WNWN Food Labs is rethinking chocolate, without cocoa. FoodNavigator visits the start-up’s R&D lab to see how its dark and ‘milk’ chocolate alternatives are made.
Uncommon, formerly called Higher Steaks, leverages RNA, the molecule that contains the chemical instructions that direct cells’ natural machinery into making a protein, to create cultivated bacon and pork belly from animal cells.
The cell bank initiative is being spearheaded by Extracellular, a CDMO concerned that cultivated meat research is being impeded by costly animal primary cells.
Found in the forests of South and South East Asia, the Madhūka flower provides a versatile ingredient that can be used as nibs for cereals, snacks and museli, as powder for coffee and milkshakes, and as tea. Now, ōForest, a new brand, is bringing it to...
A major new innovation project led by the University of Copenhagen will convert nutrients and CO2 from shrimp and fish farming into seaweed for the food sector.
Spain’s Rice in Action is using innovative technology to produce a healthier, sustainable and easy to cook rice which can help boost productivity for food service providers and appeal to time-poor consumers lacking culinary skills.
Some products, such as croissants, need a bit of butter to get their unique texture. Israeli startup Gaven Technologies hopes to provide a vegan replacement of butter and other animal fats in bakery products, with its new plant-based fat FaTRIX.
The company says its plant-based butter is already as good as its conventional counterpart, and plans to close any taste and texture gaps in dairy-free creams and cheeses within the next three years.
A ‘ground-breaking’ £1 million project has been announced in the UK, which aims to both produce peas that are tasteless but retain nutritional value and have a significant impact on reducing the need for UK imports of soya.
As ProVeg International, a group wanting to replace animal consumption with alternative protein by 50% by 2040, opens an office in Nigeria – where most people already follow a plant rich diet, and where greenhouse gas emissions are low compared to developed...
Research suggests when it comes to buying sustainable products, an ‘intention-action gap’ exists amongst consumers. Which ‘nudging’ approaches can brands and retailers take to encourage more sustainable consumption?
With the global dairy alternatives market projected to reach over $61bn by 2029, what started as a niche offering is now commonplace in household fridges. Innovators are leaning into new product formats and category expansion to grow alt dairy, so what’s...
Israeli sugar reduction pioneer DouxMatok is going through a period change: the company is rebranding to Incredo LTD, has secured $30m (€27m) in Series C funding, and working to expand its reach on both sides of the Atlantic.
With experts in the dark as to why numbers of childhood allergies are increasing, safe food options are critical, says Kirsty Dingwall, founder of Angelic Free From – a UK brand that has launched what it claims is the first dedicated kids' top 14-allergen-free...
The US company behind the EEASY Lid, claimed to be the world’s first aluminium lug lid designed to assist the rising numbers who wrestle with hard-to-open lids, has announced that Germany's largest supermarket EDEKA Kempken is the first to adopt...
Meet Xampla, the British company innovating solutions for two separate industry challenges: plastic pollution and the protection of valuable vitamins and nutrients. Food-Navigator Europe caught up with Stanley Mitchell, Head of Business Development at...
Libre Foods is working with both fungi fruiting bodies and mycelia to boost diversity, functionality, and taste in meat-free offerings, CEO Alan Iván Ramos tells FoodNavigator.
The taste, appearance, and nutritional profile of plant-based meat analogues can be improved by a single ingredient, according to Belgian start-up Paleo: myoglobin. We catch up with co-founder and CEO Hermes Sanctorum to ask about this novel, animal-free...
It is estimated that two-thirds of European countries now use whole-genome sequencing (WGS) in food safety programmes. But it is time the technique is used to bring greater health benefits to functional foods, Dr Thomas Gurry, co-founder and CEO of gut...
Start-ups in Europe with a bent towards finding solutions that promise to reduce the environmental footprint of the food system are resisting the rise of investor retrenchment globally, a new report claims.
Farmless claims to be making 'carbon negative' protein. The Dutch start-up has developed the means to make this protein using between 10 and 25 times less agricultural land than your average plant-based protein, and between 250 and 500 times...
Danish maker of bio-based ingredients Octarine Bio and US cell programming company Ginkgo Bioworks have partnered up to engineer a strain for producing violacein and its derivatives.
The taste and texture of meat and dairy analogues have come a long way. But according to alternative protein experts, ‘there is still room for improvement’. How will the next generation of innovators win over consumers, and what hurdles will they need...
Using Mediterranean almonds predominantly grown with rainwater, rather than their ‘intensively produced’ Californian counterparts, Italian start-up Dreamfarm is development plant-based alternatives to mozzarella and spreadable cheese.
The recent Plant-Based Protein Manufacturing Summit in Amsterdam brought together leading businesses in the plant-based food and beverage industry with co-manufacturers, innovative equipment and solution providers to explore the challenges and opportunities...
The plant-based sector remains an enormous long-term growth opportunity, though investor retrenchment will continue in the short term, investors told the recent Plant-Based Protein Manufacturing Summit in Amsterdam.
Plant-based company Heura, known for its meatless chorizo sausages, chorizo burgers, and chicken, has unveiled new technology to create high-protein plant-based meat, free of e-numbers.
Last year, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) sent seeds into space. The seeds have now returned and the organisations will begin new efforts to develop resilient crops that...
In February, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) released guidance on how competition laws – laws that ensure that agreements between businesses don’t stifle competition – could affect companies striving for sustainability. The guidance said...
Meat.The End claims to be introducing the first meat alternative burger to market made from texturized chickpea protein isolate, using its proprietary technology. We catch up with CEO Dr Yishai Mishor to ask what makes this development an industry first.
Survey findings suggest ‘meat alternatives are here to stay’, says Jeremy Coller, president of the alternative proteins trade association that commissioned the research.
Consumer interest in diets like keto, carnivore, paleo, and intermittent fasting is mounting. Do these trending diets offer long-term opportunities for food innovators?
By René Floris, NIZO Food Research Division Manager
With consumers increasingly aware of the health consequences of their diet and businesses facing an increasingly challenging economic environment, is there a way to repurpose leftover microbes to help both groups?
In some ways, the Gen Z market is just like any other market. Their nutritional needs are not radically different, or radically more restricted, than those older or younger than them. However, marketing to the generation of teenagers and twenty-somethings...
An overwhelming majority of delegates at FoodNavigator’s recent Positive Nutrition Summit see potential in the ‘hybrid’ category, but meat-free innovators are not convinced.
With consumers increasingly becoming more health-conscious, personalised nutrition apps are everywhere. A multitude of apps give people nutritional advice, helping them to optimise their diet and become healthier. One such app, Youniq, uses AI technology...
Smoked salmon, canned tuna, tarama spread and roes…made from algae? The ‘Seafood Alg-ternative’ project, with support from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, is working to transform algae into plant-based seafood substitutes.
Plant-based is one of the most important trends in the food industry today. Meat- and dairy-free products are helping provide food alternatives to an ever-growing flexitarian market. But some questions still remain. For one, since many plant-based foods...
