[one topic] The Silent Collapse of Childhood Health

This is the most damning health report of the decade—and it’s not about COVID, cancer, or a new pandemic. It’s about the normalization of disease in America’s children. Setting aside political and personal views (which I have quite a bit), this is the first time I’m seeing these kinds of statement coming from the White House. The American food system is failing, and it’s failing early.

According to the report, over 70% of U.S. children are now experiencing or at risk of chronic conditions—ranging from Type 2 diabetes and fatty liver disease to ADHD, depression, and severe food allergies. These are not edge cases. This is becoming the baseline.

Some high level observations from the MAHA Commission (again, nothing new for who is in this industry, but still..):

• Our food system is saturated with ultra-processed products engineered for shelf life, not human life.

• Marketing to children is unregulated and predatory.

• Health systems prioritize pharmaceuticals over food.

• And racial, geographic, and economic disparities are deepening.

The GroceryNerd analysis highlights how eerily absent industry response has been. While the MAHA Commission offers over 30 recommendations—like banning junk food marketing to kids, integrating food as medicine, and regulating added sugar—the real question is: who will act?

My take:
This is not about awareness. We’ve had awareness. This is about denial—the willful kind of denial. The kind that has been allowing a trillion-dollar industry to externalize costs to the healthcare system, to schools, to families. And to children themselves.

I honestly think we do not need another initiative. We need regulation, litigation, and political courage. The food industry will not self-correct. It never has. Now we need:

• A national nutritional policy with teeth

• FDA and USDA reform to prioritize public health over industry

• Philanthropy and venture capital funding systemic alternatives—not just “better-for-you” snacks

• And above all, we need to stop making parents feel like they’re the problem when the system is stacked against them.

This is our tobacco moment, guys!!

[one raise] Mellody’s Exit!

Melibio, the maker of bee-free honey, has been quietly acquired by Foodyoung Labs. There was no big headline valuation, nor overnight unicorn story. Just a rite of passage toward a different home for what was built. Which I find admirable.

My take:
We should stop expecting any single company to single-handedly reinvent agriculture and nail distribution and educate consumers and get to profitability—all in 3 years. It’s absurd.

Melibio’s acquisition reminds me of something deeper:

• Alt-food has been entering its consolidation era

• The “future of food” thesis requires very strong unit economics, in addition to storytelling

• And investors need to learn the difference between pivots and progress

[one product] Oikos Pro + The GLP-1 Effect

There it is: Oikos Pro—a protein-packed yogurt now marketed in the shadow of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Zepbound. High protein. Functional satiety. Wellness in a spoonful.

Axios calls it “the Ozempic-era protein shake.” But it’s more than that—it’s another visible shift in how Big Food is responding to the new metabolism economy. Consumers don’t want weight loss. They want control, energy, and relief from hunger.

My take:
This is the beginning of a macronutrient reformation. We’re leaving the calorie-counting era and entering one defined by hormonal impact, satiety science, and metabolic support.

GLP-1s have reframed the conversation. Food can now be a co-therapeutic. Expect to see more products aligned with this new medicalized consumer—and more questions about who gets access, and who’s left behind.

There isn’t one single food system. There isn’t one single problem. There isn’t one single solution. #inclusivity

[one topic] The Evolving Role of the CEO

We’re living in an age of exponential stakes — for people, the planet, and the systems that connect them. As AI redefines what intelligence is and who holds it, as we face genocides in real time and prepare for 10 billion humans on a planet that’s lost 99.9% of its biodiversity over 4 billion years, the question of leadership has never been more urgent.

John Mackey’s piece on the evolving role of the CEO struck a chord this week. His call to make "What is the highest good I can do?" a daily question feels both radical and necessary. It's not about virtue signaling — it’s about holding power with responsibility, aligning the purpose of business with the trajectory of civilization. If CEOs aren’t asking the hard questions now, who will?

[one raise] Climate Bonds for Alternative Protein

This one flew under the radar — but it shouldn’t have. The Climate Bonds Initiative just greenlit criteria for alternative proteins to qualify for sustainable investment. This unlocks green bond financing for cultivated, fermented, and plant-based proteins — allowing companies to tap into a $5T global bond market. In plain terms: it's a signal that protein transition isn’t fringe. It’s infrastructure. It belongs in portfolios and in policy. Whether this will lead to lower capex costs or become a new ESG loophole depends on implementation — but the potential is huge.

[one product] Kate Farms x Danone

Danone and Kate Farms are teaming up to bring medical-grade nutrition into everyday diets — and the timing couldn’t be better. Kate Farms made its name with plant-based, clinically proven formulas designed for tube feeding and recovery. Now, it's expanding into broader wellness categories, and Danone sees it as a strategic fit.

This deal reminds us that health — not taste, not price, not even sustainability — is the most enduring consumer value proposition. Especially in a post-Ozempic world, where food is medicine again and “better-for-you” needs to be real, not rhetorical.

There isn’t one single food system. There isn’t one single problem. There isn’t one single solution. #inclusivity

[one topic] GRAS

I went down a rabbit hole this past week on GRAS—Generally Recognized As Safe—and want to ground us in the what and why. It’s one of those quiet regulatory frameworks that shapes everything we eat, yet rarely gets the spotlight (until last week!).

My Take

This administration is hyper-focused on power—how it’s used, and who controls it. From its military posturing to nationalist rhetoric, it’s about consolidating authority. In that context, slowing down innovation in food system resiliency inside U.S. borders seems to me unlikely. I expect some boundaries will be drawn, but I doubt this White House will cripple domestic innovation. If anything, they’ll want control, not delay.

More context

GRAS was born in 1958 under the Food Additives Amendment to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA). The premise? Safety. Any substance added to food must be approved by the FDA—unless it is GRAS, meaning generally recognized by qualified experts as safe under its intended use. This exemption was meant for basic ingredients with long, safe histories: salt, vinegar, flour.

Originally, companies petitioned the FDA to classify something as GRAS. But in 1997, under pressure from industry and facing resource constraints, the FDA proposed a voluntary notification system. Companies could now self-determine GRAS status and choose whether to notify the FDA.

Nineteen years later, in 2016, the FDA finalized the GRAS Rule—and notification remained voluntary. Today, companies can introduce novel food ingredients without the FDA ever knowing, as long as their own experts declare them GRAS.

Critics argue this system invites conflicts of interest. Companies have a financial incentive to approve their own ingredients quickly, often with no independent verification. Panels making GRAS calls have included industry insiders, raising red flags around objectivity.

Meanwhile, the FDA’s authority to audit or reverse these decisions is extremely limited, unless post-market harmis detected. That’s a reactive, not proactive, system.

RFK Jr. isn’t necessarily opposing GRAS as a concept—his legal challenge targets the lack of mandatory FDA notification. His position highlights a critical tension: how do we balance speed and innovation with safety and transparency?

[one raise] GrubMarket

Food distribution isn’t sexy, but many people need it (everyone?!). GrubMarket just closed a $50M Series G at a $3.5B valuation, doubling down on its AI-driven software platform for food supply chain management. The company is profitable, acquisitive (35 deals and counting), and positioning itself as a backbone player in the U.S. food system—a $1T market still running on pen, paper, and spreadsheets.

