US food technology company Superlatus, recently merged with pharmaceutical platform provider Trxade Health, has agreed to acquire Perfect Day’s consumer-facing subsidiary The Urgent Company. Last week, the merged companies entered into a binding agreement to acquire The Urgent Company and its portfolio of animal-free brands, including ice cream brands Coolhaus and Brave Robot, alternative cheese brand Modern Kitchen and nutrition brand California Performance Co (which has ceased trading). The deal will enable the combined company to enter new markets and expand market share, as well as accelerate the expansion of the acquired brands’ retail footprint. The acquired brands’ products are sold in more than 6,000 stores across the US including Whole Foods, Thrive Market, Kroger and Costco as well as many independent markets nationwide. As part of the acquisition, Natasha Case, founder of Coolhaus, will rejoin as chief brand officer and will also be an advisor to Superlatus’ broader brand portfolio. Superlatus interim CEO, Tim Alford, said: “We are excited to welcome the Coolhaus, Brave Robot, Modern Kitchen and California Performance Co brands to our portfolio of CPG assets. Together, our shared interest in the sustainable and equitable food sectors will, we believe, allow us to expand our market presence and pursue a number of new opportunities to grow our brands together.” The Urgent Company’s general manager and co-founder, Paul Kollesoff, added: “Bringing together our companies’ social and climate missions is deeply meaningful to us. We believe the work we do now will determine if our children can continue to enjoy the food we eat and the planet we inhabit for years to come.” “This deal also directly speaks to the value The Urgent Company has created in the precision fermentation category and will help continue to satisfy the growing consumer appetite for these delicious, sustainable products.” #Superlatus #PerfectDay #ModernKitchen #BraveRobot #Coolhaus #TheUrgentCompany

Ingredients specialist Loryma has developed several application recipes for plant-based tuna that it claims can deliver “authentic” sensory qualities. Loryma, a member of the Crespel & Deiters group, said its fish alternative has a delicate texture and an “identical” mouthfeel to traditional tuna. It can be prepared in the same way as the original and can be adapted and flavoured by manufacturers to create customised products. To achieve a realistic texture, Loryma mixed its fine Lory Tex Snips and long, fibrous Lory Tex Fibres together before rehydrating with water. The blend can then be further processed with colourings and flavourings to prepare a range of products such as meatballs, deli salads and toppings for frozen foods. It has also developed a recipe for fish-free tuna in a can, combining Lory Tex Snips and Lory Tex Fibres with the wheat protein-based binder Lory Bind and modified wheat starch Lory Starch Pearl. The result is a bound mass with loose texture that is then soaked in oil and packed in cans. The product is heated in an autoclave under high pressure, the same as for conventional tuna. The process allows for a long shelf life while the heat- and process-stable ingredients maintain optimal sensory properties, Loryma said. The plant-based canned tuna contains around 19g of protein per 100g due to the addition of the extruded wheat protein. Norbert Klein, head of research and development at Loryma, said: “Fish stocks are becoming increasingly scarce due to overfishing of the oceans. Therefore, we offer a sustainable, authentic alternative using wheat, which we source mainly regionally in Germany.” “The sensory properties of our vegan version are every bit as good as the original. In addition, we are more than happy to support our customers in the development process and to customise the concept according to their own ideas.” #CrespelampDeiters #Germany #Loryma #Plantbasedseafood

Yerbaé Brands, a plant-based energy beverage company, has raised approximately $4 million in the first tranche of its celebrity investment round. The company said its celebrity investment round, a strategic initiative by Yerbaé, garnered significant interest from prominent figures in the entertainment and sports industries. Now successfully closed, the initial tranche of funding aims to support Yerbaé’s contined expansion through product innovation, disruption growth and breakthrough marketing strategies. In conjunction with the successful funding round, Yerbaé has also announced the establishment of a new Sports & Entertainment board, comprised of celebrities and sports stars. The committee will play a “pivotal role” in guiding Yerbaé’s strategic decisions, brand positioning, marketing campaigns and product development, the brand said. Todd Gibson, co-founder and CEO of Yerbaé, said: “We are excited to embark on this incredible journey with our exceptional Sports & Entertainment Board members. Their dedication to wellness and performance perfectly aligns with our brand’s values. By working together, we aim to create products and experiences that resonate with our consumers on a deeper level.” Yerbaé said it will tap into the board members’ talents and experiences to create a range of products that resonate with active consumers seeking a plant-based energy solution. Founded in 2017, the brand provides zero sugar and zero calorie plant-based beverages incorporating the South American herb Yerba Mate – known to produce 196 vitamins, minerals and nutrients as well as caffeine. All of its products are non-GMO and gluten free. #energydrinks #US #yerbamate #Yerbaé

