Food Tech

  • Produce section of a grocery store
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    Catherine Douglas Moran/Food Dive

    A taste of Food Dive’s best stories

    From the struggles of plant-based meat to Kellogg’s proposed split, Food Dive writes about the news that moves the CPG industry.

    By Food Dive Staff • Dec. 2, 2022
  • A group of Protera Biosciences employees in black shirts stand in front of a building.
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    Courtesy of Protera Biosciences

    ICL Food Specialties and Protera Biosciences partner on AI-discovered plant-based ingredients

    The collaboration, with the goal of quickly scaling up clean-label options, follows a $1 million investment from the global minerals giant last year.

    By • Dec. 1, 2022
  • Products made with Perfect Day's animal-free dairy proteins.
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    Courtesy of Perfect Day

    Perfect Day expands its reach with gelatin company purchase

    With the acquisition of India’s Sterling Biotech Limited, the animal-free dairy company doubles its manufacturing capacity and has a path to widen its precision fermentation portfolio.

    By • Nov. 30, 2022
  • A small white dish of plain yogurt made from cell-cultured dairy sits in front of a larger glass bowl of the yogurt. A spoon lies in front and a cutting board of fruit is in the background.
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    Courtesy of Wilk

    Wilk makes yogurt using milk from cultivated cells

    The Israeli company is the first to create a finished dairy product that has been produced by cells grown outside of an animal. 

    By • Nov. 18, 2022
  • Three square paper containers of chicken chunks, greens and crudites with Upside Foods napkins nearby on a yellow background
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    Courtesy of Upside Foods
    Race for regulation of cell-based meat

    Upside Foods gets FDA greenlight for cultivated chicken

    The California company received the first U.S. regulatory approval of any kind for meat grown from cells. It awaits a decision from the USDA before it can serve its products to consumers.

    By • Updated Nov. 16, 2022
  • A person cooks Beyond Sausages on an outdoor grill, with the package on the right side.
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    Courtesy of Beyond Meat

    Beyond Meat partners with American Cancer Society on research

    The meat analog company will help facilitate data collection to see if plant-based alternatives could be linked to the prevention of chronic disease. 

    By • Nov. 15, 2022
  • Vow cell-based meat
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    Courtesy of Vow

    Vow raises $49.2M to expand cultivated meat production

    The Australian company, which focuses on growing uncommon types of meat such as kangaroo, alpaca and quail from cells, plans to launch in its home country and the U.S. next year.

    By • Nov. 14, 2022
  • Industrial cutter for grinding meat. Factory for the production of sausages and meat delicacies.
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    istock/Salomonus_

    Sponsored by Ecolab

    5 tips for using sanitary design to ease food & beverage industry labor challenges

    Sanitary design is all about ensuring facility equipment and processes are cleanable – Could your facility be improved?

    By James Tester & Rick Stokes, Manager Area Tech Support – Ecolab • Nov. 14, 2022
  • A hand wearing a safety glove gives a paper-wrapped ice cream sandwich with round cookies and pink ice cream to another hand.
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    Alex Wong via Getty Images
    Deep Dive

    From science to CPG: New ventures create opportunities for startups

    While many larger players in the food tech space had to build their own facilities and processes from scratch, entities are planning to give those starting out now a smoother beginning.

    By • Nov. 11, 2022
  • A person tending to leafy greens at an indoor farming site
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    Courtesy of United Natural Foods, Inc.

    UNFI to add indoor farms at select distribution centers

    In a new partnership, Square Roots will co-locate its vertical farming technology on-site at certain facilities, starting with the grocery wholesaler’s Prescott, Wisconsin, location in 2023.

    By Peyton Bigora • Nov. 11, 2022
  • Microsalt, salt me, chips
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    Christopher Doering/Food Dive

    Salt evangelists aim to rethink how consumers view the ancient ingredient

    Undeterred by health issues tied to salt, entrepreneurs are mixing it with things like coffee and garlic while embracing smaller, more powerful particles.

    By • Nov. 10, 2022
  • Three slices of Air Chicken are on a glass plate, garnished with a small radish and purple flower. The background is a blue sky with a few clouds.
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    Courtesy of Air Protein
    Deep Dive

    From science to CPG: Finding the right team to go beyond the lab

    While scientific processes and developments are core to what food tech companies do, they need employees who can turn the science into a successful business.

    By • Nov. 10, 2022
  • A rendering of Steakholder Foods' planned future facility: A large open room with windows. Three large bioreactors in the middle, with smaller ones, 3D printers and storage drawers arranged around.
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    Courtesy of Steakholder Foods

    From science to CPG series

    A five-part series examining the challenges food tech companies face when scaling up.

