November highlights from the plant-based and alternative-protein sector: Upside Foods receives greenlight from the FDA

As the year draws to a close, there has been a breakthrough for the alternative-protein sector, with Upside Foods receiving US FDA approval for its cultivated-chicken product. Plus, the new year looks promising with more French companies than ever signing up for Veganuary. Find all this and more in this month’s highlights. 

TRENDS & PROJECTIONS 

• A study by the Good Growth Co found that around 40% of Chinese consumers are reducing their consumption of animal-based meat. 
• At least 100 French companies have already committed to participating in Veganuary 2023, a noteable increase from only 30 companies in 2021. 
• The founder of Green Queen has commented that the alt-protein industry needs rebranding. 
• A survey by food-tech company SuperMeat has revealed that 86% of US chefs would be willing to serve consumers cultivated-meat and -seafood products.
• A survey by Cargill has found that the consumption of plant-based-dairy products is increasingly entering the mainstream.
• A peer-reviewed study by UK pet-food brand Omni has revealed that dogs fed a plant-based diet show improvements in their health. 

RETAIL FOODS

• Aldi UK has launched its 2022 Vegan Christmas Range, which includes a selection pack of plant-based cheeses.
• Beyond Meat is expanding into German retail and has launched its Beyond Burger in over 1,600 Rewe stores across Germany. 

FOODSERVICE CHAINS/CATERERS 

• Fast-food giant Burger King opened a completely plant-based pop-up store in Lisbon, Portugal, for a month. 
• Catering company Aramark Germany has introduced a new range of plant-forward dishes in its 500 corporate restaurants. 

FOOD MANUFACTURERS

• Global cheese manufacturer Bel Group ìs partnering with food-tech company Standing Ovation to develop new cheese products using precision fermentation. 
• Colorado-based Nepra Foods has begun the commercial production of its proprietary egg-white alternative for bakeries. 
• The Swiss fermentation-manufacturing platform Planetary SA is engineering what it claims will be the world’s first integrated precision- and mycelium-fermentation factory.

INGREDIENTS SUPPLIERS/NEW TECHNOLOGIES 

• German-based startup Cultimate Foods is developing cultivated pork and beef fat, using their patent-pending 3D-cultivation technology to reduce the cost of production. 
• B2B food-tech company Sophie’s BioNutrients has partnered with the Danish Technological Institute to produce its first chlorella-based ice cream.
• Netherlands-based ingredients company Fooditive is developing a precision-fermented  honey alternative. 
• After ten years of R&D, Dutch health-and-nutrition company DSM has launched a canola-based protein ingredient for plant-based innovation.

ONES TO WATCH OUT FOR

• GFI and the European Union’s EIT Food have revealed the four winners of their €400,000 Cultivated Meat Innovation Prize. 
• Global trademark company V-Label has announced the winners of its annual International V-Label Awards.
• Time Magazine has placed plant-based and fungi-based meats from Meati, Beyond Meat, and MyForest Foods among its Top 200 Inventions of 2022. 
• Research from intellectual-property specialist Appleyard Lees indicates that South Korea will overtake other countries in its rate of patent filings for cultivated meats. 

STARTUP & FINANCIAL

• Israeli bio-foodtech company Wilk has developed a hybrid yoghurt that uses cultivated-milk fat. 
• Icelandic startup Loki Foods is developing a plant-based whitefish alternative, with a nutritional profile similar to its animal-based counterpart. 
• US-based startup ISH Foods has over 25 plant-based-seafood products in the pipeline, including ‘Salmonish’, ‘Codish’, ‘Crabish’, and ‘Lobsterish’. 
• Cultivated-meat company Mosa Meat is partnering with the manufacturing organisation Esco Aster to bring its cultivated-beef to Singapore.
• US plant-based-meat company No Evil has launched a crowdfunding campaign to reopen its online plant-based butchery.
• Australian cultivated-meat company Vow has raised $49.2 million in a series-A round, with plans to use the funds for product development and manufacturing expansion.

STAKEHOLDER INTERVENTIONS

• During a talk at COP27, the CEO of VegTech Invest and Plant Powered Consulting spoke about the urgent need for more investment in the plant-based and alternative-protein sector.
• Cultivated-meat company Upside Foods has become the first company to receive regulatory approval from the US FDA for its cultivated-chicken product. 
• The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation is assessing safety and regulatory concerns regarding cultivated meat and has released documents discussing aspects such as language and terminology, common production processes, and regulatory frameworks.

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