The vertical farming industry has faced turbulence as the soaring expectations of its early days have levelled with growing consciousness of unit economics and scalability setbacks bringing a sense of realism instead – much like other advanced food-tech industries. While some growers took a significant hit, with a series of bankruptcies making headlines in recent years, those that remain cautiously optimistic believe the path ahead is clearer, more focused and displaying signs of maturity. In this feature, included in FoodBev magazine's September issue, we explore how the industry is rising to the challenge. According to the Gartner Hype Cycle framework, which tracks how emerging technologies mature over time, the ‘Trough of Disillusionment’ is a necessary – albeit challenging – stage that promising, emerging technologies must move through before reaching a more productive plateau in which mainstream appeal and widespread adoption await. For the vertical farming industry, these stages have been clear to observe, and the disillusionment phase has hit some harder than others. Hiroki Koga, co-founder and CEO of vertical farming company Oishii, told FoodBev: “Drawing a parallel to the Gartner Hype Cycle, the sector – similar to electric vehicles and other clean-tech industries – experienced an initial wave of excitement and high expectations, followed by a necessary market correction as companies worked to prove the long-term viability of their business models. Over the past few years, optimism has become more grounded and pragmatic.” Indoor vertical farms, where crops are grown vertically in controlled conditions using hydroponics and other soilless technologies, provide clear environmental benefits in reducing water use, land use and waste – in addition to being independent of climate and seasonal limitations and removing the need for pesticides. This ability to address the growing need for more planet-friendly farming methods fuelled early optimism and the boom in investment that came with it – a pattern seen with many cutting-edge technologies. In F&B, this pattern has played out across other food-tech categories such as plant-based and cultivated meat, and precision fermentation-made ingredients. Martin Davalos, partner at investment firm McWin Capital Partners, said: “Several years ago, vertical farming was sometimes presented as a universal solution capable of replacing large parts of conventional agriculture. Significant capital was invested on the assumption that scale, automation and technological improvement would rapidly drive down costs.” However, he emphasised, what came next showed that growing crops successfully in a controlled environment and operating a profitable agriculture business are two different challenges. “A number of companies expanded infrastructure before fully validating unit economics, crop market fit and operational reliability,” he explained. “Rising energy prices and a more difficult fundraising environment then exposed the fragility of those models.” The last few years have seen a string of companies – some regarded as leaders within the sector – file for bankruptcy and enter liquidation, despite promising beginnings, significant achievements and notable funding raises. UK-based Jones Food Company, operator of the largest vertical farm in the country, closed in May last year after failing to secure new investment. More recently, in the US, major player 80 Acres Farms announced in August 2026 that it would wind down operations. In a statement, 80 Acres said that despite “an exhaustive effort to find a way forward,” it was unable to secure the capital required. The news came just a year after it announced a major merger with Soli Organic, and 18 months after it raised $115 million in capital alongside an acquisition of biotech firm Plantae Biosciences. AeroFarms, a microgreens grower also based in the US, also said it would cease operations in December 2025 – though the company received emergency funding just a week later and now continues to operate with the backing of VC firm Palm Ventures, which announced its acquisition of the company in June 2026. Lessons learned Increasingly sophisticated technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT)-enabled monitoring tools, smart sensor solutions and optimised LED lighting are all delivering efficiency,cost reduction and crop quality gains. However, smart use of these technologies – alongside a solid business model and the right operational expertise – are where the real impact lies. © Intelligent Growth Solutions Dave Scott, chief technology officer at UK vertical farming tech manufacturer Intelligent Growth Solutions, emphasised this: “It might sound counterintuitive coming from someone with ‘technology’ in their job title, but I don’t believe the greatest advances have come from the technology itself,” he said. “More often, they come from the scientific understanding that shapes how that technology is applied.