France’s Council of State (Conseil d’État) has suspended a decree brought forward by the French government in February, which would ban the use of names like ‘steak’ and ‘ham’ for plant-based products. This latest development marks the second U-turn in attempts to introduce such restrictions, with an original decree published in June 2022 suspended by the Conseil d’État in 2023 over legality concerns. In a statement published yesterday (10 April 2024), the Council affirmed that it has ‘serious doubt’ about the legality of the proposed ban – which was due to come into force at the beginning of May. Prohibited terms included in the February decree include ‘steak,’ ‘escalope’ and ‘tendon’ among others. Companies would face hefty fines of up to €7,500 if found to be in breach of the regulations once implemented. The Council said that the decree would cause ‘serious and immediate harm’ to manufacturers that are exclusively selling plant-based protein products in the country. Specifically, it added that implementing the ban in May would likely lead to a ‘significant drop’ in turnover for these companies. Costs linked to packaging, branding and other marketing strategies would impact manufacturers as a result of the ban alongside a temporary cessation of sales. As part of the proposed law, manufacturers who make their products in other European countries would be able to continue to use ‘meaty’ names to sell their products in France. In a statement offered to The Plant Base in February, French plant-based meat producer Umiami said this would “serve as a setback” to its business and others, placing it “at a disadvantage compared to foreign competitors who aren’t bound by the same standards of transparency and precision”. The Council of State is now awaiting a response from the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) regarding the suspension, and whether the ban can go ahead. #Umiami #labelling #meatalternatives #plantbasedmeat #altmeat #France #alternativeproteins

UK meat alternatives brand Meatless Farm is continuing to roll back out across retail with the launch of a new pasta product, now available at Tesco. The new Chicken and Bacon Tortelloni SKU is filled with a chicken and bacon inspired base and plant-based cheese alternative, seasoned with garlic, salt and pepper. It joins the brand’s other plant-based meat-filled pasta products, which have also launched back into stores following the brand’s acquisition by VFC Foods in June. Other products in the pasta range include No-Duja Ravioli and Beef, Red Wine & Porcini Girasole. The brand is re-launching in Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Ocado, having made its retail return in August alongside the launch of a new pork and apple sausage product. Its plant-based mince has also now returned to Tesco shelves alongside the pasta line-up and its Chickenless Roast Joint. CEO of Meatless Farm and VFC, Dave Sparrow, commented: “Our customers and consumers are our number one priority, and we are delighted to deliver on our commitment of getting the range back on shelf for them, as well as launching NPD that continues to stretch the brand into different consumption occasions”. #meatalternatives #MeatlessFarm #Tesco #UK

From multi-million-dollar advertising campaigns aiming to convince viewers that plant-based meats are toxic and unhealthy, to misrepresented research findings giving rise to sensationalist headlines about meat alternatives ‘slowly killing’ vegans – the category has faced an onslaught of bad press over the past few years. Melissa Bradshaw, editor of The Plant Base, delves into the discourse around 'ultra-processed' plant-based meat. In recent years, ultra-processed foods (UPFs) have hit the headlines as numerous studies and reports bring awareness to potential health risks associated with this category of food products – a category largely dominated by pre-packaged convenience foods, often high in saturated fat, sugar and salt. The ‘ultra-processed food’ definition was conceived by researchers at the University of São Paulo, Brazil, as part of the ‘NOVA’ system – a classification framework that categorises foods according to their level of processing. It ranges from group one – minimally or unprocessed foods such as fruit, vegetables and unprocessed meat – through to group four: UPFs. The system defines UPFs as foods that have undergone industrial processing and tend to be formulated with a mixture of many ingredients, such as artificial food additives you wouldn’t find in the home kitchen, for enhanced palatability and increased shelf life among other purposes. The UPF category comprises food and beverage products you’d typically expect – calorie-dense foods such as chocolate bars, crisps, biscuits, ice cream and fizzy drinks. It also includes many consumers’ everyday diet staples such as packaged bread, flavoured yogurts and some breakfast cereals. Then, of course, there are ultra-processed meat products like sausages, ham and burgers – and their plant-based counterparts, many of which are created with additives to enable a more realistic imitation of the meat they emulate. But does ultra-processed automatically equal unhealthy? The issue may not be so clean-cut. In a world that loves to think in extremes, perhaps we could benefit from a more balanced view. Within plant-based, and more broadly, there is no denying the positive health benefits of a nourishing, whole