The Week In Food Tech: NotCo Heads To Starbucks, No Kosher Certification For Impossible Pork

Just a few short years ago, it was unusual to get more than a handful of stories each week about meat analogues, dairy alternatives, and other alt foods. Nowadays, the opposite is true. In fact, there are so many developments in the alt-protein and food tech space we decided to create a weekly column that gathers all the various bits of news out there into one single place for easy reading. 

This week, Starbucks teams up with Chilean alt-protein company NotCo, OmniPork heads to London, and California’s TurtleTree Labs launches a new facility.

Starbucks now carries plant-based foods from NotCo

Starbucks in Chile now sells plant-based and vegan items from alt-protein unicorn NotCo at the coffee giant’s 130 locations around the country. NotCo, itself originally from Chile, makes a variety of plant-based milks, meats, and other products, and is currently expanding globally. Its milk and faux beef (in sandwiches) are now available at Starbucks Chile locations.

No kosher certification for Impossible Pork?

The world’s largest certifier of kosher products will not endorse Impossible Pork. Though the Orthodox Union called it an excellent product, the organization declined to endorse it because of consumer sensitivity. In general, past attempts to certify faux-pork products as kosher have not gone over well. 

Meatless Farm and Real Madrid win award for promoting plant-based diets

Leeds, UK-based Meatless Farm and football club Real Madrid have one a PETA Game Changers Award for their work around promoting plant-based diets. Real Madrid’s players shared their experiences of eating more plant-based foods in order to showcase how plant-based meals can fit into high-performance diets like those of athletes.

Singapore’s TurtleTree Labs has a new facility in California

Singapore’s TurtleTree Labs, a company using cell-culture technology to develop various milk products, including human milk, has launched a new facility in West Sacramento, California. The 24,000-square-foot building will serve as a research and development hub for the company.

Florida city embraces a plant-based treaty 

Boynton Beach, Florida is the first city to endorse the Plant Based Treaty, a document created by activists that’s meant to promote diets based on sustainability and moving away from animal proteins. The “treaty” is more cermonial than anything else, and mostly meant to spur thinking and discussion around plant-based eating.

Beyond Meat debuts plant-based breakfast at Sam’s Club stores

Beyond Meat just launched its Beyond Breakfast Sausage Patties at Sam’s Club stores across the US. The 22-pack of patties is available now and joins existing Beyond Meat products at Sam’s stores.

Indonesia’s Burgreens launches a vegan pizzeria

Max’s Pizza, a new concept by Indonesian plant-based restaurant chain Burgreens, has opened in the Kemang neighborhood of Jakarta. All of the restaurant’s New York-style pizza offerings are 100% vegan in addition to being allium-free, gluten-free, and available as whole pies or single slices. 

Perfect Day adds gelato to its product roster

US-based Perfect Day, known for creating alt-dairy products through precision fermentation, has partnered with gelato brand Villa Dolce Gelato to develop new products. The companies will be bringing gelato and ready-to-bake desserts to restaurants, casinos, hotels, and universities across the U.S. This news follows Perfect Day’s just-announced $350 million pre-IPO funding round.

Wicked Kitchen debuts first whole cut plant-based lamb in UK

UK-based vegan food company Wicked Kitchen, owned by Tesco, recently unveiled what it says is the first whole cut lamb roast made from plant-based ingredients. The product is made with king oyster mushrooms and a wheat and pea protein blend.

Lead image courtesy of Starbucks.