“ “Much of the hardware used in controlled environment agriculture is based on proven technologies. The challenge, and ultimately the opportunity, lies in how those systems are integrated and used to generate actionable insights.” Growers implementing smart technologies must be able to use these solutions to turn data and scientific understanding into better outcomes, leveraging them to better understand how crops respond to their environment, he argued. McWin’s Davalos echoed this sentiment, telling FoodBev: “Ultimately, commercial success depends less on the sophistication of an individual technology than on the integration of biology, engineering, operations, procurement and sales”. “Companies are more likely to struggle when they approach the sector primarily as an infrastructure development exercise, underestimate the biological complexity of production or assume consumers will pay a substantial premium solely because a product was grown vertically.” When investing in a vertical farming start-up, McWin looks for companies with automation designed around a proven production process, in addition to proven unit economics at a relevant scale and crop types with sufficient value to justify controlled environment production. “We would avoid companies whose economics depend primarily on optimistic assumptions about future electricity prices, unproven yields or large cost reductions that have not been demonstrated,” Davalos pointed out. “We would also be cautious where significant capital expenditure is committed before the company has established product market fit and operational stability.” Identifying where the value lies and focusing on the appropriate crop type is one of the most fundamental elements of success for businesses in this category, with cost competitiveness against existing, traditionally grown field crops being a key factor in whether products achieve widespread adoption, Oishii’s Koga said. He highlighted four major ‘waves,’ with crops already grown in greenhouses – such as strawberries, lettuce, tomatoes and bell peppers – being the first to see widespread adoption due to production costs in smart farms soon falling below those of traditional methods. © Oishii Fruit trees could come next – while growing them in smart farms is not currently cost-effective or time-efficient, he noted, future developments in plant dwarfing and selective breeding breakthroughs could create varieties of peaches or pears that are suitable for such facilities. Root vegetables are less compelling due to their low market prices and ability to withstand long-distance transport, while grains also face competition from extremely low-cost alternatives despite being easiest to grow, Koga acknowledged. A recent analysis in Plant Physiology put the current minimum production cost for dried staple crops, such as wheat, rye and barley, at around $10 per kg of dry plant matter through vertical farming – and less than $1 per kg through conventional field production, highlighting the scale of the price premium. “Furthermore, their high requirement for sunlight makes electricity costs a major bottleneck,” Koga added. “An energy revolution is required; this is not a problem that can be solved in five or ten years, but rather a challenge spanning 30-50 years.” Meanwhile, McWin’s Davalos pointed out the challenges associated even with leafy greens, which have been the primary focus for many industry players – the economics can be challenging when vertical farms compete directly against efficient field production or advanced greenhouses. “The relevant comparison is not whether a crop can be grown vertically, but whether it can be grown competitively against the best available alternative in a specific geography,” he summarised. For Oishii, which recently raised $150 million in Series C funding, its focused approach on premium strawberries is described by Koga as a key factor behind its success and differentiation in the market. “We intentionally launched with a premium product to establish credibility and demonstrate the value consumers place on exceptional quality,” Koga enthused. “By concentrating our resources on a single crop…we’ve been able to deepen our expertise, improve product quality and steadily reduce costs. That focus has been central to our strategy from day one.” Rising to the challenge The challenge is undeniable, with high energy, capital expenditure, labour and maintenance costs all posing critical hurdles to be tackled. However, technological advancements to reduce costs and accelerate growth are ongoing. “Lighting and climate management – including cooling, heating, ventilation and dehumidification – represent a major portion of energy demand,” Davalos said. “These costs can be reduced through more efficient LEDs, better airflow design, improved insulation, heat recovery, flexible operation around energy prices and access to renewable or otherwise stranded energy.” Targeted automation can also bring down costs – however, he warned of being mindful that fully automating an unstable production process can add cost and complexity. Additionally, while robotics can address labour-intensive burdens in areas such as transplanting, crop handling, inspection and handling, Davalos noted, technologies must be able to operate reliably in humid and “biologically complex” environments. AI systems are frequently cited among the biggest technological opportunities when it comes to unlocking more of the industry’s potential. Intelligent Growth Solutions’ Scott said: “Vertical farms generate vast amounts