Fairs & Events: Latest News 2023 - vegconomist: the vegan business magazine

VegFest Barcelona 2023

© VegFest BCN

VegFest BCN 2023: Barcelona’s 1st Vegan Festival Returns This Weekend

June 1, 2023June 1, 2023

This weekend marks the launch of the second edition of VegFest, Barcelona’s first vegan festival. It will take place on the 3rd and 4th of June at the popular venue Nau Bostik. Organized by AnimaNaturalis, the event aims to raise awareness of animal rights, promote animal and environmentally-friendly lifestyles, and support its campaigns. Founded in 2003, AnimaNaturalis is a non-profit organization working to implement, protect and raise awareness of animal rights in Spain and Latin America. A cruelty-free lifestyle VegFest BCN 2023 is sponsored by cosmetics brand LUSH; nonprofit organization Vegfund, empowering vegan activists worldwide; a well-fed world, a nonprofit advocating for plant-based solutions for a hungry world; and vegan beer company BdeGust. The festival includes conferences revolving around veganism, concerts, DJ sets, and activities for all ages. …

Organisations and Brands:VegFest BCN

Ergo Biosciences for ProVeg Demo Day

Image courtesy ProVeg Incubator

ProVeg Incubator: 12 Innovative Startups to Pitch at First In-Person Demo Day in Four Years

June 1, 2023May 31, 2023

The tenth cohort of the ProVeg Incubator will culminate next month with a Demo Day, where alt protein startups will pitch in front of a panel of investors. For the first time in four years, the event will be held in person as well as online, watched by a global audience of food-tech investors, entrepreneurs, corporates, media, and researchers. It will be sponsored by Earthstar Investments, a women-led asset management business investing in plant-based food ventures. The following twelve startups will pitch at the event. Be Better My Friend, the Netherlands: Plant-based butter and cream alternatives for professional pastry chefs. Food Squared, UK: Next-generation plant-based shellfish, such as shrimp. Ergo Bioscience, Argentina and the US: Complex animal proteins created via plant cell precision fermentation. Plant …

Organisations and Brands:ProVeg

foie gras - IntegriCulture

Fois gras © IntegriCulture

JACA Hosts Sensory Evaluation of 5 Cultivated Meats at Promotional Event in Tokyo

May 26, 2023

The Japan Association for Cellular Agriculture (JACA), a research group dedicated to cellular agriculture and cultivated food, recently hosted the first-ever promotional event for the industry in Tokyo. In February 2023, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced that he would foster the development of the country’s cultivated food industry by promoting the sector and improving the market, including safety assurance measures, and developing labeling rules. To build a consensus on necessary measures for food safety requirements for cultivated food, JACA’s event gathered more than 150 stakeholders, government officials, and industry associations, among others. F&B key players included famous ham producer NH Foods, which recently expanded to the plant-based market with two alt seafood products and biotech company Ajinomoto, which collaborates with Israel’s SuperMeat. Japan’s Wagyu According to the …

Organisations and Brands:Japan Association for Cellular Agriculture (JACA)

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The Dutch Weed Burger CLASSIC SEA WEED BURGER

© The Dutch Weed Burger

Seaweed Revolution: Latest Food & Packaging Solutions Ahead of World Oceans Day

May 25, 2023

The potential of algae as an environmental safeguard is being increasingly realized. By absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and producing fewer carbon emissions than plants, this renewable resource is becoming a powerful tool in the fight against climate change and plastic waste. We take a look at innovators using seaweed to overcome the world’s sustainability challenges: Seaweed Innovation Event Ten international startups will present their seaweed-based food and packaging innovations at Seaweed Innovation Event on the 8th of June, 2023 — coinciding with World Oceans Day — at Scheveningen Beach, The Netherlands. The event is part of the first edition of the Seaweed Innovation Challenge, organized by the seaweed industry association, North Sea Farmers, and the innovation platform of Brave New Food. The finalists and 20 other startups from …

Organisations and Brands:Brave New Food North Sea Farmers Seaweed Innovation Challenge

International V-Label Awards

© V-Label

International V-Label Awards Opens Applications in Partnership With PBWE Europe

May 25, 2023

The International V-Label Awards will return for the third time this year, celebrating positive impact in the plant-based industry. For this year’s event, V-Label has partnered with Plant Based World Expo Europe, the continent’s only fully plant-based B2B trade show. Applications are now open until the end of July. The expert-judged categories — slightly altered from last year — are Sustainability, Innovation, Marketing & Branding, and the Consumers’ Choice Award. Vegan food products, beverages, cosmetics, and non-food products are all eligible. The jury will include industry experts such as Vikas Garg of abillion and The Vegan Agency founder Paula Gonzalez Carracedo. Representatives of prominent plant-based organizations and media outlets, such as the ProVeg Incubator and vegconomist, will also be present. Innovative vegan products Last year’s …

