In this instalment of 'Start-up spotlight,' we speak to Naomi Partridge, co-founder of Holos Kombucha, a UK handcrafted kombucha brand centred around campaigning for social change. Read on to find out more about Holos' journey and what's next for the brand. Can you tell us a bit about Holos Kombucha, its journey and the mission behind the company? Holos is Brewed For Good – we brew authentic, award-winning and gut-friendly drinks whilst supporting survivors of exploitation and trauma through paid work placements and grants via our charity, The Holos Foundation. Our journey started with a life-changing moment in Cambodia, where co-founder Megan and I met whilst volunteering with women being exploited on the streets of Phnom Penh, and we saw the power of employment in helping them find freedom, for good. We decided to start Holos to create these kinds of safe, supportive work opportunities for the 120,000 people in exploitation in the UK. Kombucha became our social impact vehicle, and alongside our co-founders and husbands Tom and Joseph, our journey officially began in 2018. We brew our organic drinks in West Sussex, and are now stocked in Waitrose, Whole Foods, Selfridges, Ocado, Amazon, healthy wholesalers, independents and beyond. How did you navigate building a brand within the competitive functional beverages space? We are still learning how best to navigate this highly competitive and quickly evolving space. There is a real nuance to the balance of staying true to what makes you unique as a brand, including your founder story, your product and positioning, whilst responding to emerging consumer trends and the competitor landscape. Our big wrestle has always been about how we manage our messaging hierarchy – between our social impact and our product. We believe we’ve landed on the right direction with something far more focused on the theme of GOOD – both feeling good and doing good. A shout-out to Brand Growth Heroes Mini MBA, Fi Fitzpatrick and all sponsors for the transformative coaching support that helped us get to this point. How do you balance health benefits with flavour and taste when building a kombucha brand? From the start, we’ve been absolutely obsessed with taste – especially driven by our MD Tom, who, when he first tasted another kombucha back in 2016, thought it tasted like cheese water and wanted to create a drink people would choose on its own merit, not just as a gut health option. Our belief is that when you brew kombucha the authentic, traditional way, you don’t have to make the choice between taste and gut health. Fermentation, when done right, creates an incredible complexity of taste – and we’ve found a fantastic combination of flavour pairings that unlocks it. Our repeat purchase rate reflects this, alongside our wide range of taste awards, including the UK Soft Drinks 2026 award for Best New Concept Drink for our Mulled Spice chilled kombucha. What role has sustainability and social responsibility played within Holos Kombucha's story? We simply wouldn’t exist without our social mission – that came first, and kombucha was our vehicle of choice to make the impact we wanted. We are purpose architects. Equally, every choice we make – from being organic to our supply chain, our packaging and even to the quality of our product, has impact and sustainability in mind. We believe it’s just the way business should be done, and find the new wave of brands and businesses with purpose and sustainability embedded as a really exciting development – and a return to the original call of business to serve the people and planet, not the other way around. What has been the company's biggest achievement to date? Gaining a Waitrose listing that then grew seven times its size in just ten weeks was a huge achievement. They backed not only the quality of our product, understanding the nuances of the functional drinks space and where premium, authentic kombucha plays – but also our social mission, and through them we have now funded (at the time of writing) four grants for survivors of exploitation to help rebuild their lives through therapeutic interventions… and we’re just getting started. Can you tell us about any notable challenges on your journey so far and how you navigated them? So many challenges! At a personal level, two co-founding couples – and we’ve had six kids between us in the last eight years. That’s a lot to navigate whilst building a challenger brand that also manufactures in-house, requiring a relentless focus on quality production. Navigating Covid – we lost our brewer to return to New Zealand overnight, and the subsequent shutdown of the hospitality and on-trade. Winning and losing listings. Cash flow during challenging economic times. And all throughout whilst maintaining a commitment to our social mission and ensuring we continue to provide jobs for survivors. What do you think is the functional beverage category's next big trend? From a kombucha point of view, if the US and Australia markets show us anything, they tell us that a maturing of the market will come – mindful consumers are becoming more discerning in terms of 'health-washing,' ultra-processed foods and what is genuine kombucha, and are seeking