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Agri-food investment company Eat Well Group is to acquire a majority stake in plant-based baby food specialist Amara Organic Foods. Amara’s baby food delivers the benefits of fresh fruit and vegetables yet with the convenience and scale of shelf-stable and was voted the #1 Baby Best Food by Good House Keeping.  Using science and proprietary IP to make organic and vegan baby and children’s food, Amara will form a key part of Eat Well Group’s expanding plant-based portfolio, reinforcing its vertical integration strategy. The terms of the investment mean Eat Well will be issued 2,047,299 Series A preferred shares in the capital of Amara in exchange for a subscription price of USD$11,600,000, representing a 51% equity ownership of Amara on a fully-diluted as-converted basis.  Founded in 2017 by CEO Jessica Sturzenegger, Amara disrupted the baby-food market by supplying the demand from parents for fresh, nutrient-rich, low-sugar baby food that was minimally processed and shelf-stable. Amara is driven by the belief that setting kids on the right path from a young age will help them live better, feel better and think better for the rest of their lives. “Amara has proven an impressive ability to scale through retail distribution and eCommerce excellence, and the funding and industry expertise provided by the Eat Well Group will help accelerate Amara’s growth as we head into calendar 2022,” stated Marc Aneed, President, Eat Well Group.  Amara is sold throughout major North American retailers, including Whole Foods, Costco, Amazon, and Walmart Canada. ...

Inspired by Willy Wonka, entrepreneur Anahita Vazvan has opened the doors to her family chocolate factory in Sweden, called Vegan Delights, where customers can meet the female-led company and enjoy a huge variety of imaginative vegan treats. The company’s initial vision “was to create vegan treats that didn’t feel like a compromise and that dream was turned into reality”, one that is ethically driven and involves a diverse team of coworkers. Vegan Delights has most notably developed a vegan Snickers called ‘Vegickers’, which is the company’s bestseller and has already become a firm customer favourite. In 2019, confectionery giant Mars, producer of the conventional snickers bar, became the first major confectionery company to launch a veganised line with Galaxy Vegan. Following the ongoing trend for vegan chocolate, the multinational company launched vegan Bounty and Topic chocolate bars this year. However, a veganised Snickers bar is yet to be launched to the mainstream – as such, Vegickers is going down a storm in Sweden. Vegan Delights aims to source as much organic produce as possible, fully plant-based, and always using sustainable chocolate. The production of its confectionery causes up to 70% less greenhouse gas emissions as well as less land and water usage. When Anahita was 20 years old, she began experimenting with chocolate when most of the younger generation in her family had transitioned to a plant-based diet and felt that they were missing out on treats. The early iterations of her product seriously impressed her mother and uncle who ...

TurtleTree Labs, a Singaporean company developing cell-based milk products, has raised $30 million in the first tranche of its Series A funding round. The round was led by VERSO Capital. TurtleTree says the funding will be used to expand its portfolio, hire new talent, and further develop its technology. The company, which was the first ever to create milk from cells, is aiming to scale up its research and production of the ingredients found in human milk. Last month, TurtleTree opened a new facility in Sacramento, California, to develop precision fermentation technology. The company says this will significantly speed up its progress towards consumer-ready cultivated dairy products. In June, TurtleTree announced it was preparing to commercially launch its first product, lactoferrin. This protein is usually derived from cows’ milk, but TurtleTree’s variety uses human breast milk as a blueprint. The company has decided to focus on individual milk components for the time being, as it will take time for cell-based whole milk to gain regulatory approval. “We are incredibly touched by the degree of faith all our investors have placed in TurtleTree and our unique vision of food,” said TurtleTree CEO Fengru Lin. “Amplified by the relentless backing of parties like VERSO Capital, the Series A funds will allow us to scale up our processes and come a huge step closer to creating a new era of sustainable nutrition.” ...

