Green Queen Media

🐱🐟 FRIENDS & FAMILY PET FOOD TO LAUNCH CULTIVATED FISH TREATS San Francisco’s Friends & Family Pet Food Company. has partnered with Singaporean cultivated seafood producer Umami Bioworks to launch cat treats in both geographies by early 2025. Part of ProVeg International’s 12th incubator, the pet food startup is the brainchild of CEO Joshua Errett – former VP at CULT Food Science – pet industry veteran COO Jonny C., and veterinarian and chief science officer Sarah Dodd. “Friends & Family is a brand for cultivated meat and fish, precision fermentation and any sustainable ingredient that can replace animal proteins,” says Errett, who is also the former co-founder of cultivated pet food startup BioCraft Pet Nutrition (previously Because Animals). “We partner with top-tier startups and scientists making animal-free ingredients, and give them a path to market using our proprietary pet food platform,” he adds. “Umami Bioworks is our first and most important partnership, and we have some other big names in the pipeline.” The cat treats will be packaged as bars and in bags, and contain a white fish blend “similar to the fish meal that’s in commercial caught-fish pet foods today”, according to Errett. Friends & Family, which is now raising capital, enters a market that has seen major advancements recently. Both Meatly and BioCraft Pet Nutrition have slashed the costs of their innovations by reimagining culture media. Czech startup Bene Meat Technologies, meanwhile, was the first cultivated meat startup to be listed on the EU’s feed register (which is different from regulatory approval for consumption), and showcased its product at the Interzoo trade fair in Nuremberg in May. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/eEcgPkmm #GreenQueen #altprotein #futurefoods #foodtech #sustainability #foodsystems

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🌱🍼👶🏻 6 BRANDS MAKING PLANT-BASED BABY FORMULA TO HELP MOTHERS The infant formula market is massive, but it’s monopolised by dairy formulations and a handful of industry giants, like Abbott Nutrition and Danone. That has sent the industry on a rollercoaster ride recently – and not the good kind. When Abbott shut its largest plant in February 2022 (which controlled a fifth of the entire American supply), it sparked one of the largest formula recalls in history. It brought about a formula shortage that the industry is still recovering from. With the volatility of supply chain logistics and the food system, this could happen again. That is a problem for the many mothers who are unable to or don’t want to breastfeed. About 5-10% of women are physiologically unable to breastfeed, but many more say they’re not producing enough or have nutritional deficiencies in their milk. In the US alone, less than half of women continue to exclusively breastfeed after three months, and only a quarter keep doing so at six months, the recommended period by the American Academy of Pediatrics. But apart from the threat of shortages, 90% of formula products on the market are also dairy-based. This is a deterrent for mothers who don’t want to feed their babies cow’s milk, which doctors say could trigger allergies and intestinal bleeding. While it’s still a market in its infancy (excuse the pun), it’s set to expand by 7.8% annually until 2029, and some companies are catering to the growing demand for dairy-free baby formula. Here are six brands you can currently buy from: 1️⃣ Else Nutrition (Hamutal Yitzhak, Michael Azar, Uriel Kesler) 2️⃣ Sprout Organic Nutrition (Jen & Selasi Berdie) 3️⃣ Neocate (Danone) 4️⃣ Good Start (Nestlé) 5️⃣ Enfamil (Mead Johnson Nutrition) 6️⃣ Similac (Abbott Nutrition) More information about these brands in the full article: https://lnkd.in/eGCjv__R #GreenQueen #altdairy #innovation #foodtech #health #nutrition