simpler, cleaner solutions. In a more mature market, authentic brewing matters. The 'no and low' alcohol growth will continue and there is more space for craft functional drinks to play in that occasion, too. What's next for Holos Kombucha? Any exciting plans you can share with us? We remain committed to driving forward our chilled range – but we also know that our consumers drink us not only for gut health, but also as an alcohol alternative. This is an area that we are exploring further as we look forward. We’re also going to be moving towards a more playful approach as a brand, because consumers need those moments of feeling good when they drink Holos, not just doing good to their bodies. What advice would you give to other start-ups in the food and beverage industry? Firstly, don’t skimp on quality. A winning product has to be something that people will buy more than once, and taste is your passport to that. Immerse yourself quickly in the industry to get expert opinions – and find people who will give you brutal, honest feedback. Test and learn fast; don’t wait for perfection before you launch into the world – test quickly, direct to consumer. Check the market to find something that will actually expand the category rather than just compete with what’s already out there; this will make life a lot easier to get those initial conversations. Make sure you have the emotional bandwidth and ‘village’ in your lives to sustain the ups and downs of challenger brand life… especially if you are building other things at once, such as families and caregiving. Overestimate what it will take to do this – not just funding, but time, energy, etc. It’s rewarding, AND it’s a huge, risky commitment. Collaborate and find your people – not just consumers and stockists, but other brands – together we go further. And finally, don’t wait until you are ‘big enough’ to map impact into your business. Find that purpose up front, see what you can uniquely bring to the world with the platform you have; it’s a privilege – why not use it for real good?

Israeli biotech company Brevel has signed a 50/50 joint venture agreement with Indian conglomerate The Wave Group to build a full-scale facility in North India, based on Brevel’s illuminated fermentation technology. The planned site, to be located in Uttar Pradesh, marks a significant scale-up from Brevel’s existing 5,000-litre-capacity bioreactor in its current facility in Israel. The new plant is designed to produce a total capacity of 300,000 litres, aiming to meet growing demand for Brevel’s microalgae-based ingredients and serve the scale-up needs of the emerging plant cell culture industry. The Wave Group will fund the project through the collaboration, with total investment in the joint venture facility estimated at $10-15 million. Construction is slated for later this year, with full-scale production planned to commence in 18 months. The plant will initially produce Purallis, a clean-label ingredient made from the microalgae chlorella. It will be equipped Brevel’s proprietary technology platform, and will be capable of producing additional products and organisms that benefit from light. Brevel’s technology, protected by four patents, combines controlled fermentation with light in a closed system. The company has created a platform for manufacturing bioactives that rely on light-driven metabolism for growth – sugar provides the energy and nutrients needed for efficient fermentation, while light enables photosynthetic microorganisms like chlorella to produce valuable compounds, including chlorophyll and carotenoids. © David Grab The facility will also align with a circular economy model, with Brevel set to utilise sugar production side streams from Wave’s sugar mills. The proximity of the site to the sugar mills will also reduce environmental footprint and cut transport costs. According to Brevel, initial trials with Wave’s sugar mill byproducts have already yielded strong results in its bioreactors. Both companies’ teams are now working to further optimise the system’s performance. Yonatan Golan, CEO and co-founder of Brevel, said: “This partnership marks a major step forward in our ability to serve global markets, opening new opportunities across microalgae, plant cell culture and beyond”. “Our work with partners such as Ayana Bio, a US leader in plant cell technology, already demonstrates the broad potential of our platform. Together with The Wave Group, we can turn that potential into commercial-scale manufacturing.” Chairman of The Wave Group, Manpreet Singh Chadha, commented: “Brevel’s Illuminated fermentation, combined with our deep expertise in sugar manufacturing, defines a new era in biomanufacturing. We look forward to playing a pioneering role in the future of food ingredients and nutraceuticals in a world of limited resources.” Top image: © David Grab

