vegconomist - the vegan business magazine

A well-balanced diet while eating plant-based can be easy by choosing plant-based substitutes that are enriched with essential nutrients. Meat substitutes with added creatine, which occurs naturally in meat, offer a clear advantage: An optimal creatine supply to support the energy metabolism – in an innovative way: For health, performance and vitality. In this context, Creapure® is the first choice: High-quality creatine monohydrate made in Germany and most available to the body. Creatine is a natural component in animal products: Primarily in meat and fish, but also in traces in dairy products. In contrast, plant foods do not contain any creatine. Individuals who consume little or no creatine, especially vegans and vegetarians, have lower creatine levels compared to omnivores. To counteract a creatine deficit and guarantee a healthy energy metabolism, dietary creatine intake is essential for this group. Creatine monohydrate is the best exogenous source of creatine for the body and is very suitable for food fortification. In the future, Creapure®-enriched meat substitutes will be a practical way for vegans and vegetarians to get a sufficient supply of creatine. Already today, it is clear that the new generation of plant-based meat alternatives contains Creapure® and offers vegans and vegetarians the completed nutritional profile of meat while eating plant-based. About Creapure®: premium creatine monohydrate made in Germany high level of quality due to continually monitored manufacturing and analytical controls IFS FOOD certified free of any animal based products/raw materials and vegetarian and vegan friendly For more information: Verena Löber, Business Development ...

Dutch alt-meat company Schouten Europe has launched a new product called Crispy Chickenless Dippers, which it says is ideal as a snack to be served in pubs, cafes, and restaurants. The dippers consist of plant-based chicken made from soy and pea protein, with a crispy homestyle breadcrumb coating and a slightly spicy seasoning. While they are said to be particularly good for snacking, they can also be eaten as part of a hot meal or in sandwiches and wraps. Schouten will make the new product available worldwide, for retail as well as foodservice. In the Netherlands, it is already available at the supermarket chains Dirk and DekaMarkt. Chicken analogues are one of the fastest-growing types of alt-meat, with companies across the world battling to get products to market in what has been labelled the “Chicken Wars”. And increasingly, consumers are turning to plant-based meats as high-protein snacks rather than treating them only as part of a meal. “Fortunately, patrons are returning to hotels, restaurants, and cafes as COVID restrictions are lifted,” said Schouten product manager Annemiek Vervoort. “Awareness of the importance of healthier and more sustainable snacks has grown enormously among both suppliers and consumers. Nevertheless, it is still important that we enjoy our food. We now offer a product that meets all these criteria.”  ...

Hong Kong’s OmniFoods has continued its rapid global expansion with a launch into Australian supermarket chain Woolworths. The brand’s plant-based spam and pork mince will be available at almost a thousand stores nationwide. It’s the latest in a long line of worldwide partnerships for OmniFoods. Most recently, its products launched at Sprouts Farmers Market and Whole Foods in the US, along with 25 restaurants in the country. And earlier this year, it expanded into 20 global markets, in addition to previous launches in Japan and China. Plant-based at Woolworths Woolworths is an ideal partner for OmniFoods, as the supermarket has been continually expanding its vegan range over the past two years. It now stocks products such as Deliciou’s vegan snacks and seasonings, Veganz’ plant-based pizza, and Fable Foods’ vegan beef. The chain has also been considerably increasing its range of vegan meats and cheeses, and recently invested in plant-based brand Harvest B. But while the Woolworths launch is significant, OmniFoods won’t be stopping there — the company has ambitious plans to change the way the world eats for the benefit of animals, the environment, and human health. Eventually, it aims to become the world’s most popular plant-based ingredient. “By providing our growing consumer base with a healthy and delicious plant-based pork alternative, we continue to fulfill our mission to construct a multi-faceted global ecosystem of future food that helps to combat climate change, food insecurity, public health crisis, planetary devastation, and animal suffering,” said David Yeung, founder of OmniFoods. ...