This is an incredibly high valuation for this industry.

📎 TechCrunch article

[one product] Savor Butter (!!)

Thank you so much to everyone who wrote amazing articles about our butter last week! As I often say, our company focuses on recreating the taste and texture of the fats this industry depends so much on. And, when we had to decide what to show off first, the question was: “who doesn’t love butter?!”. 80%+ fat content, and every chef’s best friend.

Check out the full stories here:

Fast Company

Green Queen

AgFunderNews

FoodNavigator-USA

There isn’t one single food system. There isn’t one single problem. There isn’t one single solution. #inclusivity

[one topic] Unilever

With so much happening, let’s pause on Unilever for a second.

Two weeks ago, the company announced that CEO Hein Schumacher is stepping down—after less than two years in the role. His mandate? To scale back Unilever’s focus on purpose and sustainability, a shift from Paul Polman’s era, where Unilever saw a 290% return over 10 years, outperforming competitors and the broader market. Yet, the narrative had taken hold that Unilever had leaned too far into purpose, and Schumacher was brought in to "course-correct."

Now, Fernando Fernandez steps in with a strategy that prioritizes "power brands," cuts underperforming food lines, and leans on social media influencers to rebuild consumer trust—a far cry from Polman’s approach. Knorr and Hellmann’s remain Unilever’s crown jewels, and the US and India are critical battlegrounds.

The real question for me here: what happens when purpose and financial value come into conflict? Polman proved they could be beautifully aligned, but once a company steps away from that balance, it’s painfully hard to rebuild. Unilever is in the middle of that struggle right now, and I personally doubt social media influencers will get us closer to that.

[one raise] Aleph Farms’ New Valuation

Aleph Farms is cutting its valuation by 73% in an ongoing funding round. The company is looking to raise $25M but is likely to close at $10M, bringing its valuation down to $80–100M—a steep fall from its $300M valuation in 2021. (Green Queen). Unfortunately, the cultivated meat industry is hitting a bit of a wall: investors are losing patience, regulatory approvals are slow, and the cost curve isn’t budging fast enough. Personally, I’m not too worried—this is just the market adjusting. Not every company will survive, but some will, and that’s what matters in the bigger picture.

[one product] Mission Barns’ Cultivated Pork Hits Bay Area Menus

On another note (!!) Mission Barns is bringing lab-grown pork to Bay Area diners. The company, which grows real animal fat from cells and blends it with plant-based protein, has received FDA approval to serve its cultivated pork meatballs and bacon at Fiorella, an upscale Italian restaurant. Sprouts Farmers Market is also set to carry the products later this year. (SF Chronicle)

In a category that has desperately been looking for a win, this is what we everyone needed.

There isn’t one single food system. There isn’t one single problem. There isn’t one single solution. #inclusivity

[one topic] Egg & Dairy Crisis

Shocked as I am when ordering groceries? A massive avian flu outbreak has wiped out millions of egg-laying hens, tightening supply and sending prices soaring. Retailers are still rationing eggs, and restaurants and bakeries—who can’t just swap in flax eggs—are feeling the pinch. The government response? Not fast enough, and the consensus is that this isn’t ending soon — supply needs time to recover. Dairy is also feeling the heat. Butter prices have surged, with organic butter hitting $20 a pound in grocery stores (!!).

The bigger picture is that food prices are up 25% compared to five years ago, because of a combination of inflation and supply chain disruption. As a result, last year private label products reached a record $271 billion in sales, marking a 3.9% increase from the previous year. This growth outpaced national brands, which saw a 1% rise in the same period.

[one raise] Edacious, Safety and Nutrition

What if you could quantify food quality? That’s the bet behind Edacious, the Massachusetts-based startup that just raised $8.1 million to scale its nutrient density measurement tech. The round was led by Patagonia’s Tin Shed Ventures, a major vote of confidence in food transparency. I find it fascinating as it comes with a perfect timing with RFK’s appointment and he’s strong focus on transparency and against UPF.

The company is betting big on nutritional transparency as a market differentiator, measuring over 200 compounds vital to human health and showing how soil health, genetics, and farming practices impact nutrition. I’m interested in seeing who pays for that.

[one product] – Oatly’s Product Shakeup

Oatly says 2025 is its year for profitability — play that hinges on cost cuts and marketing. I’m worried that higher supplier costs, price pressure, and slowing category growth could make this a tough sell. But I hope I’m wrong!

What’s Out?

• Asia SKU reductions – Oatly cut 70% of its product lineup in Asia, streamlining to stay efficient.

• Creamer products? TikTok speculations suggest Oatly’s creamer line may have quietly disappeared from shelves.

What’s Selling?

• Oatmilk is still king. Oatly’s North America segment saw a 6% revenue boost in Q2 2024, hitting $67.8M, driven by strong foodservice demand.

• New launches: Unsweetened Oatmilk & Super Basic Oatmilk. Leaning into the low-sugar, clean-label trend, Oatly is doubling down on health-conscious consumers.

There isn’t one single food system. There isn’t one single problem. There isn’t one single solution. #inclusivity

So, I’m keeping it simple: one topic, one raise, one product. Less noise, more signal. Let’s get back into it. 🚀

[one topic] Seed Oil Panic

The latest STAT article nails it: seed oils are the new food villain, and it’s mostly nonsense. The MAHA movement—now backed by RFK Jr. as Secretary of Health and Human Services—is calling seed oils "poison" and blaming them for everything short of bad vibes. The result? Steak ‘n Shake switching back to beef tallow and an internet-fueled obsession with “ancestral” eating. But let’s be real: seed oils are not ultra-processed foods. Under the NOVA system, they’re in the same category as olive oil and butter—far from the actual junk food problem.

Yes, some studies hint that excessive omega-6s might not be great, but institutions like Harvard, the American Heart Association, and Mass General all agree: seed oils are fine. The problem isn’t canola oil, it’s too much of everything—cheap industrial food, ultra-processed calories, and metabolic chaos. STAT did what more outlets should be doing: calling out the fear-mongering while keeping the conversation nuanced. More of this, please.

[one raise] Olipop’s Wild $1.85B Valuation

That’s a lot of soda. The prebiotic soda brand just raised $50 million in a Series C, proving that gut health + nostalgia is a winning formula. They nailed it—great branding, a clean label that feels indulgent but “better for you,” and a vibe that makes you feel like you're drinking soda and making a good life choice. Smart.

For context, this puts them in the same league as Ghost Energy ($1B+ deal with Keurig Dr Pepper) and way ahead of Spindrift ($650M valuation). Functional beverages are having a moment, but Olipop’s scale is next level. The real question? How much soda can the “better-for-you” crowd actually drink? Because at this valuation, they better be selling a lot.

[one product] NotCo Keeps Impressing Me

Their Dubai Style NotSquare is proof that food innovation doesn’t have to crawl, it can sprint. They took a viral pistachio-filled chocolate trend and turned it into a market-ready product in two weeks. That’s an insane pace in an industry where R&D cycles often stretch for years. What I like here is that this isn’t some random product drop; it taps into the pistachio craze, the growing demand for premium plant-based indulgence, and, of course, the universal love of chocolate. At a time when the world feels increasingly uncertain, people are reaching for small luxuries—chocolate sales hit $21.4 billion last year, because comfort food is crisis-proof. NotCo just hacked that emotional pull, and they did it in record time.

