NEW TECH FOODS

Australian start-up and cell-based meet pioneer Vow has unveiled Quailia, an entirely new food crafted from a subspecies of the Japanese quail. A Vow spokesperson told The Cell Base: "The Singapore Food Agency independently assessed our entire product and process from start to end and concluded that it is completely safe for human consumption. In doing so, Forged Parfait received world-first approval for consumption in Singapore on 20 March 2024." Launched in Singapore, the cultivated quail parfait, named Forged Parfait, is Vow’s flagship product from its new range, Vow Forged.  The launch makes Vow the third company worldwide to market food derived from cultured cells, after Good Meat and Upside Foods received approval and began serving their cell-based chicken in restaurants in Singapore and the US last year.  To create Forged Parfait, Vow began with a small sample of cells from a Japanese quail. The company's food scientists identified and isolated the cells that contributed to taste and texture, before moving them to a bioreactor to emulate the natural growth conditions needed to flourish.  Vow's chefs then mixed those cells with other ingredients to create Quailia – which is made entirely without serum. In a statement, Vow said: “Unlike its traditional counterpart, Quailia is without a heart, brain, feathers, or bones – its entire body consists only of rich flavours, delicate textures and delectable meat made to be eaten”.  Vow’s CEO George Peppou added: “Today we are making history yet again. We tantalised diners around the world with the mammoth meatball, and now we're bringing to life another world-first – an entirely new, utterly delectable animal. Quailia is the ultimate expression of what we do – intentionally create foods unlike anything we’ve had before." "Forged Parfait combines a flavour and texture combination you can’t find anywhere else. The result is a delightful contradiction rich yet delicate with a unique weightless, melt-in-your-mouth quality.”    Forged’s innovations are tapping into increased consumer demand for novelty and never-before-tasted ingredients, creating foods with new flavour and texture combinations. Ryan Clift, a chef who has collaborated with Forged, added: “I’m so blown away by the profile of Forged Parfait. It’s sweet, has a beautiful, delicate flavour, and the texture is always perfect. It’s the perfect parfait.”  Forged Parfait will be available to experience first at Mandala Club’s MORI in Singapore from 12-27 April, with continued roll out ‘at some of the finest restaurants in the country' in the coming months.   #Vow #Singapore

Computational biology company Evogene and food-tech incubator and investment arm of Israel’s Strauss Group, The Kitchen FoodTech Hub (TKH), have jointly announced the establishment of Finally Foods.  Finally Foods is an AI-driven company specialising in molecular farming for the food sector, committed to providing sustainable alternative sources to animal-based proteins.   The newly founded company's mission is to modify plants as ‘bioreactors’ to produce proteins efficiently and sustainably. Leveraging Evogene's ‘GeneRator AI’ technology, the new company aims for short R&D cycles and rapid time-to-market.  Finally Foods has secured pre-seed funding from TKH and the Israeli Innovation Authority. Evogene holds a 40% stake in the company, with the remaining ownership divided among TKH and the founding team – CEO Dafna Gabbay and CTO Basia Vinocur.  Ofer Haviv, president and CEO of Evogene, said: "We are thrilled to embark on this new segment, marking a milestone for Evogene as we continue to drive innovation and growth in the Life Science industry. By harnessing the power of our GeneRator AI tech-engine, molecular farming has the potential to revolutionise the food industry and promote healthier diets worldwide."  Amir Zaidman, chief business officer of The Kitchen FoodTech Hub, commented: "Finally Foods is one of the rare cases where we see an extremely strong founding team, in Gabbay and Vinocur, coupled with a proven technology platform based on the leading AI engine of Evogene. Establishing the company under the framework of TKH and investing the pre-seed round was an easy decision in this case."  Co-founder Gabbay added: "I believe that with Evogene's cutting edge technology, TKH's leading position in the FoodTech industry and with Vinocur's vast experience – Finally Foods has full potential to emerge as a promising company in the alternative proteins sector. Molecular farming represents a catalyst towards global food security and a more sustainable future, and I am proud to lead Finally Foods to take an important part towards supporting this crucial vision for the world."  #FinallyFoods

