Famous Last Words…

…And just like that, it’s the last Future Food Weekly of the year. It’s certainly been a full-on 2024. Frankly, at moments it has felt extra challenging and depressing. The world is a messy place. Still, we mustn’t despair.

I started my winter hibernation mode early this year so I have been reading and thinking a LOT. I have a great deal on my mind but I will save my reflections for the new year. December 19th feels like a good day to call time on work and the year.

We will be back on January 9th with my annual crystal ball predictions list of future food trends and verticals I’m watching. Despite the doom and gloom on Linkedin around certain sub-sectors of food innovation, there’s plenty to be excited about, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, I wish you all joy, time with loved ones, lots of rest/quiet, and plenty of delicious (climate-friendly) food! Happy Holidays and see you in 2025!

-Sonalie

🍬 UPFs: Big Food Is Getting Sued

Coca-Cola, Nestlé, Kraft Heinz, Mondelēz International and seven other Big Food companies are facing a first-of-its-kind lawsuit for engineering ultra-processed foods to be as addictive as cigarettes and marketing them to children.

• The case alleges that, by marketing these foods to kids, these companies have contributed to them developing chronic conditions.

• It details the calculated strategies that the food companies took to target children with UPFs, from internal memos and strategic meetings to extensive research that allegedly leveraged our biology and neurology to create addictive substances.

• UPFs have been in the limelight over the last couple of years, increasing consumer awareness of their health impact.

• In the US, UPFs make up over 73% of the food system, as well as two-thirds of the average diet of a child. If successful, this lawsuit could have massive repercussions. Read more here.

💡 Only On Green Queen

🍫 Roundup: 12 Startups Making Alternative Chocolate
The world loves chocolate, but the planet itself? Not as much. Industry giants like Mondelēz, Lindt and Barry Callebaut understand that, and are backing startups changing the game with cocoa-free and cell-based alternatives.

📈 Must-Read Headlines

🧀 Californian startup New Culture has achieved a significant cost breakthrough in its process to create animal-free mozzarella, bringing it closer to parity with conventional cheese.
💡Its strategic partnerships with food giants CJ CheilJedang and ADM have helped it to move faster in reaching the manufacturing capacity necessary to achieve its goals.

🌱 Israeli plant-based meat pioneer Redefine Meat has struck over 30 partnerships with UK retailers, foodservice operators and schools for Veganuary.
💡The deals come on the back of a record year for Redefine Meat’s UK operation; these deals should only further grow its reach.

🐶 Mars has struck several partnerships focused on regenerative agriculture in its European supply chain for pet food.
💡The partnerships will help transition 20,900 hectares of wheat and maize crops to regenerative farming practices by 2028.

🇪🇺 Unilever, Danone and Oatly are among some of the largest food companies in Europe that are urging the EU’s new agrifood commissioner to prioritise green policies and promote healthy and sustainable diets.
💡The letter highlights the conclusion of the Strategic Dialogue on the Future of EU Agriculture: business as usual is not an option.

🧫 Hot Topic: Food Waste

💰 California-based One Bio secured $27 million Series A funding to advance its short-chain fibres derived from agricultural waste.
💡Its WholeFibers can be used in a range of product applications, including plant-based milks, cereals, supplements, as well as GLP-1-friendly foods - a hot topic right now.

🇨🇭Switzerland’s Yeastup raised $9.9 million Series A funding to turn a dairy factory into one that produces proteins and functional ingredients from spent brewer’s yeast.
💡The product is designed as a clean-label solution to E-numbers and additives - great in a consumer market concerned about UPFs.

🧊 Tomorrow, a new startup from Seattle, is hoping to disrupt the refrigerator category with technology that prolongs the shelf life of produce and reduces food waste. Here’s how it works.

📊 Latest Research & Culture News

🇩🇪 A new Kantar survey reveals that Gen Z consumers in Germany, Europe’s largest market for vegan food, are more welcoming of meat analogues, but that doubts over processing and health effects persist. Here’s what that means for brands.

💚 A new study from the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health shows that a higher ratio of plant proteins compared to animal-based foods can improve heart health.

📉 Data from the Global Alliance for the Future of Food reveals that, despite public finance for climate change adaptation and mitigation nearly doubling between 2017 and 2022, the percentage of investments allocated to the agrifood sector decreased to 2.5%.
💡This dropped to just 1.5% for sustainable food system interventions, at a time when need is greater than ever.

📺 Netflix is about to release Don’t Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever, a documentary about Bryan Johnson, the biohacking millionaire living on a plant-forward diet who is attempting to live past 200.

🏷️ Hot Topic: Food Labelling

✅ Conagra Brands will introduce an On Track label on some of its Healthy Choice ready meals to cater to users of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic.
💡The company says this is a “first-of-its-kind” initiative for the food sector, and is based on “deep insights” into the needs of GLP-1 users.

🇹🇷 Turkey has published new labelling laws that bring certain wins and losses for plant-based products.
💡Both anecdotal and statistical evidence suggests that consumption of plant-based food is increasing in the country. Could these laws change that?

🇨🇿 Czechia is working on a law that would prohibit the use of meat-like labels on plant-based food packaging.
💡The move is explained as a way to prevent misleading consumers – even though research shows that locals are far from confused.

🌱🍔  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 two Beyond Meat debuts in the UK, Oatly’s Christmas-themed ad campaign, and an alt-protein university course.

📆 Scene & Heard

Future Food-Tech Returns To San Francisco March 2025

🇺🇸 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.

🎙️ Listen to Green Queen’s founding editor, Sonalie Figueiras, as she discusses food transformation challenges, the role of women in food security, and the need for empathy with Australian MP Lisa Baker. Check out The Future of Food with Lisa Baker podcast here.

🇬🇧 Future Food Systems, taking place in London on 6th February, will unite a curated group of changemakers across the food and drink sector to harness the power of progressive thinking, technology, and collaborative approaches to transform current systems. Learn more 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.

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