Kerry, the world’s largest taste and nutrition company, has surveyed 3,700 people across ten Asia-Pacific countries to gauge their opinions on plant-based meats. The results show strong interest among many consumers, with 62% of respondents saying they are interested in buying meat alternatives and 44% intending to eat more of them. However, 70% said that the plant-based meats currently available did not have the same taste and texture as real meat, adding that they would purchase the products more often if these factors were improved. This echoes a recent report which found that parity in taste and texture will be vital to the growth of the alt-meat market. Interest in meat alternatives has surged in Asia in the wake of Covid-19, after meat markets were identified as the source of the virus. The region now accounts for 22% of global plant-based meat sales by value, and is expected to be the world’s largest market by 2025. A report last year found huge potential for growth in the Asian alt-protein market. In Kerry’s study, consumers also expressed a desire for meat alternatives that align better with local cuisine, an area where products imported from the West often fall short. According to Ronan Moloney, VP & GM of Food and Meat at Kerry Asia Pacific, this is something the company is well-placed to address. “‘Radicle™ by Kerry’ enables manufacturers to create and deliver sustainable food and beverage products that are nutritionally optimized with cleaner labels, authentic taste, and appealing texture. With a ...

Swiss retail giant Migros has launched a vegan hard-boiled egg which will be available in select Migros stores across the country. The plant-based picnic egg looks and tastes like its conventional counterpart even including its vegan yolk.  The latest addition to Migros’ own V-Love plant-based range, the egg is manufactured in Switzerland by ELSA, a Migros subsidiary. Made from soy protein, the new egg innovation will be available in Migros stores in Zurich, Basel, Lucerne, and Geneva as of November 2021, priced at 4.40 Swiss francs for a pack of four. The V-Love hard-boiled egg is one of the world’s first such products to hit the shelves as the race to develop new egg alternatives accelerates. Research has shown that 30% of consumers say they would choose vegan eggs over conventional ones, but there is a gap in the market when it comes to accessibility and a range of consumer options. In the US, plant-based brand Crafty Counter has also launched ready-to-eat vegan boiled eggs known as Wundereggs, and Singapore’s OsomeFood has developed a similar egg created from fungi mycoprotein.  Migros has been investing considerably in alt protein innovation and food tech and recently set up a new facility for cellular agriculture products in Zurich to accelerate their development and market penetration. The brand has also trialed an in-store vegan butcher service, as well as launched the world’s first yogurt alternative based on chickpeas last year.   ...

The World Sustainability Organization (WSO) and The Good Food Institute (GFI) Sustainable Seafood Initiative announced a joint certification program to provide a Golden Standard for plant-based seafood producers, with the GFI stating, “This program is a pivotal opportunity for the nascent plant-based seafood industry to expand its visibility and impact.” As announced at GFI India’s Smart Protein Summit, The Friend of the Sea Golden Standard is set to help alt seafood companies certify their products according to sustainable certification criteria of the WSO’s Friend of the Earth agriculture standards.   To obtain the certification, companies must meet the following requirements: A well organised environmental management procedure. A system to protect the ecosystem, with implementation of areas dedicated to the conservation of wild flora and fauna. The reduction in the use of chemically synthetic substances according to the principles of organic or integrated agriculture. Biological control, the rational use of water resources. Minimization of mechanical operations on the ground and its compaction. The use of energy from renewable resources. Control of gas emissions, greenhouse effect and the implementation of the systems to reduce them. Social responsibility. GFI Sustainable Seafood Initiative Manager, Jen Lamy, explains: “Right now, we’re on track to see about a 30 percent increase in demand for fish and shellfish globally within about the next 10 years.” Concurrently, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization states that 90% of the global fish population is fully fished, overfished, or in crisis. While the plant-based meat industry is worth $939 million, the ...

Starbucks Hong Kong announces it is to launch OmniSeafood’s plant-based crabcake to its menu, marking the third partnership between OmniFoods and the world’s largest coffee chain, which has been carrying OmniPork in China since April 2020. OmniFoods first launched its range of OmniSeafood this June, consisting of Omni Classic Fillet, Omni Golden Fillet, Omni Ocean Burger, OmniTuna and  OmniSalmon. Further to the previous collaborations with Starbucks in the Philippines and Mainland China, Starbucks Hong Kong will now offer the Thai Style New Crab Cake Salad, incorporating Omni Crab Cake, served with mixed lettuce, pumpkin, tomato and fresh pomelo pulp. The OmniPork based products BBQ Mochi Bun, Mince Roll and Classic Lasagna are available at Starbucks Philippines; The GG Double Flavoured Wrap is served in Starbucks across mainland China; and the OmniPork Truffle Focaccia and Omni Luncheon Cuba Sandwiches are exclusively served in Starbucks Greener Store Lab in Shanghai, where over 50% of its menu are plant-based. David Yeung, founder and CEO of OmniFoods, stated: “We are thrilled to have Starbucks Hong Kong to be one of our first OmniSeafood launch partners.  Besides the exciting menu item we are introducing, we trust this is the beginning of raising awareness that ocean preservation and reduction of seafood consumption should be high on everyone’s agenda in terms of combating climate change and ensuring food security for the planet.” ...