    By • Nov. 9, 2022
  • People in food safety protective gear handle yellow plastic tubs on a metal table in the middle of a room with metal walls, tubing and fans.
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    Courtesy of Upside Foods
    Deep Dive

    From science to CPG: Adapting R&D to regulations — and eventually consumers

    As food tech startups grow, their focus needs to shift from scientific breakthroughs to meeting stringent manufacturing rules, as well as thinking a lot about the people who will one day eat their products.

    By • Nov. 9, 2022
  • A dish of Quorn's Meatless ChiQin Wings.
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    Courtesy of Quorn

    Fermentation leaders form Fungi Protein Association

    Companies including Quorn, MycoTechnology, Meati and The Better Meat Co. are coming together to advocate for alternatives that are not made from plants.

    By • Nov. 9, 2022
  • A person in lab safety gear bends slightly and works with one of Future Meat Technologies' large silver bioreactors.
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    Courtesy of Future Meat Technologies
    Deep Dive

    From science to CPG: How money makes the food tech startup world go round

    Fundraising and understanding a realistic timeline are high barriers for these companies as they face R&D and regulatory challenges.

    By • Nov. 8, 2022
  • A view of an industrial room with scientific equipments and desks.
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    Permission granted by Finless Foods
    Deep Dive

    From science to CPG: How food tech companies grow into tomorrow’s food manufacturers

    It’s difficult to take a scientific discovery that could change the way the world eats and get it to consumers’ plates. Startups need tenacity, money, R&D, patience and an understanding of reality.

    By • Nov. 7, 2022
  • Waterdrop, energy drink
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    Courtesy of Waterdrop

    Waterdrop launches Microlytes hydration recovery cubes

    The endurance and recovery product is different than traditional sports drinks because it doesn’t have sugar or caffeine, and it has a lower environmental footprint, the company said.

    By • Nov. 3, 2022
  • A plant-based boeuf bourguignon, with brown broth and vegetables, is in a white bowl, resting on a white saucer with a beige cloth napkin and wood-handled silverware between the plate and bowl.
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    Courtesy of International Flavors & Fragrances

    IFF launches plant-based ingredient that mimics chunky meat texture

    The company said its soy-based Supro Tex product can be hydrated with a variety of colors and flavors for use in plant-based beef, chicken, pork and lamb dishes.

    By • Nov. 3, 2022
  • An Impossible Burger cut in half
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    Courtesy of Impossible Foods

    Impossible Foods’ patent affirmed in legal battle with Motif FoodWorks

    While the ingredient company’s challenge to the plant-based meat maker’s intellectual property was not reviewed, the litigation between the two parties continues. 

    By • Oct. 31, 2022
  • Fermentation equipment in an open building, with concrete block walls and floors on one side, and an open view of grass and trees behind. Two people in hard hats stand nearby.
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    Permission granted by BioVeritas

    BioVeritas gets $65M for fermented upcycled ingredients

    The company, which turns broken pasta and other food waste into ingredients commonly sourced from petrochemicals, plans to open a commercial-scale plant in 2025.

    By • Oct. 27, 2022
  • A view of Arzeda's lab, with stairs on the left and several lab tables with equipment on the right.
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    Permission granted by Arzeda

    AAK partners with Arzeda to transform oils with enzymes

    The protein designer, which has worked with BP and Unilever, has long wanted to use its processes to help make the food industry more sustainable and efficient, said CEO Alexandre Zanghellini.

    By • Oct. 27, 2022
  • Brightseed, artificial intelligence
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    Brightseed/Food Dive

    Brightseed launches upcycled functional gut health fiber

    The ingredient made from hemp hulls was discovered by the company’s artificial intelligence platform. It will be first used in a protein crisp jointly developed with Puris.

    By • Oct. 27, 2022
  • Packages of American Style, Cheddar Style and Provolone Style Kraft NotCheese slices lean up against a light blue surface with a white surface below them.
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    Permission granted by Kraft Heinz

    Kraft Heinz launches plant-based cheese slices through NotCo joint venture

    The product, which Bloomberg says will be in some Ohio stores next month, is the CPG giant’s first foray into new products made without animal-derived ingredients.

    By • Oct. 26, 2022
  • A mount of Better Meat Co's mycelium Rhiza protein, which is in a solid form of white chunks, with a company toothpick flag on top.
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    Permission granted by Better Meat Co.

    The Better Meat Co. patents mycelium it says ‘does an even better job of mimicking’ meat

    The California company received its fourth patent for its versatile and shelf-stable Rhiza protein, made from the roots of the fast-growing fungus Neurospora crassa.

    By • Oct. 25, 2022