foods-led diet. But not all UPFs are created equal. In studies assessing health risks associated with such foods, many tested UPFs contain high levels of sugar, sodium and saturated fat, while being low in other beneficial nutrients like fibre. We already know the health risks of consuming too many of these foods, and these unbalanced nutritional profiles are likely the main culprit behind negative health outcomes – rather than the processing itself. Additionally, it’s difficult to ignore the important role that food processing plays in preventing food waste. Many of the preservatives added to everyday food items are vital in extending shelf life and preventing spoilage, reducing environmental impact – around 6% of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions are caused by wasted food. UPFs often also provide more convenience than whole foods – particularly for individuals who may lack the time, money, access to ingredients and cooking ability to prepare more ‘healthy’ meals on a daily basis. Alt-meat misinformation So what’s it all got to do with plant-based meat alternatives? Recently, as consumer awareness of UPFs has grown, pro-meat lobbyists have seized the opportunity to criticise plant-based meat substitutes. Many of these substitutes are classified as ultra-processed under the NOVA system, similar to numerous meat, bread and dairy products. Critics use this classification to undermine claims of health or environmental benefits associated with consuming vegan alternatives. The US group Center for Consumer Freedom – an organisation that advocates for the meat industry, funded by anonymous food industry members ‘from farm to fork’ – has launched a series of adverts in recent years targeting ‘fake meat’ and its ‘chemical ingredients,’ with one declaring: “If you can't spell it or pronounce it, maybe you shouldn't be eating it”. This has promoted alt-meat heavyweights like Beyond Meat and Impossible to launch their own advertising campaigns, bringing attention to the positive health and environmental impacts of their products as a replacement for conventional meat. Both companies also had their steak and beef alternatives certified by the American Heart Association’s Heart-Check Food Certification Program, which certifies products based on heart-healthy nutrition requirements. The latest blow to the category has come in the form of a slew of misleading headlines splashed across the mainstream media, reporting on a new study from the University of São Paulo and Imperial College London that was published in the Lancet Regional Health journal last week. The study assesses the impact of UPFs on heart health, finding that they are linked with worse health outcomes and a higher risk of cardiovascular disease. It goes on to reveal that plant-based UPFs are linked with a 7% increase in the risk of cardiovascular diseases, compared with eating unprocessed plant-based foods. However, it classifies ‘plant-derived’ foods as products that don’t fall into the meat, eggs or dairy-based category – and includes foods that may still contain animal-derived ingredients even if not the ‘primary ingredient,’ like biscuits, pastries, confectionery, breakfast cereal, alcohol and salty snacks. Plant-based meat alternatives constitute the smallest food category within the plant-sourced UPF group, accounting for just 0.2% of the foods eaten by the study’s participants. Most of the foods within the plant-sourced UPFs group are consumed regularly by those following an omnivorous diet – not just vegans or vegetarians – and are already widely known to be associated with higher health risks if consumed in excess, many of them being classed as HFSS foods. With this in mind, the study doesn’t offer a huge amount of insight into vegan diets and plant-based meat in particular, instead showing relatively unsurprising findings about UPFs being less healthy than non-UPFs generally. Despite this, the findings have been misrepresented and the study direly misunderstood – headlines across major media outlets have used it to suggest that plant-based meat and ‘vegan diets’ are responsible for the health risks mentioned, rather than the categories taking up the largest share of the plant-sourced UPF group: packaged bread, pastries and cakes, and biscuits. One such headline published in The Telegraph, authored by a dairy farmer, reads: ‘Vegans are slowly killing themselves – there’s nothing healthy about ultra-highly processed fake “meat” products’. Commenting on the study, Hilda Mulrooney, reader in nutrition and health at London Metropolitan University, said: “The study remains limited to showing associations and causality cannot be demonstrated. It also relies entirely on the NOVA classification system and a number of concerns about this have been raised – particularly that it assumes that the health implications of a foodstuff are based only on the degree of processing, rather than their nutritional content.” She continued: “Although some may assume the message of this study is that all ultra-processed plant-based foods are bad for health, I think that in fact what the evidence in the study shows is that poor diets are associated with increased risk of chronic diseases. Too high an intake of any one group of foods is likely to result in imbalance, and I would have far more concern that healthy foods are made more affordable. Consuming lower quality foods is the only