💵📉 MYCORENA FILES FOR BANKRUPTCY DUE TO FUNDRAISING DIFFICULTIES On Saturday, Mycorena announced that it has filed for bankruptcy, citing “significant financial challenges”. The decision followed the mycoprotein producer’s unsuccessful attempts to raise capital for its Series B round, and came a month after it discontinued plans for a commercial-scale factory. Mycorena, which sells fungi-based proteins and fats to food manufacturers, has been facing financial challenges for the last two years. “Our team has explored every possible avenue to save this pioneering company,” chairman Tore Sveälv after appointing law firm Advokatfirman Lindahl KB as trustee to administer the bankruptcy process. However, all hope is not lost, as the company believes renewed investment can revive the brand. To do so, some of Mycorena’s former shareholders are now building a new consortium, and their ambition is to buy back the bankruptcy estate and reinstate the company’s operations, giving it a “fresh restart”, founder and CEO Ramkumar Nair tells Green Queen. “We are also glad to see that many new investors also see a great opportunity to join that consortium now, with the possibility of them onboarding a fresh start for Mycorena, leveraging on all the value and learnings we have had for the past years,” adds Nair, who founded the company in 2017 based on his PhD research project. To date, Mycorena has raised over €35M in equity funding, including what was at the time the largest Series A for a Nordic alternative protein startup. It currently operates a demonstration facility in Gothenburg, opened in 2021 and built on the success of Promyc, its flagship mycoprotein ingredient. Nair believes the mycoprotein segment is here to stay. Indeed, despite even Quorn Foods – the largest mycoprotein producer – facing financial challenges, it is rejigging things by entering the blended meat space. Scottish-Dutch ENOUGH recently closed a €40M Series C round, while Finland’s Enifer received €24M to open a commercial-scale facility. And in the US, The Better Meat Co. obtained a ‘no further questions’ letter from the FDA just last week. More information in the full article: https://lnkd.in/eF5jGqrs #GreenQueen #altprotein #sustainability #precisionfermentation #mycoprotein #foodsystems

🥚💰 ONEGO BIO RAISES €14M FOR ANIMAL-FREE EGG PROTEIN Three months after raising $40M in its Series A round, Finnish precision fermentation player Onego Bio has brought in another €14M ($15.2M) to scale up production and fuel its EU plans. The latest capital injection comes from the European Innovation Council’s (EIC) Accelerator Programme and additional Series A investors, taking the total raised by the startup to $70.8M. It comes as Onego Bio gears up for a North American launch, expecting to achieve self-determined Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status for its Bioalbumen protein in the US this year, with a ‘no further questions’ letter from the US FDA anticipated in 2025. The EIC financing will also be used to drive its launch strategy in the EU, where it plans to submit a dossier for novel food approval to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Eventualy, it aims to enter the South American and Asian markets as well. Onego Bio was one of 68 companies that attracted investment from the EIC scheme. A total of 969 startups had initially submitted proposals, 347 of which were interviewed by juries of investors and entrepreneurs. Of the selected companies, only 21% were women-led – but one of these is Onego Bio. With egg prices regularly fluctuating due to an unstable supply chain, innovations like Onego Bio’s are crucial for a resilient food system. Currently, it is producing the Bioalbumen with co-manufacturers and finalising plans for its own manufacturing unit. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/eurivRRD #GreenQueen #futurefoods #foodtech #sustainability #innovation

🌱 The Big Story: The German Startup Using Textile Tech To Make Meat - that and more inside Green Queen Media's #FutureFoodWeekly 🍖 PROJECT EADEN: ‘The First Meat Alternative to Get So Close To Animal Meat’ 🧫 With UK Greenlight, Meatly’s Pet Food Becomes First Cultivated Meat to Be Approved in Europe 💵 NovoNutrients Closes $18M Series A to Make Protein from CO2 for People & Pets 🍄 The Better Meat Co. Co Receives FDA GRAS Approval Letter for Rhiza Mycoprotein 🐶 Pets Choice Ltd to Acquire Vegan Dog Food Brand HOWND, With Founders Exiting the Business 🇬🇧 Could the Labour Government Hamper Novel Food Regulatory Reform in the UK? 💵 How Alternative Protein Companies Can Learn From the EV Industry 👩🌾 UK Farmers Recognise Potential Benefits of Cultivated Meat, Shows Government-Funded Report 🌱 Lidl in Germany, Ahold Delhaize in Race to Be World’s First Retailers to Align Protein Sales with Climate Goals ☕️ Star 4: Nestlé Develops High-Yielding Coffee Variety to Take On Climate Change 🏷️ V-Label Crosses A Record-High 70,000 Product Certifications 🍦 Oatly Partners with Haidilao & KFC for New Ice Creams in China ✈️ Slutty Vegan to Open Fast-Food Joint in the World’s Busiest Airport Read the full version here: https://lnkd.in/e3SDPA7s Or listen to our EIC Sonalie Figueiras and Clear Current Capital's Steve Molino talk about it live here: https://lnkd.in/esHfc75X #GreenQueen #altprotein #futurefoods #cultivatedmeat #innovation #sustainability #climatechange -------- Want to see more posts like this? Hit the 🔔 button on our profile so you don't miss any updates. Or subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest in alt protein and sustainability: https://lnkd.in/eMJ7WwXC

