Morning All,

A recent column by Semafor Energy got me thinking about how China is increasingly well-positioned to lead the future food biotechnology space, particularly sustainable proteins. Here’s why I see it playing out that way:

• National independence as priority: The Iran war will only serve to sharpen China’s focus on self-reliance. As Semafor noted, its “electrostate”—massive EV and renewable buildout—has buffered it from global energy price spikes. Food security follows the same logic: sustainable proteins aren’t optional; they’re strategic imperatives.

• Nation of engineers: China produces close to half the world’s STEM graduates and engineers. Its leaders value the technical grind that fields like cultivated meat and precision fermentation demand. China has the talent that these sectors require.

• Long-term strategic planning: The Chinese Politburo thinks and operates on decades-long horizons, with everything meticulously mapped out through five-year plans in contrast with Western short-termism dominated by election cycles.That kind of deliberate foresight can nurture biotech breakthroughs that take years,

• Direct policy support for sustainable protein: Beijing explicitly backs industries that serve the public good. Cultivated meat and fermented protein research are receiving university and state funding because these sectors can potentially deliver food security, lower emissions, and pollution reduction—all boxes Beijing wants to tick.

• Quality of life focus: China knows keeping 1.4 billion people content means affordable, nutritious food alongside reliable energy and cleaner air. Sustainable proteins will help deliver on all these fronts. It’s not a question of entirely replacing animal proteins; it’s about optionality and health.

• Explicit Five-Year Plan commitment: This week China released the draft of its new plan and it makes sustainable proteins a clear national goal for food resilience and independence, more details in our reporting.

• Follow the EV/solar playbook: China’s breathtaking arc in electric vehicles and renewables offers the blueprint. They didn’t wait for consumer demand or perfect tech—they subsidised domestic champions (BYD, CATL), built massive supply chains, crushed costs through scale, then dominated globally and are now, as I argued here, the de facto global climate leader. Sustainable proteins will likely follow the same path: state-backed scale-up → cost parity.

There are clear lessons here for the rest of the world, and particularly middle-income countries. For climate folks, from founders to policymakers, it’s worth a closer look. China is not waiting for consumer trends or VC appetites; it's building the infrastructure now, from policy to pilot plants. The future of the global sustainable protein sector just might be engineered in Shenzhen, instead of Silicon Valley.

-Sonalie

💡 Only On Green Queen

👶🏻 Exclusive: All G Awarded NSW Govt Grant to Scale Recombinant Breast Milk Protein for Infant Formula
Australian precision fermentation startup All G has received an A$1.1 million ($775,000) grant from the New South Wales government to expand production of its human beta-casein protein.

👭🏻 Industry Insights: How Food Tech Startups Are Revolutionizing Women’s Health & Wellness
These female-led future food startups are using technology to supercharge the women’s health and wellness category.

💰 Funding News

🐚 British sustainable packaging firm Shellworks secured $15 million in Series A funding for its plastic-free Vivomer material, which is produced via the microbial fermentation of waste.
💡The new capital will enable Shellworks to acquire more brand partners for its packaging, as well as make a move into the EU and the US.

🤠 Dutch startup Those Vegan Cowboys raised €12.25 million ($14.2 million) in its latest investment round, following a record-breaking crowdfunding campaign for its animal-free casein.
💡The startup is already working with over 10 food companies, including dairy majors Westland Kaas and Hochland, to produce cheese and milk chocolate products with its cow-free casein.

🌱 US plant-based protein bar maker Mezcla closed a $9.5 million Series B funding round to develop new products and expand its distribution.
💡Mezcla’s vegan protein bars have already made it to over 9,000 retail stores across the protein-obsessed US, including Whole Foods, Sprouts, Publix, H-E-B, Target, Albertsons, Kroger and Costco.

🌾 Belgian agtech firm Rainbow Crops has been awarded a $7 million grant from the Gates Foundation to advance its AI-driven tech to create crops that are climate-resistant and high-yielding.
💡Unlike traditional breeding or single-gene approaches, Rainbow Crops’ tech is designed to address traits controlled by multiple interacting genes, such as drought tolerance and plant vigour, significantly shortening development times and costs.

🍫 Brazil’s Cellva Ingredients raised R$20 million ($3.8 million) pre-Series A funding to scale up its chocolate alternative made from coffee husks.
💡By building its platform within Brazil, the world’s largest producer of coffee, Cellva is operating close to the supply chain’s origin and ensuring full traceability from farm to finished ingredient.