Organisations and Brands:Plant Based World Expo (PBW)V-Label

Flag India

© Yogesh - stock.adobe.com

Discussions Take Place to Make India “World Ingredients Hub” for Plant-Based Foods

May 23, 2023

India’s potential to shape the global plant protein supply and increase trade opportunities is huge. In fact, India would be the leading source of ingredients for the world’s rapidly growing plant-based foods market under an ambitious proposal being discussed at a summit in New Delhi this week. The 2nd Plant Based Food Summit takes place this Thursday May 25, organized by the country’s Plant Based Foods Industry Association (PBFIA) will feature keynote speakers, policymakers, and representatives from the hospitality sector and academia providing insights into the latest trends and innovations. Additionally, plant-based brands will have the opportunity to pitch to potential investors from around the globe. The summit, supported by the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC), ProVeg International, and US Soybean Export Council, envisages India …

Organisations and Brands:PBFIA

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PLMA Excellence Awards 2023

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International Private Label Awards 2023 Unveils 5 Vegan Winners

May 24, 2023May 22, 2023

The Private Label Manufacturers Association PLMA has revealed the winners of its 2023 International Salute to Excellence Awards. PLMA, devoted exclusively to promoting private labels, represents more than 4,000 member manufacturers around the globe. Its excellence awards aim to recognize retailers for their innovation and quality in creating private label programmes. 2023 winners A panel of international judges, including industry professionals, retailers, manufacturers, marketers, and journalists, examined the product’s features, such as taste, smell, texture, packaging presentation, product concept, and value for money. The award-winning vegan products have been selected from a wide selection of entries, including 39 retailers from countries worldwide in the categories as follows. Children’s food category PENNY (Germany): Food for the Future Vegane Dino-Nuggets PENNY is a German-French discount supermarket chain based in Germany that …

Organisations and Brands:Private Label Manufacturers Association

New Food Forum, Chris Gee of Tesco

Chris Gee of Tesco speaks at New Food Conference ©ProVeg International

We Must Make Choosing Plant-Based Foods Easy For Consumers

May 22, 2023

As the alternative-protein industry grows, it’s supported by an increasing number of conferences and events that bring together experts from the industry. These events are vital for networking, showcasing, partnership-forming, and learning opportunities for businesses across the value chain. In its latest New Food Hub article, ProVeg International gives the low-down on its recent New Food Forum (NFF), hosted in Prague and curated by ProVeg Czechia, sharing the event’s top three learnings. Choosing plant-based foods must become the easy option One of the most important learnings of the event – and a recurring theme throughout all speaker’s talks – was the need to make it as easy as possible for consumers to choose healthy and sustainable plant-based foods and beverages. Today’s average consumers are time-poor …

Organisations and Brands:ProVeg

Boldly Shrimp Bites

© Boldly

Boldly Debuts the “Widest Range of Vegan Seafood On the Market” at NRA Next Week

May 18, 2023

Boldly, the Australian alt seafood brand unveiled this January, is to formally launch its product portfolio, designed for the US foodservice industry and described by Boldly as the largest range of 100% vegan seafood on the market, at the National Restaurant Association Show taking place next week in Chicago. The NRA debut follows Boldly’s exclusive preview at upscale vegan hotspot PLANTA South Beach, as part of the SEED Food & Wine Festival where Josie Smith Malave of the TV show Top Chef prepared a four-course dinner with dishes such as Boldly Crab rolls with truffle yuzu butter and Peruvian causa de atun with Boldly Tuna sashimi, alongside host chef Bruny Rosado. All the classic seafood, without the fish Co-founded by Allen Zelden and headed by …

Organisations and Brands:Boldly

A variety of pulses

Image courtesy ProVeg International

ILS Launches 4th International Conference to Share Scientific Knowledge on Legumes

May 17, 2023May 17, 2023

International Legume Society (ILS), a global hub of information and exchange on legume research and exploitation, announces the 4th International Legume Society Conference. The event, which aims to promote legumes as sustainable and healthier food and feed, will gather researchers and stakeholders for knowledge exchange on the cultivation and use of grain and forage legumes. This year’s conference will take place in Granda, Spain, from the 19th to the 22nd of September, 2023. It follows previous knowledge encounters held in Novi Sad (2013), Tróia (2016), and Poznań (2019). Last year, the ISL launched a series of public webinars on topics related to legume cultivation and improvement. Legume experts The event is organized in collaboration with the University of Granada, the Health Science Technological Park, and the presence of …

Organisations and Brands:International Legume Society (ILS)