of information every day, and AI gives us the ability to extract meaningful insights at a scale that simply wasn’t possible before”. “Over the next five years, this will help drive continuous improvements in crop performance, energy efficiency, automation and overall farm productivity, accelerating the industry’s path to commercial maturity.” AI-driven “physical intelligence” and crop breeding can improve yields and “dramatically” lower costs, Oishii’s Koga said, while sharing his optimism about the potential of surging productivity and further falling costs if governments and businesses globally do their bit to encourage investment in the sector. “Applying the principle known as McKinsey’s ‘Cleantech Moore’s Law’ – which states that costs decrease by 70% when the market grows 100-fold – our strawberries, currently priced at $7, could see their cost drop to the $2-$3 range simply through the expansion of industrial scale,” Koga explained. Additionally, he emphasised the potential of rapid crop variety improvement: “At our Japanese research centre, numerous varieties have already been identified in just one year that offer nearly 40-50% higher yields while maintaining quality; at this pace, it would not be surprising to see yields more than double – and costs cut by nearly half – within five years.” Greater collaboration across the value chain could facilitate the sector’s much-needed progress, encompassing both private and government-backed funding initiatives, transparent and credible knowledge and data sharing from both growers and technology providers, and long-term purchasing partnerships with retail and manufacturing partners. © Oishii “Energy providers and infrastructure partners also have an important role,” said McWin’s Davalos. “Locating facilities near low-cost renewable power, waste heat, industrial carbon dioxide or other underutilised resources could materially improve both economics and environmental performance.” “Investors, meanwhile, need to finance businesses in stages and require proof of performance before funding successive waves of expansion.” Overall, from an investor’s perspective, Davalos said McWin expects vertical farming to become a “smaller, but more commercially credible” industry than some earlier forecasts suggested. “It is unlikely to replace conventional agriculture or advanced greenhouse production across broad crop categories,” he noted. “Instead, it should become an important component of a more diversified agricultural system, particularly for high-value crops, specialist ingredients, propagation, climate-stressed regions and markets that place a high value on local, reliable production.” Looking ahead, he expects continued consolidation with a greater focus on profitability, standardised facilities and collaboration with retailers, manufacturers, energy providers and agricultural organisations. “Success would not be measured by the total amount of capital invested or hectares of facilities announced,” he concluded. “It would mean multiple companies operating facilities profitably over several years, expanding primarily from internally validated economics and customer demand, and delivering measurable benefits in supply resilience, quality, resource efficiency and environmental performance.” “Vertical farming has an important role to play, but its future will be defined by focused applications and operational excellence rather than the claim that it can grow every crop, everywhere.” Top image: © Oishii

British plant-based recipe kit brand Grubby has collaborated with London vegan restaurant Mildreds once again on a range of signature dishes for October 2026. The nine dishes include an exclusive first taste of four classic recipes served in Mildred’s restaurants, as well as five of the companies’ previously launched recipe collaborations, returning for 2026 in response to consumer demand. As with all Grubby dishes, each recipe arrives with pre-portioned ingredients and a step-by-step method. They are all ready to serve within 30 minutes, and the company has also partnered with meat alternative brands Fable Food Co and Symplicity Foods on several of the new recipes. The new recipes are: Chipotle Tinga Tacos: Fable’s mushrooms cooked in a chipotle and pineapple sauce, served in corn tacos with charred pineapple salsa, pickled radish, shredded lettuce and garlic mayo. Mushroom and Aubergine Shawarma: Marinated aubergine and oyster mushroom skewers on a tahini coconut yogurt, finished with parlsey sauce and crispy spiced potatoes. Smoky Mushroom Prime Patty: A Symplicity smash burger in a toasted brioche bun with green chimichurri and caramelised balsamic red onions, served with fries. Shiitake Peanut Laksa: A red curry and peanut base with wholewheat noodles, topped with crispy Fable mushrooms, tenderstem broccoli, roasted peanuts and fresh coriander. Martin Holden-White, founder of Grubby, said: “Last year's collaboration with Mildreds was a huge hit with our customers and we have been inundated with requests to bring it back ever since”. “We are also incredibly proud to showcase four new dishes from the Mildreds menu – people are queuing up to order these in Soho right now, and we've worked with the Mildreds team to get them cookable on a Tuesday night.”

