Future Food Quick Bites: Cultivated Pet Food, Khloe Kardashian & Nutella Peanut

US startup Friends & Family Pet Food Co debuted its cultivated Kampung bird treats at the Singapore Pet Expo (April 3-5), selling around 200 packs (equivalent to around 18kg of fresh cultivated meat) with an 82% acceptance rate amongst pets. It’s planning a retail launch next month.

5 Minutes with A Future Food VC: Oyster Bay Venture Capital’s Felix Leonhardt

In 2019, a large German retailer would order products from my previous startup by fax and pay by cheque. The whole supply chain was inefficient and barely digitalised. While in the past six years, some things have changed, this is still far from a data-driven supply chain. Using software and data in a very basic way can unlock a lot of value.

5 Minutes with A Future Food VC: Future Food Fund’s Silla Scheepens

Generally speaking, we’re excited by agrifood tech innovations that help keep our food system within planetary boundaries.

5 Minutes with A Future Food VC: Siddhi Capital’s Steven Finn

I am focused on those that can create actual businesses instead of save-the-world, pie-in-the-sky science projects. That usually translates to an interest in the technologies and ingredients that are positioned to improve taste and price, and can go into food products that are genuinely craveable by the mass market. It also means businesses that can be staged and not rely long-term on fickle capital markets.

5 Minutes with A Future Food VC: Thia Ventures’s Mirasbek Kuterbekov

I see huge potential in abiotic technologies such as cell-free manufacturing and chemical synthesis to unlock much better unit economics, beyond what is currently achievable with fermentation or cultivation.

Q+A w/ ADM’s Ana Yaluff: ‘Sustainability Is The Foundation Of Our Purpose As A Company’

Earlier this year, ADM, a global leader in innovative solutions from nature, released its 2023 Corporate Sustainability Report, showcasing its sustainability achievements spanning three focus areas: feeding the world, protecting nature, and enriching lives. Among its milestones, ADM engaged over 25,500 smallholder farmers in India through sustainable agriculture practices, partnered with Water.org to provide water and sanitation solutions to over 800,000 people across six countries, and introduced a landfill diversion initiative at its Dharwad site in India, projected to divert approximately 100 metric tons of waste annually.

Plant Sifu is Flying High: Hong Kong Plant-Based Pork Maker Partners with Cathay Pacific for In-Flight Meals

The consumer-facing brand of Hong Kong foodtech company Good Food Technologies, Plant Sifu, made waves last year when it introduced its next-gen plant-based pork with patented AROMAXTM fat technology after the parent company closed an oversubscribed HK$12.5M ($1.5M) seed funding round in early 2022. 

Canned Food Pioneer Launches yumeat™, Asia’s Most Affordable & Versatile Plant-Based Protein Brand 

While many plant-based meat and seafood products are occupying the chilled and frozen sections in supermarkets, the company went a different way for its yumeat™ products.  As a long-time leader in the premium canned food space, it chose to launch shelf-stable cans and pouches that do not require refrigeration. This meant that the company could outperform its competitors in two key areas: convenience and affordability. 

Q+A w/ Hang Lung’s John Haffner & LVMH’s Nicolas Martin: ‘There’s This Sense Coming Out of COP27 That We Need To Do Things Faster And Differently.’ 

Last month, Chinese real estate leader Hang Lung Properties and French luxury giant LVMH group announced a ground-breaking three-year climate and sustainability partnership. The collaboration, the first of its kind globally, looks to redefine the relationship between landlords and retail tenants, and includes collaboration in five areas: Climate Resilience, Resource Management, Wellbeing, Sustainable Transactions, and Sustainability Communication, Events and Progress Reviews. 

Is My Bed Vegan? Mattresses: The Final Eco Frontier 

Shockingly, most mattresses out there are not vegan-friendly. They often contain wool (which comes from sheep) and feathers/down (which comes from birds), which are used as fillers. Not to mention that the toxic processes used to manufacture them are not animal (or human) friendly. This brings us to our next question…