option for many people due to cost-of-living pressures.” What do we know about plant-based UPFs? It’s no secret to the food industry that many UPFs do have poorly balanced nutritional profiles and would not be considered ‘healthy’ options. The food industry should make efforts to improve the nutritional profile of these foods and continue to provide cleaner label varieties – while as consumers, we can certainly all work to include more whole foods in our diets and promote healthier lifestyles while keeping consumption of UPFs in moderation. The Imperial study showed that increasing the dietary contribution of plant-based non-UPFs by 10% was associated with a 13% reduction in mortality from all cardiovascular diseases, with a 20% reduction in mortality caused by coronary heart disease. This does demonstrate the benefits of adding more plant-based whole foods to our diets, regardless of where alt-meat plays into the picture. The focus on UPFs is not likely to dissipate any time soon – a recent World Health Organization report has identified UPFs and alcohol as two of the four products responsible for 19 million deaths worldwide each year. In particular, it states that 117,290 deaths per year in Europe are caused by diets high in processed meats and 252,187 by diets high in salt. However, as reported by FoodBev Media last week, food industry organisation FoodDrinkEurope’s science director, Rebeca Fernández, believes that the report – which groups UPFs and alcohol alongside fossil fuels and tobacco – is "highly misleading". She commented: “We all need food – and we all need processed food. Unfortunately, the WHO report does not acknowledge that there is no agreed definition of what ultra-processed foods are, let alone their impact on health, which is why last year the UK Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition and the Nordic Nutrition Guidelines concluded, respectively, that the evidence was insufficient to use UPF terminology to define public health guidelines and that it detracts from well-established food classifications and dietary recommendations.” She instead recommended that the best way to tackle dietary-related diseases is to focus on food’s nutrition content and the regularity of its consumption in conjunction with lifestyle, adding that European F&B producers are making efforts to reformulate products to cut salt, fat and sugars whilst boosting fibre and micronutrients. Elsewhere, a pan-European study published in the Lancet last year, as reported in The Plant Base magazine’s Feb/Mar 2024 issue, found that while higher consumption of UPFs was linked to increased risk of cancer and cardiometabolic comorbidity, this varied depending on the sub-category. It found animal-based products and artificially- and sugar-sweetened beverages to be associated with the highest risk, while plant-based alternatives were not associated with risk, suggesting that we need to approach the UPF category with more nuance – considering overall nutritional profile, instead, when examining the health benefits or risks of food and beverage products. When it comes to plant-based meat in particular, manufacturers and brands are paying attention to the clean label demand, endeavouring to provide tasty, nutritious and sustainable plant-based alternatives that are made with more natural ingredients and minimal processing. Start-ups such as Umiami and Planted are championing this area of development, delivering plant-based meat products that are made with short and simple labels and recognisable ingredients that won’t deter consumers from picking up a plant-based option. And bigger brands, like Beyond, continue to innovate to enhance the nutritional credentials of their offerings. The company’s latest Beyond Burger and Beyond Beef formulation provides 75% less saturated fat than 80/20 beef, 20% less sodium than Beyond’s previous iteration, no GMOs, and 21g of protein per serving, derived from peas, brown rice, lentils and faba beans. The products were the first plant-based meat alternatives to be officially certified by the Clean Label Project, which tests products based on the presence of impurities such as chemicals and heavy metals. Moving forward The food industry as a whole – including the plant-based category – must make conscious efforts to improve the health and nutrition of everyday foods consumed worldwide, encouraging healthier lifestyles and supporting consumers in making more beneficial and sustainable dietary choices. The recent Imperial and São Paulo study sheds light on the fact that we, of course, shouldn’t assume that any food is ‘healthy’ solely because its main ingredients are not of animal origin. Equally, we should consume more whole foods such as fruit, vegetables and grains, feeding our bodies a diverse variety of everything that nourishes it most. Research suggests that we should all be eating 30 different plant types every week for a healthy and diverse gut microbiome, as explored in the recent Netflix documentary 'Hack your Health: The Secrets of your Gut.' This includes fruit and vegetables as well as herbs, spices, pulses, nuts and seeds. In time, perhaps we will see a revised definition of an ultra-processed food, alongside further research into the effects of the processing itself. Until then, we can all make efforts to be more mindful of what we consume – with regards not just to food, but to the information we read about it.

