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Sales of Plant-Based Wings Grow as Americans Expected to Consume 160M Vegan Wings for Super Bowl

February 4, 2023February 4, 2023

A new report by Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) shows that an estimated ten million Americans will consume about 160 million plant-based wings during this year’s Super Bowl. In addition, brands like Blackbird Foods report soaring demand for new vegan wing products as the segment continues to undergo expansion and innovation. Every year, Americans consume an enormous amount of party foods, including pizza, nachos and dips, during football’s biggest night. Perhaps the most popular dish of all is chicken wings – about 1.4 billion wings are eaten annually during the game. But plant-based wings are steadily gaining ground as more Americans turn to a growing range of vegan wing options. To estimate vegan wings’ popularity, CIWF estimated that roughly 6% of the U.S. population consider …

Juicy Marbles' plant-based raw whole cut loin being cut in a board

Food & Beverage

The 9 Most Incredible Brands Disrupting Steak with Plants (in North America)

February 4, 2023February 4, 2023

While plant-based burgers, sausages and meatballs have long dominated the alt-meat landscape, creating realistic steak from plants has always represented the highest, if seemingly unattainable goal, for many brands. But thanks to fearless and relentless innovation, a host of shockingly meaty and juicy plant-based steaks have arrived on the US and Canadian market, and are rapidly coming to the fore. Here, vegconomist takes a look at the most noteworthy names bringing animal-free steak to mainstream consumers. 1. Beyond Meat While not a fully structured filet, Beyond’s “revolutionary” plant-based steak tips marked a major milestone for the company, which previously only offered ground-textured products like burgers and sausages. According to CEO Ethan Brown, Beyond Steak took five years of extensive R&D to develop. The product can …

Cheese Alternatives

bedda Reveals Several Exciting New Vegan Cheeses Incuding First Fermented Offering

February 3, 2023

Hanburg’s multi-award winning bedda brand, producer of plant-based cheeses, sauces, desserts, dips and dressings, plans an upcoming launch of several new vegan cheeses including its first fermented offering. The news comes less than two months after the German company’s partnership with Dominos pizza, which now uses its vegan grated melt as a topping for the Oh Jacky jackfruit pizza, launched to coincide with Veganuary. The upcoming new products include: The first fermented product from bedda –“bedda Shepherd” — a new iteration of its shepherd’s cheese alternative. bedda “Come on Bert”, its camembert alternative, has an updated recipe and is extended by the red smear alternative Red Bert and the blue mould alternative Blue Bert. bedda “Mo Zart” is its mozzarella alternative, a soft, mildly acidic …

Matt Gibson, © New Culture

Opinion

Op Ed: Matt Gibson, CEO and Co-Founder of New Culture, on Precision Fermentation

February 3, 2023

“Precision fermentation is here to define a more sustainable, delicious path for the alternative protein industry,” says Matt Gibson, co-founder and CEO of California’s New Culture. Founded in 2018, New Culture is “revolutionizing how cheese is made by combining traditional cheesemaking methods with modern fermentation technology”, a process that Gibson asserts has been used for decades and is already used to make products in nearly every aisle of the grocery store. Precision Fermentation: The Future of the Alternative Protein Industry By Matt Gibson, CEO and co-Founder, New Culture In mid-November 2022, the global human population reached 8.0 billion from an estimated 2.5 billion people in 1950, adding 1 billion people since 2010 and 2 billion since 1998. This is causing the global demand for meat …

Sweets & Snacks

H!P Unveils Caramel Peanut, Peanut Butter Truffle & Chocolate Button Share Pouches

February 3, 2023

Closely following James Cadbury’s raise of £4.25M to open several new retail stores in London and increase distribution of the plant-based HiP Chocolate brand, H!P (Happiness !n Plants) unveils a range of new oat milk-based, bite-sized chocolate treats. The sharing pouches will initially be available to purchase via hipchocolate.com and are set to roll into Selfridges and Whole Foods later this month. The range entails: H!P Caramel Crunch Peanuts – RSP £3.00 /90g pouch – Crunchy peanuts in a sweet and caramel oat m!lk chocolate shell. H!P Peanut Butter Truffle Bites – RSP £3.50 /80g pouch – Bite-size oat m!lk chocolate truffles with a creamy peanut butter filling. H!P Creamy & Smooth Chocolate Buttons – RSP £3.00 /90g pouch – H!P’s original creamy and smooth oat m!lk …

