Vegan meals, edible insects & raw treats: new trends in the dog food segment

Apply to ProVeg three-month accelerator programme of expert-led workshops, talks, industry meet and greets, and exclusive events to equip your startups with all the tools needed to succeed. The deadline for applications is Sunday 7 February and the programme is due to kick off in April.

Back in the day, mealtime for man’s best friend likely meant throwing a few leftover scraps down or opening a tin of meat. But in 2020 the phrase ‘dog’s dinner’ no longer seems fit for purpose - today’s pooch owners are in the market for more than mere sustenance when it comes to what they feed their beloved canines. Sustainability, nutrition and personalisation are just three emerging consumer desires. And the pet food industry - expected to hit revenues of $128.4 billion globally by 2022 - is responding to these demands with an array of new developments.

Over the past few weeks, Clubhouse has taken the social media world by storm and the foodtech world is catching on. Here's our quick take on it:

Today's guest at The Secret Sauce is David Benzaquen, consultant and investor for plant-based food companies. David Benzaquen is one of the world’s leading experts in the plant-based food industry, and the founder of Mission: Plant, a holding company which aims to advance the plant-based foods industry with stratetgc investments and consulting services.

This week on our Discovery board we had nine stellar products, including spirulina-based snacks, coconut yoghurt with live cultures and oat milk chocolate. While there was a clear winner, the competition for second and third place was fierce. Make sure to check out next week’s lineup and vote for your favourites; every single upvote counts.

This Week, plant-based restaurant ONA has been awarded a Michelin star, the first ever for an establishment of its kind. The biggest ever funding round in cell-based seafood. And the Secret Sauce Podcast is back with another episode with vegan pioneer investor David Benzaquen.

In this week's funding news: Food tech-focused venture capital fund Blue Horizon Ventures announced its first flagship funding total, an impressive €183M. Its principal investments will be in alternative proteins, synthetic biology, cell-based food, smart packaging and food waste.

Singapore noodles. Fried rice. Instant ramen. A generous helping of MSG. Asian cuisine is undoubtedly delicious, but traditionally, it’s not exactly been the healthiest option. Packaged Asian dishes, such as pot noodles, do especially badly in the nutrition stakes.

In this week's latest funding rounds: Swedish last mile delivery Startup Budbee raised €52M, having seen a surge in demand through 2020 in the pandemic-related ecommerce boom; and italian online grocery delivery startup Cortilia secured €34M series C funding to fuel its expansion as a sustainable B-Corp.

Our first Discovery of the year, and it was a goody! Every week we get tonnes of applications to take part in the competition, and we select the best of the best for you to discover and vote for your favourites. 2021 so far has brought vegetable-based pasta, nootropic drinks and sweet spreads made from garbanzo beans, but here are the top three as voted for by you.

This Week, FoodHack virtual meetups are back and there's an impressive line up of speakers including Marley Spoon's CMO, Jonas Erich, the co-founder of Meatable, Dr. Mark Kotter, and more. Thanks to everyone who voted on our survey last week, overwhelmingly you wanted trends/insights, followed by industry news.

It would be pretty nice to rip open a bag of potato chips, or grab a snack on the go, without the lingering sense of guilt that can accompany said purchase - is this packaging even recyclable? How were these potatoes grown? Well, in the future, that guilt could become a thing of the past as companies big and small launch climate-friendly, carbon-neutral products, responding to increased consumer demand for sustainable snacks and other edibles, and investing in regenerative agriculture, carbon offsetting and innovative new carbon capture technology in the process.

What would the new year be without a healthy dose of new predictions? We asked our team, and the wider FoodHack community to share with us their food & foodtech predictions for 2021, ranging from a rise of mushrooms to a continuation of convenience.

In this week's latest funding rounds: Flexiv has raised over $100M series B funding to continue development of its ‘adaptive robots’ which closely imitate human dexterity and adaptability to changing environments, allowing them to be used for repetitive yet complex tasks across multiple industries, including food and agriculture.