🧀🍕 LEPRINO FOODS BAGS GLOBAL RIGHTS FOD FOODTIVE GROUP'S ANIMAL-FREE CASEIN The deal will see Leprino Foods get exclusive worldwide rights to produce and sell Fooditive Group’s precision-fermented dairy protein for use in cheese, as well as a non-exclusive global licence for other food applications, including beverages, yoghurts, desserts, creamers, snack bars, and sports nutrition products. Leprino Foods supplies 85% of the pizza market’s cheese. If you’ve ever dined at Pizza Hut, Domino's, LITTLE CEASARS or Papa Johns, you’ve eaten its cheese. The Colorado-based company is also a leading supplier of lactose, whey protein, micellar casein and sweet whey – but this marks its first move into alternative dairy. “This agreement with Fooditive highlights our ability to innovate and adapt swiftly to emerging trends and technologies. By incorporating precision fermentation alongside our conventional dairy production, we will explore how this non-animal casein derived from fermentation will add to our product portfolio,” said Leprino Foods president Mike Durkin. Founded in 2022, Fooditive is among a number of startups working on animal-free casein, whether that’s through plant-based ingredients, precision fermentation or molecular farming. New Culture, Change Foods, Fermify, Zero Cow Factory, Standing Ovation, Alpine Bio, Finally Foods, NewMoo and Pureture are all innovating in this space. It uses proprietary E. coli strains to make casein through precision fermentation, with a process that promises high productivity and yield. “This collaboration not only underscores our commitment to sustainability and showcases the incredible potential of our precision fermentation technology but also our commitment to partnerships,” Fooditive CEO Moayad Abushokhedim said. Learn more about this update in the full article: https://lnkd.in/e5NEtPPx #GreenQueen #altprotein #precisionfermentation #altdairy #futurefood #foodtech #innovation #foodsystems

🥩🥛🌍 BIG MEAT & DAIRY USE TOBACCO INDUSTRY TACTICS TO INFLUENCE GOVERNMENTS, CONSUMERS & CLIMATE POLICY Political manipulation, twisted science, targeted ads and weak targets. These are just some of the ways meat and dairy companies have successfully influenced consumers and lobbied governments to derail and delay climate action. These tactics are straight out of the fossil fuel and tobacco playbooks, and have left the fight against climate change in limbo, a large-scale analysis has found. Published by the Changing Markets Foundation, the report – titled The New Merchants of Doubt – is a culmination of 18 months of investigation into 22 meat and dairy companies across four continents. These include Tyson Foods, JBS, Fonterra, Lactalis Group and Nestlé, among others. The research shows how these companies and their trade groups have managed to distract consumers and block unfavourable policy shifts to protect their own interests, at the expense of the planet. “This report exposes the blatant hypocrisy of Big Meat and Dairy, which claim to be committed to climate solutions while employing deceptive tactics to distract, delay and derail meaningful action,” said Nusa Urbancic, CEO of the Changing Markets Foundation. The food system is responsible for a third of all emissions, and 60% of this comes from meat alone. Overall, animal agriculture accounts for up to 20% of global emissions – for context, the airline sector contributes to 2% of emissions, and road transportation around 10%. The New Merchants of Doubt report contains case studies and findings from freedom of information requests in the US, the UK, the EU, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, and Italy. Here are a few of the key takeaways: 💵 Brands are greenwashing consumers, who will pay more for sustainability 🥛 MrBeast and Hot Ones Caribbean in bed with dairy lobby to target Gen Z 👩🏫 Big Meat is targeting schools and teachers 📉 Net-zero strategies are weak 🌾 Regenerative agriculture is being misused 🐄 They don’t talk about methane 📺 Marketing spend outweighs investment in climate action 🍴 Big Ag decimated the EU’s Green Deal 🇮🇹 Misinformation fuelled Italy’s cultivated meat ban 🇺🇸 The US agriculture secretary is a livestock ally 🌱 Governments should redirect livestock subsidies to plant-based 🌿 Big Meat and Dairy need to embrace alternative protein and methane reduction ⚖ The public can hold companies to account More details about the report in the full article: https://lnkd.in/etScsfJ6 #GreenQueen #agriculture #livestock #altprotein #climatechange #sustainability #futurefood #emissions

