Future Food Quick Bites: Coconut Infant Formula, Vegan Sushi Rolls & Regulatory Help

In our weekly column, we round up the latest news and developments in the alternative protein and sustainable food industry. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers a coconut-based infant formula, Marriott Hotels’s food waste driven, and a US government tool for regulatory help.

New products and launches

Los Angeles startup Before the Butcher has introduced a Cooked Plant-Based Breakfast Sausage Patty. The frozen product just needs to be reheated to an internal temperature of 165°F/74°C, and can keep in the freezer for 12 months.

Also in California, plant-based chicken player Daring has launched two new frozen entrée bowls in Buffalo Mac & Cheese and Queso Burrito variants. Both contain dairy cheese, so aren’t suitable for vegans, and will be available at Albertsons, Target, and Publix stores nationwide.

US grocer Trader Joe’s has brought out an unsweetened version of its Organic Non-Dairy Coconut Beverage, which is available for $2.99 per 32oz pack.

Across the Atlantic, GoodMills Innovation will exhibit three new texturants, two made from peas and one from fava beans and wheat, at the Fi Europe 2024 event in Frankfurt (November 19-21).

Dutch alt-seafood producer Vegan Finest Foods has released three plant-based sushi rolls under its Vegan Zeastar brand. They come in three options: Oshi No Salmon, Spicy No Tuna, and No Salmon Asparagus.

Spanish plant-based meat maker Heura is opening a pop-up called The Phamacy in France to celebrate its new additive-free white ham. The setting mimics a real pharmacy with staff dressed in medical gear and a menu in the form of prescriptions.

In the UK, plant-based brand Meatless Farm has added two vegan sourdough pizzas to its lineup in Ham & Mushroom Style and Spicy Pepperoni Style flavours (available at Sainsbury’s), while updating its existing Beef Style Meatballs, Pork Style Sausages, and Quarter Pounders (which can be found at Morrisons).

Fellow British plant-based meat brand THIS, meanwhile, has partnered with fresh pasta maker Dell’Ugo to release two vegan ravioli products. Available in Bacon & Cheese and Chicken & Pesto flavours, they’re available on the Dell’Ugo website and at Morrisons.

In more UK news, egg alternatives brand Oggs has launched Gingerbread Cakes and Hot Chocolate & Marshmallow Cupcakes as part of its Christmas lineup. The cakes can be found at Sainsbury’s and on Ocado for £3.95, and the cupcakes are stocked at Tesco Express, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Ocado for £2.35.

And Australia’s Coco2 has debuted what it claims is the world’s first coconut-based infant formula, which took 10 years to develop alongside the University of Queensland, parents, and healthcare professionals. It offers three products for different age groups: up to six months, six to 12 months, and 12+ months.

Company and finance updates

Marriott Hotels, the world’s largest hotel group, has enlisted AI-powered food waste startup Winnow‘s expertise in 53 of its kitchens in the UK, Ireland and Nordics, after reducing its waste by a quarter in the first six months of 2024 through the technology. The company now aims to cut food waste by 50% in 2025.

North Carolina-based cultivated seafood maker Atlantic Fish Co has won an SBIR PHASE I grant from the US Department of Agriculture, which it will use to advance R&D operations.

FoodBev Media has announced the shortlist for the World Plant-Based Innovation Awards 2024, with companies like MyForest Foods, Armored Fresh, Beyond Meat, Prime Roots, and Elmhurst 1925 among the finalists across 15 categories.

Research and policy developments

In the US, the Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Food and Drug Administration have jointly released an online tool to help biotech companies – including those involved in cultivated meat, precision fermentation and molecular farming – navigate the regulatory pathway.

At the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo, the makers of Hello Kitty will feature the cartoon in an exhibit focused on the sustainability potential of algae. The character will be turned into 32 different types of algae, from triangular microalgae to wakame, looking to promote their role in planet-friendly food, biofuels, bioplastics, etc.

The judge presiding over Upside Foods‘s lawsuit against Florida’s cultivated meat ban held a hearing lasting over two hours, and has suggested he will rule by early November, well before the Art Basel event in Miami Beach (December 6-8), where the startup is hoping to showcase its chicken.

At the National University of Singapore, scientists have developed a scalable method for cultivating pork fat tissue using protein scaffolds made from secalin, a protein extracted from rye.

Alternative protein think tank the Good Food Institute Europe has published an updated edition of its scientific review on cell lines used in cultivated meat.

Finally, while promoting her new climate change movie The Wild Robot, Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o has endorsed eating plant-based food as one of the ways to “do something good for the planet”.

Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.