There isn’t one single food system. There isn’t one single problem. There isn’t one single solution. #inclusivity

🧼 Greenwashing and misleading labels

Attorney General James sued the world’s largest beef producer (JBS) for misrepresenting environmental impact of their products. *This is HUGE. JBS USA has claimed that it will achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, despite documented plans to increase production, and therefore increase its carbon footprint.

This is unfortunately a surging trend in the food sector, as more and more companies are trying to find a space at the intersection of food and climate (and that’s a hard one to find). And, as institutions are pushing back on non-animal based products’ labeling choices. Some highlights on the topic:

• From the assessment Changing Markets Foundations did last year: Aldi, Lidl, Nestlé’s KitKat and Unilever’s Magnum ice-cream made carbon neutral claims which only rely on offsetting; Saputo’s Cathedral City cheese is marketed with images of cows grazing green pastures, which apparently is not the case (pastoral nostalgia?); Burger King advertised a reduced methane Whooper, which it claimed that feeding lemongrass to cows would reduce methane emissions by 30%, when the real figure is closer to 3%.

• The Freedom Food Alliance's debut Disinformation Report analyses how the animal agriculture industry uses disinformation to block progress towards plant-based foods, despite environmental and health benefits. Check out Irina’s post for a TL;DR.

• The French government has banned the use of ‘meaty’ terms like ‘steak,’ ‘entrecote,’ ‘ham,’ ‘butcher,’ and ‘cutlet’ on plant-based product labels, claiming that they confuse and mislead consumers.

• UK trade standards group is pushing for new guidance to ban the use of alternative descriptors like ‘mylk’, ‘cheeze’, or ‘yoghurt-style’ on plant-based dairy packaging.

🎨 The power of colors

New study finds meat eaters are more willing to try plant-based products when packaged in red. Survey participants associated red with good taste, green with health and eco-friendliness, and blue (their favorite color) with budget consciousness, but also quality. * This is not very surprising to me, but it is a good reminder that the non-animal industry has to pull some of the leverages used by traditional industries to get to mainstream. Let’s stop being too hippy.

🍫 The chocolate industry on the news

* I’ve been talking about cocoa a lot recently — but it keeps on coming! The pain seems real.

The Financial Times wrote a nice piece about this. The article discusses the supply constraints caused by poor weather conditions in major cocoa-producing countries like Ivory Coast and Ghana, coupled with structural issues such as climate change and underinvestment in cocoa plantations. As a result, cocoa farmers are struggling, facing low incomes and diminishing yields, which, coupled with initiatives such as the EU's plan to ban the sale of cocoa grown on deforested land, raise substantial concerns for the industry. Despite the rising demand for chocolate globally, even major players like Barry Callebaut and Hershey's have been announcing layoffs due to financial pressures.

[Three raises/M&As]

🍄 Mycoprotein / Cargill has invested an undisclosed sum into ENOUGH as a “top up” to its recent series C and signed commercial off-take agreements. *As startups, can we sign relevant off take agreements without giving away equity? I’d love to see examples. If you have some, please share!

🧁 Sugar / Zya is out of stealth! They developed an enzyme that can convert sugar into fiber inside a person’s digestive system after they’ve eaten. So far the team has raised £4.1 million. *I love seeing this coming during the current peak of the unsustainable Ozempic era.

🌽 Vertical farming / Oishii, which primarily produces berries, secured $134 million Series B funding in a round led by Japanese telecommunications firm NTT. *I found interesting seeing indoor farming being able to attract big capitals despite the challenges.

[Three products]

🥛 Milk / Califia Farms Complete, a plant-based milk made from a blend of pea, chickpea and fava bean protein, that promise nutritional parity.

🍦 Ice-Cream / Unilever is launching a lactose-free chocolate ice cream made with Perfect Day’s precision fermentation animal-free whey protein.

🥚 Eggs / Last week JUST Egg celebrated half a billion eggs sold since 2019 launch!

🔥🔥

Have you read my article about alternative fats on Green Queen?

And have you seen Bill Gates eating Savor’s ingredients?

There isn’t one single food system. There isn’t one single problem. There isn’t one single solution. #inclusivity

[Three pieces of news]

🧈 Savor in the news!

I cannot hold myself from starting by featuring the great piece Bill and the whole Gates Notes’ team put together about Savor and C16. And I’m personally so excited to speak on behalf of the whole team alongside with our incredible CTO, Kathleen! Take a look at the video — Bill gets to taste a full menu made with Savor’s fats! From our non-animal butter, to burgers, fries and ice-cream.

🍼 Dairy: more fat + protein solutions

More fat-focused companies have been making the news in the past days. Checkerspot announced what they called “a breakthrough with the development of human milk fat analogue through micro algae fermentation”. And Yali Bio has created what it claims is “the world’s first breast milk fat made from yeast”. Both are working on OPO (Oleic-Palmitic-Oleic), which is an essential component for infant health. On the protein side, New Culture’s animal-free casein protein is now self-affirmed GRAS, hence we’ll get to taste more of it in their mozzarella!
Being now a mom of 2, I find extremely interesting the recent focus replicating breast milk has gotten. If you look at the oil mixes that infant formulas show on their labels, you’ll get why.

🍫 Cocoa, Chocolate, Cocoa, Chocolate..

Cocoa have been hitting the news pretty hard in the past weeks and I’m personally very happy about it. Chocolate's main ingredient reached its highest price in more than four decades, with cocoa bean futures trading at $4,362 per tonne, up 84% from 2022.

California Cultured has announced a partnership with Meiji Ltd. Co., Japan’s largest chocolate company to integrate its cell-cultured cocoa products into Meiji’s lineup of packaged goods. Planet A’s ChoViva chocolate alternative made with oats and sunflower seeds, closed a deal to be in a series of private label products from Rewe and Penny stores within Germany, after announcing a $15.4 Series A two weeks ago. Voyage Foods has released a life cycle assessment on its plant-based cocoa-free chocolate stating that the product consumes 99% less water and produces 81% less GHG compared to traditional chocolate.

[Three raises/M&As]

🍖 Non Animal Meat / In what is called “a challenging moment for the industry” Spanish Heura Foods raises €40m series B. (This is interesting especially because it’s led by plant-based food giant Upfield. When VCs are lacking their dry powder, it seems that some F&B company might feel the push to put some skin in the game.)

🍜 Ramen / Borealis Foods Inc — maker of Gordon Ramsay-backed Chef Woo Vegan Ramen, announces NASDAQ listing. (It’s important to think of how food habits change with the current cost-of-living crisis and food prices raising.)

🔬 Enzymes & Cultures / Novozymes and Chr. Hansen have completed their merger, creating a company called Novonesis. 10,000 employees, and annual revenue of ~$4 billion.

[Three products]

🥛 Better Whey/ animal-free and lactose-free whey isolate made with precision fermentation, launched by Nestlé SA under the Orgain brand.