Callum Braddock, business development director UK at Tindle Foods, explains how the appetite for plant-based innovation is still promising a bright future for the sector, despite increased concerns around the category being “in decline”. Here, he examines how a fast-evolving industry has much to celebrate thanks to advancing technologies allowing for higher quality products and quicker adaption to consumer preferences than ever before. Flexing to flexitarians Consumer awareness and demand for plant-based foods continues to grow now, more than ever, as worsening climate conditions around the world make people increasingly aware of the sustainable impact of their actions. Consumers have already experienced the first wave of modern plant-based food products. These provided sustainable alternatives to animal-based meat but did not always meet expectations with regard to taste, texture and nutrition. We have seen an improvement in the quality of plant-based foods enabled by advancements in technology, ingredients and R&D. Today, plant-based chicken products are able to deliver a great eating experience on taste, texture and aroma, as well as provide nutritional values similar to animal-based chicken. The entry of these new products has significantly enhanced the consumer’s experience of plant-based foods and even generated interest from hearty meat eaters, breaking down previous perceptions of plant-based foods. To stay ahead, plant-based players will need to adapt to the changing consumer preferences. Today, consumers demand cleaner ingredient lists, better quality foods and more affordable prices. In understanding the needs of both consumers and chefs, some plant-based meat brands have worked alongside top chefs to cater to these new preferences and create a delicious product that is high in protein and fibre with the base of a handful of ingredients, while still mirroring the taste and aroma of high-quality animal-meat fat. The changing plant-based landscape today, therefore, does not reflect a ‘declining’ industry, but instead a thriving market where consumers demand better excellence from plant-based products. This growing plant-based demand can also be observed in the changes in consumer diet preferences, with 91% of UK consumers reporting they now follow a flexitarian diet. A recent survey commissioned by Tindle and conducted by Censuswide revealed that this demand is only expected to grow, as 68% of respondents believe plant-based meals will become even more widely accepted within the next five years. Restaurants are driving this movement in sustainable foods, catching on to consumer demand early and looking for the best quality products to provide a guilt-free experience that is also nutritious and delicious. This allows consumers to help the planet one bite at a time. Making animal-free accessible Over recent years, the fast-casual restaurant sector has emerged as a forebearer of the plant-based industry and has become the market leader in providing delicious and accessible food. This can be seen by the likes of the fully plant-based Burger King branches and the increasing number of plant-based items offered at global QSRs, such as Subway, McDonald’s and KFC. Long gone are the days of vegan and vegetarian foods hiding at the bottom of a menu. Consumers will now struggle to find mainstream restaurants without a plant-based food offering. The UK foodservice sector has become one of the world’s most prominent and progressive plant-based leaders. This can be seen in the introduction of fully plant-based brands including Clean Kitchen, Mildred’s and Neat Burger. Household brands such as BrewDog and Byron Burger are also growing their plant-based offerings, with both restaurants recently overhauling their menus to meet the growing demand for sustainable plant-based food options. Over the past year, plant-based brands have experienced strong growth in the UK, with some growing into hundreds of restaurants, from fast-casual to high-end dining, and nationwide supermarkets in less than 12 months. This rapid expansion demonstrates how the UK’s plant-based sector is gaining momentum through the advancement of products, and this is just the start! While we have witnessed remarkable strides in the taste, texture, and nutrition of products, it has merely scratched the surface of what can be achieved. We are just starting to see examples of how ground-breaking technology and innovation can recreate the perfect animal-based meat texture during manufacturing. As plant-based capabilities continue to advance, we can expect to see a future of new and improved products that further propel consumer adoption. For example, the success of the plant-based milk category and its widespread availability on shelves and menus across the globe is an indication of the potential for the plant-based meat sector. Where do we go from here? In the UK, the growing acceptance of plant-based foods signals a fundamental shift in consumer eating habits and a promising future for plant-based foods. Far from a fad, plant-based foods are not only better for the planet but are also able to deliver the same tastes, textures, and nutritional values as animal-based foods. Why wouldn’t consumers opt for delicious plant-based foods when there is no compromise? #plantbaseddairy #plantbasedmeat #Tindle #UK

