Portland

Veggie Grill and Omni Foods

© Veggie Grill
Studies & Numbers

Portland Ranked America’s Most Vegan-Friendly City

Portland, Oregon, has emerged as the most vegan-friendly city in the United States, according to a recent study by WalletHub. The study, which compared the 100 largest cities in the country across 17 key indicators of vegetarian- and vegan-friendliness, revealed that Portland topped the charts with the highest overall score. WalletHub’s methodology took into account various factors, including the cost of groceries for vegans, the prevalence of restaurants offering meatless options, access to farmers’ markets and CSA programs, salad shops, juice and smoothie bars, and vegetable nurseries. While Portland didn’t claim the number one spot in any specific metric, it consistently scored well across the board, making it the number one city for vegans. Portland’s top vegan restaurants and shops Portland’s recognition is thanks in …

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Next Level Burger Steak Burger

©Next Level Burger
Gastronomy & Food Service

Next Level Burger Plans to Quadruple Its US Locations By End of 2025

Next Level Burger, a popular plant-based burger chain, announces the brand intends to add dozens of outlets over the next four years, as part of an accelerated US expansion.  Based in Oregon, Next Level Burger is renowned for its casual and colorful take on healthy and sustainable fast food. Its signature menu features a lineup of organic and non-GMO vegan burgers, chicken sandwiches, fries and handspun milkshakes. In addition to the original store in Bend, Oregon, the brand operates six locations in Washington, California, New York and Texas.  Next Level wants to significantly increase its restaurant footprint, and reveals it is on track to open many more locations. To reach new communities, the chain plans to expand into the West Coast, Southwest and Northeast regions, …

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Take Two founders

©Take Two

Interviews

Take Two: “Championing the Upcycling Movement By Transforming the Billions Of Spent Grain Wasted Each Year Into BarleyMilk”

Hailing from Portland, Oregon, Take Two is the first company to utilize upcycled barley into nutritious plant milk. Holding the claim that its milk outperforms other plant-based milks when used in recipes, Take Two is on track to upcycle at least 500,000 pounds of spent grain this year. With the company recently launching its new Barista Barleymilk for coffee aficionados, we thought it was a good time to meet Jerek Theo Lovey, Co-founder and CEO of Take Two. Can you give us Take Two’s elevator pitch? Take Two is championing the upcycling movement by transforming the billions of spent grain wasted each year into great-tasting, nutritious, and sustainable barleymilk. Upcycling is at the core of Take Two. What are the benefits of this business model, and do you think it will spread …

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CHKN Not Chicken packaging

©CHKN Not Chicken

Investments & Finance

Portland’s CHKN Not Chicken Arrives on US Market Following Series A Round Led By Stray Dog

CHKN Not Chicken, a newly launched producer of shredded, plant-based chicken headquartered in Portland, Oregon, announced today the closing of a Series A round led by Stray Dog Capital. The round also saw participation from David Israel, Founder and CEO of vegan cheese brand Good Planet Foods. The company is founded by Brian Pope, formerly Chief Growth Officer at Nuun Hydration, which was recently acquired by Nestle Health Sciences. Pope also served as Chief Marketing Officer of Popchips, Neuro Drinks, and Virgin Galactic. The debut product line, aimed at the food service sector, features three varieties of soy-free, gluten-free shredded CHKN: Naked CHKN, Fiesta CHKN (Mexican spice and citrus), and Zen (Asian spices and ginger). CHKN Not Chicken reports that it took two years of …

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©Take Two

Products & Launches

Portland’s Take Two is On Track to Upcycle at Least 500,000 Pounds of Waste Grain From Beer Industry Into Barley Milk

With over 8 billion pounds of spent grain going to waste annually, Portland Oregon’s Take Two is the first company to utilize upcycled barley into nutritious plant milk. Committed to using upcycled ingredients, Take Two is one of the first companies to become Upcycled Certified by the Upcycled Food Association. The company announces the launch this week of its Barleymilk at Schnucks stores throughout Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. The upcycled milks already launched last year in cafes across the Pacific Northwest and Los Angeles and are available in Original, Vanilla, Chocolate, which can also be shipped nationwide. Take Two sources its upcycled barley from EverGrain, an Anheuser-Busch InBev-backed company based in St. Louis, which transforms the spent grain into high-quality, sustainable ingredients to create nutritious food …

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