pink albatross

©pink albatross

Fundraising

Spain’s Pink Albatross Opens Funding Round, Aiming to Raise Over €1M

Pink Albatross, a 100% plant-based ice cream company based in Madrid, has opened a financing round with the aim of raising between 1 and 1.5 million euros. The company’s objective is to consolidate its growth after reaching more than 2,000 points of sale in Spain, Portuga,l and Germany. The four pillars on which it will focus are: Innovation and new products: Pink Albatross currently has a wide variety of flavours and formats and with this financing, the company intends to expand its product portfolio. New marketing and sales activities with the aim of increasing both brand awareness and distribution. Recruitment of personnel: due to its strong growth in recent months, the company plans to expand its team. Maintenance of working capital or working capital Robust …

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CUVO FOODS team shot Barcelona

CUVO FOODS, image courtesy of The Vegan Agency

Market & Trends

Spain’s Plant-Based Sector is “Innovative, Growing and Aimed at Young People”

Innovative, growing, and aimed at young people: this is the plant-based sector in Spain, according to a report that finds 75% of vegan companies expect to see veganism experience “favourable” or “very favourable” growth in Spain over the next two years. Dr. Estela Díaz, from the Department of Business Management at the Universidad Pontificia Comilla, together with specialized communication agency The Vegan Agency, both of Madrid, compiled this second report on the state of vegan businesses in Spain. Young people lead the way in post-Covid Spain Dr. Díaz explains: “The sector seems to have overcome the covid-19 crisis, continues to learn quickly, and is becoming more professional”. The main results of her study can be summarised as follows. Vegan companies are innovative: 65% offer a …

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A Little More Confusing BK print campaign

A Little More Confusing campaign © DAVID Madrid

Marketing & Media

Burger King Embraces Humor and Irony to Promote Plant-Based Menu in “Confusing Times” Campaign

A new Burger King campaign promoting its plant-based menu launched in Spain and the United States in May 2023. Created by the DAVID Agency in Madrid, “Confusing Times” utilizes humor and irony in a series of TV, radio, and print ads. The campaign addresses the concept of confusion to promote the BK menu, with mentions of the chain’s Plant-Based Nuggets and Long Chicken, and the Plant-Based Whopper Jr. The ad shows an array of circumstances when people appear confused about the facts: is an eco-friendly Black Friday purchase good for the planet or not good at all? Should you delete a message or send the wrong message by deleting it? Is Max a dog’s name or a boy’s name?  A kid’s POV Recently, Burger King …

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Väcka cheese lifestyle

© Väcka

Cheese Alternatives

Väcka Unveils Market-First Cheeses Made From Olive Oil & Fermented Melon Seed Milk

Spanish Foodtech Väcka announces it has launched the only plant-based cheeses made with melon seeds and olive oil, through the application of a “disruptive world unique fermentation process” for which the brand has filed a patent with the US Patent and Trademark Office. Across the brand’s Mözza and Pumpkin lines, fermented almond milk has been replaced by melon seed milk, and coconut oil with extra virgin olive oil, leading to an improvement in the taste of the products and a more sustainable production process. A “disruptive innovation” The new method will progressively be applied to the Vrie and Filä varieties, representing what Väcka states is a “disruptive innovation in the production of vegetable cheeses”, claiming that it improves water consumption by 99.1%, land use by …

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Madrid Food Innovation cohort

© Madrid Food Innovation Hub

Startups, Accelerators & Incubators

Madrid Food Innovation Hub Unveils Startups Selected for Packaged F&B Incubator

Madrid Food Innovation Hub, a Spanish incubator for companies in the food sector, has selected 12 startups for the new edition of its incubation programme for packaged food and beverages. The programme is aimed at those who are developing packaged food and beverage products by applying new technologies during formulation and/or production, and may be accompanied by the development of new business models in the digital sphere. Boosting the entrepreneurial ecosystem With 12 weeks of duration and completely free of charge, this initiative aims to boost and strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem with these new startups whose proposals focus on obtaining more sustainable products and packaging, food or drinks with a positive effect on health, products with an improved nutritional composition, ready-to-eat or easy-to-prepare food and …