This Week, everyone’s making educated guesses as to the next big trends and drivers for 2021, from Sifted’s startup predictions to Food Dive’s food & beverage innovation trends, grocery giant Kroger’s insight into the year ahead and Green Queen’s top 13 alt protein trends.

Kicking off 2021 with a list of incubators, accelerators & programs to apply for in Q1, plus a bunch that are always open. A list by our friends at Trellis Road.

Today's guest at The Secret Sauce is Daniel Skavén Ruben, consultant to the Rockefeller Foundation Food team, advisor and investor to multiple startups across Europe, Africa and the US and writer of the food tech weekly newsletter. We chat about Daniel's unplanned path into the foodtech industry, why he's so excited about the future of this space, his prediction on what's going to be big in 2021 and beyond, as well as his ethos to being an advisor and investor.

Whether it’s more plastic than can be efficiently recycled or the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, packaging waste is taking over the globe. Food and drink packaging is one of the major contributors to plastic pollution worldwide, with around 40% of plastic packaging waste attributed to food. The use of single-use plastic or other non-biodegradable packaging has grown dramatically in recent decades, and as countries grow richer, demand for packaged convenience foods only accelerates.

If you're anything like us - you've probably left Christmas shopping until the last minute. But don't worry, we got you. That's why we've put together FoodHack's ultimate, extraordinary, last-minute Christmas gift guide (phew) filled with some of the best food & beverage products from our Discovery board.Take a look, and feel good in supporting some small businesses this holiday.

With the climate crisis occupying ever more headlines - and popular awareness - 2020 has seen many more food, beverage and consumer goods companies committing to industrial decarbonisation. For our final FoodHack+ trends report of the year, we're doing things a little differently. Instead, we're taking a look past the flashy headlines, and deep-diving into the world of corporate sustainability to uncover what's really happening.

This Week: Oreos through-the-roof sales, the world’s first commercial sale of cultivated chicken, a lesson in brand storytelling for cell-based startups and the latest plant-based innovations.‍

In this week's latest funding rounds: Chinese e-grocery startup Missfresh secured $306M to build a new ‘intelligent supply chain center’ in Chengyang district. The company currently operates from 1500 ‘micro-warehouses’ in or near residential areas in China’s largest cities, so order fulfilment is rapid and efficient, and produce is kept as fresh as possible due to short travel times.

We rolled into our last week of the year for our Discovery startups with nine on-trend ideas from innovative companies all over the world. You’ve been voting all week for everything from oat milk puddings to edible spoons, and here is your last top three of 2020. We can’t wait for 2021!

Singapore is investing heavily to expand its FoodTech and AgTech ecosystem, and improve local food security. The country already boasts an impressive number of startups in e.g. biotech, alternative proteins, and vertical farming. Below are some of the most exciting FoodTech startups coming out of the Little Red Dot, worth keeping an eye on.

Private label. Those two words might not mean much to the average shopper, but almost every consumer will have purchased a private-label product – whether that’s a no-frills box of value pasta or an own-brand carton of milk. But today, that image of private-label products is somewhat stuck in the past. Private label, also known as own-brand, no longer necessarily equals low-cost and basic the way it did back in the 1970s.

This week on our Discovery board we went heavy on the plant-based innovation because flexitarian eating is one of the biggest trends of 2020. We had milk-free milk chocolate, vegan cakes in jars and fish-free tuna spread, but here are your winners:

In this week's latest funding rounds: Gotham Greens secured $87M, bringing its total funding since launch to $130M, to further develop its network of greenhouses in the US. Chicago-based Nature’s Fynd raised $45M to build out its nutritional fungi protein platform, with a view to launching its protein-packed food products commercially in 2021.