US plant-based beverage brand Kiki Milk has announced the launch of Kiki Milk Protein, an innovative new alt-milk offering made from the ancient Amazonian seed sacha inchi. Kiki Milk Protein embraces the 3,000-year-old seed’s rich nutritional profile, offering a source of complete plant protein, healthy fats and fibre. Sacha inchi is minimally processed and contains all nine essential amino acids, along with 4g of fibre, omega-3 fatty acids and naturally occurring antioxidant compounds. Each serving of Kiki Milk Protein provides 10g of plant protein, primarily from sacha inchi, and contains no gums, seed oils or flavourings. Like all of the brand’s products, the new offering is Certified Organic. Alex Abelin, co-founder of Kiki Milk’s parent company PlantBaby, said: “The problem with most protein beverages is the quality of the protein. When you create a protein isolate, the ingredient typically goes through significant processing to separate the protein from the rest of the seed.” “In that process, you can lose naturally occurring components like fibre, healthy fats and other nutrients that are part of the whole food. We started with sacha inchi because it’s naturally rich in high-quality protein, and our goal was to preserve the seed as close to its original form as possible – delivering protein in a way that works with the whole-food nutrition of the plant.” Kiki Milk Protein will be available in 32 oz six-packs on the company’s website for an MSRP of $49.99, as well as through Amazon. The launch builds on the brand’s recent momentum, with Kiki Milk having significantly expanded its distribution over major national chains over the past year. Founded in 2020 in Hawaii, PlantBaby launched Kiki Milk in 2021 and has since grown to offer a wider portfolio including Original, Chocolate, Unsweetened and Mac Nut varieties.

Japanese biotech company Spiber has announced the launch of Spiber Biofoundry, a contract development and manufacturing service for strain development and advanced fermentation. The company has built its expertise in strain engineering and fermentation over nearly two decades and is now offering its high-yield strain development services to customers targeting proteins. Founded in Yamagata, Japan in 2007, the company develops structural proteins produced by microbial fermentation from plant-derived sugars. It operates an R&D site in Tsuruoaka, Japan and a commercial production plant in Rayong, Thailand. The new Spiber Biofoundry provides process development and contract manufacturing at every scale, from 1-litre fermenters to commercial facilities of over 100 kL. Target products include industrial enzymes and food ingredients, as well as research reagants and diagnostic raw materials. The service is targeting companies facing challenges surrounding low yields and scale-up, with start-ups facing barriers around taking a recombinant protein of their own from laboratory yields to commercial production. Spiber has achieved this with its Brewed Protein innovation, which is used as a material for textile applications. The company can optimise the gene sequence for the customer’s target protein, then introduce it into its proprietary microbial host strains and evaluate expression in culture. In case studies, Spiber designed five sequences for each target protein and tested them against a control: the same gene optimised and supplied by a commercial gene synthesis provider. According to Spiber, for human FGF-2 protein, all five of its sequences outperformed the control, delivering 5.9 to 9.4 times its yield. In broader benchmarking, Spiber-optimised sequences reportedly outperformed the benchmark for over 90% of target proteins tested, with improvements averaging four-fold and reaching 40-fold. The benchmark was each protein’s original sequence before optimisation. For customers who already have a production strain, Spiber develops the fermentation and purification process and manufactures under contract at whatever scale is needed, from 1-litre bench fermenters to 2,000-litre vessels at its R&D site in Tsuruoaka, or commercial fermenters of over 100 kL at its plant in Rayong. Each stage can be commissioned on its own, from a single lab-scale evaluation to full production runs. The service covers proteins, other fermentation products and microbial biomass. Maya Kawana, CEO of Spiber, said: “Developing diverse structural proteins has enabled us to build the technology, expertise and facilities needed to scale fermentation from the lab to commercial production”. “Our work with strategic partners already extends beyond apparel textiles. This service may also create new opportunities for collaboration across industries. By helping more companies bring their technologies to market, we aim to accelerate progress toward a world where we no longer compete for finite resources.”

