Future Food Quick Bites: Cultivated Meat Tasting, THIS Is New & Sweet Proteins

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 Upside Foods’s latest cultivated meat tasting, a new vegan restaurant in New York City, and THIS’s brand refresh.

New products and launches

South Korean vegan maker Unlimeat has expanded its presence across the US with a listing at 130 Raley’s stores, where consumers can buy its BBQ sliced beef in original and bulgogi flavours, and its pulled pork.

In its latest tasting event, Upside Foods partnered with New York City restaurant Wildair to showcase its cultivated chicken as part of a menu including crispy chicken, skewers, and a pithivier.

Speaking of New York City restaurants, vegan chain Le Botaniste has opened its sixth location in the Big Apple at Penn 11 in the Penn District.

In more restaurant news, San Diego vegan eateries Evolution Fast Food and Donna Jean have moved into a shared space in North Park to bring stability and fresh opportunities for both businesses.

Seattle-based vegan chicken startup Rebellyous Foods has teamed up with distributor Dot Foods, to expand its footprint to schools, restaurants, event venues, and institutions nationwide.

Back on the east coast, New Jersey-based Nature’s Bounty has introduced a Plant-Based Omega-3 dietary supplement. It features 1,000 mg of vegetarian algae oil to support heart, joint, and skin health, and is available at CVS, Walgreens, Publix, Kroger, and Amazon.

50/50 Foods has secured a listing for its Both Burger, which blends meat with vegetables, at natural foods retailer Thrive Market.

Across the Atlantic, London-based Multus has introduced Proliferum B, a four-strong line of affordable, animal-free alternatives to fetal bovine serum for cultivated meat production.

Fellow British startup ReRooted, which sells plant-based milk in glass bottles and collects them for reuse, has partnered with Panasonic to install a cold chain unit that lowers its carbon footprint while expanding its capacity.

And Andy Shovel, co-founder of plant-based meat brand THIS, has started an animal welfare charity called A Bit Weird, initially launching with three initiatives around chick culling, lamb castration, and “happy-clappy animal branding“.

Company and finance updates

Speaking of which, THIS has introduced a brand refresh, partnering with London agency Kuba & Friends to update its packaging, logo, typeface, and background.

Canada’s investment in legumes continues, with national cluster Protein Industries Canada investing in a project to develop high-protein ingredients using local fava beans. The collaboration involves Griffith Foods, BFY Proteins, Botaniline and Faba Canada, which will create a neutral-tasting faba protein, as well as processed ingredients for consumer goods.

US biotech company Sunflower Therapeutics, an alternative protein manufacturing specialist, has closed an oversubscribed $3M funding round by Clear Current Capital to launch its Daisy Petal and Dahlia Petal perfusion fermentation systems.

Dutch fermentation startup Farmless has secured €1M as part of a European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) grant, a year after it raised €4.8M for its ‘brewed’ microbial protein.

Speaking of grants, Chilean alternative protein player Luyef Biotechnologies has bagged $1M from the Chilean Economic Development Agency to scale up cultivated meat production, and another $500,000 from the Good Food Institute to develop a cost-effective fungi-derived culture medium. It’s now looking to close a $4M seed funding round.

Belgian startup Paleo, which makes precision-fermented myoglobin, has welcomed AB InBev alum Ben Souffriau as its new chief innovation officer.

Israel’s Steakholder Foods has made a major step towards its Asia expansion, agreeing to sell its MX200 3D printer and plant-based premixes to Taiwanese food company Vegefarm, which will commercialise plant protein products in the local market with support from the Industrial Technology Research Institute.

Policy and research developments

Sweet protein innovator Oobli has received a ‘no questions’ letter from the US Food and Drug Administration for its precision-fermented monellin sweetener, which can now be used in food and beverages. It is the startup’s second ingredient approved for sale, after its Oubli Sweet Protein in March.

Researchers at the University of Alberta have developed a way to help pea protein hold its shape better after 3D printing: by activating water with cold plasma.

At Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute IVV, scientists have created an egg white foam alternative from pea flour under the LeguFoam project, which is backed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action.

Finally, University of Cambridge postgraduate student Callan MacDonald is the inaugural winner of PETA‘s $2,500 Future Without Speciesism contest. He has created AgriCell, a first-of-its-kind cell bank to archive and preserve the most advanced primary cells for cultivated meat production.

Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.