Food tech innovator MeliBio is expanding its technology platform to enhance its precision fermentation capabilities, with scale-up projects commencing this month.  MeliBio’s R&D team has successfully completed proof of concept work related to the production and use of fermentation-enabled protein targets and will begin scale-up with its partner Pow.Bio .  MeliBio partnered with Pow.Bio  due to its expertise in traditional fermentation and continuous fermentation technology utilising artificial intelligence. By offering AI-enhanced and traditional methods of precision fermentation, Pow.Bio  is uniquely positioned to work with MeliBio to scale its bioprocesses.  MeliBio says that the expansion of its fermentation technologies will enable it to produce high- value bee proteins and enzymes for multiple markets including global functional food ingredients.   Aaron Schaller, chief technology officer and co-founder of MeliBio, said: “Our ability to produce target bee proteins and enzymes through our experimental methods has yielded promising results, and we’re ready to take our technology to the next stage. This initiative will help us elevate the functionality of our products to come and provide more of the benefits of bee-derived honey to current products, while also matching authenticity beyond taste and texture.”  MeliBio’s CEO and co-founder Darko Mandich, added: “We’ve enjoyed a fantastic market response to our plant-based honey products and will continue to serve that demand. Beyond that, accessing levels of product performance and authenticity not possible through plant science alone, through our enhanced technology platform, opens up a variety of significant commercial opportunities.”   Along with its precision-fermented honey, the company produces sustainable alternatives to traditional bee-derived honey products, sold under the Mellody brand in the US, as JustVeg! Vegan Hanny in the EU and Better Foodie Vegan H*ney in the UK.  The company unveiled its Mellody Spicy Habanero vegan honey product last month, developed using advanced culinary techniques and proprietary plant science.  #MeliBio #PowBio

Israeli molecular farming company PoLoPo has announced its new SuperAA platform, which can produce proteins in common plant crops. The platform is currently deployed in potatoes at greenhouse scale and can generate both a native protein (patatin) as well as egg protein (ovalbumin) through proprietary metabolic engineering techniques. The cutting-edge SuperAA platform turns the potato plant into a micro-’biofactory’ that manufactures the target amino acids in the plant and stores them in the tuber. PoLoPo harvests the tubers when they reach sufficient size, extracting the proteins before drying them into powder. The resulting powders are said to ‘seamlessly’ integrate into current food processing lines and formulations. PoLoPo started with potatoes due to their resilience in diverse climates, low growth costs, short maturation time, relatively large storage capacity in the form of tubers, high yield per land use and compatibility with existing harvesting and processing technology. PoLoPo’s CEO Maya Sapir-Mir, said: “The SuperAA platform uses plants as living factories and leverages their natural productivity and storage organs to grow proteins that are identical to protein derived from a chicken’s egg. The high-scale production of proteins in plants via molecular farming has the potential to economically transform not only potato farming and processing, but broader agriculture and ag-tech, for a more resilient and sustainable food system.” Currently being used to develop patatin and ovalbumin, PoLaPo’s ovalbumin can be used in packaged foods for its functional properties, including texture and stability, as well as for enhancing nutritional value and increasing shelf life. Patatin powder can be used as an allergen-free protein for a variety of products such as plant-based meat and dairy, baked goods, cereals, snacks, beverages, sports nutrition and nutraceuticals. PoLoPo says its proteins will soon be available to the food industry for testing. #PoLoPo #Israel