McCain-owned frozen food brand Strong Roots has unveiled two new innovations set to launch next year, each reflecting its mission to revamp familiar foods with healthy and sustainable ingredients. The first innovation, Feel Good Fries, offers what the brand calls ‘a new generation of fries’. They are made using algae oil, and with potatoes grown using regenerative agricultural methods. The second is a zero-oil baking platform, a technological innovation enabling products traditionally reliant on added oils to be produced oil-free. Strong Roots said the innovations respond to growing consumer interest in alternatives to conventional cooking oils – but the brand noted it does not want to add to ‘the fear and misinformation surrounding the seed oil debate’. The brand noted that food innovation such as this could offer new alternatives to seed oils without shifting demand onto resource-intensive ingredients like avocado oil and beef tallow. Emma Curtis, managing director of Strong Roots, said: “Innovation at Strong Roots has never been about chasing trends. It's about asking harder questions of the food we already eat every day. With Feel Good Fries and our new zero-oil baking products, we're not just swapping one ingredient for another, we're rethinking how familiar freezer favourites are made from the ground up.” Read The Plant Base's latest opinion piece from Strong Roots' Emma Curtis here, exploring how food system resilience can be boosted by improving familiar foods. Feel Good Fries will hit retail shelves in January 2027, while zero-oil baking products will begin to roll out in the first half of 2027. Strong Roots is a certified B Corp and vegetable-led frozen food company, founded in 2015 in Ireland by Samuel Dennigan. Its products are available in more than 10,000 stores worldwide, including retailers in the UK and Ireland, the US, Australia, Canada, Dubai, France, Iceland and Singapore.

MOA Foodtech and Espiga I+D have formed a Bakery Innovation Alliance to help bakery and pastry manufacturers reduce their reliance on eggs and remove E-471 from formulations. The partnership will focus on testing and validating bakery and pastry applications for MOA Q5, a yeast-based ingredient developed by MOA Foodtech that can replace egg, function as an emulsifier and eliminate the need for E-471. The companies said the collaboration aims to give manufacturers a route to evaluate fermentation-derived ingredients under real production conditions, addressing challenges around egg supply and demand for cleaner-label products. Bakery and pastry manufacturers have faced increased pressure from volatile egg prices and supply uncertainty, with repeated avian influenza outbreaks disrupting production over recent years. At the same time, retailers and consumers are placing greater emphasis on clean-label products, prompting manufacturers to explore alternatives to additives such as E-471. MOA Q5 is produced through biomass fermentation using starch-rich industrial byproducts. The ingredient is declared as “yeast” on the label, is non-GMO and does not require Novel Food classification, according to MOA Foodtech. The company said MOA Q5 has already been validated in bakery, pastry and pasta applications as an egg replacer, emulsifier and alternative to E-471. Through the new alliance, MOA Foodtech and Espiga I+D will work on further technical validation of egg replacement solutions for bakery and pastry applications. The partnership will provide manufacturers with access to ingredient samples, pilot formulations and application support, allowing companies to assess MOA Q5 in production environments. Espiga I+D will contribute its application development expertise and pilot-scale and semi-industrial infrastructure. The centre, which began operating in Sarriguren, Navarra, in mid-2025, provides research and development services across the cereal value chain. Its facilities include laboratories for quality control and physicochemical testing, first-processing and applications workshops, and infrastructure for formulation, prototyping and sensory validation. The centre also operates a Bühler teaching mill with capacity of more than 14 tonnes of flour per day, alongside industrial bakery lines using lamination and rounding technologies. This infrastructure will allow the partners to reproduce industrial processes, test different production conditions and validate formulations before their transfer to manufacturing plants. MOA Foodtech develops functional ingredients through fermentation, supported by its in-house AI computational platform, Albatros. The biotechnology company uses agri-food side streams to develop functional and nutritional ingredients for the human food, pet food and nutraceutical sectors. It also works with industrial partners to develop solutions using their byproducts. Bosco Emparanza, CEO of MOA Foodtech, said: “By partnering with Espiga I+D, we make it easier for manufacturers to validate and adopt next-generation fermentation ingredients." Maite Cabodevilla, head of new developments and applications at Espiga I+D, added that the centre works with companies developing functional, innovative and sustainable ingredients to create solutions for the food industry. The companies said the alliance will enable manufacturers to explore applications for MOA Q5 while supporting the development of new solutions in response to changing market requirements. MOA Q5 contains gluten, meaning allergen labelling requirements apply and must be assessed for each formulation and target market.

