If you’re adventurous with your food, or just want to keep up with the fast-moving food tech industry, here’s a roundup of TechCrunch stories and some notable news we weren’t able to cover.
Plant-based protein finds application in food services
Last week, the Good Food Institute revealed some of them Insights into plant proteins Used in food services. Here are some highlights:
- 2022 was a strong year: U.S. broad distributor sales of plant-based proteins reached $304 million in 2022, an increase of 8% from pre-pandemic levels in 2019.
- Anything that tastes like animal meat is “in”: Analog plant proteins – those that closely mimic the taste and texture of animal meat – accounted for 53% of pound sales in 2022, up from 39% in 2019.
- Buyers of plant protein come back again and again: Buyers of plant-based meat tend to be high-value buyers, making about 30 additional trips to food service locations per year, and spending approximately $400 more than the average buyer.
Taste is something that remains a challenge. Over the past year, we’ve reported on vegan companies working on this, including Black Sheep Foods, Rebellyous, Planetarians, Chunk Foods, and ISH.
As seen on TechCrunch
Mycoprotein producer Enough has raised €40 million to double its production capacity
Making protein from mushrooms is not a new concept. However, Enough believes its technology – and the ability to scale production quickly – will set it apart. The Scotland-based company secured €40 million ($43.5 million) in new growth funding this month to test that theory.
Meatable is investing $35 million to accelerate the launch of its cultured pork products
Another European company, Meatable, received $35 million to further develop its pork products. Recently, the company boasted of its ability to cut the production time it takes to manufacture fat and muscle from three weeks to eight days. This is due to technology and production scale – he is currently able to access 500 liter bioreactors and grow cells at a rate of 80 million cells per milliliter.
What else am I reading?
Some fresh catch: Sustainable seafood startups are the catch of the day. In fact, read more about Bluu Seafood and Aqua Cultured Foods. Investors also had little to say.
Delicious for baby’s tummy: Maolac combines AI with breast milk to make your tummy feel better. Follow what Maolac is doing here.
Nothing cheesy about this: New Culture has successfully scaled its brewing process to match manufacturing volumes. Check out some of TechCrunch’s previous coverage of the new culture.
All about cows: Questions for Umit’s bovine plasma extraction farm. Read about Umit coming out of stealth this year.
If you have a hot tip or introduction to events in the world of entrepreneurship and food technology, you can contact Christine Hall at chall.techcrunch@gmail.com or Signal at 832-862-1051. Requests for anonymity will be respected.