
Research and policy developments
Dutch ingredients specialist Corbion has been awarded a US patent for a liquid suspension of algal biomass with a distinct DHA-rich omega-3 profile.
A case study for New York startup Helaina shows that its precision-fermented lactoferrin ingredient, effera, significantly improves blood iron markers. This signals that iron homeostasis is a core lever and could be especially relevant for populations where traditional iron supplementation falls short.
Researchers at the University of Helsinki have developed OatGuard, an oat-based clean-label solution to mask the bitterness and off-flavours found in plant-based proteins.
Finally, a team of scientists led by the Technical University of Denmark have identified three lactic acid bacteria isolated from vegetables and fermented foods that are highly suitable for producing soy yoghurts with improved digestibility.
Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.