Emma Curtis, managing director of Strong Roots, argues that changing what we eat is a powerful lever for building a more sustainable and resilient future. But that doesn’t require radical new consumption habits. One of the biggest opportunities lies in improving the foods consumers already know, love and buy every week. Emma Curtis This year's World Food Day theme, 'Innovate today. Nourish tomorrow.', raised an important question for the food industry: what innovation will deliver the changes we need at scale? Food systems face scaling challenge Climate change is increasing pressure on agricultural production; natural resources are under growing strain and changing consumer priorities are rising across many markets – the need for change is pressing. Research from the EAT-Lancet Commission has highlighted the importance of shifting toward more plant-forward diets and transforming food production systems to build a healthier, more sustainable future. Equally, organisations such as Tilt Collective have pointed to the need for practical interventions that can shift consumption patterns towards more plant-forward choices at scale. However, much of the conversation around the solutions to these problems centres on breakthrough technologies, novel ingredients and entirely new categories of food. While these innovations have an important role to play, there is a risk that we overlook a simpler and potentially more scalable opportunity: improving the nutritional and environmental profile of the foods people already eat every day. However, the challenge is finding realistic pathways to get to the destination. Innovation only delivers impact when people embrace the products it creates. The overlooked opportunity: More vegetables on more plates One of the clearest opportunities lies in helping consumers eat more vegetables, more often. We already know that diets richer in vegetables can support better health outcomes while helping reduce pressure on food systems, yet awareness has often proved easier to build than behaviour change. Most consumers are not making food choices based on health or sustainability alone. They are balancing affordability, convenience, taste, habit and nutrition, often all at once. For manufacturers, that reality should be viewed as an opportunity rather than a barrier. If we want to encourage more sustainable diets, we need to make those choices more appealing and more accessible within existing eating habits. Making better choices easier The food industry often talks about changing consumer behaviour. A more useful question may be how we can work with existing behaviour instead. Research demonstrates that, when forced to, most will prioritise value and simplicity above all else. The most successful food innovations, therefore, tend to reduce those trade-offs rather than reinforce them. That means focusing on products that fit naturally into people's lives. Foods that consumers already recognise, enjoy and regularly buy often provide a far more effective route to impact than entirely new categories that require people to rethink the way they shop, cook or eat. Food manufacturers should therefore judge innovation by its impact, and ask how familiar foods can be improved through better ingredients, better production methods and better agricultural practices – such as incorporating regenerative farming and sustainable sourcing. Reinventing familiar foods By improving foods that already have a place in consumers' shopping baskets and freezer aisles, consumers aren't asked to abandon familiar favourites. As part of the wider McCain Foods family, we see first-hand how food-system resilience depends on both how food is grown and produced. Regenerative agriculture practices can strengthen the long-term resilience of food production, while continuing to bring innovation to how familiar foods are made more sustainably. It is a reminder that meaningful change can happen across the entire food system, from the way ingredients are grown to the way everyday foods are produced and enjoyed. The broader lesson is that innovation does not always require entirely new categories. Sometimes the biggest impact comes from improving the ones that already exist. Health, sustainability and innovation at scale As World Food Day prompts reflection on the future of food, it is worth remembering that resilience is not built through technology alone, it is built through adoption. Too often, food innovation is discussed through a single lens, whether health, sustainability or technology. In reality, successful innovation combines all these priorities, alongside taste and convenience. A healthier product that fails to deliver on taste is unlikely to achieve widespread adoption, while a sustainable product that is inconvenient to prepare may struggle to fit into busy lives. The most effective innovations are often those that fit seamlessly into people's lives, helping them eat more vegetables and make better choices without demanding entirely new behaviours. Building a more resilient food system is unlikely to depend on asking consumers to reinvent their lifestyles. More often, it will depend on reinventing the foods they already love.

