Last week, Spain’s Heura announced it had secured €40 million in what it claimed to be the largest plant-based financing round of 2023. The investors in the Series B round are to form a strategic coalition aiming to fast-track innovation in plant-based foods. Heura and Upfield today explain what this will entail.
The work between Heura and Upfield aims to rapidly accelerate the protein transition towards a sustainable food system. Aside from the animal suffering and environmental damage caused by animal agriculture, one of the problems in our food system is its inefficiencies: plant-based crops feed more people while occupying less land. Today, plant-based food occupies only 23% of global agricultural land, yet provides 82% of our calories[1]. Data shows that cutting meat and dairy products from one’s diet can reduce an individual’s carbon footprint from food by up to 73%.[2]. This is what the newly formed alliance sets out to address.
Heura explains that the collaboration is twofold, as follows:
- Board-level / investment alliance: A broader move to strategically accelerate the food system change and aid the protein transition. With the help of the board, including investors in the Series B round — Upfield, Unovis Asset Management, the European Circular Bioeconomy Fund, and Newtree Impact — Heura says it will set new industry standards, expedite international expansion, and co-develop products with others in the industry.
- Upfield X Heura tech collaboration: The two companies will partner to develop food tech, and collaborate on product definition, production, and distribution. This partnership aims to create superior products via disruptive tech, bringing together Heura’s cutting-edge technology and Upfield’s 150 years of expertise to “completely redefine the boundaries of taste, texture and nutrition” in plant-based food.
Redefining the food system on a global scale
Miriam Ueberall, Chief Research and Development Officer for Upfield comments, “Our cutting-edge Food Science Centre in Wageningen is a powerhouse for plant-based food and packaging breakthroughs. Backed by over 130 dedicated R&D professionals, we’re laser-focused on shaping the future of food. We’re thrilled about this partnership and collaborating closely with the Heura team to drive plant-based food innovation.”
Marc Coloma, co-founder and CEO at Heura Foods, states: “We are excited to embark on this journey with Upfield, leveraging our patented technology to redefine the food system on a global scale. This move opens a new chapter at Heura, not only delivering meat successors but putting our breakthrough technology at the service of the protein transition by empowering the food industry with disruptive and scalable tech.
“In 2023 Heura presented a patent-pending technology which bridges the gap between state-of-the-art science and product development to unlock the biggest consumer barriers currently present in plant-based categories, gaining a clear competitive advantage against peers.”
Heura adds that this marks the beginning of a journey to uproot the food system and resolve industry barriers and limitations. Watch this space.
[1] https://ourworldindata.org/land-use
[2] New estimates of the environmental cost of food | University of Oxford
