A roasted turkey at Christmas dinner table

© Salsabila Ariadina -stock.adobe.com

Cultivated Meat

University of Warwick Says Cultivated Turkey Will Soon Be a Christmas Dinner Centrepiece

A team of researchers from the University of Warwick in the UK believes that cultivated turkey will be the centerpiece of Christmas tables in the near future. Dr. Radu Cimpeanu, a theoretical mathematician, and his team are working to produce more affordable and sustainable alternatives to traditional meats, with the project supported by The Good Food Institute and the Cultivated Meat Modelling Consortium, in collaboration with Professor Daniel Harris from Brown University and partners from the industry. “Cultivated meat, or cultured meat, is genuine animal meat that is produced by cultivating animal cells directly. For example, cultivated turkey cells can replicate the sensory and nutritional profiles of conventional meat,” explained Dr. Cimpeanu. Currently in its initial phase, this cultivated meat project aims to develop computational …

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The Vegetarian Butcher has introduced handmade holiday specials, including stuffed vegan Christmas turkey at its newly opened plant-based butchery in Rotterdam.

© The Vegetarian Butcher

Meat- and Fish Alternatives

The Vegetarian Butcher Launches Vegan Christmas Turkey in Rotterdam’s First Plant-Based Butchery

Unilever’s The Vegetarian Butcher has introduced handmade holiday specials, including stuffed vegan Christmas turkey at its newly opened plant-based butchery in Rotterdam. The brand’s team crafted 60 vegan whole turkeys (including vegetable legs) for lovers of traditional Christmas dishes. Interested customers had to purchase the turkey in person on a pre-order basis like in traditional butcher shops (the reservations closed on the 17th of December, and the product is unavailable at supermarkets), reports RTL Nieuws. However, before Christmas Eve, customers will receive their turkeys pre-sliced into fillets stuffed with a mixture of apricots and nuts rather than obtaining the entire roasted turkey. The Vegetarian Butcher’s team also prepared other limited-edition menu items for the holiday table: a vegan meatloaf that comes with a cherry ketchup glaze …

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Asda vegan turkey - part of the vegan Christmas range

© Asda

Food & Beverage

Asda Launches Extensive Vegan Christmas Range, Including Turkey With “Skin”

This year, UK supermarket chain Asda is offering an extensive vegan Christmas range featuring 57 products. Some of the highlights of the range are: Whole No Turkey — Made from a combination of wheat, pea, and soy protein, this turkey alternative features a unique crispy “skin” coating. Like conventional turkey, it also has a light-coloured “breast” and darker-coloured “legs”, with the two plant-based meats having different textures. Oyster & Porcini Mushroom Wellington — Designed for those who prefer a more vegetable-based option, this wellington contains white and oyster mushrooms with pea protein. The filling is topped with chestnut and porcini mushroom duxelles and wrapped in pastry. Mushroom Pigs in Smoky Aubergine Bacon — A plant-based version of traditional pigs in blankets (small sausages wrapped in …

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vegan turkey and stuffing baguette

© Greggs/THIS

Retail & E-Commerce

Greggs Partners With THIS to Launch Vegan Turkey and Stuffing Baguette

UK bakery chain Greggs has joined forces with alt meat brand THIS to launch a vegan turkey and stuffing baguette for the festive season. The baguette contains plant-based turkey goujons with a sage and onion crust, along with vegan gravy and cranberry sauce. Available at all 2,200 Greggs locations, it is the chain’s second partnership with THIS, after the two brands began offering a vegan southern fried chicken baguette earlier this year. Another plant-based Christmas option on the menu at Greggs is the vegan festive bake, first offered in 2021. The puff pastry bake contains Quorn mycoprotein pieces, sage and onion stuffing balls, vegan bacon crumb, and sage and cranberry sauce. Greggs has been working to expand its vegan range since 2019, when the chain’s …

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asda's vegan christmas offering chocolate bauble

© Asda

Products & Launches

UK: Asda Unveils “Largest Vegan Christmas Offering to Date” With 97 Products

UK retailer Asda has announced its vegan Christmas 2022 offering encompassing 97 products ranging from mains and desserts to party nibbles. According to Asda, this is its largest vegan Christmas offering to date, “suitable for whatever occasion the festive season has to offer”. The announcement coincides with World Vegan Month, which starts this November. Three new vegan items  Asda’s vegan Christmas range includes three new festive items for the holidays: Breaded Vegan Brie with Sweet Chilli Dip: Asda’s creamy vegan cheese bites are coated in a golden paprika and herb crumb and come with a sweet and spicy chilli dip for dipping. Plant-Based Vegan Turkey Crown with Umami Stock: The company’s plant-based vegan turkey crown comes topped with flavoured crumbs and finished with savoury umami butter.  Extra Special …

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Better Meat Turkey Sandwich

©Better Meat Co.

