Bristol

© Boundless

Sweets & Snacks

Bristol’s Boundless Raises £1.5M, Becoming UK’s No.1 Gut Health Snack

Following an investment round of £1.5 million from notable industry investors including Graze co-founder Ben Jones (announced as the company’s director and investor in 2022), and the ex-head of M&S Food, Boundless of Bristol says it has secured its position as the UK’s number one gut health bagged snack. With the value of sales up by 110.2% year-on-year and volume up by 171%, the company’s value share in the Better For You category is leading at 1.6 times faster than its closest competitor according to Boundless, marking 58% year-on-year growth and putting founder & CEO Cathy Moseley in the top 10% of FMCG female founders. Boundless’ vegan-friendly portfolio includes chips in Sour Cream & Onion, Smoky Bacon, Sea Salt & Cider Vinegar, and Chipotle & …

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Kelli raised funds to bring to the market its seaweed coating that can replace plastic

© Kelpi
Packaging

Kelpi Secures £4.3M in Oversubscribed Round to Replace Plastic with Seaweed Coating in Food & Cosmetics Packaging

Bristol-based sustainable packaging innovator Kelpi has secured £4.3 million in investment to scale and commercialize its seaweed-based packaging, which can replace single-use fossil fuel plastics in packaging for food, drinks, and personal care products. The round was led by Blackfinch Ventures, with participation from Green Angel Ventures, Kadmos Partners, QantX, Evenlode Foundation, and the South West Investment Fund. Follow-on investors, including Bristol Private Equity Club (BPEC), One Planet Capital, and private angel investors, backed the material innovator in this round. The company initially sought £3 million and surpassed that target by raising £4.3 million, marking a significant milestone for Kelpi. The funds will be used to advance manufacturing and gain regulatory approval for the bio-based coatings. Additionally, the company will continue its commercial rollout, having …

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Koocha Mezze Bar Sunday roast

© Koocha Mezze Bar
Food Service

Bristol’s Koocha Mezze Bar Partners With Juicy Marbles for Vegan Roast Dinner

Koocha Mezze Bar, a popular Persian-inspired plant-based restaurant in Bristol, UK, has added a vegan roast dinner to its menu. The centrepiece of the dish is a wellington, featuring Juicy Marbles‘ plant-based steak along with mushroom and chestnut duxelles. The wellington is served on a bed of parsnip hummus, and is accompanied by saffron and rosemary roast potatoes, maple and zaatar glazed carrots, broccoli, parmesan smashed sprouts, Yorkshire pudding, sausage stuffing, and red wine gravy. An optional side of cauliflower cheese is also available. “Today marks the first day of serving you our incredible Koocha Sunday roast dinner, and wow has it gone down a treat!” said Koocha on Instagram. “The feedback so far from you all has been incredible!” The roast will be available …

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CDMO Extracellular has opened what it claims is Europe's largest contract pilot plant for cultivated meat and seafood in Bristol, the UK.

Image courtesy of Extracellular
Cultivated Meat

Extracellular Unveils Europe’s Largest Contract Pilot Facility for Cultivated Meat & Seafood

CDMO Extracellular announces it has opened what it claims is Europe’s largest contract pilot plant for cultivated meat and seafood in Bristol, the UK.  The facility, established for food-grade operations, will provide essential scale-up and manufacturing services to assist cultivated meat companies in achieving their production goals and mitigating the expense and time associated with building new sites. According to Extracellular, its pilot plant currently has an operational capacity of 200 L and is expected to reach 2,000 L by December 2023. It can produce up to 50t of cultivated meat annually; however, the facility is expected to reach 100t per year. The facility will hold multiple bioreactors from 50 L to 5,000 L and has a planned capacity to hold 10,000 liters. Great consumer products at achievable …

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VeBurger opens in UK's "vegan capital", Bristol

© VeBurger
Food Service

Bristol’s Thriving Plant-Based Scene Expands With New Vegan Hotspots

As another plant-based restaurant arrives in Bristol — often said to be the vegan capital of the UK — we take a look at some of the eateries that have opened their doors in the city over the past year. VeBurger The newest addition to Bristol’s vegan restaurant scene is VeBurger, a plant-based burger joint that is set to open in Wapping Wharf. The location will offer some of the cheapest vegan burgers in the city, with prices starting at just £2.99. VeBurger launched last year as a delivery service and was so successful that it soon began searching for a storefront. The burger joint will open on May 29, offering free food to its first 100 customers. Vegan India Last month, Bristol got its …

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Extracellular team

© Extracellular

Manufacturing & Technology

UK’s Extracellular: The Challenge of Upscaling Cultivated Meat

How does a cultivated meat startup scale from producing prototypes to developing commercially viable products? The emerging cultivated meat industry faces significant challenges in bringing cost-effective products to the market. Most manufacturing processes have been adapted for the biomedical sector, which produces much lower volumes of outputs than the food industry will need to bring products to market. Supported by Science Creates and based in Bristol, Extracellular was founded in 2022 by Will Milligan, CEO and Kiren Baines, CSO, as the first dedicated contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) for the cultivated meat industry.  In October of 2022, Extracellular secured investment from Big Ideas Ventures, after being chosen as one of seventeen early-stage startups selected for pre-seed investment as part of its bi-annual new protein accelerator program. …