✅ Must-Read Headlines

🇸🇪 Swedish precision fermentation startup Melt&Marble has secured clearance to sell its animal-free fat for food in the US and personal care lipid internationally.
💡It is working to launch its first food product later this year in collaboration with a commercial partner, likely debuting personal care products made with its Marble7 fat alternative in Europe first.

🇩🇰 Danish startup Ferm Food has acquired Orkla’s former facility to expand production of its lacto-fermented plant-based ingredients.
💡From April, Ferm Food will begin producing ingredients like fermented oats, rye, fava beans and rapeseed cake at the site, with an output of nearly 20,000 tonnes at full capacity.

📉 Beyond Meat has received a deficiency letter from Nasdaq, warning that the public company faces a delisting risk after its stock registered below $1 for 30 consecutive business days.
💡The warning comes as Beyond Meat’s stock price has shrunk by 76% over the last year, and its market cap is less than $350M, having hit $14B following its IPO in 2019.

🥛 Oat milk pioneer Oatly is pumping $16 million into its Landskrona facility to expand capacity by over 33% and meet the accelerating demand for its products, while lowering its climate impact.
💡After a period of declining sales, demand for plant-based milk has returned in Europe, rising by 6% in the last 12 months, according to Nielsen analysis cited by Oatly.

📊 Policies & Priorities

🇨🇳 China has released a draft of its policy priorities under its 15th five-year plan for economic growth, with new protein sources and green energy a key part of its climate strategy.
💡The government plans to “support enterprises in carrying out industrialisation and application of new proteins and functional foods” and “include new protein sources in the national food security strategy” - great news for Chinese food tech firms.

🚫 After months of back and forth, the European Union has agreed to ban 31 meat-like names from being used on plant-based product labels, including ‘chicken’, ‘beef’, ‘steak’, and ‘bacon’.
💡While some common terms have been exempted, policymakers have decided to extend the ban to cultivated meat, in a move that could further slow down innovation in the region.

🚀 Everything Else In Future Food

🐶 Australia’s Magic Valley launched Rogue Pet, the country’s first cultivated meat treats for dogs, and the first drop of products sold out within a week.

🥚 With the global egg market in crisis, Mexican food conglomerate Sigma Foods has teamed up with precision fermentation startup Onego Bio to explore innovations with its animal-free egg white protein.

🥩🌱 Spanish startup Novameat, known for its pulled plant-based meat products, is expanding its horizons by offering its beef alternative for blended meat applications.

🍫 Nestlé has launched a new Snack Vibes line under its Choco Crossies brand made with ChoViva, a cocoa-free chocolate alternative by Germany’s Planet A Foods.

🇺🇸 For Americans, nothing influences food purchases more than health this year, according to a new survey from The New Consumer and VC firm Coefficient Capital, which sheds light on protein preferences, GLP-1 users, sugar alternatives, and ultra-processed foods.

🌱🍔  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 Starbucks return, Quorn’s ready-to-go bites, and a host of Indian alternative protein launches.

📆 Scene & Heard

🚀 Don’t Miss Future Food-Tech Chicago in June

🇺🇸 Future Food-Tech Chicago on 15th-16th June will bring together innovators, global food corporates, investors, ingredient providers, manufacturers, and policy makers to forge partnerships, bridge supply gaps, and discover the next generation of sustainable proteins and ingredients. Get your ticket here.

🌏 GFI APAC is looking for a qualified research or consulting partner to design and implement a foodservice-focused cost-in-use study comparing blended meat products with conventional animal meat and plant-based benchmarks in Asia. Interested? Find out more here.

👩🏻‍🍳 Nomad Food just launched its second Future Foods Lab challenge: The Culinary Creativity Challenge. It’s looking for innovations in everything from global flavours and meal kits to unique sauces, toppings, and smart packaging solutions; learn more and apply here.

Stop Drowning In AI Information Overload

Your inbox is flooded with newsletters. Your feed is chaos. Somewhere in that noise are the insights that could transform your work—but who has time to find them?

The Deep View solves this. We read everything, analyze what matters, and deliver only the intelligence you need. No duplicate stories, no filler content, no wasted time. Just the essential AI developments that impact your industry, explained clearly and concisely.

Replace hours of scattered reading with five focused minutes. While others scramble to keep up, you'll stay ahead of developments that matter. 600,000+ professionals at top companies have already made this switch.

Join them today, for free.