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US department of defense

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Guest Posts

Department of Defense Invests Heavily in Food Innovation: Why?

Elysabeth Alfano is the CEO of VegTech™ Invest, an advisor to a food innovation ET, and a consultant to C-Suite of multinational companies. She speaks internationally on the intersection of investing, sustainability, and food systems transformation and is also the host of the podcast, Upside & Impact: Investing for Change. In this article, which originally ran on Advisorpedia.com, Elysabeth Alfano explores the US Department of Defense’s significant investment in food innovation through the Distributed Bioindustrial Manufacturing Program (DBIMP). She examines how food security, supply chain resilience, environmental impact, and public health concerns drive this initiative, positioning food system transformation as both a national security priority and a major investment opportunity. Department of Defense Invests Heavily in Food Innovation: Why? The US Department of Defense is investing heavily …

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Canadian Food Innovation Network foodtech in canada report

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Cultivated, Cell-Cultured & Biotechnology

Canada’s Foodtech Report: Is Canada Ready to Compete in the Global Foodtech Race?

The Canadian Food Innovation Network (CFIN) has released its Foodtech in Canada 2025 Ecosystem Report, offering insights into investment trends, sector strengths, and challenges in Canada’s food technology sector from 2014 to 2024. Canada’s agrifoodtech sector attracted $4.1 billion CAD in investment over the past decade, with $2.3 billion CAD directed to food technology projects. The sector has grown at an 8.4% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), surpassing the global average decline of -2.6%. However, venture capital investment in Canadian foodtech lags behind other countries, with only 40% of funding rounds backed by VC, compared to 60% in the UK and US. Instead, government grants play a larger role, representing 30% of Canadian foodtech funding rounds, compared to just 5% in the UK and 8% …

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Tender Food

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Investments & Finance

Tender Food, Ginkgo Bioworks, and Others Secure Millions in DOE Grants for Low-Carbon Food Innovation

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has announced more than $136 million in funding for 66 projects focused on advancing low-carbon technologies across critical US industrial sectors. Among the sectors targeted, the food and beverage industry is included, with several initiatives addressing decarbonization challenges through innovative technology development. This funding is part of the DOE’s Technologies for Industrial Emissions Reduction Development (TIEReD) Program, which invests in research, pilot projects, and workforce development to decarbonize energy-intensive industries. In addition to food and beverage production, the program also targets chemicals, iron and steel, cement, forest products, and glass manufacturing. Together, these industries account for over 75% of US industrial energy demand. Within the food and beverage sector, multiple projects were selected for funding to develop and demonstrate …

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Mycoprotein steaks by the BMC

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Fungi, Mushrooms & Mycelium

US Defense Department Backs The Better Meat Co. with $1.4M for Advanced Biotech Development

The Better Meat Co., a food tech company based in Sacramento, has been awarded a $1.4 million grant from the United States Department of Defense (DoD) as part of the Distributed Bioindustrial Manufacturing Program (DBIMP). This funding will support the company’s production of its proprietary mycoprotein ingredient, Rhiza. The DBIMP, which aims to strengthen the United States’ bioeconomic capabilities while enhancing the DoD’s advanced defense capabilities, recently announced seven awards to bioindustrial firms. The Better Meat Co. was one of the recipients, alongside other companies such as Industrial Microbes, Modular Genetics, ZymoChem, and Biosphere, encompassing five defense material priority areas: food, fuel, fitness, fabrication, and firepower. These non-medical investments will build domestic capabilities across the US and help mitigate future supply chain risks. “The United …

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UMAMI Bioworks and Shiok Meats, have merged to establish a combined entity that will bring cultivated seafood closer to commercial viability.

