Morning All,

A whole host of reports have come out this week suggesting that folks, particularly the younger supposedly climate-conscious GenZ demographic, are increasing their animal meat consumption after a few years of decline. Moreover, these folks are telling researchers that sustainability is no longer top-of-mind when it comes to their food and grocery purchases. This is no doubt a stumbling block for the sustainable protein space- stay tuned for our upcoming reporting on why this is happening. While center-of-plate alternatives are struggling, I see three major areas of opportunity for startups, and in all three, consumers are willing to spend on premium solutions:

• PET FOOD: Younger folks are having (WAY) fewer kids. Instead, they are having pets. And they are spending on their furry friends big time. We have been seeing some wins in this sector, especially with cultivated meat pet food and I predict more to come. The other day, a food industry consultant told me that while people think of Mars as a chocolate bar company, in the future it will be a pet food business with some confectionary.

• BABY & KIDS FOOD: The people deciding to have babies are getting pickier than ever about what they feed their bubs. It seems investors and founders are finally waking up to the significant opportunity that is healthy, climate-smart kids nutrition (see here and here ). Also, as a recent new mum (2nd one), I can tell you, that it’s a constant struggle to find quality snacks and on-the-go foods for my little one.

• FIBRE: The GLP-1 revolution is creating a major shift in the food industry, with millions of people soon to be taking these drugs for the medium to long term. Folks who are using them are increasingly fiber-conscious. In fact, with the rise in awareness about gut health generally, even non-GLP-1 consumers are looking for high-fibre foods. This is an opportunity for plant-based alternatives, that can offer a 2-for-1 protein AND fibre solution.

Separately, I want to shout out to the entire Green Queen team, especially Anay, Nicola and Jenny. They have been working so hard to get you the best future food coverage on the planet and they are succeeding and then some from reporting to curating this newsletter to flooding social channels. This week, we’ve got more exclusive stories than ever, with in-depth reporting, interviews and analysis you won’t find anywhere else - don’t miss out. We are a tiny yet mighty crew and I am super proud. Go team!

-Sonalie

💡 Green Queen Exclusives

📊 Trends, Challenges & Opportunities - Food & Climate Tech Funding
Food and climate tech investors remained cautious with their cash in 2024 , as funding for alternative proteins dipped, investments failed to align with emissions impact, and women founders were sidelined yet again.

🥔 Industry Insights: This AI-Led Startup Is Growing Dairy Proteins In Potatoes
Israel’s Finally Foods has announced its first field trial for potatoes containing casein , less than a year after the molecular farming startup launched.

💰 Five Minutes With A Future Food VC: Big Idea Ventures’ Andrew D. Ive
In our new interview series, we quiz future food investors about the solutions that excite them the most, their favourite climate-forward restaurant, and what they look for in successful founders. Big Idea Ventures ’ General Managing Partner, Andrew D. Ive , talks tenacity and plant-based shrimp salad .

🍼 Key Founder Insights: Amy Langfield of Grow with Iris
Grow with Iris co-founder Amy Langfield explains why she created a free-from, plant-based milk for toddlers , and details her quest to develop an all-conquering infant formula.

🍳 Trend Report: The Solutions to Soaring Egg Prices  
With egg prices returning to sky-high levels in the US, it brings a major opportunity for plant-based and fermentation-derived alternatives. Can these companies capitalise on the moment?

📈 Must-Read Headlines

🐶 London-based Meatly ’s cultivated chicken has debuted at Pets at Home in the UK, as part of a hybrid dog treat made by vegan pet food startup The Pack , in what is a global first for the alternative protein industry.
💡Meatly recently secured an undisclosed sum of funding to add to the £3.6 million it had already raised to date, and now plans to attract more investment to help scale up production.

🚀 Dutch cultivated meat pioneer Mosa Meat has filed a dossier for regulatory approval in Switzerland a day after surpassing its crowdfunding goal of €1.5 million in just 24 minutes.
💡Mosa Meat will use the funds to accelerate its R&D as it works towards commercialisation.

🇬🇧 The founders of London-based plant-based pet food startup Omni   secured £75,000 from two investors on Dragons’ Den UK this week.
💡The famous investors valued the vegan dog food business at £3 million, and it generated over £2.5 million in sales in 2022 and 2023.

💶 Hot Topic - Climate Funding

📉 Driven by climate-related disruptions, America’s largest banks face financial risks of up to $9.3 billion from their investment in livestock agriculture, according to a new report by Dutch research group Profundo .
💡The 31 companies that benefit from this capital – including Nestlé, JBS, Tyson Foods, Fonterra, and Danone – themselves stand to lose up to $5.4 trillion.

🇨🇦 Canada’s agrifood tech sector is built on public investment, which leaves a “venture capital gap”, according to a report by the Canadian Food Innovation Network – and Trump tariffs threaten to further complicate things .

🇬🇧 New analysis shows that the UK has invested £75 million towards the development of sustainable proteins. But more can be done .

🍔 Everything Else in Future Food

🥩 Slovenia’s Juicy Marbles released Meaty Meat , a whole-cut marbled lamb analogue, in the US. It features nearly 70% of the daily recommended intake of protein, and 40% of fibre, and is its cheapest product yet.

📉 The EIT Food Consumer Observatory’ s annual Food Trust Report reveals that the number of Europeans who say they eat sustainably has dropped to 46%, despite calls for the bloc’s citizens to cut back on meat and dairy. Here’s what’s going on .

🌟 Among the 22 new one-star UK restaurants in the 2025 Michelin Guide, Plates London stands out as the nation’s first 100% vegan eatery to receive the honour .

👩🏻‍🏫 After revolutionising vegan cheese, Miyoko Schinner is leveraging her decades-long experience to teach everything plant-based at all nine University of California campuses.

🌱🍔  Future Food Quick Bites 

In our weekly column, Future Food Quick Bites , we round up the latest news and developments in the alternative protein and sustainable food industry. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers Beyond Meat’s new products and cookbook, the US’s first corn milk brand, and a cultivated seafood tasting.

📆 Scene & Heard

Connect with Experts at SynBioBeta 2025 this May

🧫 Taking place 5th-8th May, at SynBioBeta 2025 you will connect with pioneers who are transforming the life sciences—reprogramming biology for faster drug discovery, designing enzyme-driven industrial processes, and deploying climate-positive solutions at scale. Green Queen’s founding editor, Sonalie Figueiras, is the Food & Ag Chair for the event and will see you there. Register here.

🇪🇺 The 2025 EIT Food Accelerator Network programme is for impact-driven European AgriFoodTech startups with a game-changing solution, looking for tech validation and commercial acceleration to drive the ultimate goal - a successful market adoption. Applications close on 21st February 2025; don’t miss your opportunity to apply !

🗓️ Join the global meeting point for industry leaders, investors, and decision-makers who are driving the next chapter of food, trade, and investment from 17 – 21 February 2025 at Gulfood 2025 in Dubai. Sign up here .

🌱 Don’t miss Vegetarian Food Asia , the largest and most comprehensive showcase of vegetarian and eco-friendly living in Hong Kong. With 300+ exhibitors and 600 brands, offering 6,000+ vegetarian and green living products. Find out more here .