🌊 Algae Cooking Club/ made from fermented Microalgae (and with ~half the carbon emissions of avocado, canola or olive oil). Just lauched! An 16oz bottle is priced at $25 (I guess not the price we’ll offer to for service operators).

🌱 Manitoba Harvest Bioactive Fiber/ a multi-benefit fiber solution, that leverages Brightseed’s novel ingredient made from upcycled hemp hulls, the outer shells of hemp seeds.

Have you read my article about alternative fats on Green Queen?

There isn’t one single food system. There isn’t one single problem. There isn’t one single solution. #inclusivity

🥩 I’m Almost Getting Bored of Talking about Cultivated Meat

Aleph Farms got approval to sell cultivated steaks in Israel in mid January. This is huge, mainly because it adds a third country on the map, after Singapore and the US.

The USDA made some statements about the importance of cellular ag, although those statements are (in my opinion) still very generic.

Europe is more and more cautious. Austria, France, and Italy received support from 9 delegations for an initiative aimed to evaluate and initiate a public debate regarding the impact of cultivated meat, as they see the technology as a potential threat to the economy, public health, and farmers. 

🧠 Josh Tetrick

I really enjoyed reading the interview Larissa did to Josh. Josh is a pioneer, and one of the few who is still the CEO of his companies after a decade. The snippets of good advice for the space I’m getting from the piece are the following:

• After a decade where not being profitable was kind of ok, now it’s not. This is a good incentive for a company like Just, but definitely creates troubles for younger ones who are not ready for scale yet.

• The space is overcrowded (lots of companies doing similar things), folks are going to make mistakes and fail: it’s normal and it’ll be a learning opportunity for all.

• Act short-term: don’t build anything beyond a pilot plant. Think long-term: the objective is to maximize what you’re trying to do over the course of a lifetime plus.

• Never be under the impression that what is true in the lab is necessarily true at large scale. This is why vertical farms are going under and cultivated meat is sold at only two restaurants in the United States.

• Versioning: Just Eggs (they own 99% of the plant-based eggs market) is at its 5.14.4 version. And they keep comparing with conventional eggs.

• You have to be obsessed with costs. His theme for 2024 is “no burn.”

💊 Creveable vs Ozempic

I really care about the “creveability topic”: I don’t believe sustainability benefits being enough to get to massive market adoption, and craveability is often a key way in to consumers (I wrote a piece for the WEF on this topic last year). But, the NYT’s recent article very interestingly takes this conversation a step further: is craveability still a relevant selling point in the Ozempic era? I do think so — but it has to be proven.

[Three raises]

😝 Flavors / Israeli Mediterranean Food Lab raised a $17 million series A round to scale up novel solid state fermentation technology to create flavor ingredients.

🍄 Mushrooms / Infinite Roots (ex Mushlabs) Raises $58M (series B) in “Europe’s Largest Investment in Mycelium”

🐮 M&As / v2food has acquired ready meal brands Soulara and MACROS to broaden its distribution reach beyond in-person channels. AND MPearlRock (an investing vehicle between Kroger’s, PearlRock Partners, MidOcean Partners) acquired Nutpods.

[Three products]

🍫 Taste the Future Chocolate Snack Bar / vegan chocolate, hazelnut and berry snack bar with 2% Solein powder (just launched in Singapore)

🍫 Lindt HELLO / first vegan Lindt HELLO chocolate bar with ChoViva: no cocoa beans, yes oats and sunflower seeds.

🍺 Kerza Beer by Patagonia — Kerza is a perennial that thanks to its 12-foot-deep root system, retains soil, water and nutrients.

Have you read my article about alternative fats on Green Queen?

There isn’t one single food system. There isn’t one single problem. There isn’t one single solution. #inclusivity

🥩 Cultivated Meat On The Spot

The Italian parliament passed the law banning cultivated meat production and sale, which also prohibits the use of terms describing plant-based products as meat. This decision holds particular significance given Italy’s self-sufficiency rate for beef of 42.5%. The EU hasn’t approved the sale of lab-grown meat, yet. In the meantime in the US (where cultivated meat has been approved) Florida House Republican Ryler Sirois introduced a new bill, aiming to make it illegal to manufacture, sell, hold, or distribute lab-grown meat within the state. I’m not surprised. Members of the Parliament and Italian Regional Presidents mention “protection of Chianina or Fassona” as main reasons for their support to the law. When something truly disruptive comes in, it’s human to try to protect what we have, make money from, and feel proud of. Italy might be in the same position once in-person tourism will be truly threatened by groundbreaking and affordable VR experiences. While I agree that the future of meat cultivation is still unclear as result of its scalability challenges, if those potential road blockers will be overcome, and more countries will grant regulatory approval, Italy will eventually conform. I’m sure there was a time when someone tried to ban cars in favor of horses, until the point where people using cars were just too many to be stopped.

🧠 The power of the irrational

This week the Italian-American company Thimus has announced the launch of Thimus’ T-Box, a tool capable of collecting high-quality data on brain activity for measuring, explaining and predicting human behavior in food experiences. The goal is to leverage neuroscience for more impactful product and communication development. There are two reasons why I find this interesting: 1/ I see too many companies having groundbreaking technologies able to positively impact the world, lacking to reach mass markets because they products fall short in providing pleasure(read my article on the World Economic Forum for more on this!); 2/ Understanding and influencing eaters’ behaviors is crucial and so far we’re still having a very hard time doing that.

🍔 Is the fast food assumption still holding?

There has been a series of bankruptcies among franchisees of major brands like Burger King, McDonald’s, Popeyes, Hardee’s, and Wendy’s. These are franchisees: companies that own and manage tens or hundreds of branded stores. These bankruptcies represent a broader trend affecting over 100,000 franchise owners in the U.S. Among the causes they mention “a combination of post-COVID consumer habits, ever-increasing costs to do business, and significantly higher interest rates”. Firstly, this is interesting because it’s been undiscovered by media until now. Moreover, many of the companies with more sustainable food offerings are targeting fast foods as their best bet to get to scale. I’m today wondering if this will still be true in 10 years from now.

[Three raises]

🐠 Salmon / Three Canadian businesses (New School Foods, Liven Proteins, and NuWave Research) received $11.4M to produce a realistic vegan alternative to wild salmon for Canada.

🍶 Packaging / Le Fourgon raises €10M to rehabilitate the use of returnable glass bottles.

📦 Materials / Material Impact has announced their $352 million fund III to back inception-stage companies innovating in materials science.

[Three products]

🐝 Mellody / Bee-free honey (now entering D2C segment!)

🥛 Alpro / Oat and almond milks’ prices capped at €2 in Belgium (nice to see the “alt” sector playing the big promo game).

🥕 Pulp Pantry / Chips from upcycled pulp (that just tested bulk packaging in some select Google cafes and MicroKitchens!)

Have you read my article about alternative fats on Green Queen?