Plant-based food manufacturer Planteneers has announced the launch of its latest innovation, Culinary Balls – a texture-focused concept designed to give plant-based products a new identity rather than imitating familiar animal products. The savoury solution contains a base, filling and coating, designed to offer ‘multi-layered indulgence’ in each bite. The base can be ‘juicy or soft,’ combined with an aromatic filling and crispy coating. Extra texture can be added to the coating with sesame, hemp or chia seeds, while the light mousse filling contains 40% vegetables. “The special appeal comes from the contrast – crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside, with a creamy filling,” said Pia Meinlschmidt, head of product management at Planteneers. “Multi-layered textures are seeing continued growth in the confectionery space, and the same principle is increasingly also interesting for savoury products.” The concept is customisable when it comes to flavour. Examples highlighted by Planteneers include a Mediterranean profile with dried tomatoes, black olives and white beans; an earthy, nutty combination of beetroot and walnuts; or a sweet and savoury creation with pumpkin, apricot, curry and ground ginger. Fermented flavours such as pumpkin kimchi are also possible. The product concept is freeze-thaw and bake-stable, making it suitable for various applications. Free from artificial additives, the solution also responds to demand for clean-label, high-protein and high-fibre products. Additionally, the solution can be extended to hybrid products that combine mushrooms with meat protein, as demonstrated by Planteneers in a Kebab Balls concept. The Culinary Balls can be cooked in air fryers or eaten hot or cold, designed to meet demand for modern convenience options, sharing occasions and health-conscious eating.

Edonia, a food-tech start-up based in France, has raised €15 million to fund the industrial scale-up of its microalgae-based protein ingredient, Edo. The functional ingredient offers manufacturers and foodservice a new whole food source derived from spirulina, suitable for use as an alternative to traditional, animal-derived protein sources like meat, cheese and seafood. Going beyond mimicking animal products, the high-protein ingredient can also be used to boost the nutritional value of everyday foods, responding to industry demands for multi-functional ingredients that are minimally processed. The funding round was led by Swen Blue Ocean 2, Asterion Ventures and EIT Food. It also includes non-dilutive funding from Bpifrance under the France 2030 plan and bank financing. Benoît Lelong, senior investment manager at EIT Food, said: “This investment demonstrates not only the strength of Edonia’s technology, but also the growing market demand for innovative protein solutions that combine nutrition, affordability and sustainability”. Edonia's co-founders (L-R): Pierre Mignon, COO; Hugo Valentin, CEO; and Nicolas Irlinger, CTO Edonia will use the funds to scale-up industrialisation of its ingredient and open a dedicated new facility through a partnership in an existing shared location in France. It will also seek to grow its B2B foodservice sales model in Europe, Japan and the US. The company has currently secured €30 million in pre-orders, through around 20 contracts signed with industry players. Edonia’s ingredient was made using its proprietary Edonization technology, a patented process developed in partnership with AgroParisTech. The tech transforms spirulina into a tender grain, with the functional ingredient’s carbon footprint ‘up to 27 times lower than meat’ according to EIT Food. Hugo Valentin, co-founder of Edonia, said: “We firmly believe that microalgae can feed the world in a different way, and our successful step from pilot to large-scale production proves that there are applications far beyond nutraceuticals, particularly in the ready-to-use protein ingredients market”. “Edonia is developing the new category of nutritious, minimally processed whole foods plant-based proteins. These essential and versatile ingredients can be used by industrial manufacturers on a large scale and at competitive prices.”

