Food & Beverage on TikTok: the secret to success on the social media sensation

There’s no doubt about it: food is having its moment in the limelight on TikTok. Whether it was lockdown banana bread or the #dalgonacoffee sensation, a year at home with only screens and our kitchens for company led many users to discover the love of home cooking and food hacks - a trend that canny restaurants and CPG brands have capitalised on. TikTok is one of the world’s fastest-growing social media channels, providing a less ‘curated’ alternative to Instagram, and allows users to make snappy videos set to music that must come in at under 60 seconds. 

Mushrooms are the talk of the foodtech world these days. You’d be hard pressed to go a week without seeing the words ‘fungi’ or ‘mycelium’ on your feed from some future foodtech investor or self-declared expert. But what and who is driving the growth in this space? And are chestnut mushrooms really the same as portobellos? (spoiler: Yes, just smaller)

Southeast Asian super-app Grab has closed a $4B private investment in public equity deal as part of its agreement to merge with NASDAQ-listed SPAC Altimeter Growth Corp. The deal will allow Grab to become a publicly-traded company at a valuation of approximately $39.6B. Hazel Technologies secured $70M series C funding for its food-waste fighting technology which extends the shelf life of fruits and vegetables. Its packaging insert is designed to inhibit ethylene, which plants produce as they age, preserving the fresh produce.

Food is Gen Z’s top spending priority, taking a 23% share of their wallet, according to a report by Piper Sandler. The youngsters are also leaning heavily towards healthier eating, with 54% preferring healthy snacks and 49% already consuming or willing to try plant-based meat. & A recent report revealed that not all food categories have post-pandemic staying power. Experts at Numerator launched a COVID-19 Buyer Habit Index which compares repeat purchase behaviour. Perhaps unsurprisingly, though, wine is ‘sticky’, i.e. very likely to be repurchased!

With FoodTech startups taking up a larger chunk of accelerator interest each year - we decided to take a closer look at 6 accelerators / incubators and their FoodTech cohorts to see if we could spot any patterns.

As the shift towards alternative products accelerates, flavour and aroma companies are reaching new heights in their quest to develop the most enticing flavours, aromas and textures for use in food products. This is particularly true of plant-based proteins, which are driving innovative developments in flavours and texture. But it’s not just alt meats: companies are using similar processes to reduce sugar and salt in food, without compromising on taste or texture. AI-assisted flavour development is also being used to make alternative products as tasty as possible by identifying the best flavours or additives to mimic ‘the real thing’.‍‍

The Secret Sauce: Meet Ross, Co-founder & CEO of Daring Foods- from athletic meat eater to entrepreneurial plant-based entrepreneur. Discover how Scottish entrepreneur Ross Mackay, Co-Founder and CEO of Daring Foods is working to remove chicken from our food system with plant-based alternatives. In the podcast: Early upbringing & ventures, entrepreneurship in the US vs Europe, mentality of a CEO, life of a hyper-growth

Indian food delivery app Swiggy raised $800M series J funding and hit a $5B valuation. It diversified from restaurant delivery into grocery delivery through the pandemic, and launched its dark store-based platform, Instamart, offering 45-minute delivery of fresh groceries.Retail analytics firm Trax secured $640M series E funding at a valuation of $2 billion. Its AI-powered retail cloud platform features image recognition technology that turns shelf images in stores into real-time actionable insights.

New SPINS data released by the Good Food Institute and the Plant Based Foods Association reveals that plant-based food retail sales were worth $7B in 2020, marking a 27% growth year-on-year. Plus, according to a new report by Paris-based food tech insight consultancy DigitalFoodLab, the European food tech industry raised €2.7 billion in 2020, maintaining the figure raised in 2019 in spite of the pandemic, driven in the main by the triple-digit growth in the alternative protein sector.

Discover 3 of their alumni that are working on solutions for indoor and vertical farmers, data-driven fermentation management and the 'The Uber of dairy farms"/

Chinese e-grocer Nice Tuan raised $750M for its community-buying platform, which allows consumers to form groups via its WeChat mini-program and collectively purchase farm produce and groceries in bulk at a competitive price. Livekindly Collective secured $335M, bringing its total funding raised in its first year to $535M and making it one of the top three highest-funded plant-based firms globally. It will use the funds to accelerate its expansion into growth geographies, including the United States and China, and fuel its acquisitions, key partnerships and investments in plant-based innovation.

Ever been chatting to friends or colleagues about the latest FoodTech news and just felt out of your depth? This guide of 40+ commonly used FoodTech terms and words will help.

