This is a table I made (ok me + GPT) based on openly available data on some key food commodities. Food prices have gone through the roof, as my mother would say, and they will continue to do so. Eating is becoming very expensive, and wages have not kept up with regular inflation, let alone food inflation, so it feels like even more of a painful hit to the wallet.

The great US egg shortage is currently leaving classic American diner owners asking if 24-hour breakfast can continue to be a realistic thing they offer. Parents are reporting they are feeding their kids fewer pieces of fresh fruit because prices are so high. Middle-class folks are rethinking their eating habits - no more dining out, cheaper grocery staples, less organic. Supermarkets everywhere are struggling to maintain existing pricing.

The reality is that those of us in the food and climate space are not surprised. We have known this moment was coming for a few years now. We also know it will continue to get worse. Every day food prices will keep soaring.

The dollar cost increases are visible to all of us. But what about the climate costs of all these foods, invisible to most? Climate footprint data (greenhouse gas emissions, water usage and land requirements) is static and is only as good as the inputs we have. This is problematic because climate inflation, or emissions inflation, is not being talked about or taken into account.* For example, it’s likely that the true climate cost of livestock meat is far worse than 7 years ago, which is when the data that everyone quotes is from.

Extreme weather events, supply chain disruption, natural resource stressors - these things don’t just make our food more expensive, they make our food more climate-costly. Again, this means our worst-case scenario assumptions and models are off. We are very likely greatly underestimating the real costs. And at some point, that bill will come due.

-Sonalie

*If anyone knows of any dynamic emissions data tools for food commodities, please share.

💡 Green Queen Exclusives

📊 Key Founder Insights: Fork & Good’s Nuya Gupta On The Road To $2 Cultivated Pork
Niya Gupta, co-founder and CEO of Fork & Good, shares what separates the startup from other cultivated meat players, earning its first revenue, and its regulatory plans.

🍳 Key Founder Insights: Eat Just Is Winning In The US Egg Crisis
Eat Just CEO Josh Tetrick tells Green Queen that soaring egg prices have driven up demand for its mung-bean-derived Just Egg, with sales hikes unlike what the firm has seen in the past.

🌱Opinion: VBites’ Heather Mills on The Future of Plant-Based
British vegan entrepreneur Heather Mills, founder of legacy brand VBites, on what’s going wrong for the plant-based industry – and how it can move forward.

💰 5 Minutes With A Future Food VC: Mudcake’s Anna Ottosson
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. Anna Ottosson, founding partner at Mudcake, shares her ‘why’ and reveals ‘the one that got away’.

🤩 Deep Dive: The Brands Pioneering The Gulf’s Alt Protein Industry
As more Brits, Europeans and Americans cool on meat alternatives, one region is making gains on the protein transition – can homegrown brands in the Gulf cater to local demand for plant-based meat?

🇺🇸 Industry Insights: What RFK Jr’s Appointment Means For Food Tech
Donald Trump’s pick for Health & Human Services Secretary has been confirmed. From cultivated meat to methane vaccines, how will food tech fare over the next four years?

💰 Funding News

🧁 US-based Oobli raised $18 million and partnered with global ingredients supplier Ingredion to co-develop better-for-you sugar alternatives with sweet proteins.
💡Making waves in the Ozempic era, Oobli is already working with a number of food companies globally, including Group Bimbo, with several product launches expected in 2025. 

🇪🇸 Spanish AI-powered fermentation startup MOA Foodtech received €14.8 million from the European Innovation Council to transform agricultural waste into high-value ingredients.
💡MOA Foodtech uses microbes already recognised as safe by the European Food Safety Authority and the US Food and Drug Administration, meaning it will be able to commercialise faster.

🇩🇪 German startup Kynda raised €3 million seed funding to expand production of its mycoprotein-based meat made from upcycled food waste.
💡The funding round included participation from German poultry giant PHW Group.

🇦🇺 Australian cultivated meat producer Magic Valley received A$100,000 in government funding to scale up production and drive down costs.
💡Magic Valley’s technology doesn’t require fetal bovine serum, and taps into induced pluripotent stem cells.

🤝🏼 Industry Partnerships & M&A

🧫 Israel’s Ever After Foods has partnered with Swiss manufacturing giant Bühler Group to produce cultivated meat at a mass scale with much smaller equipment.
💡Ever After Foods’ platform dramatically lowers production costs and yields up to six times more protein and 700 times more lipids from each cell, offering better flavour and nutritional value.

🇬🇧 Months after securing an exit for Deliciously Ella, founders Ella and Matthew Mills have acquired vegan ready-meal leader Allplants out of administration under their revamped Plants brand.
💡Instead of launching new products under the Allplants label, Plants will look to leverage the former’s social media following – it has nearly 200,000 followers across its accounts – to expand its reach.

🇺🇸 New York-based Blackbird Foods has been acquired by Ahimsa Companies, a holding company with several sustainable protein startups in its portfolio.
💡The deal will help Blackbird Foods expand its reach, enhance its manufacturing capabilities, and accelerate product innovation.

📚 Key Research & Consumer Insights

🌱🥩 Consumers are cutting back on meat due to health concerns, but plant-based alternatives fail to meet their taste expectations – a new study from Food System Innovations says blended proteins could win over meat lovers.

📈 Interest in eating more plant-based food is growing across the Global South, with high prices the biggest obstacle to increased consumption, according to a new 31-nation study.

👦🏻 The world’s most populous generation, Gen Alpha, thinks future foods like plant-based and cultivated meat are “inevitable” – but a new study reveals that first impressions matter.

🌱🍔  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 NotCo’s Dubai chocolate, BrewDog’s collaboration with Impossible Foods, and new products at Expo West.

📆 Scene & Heard

Future Food-Tech Returns To San Francisco Next Month!

🇺🇸 Join global leaders from CPGs & retailers, ingredient and technology providers to cutting-edge innovators and investors for strategic networking, exclusive industry insight and startup discovery at Future Food-Tech San Francisco, happening 13th-14th March 2025. Find out more here.

🗓️ With more than 400 delegates expected and +40 exhibiting companies, the Future of Protein Production Chicago boasts an industry-leading agenda that showcases the latest innovative breakthroughs to help accelerate the commercialization and scaling of alternative proteins. Sign up here.

🌱 Registration for Natural Products Expo West 2025 is open. Whether you are looking for health and beauty, organic, or natural and specialty foods, this is THE place to see the newest products and trends. It’s happening March 4th-7th; register here.

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