Morning Folks,

It’s been a packed few days in Sydney at the Food Frontiers AltProteins ‘25 conference, where Australia’s food industry insiders, including government, manufacturers, gathered to discuss alternative proteins as a food security solution, followed by a panel at SXSW on a similar topic.

The latter discussion was moderated by Nik Gowing, former BBC World News anchor. For a generation of people, Nik was the face of news, present at major historical moments, including the September 11th attacks in the US and Princess Diana’s Death, which he shared live with over half a billion people during a seven-hour broadcast. It was a true honor to meet him and have Nik lead our panel. He now runs Thinking The Unthinkable, a platform (and book) that ‘empowers leaders on how to navigate the new uncertainties and disruption.’ In the context of what I do, it was an incredibly useful framing. The world is headed towards major supply chain shocks when it comes to our food systems, and the terrifying reality is that most of our leaders simply don’t or won’t ‘think the unthinkable’ and address it.

As far as events go, I enjoyed Food Frontier’s efforts to make it a different kind of conference: a T-shaped stage, a U-shaped audience and a push for interactivity with regular breaks in the stage programming to get attendee participation facilitatd by an ‘catch box’, a contraption with a microphone that folks could throw across the room to those who had something to share.

A few of my post-event reflections:

• The Australian government is listening and somewhat engaged on the topic, but funding is still lacking, and one official on stage said she needs to see better business plans.

• Australia is a net food exporter and a nation overflowing with good food bounty, including a constant and fairly high-quality supply of grass-fed beef, so the food security argument is a harder sell

• Compared to last year at the Melbourne events, there were far fewer alt protein startups and almost no VCs at all (I counted 4).

• There was very little programming on innovation (other than my panel featuring Mission Barns and Nourish Ingredients—the only deeptech one—only 2 other discussions included speakers from product-led companies.

• The audience was mostly food industry folks, policy people and researchers, and it felt like many were fairly new to the alternative protein, so the discussions sometimes were

Food Tech Event Drought?

We spend most of our time reporting on the difficulties startups are facing, but lately, I’ve been speaking to event organizers about how tough the market is for them…I fear next year there will be fewer gatherings for us to converge at. A major foodtech event in Europe was canceled suddenly, with less than a month to go. I heard very mixed reviews of Anuga’s inaugural ‘Alternatives’ track, with 3 separate people saying they would not return, and another food x climate event organizer told me they are having serious difficulty securing sponsorship. Still, a brave group is debuting a new summit about agrifood funding, so that’s something.

We need events. We need to meet and mull, we need to connect and commiserate, we need to share and socialize. We are humans, not robots, and our IRL interactions is often where the magic happens.

-Sonalie

💡 Only On Green Queen

🥚 Exclusive: Is Aquafaba Powder the Silver Bullet to Solve the Egg Crisis?
As food innovators respond to soaring egg prices with replacers ranging from yeast to pea protein, The Very Food Co is betting on chickpea water – but in a new format.

📈 CEO Interview: ‘Governments Embracing Sustainable Proteins Like Never Before’
Nigel Sizer, the new CEO of the Good Food Institute, discusses the current predicament of alternative proteins, the industry’s milestones, and the need for more investment.

✅ Must-Read Headlines

🍗 French cultivated meat leader Gourmey has acquired Vital Meat to form Parima, and aims to become the first cultivated protein company to get regulatory approval for two species.

The company combines Gourmey’s cultivated duck platform with Vital Meat’s cultured chicken technology, which are collectively the subject of nine active regulatory filings across the world.

💰 US plant-based meat startup Tender Food has evolved into a larger tech company, Lasso, and raised $6.5 million to create a suite of clean-label ingredients with its fibre-spinning technology.
💡Lasso plans to launch a slate of new brands and license its technology to other food producers.

💸 Asian investment platform Further is set to host a new summit in Singapore to unlock capital in the region’s agrifood tech sector, in partnership with VC firm AgFunder.
💡While Asia Pacific produces half of the world’s food, it attracts only a quarter of global agrifood investment; this event is designed to help close that funding gap.

