Thank you to all of you who wrote in about my note last week, expressing concern about what happened on the panel. I promise I'm ok. I also promise I did not take it personally. Rather, I see what happened as a kind of gauge on where we are and what we need to be ready for. Meanwhile, the organizer contacted me about speaking at an executive leaders’ summit to share more about the future food vision that we are all working towards, so small victories 🙂.

Another week, another event anecdote. This time, I was at a philanthropy conference about unlocking capital for impact and sustainability. The speakers were excellent- I particularly enjoyed the discussion on what AI can do for the space- but the side chats were where the real action was. And it was grim. I heard in real time how devastating the impact of USAID cuts are on major nature and biodiversity NGOs. One person at a well-known organization told me they had just let go of 50 people that week. Another told me two important illegal trade charities are on the brink of collapse. I heard about how data is harder to come by now, making impact giving harder to justify. Major global foundations are pulling back too, apparently with one source specifically calling out the fact that certain billionaires do not want their philanthropy arms to appear to cross President Trump's agenda in any way*. Another topic that came up was the Greenpeace $660 million ruling, which has sent chills down the spine of most NGO leaders.

Grim stuff, which had me feeling pretty down. Less funding, fewer NGOs, lawsuit-shy activists, climate data scarcity- it will all have ripple effects on the private sector too. We all work in an intertwined web of food systems change and nature conservation.

Still, it's not all bad. I've been hearing that California wants to step up and become the climate philanthropy and tech hub of the US, which is exciting. Elsewhere, a couple of news bites caught my eye:

• Bon Appetit, the Conde Nast-owned food glossy that survived the great food magazine cull of the mid-2000s (RIP Gourmet), published its first Innovation issue, which “explores the relationship between food, technology, and society” covering biotechnology, precision agriculture and the digitalization of restaurants.

• Apple has finally launched a ‘ Climate’ category in its podcast app because there are now so many of them. H/T to investigative climate reporter Amy Westervelt for bringing this to my attention (her excellent podcast Drilled is a must-listen), calling the news “A tiny sparkle in an otherwise dreary time".

Apple and Conde Nast are hyper-focused on their bottom lines, so I see both of these as relevant signals that there is clearly significant appetite (!) for content on these topics. But we already knew that ;)

-Sonalie

*The private sector is not immune to any of this. A prestigious climate tech accelerator has scrubbed the term climate from its website since the inauguration, and my source told me it was directly linked to Trump's anti-ESG campaign.

💡 Green Queen Exclusives

📈 Trend Report: Protein is Everywhere – These Startups Make Sure It Doesn’t Cost the Earth
We may be overconsuming protein, but the global appetite for the nutrient continues to grow – and future food brands are listening, from protein syrup for your coffee to protein oats.

🇪🇺 Industry Insights: EU Commits to Protein Diversification Strategy, But MEPs Push for More Action
The EU Commission has answered calls to create a protein diversification strategy; parliamentarians say more definitive action is needed.

💰 5 Minutes With A Future Food VC: Paulig Incubator’s Erika Hombert
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. Here, Erika Hombert, Senior Investment Manager at Paulig Incubator, shares her most successful future food investment to date and the tech that excites her the most.

🥩 Opinion: Uniting Innovation with Tradition is the Way Forward for Sustainable Meat Production
Jeff Tripician is the CEO of Meatable, a Dutch food tech startup working on cultivated pork. A former meat industry exec, he argues that a collaborative approach is the only recipe for success.

✅ Must-Read Headlines

🇪🇺 BioCraft Pet Nutrition received registration from Austrian authorities to sell its cultivated meat ingredient in pet food applications across the EU.
💡It’s the biggest milestone in the startup’s nine-year history, and leading manufacturer Partner in Pet Food is now “investigating options” with BioCraft.

🌏 British cultivated meat company Hoxton Farms has partnered with Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation to bring its pork fat ingredient to Asia.
💡The two companies will work to secure partnerships with food manufacturers and work with regulators and stakeholders to obtain approval ahead of its market entry.

🇨🇳 Chinese government officials have called for a boost to the national biotech capacity and the introduction of a novel food framework at its Two Sessions summit.
💡Experts suggest that for the East Asian country to decarbonise, half of its protein consumption must come from alternative sources by 2060.

🌱 Plant-Based News

🥓 New York-based Ecovative secured $11 million to support the expansion of its mycelium-based MyBacon, sold under its spinout company, MyForest Foods.
💡The startup claims it bacon is the fastest-selling plant-based breakfast item in the natural channel.

🇦🇺 Australian Plant Proteins, which went into insolvency last year, has been acquired by investment firm My Co and will resume operations next month.
💡The move is said to support local farmers, protect jobs, and reinforce Australia’s status as a plant-based leader.

🍔 Canada’s Odd Burger has halted its US expansion plan amid “increased political tensions, uncertainty on Canadians travelling to the US, and [the] ever-changing tariff situation”.
💡To deal with the impact of tariffs in the US, the company had planned to replicate the vertically integrated supply chain it uses in Canada.

🥥 Califia Farms launched a line of summer-coded fruity drinks made with coconut cream, tapping into the growing trend for flavoured plant-based milk.

📺 British vegan food brand Deliciously Ella’s latest campaign attacks ultra-processing, which is now among plant-based meat’s biggest pain points.

🚫 France’s food safety agency ANSES has recommended banning soy products in mass catering over outdated health concerns about isoflavones, sparking backlash from environmental groups and scientists who cite soy’s proven health and sustainability benefits.

🌱 A new report from BW Research Partnership and Faunalytics suggests that the US could create tens of thousands of roles and witness an economic boost by simply making plant-based food more common.

🧫 Everything Else In Future Food

🇫🇷 French precision fermentation startup Bon Vivant has rebranded to Verley and rolled out a range of functional animal-free whey proteins in the US, which it says solves several challenges in the conventional and alternative protein market.

🧪 Scientists at the Tecnológico de Monterrey, in collaboration with the Technical University of Denmark, have developed a process that can upcycle whey into sustainable single-cell proteins through fermentation.

👎🏼 Grass-fed beef is as bad for the planet as the industrial version, and significantly more carbon-intensive than plant proteins, reveals a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal.

🐟 Cultivated seafood isn’t just better for marine animals, the planet, and human health – a new study from researchers at the James Cook University highlights that it can also put fish back on the menu for those with severe allergies.

🌱🍔  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 Ajinomoto and Solar Foods’ latest product launch, Unity Diner’s return, and a new meat-free omakase experience in Hong Kong.

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📆 Scene & Heard

The Future of Protein Production Amsterdam Will Be Biggest Yet!

🇳🇱 The Future of Protein Production Amsterdam is taking place on 29th & 30th October. This year, the event will showcase exciting new ideas and solutions for protein production, and is expecting 1,000 attendees and over 60 exhibitors, making it the biggest event yet! Get your early bird ticket here.

🇨🇭Whether you’re looking for new talents to add to your radar, find your next investment, or seal your next partnership deal, you’re sure to find a whole host of opportunities waiting for you at the HackSummit in Lausanne on May 15-16th. Sign up here.

🇳🇱 F&A Next, taking place 21st-22nd May, is about thought leadership and connecting promising startups and scale-ups to dedicated Food and Agtech investors and leading corporates. It includes two days of networking, pitching, and debating the dynamics of food and agriculture; get your ticket here.

🏅 Applications for Food Tech Challengers are open: If you are looking to pitch your solutions to investors, applications for Food Tech Congress’ annual startup pitch battle are live – apply here.