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Four new products from the leading frozen food brand to hit shelves in August ELMWOOD PARK, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today, Dr. Praeger’s Sensible Foods, leader in the all-natural, vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and kosher frozen food categories for over 25 years, announces the introduction of four new products to Whole Foods Market shelves nationwide. Beginning in August, Whole Foods shoppers can find Dr. Praeger’s Cauliflower Veggie Burger, Perfect Burger, Original Chick’n Littles and Spinach Littles Value Pack on shelves at their local Whole Foods. These new products join an existing array of Dr. Praeger’s products that Whole Foods customers have been purchasing for years, including the California Veggie Burger, the brand’s #1 selling SKU at Whole Foods and the brand’s Perfect Sliders, introduced last year. The Cauliflower Veggie Burger is a new fan favorite for vegetable lovers, containing six different vegetables and offering 9g of protein per serving. The Perfect Burger is Dr. Praeger’s meat-alternative burger that looks, tastes and cooks like your favorite meat patty, while still boasting veggie-forward ingredients and 20g of plant-based protein. Both the Cauliflower Veggie Burger and Perfect Burger are Certified Vegan, Gluten-Free and Non-GMO Project Verified. “Whole Foods has been such an incredible partner to Dr. Praeger’s over the years,” noted Larry Praeger, CEO of Dr. Praeger’s Sensible Foods. “We are thrilled to be expanding our product line and offering our customers an easy way to access some of their favorite Dr. Praeger’s items.” Chick’n Littles and the Spinach Littles Value Pack are the latest additions to ...

After completing its $14 million Series A funding round for US expansion, Wicked Kitchen has officially launched in the country. The cult-favorite plant-based brand has secured what it claims to be the largest plant-based brand rollout in US grocery history.  “We’ve created the tools, recipes and products to make it simple, flavorful and fun for people to cook and eat more plant-based foods in the UK, and we are excited to now bring these to the US.” – Derek Sarno, Co-Founder of Wicked Kitchen Taking its global mission to expand animal-free foods to the US, the vegan meals market leader has announced the launch of its line-up in all Kroger outlets – America’s largest supermarket chain by revenue. As well as this, Wicked Kitchen has also struck a deal for a full rollout in Sprouts Farmers Market – one of the fastest-growing natural and organic retailers in the US. The product line boasts over 20 plant-based products and will now be available in 2,500 stores across the US.  Founded in 2017 by US chefs Derek and Chad Sarno, Wicked Kitchen’s partnership with UK supermarket giant Tesco shot the brand to fame, with 4 million units sold in just the first 33 weeks of release. Going from strength to strength, Wicked Kitchen also recently announced a major new partnership with Beyond Meat.  In addition, the Sarno brothers are co-founders of Gathered Foods, makers of the rapidly-growing Good Catch plant-based seafood line. Between them, the vegan chefs have created a growing library of ...

After the pandemic forced fast-casual restaurant by CHLOE into bankruptcy last year, the restaurant group is now rolling out a full rebrand at all locations. Now to be known by the name Beatnic, the brand will retain a similar menu and identity to its previous model.  It has been a bumpy ride for the vegan restaurant which was originally founded by television personality Chloe Coscarelli. She left the chain in 2016 before taking the brand to court over the use of her name. Owned by BC Hospitality Group, the company filed for bankruptcy in December 2020 as the pandemic hit the sector hard. In March of this year, the parent company of the chain agreed to sell the chain out of bankruptcy to a group of investors for $333,000 as well as the assumption of its debts. The rebranding was a necessary outcome of these negotiations. The new name, Beatnic, pays homage to the original Greenwich Village location of the plant-based restaurant, with chef Catey Mark Meyers, recently promoted to President. “The rebrand is more than an overhaul of our visual identity but also an homage to our history as trailblazers in the plant-based category. While our product values have not changed, we are doubling down on our mission to delight both vegans and non-vegans alike with a robust culinary innovation pipeline that has broad appeal,” Catey Mark Meyers told Forbes.  “From our management to our store teams to our investors, we’ve assembled the most agile team in the company’s ...

London’s S-Ventures PLC has acquired 100% of the share capital of Pulsin Limited, a well-established plant-based nutrition company operating within plant-based nutrition technology, manufacturing and sales. This follows its acquisitions earlier this year of a probiotic chocolate brand, Ohso Chocolate, and a plant-based snacking company, We Love Purely. Pulsin formulates and produces plant-based products under its own brands as well as for third parties, many of which are household names, from its specialised facilities in Gloucester, UK. Pulsin had gross sales of approximately £7.05m in the twelve months to 30 April 2021 and approximately £1.2m of net debt as of that date. The entire Pulsin team, led by Simon Ashburner, will join the S-Ventures family. Simon will continue as Managing Director of Pulsin and also contribute to S-Ventures more widely as a member of the senior executive team. In respect of the acquisition, S-Ventures has provided as consideration to the vendors a combination of approximately £2m in cash, approximately £2m in the form of loan notes issued by S-Ventures, plus a total of 15,176,814 ordinary shares of 0.1p each in S-Ventures, of which 3 million Ordinary Shares are deferred and contingent upon the net sales performance of Pulsin in the twelve months to 31 December 2021. Upon the announcement of the Acquisition, S-Ventures’ CEO Scott Livingston commented: “We are delighted to welcome the Pulsin team to the S-Ventures family and look forward to accelerating the progress Pulsin has made in establishing itself as a prominent brand in this space. Pulsin ...