As a new food entrepreneur, starting a business from your own kitchen might seem like a good idea at first - a way to keep costs low and maximise efficiency. But many food startups quickly realise that this is not feasible due to lack of space, equipment, an inability to keep up as the company grows and to meet licensing, hygiene and certification requirements. 

GoPuff raised $1.5B (yes, you read that right) to further expand its sub-30 minutes delivery service. It currently operates more than 250 micro-fulfillment centers, nestled within residential areas to provide delivery 24/7. Berlin-based on-demand grocery delivery service Gorillas secured $290M and became a unicorn, with a valuation that surpasses $1B. The startup offers a ‘dark store’ model, which allows it to fulfil customer orders in as little as ten minutes.

Last week, we interviewed Veronica Fil and Shaun Quade from Grounded Foods Co, a rising star in the plant-based cheese movement based in LA, about how they managed to protect their IP as they grew. They’ve entered the market with a range of plant-based cheeses that has generated a lot of interest, not only among consumers, but also among companies looking to gain a foothold in the plant-based protein market.

AI use in food and drinks manufacturing has been heralded as the fourth great revolution in manufacturing. Shelve any preconceived notions you might hold of robots from outer space: AI (Artificial Intelligence) simply means the ability of a computer to perform tasks commonly associated with intelligent beings. Here's 33+ companies in this space and more about the opportunity of AI in the Agrifood industry.

Lockdown restrictions and covid concerns meant shoppers got used to the convenience of at-home delivery, fuelling the stratospheric rise in demand in the e-grocery space.

US-based ethnic e-grocer Weee! secured $315M series D funding to accelerate its geographic expansion. Its offering includes fresh produce, meat and seafood alongside a range of ethnic ingredients used in Asian and Hispanic cuisines. Shelf Engine raised $41M series B financing for its intelligent forecasting and order automation technology designed to reduce grocery industry food waste.‍

Insects as protein. We’ve been tracking this for awhile now. Insects are a highly sustainable form of protein, but early insect-based snacks were mainly whole bugs, with all the legs and eyes and the potential to gross some consumers (me!) out. My personal tastes aside, the global insect protein market is projected to reach $1.3 billion by 2025, and even authorities are getting behind bugs as an alternative protein. In October the UK government earmarked $13M for industrial insect farming, and in January, The European Food Safety Authority okayed mealworms as suitable for human consumption.

Plant-based protein has become a hot topic in the food industry. Whether they’re driven by personal health concerns, or a desire for a more environmentally-conscious lifestyle, more and more consumers are showing interest in these products. Indeed, according to a report by Research and Markets, the global market for plant-based protein is forecast to grow in value from USD 10.3 bn in 2020 to USD 14.5 bn in 2025. While this is clearly a growth market that responds to larger cultural concerns, it’s also a lively field of innovation and product development in which businesses from multinationals to startups are creating new products.

From arepas to empanadas, guacamole to chimichurri, Latin America is a region with a rich food history. As its vast population changes and the agri-food scene of Latin America’s many nations evolves, food businesses are responding to demographic changes and changing desires. Top trends include plant-based eating, alternative proteins, and a desire for more local foods that are sustainable and delicious.

Takeaway delivery app FoodHub is seeking to raise £100M in private equity funds to accelerate its global expansion plans, having increased its turnover from £3M to £30M since its inception in 2017. Vertical strawberry farming startup Oishii secured $50M series A funding to expand its flagship farm, build further strawberry farms in new markets and invest in R&D. The firm claims to have a proprietary approach to pollinating strawberries indoors using bees, inspired by traditional Japanese farming methods, making it able to bring high quality, fresh produce to consumers year-round.

We asked our network to nominate founders, leaders and innovators in the food tech space, and wow did you guys/girls come through! We were overwhelmed by the responses, introducing us to incredible women all over the world working on everything from cell-based meats to media outlets, microalgae drinks to upcycled beverages, functional foods to foodtech funding, and lots, lots more.This article is just scraping the surface of the female pioneers who are driving foodtech around the globe.

Sugar: everyone’s favourite unhealthy habit. Most of us can’t get enough of the sweet stuff, even though we know it ruins our teeth, expands our waistlines and contributes to diabetes and is now proven to be a risk factor for severe COVID-19 complications. As a result, consumers are keener than ever to swap sugar for healthier alternatives without compromising on taste and indulgence. Some startups investigating novel sugar substitutes are asking if, perhaps, we might be able to have our cake and eat it too...

In this week's funding news: Instacart raised $265M in fresh funding, pushing its valuation to a staggering $39B, more than double its $17.7B valuation in October 2020, when it raised its last financing. The on-demand grocery delivery platform’s growth has skyrocketed through the pandemic as consumer demand for grocery services surged. And GoodLeaf Farms raised $65M and is set to commence “an aggressive growth and expansion plan” for its network of vertical farms, to support the Canadian grocery store network, food service industry and consumers.