There isn’t one single food system. There isn’t one single problem. There isn’t one single solution. #inclusivity

🛑 Coca-Cola, Nestlé and Danone accused of misleading

Environmental and consumer rights organisations have filed a legal complaint against food and drink giants for the use of misleading ‘100%’ recycled’ and ‘100% recyclable’ claims on plastic water bottles sold across Europe. The point made is that those claims may mislead consumers into viewing single-use plastic bottles as “sustainable”, recycling can never address the scale of the plastic pollution crisis, and bottles bearing “100% recycled” are never entirely from recycled plastic in the EU. As Luc De Vallieres puts it: “Please stop making your consumers responsible for the end-of-life of your products”.

⚔️ The ultra-processed food fight

You know — I’m very interested into this topic! Chris Bryant recently wrote a piece on “ultra-processed foods” (a term from the NOVA classification system foods) and a fascinating paper was published on Nature last year. Both are hitting some interesting points.

1. The system is unclear and the examples are many. For instance, yogurt is classified as a NOVA1 food (non processed), despite containing ingredients characteristic of NOVA3 (made with non-alcoholic fermentation) and NOVA4 foods (casein, lactose, whey), which would make it “ultra-processed”.

2. Partially blind view: While nobody talks publicly about Brie or Parmigiano being “ultra-processed foods” (which they would be by the NOVA definition), animal-free dairy product are often referred as such. And why none refer to vitamin D pills or baby formula as “ultra-processed foods”?

3. We’re witnessing an oversimplification. What’s the value of grouping foods based solely on processing levels?

🐶 Cultivated meat for pets in EU (+ comms reminder)

Great news — the Czech start-up Bene Meat Technologies (BMT) has obtained registration from the European Feed Materials Register to develop cultivated meat for cats and dogs. The company claims to be the only entity in the world that can produce and sell this product for the pet food market. I got personally very confused by the initial use of the word “approval” while then turning it into “registration”. It seems clear that they did not get an approval, which means they cannot sell their cultivated right now. But they might be the closest one to eventually get it — which is awesome! While celebrating this progress, this is probably a good reminder for all of us in novel industries to be extra-careful about not exposing ourselves to possible misinterpretations, as it’ll hurt the whole space: hopefully the Upside case on Weird thought us something.

[Three raises]

🌾 Rice / CarbonFarm Technology closes $2.6m to decarbonize rice through satellite-verified carbon credits.

🍕 Mozzarella / Italian Dreamfarm foods raises €5M for fermented vegan cheese.

🌱 Ammonia / Talus announced a $22 million Series A to ramp up production of its green ammonia technology.

[Three products]

🫖 Pluck / Tea blends with chai spices and upcycled cocoa shells.

🍝 Matriark / Pasta sauces from farm surplus and fresh-cut remnants.

☕ Etelmento / Circular Coffee Tasting Boxes featuring cascara cola and moka spent grain granola.

Have you read my article about alternative fats on Green Queen?

There isn’t one single food system. There isn’t one single problem. There isn’t one single solution. #inclusivity

🏆 Singapore: doubling down on being the best place in the world for food innovation

Singapore is developing a new Food Safety and Security Bill to clarify regulations for novel foods, including cultivated meat, which could enhance foodborne illness prevention. This move follows the nation's pioneering steps in approving the sale of cell-cultured chicken by Eat Just in 2020 and granting a food processing license to Esco Aster for cultured meat production in 2021. The proposed bill aims to consolidate food-related provisions, offering clearer guidelines and safeguarding public health. This goes hand-in-hand with Singapore’s 30 by 30 initiative, which aims to improve food security by producing 30% of all food consumed in the nation by 2030, and is reminding us how early movers are usually the ones who feel the strongest pain.

🍍 Crownless pineapples for waste reduction

Sainsbury's has introduced a crownless pineapple to its stores, aiming to reduce annual waste by about 700 tonnes. Research from Costa Rica suggests that removing the tops, before shipping can significantly reduce their carbon footprint, enabling ~25% more pineapples to be packed per box. Suppliers could save on packaging and increase profits; retailers could enjoy a revenue increase per box; and consumers might pay less for the fruit, benefit from the convenience, and appreciate the environmental angle. Let’s remember that crowns are used for replanting, animal feed, or to produce vegan leather — an obvious win-win that makes me wonder why we haven’t done it earlier!

💨 Food without agriculture

The foundational research behind Savor has been published! The paper shows that dietary fats could be synthesized with <0.8 g CO₂-eq kcal, which is much less than the >1.5 g CO₂-eq kcal now emitted to produce palm oil in Brazil or Indonesia. Although scaling up such synthesis could disrupt agricultural economies and depend on consumer acceptance, the enormous potential GHG, water and land reductions represent a realistic possibility for mitigating the environmental footprint of agriculture over the coming decade. After 19 months at Savor, I couldn’t be prouder to see such a foundational piece seeing the light!

[Three raises]

🌍 Systemic money / Singapore-based Clay Capital closes a $145M fund.

💰 Biomanufacturing / Triplebar raised a $20 million Series A, in a round led by Synthesis Capital. This is why biomanufacturing is an important topic to keep on our radar.

🇲🇽 Financing / Verqor secured $7.5 million to connect farmers with fast credit (+90% of Mexico’s farmers lack financing access).

[Three products]

🥓 Cocuus and Foodys: 3D bio-printed veg bacon, now in Carrefour!

🐶 The Pack: veg pet food, now B Corp certified!

☕ Pocket’s Chocolates + Blue Bottle: Almonds dipped in fair-trade cocoa butter, organic oat milk, coffee, raw cane sugar, chicory and monk fruit. (no climate focused, but fun!)

Have you read my article about alternative fats on Green Queen?

There isn’t one single food system. There isn’t one single problem. There isn’t one single solution. #inclusivity

✂️ Over-lobbying : pesticide reduction, caged farming, methane

The EU's green agricultural reforms, notably the pesticide use reduction, is facing stiff opposition from agricultural lobby groups. In all of that, between January 2020 and July 2023, six members of the EU Parliament (MEPs) met lobbyists over 400 times. This meant an average of two meetings a week, outnumbering meetings with non-governmental organisations representing public interests by eight to one. This resistance extends to animal welfare, where meat lobby groups aggressively opposed a proposed EU ban on caged farming, putting the ban on hold despite public support. Not enough? Former officials at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization allege that the livestock lobby has significantly pressured the body to suppress information regarding methane emissions from the animal agriculture sector, showcasing a larger trend of lobbying efforts impacting environmentally-centric agricultural reforms and reporting within the EU and global organizations. Living in a world where political and industrial interests overshadow scientific evidence is a troubling prospect.

🐔 ADM: Big corps being big corps

Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), known in the space for its interest in new technologies to produce non-animal proteins, is changing course on a $300 million plan to expand production of alternative proteins “as consumer appetite for plant-based foods wanes”. Overall, ADM earnings beat analyst expectations, fueled by increased ethanol demand and growth in certain parts of the nutrition and oilseeds businesses. But that’s not enough to keep betting on alt proteins. The grain giant is pivoting its portfolio to more “resilient categories” including specialized nutrition and animal dairy (!). I’m not surprised to see an incumbent playing defense and chicken out; but it’s definitely disappointing.

🌴 How sustainable can palm oil be?

