Future Food Quick Bites: Oat Milk Baileys, Beyond Steak Fillet & An Impossible Burger Challenge

Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Diageo’s newest non-dairy Baileys, Beyond Meat’s mycelium steak, and Minor Figures’s ‘Hyper’ oat milk.

New products and launches

Beverage giant Diageo has released two non-dairy versions of its popular cream liqueur Baileys. Made with oat milk, they’re available across the US in Coffee Toffee and Cookies & Creamy flavours for $24.99 per 700ml bottle.

Also in the US, Malk Organics, known for its clean-label milk alternatives, has introduced organic coconut and soy milks, which will be available for $6.99 and $5.99 per 28oz bottle at Whole Foods Market and Sprouts Farmers Market.

Elmhurst 1925 is getting in on the clean-label alt-milk action too, rolling out a suite of unsweetened options – from plain and vanilla pistachio to coconut barista and vanilla cashew – as well as a barista cashew milk. They will retail for $7.99-8.99 per pack starting June, and were debuted at Natural Products Expo West in Anaheim, California last week.

To celebrate its 15th anniversary, plant-based dairy leader Califia Farms has introduced a limited-edition Birthday Cake almond creamer, retailing at Kroger, Wegmans and Wakefern for $5.79. This is in addition to its new pistachio-almond creamer, organic cashew milk, and espresso-blend cold brew (available for $5.49-6.99 at various supermarkets).

US ice-cream giant Häagen-Dazs has released the new non-dairy sorbets: Summer Blueberry & Lemon, Passion Fruit & Sweet Pear, and Sweet Lemon Coconut. They’re available nationwide for $6.99 per pint.

At the trade show, British oat milk brand Minor Figures unveiled the newest additions to its US lineup: mocha and cinnamon oat lattes, and a functional Hyper Oat SKU, due to be launched in 2026. It has also reintroduced its barista lite edition with 33% fewer calories, which is rolling out this month.

Meanwhile, plant-based leader Beyond Meat showcased its upcoming whole-cut steak at the event. While it didn’t confirm if this was the mycelium-based product it teased last year, the brand promised it “mirrors the texture, flavour, and experience of a premium USDA steak fillet”.

South Korean meat-free brand Unlimeat debuted its new bowl SKUs, with the range comprising Galbi & Kimchi Rice, Bulgogi Japchae, and Gochujang Bibimbap.

In yet another Expo West launch, plant protein maker Beleaf introduced a shelf-stable Soybean Beef Slice (which can last up to 18 months), alongside vegan bacon, mini drumsticks, and shrimp.

In the UK, The Coconut Collab has rolled out a strawberry-flavoured protein yoghurt made with a base of coconuts and almonds. Available at Tesco and (shortly) Ocado, each £1.60 single-serve pot contains 9g of plant protein.

Oat milk giant Oatly has kickstarted its latest marketing drive, which will see the company dole out 20,000 free coffees with its barista milk. It comes after blind taste tests found that four times as many Brits prefer oat milk in their coffee than currently purchase it.

Speaking of brand promotions, Impossible Foods has launched its Bloody Delicious campaign in Australia, partnering with TV personality and TikTok chef Iain ‘Huey’ Hewitson to challenge locals to distinguish between its burger and beef in a blind taste test.

Meanwhile, Australian cultured meat maker Vow has debuted its Forged Gras product at Two Men Bagel House in Singapore, with the cultivated foie gras appearing in several limited-edition menu items.

As part of its blended meat move, fellow Aussie startup Fable Foods has partnered with catering giant Aramark and William White Meats in the UK to create a 65-35 Beef and Shiitake Mushroom burger.

Company and finance developments

Polish vegan restaurant chain Krowarzywa – once the largest plant-based group in the country – is shutting down its last location at the end of the month, citing financial difficulties.

Umami Bioworks is continuing the global expansion of its cultivated seafood operations, establishing a hub in Wageningen in the Netherlands. This is its second office in Europe, following its move into the UK last October.

Swedish cultivated meat player Re:meat has closed an oversubscribed €1M investment round to open a new facility it calls Re:meatery.

British tempeh brand Tiba Tempeh has raised £1.1M ($1.4M) in a funding round led by Maven Capital Partners, after its retail sales jumped by 736% in 2024, making it the fastest-growing meat-free brand in the UK.

Canadian vegan fast-food chain Odd Burger saw revenue grow by 6% from Q3 to Q4 2024 (though it was flat compared to Q4 2023), while losses plunged by 80% in the last three months of 2024. It ascribed the performance to the expansion of its franchise model and CPG business.

Californian biomanufacturing startup Pow.Bio has opened a 25,000 sq ft demo facility with bench- and pilot-scale continuous fermentation capacities in Alameda. The FDA-approved plant will help precision fermentation startups transition from gram-scale experiments to production in the hundreds of kgs.

Through its Prairies Economic Development Canada department, the Canadian government has invested C$1M to support the Cellular Agriculture Prairies Ecosystem project led by New Harvest Canada. It will be matched by contributions from regional partners, bringing total investment to C$2.4M over three years.

Still in Canada, coffee chain Second Cup has scrapped the non-dairy surcharge, meaning all its plant-based milks are available as a free swap. This comes shortly after similar announcements from Tim Hortons and Dunkin’.

Los Angeles coffee chain Go Get Em Tiger has partnered with Elmhurst 1925 to make its barista oat milk the exclusive oat option across all eight locations, in what is positioned as a transition to seed-oil-free milks.

Research, policy and awards

The Good Food Institute, a think tank focused on alternative proteins, has introduced an interactive Alternative Protein Career Pathways web tool to provide career guidance for people interested in the sector.

The government of India has launched a call for biomanufacturing grant proposals for researchers working on smart proteins. Applications are open until March 25.

In the UK, the University of Oxford is working with several other institutes to help design food policies that promote net-zero targets and address public health challenges. The Thriving Food Futures project will run for five years, and has been set up with a £6M grant from UK Research and Innovation and the National Institute for Health and Care Research.

Alternative protein trade conference Plant FWD is returning to Amsterdam next month (April 8-9), convening over 1,000 industry professionals, investors, and policymakers. The event will include new product demos, a preview of the Eat-Lancet Dietary Guidelines 2.0, and pitches from 10 startups.

The annual What’s Trending in Nutrition survey by Pollock Communications and Today’s Dietitian has named gut health and plant-based eating among the top trends that will shape consumer choices this year. However, myths about the protein content of plant-based food persist.

Aligning with the above, 87% of American adults believe they need to eat meat, dairy, eggs and other animal products to get enough protein, according to a new survey by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and Morning Consult. Women and Gen Zers are most likely to disagree with this misconception.

In California’s Bay Area, artificial intelligence organisations Electric Sheep and OpenPaws hosted a hackathon with 81 coders as part of its AI for Animals conference series. It tackled 16 real-world challenges drawn from the social impact, food system transformation, and animal protection communities.

Finally, fungi protein startup Nature’s Fynd‘s Dairy-Free Strawberry Fy Yogurt has been named the winner in the Dairy Alternative category at the 2025 Nexty Awards.

Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.