Sustainable packaging company Mondi has partnered with advanced biomaterial engineers Traceless to develop a groundbreaking bio-circular coating solution based on agricultural byproducts. The new coating is the first of its kind, offering a plastic-free alternative that meets the growing consumer demand for more sustainable packaging options. Made from renewable plant-based materials, including residues from the agricultural industry, the coating eliminates the need for fossil raw materials. According to a life-cycle assessment by Traceless, the new coating can achieve greenhouse gas emissions savings of up to 95% compared to virgin plastics, across the production and disposal phases.hich began in 2021, combines Mondi's expertise in paper coating and packaging solution The collaboration between Mondi and Traceless, ws with Traceless' knowledge of developing material solutions based on natural polymers. The coating granulates are currently produced in Traceless' pilot plant and applied to Mondi's kraft paper at the company's R&D centre for further testing. Future large-scale production is planned at a designated facility in Hamburg, Germany. Extensive trials have confirmed that the kraft paper coated with Traceless' bio-based material can provide barrier properties against water, oxygen and fats, while also offering good printability – crucial features for a wide range of packaging applications, from ecommerce to frozen and fatty foods. "We are always looking at what the next steps are in creating truly circular packaging, following our customers' demands as well as our own innovative spirit," said Marko Schuster, COO of Mondi's Functional Paper and Films division. "This is a fantastic example of how we can combine our R&D forces to be one step ahead in the sustainable packaging game, contributing to a circular economy." Anne Lamp, CEO and co-founder of Traceless, added: "Our mission is to make pollution and waste history by using materials that impact positively. The goal is to create a truly fit-for-purpose product, that works for as wide a range of applications and industries as possible." The companies aim to further optimise the properties of the bio-based coating to make it suitable for a variety of packaging applications across different end markets while ensuring recyclability within existing European recycling streams. #Mondi #Traceless #sustinablepackaging #frozenfoods #fats

Bunge is expanding its portfolio to include pea and faba protein concentrates, in a move to meet rising demand for alternative plant-based proteins beyond soy. Bunge is collaborating with Golden Fields, an agricultural company and dry miller of pea and faba based in Europe, to produce the protein concentrates exclusively for Bunge at a new factory in Liepaja, Latvia. The new pea and faba protein concentrates will complement Bunge's leading soy protein concentrate offerings. The products are non-GMO, light in colour, finely powdered and deliver 55-70% protein content on a dry basis, allowing food and feed customers to easily enhance protein content and support non-GMO and allergen-free labelling. Bunge says the new concentrates also bring sustainability benefits as they are made from crops farmed through crop-rotation practices and extracted via dry-fractionation without using water or solvents. #plantprotein #fava #pea #plantbased #Bunge

Swedish food-tech Mycorena, a developer of mycoprotein ingredients, has discontinued its large-scale factory project to focus on a new pivoted growth plan. The company, which has been active in the mycoprotein market since 2017, had been planning to build a large-scale production plant capable of producing thousands of tons of mycoprotein ingredients for the plant-based sector. In a statement announcing the decision, Mycorena explained that while it has attracted over €35 million in funding, it has faced challenges due to ‘changing market conditions and an unfavourable investment climate’. The company added that despite a €24 million Series A round in early 2022, it failed to raise funding for its Series B round in 2023 due to a lack of investor interest in the capital expenditure project within food-tech, and the ‘slow-moving market interest’ toward the mycoprotein segment. The scale-up factory, designed in collaboration