In this week's startup news: Urban farming operation Gotham Greens announced its plans to expand to the West Coast, with a 10-acre greenhouse in Solano County, California, in collaboration with University of California-Davis, increasing its number of potential customers without increasing its freight cost and impact. New frozen snack brand Snow Days’ concept of better-for-you comfort food is designed to make snacking more permissible and free consumers from that post-snack regret. Its first product, frozen pizza bites, are grain-free and organic, and contain vegetables and functional ingredients.

The other week I wrote about 3 foodtech related ideas that I think might have potential. I've since chatted with several people working on these and curated the ones that you need to know - plus added two bonus ideas at the bottom 👀 

Kimchi, sauerkraut, beer and miso - fermentation is nothing new. The ancient practice is an entirely natural process: microorganisms like yeast and bacteria convert starches and sugars into alcohol or acids, producing beneficial bacteria in the process. Now a raft of food tech companies are using microbes - a highly customised version of the same microbes that ferment traditional foods like cheese and yogurt - to produce alternative proteins and functional ingredients. These can then be used in plant-based products and as alternatives to egg and milk proteins.

Worldwide, the fast food industry generates annual revenue of over $570 billion. In the US, more than 50 million Americans eat at a casual dining restaurant every day. And in Europe, the fast-casual dining market is expected to hit revenues of $17 billion by 2024🍟But fast food is changing. And perhaps it’s no bad thing? In the past, fast food outlets got bad press for being an unhealthy choice, and offering the option to ‘supersize’, encouraging consumers to eat way more calories than they could burn. Now, plenty of healthier options are popping up.

Oatly was first founded way back in 1994 by brothers Rickard Öste and Björn Öste. Back then, the oat brand was fighting to create a market that didn't exist. But in 2021, it is now the second most-popular oat milk brand in the US, and is undergoing a major global expansion after a star-studded funding round.

In this week's funding news: Indian food delivery startup Zomato has raised a further $250M, just two months after closing a $660M series J financing round, and is now valued at $5.4B ahead of its IPO later this year. And Dutch cultivated meat startup Mosa Meat announced the third and final closing of its series B funding round at €69.6M, and plans to extend its current pilot production facility, develop an industrial-sized production line and commercialise its product for consumers.

Even if in-person events are on standstill - we’re still craving to keep our brains engaged and meet like-minded people across the globe through events. Check out our list of 15 upcoming foodtech events we think you should know about:

Vertical crops are more resilient to extreme weather, and indoor growing environments are easier to control than those in the field. Seeds used can be optimised for flavour instead of insect or weather resistance. Farmers can control the elements (literally: humidity, temperature and lighting) to optimise yield and shorten crop cycles in a way that is impossible in conventional agriculture.

Any ideas what the Youtuber Mr Beast, Mariah Carey and Food Network celebrity chef Guy Fieri have in common? The answer’s not exactly obvious, but all three (and many more) have recently launched their own virtual dining concepts - otherwise known as celebrity ghost kitchens or to some as ‘clout kitchens’.

This week’s Discovery was all about the bass… the plant-base that is! The majority of the line up was vegan and/or functional, illustrating the massive growth in both of these spaces as consumers become more considerate of their health. We saw chocolate pudding made from oats and gut-friendly granola, but here are your winners:

In this week's funding news: Little Leaf Farms closed a $90M debt and equity financing round to expand its network of hydroponic greenhouses on the East Coast of America.; and private equity partnership One Rock Capital Partners is acquiring Nestlé Waters North America for approximately $4.3Bn, as Nestlé continues with plans to best position its brands for long-term profitable growth.

The Secret Sauce: with Sorosh Tavakoli, founder and CEO of Stockeld Dreamery. Sorosh is what every immigrant entrepreneur dreams of. Honestly, his story is what great scripts are made of. After having to leave his home country of Iran due to the Iran/Iraq war, Sorosh's family moved to a smallish town in Sweden. While at university, Sorosh decides he never wants to work for someone, and instead, whilst taking a shower he comes up with the idea for a disruptive media advertising company. His hunch is right - the business grows to 100 people across 8 cities and in 2014 he sells this business for an estimated $75M.

The coronavirus has challenged fine dining restaurants to adapt quickly to the swiftly changing F&B market as businesses have battled months of restrictions, shutdowns and limited custom. Before the pandemic began, gourmet gastronomy was a growing market - with over 14,000 Michelin-starred restaurants around the world and many more luxury dining establishments.

