vegconomist - the vegan business magazine

French plant-based ingredients specialist Roquette is to open what it claims to be the world’s largest pea protein plant in Canada. Together with its plant in France, the company aims to achieve unrivaled pea protein production on both sides of the Atlantic and consolidate its position as a key player in the current global food revolution. As Canada grows more peas than any other country in the world, Roquette is looking to establish itself in the Manitoba region which is becoming the “Silicon Valley of Plant-Based Proteins,” according to the company. This project is part of Roquette’s global half a billion euros investment program to ensure a secure, safe, and sustainable supply of plant proteins.   When combined with its plant in Vic-sur-Aisne, France, Roquette’s pea-processing capacity will be 250,000MT, which the company claims will be the largest in the world. Roquette – a family-owned company with a turnover of around €3.5 billion – already counts alt meat giant Beyond Meat as one of its customers, with the vastly enhanced production capacity able to help develop and bring new products to market quickly.  Pea Protein High Demand North American pea protein rival PURIS also recently opened a new production plant in the US, more than doubling the company’s production capacity. The global pea protein market is projected to grow from $745 million in 2020 to $1,400 million by 2025, indicating very strong growth expected over the next five years. Brands like The Meatless Farm have replaced soy in favor of pea ...

UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s has added several new products to its Plant Pioneers range for the festive season. Among them is a maple-glazed plant-based gammon joint which appears to be a market first. Made from pea and wheat protein, the joint is easy to carve and has a sweet, sticky maple glaze. Also new to the Plant Pioneers range are the No Turkey Crown and No Turkey Parcels. The turkey crown is made with mushrooms and pea protein and filled with stuffing, while the parcels contain vegan turkey individually wrapped in plant-based bacon rashers. Another new addition is No Salmon En Croûte, puff pastry parcels containing vegan salmon made from jackfruit and oyster mushrooms. For those who aren’t a fan of meat alternatives, Sainsbury’s has expanded its Taste the Difference range to include the Festive Miso-Stuffed Butternut Squash and the Nut Roast with Tangy Spiced Orange & Cranberry Glaze. Finally, the supermarket has launched a vegan cheeseboard called the Plant Pioneers Cheese Selection. It features four different plant-based cheeses — traditional cheddar, caramelised onion cheddar, blue cheese, and Wensleydale with cranberries. For dessert, Sainsbury’s is offering the Plant Pioneers Chocolate & Salted Caramel Star. Vegan Christmas in the UK A recent study found that 1 in 5 British households are planning an entirely vegan Christmas this year. The figures for 2020 were similar, with half of households catering for at least one vegan. Tesco’s plant-based turkey sold out by mid-December last year, while Waitrose reported that pre-orders of vegan Christmas ...

Alt dairy leader Violife continues to diversify its product range by adding a new camembert style soft cheese to its line in time for the festive season. 100% vegan and free from dairy, soya, gluten, lactose, nuts, preservatives and emulsifiers, Le Rond Camembert Flavour can be served hot or cold, baked or fried.  With consumer interest for vegan cheese products increasing by 2.6 times in 12 months, and with Violife boasting three cheeses in this year’s World’s 10 Best Vegan Cheeses, the brand is launching Le Rond Camembert Flavour across the UK. Since being bought out by Upfield – the largest plant-based CPG company in the world – in January 2020, Violife has diversified into other alt dairy categories with the launch of its plant-based butter and cream. The brand also recently launched a vegan festive selection box containing four of its products. “At Violife, we’re proud to offer customers new flavours to be enjoyed with loved ones. As Le Rond can be cooked in whatever way people please – from being baked to fried, customers can get creative with their dishes and still be 100% confident that it is suitable for all. Having recently ventured into plant-based butter and cream, we’re committed to continue innovating the Dairy Alternatives category, and new flavours like the Le Rond Camembert prove our mission to provide customers with 100% vegan alternatives that can be enjoyed by everyone,” explained Bianca Harris, Senior Marketing Manager. Le Rond Camembert Flavour Block will be available from 8th ...