Pizza Hut has expanded its partnership with Beyond Meat by adding four new meat-free pizzas to its permanent menu in the UK. The new vegetarian pizzas enjoyed huge success in their trial run last year, however, they are not currently suitable for vegans. The UK announcement is part of a global strategic partnership between Pizza Hut and Beyond Meat and builds upon previous launches, such as in the US, when Pizza Hut became the first national pizza company to launch a plant-based meat pizza across the country.  This year, Beyond Meat signed a partnership with Yum! Brands, which includes the Pizza Hut restaurant chain, as well as KFC and Taco Bell to make Beyond Meat the preferred supplier for Yum! Brands as well as developing plant-based menus for its restaurants.   A step forward or unattentive to the market?  Although the inclusion of dairy cheese on the pizzas may bemuse and discourage vegan consumers, the pizza chain is aiming to attract a younger consumer base, including Gen-Z and millennial consumers. Similar launches of vegan alt-meats paired with non-vegan dairy products have been seen recently in Little Caesars and its Field Roast collab, as well as Johnny Rockets and its Impossible Burger – which vegan customers would have to order: “bun-less or with lettuce”.  While the crossover flexitarian market is growing exponentially and the aim of these mainstream products is to introduce meat-eaters to meat alternatives, it may seem injudicious that so many large companies are following this path of “deveganizing” vegan ...

After researching plant-based alternatives for its Philadelphia cream cheese, international food conglomerate Kraft has released a vegan version of its classic Mac & Cheese box. Gluten-free and vegan-certified, the new product is available via Woolworths supermarket in Australia – though it is currently sold out. Excitement grew on social media as it flooded with images and posts about a vegan version of Kraft’s iconic Mac & Cheese boxes, but little information has been forthcoming regarding the launch. Now known as Kraft Heinz, the multinational has been slow to move in the plant-based market, but did launch vegan mayo and salad dressing options last year. The new Mac & Cheese Vegan is perfect for quick dinners and is free from artificial colours and flavours. Made with rice flour pasta and a dairy-free sauce, the cooking instructions also suggest using a plant-based milk in place of cow’s milk. Kraft has yet to release information about whether the product will be made available in other markets. ...

3D printed alt meat leader Redefine Meat announces the commercial launch of its first-ever series of ‘New-Meat’ products in Israel, which are available today in food service locations (listed below) with a European rollout to follow in Q4 and USA and Asia expected next year. “We don’t expect you to like it, we expect your mind to be blown.” The company also revealed that following January’s pilot test – the largest-scale public blind-tasting of alt meat products to meat-eaters, which saw unprecedented success with over 90% acceptance rate – it will launch its first whole cut range later this year, with its eyes firmly set on meat-eaters. “Launching our first product portfolio represents a big step in our mission to become the world’s largest meat company, and accelerates our ability to bring to market our further innovation later this year” says Eshchar Ben-Shitrit, CEO and Co-Founder of Redefine Meat, who describes the 3D printed meat process in an editorial for vegconomist here. “Each product in the range and the ones to follow are born from our understanding of meat at the molecular level, extensive R&D and technological innovation, which combined provides us the ability to create any meat product that exists today. This has been critical to achieving a superiority in taste that honestly, we did not even expect, and the technological versatility to do what no other has done – replace every part of the cow with tasty plant-based meat.” The range consists of a hamburger, sausage, lamb kebab, ...

Matrix Meats, Inc., an Ohio based developer of nanofiber scaffolds for the production of cell cultivated meat, enters a new phase of growth with the addition of five new team members as interest in the cell-based category continues to rise internationally. The hiring surge marks an important milestone for the company, which achieved oversubscribed investment from companies such as Unovis Asset Management, CPT Capital, Siddhi Capital and Clear Current Capital. Devan Ohst is heading Matrix Meats’ laboratory as the new Director of Research and Development. Transitioning from his background in regenerative medicine and medical devices, he boasts an impressive résumé, with over eight years in advanced material engineering. Ohst will oversee Matrix Meats’ technical operations, research activity, and act as a liaison for the company’s partners. Matrix Meats also welcomed Nichole Brown as the company’s inaugural Director of Operations. Brown will be spearheading the company’s growth strategy and structure as the cultivated meat sector continues to soar. Following 12 years in food and restaurant management, Brown has worked with international franchises such as Taco Bell, as well as burgeoning startups. Kevin Do and Mitch Kahn join Matrix Meats as Project Engineers. Do brings a precise eye for production to the company, using his passion for sustainability and climate change to scale up Matrix Meats’ scaffolding development. He was an obvious choice for Matrix Meats following his five-month internship under the company’s Director of Research and Development, Devan Ohst. Bringing six years of hands-on medical and laboratory experience to Matrix Meats, Kahn ...