Our weekly column rounds up the latest sustainable food innovation news. This week, Future Food Quick Bites covers École Ducasse’s plant-forward courses, BuzzFeed Tasty’s vegan series, and a plant-based milk class-action settlement.
New products and launches
French culinary school École Ducasse, founded by Michelin-starred chef Alain Ducasse, has launched three plant-forward gastronomy training programmes, starting in Spring 2027. These include an English-language Essentials of Naturalité course with a focus on vegetable-led cooking, and Vegan Pastry Essentials courses delivered in English and French.
In the US, vegan cheese startup Madly Hadley has secured listings for all three flavours of its dairy-free parmesan – original, ranch, and truffle – at Sprouts Farmers Market stores nationwide.
Midi Bites has brought its refrigerated plant protein snacks to Target stores in almond, chocolate, peanut, and salted cashew crunch flavours.
BuzzFeed’s online food brand, Tasty, has released Is It Vegan?, a new original series billed as “part food show, part celebrity interview, and part talk show” featuring R&B icon and plant-based chef LaTocha.
US plant-based fast-food chain Slutty Vegan has announced a new franchise location in Cincinnati, though the location and opening date are yet to be announced.
Meanwhile, Ripple Foods has unveiled a shelf-stable plant-based milk for toddlers aged 12-36 months. It comes in original and unsweetened flavours, with four-packs of 8oz cartons sold exclusively in the baby aisle at Walmart stores nationwide for $8.96. Each pack delivers 8g of pea protein, alongside omega-3s, choline, prebiotic fibre, and 60% of a kid’s daily calcium needs.
Danish mycelium meat maker Matr Foods has launched its burger and mince products at Rewe Lieferservice’s online store across Germany.
British dairy-free startup Glebe Farm has rolled out a coconut oat milk SKU under its PureOaty brand, combining 15% oats with water, coconut cream, and salt for a clean-label profile.
Carlsberg-Britvic‘s plant-based milk brand Plenish has introduced a dark cocoa and sea salt almond milk, its first flavoured dairy alternative, through a partnership with Tony’s Chocolonely’s ethical sourcing initiative, Tony’s Open Chain. The one-litre packs retail for £2.50 on Ocado.
Also in the UK, functional nutrition brand BrocStar has rolled out Dark Choc and Super Broccoli Coated Peanuts, featuring its unique broccoli powder that allegedly contains up to five times more better-for-you bioactives.
British plant protein brand Tofoo & Co has launched silken tofu and seitan frankfurters and bratwurst at Tesco and Sainsbury’s, with the former also available at Waitrose.
In more news from the UK, Compleat Food Group-owned Squeaky Bean has added BBQ pulled pork shreds to its lineup. They’re made from wheat protein, can be eaten hot or cold, and contain 30g of protein per 120g pack.
Swiss plant-based meat leader Planted has introduced a mince SKU containing 58g of protein per 320g pack, which is available at various stores in Switzerland, Germany, and Austria. Its home country is also getting Asian-style chicken strips.
And cosmetics manufacturer HCT Group has debuted a Shine Lip Oil and Renew Lip Scrub featuring Californian startup Savor‘s Climate Conscious Triglycerides ingredient, a drop-in, palm-free replacement for emollients like caprylic/capric triglyceride (CCT) made via its carbon-derived lipid technology.
Company, finance and policy developments
The Superior Court of Quebec has approved a C$7.5M ($5.35M) class-action settlement tied to a 2024 lawsuit against Danone‘s Silk and Walmart‘s Great Value brands, with customers who fell sick from their recalled plant-based milks entitled to compensation.
Danish startup Tempty Foods, known for its mycelium protein products, has been named Foodtech Innovation Forum‘s Foodtech Company of the Year.
Fellow Danish firm Launch Bioindustries has become one of 17 recipients of the Novo Nordisk Foundation-funded Bioinnovation Institute‘s new tranche of convertible loans, securing 4.2 million kroner ($645,000) to convert organic waste streams into compostable bioplastics through advanced fermentation.
Indian startup Protein Pantry, which primarily makes plant-based protein snacks, has raised ₹9 crore ($940,000) in seed funding to set up a manufacturing unit and advance its R&D efforts and supply chain optimisation.
Finnish mycoprotein startup Enifer has begun the commissioning of its factory in Kantvik. Built as a brownfield project, it borders the Baltic Sea and will be able to supply protein equivalent to that from 30,000 cows, but with at least 20 times lower carbon emissions.
Finally, Dutch food tech accelerator Food Pioneers will host the pitching event for its 2026 programme on October 8, with three of the 19 participating startups standing to win €50,000 in growth capital.
