Every year, GFI evaluates the quantity and mainstream appeal of plant-based entrées on the menus of the top 100 U.S. restaurant chains in our Good Food Restaurant Scorecard. The latest data from 2019 indicates more restaurants now have at least one plant-based entrée option, increasing from 55 chains in 2018 to 58 at the end of 2019. Despite these promising …

Up until now, plant-based food companies like Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods, and Quorn have almost singlehandedly worked to lessen the impacts of industrial animal agriculture.  Supermarket shelves and fast food restaurants across the US are serving up vegan burgers and meatballs and plant-based chicken nuggets are showing consumers there is an alternative to relying on animal-based protein. But a quiet …

Look at an ingredient list for plant-based meat or dairy products, and right up top you’ll probably see pea, soy, wheat, or maybe even mung bean. But San Diego-based startup Plantible is introducing a brand new player to the alternative protein landscape: lemna (commonly known as duckweed). Plantible’s co-founders, Tony Martens and Maurits van de Ven, stumbled upon lemna as …

Jeremy Hill, Chief Science and Technology Officer for Fonterra will be joining us at ProteinTECH 2019. Jeremy will be covering the importance of complementary nutrition to sustainability of the food system. By 2030 there will be another 1 billion mouths to feed and over 2 billion more by 2050.  Finding solutions for how to sustainably feed a population of up …

Fonterra has bought a stake in a Boston biotech start-up that wants to develop cow-free protein for use in products like cheese and drinks. But while the co-op says there’s room in its future for both dairy and “dairy-like” products, it insists cow-free protein isn’t necessarily more environmentally-friendly. Fonterra is dipping a hoof in the lab-grown food market by investing …

Impossible Foods said Monday it has raised $300 million in its latest funding round. The company’s announcement follows the initial public offering of Beyond Meat. Its rival’s stock has surged 173% since its debut May 2. Impossible Foods has raised more than $750 million, with help from investors like Bill Gates, Google Ventures and Serena Williams. Sales of plant-based products …

A Kiwi company has launched a meat-free mince in a bid to meet demand from people wanting to reduce their meat consumption. Dunedin firm the Craft Meat Company has developed a 100 per cent plant-based mince made from mushrooms, tomato, almonds, coconut oil and soy protein which will hit supermarkets shelves this week. Grant Howie, co-owner of the meat company, …

Nick Pyke is a Director at AgInnovate – a consultancy service provider for agricultural businesses. Their focus is onsupporting innovation through high quality applied research designed and undertaken to ensure the outcomes from research are delivering benefits to New Zealand food producers and the agricultural industries. The health of our natural environment is critical to our survival. One side wants …

The Environment Aotearoa 2019 report, released last week, painted a grim picture of the commercial fishing industry. The pressure of commercial fishing had eased in the past decade, and most commercially caught fish came from stocks that were considered to be managed sustainably, it said, but in some cases it had been too late. By 2017, some 16 per cent …

A new report shows the way we live and make a living is having a serious impact on our environment. Jointly produced by the Ministry for the Environment and Stats NZ, Environment Aotearoa 2019 outlines nine priority issues in need of attention. “This report provides a health check on our environment and shows it’s under pressure in many places – …

This month, the Ministry for the Environment has released fresh guidance for businesses and organisations wanting to track their emissions. “In the last month we’ve seen both the Emissions Inventory and Environment Aotearoa reports released. These both show the need for action to reduce our emissions. This guidance can be used by all types and sizes of organisations to track …

Possibly the oldest and certainly the most widely consumed food by humans is animal meat. Humans have bred livestock for consumption since time immemorial. Although the end objective of breeding remains the same – creating a source of food – the techniques for doing so have undergone vast changes over the years to make the process as efficient and as …

BurgerFuel enters an exciting new frontier this week with the launch of their plant-based beef burger – the Beyond Beleaf. Utilising the next generation of meat-free protein alternatives, this 100% vegan cheeseburger containing a meat-free beef patty, will roll-out this week across their 56 stores nationwide. Crafted to provide the full experience of a classic gourmet cheeseburger, this latest addition …

The “future of protein” conversation has been, and will continue to be, a hot topic in agrifood tech. Investors have poured capital into the space, and media, both popular and industry specific, continue to cover it in great depth. And it’s a fascinating conversation – as we work together to ensure that everyone in the world gains and maintains access …

When Beyond Meat went public on the NASDAQ last week, investors expected the offering to be big — but no one predicted that the company would be valued at over $3 billion before the day’s end. In short, plant-based meat alternatives have officially emerged from their niche of yore, and into the mainstream. And Beyond Meat and its ilk — New …

A hamburger a week, but no more — that’s about as much red meat people should eat to do what’s best for their health and the planet, according to a report seeking to overhaul the world’s diet. Eggs should be limited to fewer than about four a week, the report says. Dairy foods should be about a serving a day, …

Burger King is trialling a new plant-based burger made from ingredients including soy protein, coconut oil and potato protein. The Impossible Whopper is being trialled in US city St Louis and customers have had their first taste of the beefless patty. The burger provides a meat-free alternative to the famed flame-grilled beef Whopper. It has been described as the Whopper’s …

Shiok, which means “delicious” in Singapore and Malay slang, is developing shrimp, crab and lobster products by using stem cells taken from the crustaceans and feeding the cells a nutrient mix. The company says the result is friendlier to animals, human health and the environment. It also has the same taste and texture as the real thing, the company says, while providing …

Hilary Pearson is a confirmed speaker at ProteinTech 2019 – See below for her presentation plans at the event!   Hilary says no one at Freedom Farms considers themselves a farmer. But we care a whole lot about the future of food production in New Zealand – and twelve years ago we set out to make it simple for Kiwi …

Environment Canterbury (ECan) is under increasing pressure to start a public fight to save the planet. The regional council is due to debate declaring a “climate emergency” at its meeting on May 16. But on Tuesday, even the council’s often run-of-the-mill annual plan hearings became a platform for what should be done to engage the public and protect the environment for future generations. Pressure is …