Northwood Farm

Agriculture / Agribusiness

PETA UK Celebrates “Sowers of Compassion” With First Farming Awards

February 3, 2023

The first ever PETA UK Farming Awards has taken place, recognising ten farms across the country for their contributions to ethical, animal-free farming. The winners include growers of seafood, a producer of soybeans for tofu, and a former beef farmer who sent his cows to a sanctuary. The award winners are as follows: Aweside Farm — A grower of organic edible flowers, leaves, and herbs. The farm is also working to create habitats for wildlife, such as ponds, meadows, and hedgerows. IC Mushrooms — Producing oyster mushrooms, shiitakes, and more using sustainable raw vegan ingredients. Courses in mushroom growing are also offered at the farm. Northwood Farm — A former beef farm, Northwood sent its cows to a farm sanctuary and now produces beans and …

Shoes

Spanish Vegan Sneaker Brand Vegtus Expands With New Line Inspired by City Dwellers

February 3, 2023February 3, 2023

Vegtus, which claims to be the first Spanish brand to make cactus leather sneakers, announced it will soon launch its new Spring Summer 2023 collection inspired by city dwellers and urban fashion. “The city is a constant source of inspiration for us, from fashion to culture, and is reflected in the new SS23 models,” Vegtus told culturamas. The new collection (yet to be discovered) has been designed for spring and summer, bringing new colors and shapes, but the recycled materials and cruelty-free leathers will remain the protagonists, said Vegtus. Cactus leather vs. cowhide Born and manufactured entirely in Spain, Vegtus — ‘Veg’ for vegan and ‘tus’ for cactus — uses Nopal cacti-derived leather for its ethical and sustainable sneaker and sandal collections, combining trend with …

felices las vacas plant based burger product

Market & Trends

Plant-Based Movement Steadily Gaining Momentum in Beef-Loving Argentina

February 3, 2023

Argentina’s Association of Plant-Based Producers shared a report with the media outlet iProUP, revealing that the plant-based sector, comprised of 1,200 companies, has a market volume of more than $110,000 million per year. The figures also revealed that the association’s 130 companies grew by at least 35% in 2021, and a 45% increase is expected in two years. Investments estimated at $2 billion are underway, rising to $7 billion by 2024. Argentina’s plant-based trend In Argentina, the plant-based trend has been gaining traction over recent years, with 12% of the population identified as vegan or vegetarian, according to the latest Kantar Worldpanel report. Another study by the company Ingredion and the consulting firm Opinaia confirms the trend, revealing that 78% of the Argentine population would be …

©Beyond Meat

Company News

Beyond Meat Hires Red Bull Exec as New Head of Marketing, Reveals New McDonald’s Nugget

February 3, 2023

Beyond Meat (NASDAQ: BYND) announced Thursday it is hiring Akerho “AK” Oghoghomeh, formerly Senior Vice President of Marketing at Red Bull, as its new head of global marketing. In addition, the company outlined a new series of strategic plans, including a more focused US retail strategy, to increase sales in 2023. Leading the brand As the VP of marketing for Red Bull North America, Oghoghomeh led advertising and other initiatives for Red Bull’s US business, a Beyond spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal. Oghoghomeh will join Beyond as the company seeks to reverse sales declines amid a highly challenging economic environment – data from market research firm IRI shows US sales of refrigerated meat alternatives fell by 15% in 2022. Targeted strategy Seeking to reverse …

©The Live Green Co

Fermentation

Chile: The Live Green Co. Reveals New Precision Fermentation Division

February 2, 2023

Chilean food technology-focused The Live Green Co. has announced the launch of a new precision fermentation division to address food safety, health and climate change issues. Together with its proprietary artificial intelligence and machine learning platform Charaka™, which researches and develops products and food additive replacements using only plants, it will develop licensed product formulations and cutting-edge scientific solutions in a faster, more cost-effective, sustainable and effective way. Precision fermentation will also enable Charaka™ to address proteomics and incorporate both plants and proteins into its database. “We want to be the catalyst” Carolina Carriel, product R&D leader at The Live Green Co. says: “At Live Green we want to be the catalyst that promotes better agricultural production practices, and the integration of new technologies such …

