Libre Group shot

© Libre Foods

Fermentation

Libre Foods Wins €335K Grant to Pioneer Low-Cost Mycelium for Meat Alternatives

Libre Foods, a Spanish biotech based in Barcelona, has been awarded a €335,000 public R&D grant by Neotec (a program that supports technology-based companies) to develop a low-cost mycelium ingredient for meat alternatives.  Mycelium holds the potential to enhance the texture and nutrition in meat alternatives; however, scaling its production to lower the final product’s costs remains an industry challenge, argues Libre Foods. With the funds, the Spanish biotech plans to launch an advanced screening platform, integrating rapid imaging robotics and machine learning to discover and optimize fungi-based applications and accelerate product development. The platform could increase efficiency in R&D by more than 800 times, explains the company. Low-cost mycelium The technology’s first task will be developing a low-cost mycelium ingredient with a superior nutritional and …

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Spanish startups Väcka and Libre Foods collaborate for The Veggie Burger Warriors Campaign

Image courtesy of Väcka

Food Service

Väcka and Libre Foods Launch Vegan Burger Campaign in 23 Cities Across Spain

Spanish plant-based startups Väcka and Libre Foods have joined forces to launch The Veggie Burger Warriors, a campaign offering 100% vegan burgers in restaurants across Spain from the 6th to the 12th of November. The campaign will showcase Väcka’s 100% plant-based cheddar and Libre Foods’ mushroom bacon as the top choices for burger toppings, providing “equal sensory experiences” to animal products. In this first edition, 23 cities across Spain with over 60 restaurants and nearly 100 points of sale will offer unique takes on vegan burgers, with some including limited editions. Additionally, the public will have the opportunity to choose “the best plant-based burger in Spain” by voting on-site or via a QR code for delivery orders. This initiative follows a successful campaign, The Veggie Pizza …

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World Vegan Day

Image: vegconomist

People

Messages From Vegan Business Leaders on World Vegan Day, Part 3

In this third and final installment of our World Vegan Day special, we feature valuable insights from and words of solidarity from: CEO of The Vegetarian Butcher, Hugo Verkuil; CEO of Let’s Plant Meat, Smith Taweelerdniti; founder of Plantform and Boldy Foods, Allen Zelden; founder of Fenn Foods, Alejandro Cancino; CEO of Libre Foods, Alan Iván Ramos; and CEO of Impact Food, Kelly Pan. These messages come to us from each corner of the planet, with the founders located in Thailand; Australia; The Netherlands; Catalonia, Spain; and San Francisco, California. We asked: as we approach the end of what has been a turbulent year for many in the business, what is your message for the plant-based industry as we look ahead to 2024? Hugo Verkuil, …

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Alan Iván Ramos, Libre Foods

Alan Iván Ramos, © Libre Foods

Interviews

Libre Foods: “Fungi Are the Ingredients that Transform the Food System”

Barcelona’s Libre Foods recently celebrated its second anniversary, with many achievements under its vegan belt to speak of in a short time. Not least, last year’s €2.2M raise, and this February’s launch of what Libre says is the first alt bacon made from mushrooms in Europe. Libre Foods states it is the first EU biotech and climate-driven company to pave the way for a new food system by producing whole-muscle-cut meat products made from fungi. We were excited to finally enjoy a mushroom-based chat with CEO Alan Iván Ramos. What is the story behind Libre Foods? In 2019, I moved to Berlin to join the world’s leading alternative protein startup incubator, ProVeg Incubator, where I was able to combine purpose with innovation, and turned my …

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La Vie accepts Carrefour award

La Vie accepts award, ©Carrefour

Fairs & Events

The Ten Winners of the Carrefour Plant-Based Contest!

Carrefour announced the final of its Plant-Based Contest last night, deciding between the 15 finalists. The aim of this contest was to find the most successful plant-based innovations that the retail giant will then offer to its customers. More than 250 start-ups from all over the world took part, of which 15 were selected for the final and 10 winners were chosen by the jury. Carrefour CEO Alexandre Bompard was present at the results announcement ceremony to hand out the jury’s “Coup de Coeur” award to La Vie for its ham — a new product due to be launched in September. Here are the 10 winning startups (in alphabetical order, there was no ranking): La Vie Lapp Libre Foods Novish Pink Albatross Rebl Eats Oy …

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alt protien manufacturer La Vie's vegan bacon burger

©La Vie Foods

Fairs & Events

Announcing the 15 Finalists of the Carrefour Plant-Based Contest

French supermarket chain Carrefour created a contest this March called the Plant-Based Contest, designed to help innovative startups advance to market. The contest has three categories: plant-based protein products, strong concept, and service offering. More than 250 startups from all over the world participated, of which 15 have been selected for the final that will be held on June 9 in the heart of Paris. On this occasion, 10 winners will be selected as well as the “coup de coeur” of the jury. Here are the 15 finalist startups: Cocoriton Cocoriton is a French company created by farmers. The company has created vegetable patties based on legumes rich in fibre and grown in the fields of French farmers. EATIC The French startup EATIC, created in …

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Libre Foods

Image Source: Libre Foods social media

Investments & Acquisitions

Libre Foods Raises €2.2M at Forefront of Europe’s Mycelium Meat Revolution

Libre Foods, the Barcelona startup creating mycelium-based alt meats, has closed a €2.2 million investment round. The biotech plans to use the new funds to bring its Libre Bacon product to market in Spain during 2022, with a wider European launch to follow soon after, pending regulatory approval. With 2021 seeing the company establish its headquarters and laboratory in Barcelona, the company has also announced plans to accelerate the development of its chicken and whole meat products. Libre Foods uses a fermentation process to create mycelium biomass structures that it combines with food science to create what it claims are whole-muscle cut meat products. The €2.2 million seed round included star investors such as Matthew Glover’s Veg Capital, as well as food awareness organization ProVeg …

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