Chocolate producer Lindt & Sprüngli has announced the release of its first drink in the UK to add to its chocolate portfolio – Lindt Hot Chocolate. The new hot chocolate drink contains no milk powder making it vegan friendly and is made with 35% cocoa solids. Lindt claims the hot chocolate is “velvety smooth and luxuriously creamy”. The powdered hot chocolate can be stirred into any milk. The new product is available now in Tesco, Amazon, Ocado and Lindt chocolate shops across the UK and online with an RRP of £4.00 per 300g tin. #hotchocolate #LindtampSprüngli #UK

German plant-based fish alternative producer BettaF!sh has announced the launch of a new range of vegan tuna sandwiches available exclusively at Aldi stores across Germany. BettaF!sh Tu-Nah sandwiches, which will be available for a limited time only, come in three varieties: Classic, Sweet Corn + Pepper and Sweet Chili. The new plant-based tuna sandwiches are made from seaweed and legumes and produced without soy, wheat, methylcellulose, yeast extract and artificial aroma. “In less than a year, our team of product developers have been able to create a delicious, vegan alternative to tuna. This is a product that will help us push the topic of saving our seas and their dwellers…” said BettaF!sh’s co-founder, Deniz Ficicioglu. BettaF!sh’s co-founder, Jacob von Manteuffel, added: “We are extremely proud to point out that our BettaF!sh products have a significant positive impact. In fact, by purchasing just one Tu-Nah sandwich, the consumer makes an active contribution to reducing bycatch, CO2 emissions and overfishing.” #BettaFish #Germany #tuna

Danone‘s brand Follow Your Heart has expanded its plant-based cheese portfolio with the launch of three new dairy-free cheese alternatives. The new products include Dairy-Free Bleu Cheese Crumbles, which follows on the success of last year’s Dairy-Free Feta Crumbles, Dairy-Free Finely Shredded Cheddar and Dairy-Free Finely Shredded Mozzarella. All three vegan-friendly oferrings are free of dairy, soy, casein, gluten, lactose and preservatives and are made with non-GMO ingredients. “We’ve rewritten the rule book with this trio of cheeses to close a wide gap in the dairy-free cheese category and further satisfy the increasing demand for plant-based alternatives,” said Follow Your Heart’s CEO and co-founder, Bob Goldberg. Goldberg added: “We hope our consumers enjoy our new cheeses on their plant-based pizzas, tacos, salads, burgers and much more. It has always been part of our mission at Follow Your Heart to create high-quality vegan foods that enhance the lives of our consumers, and we believe these cheeses will make it easier and more accessible to make delicious plant-based foods.” The Dairy-Free Bleu Cheese Crumbles comes in 6oz tubs and is available at Whole Foods Market, Stater Bros and at select Acme and Safeway stores. Meanwhile, the finely shredded cheeses are available in 7oz packages nationwide at select retailers including Sprouts, Vons, Albertsons, Wegmans, and Walmart. #cheese #Danone #FollowYourHeart #plantbased

Upfield Group has unveiled its newest addition to its Flora range with a plant-based spread alternative, named Flora Plant B+tter Spreadable. The new alternative to butter is fully plant-based and is suitable for vegans, vegetarians or those who are dairy or lactose free. It is also made with 100% natural ingredients and contains no artificial colours or flavours. The product is apparently ideal for baking, cooking, spreading, and frying and has the same rich, creamy taste as regular dairy butter. Alan Black, marketing director of Upfield UK & Ireland, said:  “Offering healthy, tasty and plant-based products that are more sustainable is one of our principal objectives here at Upfield, which is why we have launched Flora Plant B+tter Spreadable. The desire for more sustainable, vegan products is rising, and so we wanted to provide customers with a spreadable alternative to dairy butter that is made with 100% natural ingredients, and could be fully recycled, but still had the creamy, delicious taste of butter”. He continued: “The launch of Flora Plant B+tter Spreadable is a great step towards our brands committing to providing plant-based, sustainable products to customers, and we look forward to hearing feedback on the new spread.” The new release is fully recyclable, which includes the tub, lid, and foil, and has a 70% lower carbon footprint than dairy butter. Flora Plant B+tter Spreadable is available for an RRP of £3.25 in the UK at leading supermarkets including  Asda, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Ocado. #butter #Flora #plantbased #UpfieldGroup

