The Week In Plant Based: Whole30 Goes Vegan, Egg Alternatives From Plant B & Ogg Plus Plastic Negative Packaging

Travel ’round the world each week with Green Queen as we round up the latest new from plant-based food and bev companies. This week, US wellness brand Whole30 has a new development on the vegan front. Elsewhere, egg alternatives are hatching everywhere and another celebrity chef turns to plant-based foods.

US: Whole30 launches a plant-based version of itself

Plant-Based Whole30, a vegan version of the Whole30 brand’s nutritional reset program, is tailored to vegetarians, flexitarians and vegans alike wanting to pinpoint food allergies and sensitivities via a process of elimination and reintroduction of foods. 

The Plant-Based Whole30 program offers two different approaches. Participants can either choose a 100% plant-based program or one that includes animal protein. Both allow legumes, less-processed forms of soy, unsweetened plant-based protein powders, nuts, and seeds to provide adequate protein.

UK/Netherlands: Upfield invests in Oggs egg alternative

Plant-based food company Upfield has purchased a minority stake in Alternative Foods London, which owns egg-alternative brand Oggs. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

Oggs, which started in 2019 in the UK and is ideal for vegan baking, also has a presence in Switzerland and Iceland. Upfield said in a statement that its investment in the brand will allow the latter to expand into new European and US opportunities. 

Malaysia: La Juiceria adds Phuture Foods to its menu

La Juiceria Superfoods collaborated with plant-based food company Phuture Foods to create a Japanese-inspired Katsu Curry dishes made with Phuture’s Chick’n product. The item is available at La Juiceria locations now.

The menu update is part of the chain’s larger plan to overhaul its menus to include healthier options. La Juiceria is also switching all dairy yogurt to plant-based coconut yogurt for smoothies, removing extra charges for requesting plant-based milk in coffee drinks, and adding several other plant-based items and toppings to the menu.

US: Celebrity Chef  invests in plant-based seafood

Spike Mendelsohn, also known for his time on Top Chef as well as his plant-based restaurant chain brand PLNT Burger and mushroom jerky brand Eat the Change, will invest in plant-based seafood company Mind Blown. The latter makes a variety of plant-based seafood analogues including shrimp, crab cakes, and lobster.

Mendelsohn said he was investing in Mind Blown both for the company’s products and because he loves “being part of an innovative team.”

Germany: Plant B launches lupin-based egg alternative

Fifteen months in the making, the liquid egg alternative based on sweet lupin will go on sale in April 2022. Plant B says the product is 100% plant-based and suitable for a variety of functions typically found in eggs, from scrambling to baking to quiches.

Lupin is a legume that belongs to the same plant family as the peanut. A number of alt-protein companies besides Plant B use it in their wares, including Prolupin and Better Nature.

US/Canada: Atlas Monroe’s “Nashville” Chicken Sandwich lands at Copper Branch

Plant-based QSR chain Copper Branch recently partnered with vegan fried chicken company Atlas Monroe to create a new sandwich. The “Nashville Vegan Fried Chicken Sandwich” was initially available at all 40 Copper Branch locations across the US and Canada. It quickly sold out.

Given that popularity, the sandwich is now a permanent menu item on Copper Branch menus in the US and will also soon become a regular staple at the chain’s Canada locations. Atlas Monroe founder Deborah Torres pitched on Shark Tank in 2019 and was offered $1 million in exchange for 100% of the entire company. She ultimately turned the offer down. 

UK: MOMA launches two new alt-milk products

Oat milk brand MOMA has launched what it calls a “barista-quality” chilled oat drink line. A semi-skim and whole-milk version of the drink is now available at more than 220 Waitrose stores in the UK.

MOMA launched in 2006. The company says it achieved 70% growth in 2021 and generated more than £2.6 million ($3.5 million) in EPOS sales during the last 52 weeks.

US: No Evil Foods has a new plastic-negative look 

The plant-based meat brand will roll out new packaging designs across the company’s full product lineup over the coming months. 

Plastic-negative brand No Evil says the new design is printed on Sustainable Forestry Initiative-certified paperboard, which is “a significant and measurable improvement to their overall environmental impact as compared to their previous virgin paperboard.” The brands’ packaging will be printed using 100% renewable wind power and will use vegetable-based inks.

Lead image courtesy of Whole30.