Future Food Quick Bites: Veganuary Launches, Hospital Caps & A Ted Talk

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 host of launches for Veganuary, several plant-based brand campaigns, and a Bezos Earth Fund Ted Talk.

New products and launches

In time for Veganuary, Starbucks has brought its popular brown sugar oat milk format to the cortado, launching the espresso-based drink alongside a vegan Spicy Falafel Pocket.

With a menu designed by former Bon Appétit Test Kitchen star Molly Baz, Face Plant is an upcoming vegan fast-food drive-thru restaurant set to open later this month at a former McDonald’s location in Portland, Oregon.

Another Portland-based chain, ice cream maker Salt & Straw, has released five new dairy-free flavours for Veganuary, including coconut cake and pineapple jam, bananas foster with candied pecans, and chocolate caramel corn with candied peanuts. It’s also teamed up with pistachio milk brand Táche for vegan milkshakes.

Plant-based chain Next Level Burger is jumping on the superfood demand with a burger and smoothie shake available at all 10 locations for January, while its subsidiary Veggie Grill has debuted a five-strong range of superfood smoothies on its permanent menu across all 16 stores.

TiNDLE Foods has partnered with PLNT Burger, which will feature its vegan chicken on two burgers (in crispy and spicy variants) at all 13 locations on the East Coast.

Whole-cut meat maker Chunk Foods is continuing its US expansion through a listing with online retailer Vegan Essentials.

Los Angeles-based vegan protein shake maker Koia has extended its lineup with Koia Elite, which comes in vanilla and chocolate flavours and contains 32g of plant protein. The 12oz bottles are available in the chillers at Whole Foods, with shelf-stable versions set to come to 7-Eleven and e-commerce channels shortly.

In Germany, Rewe subsidiary Penny has launched Cremembert, a white-label Camembert alternative made from fermented cauliflower by Veganz Group, in its stores. It’s available for €1.99 per 125g pack.

In the UK, Wagamama – which is aiming to make half its menu plant-based by the end of the year – has partnered with vegan influencer Alfie Steiner (aka alfiecooks) to unveil a Firecracker Chick’n Ramen across the UK.

Bakery chain Greggs has reintroduced its Spicy Vegetable Curry Bake for Veganuary. It’s available nationwide for £2.10, and as part of its £3.35 savoury bake deal.

Fellow British chain Zizzi, which serves Italian cuisine, has teamed up with Bold Bean Co to put a Butter Bean Stufato on its menu for Veganuary.

Also in the UK, Mars has brought out a new flavour in its dairy-free Galaxy lineup in the UK. The vegan Hazelnut Praline chocolate bar can be found at Sainsbury’s for £3.

Plant protein producer Squeaky Bean has launched ham-like tofu slices in spinach-basil and tomato-red pepper flavours, as well as a Super Grain & Vegetable Burger (featuring fermented rye). The 80g slices are available for £2.50 and the burger for £3.50 per two-pack at Sainsbury’s.

In more tofu news from the UK, Cauldron Foods has come out with the “quickest-cooking tofu pieces ever”. The bite-sized cubes can be prepared in five minutes and are available for ¢2.75 per 160g pack at Asda.

London-based vegan cheesemaker Julienne Bruno has annoucned the first product of its Collection 02. The Mozzafiore Pearls are its take on mozzarella balls, and will be available at Whole Foods stores in Kensington and Piccadilly from January 9 for £3.95.

UK dairy-free brand Nush has updated its almond yoghurt recipe to include more protein. The products now contain between 16g and 23g of protein per pot, and the move is complemented with the introduction of a new vanilla fudge flavour.

British vegan frozen foods maker One Planet Pizza has gained a listing at 400 Asda stores for its recently launched Tex Mex Pizza.

And among the plethora of Veganuary innovations, one of the more outrageous ones comes from Papa Johns and vegan pork maker La Vie, which have worked together to roll out a Hawaiian Vegan Pizza for the chain in the UK.

Company and finance updates

La Vie, based in Paris, is also on the hunt for a new CFO to lead the startup’s financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, and fundraising efforts.

Vegan cheese giant Violife has rolled out a new National Quitter’s Day campaign to promote its dairy-free cream cheese across digital, social media, and out-of-home channels.

The Real Housewives of Atlanta star Phaedra Parks has teamed up with Danone-owned brand Silk to host a side-by-side live taste test of cereals with cow’s milk and its Vanilla Almondmilk. Held in New York City on January 9 (ahead of National Milk Day), contestants – those who prefer dairy over plant-based – will be hooked to a lie detector taste when asked which milk they prefer.

In yet another Veganuary campaign, UK plant-based meat maker THIS has debuted its latest TV ad with creative agency St Luke’s. The mockumentary-style spot features a real estate agent who was inspired to (unsuccessfully) become a wingsuit flyer after tasting its vegan pork sausages.

Months after announcing its closure, meat analogue maker Motif FoodWorks is auctioning off its lab equipment via New Mill Capital.

Nestlé-backed plant-based food startup Sundial Foods has also shut down, having sold its IP to “an acquirer with greater scale and resources than we have”.

Canadian cell ag platform Cult Food Science is now accepting cryptocurrency payments for its Noochies! line of vegan pet food. Customers can pay with currencies like bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), solana (SOL), and dogecoin (DOGE).

British developer TreesPlease Games is running Veganuary promotions (including paid marketing) throughout the month on its Longleaf Valley mobile game. It’s expected to gain around 75 million impressions.

Californian plant-based giant Beyond Meat has released results from a life-cycle assessment that shows its vegan steak generates 84% fewer emissions than conventional pre-cooked steak tips, while requiring 93% less water, 88% less land, and 65% less non-renewable energy.

Policy and research developments

Andy Jarvis, director of Future of Food at the Bezos Earth Fund, has delivered a Ted Talk on the future of food, and the importance of using a “yes, and” approach.

Nearly half of American adults are looking to change their diets this year, but only 7% plan to eat plant-based, according to a survey by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and Morning Consult.

It’s also perhaps why the City of West Hollywood is urging people to participate in Veganuary, posting a list of meat-free restaurants in the city.

In the UK, NHS Scotland‘s Golden Jubilee University National Hospital has begun trialling biodegradable, plant-based theatre caps to cut single-use plastic waste. They were co-designed by the University of Strathclyde and Heriot-Watt University.

Finally, University of Exeter researchers are looking for 200 volunteers who are going vegan in January for a study about the impact of Veganuary.

Check out last week’s Future Food Quick Bites.