Coconut water brand Vita Coco has released Choc-o-lot, a chocolate drink that is dairy-free, vegan and made with responsibly sourced coconuts. Containing less than 100 calories, Choc-o-lot is rich in potassium and immune-supporting vitamin C. The company says its new beverage is designed “to beat that afternoon slump”. Registered nutrition consultant Jenna Hope said: “Start to feel your energy levels drop throughout the day? We’ve all been there. The 3pm slump is commonly experienced by so many of us for a number of reasons; there is an element of our circadian rhythm which causes us to feel tired in the afternoon, high levels of stress and what we eat for lunch can play a huge role in your energy levels later on in the day. She continued: “A lunch that is rich in sugar and low in protein and fibre may give you that quick energy high you’re looking for, but leave you suffering a subsequent afternoon crash”. Choc-o-lot is now available in selected Waitrose, Sainsbury’s and Co-op stores across the UK, with plans to roll out to other supermarkets nationwide. RRP £3.75 for one litre, also available in 330ml cartons. #chocolatemilk #coconutwater #VitaCoco

UK snack bar brand Perkier has announced it has raised £1 million in crowdfunding to invest in the expansion of the company. Perkier exceeded its original £400,000 campaign target by 250%. The company plans on investing the funding into marketing, in-store activation, innovation and recruitment. The funds will accelerate the brand’s growth by “increasing investment in digital marketing to grow brand awareness and sales, in-store activation to catch the shopper’s eye, innovation and expanding its high-performance Perky team”. Perkier’s snacks range is all-natural, gluten free, vegan and palm oil-free – with added vitamins and probiotics for immune support. The company claims its bars contain up to 60% less sugar, 100% more fibre and 34% more protein than other competitors in the snacking sector. Ann Perkins, managing director at Perkier, said: “We are blown away by the response from investors and so excited to be implementing our plans. We’re on a mission to make the healthiest snacks on the planet. But we don’t just care about your health, ‘cos every snack we make tastes good, does you good and doesn’t mess up the planet.” She continued: “Consumers are bored of snacks that pretend to be healthy, taste like cardboard or greenwash their offer. This investment will fund digital marketing, in-store activation, innovation and recruitment. We’re here to shake up and grow the category.” The Perkier range is available in Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Amazon. #Perkier #UK

This Friday FoodBev Media is very excited to announce the winners of our inaugural World Plant-Based Taste Awards in association with Plant Based World Expo Europe! Over 140 companies entered their plant-based products, and our team of judging panels tasted and scored every sample. We are excited to share the finalists for 11 of our categories today. Best beverage Bodyhero – Bodyhero Plant Protein Shake – rich chocolate FLAX & KALE – Kombucha Dragon Lemonade Friendly Viking – Latte Oat Drink Best chilled dessert / ice cream Beau’s Gelato – Raspberry Gelato Chateau Dessert – Vegan & Gluten free chocolate cheese cake Rethink Foods – Pink Albatross Mango & Passion fruit Best convenience / ready to eat product Eat Just Inc. – Just Egg Sous Vide Lidl US – Vegan California Burger Verdino UK Ltd. – Plant-Based Pepperoni Pizza Due to the overwhelming quality in the original Best egg / dairy alternative, we decided to split the categories in 2 in order to shine a light and celebrate both sectors in their own category. Best dairy alternative Bear Paw – Pumpkin Spiced Coffee Creamer Friendly Viking – Greek Style O’gurt Mango Kitchen Circus – Organic Alphonso Mango Yoghurt Best egg alternative Eat Just Inc. – Just Egg Sous Vide NABATI – Plant Eggz OGGS – scrambled OGGS Best faux analogue meat product Dawn Farms – Plant Deli Jackfruit Vegeroni LIDL US – Vermondo Classic Vegan Meatballs Omni Foods – OmniPork Luncheon Best pie / pastry Clive’s Purely Plants – Organic Beefy Ale Puff Pie Higgidy Ltd – Spinach & Roasted Tomato Vegan Quiche Best sauce / store cupboard product Lidl US – Red Lentil Spaghetti Lidl US – Chickpea Fusilli RightRice – Risotto Best savoury snack Cauliflower Nudie snacks – Crisps Lidl US – Organic Roasted Garlic Hummus SnackIT – Plant-Based Snack Original Best soy-based/fermented product FLAX & KALE – It’s Plant-Based Creamy Kitchen Circus – Sweet Chilli Barbecue Tofu LIDL US – Organic Firm Tofu Best sweet snack, biscuit or confectionery Chicago Vegan Foods – Dandies Marshmallows Greenback Plant Protein Bar – Hazelnut Stroop Club – Vegan Stroopwafels The finalists of 6 categories remain unannounced, and with good reason. On Friday afternoon, during Plant Based World Expo Europe, the finalists will be judged blind for a second time by a hand-picked panel of judges – Heather Mills, Stasi Nychas & Deiniol Pritchard. The judges will taste and score each finalist over 2x sessions. The 12.00 session will see the Best faux meat burger, Best faux meat sausage, and Best cheese alternative categories judged. The 14.00 session will see the Best faux chicken product, Best faux fish / seafood, and Best faux bacon product categories scored. Scores will be collected during these sessions, but winners will not be announced. The winners of these 6, and all of the categories will be revealed in the first ever World Plant-Based Taste Awards ceremony taking place on 16.30 on the same day, hosted at the Finnebrogue stand, (VGB1). If you do not yet have your tickets to attend Plant Based World Expo Europe, pre-registration ends tomorrow, and you can get your tickets HERE. #WorldPlantBasedTasteAwards #WorldPlantBasedTasteAwards2021 #PlantBasedWorldExpo #PlantBasedWorldEurope #WPBTA

