President, North America

©Equinom

Company News

Equinom Appoints New President of North America and CSO As It Prepares to Launch First Products

Israeli ingredients company Equinom announces the appointment of Ephi Eyal as its new North America President and Adi Costa as Chief Science Officer. Eyal and Costa join the company as it prepares to accelerate the commercialization of its minimally-processed plant proteins and continues to develop its Manna™ technology platform. According to the company, Eyal brings significant leadership experience in the food and nutrition industries, where he helped drive growth and innovation for specialty ingredients companies like J.M. Huber, CP Kelco, and Innovative Food Processors. At Equinom, Eyal will oversee the North American commercial and farming operations as the company scales up its seed, grain and ingredients through different strategic partnerships. “Equinom is on a quest to become the food industry’s end-to-end ingredient innovation partner starting …

more

Vegan Lamb Burgers

© Black Sheep Foods

Investments & Finance

Black Sheep Foods Raises $12.3M to Scale Up Plant-Based Lamb and Exotic Meats

Black Sheep Foods, which specializes in plant-based lamb and other game meats, announces it has raised $12.3M in Series A funding.  The company will use the capital to increase its product and R&D teams, sales and marketing, and move to a larger production facility capable of making 16 million pounds of plant-based lamb each year. This increased production is expected to begin in early 2023, says its CEO.  Based in San Francisco, Black Sheep uses patent-pending technology to identify the unique flavor molecules found in lamb and reconstruct its taste and richness using the same molecules from plants. The startup introduced America’s “first ever” heritage plant-based lamb at select restaurants in 2021, including six locations of Greek dining chain Souvla.  “Seriously impressed” “At Souvla, we …

more

black sheep

Dishes made with Black Sheep's lamb. © Nicola Parisi/Souvla

Gastronomy & Food Service

Black Sheep Foods Partners with The Chef’s Warehouse to Launch Plant-Based Lamb in NYC Restaurants

Black Sheep Foods announces it is partnering with specialty foods distributor The Chef’s Warehouse to launch plant-based lamb at restaurants throughout NYC. Beginning next week, chefs and restaurants can order the brand’s plant-based heritage lamb, which Black Sheep calls a first-to-market innovation.  Focus on game meats Black Sheep, which specializes in uncommon game and wild meats, first launched its flagship vegan lamb at San Francisco restaurant chain Souvla in 2021. The debut proved a success, and soon led other top Bay Area restaurants, including Rooh, Chezchez, Beit Rima, Mazra and Monica’s, to introduce the menu item.  According to Black Sheep, its lamb adds significant value to restaurants by increasing new and weekly repeat customer growth. “[W]e’ve seen first hand why the plant-based movement is so …

more

Black Sheep Vegan Cheese

©Feel Foods/ Black Sheep Vegan Cheeze

Company News

Feel Foods Improves Black Sheep Vegan Cheeze Shelf Life, Allowing Faster Distribution

Canada’s Feel Foods Ltd. announces a key advancement in extending the shelf life of its Black Sheep Vegan Cheeze brand, enabling the company to accelerate its market expansion.  Feel Foods says it has utilized a High Pressure Pasteurization (HPP) technique to extend the cheeses’ shelf stability by over 100%, more than doubling the product shelf life from five weeks to ten.  The process does not require any heat or synthetic preservatives. Through this innovation, Feel Foods says it can now achieve wider distribution channels throughout Canada and begin entering US sales.  A family of brands Black Sheep Vegan Cheeze is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Feel Foods, which first acquired the British Columbia-based cheese maker in 2021 to help the brand scale operations and launch e-commerce. …

more

Black Sheep Plant-Based Lamb Kofta

©Erin Ng

Investments & Finance

Black Sheep Foods Raises $5.25M to Make Plant-Based Lamb and Wild Game

Black Sheep Foods, makers of the first plant-based lamb in the US, announces a $5.25 million seed funding raise to bring uncommon plant-based “game” meats to the market.   Based in San Francisco, Black Sheep Foods also intends to “catapult flavor to the next level” by developing plant-based versions of heritage breed meats. The company accomplishes this by carefully analyzing and identifying key flavor compounds found in animal-based meat, and then structuring them around plant proteins.  Rapid restaurant expansion The company used this technology to develop its flagship product, plant-based lamb, which offers the complex gamey flavor and texture found in traditional lamb.  Last fall, the groundbreaking product launched exclusively at Souvla, a popular Bay Area chain of Greek restaurants, which served the item as Tunis-inspired …

more

Feel Foods Plant-Based Scramble

©Feel Foods

Food & Beverage

Feel Foods Enters Vegan Breakfast Segment With Bacon & Eggs Launches

Feel Foods, a Canadian agri-foods holding company, announces it will launch plant-based bacon and eggs in a drive to enter the vegan breakfast segment. Feel Foods recently acquired the British Columbia-based Plantastic Foods, which specializes in plant-based cheesecakes and burgers, and wholly owns Black Sheep Vegan Cheeze, producers of almond and soy-based cheese. Details about the upcoming breakfast products are limited, except for photos of a Plant-Based Scramble displaying the Black Sheep logo, suggesting that Black Sheep will play a key role in developing the new line. In November, Feel Foods expanded its portfolio by acquiring Plantastic, which sells a variety of cheesecakes and veggie burgers in 22 British Columbia locations and e-commerce. Feel Foods signed the deal to help Plantastic grow sales, increase market …

more