New research reveals that the number of global patent applications for high-protein foods hit a record high of 5,626 in the year to 30 June 2026, up from 5,148 the previous year. The research, by intellectual property (IP) law firm Mathys & Squire, analysed patent applications data sourced from Patentscope and the World Intellectual Property Organisation. It found that within five years, there has been an 80% increase in the number of patent applications filed, compared with the 3,122 filings made in the year to 30 June 2021. Growth in demand for functional, high-protein foods has been driven by the growing number of consumers seeking to lose weight or support muscle growth – including those taking GLP-1 receptor agonist medications – with protein-boosted products shifting from the supplements arena and into the mainstream. Additionally, the firm noted that the US federal government’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans emphasise notably on protein, inverting the traditional food pyramid to place protein at the base. Interestingly, Michael Stott, partner at Mathys & Squire, observes the trend towards high-protein foods as a “natural continuation of the earlier drive to develop meat alternatives,” with many of the techniques used to create these products now being used to develop high-protein products across other applications. “Demand for high-protein foods is so strong that manufacturers are looking for every possible way to add protein to their best-selling products. That has fuelled a wave of innovation in the food industry,” he commented. Nestlé, Cargill and Arla are among the world’s top patent filers for high-protein food technologies, with 58, 46 and 28 patents filed in the last year respectively, according to the research. Examples of technologies that were subject to patent applications included a plant-based whipping cream with more than twice the protein content of traditional whipping cream; a protein ingredient developed from microorganisms that can be used in industrial confectionery; and a ready-to-drink, high-protein beverage that replicates the smell, texture and flavour of milk. “The goal for a lot of major food manufacturers has been to increase the protein content of some of their products, without changing the taste or appearance consumers expect,” Stott said, highlighting “new and disruptive” approaches. “This research is creating a vast library of hugely valuable intellectual property for food companies. Over time, that IP becomes a significant component of their valuations.”

Trubar has launched Trubar Pro, a new range of plant-based protein bars now available in Target stores nationwide in the US, targeting consumers seeking high-protein snacks with simplified ingredient profiles and dessert-inspired flavours. Each bar contains 18g of plant protein and 12g of fibre, with a protein blend made from brown rice and pea protein. The range is sweetened with monk fruit and formulated without gluten, dairy, soy, sugar alcohols or seed oils. The launch comprises three flavours: Chocolate Pea-nut Job, Caramel But Make It Salty and Cake It 'Til You Make It. The collection aims to combine higher protein content and fibre with flavours inspired by familiar sweet treats. Trubar Pro enters a protein bar category in which brands are increasingly seeking to balance nutritional composition, ingredient preferences and taste. Its plant-based formulation also positions the range for consumers looking for alternatives to dairy-based protein products. Alongside its nationwide Target launch, Trubar Pro is available through CVS, Wegmans, Big Y, Lowe's Grocery, the brand's direct-to-consumer website and Amazon.