This Week: GrubHub goes public. Coca-Cola is named alongside Pepsi and Nestlé as the top plastic polluters, for the third year in a row. Mondelez developed a French cracker brand which it claims is both nutritious and carbon neutral. And we’ve been wondering what does the fast-food restaurant of the future look like?

There’s no doubt about it: fast food is a mammoth industry. Rare is the person in Europe or the US who hasn’t grabbed a burger on the go or pulled into a drive-thru lane for a quick carton of French fries. Fast food’s appeal spans age, incomes, classes, ethnicities and tastes.

2020 may have been a bust in a lot of ways, but we’ve definitely seen some cool, innovative products on our Discovery board this year. This week had prebiotic powders for healthy baking and keto-friendly mug cake mixes, but here are your top three, and thanks for all the votes.

In this week's latest funding rounds: China-based Nice Tuan secured $196M in a series C round, bringing its total funding to $450M for the year. It plans to expand its community buying platform for farm produce and groceries, which is a growing concept in China as consumers demand fresh and traceable farm-grown food products.

This Week: From sci-fi books to reality, cultured meat just got a little closer. The major news this week is that Eat Just, most known for their plant-based egg's, have received the world's first regulatory approval to sell cultured chicken in Singapore.

Though small in size, Netherlands has given rise to some big foodtech success stories. And in recent years, thanks to initiatives like the FoodValley and public-private partnerships between science, academia, industry and government, the country has become a powerhouse for food innovations and a leader in plant-based protein companies. Here are 10 Dutch foodtech startups that stood out this year (Plus a bonus 60+ companies further down)‍

D2C (direct-to-consumer) sales are nothing new, but the coronavirus pandemic has meant that many food and beverage companies have scrambled to develop D2C sales channels to make up for lost revenue as restaurants and traditional retailers have shut their doors. That’s alongside a surge of startups who have structured their business model around a D2C strategy from the get-go, using e-commerce and the power of email marketing and social media to sell their products straight to end customers.

Another week of astounding innovation on our Discovery board, with exciting products sourced from every corner of the globe. Whether you want to maintain your youthful appearance with collagen-infused snacks, or grab some ready-to-drink organic boba tea, we’ve got it all, and you’ve been busy voting for your top three.

In this week's latest funding rounds: HelloFresh acquires meal kit provider Factor75 for $277 Mio. Kate Farms raised $51M series B funding for its plant-based and organic nutrition formulas. Israeli startup SavorEat goes public and raises $13Mio. San Francisco-based tech startup Afresh secured $13M series A funding to further development of what it claims is ‘the first fresh food optimisation platform for grocers powered by artificial intelligence.

Thanksgiving just passed, and Tofurky is soaring on a 22% increase in sales of its holiday roast, as consumers demand plant-based centerpieces. For those who celebrated: Did you go Turkey or Tofurky?

Unlike the avocado or the smoothie bowl, peas don’t have quite the same social media appeal of some of their other plant-based superstars. But what they do have is the protein and sustainability credentials - and that could be more than enough if the pea protein products already on the market are anything to go by. Beyond Meat, Moving Mountains and The Meatless Farm Co. are just some of the brands who’ve been using pea protein in their products for several years, but they’re far from the only ones. In 2017, the global pea protein market was worth $32m and is expected to rise to $176m by 2025, with numerous brands across several categories contributing to this growth.

We love finding exciting new products to share, and this week had a great mix of ideas from all over the world. Do you know of any cool new launches? Feel free to get in touch! Can they rival this week’s lineup, which featured protein-rich non-alcoholic beer, exotic plant-based convenience foods and fresh and frozen spirulina, PLUS these three incredible winners?

This Week: Overfishing and Brexit mean that the UK’s cod industry is in a “truly unsustainable position”, as years of setting quotas above scientific advice means stocks are struggling. While in the same time, the pandemic has driven up sales in premium foods, with a 1.7% increase year on year, probably because imposed limitations on spending in other categories (such as travel...remember travel?) means some consumers may have a portion of income available to experiment or ‘treat themselves’ at home.

