FoodNiche®’s Post

🌱 Transforming Food Waste into Delicious, Nutritious Bites with Fungi!🍄 Imagine turning everyday food waste like soybean pulp and coffee grounds into tasty and nutritious new foods. Thanks to "Neurospora intermedia", an orange-colored fungus, this is becoming a reality! By fermenting these by-products, N. intermedia not only helps reduce waste but also enhances the protein content, making the resulting foods both delicious and healthy. From traditional Javanese red oncom to innovative gourmet desserts by top chefs, this versatile fungus is paving the way for sustainable food production. Researchers are excited about scaling this process industrially, potentially revolutionizing how we handle food waste globally. Let’s embrace the power of microbes to create a more sustainable and flavorful future! 🍄✨ 🔗 [Read the full article here] https://lnkd.in/ddGxergx #Sustainability #FoodInnovation #Biotechnology #FoodWaste #Fermentation #Microbiology #SustainableFood #Innovation

🇰🇷🇩🇪 Infinite Roots® partnered with Pulmuone to debut its mycelium-based meat analogues in South Korea The products, featured in Pulmuone's Earth Diet line, include meatballs and hamburger steak. The products focus on the natural umami flavours of mycelium and mushrooms rather than mimicking meat, aligning with local tastes and sustainability goals. Infinite Roots’ approval process highlights differences between regions: South Korea’s quicker, localized system versus the EU’s comprehensive but slower framework. This disparity encouraged the German company to prioritize Asian markets for initial commercial rollouts. Pulmuone’s strong reputation in health-focused food and its $2.1B revenue (with a 135% profit growth in 2023) position it as a pivotal partner for Infinite Roots. Through its Earth Diet label, Pulmuone aims to broaden its meat alternative portfolio while aligning with its ESG goals. Mazen Rizk ✉️ Hungry for more updates on biotech-enabled agrifood businesses and breakthroughs? Devour the free subscription: betterbioeconomy.com

🚀 Insight into the Future of Alternative Proteins! 🌱 We’re excited to share a recent interview featured on Food Ingredients First! 🎙️ In this conversation, our CTO, Felipe Lino, dives into how we are pioneering the next generation of meat substitutes by enhancing texture with long fiber proteins from Koji fungi. 🍄 Our product meets consumer demand for clean and short labels, even the more as concerns over ultra-processed foods grow. This is another step towards creating sustainable, nutritious, and delicious food options for the future. 🌍 Check out the full interview here to learn more about our innovative product: https://lnkd.in/ecBFcyuy #AlternativeProteins #Sustainability #FoodTech #Innovation #FutureOfFood #KojiFungi

Always grateful for the release of The Good Food Institute's state of the industry reports for packaging up key developments in the ever-evolving alternative protein space 🙏    Some of my 2023 highlights 👇    Adoption is on the up, as 62% of households bought vegan products, with meat and seafood reaching 15% of homes. Repeat purchase rates were also high at 81% for the entire category, and 62% for meat and seafood analogs    The number of companies and production facilities for alternative proteins increased, with 174 businesses working on cultivated meat across the supply chain (166 in 2022), and 158 on fermentation-based proteins (136 in 2022)    Beef became the vegan analog closest to price parity, costing $7.48 per pound, versus $6.24 for the same amount of animal-derived beef – a 20% difference    Despite total global VC funding for alt proteins dipping by 44% from $2.9B in 2022 to $1.6B in 2023, investments in Europe actually increased for the second consecutive year, reaching $584M (up by 74%), a record total for the region. This was the first time European investments comprised over half of all invested capital in the plant-based industry    The U.S became the second country to allow the sale of cultivated meat, joining Singapore and now also Israel    Let’s keep navigating the road to market penetration through quality and price parity, accessibility and better nutrition to build a food system that is better for people and the planet Also a nice summary from GreenQueen here https://lnkd.in/dxj646tm Reports here https://lnkd.in/dqPiCyUe #alternativeproteins #foodtech #proteinshift #proteinwende #futurefood #sustainablefoodsytem 

🇮🇱🇦🇺 Kinoko-Tech partnered with Australia’s Metaphor Foods to commercialize mycelium-based products, targeting a 2025 launch The Israeli startup uses grains, legumes, and food industry sidestreams (like vegetable peels) to grow mycelium, creating protein-rich products such as sausages and burgers, which will be sold in Australia. Kinoko-Tech's fermentation process, licensed from Yissum (Hebrew University), converts the inputs into protein-rich foods, resulting in a zero-waste production cycle with minimal emissions. In addition to center-of-plate meals, Kinoko-Tech offers snacks like flapjacks, protein bars, and chips, using sidestream ingredients like okra and natural sweeteners. These snacks are designed to be healthy, unprocessed, and packed with protein and fibre. Jasmin Ravid, Daria Feldman, Hadar Shohat ✉️ Hungry for more updates on biotech-enabled agrifood businesses and breakthroughs? Devour the free subscription: betterbioeconomy.com