Hormel Foods has partnered with Californian food tech start-up The Better Meat Co to bring products made using mycoprotein and other plant-based proteins to market. The Better Meat Co is a business-to-business ingredients provider that produces animal-free protein via fermentation. The partnership will see Hormel Foods’ venturing company 199 Ventures work with the food tech firm to develop sustainable alternative protein products using The Better Meat Co’s Rhiza mycoprotein ingredient. Rhiza is a natural mycoprotein that is said to offer a meat-like texture, and more protein and iron than eggs and beef respectively. The ingredient is produced using a potato-based fermentation process pioneered by The Better Meat Co. Commenting on the company’s latest venture in the plant-based space, Hormel Foods’ vice president of corporate development, Fred Halvin, said: “As a global branded food company, we understand our food culture is changing at a rapid pace and people are curious and willing to try great-tasting, plant-based proteins”. “We are excited to work with The Better Meat Co team to continue to offer delicious and convenient mycoprotein and plant-based protein products.” Doni Curkendall, executive vice president of operations at The Better Meat Co, added: “We’re proud to partner with Hormel Foods to unleash the power of fermentation to build an even more sustainable food supply. Hormel Foods has a deep bench of expertise in both animal and plant proteins, and we look forward to working together to bring our delicious mycoprotein to the world.” #HormelFoods #mycoprotein #TheBetterMeatCo #US

With a growing preference from consumers for sustainable and healthier foods, there’s never been a larger range of plant-based products available in the food and beverage market before. Ahead of our 2021 World Plant-Based Awards, FoodBev takes a look at some of our other plant-based winners from this year. Best plant-based beverage at the World Food Innovation Awards 2021 The outer layers of the coffee berry get separated and sun-dried, reducing the byproducts from coffee farming by upcycling the husk. To enhance the fruity cascara base, it has been infused with natural botanical flavours, which results in a refreshing, lightly sparkling, adult drink from Nestle. “Nestle has created a completely new and different beverage that empowers coffee producers with a new revenue stream.” a Eat The Change – Mushroom Jerky Best plant-based food product at the World Food Innovation Awards 2021 Eat The Change mushroom jerky is a savoury snack that’s marinated, and wood smoked. This plant-based, gluten-and-soy-free jerky comes in five organic varieties, all 150 calories or less. The jerky aims to address food waste by upcycling imperfect produce and smoking to extend shelf life from just weeks to 12 months. “A refreshing take on sustainability (avoiding the six biggest crops and upcycling food ‘waste’) in a category – jerky – traditionally exclusive to meat.” a Oumph! Best brand/business at the World Food Innovation Awards 2021 Swedish food manufacturer Oumph! create delicious and sustainable plant-based alternatives to meat. Since its launch in 2015, Oumph! has become a favourite with popular products such as: Oumph! Kebab Spiced, Oumph! Balls, Oumph! Smoky Bits and Oumph! Sticky Smokehouse. It has a unique meat-like texture, made from responsibly sourced soya and has a low climate impact and is better for the planet. “This brand holds the maximum potential to expand the product line, offering a unique and very interesting portfolio.” a Happy Cheeze GmbH – Camembert Alternative based on Cauliflower Best dairy alternative at the World Dairy Innovation Awards 2021 The camembert alternative made from vegetables has a mild cheesy taste, complemented by its creamy texture. The taste is developed naturally through the fermentation process and their products have a notably small carbon footprint. “A great combination, leveraging the trend of cauliflower.” a Patch Organics – Pumpkin Seed Milk Best plant-based drink at the World Beverage Innovation Awards 2021 Patch Organics pumpkin seed milk is decadently creamy and is plant-based nutrient rich with 5.75g of protein per serving. They also use 3x less water than oatmilk and 6x less GHG emissions than almond milk. “Combines key nutrients with sustainability benefits, while helping advance plant protein innovation.” a Brownes Dairy – Australia’s First fully Renewable Carton! Best environmentally friendly packaging at the World Beverage Innovation Awards 2021 The Tetra plant-based board packaging is a fully renewable beverage carton, replacing the fossil fuel-derived plastic film, which is found in the inner lining of standard cartons. The plant-based cartons use a film made from a renewable resource of sugar cane. They have made this sustainable packaging the norm across their portfolio accounting for over 25 million cartons each year. “The fact that this product was made from plant-based materials caught my attention, but what won me over is that the material itself is sustainable and FSC certified.” a Best technology innovation at the World Beverage Innovation Awards 2021 NotMilk is made using Giuseppe, a patented AI technology that is constantly learning, using proprietary databases of 300,000+ plants, and matching them at their molecular level to create a final product that tastes, feels and functions the same as animal-based foods. “They have created a plant-based milk that actually tastes, feels and functions like cow’s milk.” a About The World Plant-Based Awards The World Plant-Based Awards are a celebration of innovation and excellence across the ever-growing plant-based industry. Now in their 2nd year, these awards are a fantastic way to enhance the promotion of your brand, to ensure it gains global recognition. Being successfully shortlisted 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 rise in the plant-based revolution. Have you launched a plant-based product worthy of recognition and want to celebrate its excellence or innovation, then entries are now open for World Plant-Based Awards. 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. #Winners #WorldPlantBasedAwards2021 #PlantBasedWorldExpo #WorldPlantBasedAwards #awards #plantbased