This week, we asked the community for ideas for Israeli FoodTech startups that may positively impact the food system in terms of nutrition, sustainability and/or market share capture. It’s not a comprehensive list (like this one with 250+ Israeli FoodTech startups) - rather it’s a snapshot of ideas provided by the community

There’s little doubt that frozen food hasn’t always had the best of reputations. Microwaveable ready meals, soggy pizzas, giant bags of garden peas – it’s hardly inspiring, is it? Until recently, the supermarket freezer section was almost entirely filled with unhealthy ready-to-cook dishes and bumper bags of veggies. But the times, they are a’changing. A handful of companies are putting their own spin on frozen food, tackling the freezer aisle’s poor reputation and aiming to keep the good bits (convenience, long shelf life) while offering high-quality and nutritious products.

In this week's latest funding rounds: Alternatives dominate as Non-alcoholic beer, Plant-based vending machines, and Egg-Free eggs all pull in new funding.

In this week's latest funding rounds: Mars, Inc. is buying Kind North America, Mycowork's faux-leather celebrity backing, APAC's strides in alt-protein, the dark-grocer that just raised $8m and a more environmentally-friendly coffee machine.

Another week, another incredible lineup of new products on our Discovery board to tickle your fancy! This week we covered tonnes of trends, from plant-based eggs and upcycled waste to plastic-free gum, and you’ve been clicking away all week to vote for your favorites. Without further ado, here are the winners.

Sales of chocolate & cookies are up 5.5% and 6.6% respectively as nations turn to comfort-eating during the pandemic. And global venture capital investment in food tech has dropped by 31% in Q3, but hopefully activity will return to normal as investors get used to evaluating startups virtually rather than in person.‍‍

If you’ve ever tried ordering a meal with a food allergy, you’ll know that things can get pretty complicated pretty quickly. Same goes for shopping for groceries, picking up a snack on the go, or simply stopping by a friend’s house for dinner. Yet this is the difficult and tiring reality for millions of people around the world: globally, allergies are on the rise, with half a billion worldwide suffering from a food allergy of some kind. In Europe the most common food allergies are to milk, eggs, wheat, fish, shellfish, peanuts, tree nuts, soy, and sesame. Allergic reactions can range from mild to devastatingly fatal.

This week’s Discovery had nine stellar competitors, including frozen plant-based meals and snacks made from roasted beans and peas, and it was on FIRE as more of you than ever before got involved in voting for the best of this week’s lineup.

With lockdowns, unclear business support, and a hectic news cycle - it's understandable some of us might feel a bit anxious or generally a bit down this week. In times like this, a simple chat with like-minded entrepreneurs can make the difference between a good or bad day. At FoodHack, we want to continue to connect you to the relevant people you need to grow your business - even despite the circumstances.

In this week latest funding rounds: a $700M mega-round for to revitalise under-utilised urban spaces. Ocado splurges out $287M on robot pickers, China's foodtech VC's Bit's and Bites raise $30M towards their new agrifood fund for the Chinese market. All that and more top foodtech funding news.

It's not just chocolate and cheese in Switzerland. This week, we asked the community for ideas of Swiss FoodTech startups that may positively impact the food system in terms of nutrition, sustainability and market share capture.

Coronavirus has uprooted many things in our lives since the pandemic took hold, not least the way we shop for food and eat in restaurants. As a result, contactless solutions and delivery services have been in high demand as restaurants and other food businesses around the world have been forced to shut their doors.

This week we had low-cal cocktails, CBD drinks, and dairy-free cashew cheese sauces. Every week, FoodHack scouts some of the most innovative emerging startups from across the globe on our Discovery board, for you to cast your votes and choose which ones deserve the mention in our top 3 feature.

This week, FoodHack partners up with Daniel Ruben to start a new series where we plan to spotlight foodtech startups in each country. We kicked off with Sweden (where Daniel is based) and there's a heck of a lot of great companies there. See the 10 standouts here and the longer list here. Which country should we do next?