South London’s GreenBay, which claims to be the first brick-and-mortar vegan supermarket in the UK, is celebrating its fifth year. Since its launch, it has served 50,000 customers and sold over 500,000 products. The supermarket’s founders, Paula Alcalde and Anderson Caicedo, moved to the UK in 2007 from Spain and Colombia respectively. When they first arrived in the UK, neither could even speak English.  GreenBay now employs ten staff members and stocks 1,200 products, including vegan salmon and New Roots’ dairy-free cheese. The self-funded company is also in the process of developing an own-brand range of plant-based foods. Its products are available across the UK via its website. Earlier this year, GreenBay won the Feefo Gold Trusted Service Award for its outstanding customer service, and due to its loyal customer base it has easily survived the pandemic. Now that restrictions have eased, vegans from all over the UK have travelled to London to visit the store. “I’ve been honoured to help small businesses to introduce their innovative products to the market through GreenBay,” said co-founder Anderson Caicedo. “It’s been rewarding and I feel so proud to be a leader in a company that cares about the customers, suppliers and its employees. As a result, we have developed strong relationships with our suppliers, our employee turnover rate is very low and our customers feel valued.” ...

Israeli alt-meat startup Alfred’s FoodTech has developed an innovative texturisation platform that will allow it to produce highly realistic whole cuts of plant-based meat. Alfred’s is planning to produce continuous vegan meat cuts with a high protein content and minimal ingredients. It has already developed prototypes of plant-based deli meat and chicken nuggets. To begin with, the company will open a small-scale production site to cater to initial demand. It has the ability to scale up outputs quickly, and its aim is to help large food corporations develop their own products. Though Alfred’s only started out earlier this year, it has already raised $1.3 million in seed funding and is in talks with several large corporations. The startup has also been chosen as one of the 12 finalists for the pitch slam at this year’s annual GFI conference. Producing whole-cut meat analogs is challenging, which has led many alt-meat companies to focus on products such as nuggets, burgers, and sausages. But worldwide, a growing number of companies are attempting to take on the challenge. For example, California’s Novel Foods is developing cell-cultured whole cuts, while Spain’s NOVAMEAT has created plant-based whole cuts that have been launched at a double Michelin star restaurant. “Plant-based whole-cut products that resemble meat are the ‘Holy Grail’ of the industry,” says Ronny Reinberg, CEO and co-founder of Alfred’s. “Our tech uses only simple ingredients, such as pea protein and canola oil. Yet we can still custom-design compositions for food companies using protein sources of their ...

After a vegan pie won the top prize at the British Pie Awards two years ago, almost 70 of the pies entered into this year’s competition are 100% plant-based. Hosted in Melton Mowbray – famous for its conventional pork pies – the British Pie Awards has a group of 150 judges who test 800 pies over several categories, with the vegan category this year being the largest. The vegan pie category this year boasted some of the best food innovations, including spicy jackfruit, mushroom and ale, and bombay potato pies.   A survey conducted by alt-meat company Gold&Green Foods this year found that plant-based pies and pastries were the most in-demand for consumers, with 35 percent of respondents wanting more vegan options. UK plant-based pie makers like Clive’s are experiencing incredible growth, with Veg Capital recently becoming a majority shareholder.  “It took people a while to accept the vegetarian class, but the vegan class? In the home of the Melton Mowbray pork pie? That was a bit of a challenge,” Matthew O’Callaghan, the chairman of the town’s pork pie association, told the Guardian. Despite his title, O’Callaghan actually is a vegetarian himself. “We wanted to make the pie awards inclusive”, he added.   ...

Abillion, the sustainability-focused consumer review platform and social network, has released its awards for this year’s top ten vegan cheeses, according to consumers from across the globe. To the pleasure of all lovers of Italian cheese, in first place came Grattaveg by Bio Vegeatal – a Tuscan company producing vegan and organic alternatives to cold cuts and cheese.  Started by Piero Messana and his son Fabio, the father-son team initially offered homemade vegan mozzarella and cold cuts in their family pizzeria-gelateria. The products were so warmly received that they started their own brand; Bio Vegeatal. Interestingly, Grattaveg differs from most plant-based cheese as its main ingredients are red lentils and potato starch. Here is the rundown of the World’s 10 Best Vegan Cheeses in 2021: Grattaveg (Bio Vegeatal, Italy) Mozzarella (Happy Cows, Argentina) Just Like Cheddar Slices (Violife, Greece) Just Like Parmesan Wedge (Violife, Greece) Creamy Cheese ( Felices Las Vacas , Argentina) Mozarella Flavour Slices (Violife, Greece) Better Than Cream Cheese Plain (Tofutti, USA) This is not a Camembert Cheese (Mommus Foods, Spain) Muffervert (Il CashewFicio, Italy) Rawmesan (Natural Seed, Argentina) These awards were determined by evaluating over 16,000 reviews of plant-based cheese products posted between 1 July 2020 through 30 June 2021 by members from 70 countries. Based on abillion’s review data, consumer interest for vegan cheese products increased by 2.6 times between July 2020 and June 2021, compared to the previous year. “Vegan cheese has come a long way. Today’s variations, according to reviews from the abillion ...