Planet Palm, a range of "sustainable palm oil" products by KTC Edibles, offers certified, traceable, and responsibly sourced palm oil options for UK food manufacturers. Bearing RSPO certification, the range initially features Planet Palm Oil and select bakery items. However, given the environmental implications of palm oil cultivation, responsible for 1GT CO2-eq/year (~2% of total emissions), and its geographic concentration around the equator, particularly in Indonesia and Malaysia (contributing 85% of global production), the idea of utilizing the same land for similar production raises concerns. How confidently can we define sustainability in this context? I’m a fan of companies like C16 Bioscience or NoPalm, who are trying to provide solutions without using similar approaches to what created the problem in the first place.

[Three raises]

🔬 Breeding / Amatera has raised €1.5 million for its non-GMO breeding platform to be used with perennial crops.(big fan!)

🦟 Insects / FarmInsect raised €8 million for its modular insect farms to produce high-quality, protein-rich animal feed, everywhere. (heck, yeah!)

🥯 Bagels / $8 million Series A funding round closed because “the bagel could use improvement”. (aren’t we forgetting the real problems?!)

[Three products]

🍫 One Good Thing / Proteins bars, wrapped in edible film. (No packaging!)

🍄 Meati / MushroomRoot-based jerky. (yes, another jerky?! But makes sense as a line extension)

🚺 Mary Ruth’s / Vaginal Support Powder (ok, no climate impact. But cool to see women health on the board!)

Have you read my article about alternative fats on Green Queen?

There isn’t one single food system. There isn’t one single problem. There isn’t one single solution. #inclusivity

🏷️ Carbon labeling: claims, Europe, Oatly.

Oatly is pushing the UK food and drink sector to implement carbon labeling on products to foster transparency and informed consumer choices, specifically pointing the finger towards the animal dairy industry. On the same direction, the EU is banning greenwashing and enhancing product durability information to protect consumers from misleading practices. In practice, this applies (among the others) to carbon intensive products that are labeling themselves as “carbon neutral” due to offsetting practices. Offsetting cannot be the only solution (!!); moreover, a shadow looms over offsetting efforts as a recent study reveals significant overestimation of emission reduction impact.

How can we discern genuine progress from mere green facades?

🚫 California bans some ingredients

California has enacted a ban on four ingredients commonly found in food products due to associated health concerns. The prohibited substances include:

• butylated hydroxyanisole: usually found in preserved meats or chips, edible fats, dehydrated foods, baked goods, snacks, chewing gum;

• potassium bromate: commonly added to baked goods such as bread, bagels and pastries to strengthen the dough;

• perfluorooctanoic acid: dairy products, drinking water and seafood are the main sources of human exposure;

• perfluorooctanesulfonic acid: egg, meat and dairy products are the main sources of human exposure.

❓Emerging considerations on cultivated meat

I found this article fascinating. There has been a tremendous hype surrounding the cultivated meat industry in the past years (and I’m a big fan!), and yet companies have failed to meet the high expectations set by their ambitious promises. The industry's reliance on hype to attract investments raises concerns about its sustainability and the potential disillusionment that could follow if the promised innovations continue to fall short. Listening to Green Queen podcast on this topic, it seems to emerge that founders see cultivated meat is “a” solution to our food crisis, and not “the only” solution; reaching scale is still many years off; the journey has so far been really hard and not everything they thought worked and would work has planned.This provokes several questions:

1. How can the cultivated meat industry balance the excitement generated by its potential with the reality of its current technological limitations?

2. What can other new radically new approach to food production learn from this?

3. How can transparency and realistic goal-setting be encouraged within emerging industries, especially when VC-backed?

[Three raises]

🔬 Plans bioengineering / Moolec Science secured $30 million to produce bovine and porcine proteins from plants. (how necessary?)

🌯 Mexican / Tia Lupita Foods raised $2.6 million seed funding to expand its presence in the better-for-you Mexican foods segment. (big fan!)

🍙 Packaging / Notpla has been awarded a £1 million grant to scale its Notpla Rigid solution, made from the fibrous by-product of industrially processed seaweed. (big fan!)

[Three products]

Following the top food trends by WholeFoods, this week:

🍔 Actual Veggies / Green Burger, returning to real vegetables in plant-based products;

💧 Blue Stripes / Urban Cacao Water to utilize the whole cacao plant;

🫓 Maine Crisp / Buckwheat Crackers to support soil health and provide a gluten-free alternative.

Have you read my article about alternative fats on Green Queen?

There isn’t one single food system. There isn’t one single problem. There isn’t one single solution. #inclusivity

After a six month break I decided to restart writing. A lot has been happening at Savor, I had to travel quite a bit for family and work, and I’m also 7 months pregnant by now(!!). The interest in this newsletter has kept on growing despite my silence, and a bunch of you messaged me directly asking for news. This fills my heart! I’m hearing that and I’m back to my writing practice. I’m still thinkering around the best format to follow: you’ll likely see some changes in the next months. But in the meantime — enjoy, it’s nice to be back!

C

[Three pieces of news]

🍄 The Neurospora Crassa Strain is now locked in!

Mycelium, the root structure of fungi, is gaining significant traction in the food and beverage industry (why? Mainly because of its quick growth, stability, application versatility and climate claims). This month Meati obtained a patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office, granting it exclusivity over the use of the Neurospora crassa strain until 2039. The patented ingredient, commercially known as 'MushroomRoot', forms the basis for Meati's vegan whole-cut steaks and cutlets. This achievement followed a legal dispute with another mycelium meat producer, The Better Meat Co, over intellectual property infringement claims.

📦 The world of biomaterials for F&B

Erthos, a women-founded startup, has secured $11.2 million in funding for its plant-based plastic substitute. Their proprietary resin acts as a one-to-one substitute for traditional plastic and is fully compostable. The funding round, led by Horizons Ventures, coincided with Erthos achieving compostable certifications for its biomaterials, validating their use in commercial-scale injection molding across various industry applications. This adds up to a series of initiatives in the space, like TerraSafe who secured funding from Big Idea Venture this last summer, to Kelpi that is leveraging the power of seaweed to build more sustainable packaging solutions.

📈 When growing it too much (to finish!)

Global demand for durians has surged by 400% year-on-year, with China driving the craze for the polarizing fruit, according to HSBC. China imported $6 billion worth of durians over the past two years, accounting for 91% of the global demand. This boom is linked to the fruit's perception as a status symbol and a popular gift in Chinese culture. Thailand is the primary supplier, contributing 99% of total durian exports in the ASEAN region. The rise in demand has led to higher prices in China, where durians sell for over $10 per kilo compared to $6 per kilo in Southeast Asian countries. This piece of news might need a better deep dive, as I see some similarities with a few other corps (as quinoa, for example).

[Three raises]

🌍 Systemic money / One Ventures closes a $375M new fund to invest in buildings and construction, energy and transportation, food and ag. This shows climate tech is hot!

🍖 Alt Proteins Research Center / Catalonia’s Department of Climate Action, Food and Rural Agenda, and the Institute of Agri-Food Research and Technology have revealed Spain’s first Center for Innovation in Alternative Proteins, with a $7M investment.

🎣 Cultivated fish / BlueNalu has closed a $33.5M Series B funding round and extended partnerships with legacy seafood leaders in APAC.