Funding is off the charts this week 💸 We tracked 19 new rounds since Monday, clearly the crisis doesn't have investors losing their appetite for the Agrifood sector. Check out who raised in the digest below; from US-based Benson Hill securing $150M in a series D funding round to scale up its crop breeding platform to Ordermark's $120M series C funding to help more restaurants transition to online ordering.

This week, we asked the community for ideas of Swedish FoodTech startups that may positively impact the food system in terms of nutrition, sustainability and market share capture.

Although aquaculture generally has a lower environmental footprint than wild catch, near-shore fish farms have led to concentrated areas of waste in coastal waters and disease outbreaks in fish. Companies like Innovasea are pioneering open ocean aquaculture, where fisheries are located further from the coast than traditional fish farms. The strong currents and deeper waters help to disperse waste and the effects of fish farming on coastal areas is reduced. However, few companies are yet operating large fish farms offshore, so this sector requires more research and technological development to become a fully viable method of production.

This week we had low-cal cocktails, CBD drinks, and dairy-free cashew cheese sauces. Every week, FoodHack scouts some of the most innovative emerging startups from across the globe on our Discovery board, for you to cast your votes and choose which ones deserve the mention in our top 3 feature.

In This Week In Food's major news, Iger joins alt-dairy and the German startup that wants to chat with the food minister. It’s that special time of the year when everyone starts looking into their crystal ball and forecasting trends for 2021. We want to hear from you. Our readers. What food and food tech trends do you think will take off or emerge in 2021?

In this week latest funding rounds: BrightFarms raised $100M in series E to expand its network of hydroponic greenhouse farms to all major US markets and establish partnerships with new retailers. And Sydney-based V2Food secured $55M in series B funding, the largest funding round in the country for the plant-based meat category, bringing its total funding so far to $113M.

There’s a great deal of buzz in the food innovation sector: barely a week goes by without news of a groundbreaking new consumer product or a futuristic manufacturing method. The hype around products and production processes means that ingredients themselves are often overlooked although the companies that make them are busier than ever beavering away at novel innovations to support these trailblazing end products. As a result, companies working on key trends like insect and plant-based proteins, algae-based substitutes and alternative dairy – to name just a few – are experiencing rocketing investment, and many in this sphere are choosing to capitalise on the trend by targeting B2B sales.‍

This week had everything from mindful nut butters to a virtual food hall, but here are the ones which topped the charts. Every week, FoodHack scouts some of the most innovative emerging startups from across the globe on our Discovery board, for you to cast your votes and choose which ones deserve the mention in our top 3 feature.

In this week latest funding rounds: Vertical farming developer Plenty just pulled in another $140M and The LIVEKINDLY Collective, which holds a variety of plant-based meat brands, closed another $135M. Blue Horizon Corporation, who were early investors in Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods and JUST, announced its participation in Vevolution’s Pitch & Plant this week; and more.

In This Week In Food's major news, the Bell Group announced a new vegan line of their most iconic brands, including the Laughing Cow. We learn more about Innocent's plan to build a carbon-neutral factory in the Netherlands. And we have a lot to celebrate here at FoodHack. Our Discovery board just hit 4k+ users, our London team just hosted their first meetup, Brussels ambassador, Aurianne just launched her own startup and I'd like to officially welcome Nicola to the team who's writing the newsletter digests you all love.

Meringues, mousse, macaroons – all tempting treats, but ones that were until very recently off-limits for vegans due to the traditional use of eggs in all three. Until 2015, that is, when a French food blogger discovered by chance that whipped chickpea water fluffs up into a light meringue – just like egg whites do. Since named ‘aquafaba’, this viscous liquid can be used as an emulsifying, foaming, binding and thickening agent in baking recipes and other dishes where eggs are normally used.