🌱🥩 PROJECT EADEN: ‘THE FIRST MEAT ALTERNATIVE TO GET SO CLOSE TO ANIMAL MEAT’ So when someone like Jörg Förstera, owner of Berlin butchery Kumpel & Keule GmbH, endorses a plant-based meat product, it’s worth paying attention. After all, the only way animal-free meat producers will have an impact is by appealing to meat-eaters – and the people who sell and cook it for them. “For me, the meats from PROJECT EADEN are the first alternatives that get extremely close to the taste profile of animal meat,” says Förstera. “Really impressive.” The German startup – founded in 2022 by Dr. David Schmelzeisen, Hubertus Bessau, and Jan Wilmking – first made global headlines last year, when it came out of stealth to announce an oversubscribed €10.1M seed round, featuring EU food and climate VC stalwarts including Creandum, Atlantic Food Labs, Shio Capital and Mudcake. In less than two years, the company has successfully used its technology to create a wide range of whole cuts including sausages, pork loin, and beef steaks, “a full meat range for everyday life” as the company puts it. But also, ham. “Our technology essentially uses two main types of fibres to make delicious meat-like products,” explains Wilmking, the company’s managing director. “First, we use strong and thin fibres for connective tissue, which don’t stick together much, but help make the meat structure and bite experience feel real. Then, a large part of our product is made from a cheaper, juicier fibre that sticks together just enough to hold meat juice in small spaces, making it taste tender and yummy, like real meat.” Unlike many others in the industry, Project Eaden is opting for a retail-first approach and has secured a listing with a leading supermarket chain in the Germany, Austria and Switzerland (DACH) region. The first products are slated for a launch in early 2025. Learn more about Project Eaden in our exclusive interview with co-founder Jan Wilmking: https://lnkd.in/ekPDBUZ6 #GreenQueen #altprotein #futurefood #plantbasedmeat #foodtech #innovation #sustainability #foodsystems

🇬🇧🐾 UK APPROVES MEATLY’S PET FOOD AS EUROPE’S FIRST CULTIVATED MEAT Meatly has become the first company to be approved to sell cultivated meat in Europe, after UK regulators gave the green light to the startup earlier this month. Following the decision by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) on July 2, Meatly can supply its cultivated chicken to dog food manufacturers, marking the first time a cultivated pet food product is cleared for sale anywhere in the world. It signals the end of Meatly’s 18-month-long consultation process with government bodies in the UK, which joins Singapore, the US and Israel as the fourth country to approve cultivated meat. The startup plans to launch the first samples of its dog food before the end of the year, beyond which, it will focus on reducing costs. Having secured £3.6M in investment to date, Meatly is now targeting a Series A round, which will help it scale up production to reach industrial volumes in the next three years. “We’re currently conducting product development and conducting feeding trials on dogs,” Meatly CEO Owen Ensor told Green Queen. “We’re primarily focused on wet pet food for now.” “Meatly’s regulatory approval is a landmark event for the industry,” said Jim Mellon, founder of Agronomics Limited, an investor in Meatly. “Through its technological innovation and close work with governing authorities, Meatly is helping prove that we can succeed in commercialising cultivated products for pets across the UK.” “The UK is a world leader in developing cultivated meat and the approval of a cultivated pet food is an important milestone. It underscores the potential for new innovation to help reduce the negative impacts of intensive animal agriculture,” said Linus Pardoe, UK policy manager for alternative protein think tank the Good Food Institute Europe (GFI). Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/eN5Jk8Ek #GreenQueen #altprotein #futurefoods #foodtech #sustainability #foodsystems