Finnish biotech company Onego Bio has successfully raised €27 million in its Series A financing round, with a further €9.5 million in non-dilutive funding.   The Series A round was led by NordicNinja VC, a Japanese-Nordic venture capital firm that backs companies in climate and deep-tech. Agronomics participated in the round with a €1.55 million investment alongside existing investors Maki VC and Holdix, and new investors EIT Food and Tesi.  Agronomics now holds an equity stake of 16.36% in Onego Bio on a fully diluted basis.  The additional €9.5 million in non-dilutive funding came from Business Finland, a government organisation that offers grant funding for Finnish companies that address significant global needs and challenges.  Onego Bio harnesses precision fermentation to manufacture Bioalbumen, a bioidentical ovalbumin (the most important protein in egg white), without the use of animals. Bioalbumen contains all essential amino acids, has the highest possible protein digestibility score PDCAAS of 1.0 and delivers 90g of protein per 100g.   Tomosaku Sohara, managing partner at Nordic Ninja, commented: “Onego Bio is taking all the right steps to commercialise in record time. It is a next-generation precision fermentation company, with a clear path to industrialisation, go-to-market and profitability...With technology that is designed to scale...In less than two years, Onego is already working with major global food companies and is staged to disrupt the $330 billion egg market and create system-level change, accelerating the green transition.”  In 2022, Onego Bio secured a license from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland to commercialise its proprietary strains of the ‘highly productive’ protein expression system Trichoderma reesei  to produce egg proteins.   Onego Bio will use the funding to continue scaling and optimising its production processes and productivity, finance its work with its contract manufacturing partners and prepare for US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) filing for regulatory approval in the US. Onego currently collaborates with over 25 ‘well-known’ CPG companies, integrating Bioalbumen into their innovation pipeline for a range of products, including baked goods, confectionery, snacks, sauces, pasta and meat alternatives.  Onego says that it is on track to receive self-affirmed GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) status for Bioalbumen this year, with a no-objections letter expected from the FDA in 2025.    As a US-Finnish company, Onego plans to first launch in North America, where the regulatory landscape allows a faster market entry, followed by expansion in Europe, South America and Asia.  Jim Mellon, executive chairman of Agronomics, said: “A long-term sustainable solution for chicken eggs is needed. We have been highly impressed with Onego's capabilities and vision from the very beginning. By repurposing a well-established technology from the enzyme industry for food protein production, they are well-positioned to scale to the massive volumes needed to future-proof the supply of the world's most versatile and popular food protein."   #OnegoBio #Finland #Agronomics

The UK’s Quest Meat has been awarded funding provided by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Technology Missions Fund and delivered by Innovate UK. A total of £13.5 million was made available to 48 different projects covering a range of sectors and disciplines, including making a sustainable alternative to palm oil, engineering animal stem cells to cultivate meat production and advancing industrial biotechnology to develop sustainable packaging solutions. Quest said it will use the funding to advance its next-generation controllable cell lines for producing cell-based meat at scale. Quest Meat’s CEO and co-founder, Ivan Wall, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded funding to advance our innovative technology to create next-generation scalable cell lines. Engineering biology is a powerful tool for unlocking the power of scale up to create tasty, cultivated meat whilst maintaining regulatory control and safety.” #QuestMeat #UK #UKRI #InnovateUK

Chicago, US-based foodtech company Aqua Cultured Foods (Aqua) has entered into a new partnership with Ginkgo Bioworks.   Aqua produces alternative seafood options through the use of microbial fermentation, while Ginkgo Bioworks is working to build a platform for cell programming and biosecurity.   Aqua has chosen Ginkgo to help optimise its fermentation technology to elevate the quality of its fish-free seafood products that ‘replicate the look, feel and taste’ of fresh-caught seafood. Leveraging Ginkgo's microbial characterisation and analytics, along with Aqua’s proprietary strains and processes, the partners aim to transform the future of alt-seafood production.  Aqua's offerings, including tuna and scallops, maintain freshness and tenderness for six weeks. Powered by a patent-pending fermentation process, which Aqua says can be scaled on a global level. Its fish-free seafood is made from microbes and fibres combined with plant-derived flavours that are said to replicate the buttery texture and umami notes found in fresh-caught seafood.   Ginkgo will leverage its high throughput sequencing and advanced analytics services to help optimise and tune Aqua’s strains to aid in the scale-up of its novel manufacturing process. With Ginkgo, Aqua hopes to amplify its R&D capabilities and further optimise its consortium to establish consistent, high-quality products.   Through the partnership, Aqua expects to introduce unique flavours and textures to the broader food industry.  Stefan Baier, chief science officer at Aqua Cultured Foods, said: "Today marks a significant step towards revolutionising alternative seafood production...Our partnership aims to accelerate our technology, bringing our delicious products to market faster. With Ginkgo's expertise in working with microbes, we are confident in optimising and applying our technology to create the most delicious seafood products possible.”  He continued: “Beyond sequencing, we envision engineering our proprietary consortium for next-gen products, pushing alt-seafood boundaries with unique textures and building the nutrition beyond a good source of fibre. We look forward to how our sustainable approach can revolutionise the fishing industry and contribute to the regeneration of our oceans."   Mervyn de Souza, senior director, business development at Ginkgo Bioworks, added: "This collaboration aligns beautifully with our commitment to work on projects that embody innovation and sustainability. Aqua’s groundbreaking fermentation technology is reshaping the future of alt-seafood, and we at Ginkgo are thrilled to contribute to this transformative journey. Together, we're paving the way for a more sustainable and responsible approach to meeting the world's growing food demands."  #AquaCulturedFoods #GinkgoBioworks #US