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Jay&Joy in London

© Jay&Joy

Cheese Alternatives

France’s “First Plant-Based Creamery” Jay&Joy Now Available in the UK

Paris-based Jay&Joy, which describes itself as the first plant-based creamery in France, creates a range of organic, artisan vegan cheeses from almond milk, cashew nuts, and coconut, and recently celebrated its expansion into the UK market. The product portfolio includes vegan goat’s cheese, camembert, blue cheese, maroilles, feta, parmesan, and grated cheese. Two products — Jean Jacques, a vegan Maroilles cheese, and Jeanne, a vegan “bluish” cheese — are now available through Planet Organic, the leading organic grocery chain, while further products have rolled out into independent stores. Founded in 2015, The Jay&Joy company began with its Jay&Joy laboratory, introducing to the market five products: Jay Nature, Jeta Frais, Jack Pimenté (Spicy Jack), Joy Volcan and Joy Prairie. A year later, the founders opened “France’s …

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Oowee's Classic Christmas Oowee

Classic Christmas © Oowee
Fast Food

UK Chain Oowee Introduces Three New Festive Vegan Products

Oowee announces it is to add three festive vegan products to all menus, entailing both savoury and sweet items. Oowee has enjoyed a successful year, opening a new flagship store in Brighton in March and in July partnering with OmniFoods for the Ocean Burger, a vegan fish fillet burger described as being highly realistic. The new festive dishes launch in all Oowee locations in London, Bristol and Brighton this week and will be on the menus until 4th January. The three dishes are: Oowee’s Classic Christmas: A classic Crispy Chick’n burger, filled with crunchy red cabbage, a creamy stuffing mayo, a hash brown, crispy fried onions, cranberry sauce, and spinach pesto in a bun. Classic Christmas Poutine: A generous portion of fries, Crispy Popcorn Chick’n, …

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Bristol Burger King goes plant-based

© Burger King

Fast Food

Bristol Burger King Outlet to Become 100% Plant-Based for Two Weeks

A Bristol Burger King restaurant is set to go fully plant-based for two weeks from October 26 to November 6. The restaurant, based at the Mall in Cribbs Causeway, will offer vegan versions of 24 classic Burger King offerings. These will include the new Bakon King — made with La Vie’s plant-based bacon — along with Chilli Cheeeze Bites, nuggets, and the Vegan Royale. To celebrate, the restaurant will be giving away 100 of the latter on its opening day. This marks the second time Burger King has opened a plant-based popup in the UK, after a successful trial in London’s Leicester Square earlier this year. Burger King goes plant-based Burger King has repeatedly stated its intention to make 50% of its menu plant-based by …

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artisan vegan deli Herbivore

© Herbivore Vegan Deli
Retail & E-Commerce

Herbivore Artisan Vegan Deli to Open in Bristol, UK

An artisan vegan deli called Herbivore is set to open at Wapping Wharf in the UK city of Bristol. The store will be managed by Janice Heskett, who previously operated Café Matiriki in Finzel’s Reach, along with daughter Danielle. Herbivore will focus on sustainable, artisan foods made by small producers, with offerings likely to include vegan cheeses, cakes, and tarts. Located in a converted shipping container, the founders joke that the store may be the world’s smallest vegan deli. Vegan deli foods Worldwide, an increasing number of companies are developing vegan artisan or deli-style foods. In the US, Plantcraft has just introduced a new deli meat line, while Mrs. Goldfarb’s Unreal Deli has seen huge success and is now valued at $50 million. Squeaky Bean …

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Victoria Park Food Bank

Image courtesy of Million Dollar Vegan

Society

Million Dollar Vegan & Viva! Provide 2,000 Meatfree Meals With Support of MPs and Massive Attack

A new project coordinated by international NGO Million Dollar Vegan and vegan charity Viva! is supported by prominent figures including vegan Labour MP Kerry McCarthy and Robert del Naja (known as 3D) of Massive Attack, to provide meals for 2,000 people in need and bring attention to the risks associated with animal products.

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Vegetable world map planet

© cienpiesnf-stock.adobe.com
Market & Trends

Survey Reveals Top Countries & Cities in the World for Veganism in Our Post COVID World

Chef’s Pencil has once again compiled data from Google Trends regarding the popularity of veganism in different countries and cities in the world, stating that interest is “at an all-time high, surpassing the prior all-time high registered in 2019” and that “veganism is now twice as popular as it was just five years ago“.

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Uncommon bacon

© Uncommon
Science

Higher Steaks Develops World’s First Cultivated Bacon and Pork Belly Products

Higher Steaks, a leading food technology company in the UK, yesterday revealed the world’s first cultivated bacon and pork belly, establishing the Bristol-based company as the market leader in the cultivated pork sector. We spoke with founder Benjamina Bollag and Head of R&D Dr. Ruth Helen Faram about pioneering this breakthrough.

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Uncommon bacon

© Uncommon
Cultivated, Cell-Cultured & Biotechnology

Higher Steaks Develops World’s First Cultivated Bacon and Pork Belly Products

Higher Steaks, a leading food technology company in the UK, yesterday revealed the world’s first cultivated bacon and pork belly, establishing the Bristol-based company as the market leader in the cultivated pork sector. We spoke with founder Benjamina Bollag and Head of R&D Dr. Ruth Helen Faram about pioneering this breakthrough.

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©Oowee
Gastronomy & Food Service

Community Diner & Deliveroo’s Restaurant Of The Year, Oowee Vegan, Opens First London Location

Oowee‘s story is an interesting one, and a very cool one. This much-loved UK vegan diner has developed its business from starting out as a small popup in Bristol, to huge success including fame in the local press involving the police! (more below) and now Oowee is opening its first London venue amid continued success, despite the pandemic.

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