Biotechnology company Mycofeast has announced its acquisition of New Zealand-based precision fermentation start-up Daisy Lab. Mycofeast was founded in 2023 and is headquartered in Oxford, UK, with a biotechnology facility in California, US, and 16-million-litre fermentation plant in Poland. The company’s portfolio includes carotenoids, dairy proteins and other biologically produced ingredients and compounds, powered by its innovation engine Evolutia Bio. The platform combines AI discovery, high-throughput screening and genetic engineering capabilities, with capabilities in strain development, biosynthesis, enzyme design, fermentation scale-up and industrial production. Daisy Lab, based in Auckland and founded in 2021, develops proteins claimed to be bioidentical to dairy proteins through precision fermentation. One of its key focuses is lactoferrin, a high-value milk protein with applications across various specialised nutrition and health categories, while it has also developed wider capabilities in recombinant dairy proteins. © Matt Queree The deal, the financial terms of which were not disclosed, aligns with Mycofeast’s strategy to integrate capabilities that can help address the fragmentation between scientific discovery, strain and process development, industrial manufacturing and access to market. Witek Hruzewicz, Mycofeast’s CEO, said: “The sector has no shortage of exceptional science. The harder problem is connecting that science with process development, industrial manufacturing, capital and commercial markets quickly enough – and with economics that actually work.” “Daisy Lab brings a strong dairy protein platform, proven scale-up capability and a talented New Zealand team into that system. It is highly complementary to what we are building.” Daisy Lab has progressed its technology platform from lab development to 500-litre fermentation while building in-house expertise across molecular biology, fermentation, downstream processing and scale-up. The deal will enable Mycofeast to expand into the Asia-Pacific market, while for Daisy Lab, the deal allows it to move beyond the limitations of a standalone start-up model, the company’s co-founder and CEO, Irina Miller, said. “Mycofeast gives us access to a much broader scientific, manufacturing and commercial platform while allowing the expertise developed by the Daisy Lab team to contribute across a much larger organisation,” Miller added. Daisy Lab’s founders will take on roles within the wider Mycofeast group, extending their involvement beyond the New Zealand business and contributing to broader development. Its lactoferrin programme will continue to be developed within the group, working closely with the Evolutia Bio R&D team in California and Mycofeast’s wider engineering, commercial and manufacturing operations.

A US federal court has dismissed a lawsuit brought by precision fermentation company Onego Bio against The Every Company, bringing an end to the latest legal dispute between the two companies over patents covering the production of ovalbumin. The companies are among a growing number of businesses developing animal-free egg proteins using precision fermentation, a technology that uses microorganisms to produce specific proteins without relying on conventional egg production. The US District Court for the District of Delaware ruled that Every had not made a patent infringement claim against Onego Bio and declined to issue the declaratory judgment sought by Onego. The court did not rule on the validity of Every’s US Patent No. 12,096,784, nor did it determine whether Onego Bio infringes the patent. The dispute centres on the production of ovalbumin, the primary protein found in egg white, through precision fermentation. Every produces ovalbumin using yeast, while Onego Bio uses the filamentous fungus Trichoderma reesei. Onego, a spin-out of Finland’s VTT Technical Research Centre, filed the lawsuit in September 2025 seeking a declaration that its technology did not infringe Every’s patent. It also argued that the patent was invalid and unenforceable. Onego had argued that statements made by Every to investors created uncertainty over whether it could face an infringement claim and that the company had indicated Onego would need a licence to use its technology. However, the Delaware court found that Every had not taken an affirmative step indicating that it intended to sue Onego or assert the ’784 patent against it. According to Onego, the court stated that Every had “never singled-out the ’784 Patent or accused Onego of infringing it”. The court also characterised Every’s reported statements to investors, even if they had been made, as “forms of puffing rather than actual threats”. Onego said it had sought the declaratory judgment as a precautionary measure to protect technology developed through decades of research at VTT and provide greater certainty for customers and companies operating in the precision fermentation sector. The company added that its Trichoderma production technology is fundamentally different from EVERY’s approach and that Every’s patent does not disclose how to produce ovalbumin using the organism. Following the ruling, Onego Bio CEO and co-founder Maija Itkonen said the company would focus on commercialising its Bioalbumen product in the US. “We welcome the decision that there is no infringement claim against Onego, no challenge to our freedom to operate, and no litigation between us anymore,” she said. “Our team is busy shipping metric tons of Bioalbumen and selling to US customers, and the response has been incredible.” Itkonen added that there was room for multiple companies in the precision-fermented egg protein market, arguing that increased competition could help expand the category and give customers greater choice. The latest ruling follows the dismissal of a parallel case in Wisconsin in May 2026 on jurisdictional grounds. With the Delaware case now closed, Onego said there is no ongoing litigation between the two companies.