with Tetra Pak, aimed to achieve a total production volume of up to 100,000 tons in multiple stages, with an initial production capacity of 5,000 tons by the end of 2023. Having discontinued the project, Mycorena said it will now redirect its focus to its core operations at its demo facility in Gothernberg, Sweden. It envisions its production scale-up journey to be more focused on a circular upcycling production model, unlocking the potential of co-location with industry partners. "We still have strong confidence in the potential of fungi and mycoprotein's impact on the food system. However, given the current investor climate and geopolitical situations, we must pause our scale-up journey." Ramkumar Nair, founder and CEO at Mycorena, commented: “The scale-up factory was conceived during the market peak. Now, with the market decline, we can't meet expectations on cost competitiveness from the industry.” He added: “In addition, most of our key partners have also slowed their growth plans due to the changing market environment, adding more uncertainty to the scale-up project”. Nair explained that while the start-up successfully scaled its Promyc ingredient, as well as other ingredients beyond mycoprotein – such as its fungi-based fat, Mycolein – the company believes its scale-up project suffered a case of ‘wrong timing,’ with market sentiments changing ‘drastically’. Mycorena is now pivoting from a pure B2B ingredient sales model to a more B2B2C approach. Ebba Fröling, co-founder and COO at Mycorena, described the challenge it faced of a “constant catch-22 situation where investors demand binding purchase contracts to invest in capex, while food companies won’t commit without a proven large-scale production”. She added: “After almost 24 months of efforts, we’ve concluded that the industry isn’t ready yet for big bets on mycoprotein or fermentation-related products. Therefore, we’re taking a step back to focus on our core operations and reinforce the interest in mycoprotein products before scaling up further.” Mycorena’s revised business plan will maximise production capacity at its existing Gothenburg site, supporting existing and new partnerships. It plans to venture into foodservice and private label sectors, focusing primarily on the Nordic market, where consumption of mycoprotein is high combined with strong demand for locally produced alternatives. The facility in Gothenburg has the potential to produce mycoprotein ingredients capable of supplying up to 500 tons of end-consumer products, planned to be rolled out during 2025. Co-founder and CEO Nair concluded: “We still have strong confidence in the potential of fungi and mycoprotein's impact on the food system. However, given the current investor climate and geopolitical situations, we must pause our scale-up journey. We will also focus on our core competence of working with industry side-streams, to build a co-location-based scale-up production model for the future roll-out.” #Mycorena #Sweden

On Friday afternoon, the winners and finalists in FoodBev’s inaugural World Plant-Based Taste Awards were announced, in association with Plant Based World Expo Europe! During Plant Based World Expo Europe, the finalists of six live categories were judged blind for a second time by a hand-picked panel of judges – Heather Mills, Richard Fox & Deiniol Pritchard. The judges tasted and scored each finalist on taste, texture, appearance and likeness. The six live categories were; Best faux meat burger, Best faux meat sausage, Best cheese alternative, Best faux chicken product, Best faux fish / seafood, and Best faux bacon product. The winners of these six, and all of the categories were then revealed in the first ever World Plant-Based Taste Awards ceremony, hosted at the Finnebrogue stand, by FoodBev Media marketing manager, Matthew Rushton and awards marketing executive, Jonathan McGowan. A full list of winners and finalists in each category follows below. Best beverage WINNER Friendly Viking – Latte Oat drink FLAX & KALE – Kombucha Dragon Lemonade Bodyhero Plant Protein Shake – Rich Chocolate [LIVE] Best cheese alternative sponsored by MANE WINNER Honestly Tasty – Veganzola Les Nouveaux Affineurs – L’Affiné d’Albert Honestly Tasty – Shamembert Best chilled dessert/ice cream WINNER Chateau Dessert – Vegan & Gluten free chocolate cheese cake Rethink Foods – Pink Albatross Mango & Passion fruit Beau’s Gelato – Raspberry Gelato Best convenience/ready to eat product WINNER Verdino UK Ltd – Plant-Based Pepperoni Pizza Eat Just Inc. – Just Egg Sous Vide Lidl US – Vegan California Burger Best dairy alternative WINNER Bear Paw – Pumpkin Spiced Coffee Creamer Friendly Viking – Greek Style O’gurt Mango Kitchen Circus – Organic Alphonso Mango Yoghurt Best egg alternative WINNER OGGS – scrambled OGGS NABATI – Plant Eggz Eat Just Inc. – Just Egg Sous Vide Best faux analogue meat product WINNER Lidl US – Vermondo Classic Vegan Meatballs Dawn Farms – Plant Deli Jackfruit Vegeroni Omni Foods – OmniPork Luncheon [LIVE] Best faux bacon product WINNER La Vie – Plant based Bacon Dawn Farms – Plant Deli Crispy Bakun Slices Finnebrogue – Artisan Naked Without the Oink Bacon [LIVE] Best faux chicken product WINNER planted.chicken – Lemon & Herbs Quorn Foods – Roarsomes This – This Isn’t Chicken Pieces [LIVE] Best faux fish/seafood product WINNER Seabloom – Tuna Free Flakes – Lemon Omni Foods – Omni Golden Fillet Finnebrogue – Artisan Naked without the Splash No Fish Goujons [LIVE] Best faux meat burger WINNER Beyond Meat – Beyond Burger Biffs – The Biffburger Future Farm – Future Burger 2030 [LIVE] Best faux meat sausage WINNER Verdino – Plant-Based Merguez Sausage Kitchen Circus – Tofu Hot Dogs Beyond Meat – Beyond Sausage Best pie / pastry WINNER Clive’s Purely Plants – Organic Beefy Ale Puff Pie Higgidy Ltd – Spinach & Roasted Tomato Vegan Quiche Best sauce / store cupboard product WINNER RightRice – Risotto Lidl US – Red Lentil Spaghetti Lidl US – Chickpea Fusilli Best savoury snack WINNER Cauliflower Nudie snacks – Crisps SnackIT – Plant-Based Snack Original Lidl US – Organic Roasted Garlic Hummus Best soy-based/fermented product WINNER Kitchen Circus – Sweet Chilli Barbecue Tofu FLAX & KALE – It’s Plant-Based Creamy LIDL US – Organic Firm Tofu Best sweet snack, biscuit or confectionery WINNER Stroop Club – Vegan Stroopwafels Chicago Vegan Foods – Dandies Marshmallows Greenback Plant Protein Bar – Hazelnut About The World Plant-Based Taste Awards The World Plant-Based Taste Awards, in association with Plant Based World Europe Conference & Expo, are a celebration of taste across many categories of the global plant-based industry. As one of the first of its kind in this sector, these awards are a fantastic way for you to enhance the promotion of your plant-based brand and to ensure it gains global recognition. Being named ‘winner’ or ‘finalist’ provides a hallmark of success that will prevail long after the awards ceremony and can highlight the contribution your company’s products and team are making to the plant-based industry. About FoodBev Media Established in 2000, FoodBev Media is the food and beverage industry’s leading media and communication business. With a portfolio of international magazines, the website www.foodbev.com and the industry’s largest social media network, FoodBev Media ensures you are continuously kept up to date with the latest trends and innovations. Since 2003, FoodBev Media has gained a reputation for organising successful international awards schemes in the food, beverage and dairy industries. For more information about our selection of awards programmes, please visit www.foodbev.com/awards/ or email awards@foodbev.com. #Winners #WorldPlantBasedTasteAwards #WorldPlantBasedTasteAwards2021 #PlantBasedWorldExpo #finalists #awards #plantbased

Alt-seafood start-up BettaF!sh has introduced its latest product, Sal-Nom, a plant-based alternative to hot-smoked salmon made from European seaweed. This latest innovation follows the launch of BettaF!sh’s Tu-Nah in October 2021. According to the Berlin-based food-tech, Sal-Nom looks and tastes like traditional salmon, delivering an ‘authentic taste of the sea’ thanks to its blend of ingredients. Sal-Nom is crafted from fava bean and pea proteins alongside organic European seaweed, delivering a seafood-like flavour without the use of soya or wheat. The product is designed for health-conscious consumers, providing a rich source of protein, omega-3 fatty acids and fibre. Seaweed can provide essential nutrients as a food ingredient, and requires no resources such as soil, freshwater, fertilisers