One week in a post #37: Post Formula Shortage, TIME’s Best Inventions, Green Candies, Cultivated Chicken.

[Three pieces of news]

1/ Cultivated Chicken — and now?

I’m sure you haven’t missed it: last week the FDA gave the" “go ahead” to Upside’s cultivated chicken. The soft commercialization will happen through a small number of exclusive restaurants. Michelin-starred chef Dominique Crenn has already announced that she will serve it at Atelier Crenn. When will it be possible? Unclear. Because “the voluntary pre-market consultation is not an approval process,” The FDA noted. “Instead, it means that after our careful evaluation of the data and information shared by the firm, we have no further questions at this time about the firm’s safety conclusion.” What it’s clear is that there are a number of people who are happy about this step, and a number who are not.

2/ TIME’s Best Inventions of 2022

TIME announced its list of Best Inventions of 2022, featuring nine food-related projects. Among those, around half play at the intersection between food and climate:

• Beyond Meat’s plant-based steak

• Meati’s crispy cutlet

• Atomo Coffee’s molecular cold brew (no coffee beans!)

• MyForest Foods’ mycelium-based bacon

• Atarraya’s intelligent shrimp farm

3/ Recovering from Formula Shortages

Last week FDA said in a statement that it would like to see Cronobacter infections added to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s list of national notifiable diseases, which would mean doctors would be required to report cases to public health officials. In the meantime, shelf stock rates for powdered infant formula got back to 87% (90% before the crisis, 69% in the summer at the peak of the crisis).

INC reported that Bobbie — the fairly new, San Francisco-based formula making startup — was able to become the fastest-growing baby formula in the United States in four decades. They were able to sell their organic formula only directly to consumers through its website and had a monthly subscription model.

Breakthrough innovations are getting more and more into this space, as well. Me& (the Australia’s first cell-based milk startup) recently raised $2.5 million seed, joining other 4 companies worldwide which are trying to prevent the next formula shortage (Biomilq — US, Halaina — US, Turtle Tree — Singapore, Wilk — Israel).

[Three $ raises]

Alt Meat / Australian cultivated meat company Vow raised $49.2 million Series A funding, the largest round in the sector to date.

Food Service / Colombian ghost kitchen operator Muncher raised $27 million Series B funding.

Supply Chain / Israel-based Clarifruit closed a $12 million Series A funding round, to further develop its AI-based software platform for automated quality control for the fruit and vegetable supply chain.

[Three products]

1/ Climate Candy: candies made from unharvested perfectly imperfect fruits and veggies.

2/ Tastee Tape: edible adhesive tape.

3/ Atlantic Sea Farm: super yummy sea-veggie burgers, kelp salads, cubes and more.

---

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