🍄 The Better Meat Co. received regulatory approval in Singapore for its Rhiza mycoprotein, paving the way for its international debut Rhiza, made from Neurospora crassa, has historical significance in Asian cuisine and can be used in meat analogues, dairy products, and blended meat applications. The Californian startup’s mycoprotein has a 50% protein content, a high digestibility score, and a rich nutrient profile that includes fiber and potassium. It is also low in cholesterol and saturated fat. The product’s shelf-stability, texture improvements in blended meats, and B2B format (sold to food companies in granule form) make it a convenient and sustainable option. It is a functional ingredient for various food applications, including steaks, sausages, and deli products. Paul Shapiro ✉️ Hungry for more updates on biotech-enabled agrifood businesses and breakthroughs? Devour the free subscription: betterbioeconomy.com

Very interesting survey on consumer trends for precision fermentation, meat and dairy alternatives. European consumers show a flexitarian approach for their food choices. Positive opinion and curiosity for precision fermentation.

❓ 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞? ❓ The traditional supply chain of traditional fat ingredients, both animal—and plant-derived, is under unprecedented scrutiny for its damage to people and the environment. 🛑 🥓 #Biotechnology can transform sustainable foods, offering mouth-watering, healthy, and scalable solutions to diversify the current offering. Thank you, FoodNavigator and Megan Tatum, for mentioning Melt&Marble as one of the start-ups to watch transforming the fat ingredients landscape in Europe! 🌱 Read the full article in the link below 🔽 #precisionfermentation #foodtech #foodinnovation

🌱🥩 6 WAYS THE PLANT-BASED INDUSTRY CAN REACH PRICE PARITY Alternative protein think tank The Good Food Institute has revealed that in 2022, plant-based meat was 67% more expensive than animal meat. Likewise, research by data scientist Hannah Ritchie last year showed that even the cheapest plant-based meat alternatives are higher in price than animal-derived meat, suggesting that the former don’t just need to be at parity with the latter, but rather much cheaper. So how do we get there? A new report by British chef and writer Anthony Warner for New Food Innovation Ltd delves into solutions to make meat alternatives cheaper than they currently are. The whitepaper outlines how textured vegetable protein (TVP) is usually much cheaper than meat, as the former is combined with a bunch of other ingredients to enhance the end product, things get a little trickier. Here’s how the plant-based meat industry can step over these hurdles and provide cheaper products to reach price parity with meat: 1️⃣ Tweaking flavour focus 2️⃣ Leveraging enzymes and in-built emulsification and gelling properties 3️⃣ Switching the processing and prolonging the shelf life 4️⃣ Diversifying the protein type 5️⃣ Valorising the sidestream to cut food waste 6️⃣ Looking local to find cheaper plant protein sources “There is much work to do. Some short-term solutions can produce significant results. Other approaches are likely to take more time, particularly those that require us to shift consumer understanding,” the report concludes. “But it is definitely possible that, if companies can maintain focus, a lot of plant-based products can be shifted towards price parity over the next couple of years. And if a few medium-term projects and research streams are implemented, we may even move beyond that point.”

📃🥩 EUROPEANS ARE MORE TRUSTING OF PRECISION FERMENTATION THAN OTHER FORMS This year, fermented foods have really taken off. While good gut health has become more desirable amid the Ozempic boom, consumers have also identified the potential of fermentation technologies to create better-tasting foods. Investors have recognised this, pouring more money into this segment than plant-based or cultivated proteins. And a host of policy advancements have meant that novel fermented foods are getting increasingly closer to our plates. So as this sector booms, what do people want from it? This is a question researchers at Sweden’s Umeå University aimed to tackle for the EU-funded HealthFerm - Plant-Based Fermented Foods Ecosystem project. Surveying 7,812 citizens in nine EU countries – Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Romania, Sweden and Switzerland – the poll covered people’s current dietary habits, their attitudes towards meat, dairy, plant-based and fermented foods, and what they want the latter to taste like. “This groundbreaking study provides valuable guidance for developing innovative plant-based fermentations that are in line with sensory expectations,” said Christophe Courtin, project coordinator of HealthFerm. Here are the key takeaways from the plant-based and fermentation food survey: 🥩 Meat consumption decreased, but dairy consumption is much less likely to change 🌱 Plant-based meat and dairy are the least consumed foods 💰 Taste, health and price are the key drivers of food choices 🌎 Consumers are divided on health and climate benefits of alternative proteins 🛒 More people are willing to buy fermented products if they are priced the same as their conventional counterparts ✅ People are concerned about food safety and protein content 📈 Trust in precision fermentation is higher than other forms (willingness to try) More information in the full article: https://lnkd.in/eVAJjmNS #GreenQueen #altprotein #precisionfermentation #fermentation #plantbased #futurefood #foodsystems #sustainability