Kern Tec

Kerntech apricot kernals

Michael Beitl © Marius Höfinger Photography
Ingredients

Kern Tec Responds to EU Tariffs on Us Almonds: “We Offer a Crisis-Proof Almond Alternative”

In response to the tariffs imposed by the US on steel and aluminum, the EU has decided on retaliatory measures that also affect almonds and soybeans from the USA. A counter-tariff of 25% has been imposed on US almonds, and the industries affected have already expressed their concerns about the potential impact. In 2024, the EU imported $ 1.2 billion worth of shelled almonds from the United States. Around 92% of almonds imported into the EU come from California, while European agriculture only covers around a third of European demand. Kern Tec offers Europe an alternative Kern Tec explains: “As a European company, Kern Tec offers a crisis-proof almond alternative: ‘nut’ products made from apricot kernels have the advantage of being very similar to almonds …

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Kern Tec

© Kern Tec
Fairs & Events

BettaF!sh and Kern Tec Among the Winners of EIT Food’s Marketed Innovation Prize 2024

EU-supported food innovation community EIT Food has announced the winners of its Marketed Innovation Prize, which recognises food startups that have successfully brought products or services to market. The prize grants €10,000 to the best-marketed innovations in each of three regions (North-East, West, and South), and €5,000 to the best-marketed innovation in five subcategories. It aims to reward startups that are supporting the transition to a more healthy, sustainable, and resilient food system. The winners BettaF!sh, a producer of fish alternatives made from regeneratively cultivated seaweed, has received the prize for Best Alternative Protein-based Solution. Meanwhile, the company’s Managing Director and co-founder Deniz Ficicioglu has received the Woman in Innovation award. Kern Tec GmbH, which upcycles waste fruit pits into high-value ingredients, was named Best …

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NIÚKE quinoa milk

© NIÚKE
Milk- and Dairy Alternatives

6 of the Latest Product Launches in Dairy Alternatives That You Need to Know

The dairy alternatives market continues to drive the vegan market, with several new product launches aimed at catering to a variety of dietary needs and preferences. Market reports predict that the global plant-based milk market will reach $51.87 billion by 2032, fueled by the rising popularity of vegan diets, high lactose intolerance rates, and growing sustainability concerns linked to dairy production. Here are six of the most interesting, recent innovations in the sector. 1. NIÚKE’s plant-based quinoa milk NIÚKE recently introduced a new quinoa milk product (featured image) in the US. Marketed as the first quinoa-based plant milk in the United States, NIÚKE sources its quinoa from the Andes, ensuring a naturally cultivated product. Quinoa, technically a seed rather than a grain, provides higher protein …

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Berger-Schinken, a German firm with over 130 years of history in ham and sausage processing, and the Austrian upcycling and food tech company Kern Tech have partnered to launch a 100% cheese plant-based sausages.

© Kern Tec
Products & Launches

Ham Producer Berger-Schinken & Upcycled Fruit Pit Startup Kern Tec Unveil Plant-Based Cheese Sausages

Berger-Schinken, a German firm with over 130 years of history in ham and sausage processing, and Austrian upcycling and food tech company Kern Tec, have launched a co-branded product: plant-based cheese sausages. The new vegan sausages are crafted from pea protein and feature Kern Tec’s most recent development — Berg-Gaudi — a plant-based cheese made from upcycled fruit pits.  This first-of-its-kind cheese launched in various flavors last year under Kern Tec’s brand Wunderkern, joining a range of no-milk drinks made with apricot kernels that became the most-sold product at vegan superstore BILLA Pflanzilla a few months later. Wunderkern also offers oils and chocolate spreads from waste seeds from the juice and jam industries.  The plant-based cheese sausages are gluten-free, lactose-free, certified vegan, and are available just in time for …

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Kern Tec

© Kern Tec
Milk- and Dairy Alternatives

How Bauer and Kern Tec Turn Apricot Kernels into Plant-Based Milk

The private dairy Bauer launched a range of plant-based drinks, yogurt alternatives and puddings at the beginning of 2024 under the ZUM GLÜCK! brand. The products are based on ingredients made from apricot kernels, an upcycled product from fruit farming. Here, Privatmolkerei Bauer is cooperating with the Austrian startup Kern Tec, which has created an innovative ready-to-use solution for the food industry from previously unused fruit kernels. We spoke to Frank Mayerhofer (Director of Marketing & Innovation) and Sascha Leiser (Sales Director Brand) from Privatmolkerei Bauer as well as Michael Beitl (founder of Kern Tec) about the new brand, product development, and the successful collaboration. Why did Privatmolkerei Bauer decide to launch a vegan brand? How does this fit into the company’s long-term strategy in …