or pesticides. With overfishing and habitat destruction becoming an increasing threat to wild salmon stocks, Betta!Fish aims to provide a sustainable alternative that can reduce the demand for wild-caught and farmed salmon, support the recovery of natural salmon stocks and mitigate the environmental impacts of traditional aquaculture practices – such as water pollution, disease spread and disruption of marine ecosystems. Deniz Ficicioglu, CEO at BettaF!sh, said: “By leveraging the natural benefits of seaweed, we offer a fish alternative that is not only delicious but also significantly contributes to the protection of our oceans and personal health”. Sal-Nom will initially debut in glass jars, available in the chilled section at selected European supermarkets, with a canned format to follow later in the summer. #BettaFish #Germany

Meat alternatives company This has announced the closing of its Series C equity funding round at £20 million. The round was completed by European growth equity sustainability investment platform Planet First Partners, through a combination of primary and secondary equity financing. This will use the capital to accelerate growth in its UK home market through launches of new product ranges that ‘cater to evolving consumer health preferences,’ while boosting profitability on its core product range. Mark Cuddigan, the company’s recently appointed new CEO, will lead a new strategy for the business that aims to support its continued gain of market share. Cuddigan will leverage his sector knowledge from his previous experience as CEO of Ella’s Kitchen. He commented: “We are excited to welcome Planet First Partners into the This family. Our partnership will be key as we continue to lead a revolution through our plant-based food to protect animals and the environment, growing brand love to become market leaders in the UK.” Planet First Partners, which supports businesses that directly contribute to the climate transition, said the latest investment into This complements its previous investments across themes such as green energy and industrial sustainability. The company is spearheaded by executive chairman Frédéric de Mévius, who founded Verlinvest prior to establishing Planet First Partners in 2020. Verlinvest has supported food and beverage brands such as Oatly and Vita Coco. Planet First Partners will take two seats on the board of This. Since 2019, This has raised £35 million from institutional and crowdfunding investors. It has also launched several new innovations in chilled and frozen, including This Isn’t Lamb Kebabs and This Isn’t Chicken Shawarma. The company expanded its food-to-go range last year with the launch of This Isn't Chicken Korean-Style Noodle Salad, This Isn't Chicken & Bacon Pasta Salad, and This Isn't Chicken & Bacon Wrap. This week, the company has issued a voluntary recall of all This Isn’t Chicken & Bacon wrap products with a use-by date on or before 18 June in relation to a nationwide E. coli outbreak. While no E. coli has been found in the product, This said the measure is being taken as a precaution. This has recently streamlined its operations, consolidating its production from 17 sites down to three as part of efforts to improve gross margins. Top image: © This #This #UK

Steakholder Foods has signed an MoU to enter into a strategic partnership with gourmet fish delicacies brand Sherry Herring. Under the partnership, Sherry Herring will unveil a line of vegan fish salads developed with Steakholder’s SHFish premix blends. The collaboration marks another step forward in advancing Steakholder Foods’ commercialisation strategy, leveraging Sherry Herring’s regional expertise and brand recognition to expand Steakholder Foods’ geographic footprint and customer base, bolstering Steakholder Foods’ growing product portfolio. Through the integration of SHFISH premix blends, Steakholder Foods and Sherry Herring aim to offer plant-based alternatives that mimic the taste, texture and nutritional profile of traditional fish salads, while providing a more sustainable option. Steakholder Foods' technology combined with Sherry Herring's reputation in the seafood industry creates a powerful synergy that is poised to disrupt the market and drive growth for both partners. Capitalising on Sherry Herring’s