With such stringent requirements to meet around ensuring food-grade packaging materials are fit for purpose, The Plant Base spoke to the experts about the path toward a planet-friendly packaging future.

A new initiative – The PaperFlex Consortium – has launched today, comprising six global consumer goods companies, aiming to accelerate the development of responsibly designed paper-based alternatives to flexible plastic packaging.

Plant-based oils manufacturer AAK has secured £2 million in funding from Humber Freeport to deliver a major investment programme at its site in Hull, UK.

Belgian food-tech start-up Paleo has raised €2 million to support the commercial scale-up of its animal-free heme proteins, made from yeast using precision fermentation.

Maash – a start-up with operations in Belgium and France, focused on developing mycoprotein ingredients for the food industry – has secured a €12.5 million funding package to accelerate its next phase of growth.

Estonian biotechnology start-up Äio has teamed up with research organisation TFTAK (Center of Food and Fermentation Technologies) to launch a three-year R&D project focused on microbial oil production.

The Canadian province of Nova Scotia has made a CAD 1.2 million (approx. $864,000) investment in precision fermentation at biotechnology scale-up facility, the Verschuren Centre.

Natural colour supplier GNT, producer of the plant-based Exberry range, has filed its safflower colour additive petition with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Swedish food-tech start-up Millow has closed a €2 million funding round to support the expanded production capacity of its clean-label protein made from oats and mycelium.