Future Food Quick Bites: Beyond Smash, Santa Love Oatly & Vegfest Vietnam

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 two Beyond Meat debuts in the UK, Oatly’s Christmas-themed ad campaign, and an alt-protein university course.

New products and launches

As Veganuary approaches, Beyond Meat is bringing its Beyond Smash burger to the UK. It will be available at Tesco from January 1, priced at £3.25 for a two-pack. Moreover, it’s also debuting its vegan steak in the Beyond Steak Chimichurri Burrito at fast-casual chain Tortilla, a promotion tat will run until February 6.

Also coinciding with Veganuary, UK plant-based food brand This will launch This Isn’t Chicken Kyiv and This Isn’t Chicken Wings SKUs. The former will be available at Sainsury’s for £4.25 per 250g pack from January 1, while the latter will be stocked in the freezers of Asda and Morrisons on January 6 and 13, respectively, for for £3.75 per 110g pack.

Spanish vegan fast-casual chain Plant Shack is eyeing a UK debut after signing an agreement with entrepreneur and investor Michael Vosc. The group is now on the hunt for a location in London.

In the US, vegan sushi chain Planta Queen‘s Atlanta outpost in Buckhead Village has been put up for sale, at a starting price of $3.3M.

Texas-based vegan snacking brand All Y’Alls Foods has added a new product to its Tasty Toppers lineup called It’s Big Crunchy Cheezy Bits Y’All. The gluten- and dairy-free cheese-flavoured product has 33g of protein per 2.9oz pack, which is available on its website now, with a retail and Amazon rollout by the end of the year.

Jumping on the Spotify Wrapped trend, UK hospitality tech partner Vita Mojo has produced its own foodservice industry version, revealing that orders for vegan food at chains like Leon, Gail’s, Wasabi, YO! and Subway rose by 56% this year.

French alt-milk brand Bonneterre has launched a no-sugar peanut milk that can be used in both cold and hot drinks, in cooking applications, as well as in cocktails.

Animal advocacy charity Viva! has launched a mythbusting guide to alternative proteins called Fake News About Fake Meat.

Finance and company updates

Luxembourg-based CSM Ingredients‘ innovation hub Generate has opened a global call for startups innovating with “breakthrough ideas” to reshape the ingredient sector and accelerate the food system transformation – think added-value plant proteins, for example.

In the US, Oatly‘s annual Update Milk campaign for Christmas is proposing a new Welcome Santa ritual, asking consumers to switch from milk and cookies to oat milk and croquembouche. It includes taste tests with Santas, as well as digital and out-of-home posters.

In the US, mycelium startup MycoTechnology has appointed Jordi Ferre as its new CEO, taking over from interim chief Ranjan Patnaik, who will continue in his role as CTO.

Brightly, a startup converting methane emissions from food waste into high-quality carbon credits, has secured $2.5M in seed funding led by Schreiber Foods, with support from G-Force, Collaborative Fund, Clear Current Capital, and Windsail Capital.

Cashew milk maker Nutcase is hoping to leverage its connections with poker professionals and streamers to attract investors in its bid to raise $2.5M in seed funding.

Israel’s ICL Food Specialties has announced a follow-on investment in Californian duckweed protein producer Plantible Foods, a year after introducing the Rovitaris Binding Solution using the latter’s Rubi Protein. It adds to Plantible’s $30M Series B round announced last month, following ICL’s participation in the Series A round in 2021.

Ingredients giant Givaudan has partnered with Moonshot Pirates, a movement of young changemakers, for the Shape the Future Challenge, which challenges Gen Zers to imagine alternative protein solutions that don’t mimic meat or dairy, but instead address needs like affordability, nutrition and convenience.

As it awaits regulatory approval in five markets, French cultivated foie gras maker Gourmey has welcomed Michelin-starred chefs Claude Le Tohic (US), Rasmus Munk (Denmark) and Daniel Calvert (Japan) to its advisory board.

Israeli molecular farming startup PoLoPo, which is biohacking potatoes to grow egg protein and higher amounts of native protein within the spuds, has begun planting the tubers in fields, moving beyond greenhouse scale. It is expected to yield three tonnes of potatoes when harvested in spring 2025.

Cellular agriculture investor Cult Food Science has agreed to buy meat analogue players The Better Butchers, which is collaborating with fellow alternative protein companies to create hybrid meats, precision-fermented fats, and other ingredients.

Policy, research and awards

University College Dublin has become the latest institution to offer a course on future food, a micro-credential Level 8 programme titled Alternative Proteins for Sustainable Food Systems. It will focus on the technologies and materials used to make foods from plants, algae, fungi, precision fermentation, and cellular agriculture.

Colorado startup Meati has settled the class-action lawsuit alleging it falsely marketed its mycelium-based steak and chicken analogues as ‘made from mushroom root’. The case has now been voluntarily dismissed.

Researchers from King’s College London have been awarded £1.5M as part of a research grant from the UK’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council to investigate the impact of plant-based food diversity on gut health.

US cultivated fat startup Genuine Taste has received $100,000 after winning the Top Venture and People’s Choice Awards in the 2024 Invest Together in Climate Innovation programme.

Vietnamese vegan charity Vive has welcomed over 30,000 attendees at two Vegfest events in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, delivering more than 15,000 plant-based starter kits.

Vegan seafood maker Bettaf!sh and upcycled apricot seed milk producer Kern Tec are among the winners of the Marketed Innovation Prize by EIT Food, the EU’s future food accelerator.

Plant-based meat leader Impossible Foods has been named on Fast Company‘s list of 66 Brands That Matter in 2024, thanks in large part to its partnership with competitive eater Joey Chestnut.

Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.