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Cultivated, Cell-Cultured & Biotechnology

Roundup: The Biggest News in Cultivated Meat and Seafood from the 1st Half of 2024

Although the cellular agriculture industry is traversing a consolidation phase and is facing the challenge of slower investor interest, the sector is building itself from the ground up, achieving all sorts of significant milestones — the first steps of what is set to become the fourth agricultural revolution. Here we look back on the biggest news stories in cultivated meat and seafood from H1 2024, and there have been several standout moments across different categories, as follows. Regulatory approvals France’s Gourmey became the first-ever company to apply to sell cultivated meat in the EU, marking a significant regulatory milestone. It submitted an application to EFSA for cultivated foie gras.  GOOD Meat announced the world’s first retail sales of cultivated meat in Singapore, making cultivated meat available for …

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megaboxJay&Joy

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Milk- and Dairy Alternatives

France 2030 Funds New Project to Stimulate Plant-Based Dairy Innovation

The French government has committed €8.3 million as part of its France 2030 actions to support a new project that will stimulate local plant-based dairy innovation. The initiative, called AlinOVeg, “Innovating in plant-based food”, has been launched by six French players: Roquette, Agri Obtentions, Eurial, Greencell, INRAE, and the Université Lumière Lyon 2. The French public investment bank, Bpifrance, will operate the collaborative project funded with a total budget of €11.4 million. The largest collaborative innovation project AlinOVeg aims to stimulate French innovations in plant-based dairy, including cheese and desserts, generate new markets and accelerate the transition to sustainable foods in France.  The project also includes empowering farmers to develop and grow a sustainable local plant-based ingredients sector, focusing on peas and fava beans, key …

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Protein Canada

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Investments & Finance

Protein Industries Canada Receives $150M CAD in Federal Funding for Next Five Years

Protein Industries Canada (PIC) announces it has received $150M CAD in funding from the Canadian government to continue to accelerate plant-based protein innovation. François Philippe Champagne, the country’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, today announced the renewal as part of a $750M investment into the Global Innovation Cluster program. The renewed investment brings the total funding of the consortium to $353M from 2018 through to 2028, including $30 million from the Pan Canadian Artificial Intelligence Strategy.  “As a global agricultural powerhouse, Canada has the means, resources, and skill to turn crops into food – and transform the way the world eats, while also bringing solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges, including global food security, the environment and human health,” said Bill …

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mosa-meat-steak-tartare

Cultivated Steak Tartare ©Mosa Meat
Cultivated, Cell-Cultured & Biotechnology

Dutch Government Announces €60M Cellular Agriculture Fund

The Dutch government has earmarked €60 million for a new cellular agriculture fund. The investment will be awarded through the National Growth Fund, which supports innovative economic sectors. It is believed that €60 million is the largest ever sum of public funding to be granted to cellular agriculture anywhere in the world. The proposal for the funding was submitted by Cellular Agriculture Netherlands, a consortium of 12 organisations, and its success comes just a month after the Netherlands legalised tastings of cultivated meat. The Dutch cellular agriculture fund is only the first part of a larger growth plan for the industry, which will involve investing between €252 and €382 million in education, research, scale-up facilities, societal integration, and innovation. It is hoped that this growth …

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Minister for Finance and Senator for South Australia Simon Birmingham

Minister for Finance and Senator for South Australia Simon Birmingham (left) Image source: www.senatorbirmingham.com.au
Ingredients

South Australia Receives $113M to Become “Plant-based Protein Manufacturing and Export Powerhouse”   

South Australia to become home to the largest pulse protein ingredient manufacturing capability in the continent, project expects to generate up to $4 billion in plant-based exports by 2032. The Australian Government has announced a $113 million funding package for a project led by Australian Plant Proteins (APP) to make South Australia a new hub of plant protein production, with the Minister for Finance stating this development puts South Australia “ahead of the pack in the manufacturing of products for the high-growth domestic and booming global plant-based foods market”. The project sees a partnership between one of Australia’s largest meat producers, Thomas Foods International, the APP, and the Australian Milling Group to invest $378 million into three new plant protein manufacturing facilities.  With the aim …

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Bruce Friedrich - Image Courtesy of The Good Food Institute

Society

The GFI’s Bruce Friedrich is Named an “American Food Hero” For His Work in Alt Protein

The Good Food Institute (GFI) Founder and President Bruce Friedrich has been named as a “2021 American Food Hero” in recognition of his work to fundamentally change the food system with alt proteins. EatingWell Magazine has praised Friedrich and the GFI’s work on fighting climate change and reforming food systems in its “American Food Heroes” awards. Display content from TED Click here to display content from TED. Learn more in TED’s privacy policy. Always display content from TED TED talk has been viewed over two million times and translated into dozens of languages, while the GFI continues to inform industry and policy with regard to science and solutions globally. The latest accolade shines a light on the popular speaker’s work to advance open-access alternative protein …

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