One week in a post #21: Vegan Lamb at Souvla, Hemp-made Cheese, Turmeric, Yuzu, Moringa, and…
One week in a post #21: Vegan Lamb at Souvla, Hemp-made Cheese, Turmeric, Yuzu, Moringa, and Hibiscus.
Now that climate beneficial eating is becoming more popular, and a number of individuals and organizations are getting into the space, I feel called to share with a broader audience what I encounter every single day through my work at Future Food and Food for Climate League. Weekly, I share startups I read about, products I tasted, founders I met (and a bit of personal life!). Every single concept I mention will be tracked on a public database we’re populating. The overarching goal is to increase the general interest in this topic, acknowledging that the challenge is too big not to work cooperatively.
This initiative is possible thanks to our amazing Future Food Ecosystem, where our team is working head-down every single day to research, design, create, and commercialize new food solutions to help our planet.
My word of the week
Transition. NOUN. The process or a period of changing from one state or condition to another.Food, Climate and Innovation: three highlights of the week
1/ The TOP 2022 Food Trends
From Boozy Booch’ to Plant-based Jerky, we have seen all the innovative trends come to life in the year of 2021. However, it is time to look forward to the upcoming year as Wholefoods and Innova Market Insights, a global market intelligence company for consumer packaged goods specializing in food & beverage and personal care, have recently released their predictions for food trends in 2022.
So what direction does Wholefoods see their ever-evolving grocery stores shelves going in 2022? Ultraurban farming, Reducetarianism, Buzz-free alcohol, Functional fizzy beverages, Environmentally friendly grains, Sunflower seeds as a base for products, and ingredients such as turmeric, yuzu, moringa, and hibiscus. While there will be an exploration of new “superfood” ingredients and beverages, environmental impact remains to be the over-arching goal.
In conjunction, Innova has highlighted that 2022 will be a year in which sustainability and environmental impact will be a prominent factor in the future of successful products as brands will begin to need to include a reliable measurement that stands behind their environmental claims such as “zero or negative impact”. Besides brand labeling, plant-based innovation will continue to move forward along with gut health, upcycling, back to the roots, and more.
2/ More Snacking is Happening
While snacking may seem like a timeless trend, due to the recent pandemic it has only increased and is only expected to increase due to the new “on-the-go” freedom consumers have post-pandemic.
The global snack food market was valued at approximately $427 billion in 2020 and, according to ReportLinker, and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 3.37% through 2026.
Coco Carson, insights manager with ShareThis, a data company focused on mapping global consumer interest insights, reported “There has been a great demand for natural ingredients and low environmental impact, with the development of a more health-conscious snacking aisle…” in addition “New brand discovery in food has completely changed. For sanitary reasons, samples are [less frequently] handed out, necessitating smaller (even individual) packaging, so that consumers can try new products before committing to larger packages.” Correlating with the 2022 trends, it appears environmental health will be an important factor in the future of snacking.
In the realm of snacking, Hormel Foods Corp.’s recently finalized its $3.35 billion acquisition of the Planters snack business from Kraft Heinz Co. which according to online source Supermarket Perimeter, will open a host of opportunities as management sees Planters anchoring Hormel’s snack portfolio and leading its growth as a competitor for individual and group snacking occasions. Jeff Frank, vice president of Grocery Products at Hormel Foods stated, “We’ve got some exciting packaging innovation with an eye toward environmental sustainability and consumer interest, along with some really interesting flavor innovation coming in 2022 as well.” James P. Snee, president and chief executive officer of Hormel Foods expressed that “his expectation is snacking and entertaining occasions are going to accelerate as the COVID-19 pandemic subsides and consumers return to on-the-go lifestyles, group gatherings and family celebrations.”
3/ First to Serve Vegan Lamb
According to VegNews, starting October 20th, Souvla, a San Francisco Bay Area Greek restaurant, will be serving the vegan lamb produced by Black Sheep, a newer vegan brand, at all four of their locations. It will be served in small bite-sized pieces in both sandwiches and salads.
Souvla’s Founder and CEO, Charles Bililies, said “We had yet to find a plant-based meat that made sense for our restaurants, but when we tried Black Sheep Foods, we felt it was the right moment to add a plant-based offering to our menu. This will expand upon our vegetarian offerings, which we’re excited to offer our guests.”
As reported in San Francisco Eater, Black Sheep’s lamb will be available exclusively at all four Souvla restaurants in San Francisco or for Bay Area delivery for six weeks.
The product itself was inspired by Tunis, a New Zealand lamb variety curated with a base of pea protein and patent-pending flavor compounds. Black Sheep company co-founder Sunny Kumar told The Spoon, that he and co-founder Ismael Montanez had an “aha” moment while working together at Finless Foods: “We realized that the taste of an animal really comes from what it’s eating, and how that food is processed by the animal itself.” According to Kumar, they have a “secret sauce”: A class of compounds called branched chain fatty acids, which account for the gamy flavor of lamb.
After its launch in Souvla for a six week period, they hop to expand into not only other Bay Area restaurants but also into different ranges of vegan meats “like burgers, nuggets, and sausages — “but with flavors that are insane.”
Climate Friendly products of the week
Minor Figures
Minor Figures makes plant-based, 100% vegan products to lift your coffee.
Sustainable Packaging / All Minor Figures cans and cardboard packaging are fully recyclable.
Branding / Minor Figures celebrates the simple things in life: each product features an illustrated character on its packaging taking pleasure in the mundane (reading a book, tinkering on the piano, blowing bubbles). They are all expressions of life rather than expressions of “success” founder, Stuart, says.
Carbon Neutral / Starting from last year, the band became carbon neutral!
Grounded Foods Co.
Grounded Foods makes plant based cheeses from natural ingredients that come from the ground, without cutting costs by using unnecessary additives, flavor enhancers or cheap fillers: they have developed a fermentation process using cauliflower + hemp.
Upcycling / Grounded Foods products are formulated with hemp seed and imperfect cauliflower.
Local Focus / Grounded Foods products are manufactured in California from locally-sourced ingredients.
No Evil Foods
No Evil Foods makes meat from nothing but plants: “One purchase and (BAM!) you’ve reduced your impact on carbon emissions, water consumption, and land loss. Plus, you’ve supported animal welfare and your health simultaneously.”
Sustainable Packaging / No Evil Foods are wrapped in an unbleached kraft carton for a packaging material that is fully home compostable. You can toss it in the worm bin or compost heap just as easily as you can the recycling bin. In addition it is printed and sealed in plant-based ink and adhesives.
Environmental Focus / No Evil Foods became the world’s first Plastic Negative Certified plant-based meat brand in 2020.
The Future Food Institute believes climate change is at the end of your fork. By harnessing the power of our global ecosystem of partners, innovators, researchers, educators, and entrepreneurs, FFI aims to sustainably improve life on Earth through the transformation of global food systems. Learn more at www.futurefoodinsitute.org, or join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, or YouTube. Or attend a program through the FutureFood.Academy!
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👉👉 Thank you Natalie Brandenburg for the priceless help putting this article together!
One week in a post #21: Vegan Lamb at Souvla, Hemp-made Cheese, Turmeric, Yuzu, Moringa, and… was originally published in FUTURE FOOD on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.