Plant-based dairy alternative company bettermoo(d) announces the completion of its Moodrink and reveals its upcoming product launches. Furthermore, bettermoo(d) announces the signature of an agreement with Happy Supplements Inc., for a potential public transaction that would result in the Company shares being listed on the Canadian securities exchange. Upon successful negotiations and mutual agreement, the company is poised to complete the major transaction, whereby Happy Supplements would acquire all the outstanding share capital of bettermoo(d) for consideration of 9 million shares and 10 million warrants in Happy Supplements. bettermoo(d)’s unique selling proposition lays in the company’s claim that its plant-based dairy products achieve a matching taste profile with the best-tasting dairy in the world sourced in Alpine regions. In order to emulate the taste of milk from these regions, the company created a plant-based dairy-alternative formulation to incorporate gluten-free organic oats and an undisclosed blend of herbs which is claimed to replicate what free-range pasture raised cows eat.   The company also announces the completion of its dairy alternative product Moodrink, expecting to launch original flavour Moodrink in winter 2021/ 2022 into selected retail stores across Canada and through an e-commerce platform, with additional flavours, such as vanilla, matcha, and chai to be launched soon after. Further products launches to follow include yogurt, cheese, butter, creme fraiche and sour creme. Commenting on the company’s chances to challenge conventional animal based dairy and become a market leader for competitive dairy products, Nima Bahrami, the Company’s chief executive officer, stated: “We are ...

Californian biotech startup Shiru has closed a $17 million Series A funding round to develop novel plant-based food ingredients using machine-learning algorithms and precision biofermentation. Shiru’s technology allows food companies to incorporate next-generation plant-based proteins without in-house biotech facilities. “Shiru’s goal is to make it simple and cost-effective for every food company, from multinational conglomerates to innovative startups, to do the right thing for people and the planet.” Shiru’s patent-pending discovery platform is set up to produce plant-based alternatives to eggs, meat, dairy, and gelatin, in a fundamentally different manner to conventional plant-based production. Having reverse-engineered the most popular ingredients from the molecular level, Shiru claims to have achieved the same levels of taste, texture, gelation, foaming, emulsification, and binding abilities as animal proteins. Founded in 2019 by scientist and engineer Dr. Jasmin Hume, Shiru is developing a range of versatile ingredients to be used in a variety of products that currently require animal-derived proteins, from packaged baked goods to sauces and yogurt. The latest funding round brings Shiru’s total funding to date to over $20 million, with the startup using the investment to build its team of scientists and business developers, as well as scale up production ahead of plans to deliver its first ingredients to global food and CPG companies in 2022. “The global food industry is well aware of the voracious demand among consumers for sustainable food, as well as the sector’s immense power to help solve our climate crisis,” explained CEO and Founder Dr. Jasmin Hume. ...

DUBLIN–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The “Vegan Foods Market Research Report by Type, Distribution, and Region – Global Forecast to 2026 – Cumulative Impact of COVID-19” report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com’s offering. The Global Vegan Foods Market size was estimated at USD 32.63 billion in 2020, is expected to reach USD 35.14 billion in 2021, and projected to grow at a CAGR of 8.02% reaching USD 51.86 billion by 2026. Competitive Strategic Window The Competitive Strategic Window analyses the competitive landscape in terms of markets, applications, and geographies to help the vendor define an alignment or fit between their capabilities and opportunities for future growth prospects. It describes the optimal or favorable fit for the vendors to adopt successive merger and acquisition strategies, geography expansion, research & development, and new product introduction strategies to execute further business expansion and growth during a forecast period. FPNV Positioning Matrix The FPNV Positioning Matrix evaluates and categorizes the vendors in the Vegan Foods Market based on Business Strategy (Business Growth, Industry Coverage, Financial Viability, and Channel Support) and Product Satisfaction (Value for Money, Ease of Use, Product Features, and Customer Support) that aids businesses in better decision making and understanding the competitive landscape. Market Share Analysis The Market Share Analysis offers the analysis of vendors considering their contribution to the overall market. It provides the idea of its revenue generation into the overall market compared to other vendors in the space. It provides insights into how vendors are performing in terms of revenue generation and customer ...