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#greeneating–Max Elder, Co-Founder and CEO of Nowadays, a food production technology company working to make plant-based meats with only a few simple ingredients and an unparalleled nutritional profile, is a featured guest this week on the Impact Podcast with John Shegerian. The show is hosted by Shegerian, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of ERI, the nation’s leading fully integrated IT and electronics asset disposition provider and cybersecurity-focused hardware destruction company. Under Elder’s stewardship, Nowadays aims to ‘take the junk out of junk food’ by reinventing classic favorites with only a few simple, animal-free ingredients that are better for people and the planet. Elder was previously a Research Director at the Institute for the Future (IFTF), the world’s leading futures thinking organization, where he led IFTF’s Food Futures Lab. He has provided advisory services to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He also sits on the advisory boards of FoodShot Global and Food Systems for the Future. In his discussion with Shegerian, Elder discussed how he and his team at Nowadays believe that eating mindfully and indulgently don’t have to be at odds, and it shouldn’t take a lot of effort or wild leaps of science to check both boxes. “At Nowadays, we care deeply about positively impacting human and planetary health with nutritious plant-based meats made from only a few simple ingredients,” said Elder. “What better platform to share our mission than on the Impact Podcast with John Shegerian, an industry titan who has paved the way for businesses ...

DUBLIN–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The “Dairy Alternatives Market 2021 – 2028” report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com’s offering. The global dairy alternatives market size is expected to reach $50.15 billion by 2028 Increasing people with lactose intolerance and a growing vegan population will mainly contribute to the alternatives industry growth. People becoming more health-conscious to avoid foods associated with obesity and heart diseases will also propel the growth of the industry. Lactose intolerance is increasingly prevalent among people globally, and around 65% of people suffer from some kind of food intolerance. Hence, these people must avoid dairy products and look for substitutes that will provide similar protein and vitamins. Plant-based products such as almond milk and soy milk have lower calories compared to cow or buffalo milk. Hence, people prefer plant-based products to overcome obesity which is highly prevalent in the developed economies. People are also concerned about antibiotics, pesticides, and hormones present in the dairy product, an important cause for cancer, such as breast and endometrial cancer. Hence, they are avoiding milk products, which will help the products grow over the coming years. COVID-19 pandemic is expected to positively influence the growth of the industry during the forecast period, as there is great demand for packaged items. Products such as packaged plant-based milk and beverages have more shelf life, and people are storing these products so that they don’t have to go out of their residencies frequently. Some of the key players are SunOpta Inc. Oatly Danone The Hain Celestial Group Inc. ...

ProVeg International has partnered with Innova Market Insights, the University of Copenhagen, and Ghent University to conduct a survey on European consumer attitudes to plant-based foods. The survey, which is part of the Smart Protein project, questioned over 7,500 people from ten countries — Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, and the UK. 7% of respondents were already plant-based, while a further 30% were flexitarian. There were some striking results, with 46% of respondents saying they had already reduced their meat consumption. Just under 40% said they would cut down on meat more over the coming year, while about 30% had plans to cut down on dairy. Almost a third intended to significantly increase their consumption of plant-based meat and dairy alternatives. However, 45% of flexitarians said there weren’t enough plant-based options available, while 50% said the existing options were too expensive. About 60% trusted that plant-based foods were safe and accurately labelled, with most preferring plant-based over fungi or algae-based options. Flexitarians also said that taste and health were the most important considerations when buying a plant-based product, with freshness, lack of additives, and low prices also playing a key role. Plant-based poultry, beef, salmon, and tuna were the alt-meat and alt-seafood products respondents said they would most like to see. Plant-based mozzarella and sliced cheese topped the list of dairy alternatives. The Smart Protein Project The Smart Protein Project is funded by the EU and was founded to develop alt-protein products that are healthy, ...

Canadian investment platform CULT Food Science Corp announces that it has made a strategic investment into UK firm 3D Bio-Tissues Limited (3DBT). The move comes as the platform – with an exclusive focus on clean, lab-grown food – increases its stakes across the field.  Based in the UK, 3DBT produces biological tissue material that can be used for cultivated meat, synthetic leather, and collagen production. A spin-off from Newcastle University,  3DBT’s patented technology also provides an alternative source of animal leather that is resilient to the global leather market’s supply chain and trade limitations. CULT Food’s investment in 3DBT furthers the platform’s exposure to cellular agriculture-focused intellectual property including innovative tissue templating and culture fluid technologies. CULT Food’s platform aims to advance the development of novel technologies to provide a sustainable solution to the global factory farming and aquaculture crises, and so far features Berekely’s Ohayo Valley Inc – a cultivated Wagyu steak biotech – and Biftek Inc – a Turkish B2B using novel culture medium supplement formula to grow muscle stem cells. “This investment in 3DBT is an important addition to our investment platform, as bio-tissues are a critical element of cultivated meat production, where scientific innovation is deeply needed. We are excited to help accelerate the growth of the Venture and will look to leverage potential synergies with our other portfolio companies in due course,” stated Dorian Banks, Chief Executive Officer of CULT. ...