This week had everything from mindful nut butters to a virtual food hall, but here are the ones which topped the charts. Every week, FoodHack scouts some of the most innovative emerging startups from across the globe on our Discovery board, for you to cast your votes and choose which ones deserve the mention in our top 3 feature.

This Week In Food's major news is French-startup Ÿnsect has raised $224 million to build out the world’s largest insect farm. Proving that B2B is the less sexy but oftentimes more lucrative space to be in. This got us thinking about the B2B ingredient sector as a whole. As the demand for more sustainable feed, food, and materials grows, suppliers will be cashing in. Some companies that come to mind are Kingdom Supercultures, Algaia, Tebrito, and further down the line, Future Fields.

In this week latest funding rounds: French-startup Ÿnsect has raised $224 million to build out the world’s largest insect farm. And US delivery start-up GoPuff has raised $380 million in funding, as it aims to further accelerate its geographic expansion and product offerings.

In the last decade we’ve seen plant-based meats like tofu, quorn, tempeh and more experience massive growth in their popularity. And unless you’ve been avoiding vegans, you won’t have missed jackfruit: a tropical crop that shot to almost overnight fame as a substitute for pulled pork and other meats. It’s found favour in savoury dishes like curry and patties and, increasingly, is branching out from its ‘meat substitute’ status for use as a convenient snack.

In This Week In Food September 29th was the International Day of Awareness on Food Loss and Waste Reduction, so there has been a lot of discussion this week on innovation in this area. Food waste ‘upcycling’ is one strategy, in which production waste streams are repurposed into new consumer products or ingredients for human consumption. Bioplastics are looking to be next hot thing in, and investors are ready to start writing checks. Cacao products have dominated the FoodHack feed, so we take a closer look at what's powering the cacao craze.

“Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.” So, famously, said Forrest Gump. And the very same could be said of the cacao products industry in 2020, as a band of innovative start-ups shake up the market as we know it. This week, we get to know our cocoa from our cacao and meet the forward-thinking entrepreneurs finding new ways to give back to producers and create healthier and more sustainable products.

Eco drive: One of the biggest producers in the world, PepsiCo, has pledged to source 100% renewable electricity across its entire operation by 2030, the equivalent of taking half a million cars off the road every year! Nespresso has pledged that every cup of its coffee will be carbon neutral by 2022, with the launch of new capsules made from 80% recycled aluminium. Walmart will be cutting 60,000 pounds of annual plastic waste by switching to an innovative edible produce peel for its cucumbers, and has also announced its goal to produce zero emissions by 2040! Plant-based brand Alpro is committing to sustainability with a goal of ‘zero carbon, zero water and zero waste’ by 2025. 👏

What do a shipping container, an air raid shelter and a skyscraper have in common? The answer: lettuce. That may sound weird, but vertical farming is all about transforming previously unloved indoor spaces in the heart of cities into innovative environments for growing food.

In This Week In Food, CEO Guillaume Le Cunff ️announce every cup of Nespresso coffee will be carbon neutral by 2022, we take a deep-dive into how robots can help automate across the food supply chain and take a moment to appreciate all the awesome female foodtech innovators in our industry.

Automated solutions have long been used in food packaging, where speed, consistency and repetition are key. But with consumers increasingly opting for more convenient, personalised and contact-free solutions and businesses eager to keep costs in check, robots may soon be making their way into a kitchen near you. 

Complex savors and acidity, varying sweetness and bubbles. Recently, I tasted craft cider and a whole new fascinating world opened to me. I was not alone in having discovered this. In fact, craft cider is the next big thing in alcoholic beverages: the global market is expected to reach USD 5.37 billion by 2025, growing 3.1% per year from 2019 to 2025. Driven in particular by millennials who demand authenticity, quality, and innovation in alcoholic beverages, the category is well-positioned to replicate the success craft beer has seen in recent years.

