🇬🇧 The UK Could Lead The Alt Protein Transition - Stakeholders Outline How

With a host of positive developments recently, the UK’s alternative protein sector is at a tipping point – but the country needs further action to solidify its leadership.

• The UK became just the fourth in the world (and first in Europe) to allow cultivated meat to be sold (to pets), set up a national hub for future foods, and finally broke away from EU novel food regulations to speed up its own regulatory process.

• 16% of British households are food insecure or have low levels of security, and alternative proteins could add £6.8 billion every year to the country’s economy and create 25,000 jobs by 2035.

• A new briefing written by stakeholders in the food sector, including the Bezos Earth Fund’s Centre for Sustainable Protein in London, the Good Food Institute Europe, and the National Alternative Protein Innovation Centre makes it clear that several actions need to be taken for the UK to truly transform its food system. ➡️ Find out more here.

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🌱 Interview: Plantega CEO Nil Zacharias on Plant-Based Bodegas
Nil Zacharias, the company’s founder and CEO talks bodegas, BECs, New York City, plant-based struggles, and plans to expand across the US.

🇨🇳 The State of Play: Unlocking China’s Appetite for Plant-Based Milk
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🏷️ Key Insights: Should Brands Worry About Plant-Based Meat & Dairy Labels?
A new YouGov survey reveals that around half of Americans don’t like the use of meat- and dairy-related terms on plant-based products, but should this shake up brands’ marketing strategies?

📈 Must-Read Headlines

🍫 US startup Blue Stripes secured $20 million Series B funding for its upcycled cacao products, including new ‘superfood chocolates’, with backers including Hershey’s and celebrity chef Nick DiGiovanni.
💡The comapny is aiming to greenify one of the world’s most wasted fruit, which is also responsible for a highly polluting industry.

💰The Jackfruit Company, behind consumer brand Jack & Annie's, raised $5 million in a Series B extension round to support its product development and expansion efforts.
💡It is already the most well-funded jackfruit protein company and its products are available in more than 6,000 retail stores across the US and Canada.  

🇸🇬 Singaporean cultivated seafood producer Umami Bioworks has expanded operations to the UK, and is in talks with the country’s regulator as it maps a path to market.
💡The company’s model in the UK mirrors its scale-up approach globally, as it intends to partner with an established food company to establish domestic production built upon its technology platform.

🇫🇷 Umiami, the Parisian startup making whole-cut plant-based chicken, has rebranded to Swap and has entered the US foodservice sector.
💡Swap is targeting flexitarians via restaurants to encourage them to “swap” to a “new kind of chicken”.

👨🏻‍⚖ A federal judge has refused Upside Foods’ request for a preliminary injunction in its lawsuit against Florida’s ban on cultivated meat.
💡This does not spell the end of the lawsuit, though it does mean that Upside will be unlikely to showcase its cultivated chicken at the Art Basel festival in Miami in December.

🧫 Everything Else In Future Food

🌱 Connecticut-based Wayback Burgers’ franchisee in Asia has opened a 100% plant-based chain called Next Restaurant in Japan, with major expansion plans in sight.

🌾 A research project in Switzerland, led by MatLust Development Node, is using hydrothermal treatment to ‘trick’ grains into releasing as many minerals as animal proteins like red meat.

🇺🇸 Some of America’s leading vegan food companies are part of a first-of-its-kind marketing campaign for the plant-based industry, called ‘Plant-Based May Cause’.

🇪🇺 New analysis shows that cultivated meat could bring 90,000 jobs and €85 billion to the EU economy, but not without this key thing.

📊 Two new studies have found that plant-based meat can match or outperform beef on many nutritional fronts, while also making you full faster.

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🌱🍔  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 Vital Meat’s cultivated chicken tasting in Singapore, Oatly’s new marketing campaign, and layoffs at The Every Company.

📆 Scene & Heard

Don’t miss The Future Of Protein Production Amsterdam next week!

🇳🇱 The Future of Protein Production Amsterdam is next week, and time is running out to secure your pass. We're pleased to be a media partner at Future of Protein Production Amsterdam, taking place on 23rd & 24th October at RAI Amsterdam. Join us and over 500 attendees at Europe’s meeting place to accelerate the commercialisation of alternative proteins. Use discount code GQ20 for 20% off.

🇩🇪 The Smart Proteins Summit, happening in Frankfurt on November 5th, will offer participants a comprehensive view of market events and developments within the plant-based, fermented and cultivated industries. Get more details here.

🏆 The FoodCons shared its list of the 99+1 People Shaping the Global Agrifoodtech Sector including our founder Sonalie Figueiras. See the list here.

Want More? Check out Green Queen’s Deep Dive series: 

• Blended Meats Are Here 

• Meat Misinformation Deep Dive

• Ozempic & the GLP-1 Revolution

• Policy Matters: Regulating Future Food Innovation