Biotechnology company Pureture (formerly Armored Fresh Technologies) has announced the launch of its plant-based casein product. Casein is a key component in animal-based dairy. The milk protein gives traditional dairy a smooth texture by creating a stable emulsion, preventing fat and water from separating. Pureture’s launch aims to “reshape the alternative dairy industry”, recreating casein using yeast-based, fully plant-based materials. The company said it can offer comparable functionality to milk, with an improved taste and nutrition panel and sustainable, lower-priced ingredients. The non-GMO protein is neutral in taste, smell or colour and is designed to be used in dairy alternative products such as plant-based cheeses, milks and yogurts. Pureture said it was “thoughtfully crafted” to be cleaner than other alternatives and eliminates the need for starches, gums and emulsifiers. Rudy Yoo, founder and CEO of Pureture, said: “At Pureture, we’re laser focused on developing materials and technologies for essential food changes that will provide us with a richer and long-lasting food culture”. “With this new innovation, we’re thrilled to introduce a product that ensures the joy of dairy flavour and texture remains, while delivering a cleaner label and contributing to a more sustainable future.” The company’s technology and production methods are claimed to allow casein to be produced at a lower cost than the market average. Pureture plans to collaborate with major dairy companies to co-brand its plant-based casein and expand its usage through partnerships with global ingredients vendors. Other businesses in the plant-based space to have developed animal-free casein products include New Culture, a plant-based cheese start-up based in California, and the Netherlands-based ingredients manufacturer Fooditive. Pureture aims to better the environment and support those with dietary sensitivities and allergies through development of its plant-based materials that can function like animal protein, with a belief that clean-label, unaltered plant-based proteins are “the future of food”. #alternativeproteins #ArmoredFresh #casein #Pureture

UK-based pulse and grain brand Merchant Gourmet has launched a new frozen range of grab-and-cook ‘Veg & Grains’ pouches. The range includes Korean-style vegetables and mixed grains, Mediterranean-style vegetables and giant couscous and Mexican-style vegetables and quinoa. Each pouch is packed with five different vegetables, is one of your five-a-day, a source of fibre and is fully plant-based. The bags are ready in just four minutes from frozen and can be eaten on their own or alongside a protein for a complete meal. The launch seeks to provide consumers with an easy way to make fresh, healthy meals, tapping into the frozen market, as research reveals 35% of consumers find the frozen vegetable aisle uninspiring, while 58% of consumers pick up frozen products because they are easy to prepare. Richard Peake, managing director at Merchant Gourmet, said: “We wanted to create a frozen range that makes it easy to inject more plants into your everyday. The grab and cook pouches are for people who love fresh food that is full of flavour, but sometimes lack the time to create healthy, nourishing meals at home. He continued: “We developed this range so that after just 4 minutes in the microwave you have a super healthy lunch or dinner, without having to compromise on taste or health. Just add a protein and you have a stress-free, nourishing meal, packed with flavour.” The new pouches are available now in Waitrose stores for an RRP of £3 per 400g pack, with further rollout in September. #MerchantGourmet #UK