When it comes to infant nutrition, breast may very well be best. But moms who can’t or choose not to breastfeed are currently left with limited options. Milk bank coverage is patchy and demand outweighs supply in many areas. And given that so many startups are intent on putting cows out of a job, it was only a matter of time before someone turned their attention to human milk. This week, we get to know the cell-based breast milk pioneers and explore the opportunities and challenges they’re facing while disrupting this promising but highly sensitive market.

In This Week In Food, things get a little messy (again) in the plant-based space. Last week there was the controversy as Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods came under fire for their ingredient list. This week it's Oatly and its investors. Moral of the story: Everyone loves a startup, but when the startup turns scale-up, prepare for some heat.

When it comes to plant-based alternatives, we’re often wowed by the magic of it all. Technology now transforms seaweed into fish, peas into chicken and mushrooms into jerky. So for anyone looking to go plant-based, the straight swap seems easy. Then there’s tempeh. Despite being nutrient dense and boasting a unique taste and mouthfeel, it’s curious beancake-like appearance has typically left many of us turning up our noses or feeling at a loss for what to do with it. But as the plant-based megatrend becomes more established, things are starting to change. This week, we get to know this protein-packed patty a little better and find out how - with a pinch of marketing and some product development know-how - companies are repositioning tempeh as the next big thing in the plant-based world.

Find yourself a comfortable seat, slice yourself some watermelon ham, and pour up a glass of adaptogenic beer, it's time to catch up on This Week In Food as the plant-based sector exchanges blows. And in the latest episode of The Secret Sauce, we chat with Redbull employee #15 and founder of Focus Water, Leif Langenskiöld, about his colorful and completely unexpected journey through the beverage industry.

Today's guest on The Secret Sauce is Leif Langenskiöld, founder & CEO of the vitamin water brand Focus Water and employee #15 at Red Bull.

While in many countries insects are seen as delicacies or staples, Western consumers have always struggled with the ick factor. But things are starting to change. Back in 2013, the UN proclaimed that insects were the food of the future. Since then, A $112 million global market has emerged and is expected to grow at over 47% CAGR between 2019 and 2026. Today, even leading retailers like Sainsburys are stocking smoky BBQ roasted crickets alongside their summer selection of beers and wines. So this week, we take a look at which crunchy critters are making it on the menu and how innovative brands are working hard to make insects the next bug thing in food.

In This Week In Food, the alt-seafood waters get a whole lot deeper as Nestle enters with its plant-based 'Vuna'. A sweet surprise as a Swiss town woke up to a dusting of chocolate snow. We deep-dived into the mysterious world of adaptogens. And Israeli scientists just 3D-printed meat-like carpaccio from stem cells 🥩

Over the last ten to fifteen years, adaptogens have made the leap from niche herbal products to functional foodies’ latest fad. Today, they enjoy a comfortable position in the $4.5 trillion wellness economy and the segment is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.8% - potentially even posing a threat to popular CBD-infused products. But as these novel ingredients start appearing in more and more food and beverage formulations, how much do we really know about how these curious compounds interact with our bodies?

Ryan bethencourt has a lot of bold ideas about the future of of our food. But when you’re the guy writing the early checks for companies like Memphis Meats, Geltor, Clara foods and over 100 others companies, you can get away with it. On this episode of The Secret Sauce, Ryan and I chat about his interesting childhood engrossed in sci-fi books and surrounded by exotic animals in his childhood home. His journey transitioning from the pharma industry to pioneering the alternative protein space, Ryan's ideas on where the future of food should go and his experience founding his own startup, Wild Earth, The company makes clean protein pet food that’s attracted big-name investors like Peter Thiel and Mark Cuban, earning a total of $16M in investment so far.

In This Week In Food, we take a deep-dive into the vegan market, ask ourselves if Apples just a big bully, and we chat with alt-protein pioneer Ryan Bethencourt about everything from his sci-fi childhood to psychedelic mushrooms.