Vejii, the largest sustainability-focused online marketplace in North America, announces it has become publicly listed on the CSE under the ticker VEJI. The platform, which delivers to 48 states, today becomes one of the few plant-based companies in the world to go public. Vegconomist sits down with CEO Kory Zelickson to hear more about the company’s big news. Why did you decide to go public? First of all, thanks for interviewing me, vegconomist.  I love and appreciate your coverage in the vegan business space.  My Co-Founder Darren Gill and I decided to take Vejii public to have more efficient access to and deployment of growth capital.  In addition, we wanted to have the ability to execute M&A strategies, which also offer interested investors in the space the ability to participate in the company’s growth. We think this is very exciting and indicative of the larger potential of the market as a whole.   What kind of work did you do this last year to build the company to be ready for an IPO? We started the company less than a year ago. Our initial focus was on driving traffic to better understand buying behavior and product/category trends. From there we developed Vejii Express which is a curated offering of our most popular products, with express delivery service across the country.  We also worked on building out the marketplace platform where we now have over 100 independent brands that have come to list their products on Vejii, and they can choose ...

Alt egg pioneer JUST Egg announces a new partnership Field Roast for the Field Roast Classic Style Sausage, Egg & Cheese Plant-Based Breakfast Sandwich. The launch might be of interest to new NYC Mayor Eric Adams — as he recently enjoyed a JUST Egg breakfast wrap from a Plantega deli in Brooklyn following his election victory.  The first co-branded vegan breakfast sandwich will be available exclusively at Whole Foods Market locations across the US, followed by expanded national distribution at additional retailers in 2022. Over the last 12 months, Field Roast has introduced several new products and gained distribution at more than 5,500 retailers throughout North America, as well as developing its Chao Creamery dairy-free cheese products – which feature in the newly launched sandwich.  Meanwhile, JUST Egg – a brand of food tech firm Eat Just – is preparing for its historic European launch, following recent launches in South Africa and South Korea.  “Since its inception, Field Roast has built equity leveraging bold flavor profiles to create mouth-watering plant-based food. This collaboration adds an innovative new co-branded product to their already impressive portfolio,” stated Josh Tetrick, Co-Founder and CEO of Eat Just. “Our combined expertise in the breakfast space has produced a superior breakfast offering that delivers on both flavor and convenience.” ...

After launching what it claims to be the first-ever burger made from kelp, New York-based alt-meat brand AKUA has now announced an impressive $3.2 million seed round. The kelp specialist looks set to find a prominent niche in the alt meat landscape as it promotes regenerative ocean farming.  “The first wave of plant-based eating was the Boca Burger, beans and tofu. The second wave is Impossible and Beyond, and the third wave is going to be the return to whole foods and clean eating” The funding round included a host of venture funds as well as New England Patriots coach and former linebacker Jerod Mayo, beauty founder Cristina Carlino, SmartyPants CEO Courtney Nichols Gould, and Sir Kensington’s co-founder Brandon Child. The seed round brings AKUA’s total fundraising to date up to $5.4 million.  Founded by Courtney Boyd Myers and Matthew Lebo in 2016, AKUA will use the new funds to grow its team and expand R&D, with more kelp-based products in the pipeline. A ground meat product and a crab cake are set to hit shelves in 2022, joining its flagship vegan, non-GMO, soy-free, and gluten-free burger. The brand prides itself on a clean label approach, with the burger consisting of only 15 food or food-derived ingredients, while AKUA is currently expanding its retail channels.  “The first wave of plant-based eating was the Boca Burger, beans and tofu,” Founder and CEO Courtney Boyd Myers told TechCrunch. “The second wave is Impossible and Beyond, and the third wave is going to ...