[Three products]

🍖 Heura: York ham style slices

🥩 Chunk Steak: getting Philadelphia-based Monster Vegan (this is the best whole-cut I tasted so far!)

🍫 ChoViva: chocolatey taste experience, without cocoa beans (oats and sunflower seeds) — hitting the shelves in Europe now!

Have you read my article about alternative fats on Green Queen?

There isn’t one single food system. There isn’t one single problem. There isn’t one single solution. #inclusivity

[1] We’ve created a startup culture that feeds consolidation. And I believe that’s fundamentally wrong.

Walking the floor of ExpoWest was almost hilarious. What was jerky and kombucha a few years ago, is now mochi and flavored water. I saw tens of companies offering exactly the same products, with slightly different branding and (sometimes) storytelling. No clear innovation, often very little renovation, and honestly, very little purpose too.

As our species is running out of time in the race for survivorship, Expo West was a good reminder that there are still hundreds of Liquid Deaths out there, whom primarily goal is to crack the branding code, talk to the audience that is hard to reach for big brands, and become the next Nestle’s acquisition.

We’re living in a food system that is extremely vulnerable, (i,e. only four companies control 90% of the global grain trade) and our entrepreneurial culture is still driven by consolidation as a success metric. How wrong is this?

The causes might be obvious. [1] If you build a VC-backed company you operate under the assumption that you’ll return money to investors. Exiting the company might be an “easier” way to do that, compared to growing a healthy business and do it through revenues. [2] The latter will also require more time and effort. Building a long-lasting, profitable business is hard. [3] Our educational system (business schools, I talk about you!) has, over the years, been leaning towards a culture where having an exit on your resume is a badge of honor. [4] You also have better chances to become an influent investor if you sold your company in the past.

The list of possible reasons doesn’t stop here, and there is a bigger conversation to be had (I’ll write more about this topic). I want to start by stating that there is a problem here, as this entrepreneurial culture doesn’t bring us, human species, anywhere.

[2] When creating companies to tackle climate crisis, we often underestimate the power of banking.

At Expo West there was an extremely interesting panel around the role of banking in tackling our current climate emergency (check out Financial Footprint, BankFWD, 350.org). That conversation happened two days before SVB collapse.

Despite all the rhetoric coming from banks committing to become net zero by 2050, trillions of dollars still keeps the coal, oil and gas industry alive, and even helps expand it.

Patagonia shared their struggles and decision making processes: acknowledging how smaller, greener banks are often not equipped to work with such big and international clients, and still it’s important to look for creative solutions. They therefore decided to differentiate:

• Work with bigger banks and set aggressive targets for them to work on, as a condition for their work relationship to last;

• Show willingness to engage with them about their progress: be a resource;

• Keep liquidity in a series of small, fossil fuel-free banks in marginated areas, as a way to create positive impact.

To use Bill McKibben’s words:“Remember that the goal is not for you to leave your bank, it is for your bank to leave fossil fuel”.

No climate commitment of any bank is complete without a pledge to urgently commit to financing a just transition to a zero-carbon society. It is our responsibility to properly evaluate available options and make holistic and conscious banking decisions once growing companies.

[3] Most of science-centric companies fail at being food companies. And that’s why climate-friendly foods adoption is still low.

You know when you taste a product and you wonder: who will eat this?! Well, this happens very often. Unfortunately both Future Food Tech, and Expo West were packed with barely edible products.

Then, you read enthusiastic articles from journalists, and fellow founders, and you think it might be you that doesn’t appreciate that dry, soy-flavored nugget. Trust me, it’s not just you. The close circle of individuals working days and nights on this industry is biased, we know how hard it is to make it happen, how innovative, and impactful it is. We are biased as we’re totally in love with this vision.

Does this means that the final consumer will be blown away by that product? No, absolutely no! Three thoughts on this topic:

• Until a company has culinary at the core, it is not a food company. There is a reason why you go eat in restaurants and not in labs.

• Listen to consumers. More than investors. The value of user-centered design and constant consumer testing is endless.

• Stop explaining every single bit of technology to final consumer. Have the animal industry ever talked about how abundantly their meats bleed? How you might have eaten fertilized eggs? How milk is squeezed out of udders?! There is a reason why they don’t.

There isn’t one single food system. There isn’t one single problem. There isn’t one single solution. #inclusivity

After a week of Expo West, hard work at Savor, catching flights, trying to be a caring mom, wife and friend, on Thursday morning the news about SVB fallout started leaking and my Earth started shaking: “Venture firms are advising portfolio companies to move money out of SVB.”

First and foremost, I'm writing this piece to reach people who are feeling similarly, who are tirelessly running towards the accomplishment of an important mission and this weekend feels like the time paused. I know I am not alone, and you aren’t either. My message is: there isn’t a better time to be human to each other.

Secondly, I’m sharing my opinion because I believe the panic that is by-design created by the media is wrong on all fronts, and the people who are working their as*es off every single day, building solutions needed for not only the survivorship of this world, but for its blossom, have the responsibility to speak up and share their human version. A version who is actually grounded in daily work experience, in humanity, kindness and vulnerability — with no paywalls, clickbaity titles and advertisement.

Do we have the right to blame SVB?

“[SVB] struggling under the weight of ill-fated decisions and panicked customers, collapsed on Friday, forcing the federal government to step in.” — NYT

Ill-fated decisions — really?

TL;DR: As far as we know from released information SVB wasn’t a reckless bank, and calling the decisions taken “ill-fated” is a clickbait-driven exaggeration.

SVB has been an ally for thousands of highly innovative companies hitting the ground running. It was always been a good bank (I used it for several companies of mine, and that I’m close to). Extremely easy to interact with, supportive with debt lines, and always willing to make connections within the ecosystem. An undemanding bank who let you focus on your work. If I could go back, I would have no reason not to choose it again over the years of my career.

More: SVB did what all banks do, keeping a fraction of the deposits on hand and invested the rest. In 2018, Trump signed a bill that lessened regulatory scrutiny for many regional banks, reducing how frequently banks with assets between $100 billion and $250 billion had to submit to stress tests by the Fed. SVB had $209 billion in assets at the end of 2022.

Looking deeper at where their investment went, the bank put a large share of customer deposits into long-dated Treasury bonds — government debt securities issued by the U.S. Federal government that have maturities greater than 20 years. What is commonly consider safe.

When the start-up funding slowed at the same time as interest rates were rising, companies began to withdraw more money and bring less in. To pay those redemption requests, SVB sold off some of its investments at a lost, and seeked fresh capital to meet its obligations.

According to the U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, even though the bank mostly serves tech workers and venture capital-backed companies, the high interest rate environment is the most likely reason for the fallout.

Panicked customers — why?

TL;DR:

• SVB made the same mistake most of VC-backed companies do as well: over focus on investors, under focus on customers;

• Media are trapped into business models where they have to be jackals, spreading panic to make money.

SVB dropped their biggest, most intricate, most unnerving news of the year — without any meaningful reassurance to their core customers (startup founders, especially early stage) and the people they listen to the most (influential VCs).

On the other hand, they filed a reassuring and comprehensive form 8-K with the SEC, to disclose a significant event to investors, where SVB included a clear description of the company’s liquidity strategy, rationale for fundraising, and strong capital position. But the 8-K didn’t get their customers and influencers.