Following Beyond Meat's expansion into the beverage category, the company has launched Beyond Immerse Energy, a sparkling beverage combining plant protein, fibre, antioxidants, electrolytes and caffeine. The new drink is available in Cherry Berry and Watermelon Strawberry flavours and is launching exclusively through Beyond Meat’s website in the US. Beyond Immerse Energy contains 20g of protein and 5g of fibre per serving, alongside vitamin A from beta-carotene and electrolytes. The beverage is made without dairy or GMOs. The new product also provides 160mg of caffeine per serving, sourced from coffee beans. Beyond Meat said the launch is intended to combine the energy boost associated with traditional energy drinks with nutritional attributes including plant protein and fibre. Ethan Brown, founder and CEO of Beyond Meat, said: “Energy shouldn’t mean choosing between a boost and good nutrition. Beyond Immerse Energy brings caffeine from coffee beans together with plant protein, fibre, antioxidants, and electrolytes in one refreshing drink.” Alongside the energy drink launch, Beyond Meat has introduced three new flavours to its existing Beyond Immerse sparkling protein drink range. Watermelon Strawberry is available now, while Limoncello Ginger and Yuzu Grapefruit are set to launch soon. The new flavours join the existing Peach Mango, Strawberry Lemonade and Cherry Berry variants, bringing the Beyond Immerse range to six flavours. The company said the wider portfolio is designed to provide consumers with plant protein, fibre, antioxidants and electrolytes in a convenient sparkling format, with Beyond Immerse Energy adding caffeine for occasions when consumers are seeking an energy boost. Beyond Immerse and Beyond Immerse Energy each provide 20g of protein and 5g of fibre per serving. The drinks are also made with electrolytes and contain vitamin A from beta-carotene.

Consumers are curious about precision fermentation but need clearer information about the technology and its benefits before they can develop confidence in products made using it, according to new research from the EIT Food Consumer Observatory. The qualitative study, From Curiosity to Confidence: Developing effective messaging for products made with precision fermentation, examines how consumers perceive the emerging food-production technology and how different communication approaches influence their response to products containing precision-fermented ingredients. The research found that consumers are often willing to try a precision-fermented product before forming an opinion, creating an opportunity for food manufacturers and brands to turn initial curiosity into acceptance. However, the report warned that this curiosity also places pressure on the first consumer experience, with products needing to meet expectations from the outset. Precision fermentation uses microorganisms such as yeast or fungi to produce specific substances, including proteins and fats, which can subsequently be used as food ingredients. The study, conducted with 45 participants, found that consumers generally viewed precision fermentation as new and innovative. While many participants were not yet convinced by the technology, they expressed enough curiosity to want to taste products made using it. At the same time, participants raised questions about how microorganisms are used during production, whether the resulting ingredients should be considered “real” foods or alternatives, and the safety of the technology. Some participants also questioned what precision fermentation could mean for farming and employment across the food production sector. Klaus G. Grunert, professor of marketing at Aarhus University and lead of the EIT Food Consumer Observatory, said that unanswered questions could cause consumers' initial curiosity to turn into suspicion. The research also found that overly vague explanations of the technology could make precision fermentation appear almost “like magic”, potentially leading consumers to believe that information was being withheld. As a result, the report recommends that companies make the science accessible while providing sufficient detail to demonstrate transparency. One potential route to improving consumer understanding is to connect precision fermentation with traditional fermentation. The research found that consumers were already familiar with fermented foods such as bread, yogurt and cheese, although some participants did not immediately identify these products as fermented. Linking precision fermentation to this established food-production