A steaming bowl of pasta, but no parmesan. That perfect sandwich, minus the mayo. Munching on a mountain of leaves, while your meat-eating friends tuck into a restaurant’s finest steak. In the past, these little sacrifices were part of a vegan diet. But as going meatless makes it increasingly mainstream, consumers are increasingly spoilt for choice. This week, we take a look at the wealth of vegan products making their way into shopping baskets and onto restaurant menus, and explore how brands are navigating the choppy but promisingly profitable waters of the alternatives market.

In This Week In Food, we look at the booming business of upcycling - did you know you could make ale out of toast or tortilla crisps from overripe bananas? This for-good-business category is on the rise, attracting companies big and small to save food from waste and generating cash along the way.‍

A banana skin. An unsold restaurant meal. And some vegetable peelings. What’s the connection? Well, not so long ago, consumers and business owners alike wouldn’t have thought twice about popping them all in the bin. But the way we view waste is changing. It’s clear that our linear take-make-dispose model is broken. And circularity has become any self-respecting innovator’s buzzword du jour.

FoodHack aims at promoting entrepreneurs and innovators furthering innovation in food, nutrition, and agriculture. There's a few ways you can get featured by FoodHack:

This Week In Food: It's been another big week for alternative protein as collectively four companies in this space have raised over $100M this week for everything from replacing animal-derived ingredients to 3D printing plant-based patties. With China's alt-meat market shows 13%-15% annual growth and venture investors double their bets on faux meat startups, this leaves us wondering where the alt-meat haters at now? 🤷

In-vitro burgers might sound like something straight from a sci-fi novel but cultured meat could be on the market in Europe as early as 2022. So are lab-grown burgers a future food or full-on fantasy? Let’s find out how scientists are magicking up meat in a test tube and explore the pros and cons of this seemingly unstoppable trend. 

This Week In Food: It's been a big week for alternative meat as we spotlight cultured bacon and 3D printed KFC, AgriFood funding is skyrocketing as we count 13 funding rounds closed and ugly fruits and veg are becoming big business.

This Week In Food: Flippy the burger-flipping robot just landed a (trial) job at Whitecastle. Oat milk pioneer Oatly gets a superstar backing and a $2B valuation. Ghost kitchens are all the rage in a post-pandemic era. And more top FoodTech news.

Plant-based cheese maker Grounded Foods closes a $1.74M Seed round led by Stray Dog Capital. The startup based out of California makes plant-based cheese, with two main ingredients -fermented cauliflower and hemp seed--making their cheeses free from nuts, soy, gluten and GMOs.

This week we cover Perfect Day's $300M Series C and who's backing it. Hint: Canada's grandparents are in for a whole lot of 🍦We spotlight alt-meat startup Simulate (previously NUGGS) and why investors like AgFunder and Reddit co-founder just backed them.

Biologist Turned Serial Entrepreneur: Riana Lynn, Founder & CEO, Journey Foods. Riana has launched, grown, scaled and sold several companies in the food tech space, with a decade of experience in the industry - culminating in her current role as Founder & CEO of Journey foods - better feeding the growing 8 billion population

With aim to consolidate its market leader position in DACH and start expansion into France; Yamo announced today a Series A round from European food and agriculture technology investor Five Seasons Ventures, Swiss Entrepreneurs Fund, Ringier Digital Ventures, and Müller Ventures.

Every year, we throw away around 40% of the plastic we produce. But given that there’s no magical place called “away”, it ends up in landfill or pollutes our oceans. This isn’t only an issue for our planet. It also doesn’t make good business sense. This waste represents a $80-120 billion loss to the global economy each year. But luckily, the tide is starting to turn.

In This Week In Food, we chat with Fengru Lin, co-founder and CEO of Turtle Tree Labs about their cell-based milk tech as they just close off a fresh round of seed funding. What are the food trends that will be accelerated post-COVID? I gave my predictions on a LinkedIn post and heard back from experts and enthusiasts across the board with popular responses including algae and fermentation.