Plant-based meat and seafood brand Happiee is launching its range of seafood alternatives in the UK market. The brand’s ‘Shrimpee’, ‘Squidee’ and ‘Calamariee’ products provide plant-based alternatives to prawn and squid, described by Happiee as having a “genuine likeness” with the same taste and texture as their real seafood equivalents. Available in both plain and breaded formats, the range aims to deliver an affordable and sustainable seafood alternative for the UK consumer and can be used in a range of dishes, from stir-fries and curries to ramen, paella and pasta. They are suitable for pan and air frying, and the breaded options deliver a “crispy snacking experience” perfect for dipping. The range is suitable for vegans and has been approved by the Vegetarian Society. It is available from Ocado in a frozen 180g format with an RSP of £3. Tesco is also set to launch the brand in a chilled format across 345 UK stores next month. More listings are expected to be announced next year. Rosie Bambaji, commercial director for Happiee, said: “As a former plant-based buyer for Sainsbury’s, I am excited to introduce Happiee to the category, as nobody has innovated beyond flaky fish so far”. Bambaji added that the brand’s aim is to reduce dependence on the seas for a sustainable future, aiming to bring genuine change to the category and fill in the gaps for flexitarians and vegetarians to enjoy their favourite dishes and cuisines. “We’ve seen a lot of proliferation in the category with core meat alternatives, so we’ve chosen to focus on truly innovative products,” she said. #Happiee #Plantbasedseafood #UK

Israel-based food-tech start-up Imagindairy has obtained self-affirmed GRAS (generally recognised as safe) status for its animal-free dairy protein in accordance with the FDA’s safety requirements. Imagindairy says that its novel whey protein ingredient underwent significant internal and external review and safety testing, and confirms that the FDA has been notified of the ingredient’s self-affirmed GRAS status. The GRAS status means the ingredient is safe to be used in food and beverage products and provides a regulatory ‘green light’ for manufacturers to partner with Imagindairy. Imagindairy follows in the footsteps of US-based alt-dairy company Perfect Day and fellow Israeli start-up Remilk, who have both met FDA requirements and received GRAS status. Perfect Day has already seen its animal-free whey protein used in alt-dairy products by companies including Nestlé, Mars and Coolhaus. Imagindairy uses a microflora-based production method that it claims is “20 times more efficient than cows at converting feed into proteins”. It says that its proprietary technology leverages AI, which integrates both advanced computational biology and molecular biology technologies. This will enable large-scale production at costs that are in line with conventional dairy. At the same time, the alt-dairy company has announced it is opening its “new and improved” headquarters near Haifa, Israel. The space has been custom designed to support Imagindairy’s next phase of growth, including state-of-the-art laboratories for R&D of ingredient solutions, a culinary and ingredient applications test kitchen, and its own fully operational pilot line that allows for testing in conditions similar to those in large scale fermentation processes. #Imagindairy #wheyprotein #Israel #animalfreeprotein #animalfreedairy

Frozen treat brand GoodPop has announced the launch of its latest innovation, a limited edition Pumpkin Spice Latte frozen pop. The new dairy-free product is made with oat milk, real pumpkin and fairtrade cold brewed coffee, with 60 calories per pop. They are available exclusively at Whole Foods Market stores across the US as well as online. The suggested retail price is $5.99 for a box of four pops. GoodPop is based in Austin, Texas and recently launched its first non-frozen treat, a beverage product line. All of the brand’s products are USDA certified organic and non-GMO Project Verified, made with dairy- and gluten-free ingredients and without HFCs, refined sugars or sugar alcohol sweeteners. Daniel Goetz, CEO and founder of GoodPop, said: “Over the last few years when PSL season comes around, our fans reach out asking us for a Pumpkin Spice Latte pop, and so this one was really made for our fans”. Goetz described the product as a “fun, delicious treat made with high quality ingredients” offering “that Fall feeling, even on an end-of-summer day”. #dairyfreeicecream #GoodPop #US