Fungi, Mushrooms & Mycelium

The Better Meat Co. Showcases Mycelium Foie Gras and Turkey at LinkedIn Headquarters

The Better Meat Co., the B2B fermented meat specialist, reveals it is debuting foie gras and turkey slices made from the company’s Rhiza mycoprotein at the LinkedIn headquarters in Sunnyvale, CA.  For one week, LinkedIn employees will be among the first to try the company’s mycelium-based products, including animal-free foie gras, a delicacy that is otherwise banned in California. “It’s illegal in California to sell foie gras, so we’re harnessing the power of fermentation to recreate a delectable experience in a humane and legal way,” said Paul Shapiro, CEO of The Better Meat Co. “We’re honored to partner with Bon Appetit Management Co. to offer Linkedin team members a taste of the future.” From steaks to seafood Located in Sacramento, The Better Meat Co. produces …

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vegan cheese

Image supplied by TVD

Politics & Law

Plant-Based Cheese Production and Sales Facing Unprecedented Ban in Turkey

Vegan cheese producers and consumers in Turkey are facing a government ban on sales and production following an unprecedented law by the Turkish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. The Vegan Association of Turkey has now filed a lawsuit against the ministry looking to overturn the latest in a line of plant-based censorship rulings.  According to the Vegan Association of Turkey, article 9/3 added to the Turkish Food Codex Regulation writes that: “Products giving the impression of [dairy] cheese cannot be produced using vegetable/plant-based oil or other food ingredients.” The pretense behind the ban is “to prevent adulteration”, but any product that is considered to resemble conventional cheese, but does not even contain the word cheese in its name or marketing, can be sanctioned.  Vegan cheese …

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Heura Christmas sandwich

©Heura

Society

Heura Christmas Sandwich Pop-Up Will Give Away 5,000 Vegan Turkey Sandwiches

Heura Christmas Sandwich pop-up will take place 9-14th December, at 58 Charing Cross Road, London – in an initiative to give away 5,000 sandwiches featuring plant-based turkey and other festive flavours The Heura Christmas Sandwich pop-up will see Europe’s fastest-growing plant-based meat producer – with a growth of 460% in the last year alone – hand out over 5,000 plant-based Christmas sandwiches. Speaking to vegconomist today, the brand, based in Spain but expanding into several markets and making huge gains in the UK, said “We’re working with Made In Hackney, both to help staffing, allow customers to donate, and for every 100 sandwiches we are giving 1kg of product.”   The #HeuraChristmasSandwich brings together festive flavours resembling a traditional Christmas dinner: Rosemary & thyme Heura …

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THIS / Caffé Nero

©THIS / Caffé Nero

Products & Launches

THIS Launches Plant-Based Turkey Panini at 700 Caffé Nero Locations Across UK 

Rapidly growing plant-based producer THIS has launched a vegan Christmas sandwich with UK high street coffee chain Caffé Nero. The Vegan Festive Feast Panini is available now in 700 sites across the UK. Known for what it calls “hyper-real food”, THIS is one of the UK’s leading plant-based meat producers. The new vegan offering at Caffé Nero features THIS plant-based turkey, cranberry and port sauce, and fresh spinach leaves, costing £4.60. Caffé Nero also offers a vegan meatball panini at most locations.  THIS recently secured an £11 million Series A round – the largest ever for a UK-based alt meat brand – and is stocked in over 8,900 retail distribution points including all four of the UK’s major grocers, despite only launching in 2019.  The …

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Biftek INC.

© Biftek INC.

Cultivated, Cell-Cultured & Biotechnology

Canada’s CULT FOODS Continues to Fund the Future of Food With Bistek Investment

CULT FOOD SCIENCE CORP, a Canadian-based investment platform focused exclusively on investments in cultured, lab-grown meat and dairy products, has completed the closing of a strategic investment in Biftek Inc. The news follows its very recent investment into Novel Farms, producer of whole cuts of gourmet cell-cultured meat such as Iberian pork and dry-cured Iberian ham. CULT Food Science states it “is an investment company focused on supporting and advancing the technology behind the future of food. We identify and make equity investments in global cultivated meat and dairy companies that are developing and commercializing innovative food technologies that enable a kinder, more secure, and more sustainable food supply chain.” Biftek plans to use CULT’s growth capital infusion to produce and distribute recipe samples to …

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Prime Roots Turkey

© Prime Roots

Food & Beverage

Tofurky Unable to Keep Up With Demand, New Plant-Based Turkeys Emerge

Tofurky has reported a huge spike in sales orders amounting to the company’s largest annual increase since 2015, stating to CNN Business that demand is so high that it needs to increase production but is limited this year due to staffing. Meanwhile new vegan turkeys are on the 2020 pre-holiday market including Prime Roots and Whole Foods.

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tofurky - new ham

©Tofurky

Company News

Tofurky Raises $7 Million

Tofurky, based in Oregon USA, has announced this week that it has raised $7 million investment from an outside, undisclosed source. Since 1995 Tofurky has produced Vegan Society Approved turkey replacement foods, made from wheat protein and organic tofu. CEO Jaime Athos has stated that revenues at the company grew 20% in 2018 from 2017, and this should continue to grow due to the global explosion of plant-based food.

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