US plant-based nutrition brand Aloha has offered its own take on one of the food industry’s biggest viral trends over the past few years, Dubai chocolate, with its new Chocolate Pistachio protein bar. The bar’s core gets its green hue from spirulina and turmeric. It is made with real pistachio pieces and Aloha’s brown rice and pumpkin seed protein blend, and is coated in dark chocolate with a hint of sea salt. They are made from whole-food ingredients and contain no artificial additives. Each bar delivers 14g of plant-based protein and 10g of fibre, with just 5g of sugar. The brand’s entire line-up is also USDA-certified organic. Aloha highlighted NielsenIQ data showing that dollar sales in ‘super-premium’ chocolate – the category in which Dubai chocolate sits – were up 16.7% last year despite mainstream chocolate sale declining. While indulgent flavour often comes at the expense of health, with added sugar and artificial ingredients frequently used in the confectionery space, Aloha aims to close this gap with a clean-label option designed to satisfy cravings. Brad Charron, CEO of Aloha, explained why the brand waited to jump on the Dubai chocolate trend – which first went viral on social media in December 2023: “We watched Dubai chocolate for over a year before we touched it,” he commented. “We wanted to know if this was a real shift in what people want from chocolate, or just a moment in time. Once the consumer data told us it wasn't fading, we built the version that could actually hold up to our brand promise and strict food philosophy: real ingredients, real protein and fibre, and a taste that earns hype instead of borrowing it.” The Aloha Chocolate Pistachio bar is available in Albertsons Safeway Banners, beginning in November, for a limited time. It can also be purchased online via Aloha’s website.

Venture studio Food Founders Studio has closed an oversubscribed €4 million funding round, supporting the development of innovative food-tech start-ups designed to address unmet needs across the food and beverage industry. Securing investment has been notably challenging for the European food-tech industry in recent years – investors are becoming more selective and demanding stronger proof of commercial value, with many start-ups struggling to bridge the gap between pilot-scale lab innovation and commercial viability. Despite this, Food Founders Studio noted that investment is ‘beginning to return,’ with European food-tech start-ups raising €401 million in the first half of 2026 – nearly 18% more than a year earlier, though the number of funding rounds fell by 12%. Food Founders Studio, headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, works with food and beverage manufacturers to identify key challenges for the industry, then searches for technologies that can address them. Its boards assess technical performance, the commercial case, and the viability of the intellectual property. It then recruits experienced leadership and co-founds the selected venture, working alongside the team on industrial validation, partnerships and fundraising. The studio has already scouted more than 100 technologies and advanced nine to validation before launching its first venture, SentaNovia. SentaNovia is built around neutral plant protein technology licensed from a European university, with the tech designed to remove unwanted off-flavours at the source rather than masking them. Within a year of launch, it has now recruited a CEO and is working toward commercial production while closing its own funding round. The €4 million, raised by family investment offices and angel investors, will support the studio’s next ventures and the work of identifying and securing the technologies behind them. It is currently recruiting a CEO and co-founder for its second company. Additionally, the firm is expanding its search for technologies beyond universities and research institutes – it will now open its sourcing to start-ups and corporate R&D teams who cannot take technologies forward. The studio will assess those opportunities against the same industrial, technical and commercial criteria it applies to academic research. Alexandre Morel, CTO and co-founder of Food Founders Studio, said: “A technology can be technically strong and still lack a route into the food industry”. “We want to find that technology wherever it sits, secure what is needed to build on it, and put the right team around the opportunities that meet a tangible industry need.”

US plant-based milk specialists New Barn Organics and BAM The Brand have partnered to launch a buckwheat-based milk alternative product at Whole Foods Markets. The collaboration was established through Whole Foods Market’s Local and Emerging Accelerator Program, where BAM – a producer of functional, regeneratively farmed buckwheat ingredients – was chosen to participate and paired with plant-based beverage producer New Barn as a mentor. The partnership sees BAM’s buckwheat platform combined with New Barn’s expertise in organic, regenerative food production and retail distribution. It aims to support BAM in expanding its buckwheat ingredients, making them more scalable across various F&B categories and helping to expand them into new formats. New Barn acquired BAM’s buckwheat milk recipes as part of the collaboration, and is now launching New Barn Organics Buckwheat Milk to market, powered by BAM’s shelf-stable Buckwheat Milk Powder innovation. “The CPG industry is competitive, and we saw a unique opportunity to be stronger together,” said Paige Hansen, founder and CEO of BAM the Brand. “Plant-based milk remains a core category, and Buckwheat Milk is a natural next step as consumers seek regenerative, delicious ways to diversify their diets.” “This partnership accelerates category growth and enables BAM to expand buckwheat into new formats.” The newly launched Buckwheat Milk is free from gluten, dairy, nuts, seed oils and GMO ingredients, and is Regenerative Organic Certified. It is available now at regional Whole Foods Markets stores across Southern Pacific, Northern California, Southwest, Rocky Mountain and Florida.

