Future Food Quick Bites: Greggs x Nigella, Tyson vs Paul & A Whole Lotta AI

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 new vegan parmesan products, an oat milk cocktail listing, and a bunch of AI developments.

New products and launches

French dairy giant Bel Group has rolled out a new iteration of its plant-based Boursin Garlic & Herbs cream cheese in the UK, swapping the plastic tub for the classic aluminium-wrapped packaging encased in a paper box. It’s priced at £2.99 for each 150g pack.

UK fast-food chain Greggs has brought back its Vegan Festive Bake in response to popular demand, which features Quorn pieces in an improved recipe. It has launched an ad with chef and cookbook author Nigella Lawson to announce its Christmas menu.

Oat milk liqueur company and Dragons Den alum Panther Milk will land on the shelves of 50 Co-op and Asda stores in the UK this Christmas.

South Korean vegan brand Unlimeat has transcended beyond meat analogues to launch a chocolate spread made from soybeans, Stevia and xylitol.

Fellow South Korean startup Armored Fresh has introduced vegan grated parmesan and kimchi parmesan SKUs. They’re available on its website and will be stocked at Walmart and on Amazon by the end of the year.

Advocacy group World Animal Protection has released an AI chatbot to answer questions about cultivated meat. Called The Cultivator, it was created in partnership with PubTrawlr and is constantly updated with new studies and insights.

Another virtual chatbot comes from tofu maker Nasoya, whose AI-powered assistant Tofie sits on its website to answer questions about the plant protein.

Pecan milk maker PKN has launched a barista edition called PKN Joy, which is certified by the Upcycled Food Association. It’s available on the company’s website and select retailers across the US.

And Californian giant Beyond Meat‘s veggie-forward Sun Sausages have expanded into Whole Foods Market stores nationwide.

Finance and business developments

Sustainability non-profit Food Systems Innovation‘s Nectar, a sensory testing initiative centred on the protein transition, has acquired the data assets of alternative protein discovery platform Taste Like.

KP Snacks, the UK’s leading peanut supplier owned by Intersnack, is foraying into nut butter with the takeover of bestselling peanut butter brand Whole Earth Foods from Ecotone.

State organisations Innovate UK and Protein Industries Canada have announced two projects as part of a bilateral R&D partnership, which involve plant-based meat ingredient solutions and nutritionally superior vegan products.

Another alliance on plant proteins comes from ingredient giant Ingredion‘s partnership with Sweden’s Lantmännen, which will focus on accelerating the development of pea protein isolates for the European market.

Swedish oat milk giant Oatly recorded a 11% revenue growth in Q3 2024 compared to the corresponding period last year, with a positive sales performance in each of its markets (including Greater China, where it has struggled recently).

University of Potsdam‘s centre for knowledge and tech transfer, the Potsdam Trust, has won a €1.8M grant from the German economic affairs and climate protection ministry and the European Social Fund Plus to establish an impact incubator for sustainable startups.

Israel’s Steakholder Foods has secured $270,000 in the second payment of its $1M Singapore-Israel Industrial R&D Foundation grant. It has so far received $490,000 as part of the funding.

Dutch bottling giant Refresco has completed its acquisition of Spanish plant-based milk company Frías Nutrición, a deal that was first announced in July.

Israeli microalgae protein firm Brevel has successfully implemented a first-of-a-kind model for building a facility for industrial-scale fermenters, completing construction of its first plant and securing offtake agreements with two leading food and drink companies.

Policy, research and events

The APAC Regulatory Coordination Forum has released two white papers covering cellline development and culture media developments to help companies tackle safety assessment as part of regulatory procedures for cultivated meat.

Cultivated chicken maker Upside Foods has appealed a Florida judge’s decision to deny a preliminary injunction in its lawsuit against the state’s ban on cultivated meat. Green Queen revealed the firm’s intention to do so last month, but it does mean a planned exhibit at next month’s Art Basel fair in Miami is likely scrapped.

Australian counterpart Vow, meanwhile, has now progressed to a second round of public consultation in its home country, after Food Standards Australia New Zealand updated its standards to allow the sale of any cultivated meat product that passes premarket approval (rather than authorising as a novel food).

Scientists at the Technical University of Denmark have collaborated with Alchemist, a two-Michelin-starred eatery in Copenhagen to show how nutrient-rich mycelium can grow on discarded coffee grounds and wood, serving it to customers in the restaurant.

In response to the cow abductions in Mexico, Chilean vegan startup NotCo created a decoy NotCow filled with its burgers as part of a marketing campaign, resulting in the fake cow being abducted.

During the Netflix fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul, vegan burger chain Mr Charlie’s was serving up plant-based chicken nuggets and sandwiches in partnership with TiNDLE Foods. Tyson recently invested in the restaurant company.

Nearly 2,000 students took to the streets in Taipei on Sunday to urge the Taiwanese government to introduce vegan meals at schools.

In France’s Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, Pessac has become the third town to ban foie gras from municipal events this year, joining Poitiers and Montpellier. Before 2024, 12 other cities had introduced this ban.

Finally, speaking of bans, Berkeley has become the first US city to outlaw factory farming, with 60% of votes in favour of the move.

Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.