Bridge2Food event

© Bridge2Food

Over 75 Industry Leaders Driving the Plant Transition to Gather in The Hague for Summit

May 17, 2023

Bridge2Food is bringing together key leaders working to drive transformation in the plant-based foods industry at its highly regarded Plant-Based Foods & Proteins Summit Europe in The Hague, Netherlands, 7-8 June. There are three tracks during the Summit to cover the full spectrum of discussions and the value chain: Consumer & Industry Challenges, Delicious Foods, and Sustainable Processing Innovations. All discussions will be overlaid with a mind to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The 75+ speakers and panelists at Summit Europe include: Isabelle Privat, Head of Plant and Nutrition, Nestle Tim York, CEO, v2food Anne Louise Dannesboe Nielsen, Director, Danish Technological Institute (DTI) Matteo Parenti, Director, Blue Horizon Kevin Camphuis, Co-Founder, ShakeUp Factory Bart van de Ree, Technical Project Lead, Unilever/Vegetarian Butcher Companies in attendance …

Organisations and Brands:Bridge2Food

New Food Forum 2023 Upfield

©ProVeg International

At New Food Forum Conference, Czech Retailers Agree to Innovate and Promote Plant-Based Foods

May 12, 2023

At the New Food Forum Conference 2023, recently held in Prague, retailers throughout the Czech Republic pledged to boost their plant-based product ranges, in response to increased consumer demand for more plant-based meat and dairy alternatives. In addition, delegates from Tesco and Upfield renewed commitments to boost their plant-based offerings, with Upfield reportedly pledging to make all of its products plant-based within the next three years (vegconomist has contacted Upfield for further information and confirmation.) Organized by ProVeg Czechia, this year’s Conference hosted retailers and food manufacturers from across the Czech Republic, who discussed the need for better availability, quality, and more affordably-priced plant-based alternatives to animal products. Among major topics, participants discussed how innovations and new technologies are key to developing the plant-based sector …

Organisations and Brands:ProVeg Czechia Tesco Upfield

AIM for Climate

© AIM for Climate

150 Sector Leaders to Attend AIM for Climate Summit to Support Food System Innovation

May 8, 2023

Hosted as part of an initiative co-led by the USA and the UAE, the AIM for Climate Summit starts today (May 8) and will continue until May 10. Launched by President Biden at COP26, the Agriculture Innovation Mission (AIM) for Climate initiative has accelerated investments of over $8 billion in climate-smart agriculture and food systems innovations. The aim is to address climate change, global hunger, and food insecurity challenges, and the initiative has been supported by numerous countries and non-governmental partners. Over 150 sector leaders will attend the summit, such as Minister Luis Planas from Spain’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Food. Others include US Climate Envoy John Kerry, former US vice president Al Gore, and UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment HE Mariam …

Organisations and Brands:AIM for Climate

PlantEurope Network announces online panel discussion on public policies to adopt plant-based diets

Image credit: NAHhaft e.V. LinkedIn

PlantEurope Network Hosts Virtual Discussion on Plant–Based Diet in Policy Frameworks

May 3, 2023

PlantEurope Network, a new initiative for a plant-based food system, announces its upcoming panel discussion, “Working Towards The Inclusion of a Plant-Based Diet in Public Policy.” The online event will take place via Zoom webinar on May 24th from 4-6 pm CEST, and is free of charge. Revealing and sharing strategies The panel facilitator, Dr. Shireen Kassam, will be joined by Sofie Verhoeven from Belgium, Anne Pøhl Enevoldsen from Denmark, Jeroom Remmers from the Netherlands, and Keyvan Mostafavi from France to provide insights into existing national food strategies from pioneering countries in Europe. They will discuss different approaches to incorporating plant–based diet into policy frameworks. Through their personal experiences, they will reveal the strategies used by civil society to bring their proposals to fruition. They will also …

Organisations and Brands:PlantEurope

Nobell grilled cheese sandwich

© Nobell Foods

Downey Jr-Backed Nobell Foods Wins Fast Company Award For “World’s First” Plant-Grown Cheese

May 3, 2023

Nobell Foods announces it has taken the top spot in the Agriculture category at Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Awards 2023, for its product which is self-described as the world’s first plant-grown cheese. The news comes shortly after Nobell hired Sergey Solomatin, previously of Impossible Foods, ahead of this period of strategic growth for the company. In July 2021, the San Francisco-based raised $75 million in Series B funding from numerous investors, including Robert Downey Jr.’s FootPrint Coalition Ventures. The startup said it would use the funding to expand its team and farming partnerships, scale production, and bring its product to market. Real dairy proteins at low cost Nobell was recognized for its work in creating highly realistic animal-free cheeses using real dairy proteins such …

Organisations and Brands:Nobell Foods