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Flax & Kale flagship store

© Flax & Kale

Gastronomy & Food Service

Flax & Kale Opens Flexitarian Flagship Store in Madrid

Flax & Kale, a plant-based company with its own local production in Spain and part of the Teresa Carles Healthy Foods restaurant group, has opened its first flexitarian flagship restaurant in Madrid called Flax & Kale Trafalgar. This new opening continues the company‘s expansion plan, which now totals six restaurants in the group. The restaurant located on Trafalgar Street combines best sellers with recipes and ingredients that aim to revolutionise the healthy world through innovation and creativity, as stated in a press release. The new dishes on the menu are a total of 8 dishes – 5 main courses, 2 brunches and a dessert – including plant-based creations. The two vegan options incorporated in the new restaurant are: Plant-based bbq ribs with barbecue sauce, grilled …

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Nacho Sánchez, Chef & founder of Pizzi Dixie

Chef & founder Nacho Sánchez ©Pizzi Dixie

Food Service

Madrid’s Pizzi Dixie to Celebrate New Vegan Cheese With 100 Free Pizzas This Wednesday

Pizzi Dixie, a vegan trattoria in Madrid, is presenting its new plant-based cheese by giving away 100 vegan pizzas from its menu on 5th October. The pizzas will be available from 1pm to 3pm and the flavours included in the campaign are margherita, marinara, mortadella and pistachio pesto, sausage and friarielli, pepperoni and piparras, pistachio and garlic, truffle, dixie, artichoke and truffle. According to the company, the dough is traditional Italian style with slow fermentation and high hydration. In addition, it points out that the new vegan cheese has the most authentic flavour that melts and melts, even gratinates, reaching a consistency so similar that it makes you doubt its vegetable origin. Nacho Sánchez, chef and owner, recommends the pepperoni and piparras or the sausage …

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Heura-Pop-Up-Store-Madrid_© Heura

© Heura

Retail & E-Commerce

Heura to Open Pop-Up Store in Madrid This Weekend

Heura, the leading Spanish plant-based food brand, will open its first pop-up store from May 20 to 24, in the Spanish capital Madrid. In this temporary store, customers will be able to taste some dishes made with the brand’s product portfolio including: Traditional minced and chopped vegan minced meat Vegan chorizo and sausage empanadas Chilli wrap with 100% vegan meat Barbecue pizza with chopped vegan minced meat The sale price will be one euro and the proceeds will go to Santuario Vegan, a Spanish animal sanctuary foundation. At the pop-up, attendees can also take part in the Challenge Heura! contest, which offers the chance to win a year of free Heura by challenging Heura’s R&D team to create new products. Last month, Heura surpassed its …

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Food Design Fest

Food Design Fest

Fairs & Events

Vegan Foods and Alt-Proteins to Play a Starring Role in Spain’s Food Design Festival

The annual Food Design Festival will be taking place in person for the first time in Madrid, where the founders and CEOs of the most innovative plant-based and cell-based food companies will discuss the changing food landscape in Spain, Europe, and the world. Among those participating in the event will be Santi Aliaga of Zyrcular Foods, Bosco Emparanza of MOA Foodtech, Iñigo Charola of BioTech Foods, Ricard Puigdemont of GrinGrin Foods, and Mila Valcarcel of Eatable Adventures. This fourth edition of the Food Design Festival will be held in some of the most prestigious venues in the capital of Spain, among them Cosentino City, The Kool Hub, Roca Madrid Gallery, and the Madrid Food Innovation Hub, starting on July 4th and ending on July 8th. …

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Burger King Spain

© The Vegetarian Butcher / Unilever

Food & Beverage

Spain: Burger King Opens 100% Plant-Based Restaurant in Collaboration With The Vegetarian Butcher