Tourism & Travel

Eurowings Discover Becomes First German Airline to Serve Beyond Meatballs

February 2, 2023

Holiday airline Eurowings Discover is the first German airline to integrate Beyond Meatballs into its in-flight menu. Since the beginning of the year, customers travelling business class have been able to opt for the vegan meatballs on both short-haul and long-haul flights. Over in the US, United Airlines has been serving Impossible’s meatballs since June of last year, for first class travellers only, while Delta serves Black Sheep Foods’ plant-based lamb meatballs. Patrick Door, responsible for the in-flight product at Eurowings Discover, comments: “As a young holiday airline, we always focus on innovative food concepts in our in-flight service alongside well-known classics. With the new dishes, we want to appeal to both vegetarians and meat lovers. Beyond Meatballs are a real novelty for us on …

veganuary's banner for the end of the vegan diet challenge

Charity & Campaigns

Veganuary 2023 Breaks Records with 700,000 Participants Trying Vegan Diet

February 2, 2023

Veganuary 2023 has broken all previous records with more registered participants than ever, with 706,965 people officially signing up for the vegan diet challenge from nearly every country in the world, reports the organisation. At the beginning of the month, the international charity announced that one person every 2.4 seconds was signing up for the diet challenge. With this year’s participation figures, Veganuary can joyously celebrate the 10th year of its global campaign, supported by actress Lucy Watson and famous French restaurateur Alexis Gauthier who became official Ambassadors for the charity this year. Participation could be significantly larger According to Veganuary, several studies have suggested that the total participation in the challenge is significantly larger than the number of registered people through Veganuary’s website. In a YouGov survey conducted this …

Investments & Finance

Canada’s New School Foods Raises $12M to Scale Whole-Cut, Raw Plant-Based Salmon

February 2, 2023

Plant-based seafood producer New School Foods announces it has raised $12M in seed funding for its proprietary, scalable technology that can produce “raw” whole-cut fish alternatives. Beginning in 2023, the company will launch its whole-cut salmon through a chef-only pilot program in North America. According to New School, the overall alt-protein industry has not yet fully tackled its greatest opportunity: whole cuts, which represent a majority of meat sales in North America. New School notes that whole cuts involve many complex structural challenges such as texture, connective tissue, muscle fibers, and other macrostructures that exist in animal proteins. To resolve this, New School Foods CEO Christopher Bryson invested heavily in academic R&D projects for three years with leading food science universities. Through his work, Bryson …

MILKLAB almond barista plant based beverage

Milk- and Dairy Alternatives

Aussie Plant-Based Brand MILKLAB Seeks Growth Opportunities in SEA Markets

February 2, 2023

MILKLAB, an Australian barista plant-based milk brand currently available in 19 countries across Asia, the Middle East, and South Africa, says it has further expansion plans in Southeast Asia (SEA). Last December, as part of its first regional marketing campaign in Southeast Asia, the global alternative milk brand kicked off a series of pop-ups in Singapore called MILKLAB Oat Float for consumers to taste coffee blended with its MILKLAB Oat Milk. In addition, the company implemented MILKLAB Coffee Run, a month-long promotional event to create brand awareness that offered one-for-one beverages at 16 prominent cafes in the city. Peter Brown, Regional Sales Director for Asia, Middle East, told FoodNavigator-Asia: “By combining brand activations targeting both trade partners and consumers, we aim to increase brand awareness and …

Plantbased Business Hour

Bloomberg: The Final Word With Elysabeth Alfano, Irina Gerry and Jenny Stojkovic

February 2, 2023

Elysabeth Alfano is joined by the CMO of Change Foods, Irina Gerry, and the founder of the Vegan Women Summit, Jennifer Stojkovic, to discuss the state of the plant-based foods and innovation Industry and respond to Bloomberg once and for all with the final word. It’s another episode of The Plantbased Business Hour. Specifically, they discuss Why is there so much negative press? When did it start? Is there any truth to it? What is the media getting wrong on consumer adoption, behavior and perception, and environmental impact and food insecurity issues that the plant-based industry solves? Where is the sector headed and what is needed? Predictions for the next 5-10 years. Below is a short clip and transcript from their conversation. Podcast here. Display content …

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