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Coop alt milk made from apricot kernels

© Coop
Milk- and Dairy Alternatives

Coop Switzerland Partners With Kern Tec & Emmi to Offer Milk Made From Apricot Kernels

Swiss supermarket chain Coop has partnered with Austria’s Kern Tec and Swiss dairy manufacturer Emmi Group to develop a milk alternative made from apricot kernels. The Karma Kernel Apricot Drink is said to have a similar taste to almond milk, since apricots and almonds are related. It helps to prevent food waste and reduce carbon emissions by making use of European apricot pits produced as a byproduct of fruit processing. The drink is free of gluten and lactose, has no added sugar, and is enriched with calcium and vitamins. It is now available at Coop stores across Switzerland. Coop also offers whole apricot kernels as a snack food, along with a chocolate spread made from apricot kernels. Both products are sold under the chain’s Karma …

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Bauer Zum Gluck range

© Bauer
Milk- and Dairy Alternatives

EXCLUSIVE: Dairy Company Bauer & Kern Tec Launch ZUM GLÜCK! Alt Dairy Range Using Upcycled Apricot Kernels

German dairy group Bauer, founded in 1887, one of the leading dairy companies in Germany with a turnover of more than €600 million, announces to vegconomist it has partnered with Austria’s Kern Tec for the development of a range of dairy alternative products under the newly formed “ZUM GLÜCK!” brand, with an innovative flavour based on apricot kernels – an upcycled product from fruit cultivation. ZUM GLÜCK! (translating as “fortunately” or “luckily”) will launch in January 2024, offering a comprehensive range of plant-based indulgence products exclusively on the German market. “We are looking forward to launching our new plant-based Bauer brand “ZUM GLÜCK!”. With “ZUM GLÜCK!”, we are exclusively offering a top plant-based range with an innovative flavour based on upcycled apricot kernels. To this …

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Kern Tec raises funding for alt dairy made from upcycled fruit pits

Kern Tec founders. © Chris Landl
Investments & Acquisitions

Kern Tec Raises €12M to Scale Up Alt Dairy Products Made From Upcycled Fruit Pits

Austrian company Kern Tec, which uses upcycled fruit pits to produce sustainable plant-based foods, has raised €12 million in funding. Claimed to be the largest ever Series A raise for an Austrian food tech company, the capital will allow Kern Tec to further scale up the production and commercialisation of its plant-based milk alternatives and confectionery. The round was led by Telos Impact, with participation from the PeakBridge Growth 2 fund and the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund. Kern Tec’s products are made by extracting oils from the seeds within upcycled apricot, plum, and cherry pits, of which 500,000 metric tonnes are currently sent to landfill each year. These oils can then be formed into a base compound for plant-based alternatives to dairy products such …

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Wholly-Veggie-cauliflower

© Wholly Veggie
Food & Beverage

The 8 Most Exciting Brands Saving Food Waste by Upcycling Ingredients

Here at vegconomist we applaud and support innovation in plant-based but especially those who are working on upcycling ingredients and helping to solve the horrific global issue of food waste whereby around a third of the food produced around the world is discarded. The issue is beyond imperative but it is not beyond solution, so we here celebrate some of the brands innovating for our planet, upcycling ingredients from spent grain, to cashew fruit, to cauliflower and carrots. Spent barley from the beer industry – Take Two Portland-based Take Two transforms barley grains leftover from beer brewing into nutritious, fiber-rich barley milk. A subsidiary of EverGrain, owned by beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev, Take Two reuses over 500,000 pounds of discarded grain each year. Co-Founder & …

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NOKO founder with products

NOKO founder with products, image courtesy ProVeg
Startups, Accelerators & Incubators

The Innovative Startups Joining the 6th ProVeg Accelerator Are Revealed – From Mushroom Meat to Upcycled Fruit Pits

Nine pioneering companies from across Europe, Mexico, Chile, and India, comprise the sixth cohort of the ProVeg Incubator Programme – the world’s leading incubator of plant-based and cultured food startups, with the latest accelerator programme kicking off yesterday 7th April. This fresh round of innovators looking to make a difference in the future of food ranges from plant-based eggs, chicken, and pet food to mushroom-based meat and dairy made from discarded fruit pits.

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