history helped make the technology feel less experimental to some participants. However, the report cautioned that the comparison should be accompanied by a clear explanation of how precision fermentation works, rather than being used as the sole means of communicating the technology. The research suggests that manufacturers should focus communications on tangible benefits for consumers, rather than relying primarily on explanations of the technology itself. Taste, texture and nutritional value were identified as more compelling reasons to purchase than messages focused mainly on replacing existing ingredients for sustainability or ethical reasons. While wider benefits such as animal welfare and sustainability remained important to participants, these tended to act as supporting rather than decisive factors in purchase decisions. The report also advised companies against positioning precision-fermented products simply as replacements for familiar foods. Direct comparisons could encourage consumers to assess a new product against an established favourite, creating a challenging benchmark for an unfamiliar innovation. Instead, the research recommends developing products with their own clear consumer benefit and using the novelty of precision fermentation to build on consumers' existing curiosity. The EIT Food Consumer Observatory recommends that manufacturers and brands make precision fermentation understandable without concealing its complexity, capitalise on consumers' willingness to try new products and communicate tangible benefits. It also advises companies to avoid presenting products solely as substitutes for familiar favourites and ensure that products deliver on consumer expectations during their first trial. The research forms part of the EIT Food Consumer Observatory's wider work examining perceptions of emerging food technologies and the factors that influence consumer acceptance. The findings were published ahead of World Food Day on 16 October 2026, which this year focuses on the theme “Innovate today. Nourish tomorrow.” The study was carried out through the EIT Food Consumer Observatory's Citizen Participation Forum. Participants first explored their perceptions of precision fermentation before being divided into three groups to assess product concepts and communication narratives.

Plant-based pizza brand One Planet Pizza has expanded into the ready meals category with a new range launched exclusively at Asda stores this week. Three meals are rolling out at 276 Asda stores across the UK as part of the new line: Tofu Tikka Masala with Basmati Rice, Mac & Cheeze, and Veg & Lentil Ragù Lasagne. The meals, priced at £3.85 per 400g meal, are centred around whole-food, plant-based ingredients such as lentils, beans and tofu, with a focus on plant protein and fibre. Tofu Tikka Masala features cooked tofu in a spiced tikka masala sauce with sweet potato, cauliflower and edamame beans, served with basmati rice and chana dal lentils, containing 24g of protein per pack. Mac & Cheeze, containing 22g of protein, features cooked macaroni pasta in a soya-based butter bean and cheese alternative sauce, topped with a cheese alternative crumb. Finally, Veg & Lentil Ragù Lasagne features lasagne sheets layered with a vegetable, lentil and pearl barley ragù, topped with a soya-based white sauce and cheese alternative. All three meals can be prepared from frozen in ten minutes in a microwave, and are also suitable for oven cooking. The range responds to market research, commissioned by One Planet Pizza and conducted by North Star, that found plant-based ready meals have been underperforming within the broader ready meal category, highlighting opportunities for growth. Joe Hill, co-founder of One Planet Pizza, said: “We wanted to create familiar comfort food favourites that were properly satisfying, full of flavour and delivered the protein and fibre credentials shoppers are looking for”. “Finding the right manufacturing partner was one of the biggest challenges for these meals. This is quite a specific range and we wanted to work with a factory that still makes things by hand in small batches, which is much harder to find these days. The fact that we found that capability here in the UK was a real bonus.” The launch comes as One Planet Pizza celebrates hitting more than £1 million in annual retail sales for the first time in its ten-year history. The brand’s frozen pizzas are currently listed in Asda, Morisons, Co-op and from January 2027, two pizzas will be listed in Iceland’s 207 UK Food Warehouse stores.