Neggst, a producer of plant-based egg alternatives based in Berlin, has announced its acquisition by fellow German plant-based brand Greenforce. Established in 2021 by co-founders Verónica García Arteaga and Patrick Deufel, Neggst’s has developed what it claims is the first whole plant-based egg platform – complete with ‘whites, yolk and shell’. The innovation is designed to closely mimic the taste, appearance and functionality of traditional eggs while made entirely from plant ingredients including pea protein, fava beans and sweet potatoes. In a statement on LinkedIn, García Arteaga confirmed that Neggst is now part of Greenforce, though specific financial terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed. She indicated that she will leave the business under the deal, thanking the team and stating: “We chose the wiser route for the product”. Greenforce, headquartered in Munich, was founded in 2020 and produces a range of plant-based food products including meat, cheese and egg alternatives. It was acquired by international food group LiveKindly Collective in July, with Greenforce becoming part of LiveKindly’s plant-based portfolio among brands such as Fry’s Family Foods, Like, and Oumph!. LiveKindly, founded in 2020 by Roger Lienhard, has broadened its offering with several milestone acquisition and partnership announcements in recent years. The company, headquartered in New York, US, is expanding its presence across Europe, with its international footprint including manufacturing facilities in Sweden and the Netherlands. In August, LiveKindly snapped up meat and seafood manufacturer Hilton Foods’ dutch vegan and vegetarian business, Dalco Food, for £5.4 million. Mergers and acquisitions across the plant-based industry have become more frequent in recent years as the industry undergoes a period of consolidation following the pre-pandemic boom – a time when numerous new innovations and companies were entering the market with plant-based alternatives to meat, seafood and dairy, many of which have since faced challenges remaining profitable as the initial hype levelled out and the market became more crowded. In Germany, other recent notable acquisitions in the space include Bayou Best Foods’ acquisition of alt-seafood brand BettaF!sh, announced in July; Infinite Roots’ acquisition of fellow fungi-based food start-up Bosque Foods in June; and Müller’s purchase of German plant-based beverage producer Berief Foods in May. Top image: © Neggst

Glebe Farm Foods’ PureOaty beverage brand has announced the launch of a new Coconut Oat Drink innovation, alongside a refreshed identity for the wider line-up. Based in Cambridgeshire, UK, Glebe Farm Foods produces its PureOaty range with 100% British oats grown on a family farm, then milled and manufactured locally. The new Coconut Oat Drink combines British gluten-free oats with real coconut cream, creating what it describes as a ‘naturally creamy’ offering with a subtle coconut flavour. It is made with just four ingredients – water, oats, coconut cream and salt – and contains no gums, stabilisers, flavours or added sugars, catering to rising clean-label demand in the dairy-free beverage space. The new addition to the range aims to give consumers a ‘fresh, tropical twist’ on oat drinks, with Circana UK data showing that coconut is the second-largest plant-based alternative in the space, growing volume sales by 3% in the last 52 weeks. Oat leads the way at 4.8%. The drink can be served chilled, blended into smoothies and shakes, mixed into cocktails and mocktails, or added to coffee, aiming to provide a versatile choice for various everyday usage occasions. Philip Rayner, MD and co-founder of Glebe Farm Foods, said: “Today’s consumers want more from the food and drink they buy. They’re looking for products that deliver on taste, quality and nutrition, made with simple ingredients.” “Because we grow, mill and manufacture our oats ourselves, alongside working with trusted British growers, we know exactly what goes into every carton. That control is central to what we do and helps us deliver the quality and consistency our customers know and love.” The packaging refresh across the line reflects this focus on transparency and British provenance, featuring a new strapline: ‘Delicious oats. Made simply.’ PureOaty Coconut Oat Drink is now available via Amazon and the brand’s website, sold in cases of six for £12.30. The rest of the range is also available at additional locations including Morrisons retail stores and foodservice partners.