At this year’s Anuga FoodTec event in Germany, GEA presented an entry-level perfusion platform comprising its GEA Axenic P bioreactor and the GEA kytero separator for the production of alt-proteins from microbial and cultured sources. Perfusion is a pioneering new technology that can enhance both the productivity and resource efficiency in cell cultivation and precision fermentation for new food. These improvements are crucial to achieving more scalable, cost-effective production of alternative proteins. Embedded in a perfusion platform comprising the GEA Axenic P bioreactor and the GEA kytero single-use separator, the technology was specially developed for aseptic pilot projects. Perfusion technology separates cells from the depleted nutrient solution, increasing live cell density and productivity. “We see perfusion as one of the most promising technologies because it cuts the production cost of alternative proteins on several fronts,” said Tatjana Krampitz, head of new food technology management at GEA. She continued: “What the market currently needs are reliable pilot plants that are quick to set up and meet industrial standards. Our single-use separators enable start-ups in particular to work under sterile conditions, which helps them surmount a major challenge.” To stimulate healthy and rapid cell growth in bioreactors, it is necessary to remove growth-inhibiting metabolites such as ammonium and lactate from the culture medium. Perfusion technology allows for a portion of the depleted nutrient solution to be continuously separated in a sterile manner. The concentrated cell solution can then be returned to the bioreactor while the separated medium is replaced with fresh, nutrient-rich medium. This keeps the cultures in optimum growth conditions at all times and ensures reproducible product quality – a key criteria for the regulatory approval of new foods. Overall, perfusion significantly improves productivity and cell density compared to conventional batch and fed-batch processes. Rüdiger Göhmann, product manager pharma/chemicals/new food, business unit separators at GEA, commented: “For start-ups looking to validate their product ideas with cell lines of their own, kytero is a key to success. These companies do not yet have the cleaning and sterilisation facilities needed for a sophisticated process infrastructure. Yet they have to work in an aseptic environment in order to obtain reproducible results. Our single-use separator gets around this by doing without SIP and CIP processes.” Krampitz added: “Perfusion lets us grow cells in a much smaller space. In the long term, this technology will blaze a trail when it comes to shrinking bioreactors and hence reducing both the quantity of stainless steel needed and the nutrient and cleaning media required.” The technology holds out major potential for media reprocessing – a significant cost factor in the production of new foods and, in turn, of the end products. Reusing and purifying media would mark a major milestone on the path to reaching price parity between conventional and new foods. #GEA

German cell-based meat start-up Innocent Meat has raised €3 million, with a €500,000 investment from anchor investor Venture Capital Fonds and €2.5 million from a new, undisclosed private investor. Innocent Meat is striving to create a complete solution for cell-based meat production with an automated, end-to-end system. it is working on creating an automated plug-and-produce solution for cell-based meat to help meat producers transition to this innovative technology. The technology start-up based in Rostock, Germany, says it is one of the first to make it possible for any company to produce cultured meat itself. The fresh capital will enable Innocent Meat to develop its existing biocomponents, scale-up its pilot plant and initiate the necessary certification processes to begin its journey to regulatory approval. Innocent Meat’s model will provide food manufacturers with access to growth media, cell lines, scaffolding and manufacturing hardware such as bioreactors and filtration systems, facilitating clients to oversee the production process, guaranteeing safety and efficiency in developing cell-based meat products. The start-up has formulated its first serum-free proliferation medium for porcine primary muscle cells in cell-based pork, without foetal bovine serum. Innocent’s growth media incorporates growth factors that it developed with the University of Rostock through Innocent Meat’s large-scale recombinant animal protein platform FABA.BIO . According to Innocent Meat, by using Fabaceae plants as expression platforms or “natural bioreactors,” the company can reduce costs and increase scalability. #InnocentMeat #Germany

