Ten plant-based startups from around the world have been invited to pitch their products and innovations at the second edition of Plant FWD, which will take place from April 23-24 in Amsterdam.
This year, Plant FWD received over 75 submissions for its startup program, spanning 19 countries and a range of categories. The team partnered with Brave New Food and Impact Hub to choose the top ten, which features:
- Time Travelling Milkman (Netherlands) — Using sunflower seeds to produce sustainable, healthy fats for use in plant-based dairy alternatives.
- Esencia Foods (Germany) — Developing whole-cut fish and seafood alternatives using natural fungi fermentation.
- Onego Bio (Finland) — Harnessing fermentation to create animal-free real egg white protein with superior functionality, nutrition, and sustainability.
- Adamo Foods (UK) — Developing innovative fungi-based whole-cut meat alternatives. The company is launching what is claimed to be the world’s first steak entirely made from fungi.
- Tempty Foods (Denmark) — Tempty has developed a next-generation alternative to tofu and meat made from mycelium, quinoa, lentils, and spices.
© Plant FWD - Sproutje (Netherlands) — A startup that offers a variety of plant-based sauces, such as Super Bolognese, Osaka Curry, Hanoi Stir Fry, and Veggie ‘Jus’.
- The Good Pulse Company (UK) — Developing functional pulse-based ingredients using novel processing methods, to make plant-based cheeses high in protein and fibre.
- OLALA! (France) — Creating a new wave of plant-based seafood products, containing algae oil to provide omega-3 fatty acids.
- Willicroft (Netherlands) — Europe’s first B Corp-certified plant-based cheese company. Willicroft makes cheese and butter alternatives from beans and lentils.
- Extracellular (United Kingdom) — a contract development and manufacturing organization supporting sustainable biotechnology. By providing research, development, and manufacturing capabilities, the company helps to develop cultivated meat and seafood.
“Challenging but exciting”
The startups will present their ideas to an audience of leading retailers, food companies, investors, regulators, and more. Each will have three minutes to pitch, before responding to questions from an expert panel featuring industry professionals from VCs, retailers, and food service companies.
“It’s been a challenging but exciting process choosing these ten startups,” said Marcel van der Heijden, one of the founders of Plant FWD. “We are really impressed with these 75 innovative businesses and their solutions for a more sustainable and plant-forward food system. This year we saw an increasing trend towards alternatives for fish, plant-based ingredients, and food tech. We were also pleased to see a large share of startups using technologies such as upcycled side streams, fermentation, and mycelium. We can’t wait to see these entrepreneurs pitch their businesses live on stage!”