Clean and organic snacks brand Tosi has announced the release of two new flavours to add to its superbites grab-and-go bar range. The two new flavour variations include Almond Dark Chocolate Sea Salt and Peanut Butter & Jelly. The bars are high in protein (5g-20g), fibre and include ingredients such as almonds, cashews, flax seeds, white sesame seeds, and chia seeds. They’re also vegan, non-GMO, low in sugar and free of gluten, soy, dairy and grains. Stefanie Hults, Tosi co-founder, said: “Since our inception in 2012, we’ve been on a mission to make nutritious snacks to fuel your day that also deliver our signature crunch by using real, whole foods”. She continued: “As a family of chocolate lovers and kids at heart, we wanted to expand our crowd-favourite SuperBites line with beloved flavour profiles that are approachable and invite new shoppers to our brand. These flavours are fun and delicious, and we can’t wait for Tosi lovers and newcomers alike to give them a try.” Tosi superbites come in 1oz and 2.4oz sizes and are available in the US on their website and Amazon, and in-store at select supermarkets such as Whole Foods, and Costco. The new flavours are available on the Tosi website now and will be available on Amazon from October. #snacks #Tosi #US

Canned fish producer Karavela has unveiled a plant-based seafood line under the new brand Fish Peas. The canned range is said to be the product of over a year of market research, investments of around €2.5 million and experimentation with more than 100 different recipes. The Fish Peas line – which includes salads, spreads and flakes – is made using yellow pea protein, and comes in response to growing global demand for foods that support a sustainable lifestyle. Karavela claims that yellow pea is one of the most sustainable plant proteins, based on carbon footprint estimations in cultivation, processing, drying and waste management. “Currently, there is a lack of understanding about how plant-based seafood products should taste,” said Andris Bite, CEO of Karavela. “We are planning to change that, combining our extensive experience as a canned fish producer with sustainable innovation in the realm of plant-based ingredients. “With the launch of our vegan products, we plan to become trendsetters in the plant-based fish product market, leading the way for other brands that want to create new vegan products and tastes.” #Karavela #Plantbasedseafood

FoodBev Media’s The Plant Base magazine will host a panel discussion titled ‘Understanding the Rise of Flexitarianism’ on Saturday 16 October, as part of the Plant Based World Europe conference line-up. The panel will examine the rise of the flexitarian diet, considering the ethical and environmental benefits of plant-based foods and how brands can communicate these messages with their customers. Speakers include: Claire Roper, head of foodservice and marketing at Quorn Professional; Jordi Barri, CEO of Flax & Kale; and Michelle Adelman, co-founder and CEO of Infinite Foods. Plant Based World Expo will take place in the UK at London’s Business Design Centre between 15-16 October 2021, and is Europe’s first ever dedicated plant-based event. An exclusive programme featuring cutting-edge educational content, including The Plant Base’s ‘Understanding the Rise of Flexitarianism’ panel, will be available to attendees and participants of the expo. The seminar programme has been designed to explore the benefits of embracing plant-based eating across a variety of industries, including public sector catering, hospitality and foodservice. The conference will run alongside the exhibition, which hosts some of the biggest and brightest brands from around the world – many of whom are exhibiting their products for the first time at Plant Based World. Visitors will be offered the opportunity to discover and sample a range of innovative plant-based products from companies such as Quorn, This, OmniFoods, Finnebrogue, Naked, and more. * * * Register to attend the show here: https://www.plantbasedworldeurope.com/register.asp For conference passes, contact: lisa@jdevents.com Find out more about The Plant Base magazine here #awards #PlantBasedWorldExpo #WorldPlantBasedTasteAwards #WorldPlantBasedTasteAwards2021