For one month, Burger King Spain will have its first restaurant where all products will be of vegetable origin, thanks to The Vegetarian Butcher, the plant-based meat company owned by Unilever. The restaurant is located at 26 Paseo del Prado in Madrid. In addition, Burger King Spain is to introduce a new “Long Vegetal”, a veggie version of its iconic Long Chicken, also featuring The Vegetarian Butcher’s plant-based meat. The burgers are not considered vegan because they may contain animal-based mayonnaise but could be suitable for vegans if ordered without the mayo. Burger King expands its veggie offers worldwide Burger King Poland has been offering vegan nuggets since April this year in response to growing plant-curiosity in the country. The same month, over in the …

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Veggie2Business

©Kraut Food Studio

Fairs & Events

Spain to Host its First Ever Vegan B2B Event Sponsored by Heura, Unilever & Nestlé

The first 100% vegan business event in Spain, Veggie2Business, has the support of brands such as Heura, The Vegetarian Butcher (Unilever) and Garden Gourmet (Nestlé), and up to a dozen other companies that will present their plant-based products to the hotel, catering and community sectors. Veggie2Business, a pioneering plant-based business meeting in Spain, will hold its first edition on 4 and 5 October in Madrid. It is already sponsored by multinational food companies such as Unilever (with its brand The Vegetarian Butcher) and Nestlé (with the Garden Gourmet line), as well fast-growing Spanish phenomenon Heura Foods. In addition, with different spaces and participation, companies and brands of 100% plant-based products such as RevoluGreen, Sanygran, Biogran, Alpro, New Wind Foods, Green&Great, Violife, Meatless Farm, Dacsa Group, …

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Carsten Holm, Diversified Business Communications UK

Fairs & Events

Organic Food Iberia: “If You Are Involved in the Business of Organic, Vegan and Sustainability, This Really is the Must-Attend Event”

The capital of Spain will host one of the largest organic food events in Europe, the Organic Food Iberia, to be held this September 8th and 9th at IFEMA Madrid, bringing together leaders of the sustainable food and plant-based sector.

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Heura billboard in Madrid Photo Credit Heura Foods

Heura billboard in Madrid Photo Credit Heura Foods

Marketing & Media

Vegan Advertising 101 With Spanish Food Activists Heura

Spanish plant meat pioneer, Heura, continues to advertise in an interesting and educational way, rather than just trying to convince the public of how tasty their products are, as is often the case with traditional advertising. Heura is disseminating information about the benefits to the environment if consumers replace traditional meat with plant-based meat. The ads, which can be seen across Spain and on social media, include messages showing facts, figures and facts about the benefits of switching to a plant-based diet. Last year, the company put up a huge billboard in the centre of Madrid with the message: “A meat burger pollutes more than your car.” Although, unsurprisingly, the controversy forced the company to withdraw the advert in December, Heura seems unafraid of the …

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The Vegan Agency

© The Vegan Agency

Society

Million Dollar Vegan is Giving Away Free Vegan Food in Madrid Tomorrow, 12th February

International organisation Million Dollar Vegan, originally founded by Matthew Glover of Veganuary, Veg Capital, and VFC, will be handing out 400 vegan Pad Thai at Romero Verde’s El Obradoiro restaurant in central Madrid this Friday 12 February. The food will be donated from 12 noon to 5 pm by Foods for Tomorrow, the parent company of Barcelona-based Heura Foods.

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The Spanish flag

© elxeneize - stock.adobe.com

Market & Trends

Four Spanish Cities Considered Among the Best in Europe for Vegans

The Iberian Peninsula is known for its bullfighting customs and its famous Iberian ham. However, in recent years there has been a change in the mentality of a significant percentage of Spain’s citizens. Concerns about animal welfare, the environment, and personal health have created a break in the consumption habits of many Spaniards.

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