SVB seems to have prioritized protecting the stock price and missed a key audience: customers. Which is — in my opinion, a key mistake the tech industry in the Valley is very much used to.

In addition to that, if you leave room to media, they know how to get their clicks in. In a moment where panic is the common enemy, Tech Crunch had the brilliant idea to deliberately add fuel to the fire.

If you clicked in, Natasha Mascarenhas and Alex Wilhelm were very vague, saying how “Some venture capital firms, including some of the biggest names in the game, are advising their portfolio companies to remove money out of Silicon Valley Bank after the storied bank announced this morning that it intended to sell shares in pursuit of more capital”. No name, no proof, nothing.

But then they continue: “to give you a sense of what’s on the table, founders who raise millions of dollars in venture capital financings often park their capital in an SVB account. To have any semblance of that precious capital under threat could set off a domino effect more based on fear than reality. Well-known venture investor Mark Suster spoke out on Twitter in defense of the bank, saying that he believes its CEO […]. Others have also spoken up to support SVB, including Rob Go from NextViewand Bryce Roberts.”

There were names of quotes of well known people that didn’t agree with that panic-fueling narrative. Bummer nothing of that was mentioned in the title, and most of that content was hidden behind a paywall.

So what?

• We — people building our common future, every single day, have the responsibility to actively advocate against this type of media industry, their unfair incentive system, ethics railway and business models. If this is one of the toughest weekend for a lot of hard-workers, is also because of how companies like TechCrunch decided to show up on Thursday.

• Our vote is important! In 2018, Trump signed a bill that lessened regulatory scrutiny for many regional banks.

• A mindset in which investors are more important than customers is set for failure. Companies’ primary beneficiaries are not investors and will never have to be. This is what business schools and VCs have been trying to teach us for decades and this is a good time to evolve.

*This is my personal experience, it’s not specifically linked to Savor or any other specific company. It is a genuine, transparent and humane share-out of what I feel right now, and what frustrates me, given my different positions and my close community.

[Three pieces of news]

💭 How the DeSci Movement Could Change The World of Food

A16Z’s publication Future describes DeSci as a movement in which “a growing number of scientists and entrepreneurs are leveraging blockchain tools, including smart contracts and tokens, in an attempt to improve modern science. This podcast, led by Mike Wolf, explores how open-source approaches could democratize bio-tech, moving away from drug and food development that is centered around IP, and instead of prioritizing the final goal of saving patients and feeding eaters in a climate couscous way.

🫙 Instacart is Sharing Consumer Data

In the past year the search for “probiotic” grew by 30%, 13% for “organic” and 12% for “natural”; most of the fastest growing SKUs have a “better-for-you” value proposition (i.e., Good Good, Poppi, Slate Milk, Egglife); Milk remains #1 research followed by eggs and bread; only 16% of the interviewed segment is extremely satisfied with non-animal meats; younger consumers appear more likely to switch to non-animal to save money (so, how do we make them cheaper?). Here is the full study.

🐷 Lab-grown Fat Might be the Bridge

The future of meat alternatives—lab-grown meat, that is molecularly identical to the real deal, is at least several years away. But we can’t wait until then to eat less meat; it’s one of the single best things that regular people can do for the climate, and also helps address concerns about animal suffering and health. Lab-grown fat might be the bridge. It is created using the same approach as lab-grown meat, but it’s far simpler to make and can be mixed into existing plant-based foods. Yasmin Taiga tried it and wrote about it on The Atlantic!

[Three raises]

🍫 Chocolate / WNWN Raises a $5.6 Million Series A for Its Cacao-Free Chocolate

🚗 Electric Delivery / Kiwibot brings in $7.5 million in Pre-Series A funding

🔬 Precision Fermentation / Paleo has secured €12m in a Series A

[Three products]

🌊 Blue Evolution: regeneratively farmed seaweeds

🥯 Oatly: vegan philly-style cream cheese

🌮 Heura: veg tacos (grew by 260% in 2022!)

There isn’t one single food system. There isn’t one single problem. There isn’t one single solution. #inclusivity

[Three pieces of news]

🧫 Precision Fermentation Alliance

The PFA is officially here. The companies involved are Perfect Day, EVERY™, Remilk, New Culture, Motif FoodWorks, Imagindairy, Helaina, Change Foods, and Onego Bio, and the goal is to champion precision fermentation as a solution for a more resilient and sustainable food system.

🍱 West meets East

The Vegetarian Butcher launched three plant-based Korean dishes with Kelly Deli, now available across Sushi Daily’s kiosks in UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and France.​

🫙 Everyone is talking about Mill

Mill emerged from stealth mode last month boasting a roster of tech bigwigs on a quest to create a consumer solution to food waste. Mill will send its members a high-tech bin to chuck their leftovers into so that it doesn’t wind up in a landfill.It counts already 100M in funding and 100+ team members.

[Three raises]

🦈 Fish / New School Foods secured $12 million in seed funding to make plant-based salmon filets.

🌱 Plant Based M&A / Tofurky and Sister Brand Moocho Acquired by Morinaga Nutritional Foods

🍗 Food Service / Rebellyous Foods raises $9.5 Million to scale vegan chicken in schools

[Three products]

🥜 Haofood: pulled chicken made from peanuts

🔥 Morningstar x Pringles: plant-based chik’n fries

📺 Wholly Veggie: Buffalo Cauliflower Wings

There isn’t one single food system. There isn’t one single problem. There isn’t one single solution. #inclusivity

[Three pieces of news]

🏷️ Carbon Label

Oatly has added climate footprint labeling to select US products, starting with the brand’s newly reformulated Oatgurts, a range of plant-based yoghurts. The company is using CarbonCloud to assess their impact.

🚀 Meati scales up

Meati Foods announced the opening of its production facility, dubbed “Mega Ranch,” in Colorado.The 100,000-square-foot facility will enable Meati to produce an annual rate of tens of millions of pounds by late 2023. Once fully ramped up, the facility will have the capability of producing more than 45 million pounds of product (~22,000 tons).

🍔 Meat vs Meat

Bruce Friedrich, Founder and President of Good Food Institute, (re)shared a study revealing that Impossible Foods & Beyond Meat burgers have fewer calories than beef, less fat, & more protein/cal. You'd have to eat 6 burgers to hit the RDA for sodium; and since people salt meat when they cook it, the Stanford study found no difference in intake, even with 2 Beyond meat servings per day instead of 2 organic animal meat servings

[Three raises]

💨 CO2 Conversion / Austria-based Arkeon turns CO₂ into protein ingredients and raised another €4+ million.

🍤 Coloring / Michroma Closes $6.4 Million Seed Round to Bring Novel Food Coloring to Market

🥚 Ingredients / Anne Hathaway makes her first B2B investment, backing the growth of The Every Co.

[Three products]

🍫 Moon Magic: vegan, keto, milk chocolate

🔥 Good Sport’s: drink harnessing the electrolytes found in milk

🍕 Talia di Napoli: Italian, vegan, Napolitan pizza

There isn’t one single food system. There isn’t one single problem. There isn’t one single solution. #inclusivity