Future Food Tech Hubs - what makes a city or country an ideal place for food innovation, and where will the next hub emerge? In order to understand that - let's take a look at 3 countries who today stand out when it comes to food innovation and foodtech startup density.

I love to scheme ideas. And over the past two weeks, Sonalie of Green Queen Media and I have been hosting chats on Clubhouse where we've been brainstorming future food ideas with the audience. Here’s 3 ideas that came up which I think could have potential.

Applications for MassChallenge Accelerator and the Sustainable Food Systems Track are now OPEN! Startups who’ve taken part in MassChallenge have raised over $6.2Bn of funds, created 157,000 jobs, and most importantly, have created meaningful change worldwide. Be part of our global network for innovators who are working to solve massive challenges and apply for free today, by using the 100% discount code FOODHACK2021

In the run up to Valentine’s Day we’re surprised that Lovebird Cereal didn’t bag a top three spot on our Discovery board this week, but the competition was fierce. We had chickpea snacks and tonnes of plant-based meats, but here are your winners:

In this week's funding news: Sustainable E-Grocer Imperfect Foods has increased its recently announced series D funding to $110M, up from $95M, bringing its total funding to $229.1M. The firm ‘rescues’ surplus and ‘ugly’ groceries and food service inventory to resell them on its own online platform, helping to combat the world’s multi-billion food waste problem.

In last week's newsletter we covered some of the pro's of Corporates x Startups collaborating, so this week we feel it's only right to talk about some of the con's.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that plant-based diets are all the rage. Where once veganism (at least in western societies) was written off as a fad or something only tree huggers indulged in, avoiding animal products is now pretty mainstream. By 2025, for example, it’s thought that at least 14% of the world’s population is already vegan or vegetarian and that number is increasing fast. As the trend gathers pace, interest in alternative proteins and cell-based meat is growing rapidly.

February may be a cold, grey month, but our FoodHack Discovery board is full of top-notch products from startups all over the world to brighten up your day. This week we had plant-based eggs made from chickpeas, freshly-made plant-based baby food and an app for self-improvement, but here are your winners:

In this week's funding news: The world’s largest e-commerce platform for wine, Vivino, raised $155M in new funding after seeing 103% growth year on year in 2020. Its app gives Netfllix-style suggestions to consumers of wines to try, based on their preferences; and online grocer Good Eggs raised $100M new funding, bringing its total amount raised to $170M. The firm, which currently only operates in the San Francisco Bay Area, saw huge growth through 2020 and plans to use the funds to further expand its operations.

How the E-grocery industry has grown, shaped and picked up billions along the way

According to a report by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), consumption of plant-based milk is slowly replacing consumption of dairy milk in the US. In 2020, 9% of Unilever's turnover was from ecommerce – although overall turnover of €50.7bn was down by 2.4% compared to the previous year. Unilever’s ecomm sales grew by 61% in its latest financial year as shoppers turned online to buy its hygiene and ‘at home’ food brands during Covid lockdowns.

Exploring the why, how, and who of all the recent corporate x startup love.

For a pick-me-up. For comfort. Because it tastes good. For joy. The reasons we eat the food we do are many – but a new trend indicates that for increasing numbers of people, the answer to the question “What’s for dinner?” is being driven by health reasons. As what we eat increasingly continues to experience a lifestyle rebranding, consumers are turning to food and beverage products that promise not just flavour, enjoyment or nutrition, but also additional functions that boost their health or claim to target a particular issue (like sleep or energy levels).

This Week, Beyond looks beyond meat. The plant-based meat producer’s stock jumped as much as 39% Tuesday after announcing a joint venture with Pepsi to make plant-based drinks and snacks. And after the unprecedented boom in premium CPG in 2020, consumers will shift towards value and private label brands through 2021, and will also prefer smaller sizes over large packs due to pandemic-induced penny pinching, according to a consumer trend report from IRI.

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.

In this week's funding news: Finnish food, grocery and retail delivery company Wolt secured $530M to further expand its operations, proof that the on-demand sector is on fire right now, and that it could go up against delivery giant Deliveroo (whose founder could personally make more than $500M in its upcoming IPO) in terms of its potential reach and revenue.

It was too close to call all week on our Discovery board until the very last minute yesterday, so you know it was a winning bunch of innovative ideas. This week’s selection included plant-based dumplings and moon cakes alongside vitamin water and energy bites, but here are your winners.

Nope, not a post about dating in your 30s, but rather the real problem of running out of actual fish in the sea, which experts predict will happen by 2050. Years of overfishing have left fish and seafood stocks in danger, but people still love it. In fact, the global seafood market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 5.8% from 2020 to 2025, as consumers shift away from meat and towards other protein sources.

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.