Morning folks,

Since the beginning of the year, and especially since the start of President Trump's first term, we've gotten boatloads of new subscribers to this newsletter. It occurred to me that it's been a long time since I've introduced what exactly we do here so thought I'd do a quick recap.

At Green Queen, we're on a mission to tell the global food and climate story. Every day, we are reporting from the frontlines of the future of food and the food tech economy in the context of a worsening climate crisis that demands a rethink of our global food systems.

Over the past few months, we have ramped up our original reporting and coverage to offer what we hope is the best coverage of the space out there.

While we will continue to bring you the latest news on sector startups, from funding rounds to tech wins to product launches, we're doubling down on stories that are unique to our tiny (but mighty!) media platform, stories you won't find elsewhere and that will keep you informed and ahead of mainstream media noise:

• Trend reports where we do a deep dive into industry niches like Alt Alt- Milks , Chicken-Free Eggs and Bean-Free Chocolate .

• Opinion pieces written exclusively for Green Queen, in which leaders of the industry express their views and share their insights

• Explainers and guides on future food policy across the world, and how governments are shaping the future of food, with a particular focus on the Trump administration's moves , from MAHA & RFK JR to the gutting of US food & ag agencies

• Curated analysis on the latest scientific, governmental and consumer behaviour research.

• Original interviews with ecosystem insiders including new content series like our 5 Minutes with a Food Tech VC

It's a wild time in the world, but one thing's for sure, as journalists we are busier than ever.

As always, thank you for reading!

-Sonalie

💡 Green Queen Exclusives

📉 Deep Dive: Unilever, Nestlé & Monde Nissin Reassess Meat-Free Ambitions
Unilever’s struggle to sell The Vegetarian Butcher and Nestlé and Monde Nissin’s slowing meat alternative sales are bad news for the plant-based market .

🇬🇧 Explainer: Why Climate Change Experts Are Asking the UK Govt to Replace Meat with Plant-Based Alternatives
Brits need to drastically reduce their meat and dairy consumption to help the country meet its climate goals, and experts say plant-based and alternative proteins are the key to this shift. Here’s why .

❓Industry Insights: ReFED’s Sara Burnett
Sara Burnett , executive director of non-profit ReFED , talks food waste in the US, state bans, and the “profound impact” of AI and Ozempic .

💸 The Cost of Climate Change: 6 Foods You Love Are About To Get More Expensive
Climate change is already disrupting food supplies across the world, causing shortages and raising prices for consumers – here are six staples under threat .

💰 5 Minutes With A Future Food VC: PeakBridge’s Nadav Burger
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, Nadav Burger , Founding General Partner at PeakBridge , shares his why, and his magic wand to fix plant-based meat .

🍴 Interview: Boca’s Omar Shihab
In a decade, Omar Shihab and his team at Dubai restaurant Boca have pioneered how restaurants approach sustainability , championing local produce from a historically barren region.

📚 Interview: The Vibrant Hong Kong Table’s Christine Wong
Christine Wong , author of plant-based cookbook The Vibrant Hong Kong Table, talks about our meat-eating culture, vegan alternatives, and marrying tradition with future-forward cooking .

✅ Must-Read Headlines

🇮🇹 Italian startup Arsenale Bioyards   raised €9.5 million to scale its AI-powered precision fermentation biomanufacturing process.
💡Its tech can accelerate commercialisation, reduce risks, and bring down costs by up to 90%, solving some of the industry’s biggest bottlenecks.

🇨🇦 Plant-based seafood startup Konscious Foods   received C$5 million in funding from the Canadian government, amid rising threats to British Columbia’s salmon industry.
💡Konscious Foods will now look to scale up manufacturing and bring its products to global markets, in addition to creating new jobs.

🐶 Vegan pet food startup Wild Earth , which shot to fame after landing a Shark Tank deal with Mark Cuban, has filed for bankruptcy .
💡Co-founder Ryan Bethencourt says it’s not the end of the brand’s story, and the business will continue to operate.

📉 Beyond Meat is making cutbacks and suspending its China business after revenues jumped in Q4, with the plant-based leader taking aim at regenerative agriculture.
💡Beyond Meat has seen improvement in its performance, driven by growth in the US retail and international foodservice channels. 

🏆 Food tech community FoodHack is back with the second edition of the FoodTech World Cup , launched in collaboration with Nestlé and Givaudan , with a special focus on nutrition.
💡The tournament’s organisers are looking for startups developing deep tech solutions over six key categories.

📝 Key Research News

🚫 Over 90 nutrition scientists have hit back at a research project funded by Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk , which aims to develop a new classification for ultra-processed food.
💡Arguably, the current Nova classification system causes confusion, but allowing a company with vested financial interests to fund a project like this is problematic.
➡️ Want to know more about UPFs and plant-based meat? Here’s our FAQ.

📊 Using updated greenhouse gas metrics, a new study by Australian climate scientist Gerard Wedderburn-Bisshop suggests that animal agriculture is the leading cause of climate change .

🥗 A large chunk of restaurants – particularly those that serve meat – don’t offer healthy plant-based meals , according to a new study by researchers at the University of Louisville and the University of Chicago .

🧫 Everything Else In Future Food

🥩 US plant-based leader Impossible Foods unveiled its first new product of 2025, Steak Bites , which it describes as its “meatiest” innovation yet.

🐕 German pet food maker Marsapet has rolled out a kibble product for dogs made using Calysta ’s gas fermentation-derived FeedKind protein.

🥥 New on the alt-dairy block, New Moon has introduced what it says is the plant-based category’s first milk made from whole coconut meat .

🇩🇪 German retailer Rewe Group has developed a protein strategy to increase its share of plant-based sales and has called for a shift in policies to encourage investment in the sector.

🌱🍔  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 a range of product showcases at Expo West, Valsoia’s new gelato lines, and Lidl’s upgraded meat alternatives.

📆 Scene & Heard

The Future of Protein Production Amsterdam Will Be Biggest Yet!

🏆 Ahead of this year's HackSummit , FoodHack, Givaudan and Nestlé Research & Development Lausanne have launched a global tournament to uncover the most impactful AgriFoodTech startups - the FoodTech World Cup . Green Queen ’s Sonalie Figueiras will be on the Jury and joining the Demo Day for APAC, along with Ai Mey Chuah at Givaudan, Michal Klar at Better Bite Ventures, and Mar Serra at Nestlé Research & Development. Enter your startup today !

🗓️ Don’t miss Food Security SummitX 2025 on May 28th-29th in Dubai. Designed to drive impactful change, the event will welcome over 1,000 attendees, 300+ companies, and 70+ expert speakers to discuss cutting-edge solutions for today’s most pressing food security challenges. Sign up here.

🌏 The 9th edition of the Future Food Asia Awards has officially launched. This year, ten exceptional finalists will be selected to pitch their innovations at the Future Food Asia Conference, held on 21st-22nd May 2025 in Singapore. Find out more and apply here.