🇫🇷 French startup Verley is eyeing a 2026 launch of its precision-fermented whey proteins after securing FDA GRAS approval.
💡The startup is in talks with several global food and nutrition leaders, including both established CPG players and emerging startups, and is working on securing fresh capital.

🥩 Wesley Batista, owner of the world’s largest meat company, JBS, has warned that the US is not producing enough beef to satisfy the GLP-1-fuelled protein demand. 
💡The company has invested hundreds of millions in alternative proteins over the years and has two plant-based subsidiaries, offering a ready-made solution that is much more climate-friendly.

👎🏼 Nestlé—aka the world’s largest food company—has left a global alliance pledging to curb methane emissions from dairy production.
💡This is just the latest instance of greenwashing on Nestlé’s part, and the corporate desertion of climate commitments comes as government support for such policies is scaling back globally.

💰 Key Research & Consumer Insights

🤩 Thailand, Vietnam, and Australia have abundant raw materials and forward-thinking public policies, making them potential global hubs for fermentation-derived food production, according to a report conducted on behalf of the Good Food Institute APAC.

🇦🇺 According to a new white paper by Cellular Agriculture Australia, the Agrifood Innovation Institute, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, and ANU National Security College, Australia could become a global hub for food biomanufacturing, yielding economic and food security wins. Here’s how.

🍕 Kid-focused meals in fast-food restaurants can be unhealthy and increasingly expensive; research from non-profit Food System Innovations reveals a surprising solution.

🇩🇪 Data analysis from ProVeg International shows that meat and milk consumption has declined in Germany, while the production of plant-based proteins has doubled since 2019, spotlighting the flexitarian consumer base.

🇹🇭 According to Madre Brava, sales of meat alternatives are on the rise in Thailand. Here’s why.

🚀 Everything Else In Future Food

🐶 UK startup The Pack and Germany’s MicroHarvest have teamed up to roll out gut health-boosting vegan dog treats featuring the latter’s microbial protein ingredient.

🏅 Impossible Foods’ plant-based beef and burger have become the first fresh food products to secure NSF’s “gold standard” certification for sports, opening up possibilities to serve MLB and NHL clubs.

🪖 The US is set to introduce over six million vegan meals and snacks annually in the military in 2027, in response to requests from service members.

🏨 Over a dozen hotels in the Filipino province of Cebu received an A grade for sustainability after committing to increasing plant-based options on their dining menus.

🏆 Time Magazine released its annual list of the world’s best inventions; here are the future food innovations that made the list.

🌾 GREEN QUEEN WIRE: Ascribe Bio secured $12 million Series A funding, in a round co-led by Acre Venture Partners and Corteva, to advance its next-generation natural crop protection.

🇯🇵 GREEN QUEEN WIRE: On November 13th–14th, Japan’s food-tech public-private committee working team and non-profits will host Cell-Ag-READY Dialogue 2025 Hybrid Symposium, a 2-day event at ENEOS Hall, Tokyo, bringing together stakeholders and regulatory scientists on Japan’s “Novel Food Framework”.

🌱🍔  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 Redefine Meat’s Asda rollout, Purezza’s new online vegan store, and Beyond Meat’s debt swap.

📆 Scene & Heard

👀 The Food Protein Summit 2026 Is Looking For Speakers

🇺🇸 The Food Protein Summit 2026, happening 15th-16th April 2026, is where experts in nutrition, science, and technology come together to advance food protein production and support a more accessible, sustainable food system. Learn more here.

🌱 The seventh-annual Reducetarian Summit will take place 24th-26th October, and will feature 100+ speakers and a full expo showcasing delicious plant-based food. Sign up here.

🧫 The International Scientific Conference on Cultured Meat will be held on November 9th-11th in Maastricht and will delve into the science and innovation behind lab-grown meat, exploring its environmental, ethical, and health impacts in the food industry. Secure your ticket here.

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