Global biotech company Triplebar has extended its strategic partnership with FrieslandCampina Ingredients, announcing a “breakthrough” in lactoferrin production. Through the partnership, which was first announced in January last year, the companies harness precision fermentation technology to enhance supply capacities of lactoferrin, to meet the increasing global demand. Lactoferrin is typically used for premium infant formulas for gut maturation and immunity because of its antimicrobial effects. Triplebar CEO Maria Cho said: “This is big news in the alternative protein space as we begin to create bioactive proteins that support and enhance human health and nutrition. Our partnership with FrieslandCampina Ingredients, a global leader in lactoferrin supply, will enable us to bring more of this incredibly valuable protein to market than ever.” Cho continued: “The challenge has been the protein’s availability. It is typically isolated from dairy, limiting its broader application and incorporation beyond early-life nutrition. Lactoferrin’s benefits extend beyond infants, serving as a valuable supplement for adults.” Through precision fermentation the companies employ microorganisms to produce specific functional ingredients, producing ingredients with properties similar to those found in bovine and human milk. Anne Peter Lindeboom, managing director of innovation at FrieslandCampina Ingredients, added: “FrieslandCampina Ingredients and Triplebar will accelerate the use of precision fermentation as a nutritious and sustainable source of protein. By offering a full range of dairy and alternative proteins, we aim to give people access to nutritional solutions, helping them get the most out of life, now and for future generations." Cho concluded: “We must continue leveraging science and technology to nourish future generations in balance with nature. This multi-year, multi-product and multi-country agreement with FrieslandCampina Ingredients will help make this ambition a reality.” In November, Triplebar announced it had received $20m in new funding for its product portfolio.

Oobli, a developer of sweet proteins and sugar alternatives, has received a ‘No Questions’ letter from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Oubli Fruit Sweet Protein. The letter confirms Oobli’s self-affirmed Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) status for Oubli Fruit Sweet Protein, supporting its use as a sweetener for food and beverages. Scientifically known as ‘brazzein,’ the protein is made via precision fermentation. Jason Ryder, Oobli’s founder and CTO, said: “Oobli is changing the future of sweetness through the use of sweet proteins as a replacement for traditional cane sugar and other alternative sweeteners like aspartame, sucralose, stevia and erythritol”. “The Oubli Fruit Sweet Protein is one of several sweet proteins that is derived from fruits primarily found in West Africa and other equatorial environments. Sweet proteins are a class of proteins that deliver a sugar-like sweetness but don’t affect blood sugar, insulin or the gut microbiome.” Ali Wing, CEO of Oobli, added: “The ‘No Questions’ letter from the FDA is a further testament to the strong potential that sweet proteins have to disrupt our global dependence on sugar and alternative sweeteners”. “The Oubli Fruit Sweet Protein can be safely used in various foods with support from the general scientific community and the FDA. It can replace 70% or more of sugar in most food and beverages such as sodas, teas, baked goods and more, making the opportunities to reduce our sugar consumption endless.” #Oobli #US

UK-based biotech business Clean Food Group has received a further £2.5 million in funding from Clean Growth Fund, taking its total raised to date to £13 million. Clean Growth Fund is a climate-specific UK venture capital fund that provides UK clean-tech entrepreneurs with the expertise and capital they need to reduce carbon emissions and tackle the climate crisis. The funding will be used to accelerate the commercialisation of Clean Food Group’s sustainable oils and fats technology. The proprietary technology platform uses proven, scalable yeast strains and fermentation technology and utilises food waste as its food source to deliver sustainable alternatives to traditional oil and fat ingredients. Clean Food Group’s go-to-market product is an equivalent to high oleic palm oil. It is backed by an externally validated LCA that demonstrates it delivers a 90% reduction in greenhouse gases when compared with traditional palm oil. Clean Food Group’s oil has been designed as a like-for-like drop-in ingredient that can be substituted in a number of consumables, including baked goods, confectionery and cosmetics applications. Alex Neves, CEO and co-founder of Clean Food Group, said: “The capital raised with Clean Growth Fund will allow us to accelerate the scale-up of our technology platform while advancing critical regulatory and commercial pathways, with a fully funded commercialisation plan in place well into 2025." Beverley Gower-Jones, founder and managing partner of Clean Growth Fund, added: “Backed by a strong technical base, Alex Neves and his team are well placed to commercialise the manufacture of palm oil substitutes and therefore reduce the reliance the food industry has on the production of palm oil, an industry which is one of the main drivers of deforestation and a major contributor to global CO₂ emissions. We are very pleased to support CFG’s development and growth.” #CleanFoodGroup #UK