Agri-tech start-up AgroNetica has announced plans to advance toward commercial deployment of a transgene-free, gene-edited cacao with improved disease resistance, aiming to tackle one of the cocoa supply chain’s biggest challenges. AgroNetica is a US-based subsidiary of BetterSeeds, an agri-tech company headquartered in Israel. It was established based on BetterSeeds’ second-generation gene editing platform, adapting the technology to cacao specifically. According to the company, its gene-edited cacao has improved resistance to Phytophthora, the pathogen responsible for black pod disease. Its work builds on research conducted by scientists in Penn State University’s Department of Plant Science. In controlled disease assays, the transgene-free edited cacao plants reportedly showed approximately 42% less disease damage following Phytophthora infection. The edited trait was successfully transmitted to the next generation, paving the way for multiplication and commercial planting material, AgroNetica highlighted. Climate change and disease have put significant pressure on the chocolate industry. African cacao-producing countries, which account for more than 60% of the global cacao supply, expect a major production decline through 2027. Experts have cited the impact of the strengthening El Niño weather event, which occurs due to warming ocean temperatures in the central and eastern Pacific, as well as disease risk. With cocoa prices remaining well above pre-crisis levels, AgroNetica noted the chocolate industry’s need for cacao genetics capable of maintaining yields under harsher growing conditions. Ido Margalit, CEO of BetterSeeds and AgroNetica, said: “The cocoa industry does not only have a supply problem – it has a plant problem”. “Disease, heat and drought all begin at the farm. Our objective is to use gene editing to build cacao trees that can perform better under the conditions growers are facing today and will face in the years ahead.” BetterSeeds has already developed, patented and implemented its second-generation technologies and trait solutions in other crops. Relevant existing capabilities include heat and drought tolerance, improved yield and agronomic performance, accelerated maturation, plant architecture and synchronised pod formation for more efficient and mechanised harvesting. Additionally, ArgoNetica is planning more cacao-specific traits, including reduced heavy metal uptake and caffeine-free varieties. Conventional breeding can require decades to introduce and validate new traits, as cacao trees take years to mature. By combining an advanced disease-resistant cacao line with BetterSeeds’ technologies, AgroNetica believes it can substantially shorten the timeline. Field validation, multiplication and commercial development are the immediate focus, with commercial stages targeted during 2027. Notably, AgroNetica also aims for improved economics and ethics of cacao production – which is linked to sustainability and social responsibility challenges around deforestation and child labour. When disease, drought and heat reduce yields, farmers face less pressure to produce more from additional land. More productive and resilient cacao trees can help growers produce more from land already under cultivation and reduce the economic pressure to expand into new forests, the company noted. This is particularly relevant as the EU Deforestation Regulation begins applying to large and medium operators on 30 December 2026, with cocoa that enters the EU subject to deforestation-free requirements. Additionally, healthier trees, lower crop losses, stronger yields and more efficient harvesting can improve farm productivity and income. AgroNetica hopes this will contribute toward addressing some of the economic pressures that lead to the use of child labour in cacao-growing communities. In June 2026, the EU adopted a new framework for plants developed using new genomic techniques, such as gene editing. AgroNetica believes that evolving regulatory approaches in Europe and other markets will support gene-edited cacao in moving from research into real agricultural use. The company is pursuing collaborations and joint ventures with chocolate manufacturers, processors, growers and other stakeholders across the cacao value chain. Margalit commented: “The industry has made enormous progress in tracing and measuring the sustainability and ethical challenges around cacao. We believe the next step is to improve the plant itself - so growers can ethically produce more reliably, on existing land, with fewer losses and a stronger economic foundation.”