established distribution network spanning delis and restaurants, this new vegan fish salad line will roll out to Sherry Herring’s current channels as well as new locations. Steakholder Foods entered the US market with its SHMeat and SHFish blends in April this year. The blends consist of dried extracts ready for mixing to create 3D-printed fish and steak alternatives. The company uses 3D technology to mimic the texture of fish, with its Drop Location in Space printed used for fish and seafood production to create delicate textures that ‘closely resemble’ those found in real seafood. Arik Kaufman, CEO of Steakholder Foods, said: “Our collaboration with Sherry Herring marks an exciting step forward in our mission to develop and monetise sustainable, innovative food solutions. By combining our proprietary SHFISH premix blends with Sherry Herring’s renowned culinary expertise and brand reputation, we will introduce a new line of delicious plant-based offerings. Through this partnership, we open up access to new market opportunities and broaden our consumer reach, reflecting the strong financial potential for sustainable, high-quality food solutions.” #SteakholderFoods #SherryHerring

Precision-fermented egg developer The Every Company has announced a new partnership with Spanish omelette producer Grupo Empresarial Palacios Alimentación (Grupo Palacios). Palacios will incorporate Every Egg – an animal-free, vegan-friendly egg ingredient made via Every’s precision fermentation process – into its flagship Spanish omelettes, and into the research and development of new products. Palacios began as a local butcher shop in in Albelda de Iregua, La Rioja, Spain. The company has since evolved into a major multinational business and diversified its offering to provide a range of food products, including fresh tortillas, refrigerated pizzas, frozen pastries – and a range of entirely plant-based products. The partnership with Every, announced today and officially formalised through a commercial agreement, aims to bring high-quality ingredients and innovation to traditional dishes and create new global culinary experiences. According to a press statement published by Every today (17 June), Palacios said it was ‘genuinely amazed’ by the animal-free egg’s taste and culinary versatility, praising its ability to ‘seamlessly blend’ into a wide range of dishes while maintaining the authentic flavour and texture of a high-quality hen egg. This latest partnership news follows another collaboration announcement from Every last week, revealing it would be teaming up with Landish Foods to bring a new line of protein-boosted beverage powders to US consumers under the new brand name ‘Fermy’. #Every #Spain #US

Supplement maker Beam Be Amazing has introduced two new products featuring the well-known Dole Whip flavours, as the company looks to capitalise on consumer demand for innovative, functional products. Beam Dole Whip Strawberry Vegan Protein Powder and Dole Whip Pineapple Pre-Workout Powder will offer health-conscious consumers a way to enjoy the nostalgic Dole Whip taste. Dole Whip Strawberry Vegan Protein Powder contains 20g of protein per serving, along with zero sugar, added prebiotic fibre and 130 calories. It is also gluten- and soy-free. Dole Whip Pineapple Pre-Workout Powder, meanwhile, is fortified with three trademarked ingredients and is naturally flavoured and coloured. The new Dole Whip-inspired supplements come as the global dietary supplements market is projected to reach $194 billion by 2026, driven by growing consumer interest in products that support overall health and fitness, data from Euromonitor International shows. This is not the first time Dole and Beam Be Amazing have collaborated. In February 2024, the duo launched 'Beam x Dole Super Greens,' featuring orange, peach and mango flavours infused with 35 fruits and vegetables per serving, along with prebiotic fibre, digestive enzymes, antioxidants, essential vitamins and minerals. In March 2024, Beam unveiled a new patent-pending beverage, called Greens On The Go. Each RTD can blends ten organic fruits and vegetables including cucumber juice, celery juice, broccoli, kale, spinach, orange, banana, papaya, shiitake mushrooms and Jerusalem artichoke. #BeamBeAmazing #Dole #Supplements #Proteinpowder