April Highlights from the plant-based and cultured-food sector: National governments invest in the cultured-food sector

Support for cultured-food is continuing to grow, with the Dutch and Israeli governments investing in the sector. In other news, British chain Selfridges will be selling 3D-printed plant-based meat, while new evidence suggests that dogs could benefit from a plant-based diet. Read on to find out about all the exciting new developments in the plant-based and cultured-food sectors.

TRENDS & PROJECTIONS

• A new global study by Professor Andrew Knight has found that a plant-based diet could be healthier for dogs than conventional dog-food diets. 
• According to the Good Food Institute, cultured-meat companies raised $1.38 billion in investments in 2021.
• A new report by Australian government agency CSIRO predicts that the sector could be worth between $3 billion and $9 billion by 2030.

RETAIL FOODS

• One Planet Pizza has launched in UK supermarket Asda after being in the company’s incubator program. 
• Beyond Meat has expanded into 2000 Rite Aid drugstores in the US as the company continues to grow its footprint. 
• According to a report by ProVeg International, leading retailers are moving away from the segmentation of animal-based and plant-based products in favour of protein aisles

FOODSERVICE CHAINS/CATERERS

• Canadian coffee chain Tim Hortons has partnered with Impossible Foods to launch two plant-based breakfast items. 
• In Thailand, agri giant CP Foods is partnering with Subway, who will use its Meat Zero patty in a  plant-based menu item. 
• UK plant-based fast-food brand Bvrger has opened a second site in London after winning a London hospitality award. 
• Selfridges is partnering with Israeli food-tech company Redefine Meat to serve 3D-printed plant-based meat.

FOOD MANUFACTURERS

• Cheese giant Bel Brands USA has announced that its plant-based Babybel cheese is now widely available at US retailers.  
• Cargill is expanding its RadiPure pea protein into the Middle East, Turkey, Africa, and India in response to growing demand for protein-rich plant-based foods. 
• Miyoko’s Creamery’s new Liquid Vegan Pizza Mozzarella is launching in Whole Foods stores in the US’s South and Southern Pacific regions.

INGREDIENTS SUPPLIERS/NEW TECHNOLOGIES

• GoodMills Innovation recently unveiled new plant-based texturates that promise meat-like formulations. 
• The European Commission has approved Eat Just’s plant-based eggs, which are made from mung beans. 
• Swiss researcher Martin Hoffman has developed a method to create marbled plant-based steaks from pea protein. 
• Proteins Industries Canada has invested in Burcon Nutrascience in order to develop upcycled protein isolates from sunflower seeds.  
• BVeg Foods has joined forces with tech company Bühler to develop its plant-based proteins using high-moisture extrusion technology.

ONES TO WATCH OUT FOR

• ProVeg International is partnering with Vegconomist to offer readers early access to insights into the plant-based sector from its New Food Hub. 
• Protein Industries Canada has joined forces with Loblaw Companies Ltd, Pulse Canada, and Plant-Based Foods of Canada to identify gaps in regulating plant-based food products.
• The Mzansi Meat Co has become the first company in Africa to produce a cultured meat burger. 
• Upside Foods has raised US$400M to commercialise and scale its cultured-meat product.

STARTUP & FINANCIAL

• The ProVeg Incubator has kicked off the latest editions of its accelerator programme, with a corhort of seven new startups.
• Plant-based meat company Heura raised €4 million in 12 hours in a recent crowdfunding campaign. 
• The Dao Foods Incubator has welcomed six new China-focused alt-protein startups into its third cohort. 
• French food-tech startup Umiami has raised $30 million in a series A financing round.
• Cultured-milk incubator Mylkcubator recently hosted a virtual demo day to present its chosen startups.
• ProVeg Incubator alumnus Haofood has raised  $3.5 million in a seed-funding round for its plant-based chicken made from peanuts.

STAKEHOLDER INTERVENTIONS

• Cultured-meat companies are gearing up for the first EU approval applications.
• The Dutch government has invested €60M to help support the creation of an ecosystem around cellular agriculture. 
• The Israel Innovation Authority has granted $18M to an Israeli cultured-meat consortium in order to bring down the cost of cultured meat and scale up production.
• Brazil has committed to serving 10 million sustainable plant-based school meals a year.

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