Animal-free dairy start-up New Culture has announced the achievement of a new milestone in the scale up of its fermentation manufacturing process. The California-based company uses precision fermentation to create what it claims is the world’s first ever animal-free casein, a dairy protein previously only found in animal milk. According to New Culture, its casein enables it to produce a mozzarella product that has the same taste, texture and nutritional profile as its conventional cow-based counterpart without using any animal ingredients. New Culture has now scaled up its fermentation process to manufacturing volumes far larger than previous deployment volumes, enabling the production of 25,000 pizzas worth of cheese per run, a significant step forward in its plans to supply animal-free mozzarella to pizzerias across America. The new large scale of production reduces product costs by 80 per cent, the start-up revealed, keeping it on track to reach cost targets after having exceeded its core technical goals for 2023. Within three years, New Culture expects its animal-free mozzarella to achieve cost parity with conventional mozzarella, with annual casein volumes that equate to more than 14 million pizzas worth of cheese. Co-founder and CSO, Inja Radman, said: “Our world-class team at New Culture has solved a string of incredibly complex technical challenges in order to produce our animal-free casein at this scale. We are redefining the boundaries of what’s possible in dairy in a way that isn’t being done anywhere else.” New Culture’s mozzarella will be first available in 2024 at chef Nancy Silverton’s Pizzeria Mozza restaurant in Los Angeles, before expanding to other pizzerias across the US. #NewCulture #precisionfermentation #US

Plant-based meat cuts brand Juicy Marbles has unveiled its latest innovation: a plant-based ribs product featuring edible vegan ‘bones’. The edible ‘bone’, made from plant protein, can be baked or air-fried into puffed, crispy snacks offering as much protein as beef jerky, Juicy Marbles revealed in a statement announcing the innovation. Its co-founder, Vladimir Mićković, described the imitation of bone as “fun from every angle”, allowing consumers to eat the product with their hands and tear off chunks of plant-based meat. He commented: “Since we made the bones ourselves, we could actually question the concept of bones in general. We could challenge ourselves to make them useful – even edible”. “At Juicy Marbles, we don’t just aim to recreate a shape of meat, but the entire experience, as well as the macro and micronutrient profile.” The company said its soy protein-based ‘Bone-in Ribs’ will be available for regular purchase on its website in early 2024. Currently, the product is only available via limited ‘drops’, where small quantities will go on sale in the UK, EU and US. The first ‘drop’ is set for 28 August 2023. #JuicyMarbles #meatalternatives #plantbasedmeat

Food tech company Enough has announced the successful raise of €40 million in growth funding to scale up production of its mycoprotein ingredient, ‘Abunda’. The Series C funding round was co-led by climate tech venture capital fund World Fund, and food tech investor CPT Capital which continued its commitment. Other previous investors also followed on, including AXA IM Alts, HAL Investments, Onassis Group, Tailored Solutions and Scottish Enterprise. Enough, which was previously named 3F Bio, produces its Abunda mycoprotein by fermenting fungi using renewable feedstocks to produce alternative ingredient proteins at scale. The ingredient is designed for use in plant-based meat, fish and dairy alternative products, to be sold in supermarkets and foodservice around the world. It is high in protein and fibre, contains all nine essential amino acids and is described as having a neutral flavour and “meat-like” texture. According to Enough, its technology makes Abunda up to 15 times more efficient than protein from beef, using up to 93% less water, 97% less feed and causing 97% fewer CO2 emissions. The company recently opened a factory in Sas van Gent, Netherlands, to create Abunda at scale. It is co-located alongside a Cargill factory to ensure efficient feed source in support of Enough’s zero-waste product strategy. Initially, the factory will produce 10,000 metric tonnes of Abunda per year, with plans to scale this up to more than 60,000 tonnes per year. With the new growth funding, Enough’s total capital raised has reached over €95 million. This will support scaling up capacity at the Netherlands factory while also growing its teams across its offices in Glasgow, London and at Sas van Gent. The company has an R&D centre in Scotland, which includes a scaled-down version of its industrial process and a development kitchen. Enough aims to grow over one million tonnes of Abunda cumulatively by 2032, the equivalent of replacing five million cows or over one billion chickens. Jim Laird, co-founder and CEO of Enough, said: “The alternative protein market is a multi-billion dollar opportunity, and the ethical and environmental reasons to embrace non-animal protein sources are more pressing than ever”. He added: “We’re delighted to be leading this food revolution with our proprietary Abunda mycoprotein. We’re excited to welcome our new investors World Fund and look forward to working closely with them on the next phase of growth for Enough”. #Enough #mycoprotein #Scotland #theNetherlands