Sophie’s Kitchen, a rapidly growing disruptor in the plant-based food industry, has secured a $5.6 million investment to accelerate growth. The funding was led by Billy Goat Brands, the Canadian publicly-listed venture capital platform with a focus on the blue economy.  Founded by Eugene Wang and based in Sebastapol, California, Sophie’s Kitchen will use the funding to support the growth of the brand, as well as product innovation. Sophie’s Kitchen also plans to develop its overall mission of making a positive difference globally by changing unsustainable and unethical industries into ones that are. Since 2010, Sophie’s Kitchen has created seafood alternatives that enable people to eat plant-based food without giving up the flavors and textures that they love. The current brand portfolio includes plant-based shrimp, crab cakes, fish fillets, and smoked salmon, in addition to its alt tuna line; Toona.  Founder Eugene Wang recently co-founded the Singapore-based food tech Sophie’s Bionutrients, and recently developed the first-ever microalgae-based milk, with more micro-algae product development in the pipeline.  “We at Sophie’s Kitchen believe in the same mission – to save lives and protect the planet, one meal at a time,” stated Sophie’s Kitchen CEO, Dr. Miles Woodruff. “The best way to achieve this goal is to create plant-based foods craved by vegans and meat-lovers alike, while making our products accessible to consumers so they can also join our mission for change,” he added.   ...

After recently announcing its strategic partnership with Indoguna, alt meat and seafood producer Growthwell Foods has now raised $22 million in a Series A funding round. At almost 3x of what was raised during its seed round of 2019, Singapore’s Growthwell is ramping up its production and distribution capacity as it looks to accelerate its business expansion. “We believe our current series A fund raising round is one of the largest in the Southeast Asia food tech space and we will continue to trail blaze plant nutrition in Asia” The $22 million Series A funding will be used to grow product development efforts within the region and fund Growthwell’s vision to become Asia’s leading plant nutrition food tech company. The company has the vision of reaching 100 million lives with sustainable and nutritious plant-based choices while reducing the world’s reliance on conventional meat and seafood. The funding round was led by Creadev, the global private equity investment firm controlled by the Mulliez family – one of the richest families in Europe. Another participator was GGV Capital, a global venture firm with $9.2 billion under its management.  Growthwell, a family-run company established in 1989 with a history of alt meat production, currently focuses on alt seafood and plans to launch a new range of seafood in the coming months. An alt chicken release is expected too.  Justin Chou, Executive Director of Growthwell Foods commented; “We are extremely pleased to have global investors like Creadev and GGV Capital onboard Growthwell as we ...

Carefully Crafted, Minimally Processed Products Made with Real, Whole Food Ingredients Now Available VANCOUVER, British Columbia–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Very Good Butchers, the leading brand of The Very Good Food Company, a plant-based meat company, whose plant-based Butcher Boxes, Smokin’ Burgers, and The Very Good Burgers are available for purchase on Amazon, were recently ranked as the number one release in the meatless burgers and patties category with Amazon U.S. Customers can order the brand’s post popular products through Amazon, further positioning its mission to make plant-based eating not only nutritious and delicious, but approachable and accessible. With more consumers interested in plant-based products due to a renewed focus on health and sustainability, more than half of U.S. households are purchasing strictly plant-based foods. The plant-based meat category has been on an upward trajectory and reached U.S. $1.4 billion in sales in 2020, growing 45% overall compared to 2019, and now accounts for 2.7% of all U.S. retail packaged meat sales, according to SPINS data released by the Good Food Institute and the Plant Based Foods Association (PBFA) in April. “We are thrilled to offer a selection of our Butcher Boxes and burgers on one of the most trusted and popular ecommerce websites, and are proud that the burgers are currently the number one Amazon release in the meatless burgers and patties category,” said Mitchell Scott, co-founder and CEO of The Very Good Food Company. “We pride ourselves on listening to our customers and are laser focused on building a brand based ...