NEW TECH FOODS

Food tech firm BlueNalu has partnered with South Korean company Pulmuone to accelerate the introduction of its cell-based seafood into the Asian marketplace. BlueNalu says that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Seoul-based food producer, which also participated in its Series A funding round. The aquaculture start-up has developed a method of producing seafood directly from fish cells and says that it aims to create a more stable and sustainable seafood supply chain. Under this latest agreement, which marks the first collaboration for BlueNalu in South Korea, the companies will work together in areas such as marketing, operations and distribution. The aim of the partnership is to bring BlueNalu products to the South Korean market in coming years. “This agreement with Pulmuone represents our shared values and respect for healthy families, a healthy ocean, and a healthy planet,” said Lou Cooperhouse, president and CEO of BlueNalu. “We plan to launch BlueNalu cell-based seafood products initially in the US, but we also recognise there is significant and increasing market demand for high-quality seafood in South Korea, while supply becomes increasingly vulnerable and potentially contaminated with microplastics, mercury, and environmental pollutants.” Sang Yun Lee, chief technology officer at Pulmuone, added: “While a product launch is still several years away, we recognise that the global seafood supply is compromised, unpredictable and cannot keep up with demand, so our mutual goal is to accelerate BlueNalu’s introduction to our customers with a product that meets consumer expectations in terms of taste, texture and nutrition, while also providing benefits for the planet and the wellbeing of families.” Earlier this year, BlueNalu announced that it had formed a strategic partnership with aquafeed producer Nutreco, in what it described as a “significant milestone” that would enable it to accelerate its journey towards commercialisation. #BlueNalu #Pulmuone #SouthKorea #Seoul

Biotech firm TurtleTree Labs has raised $3.2 million in a seed financing round, to accelerate the development of its cell-based milk operation. The Singapore-based company has developed a proprietary technology that uses mammalian cells to produce milk, with no animal needed. The firm’s focus is on human breast milk followed by cow milk. According to co-founder Max Rye, the capital raised in TurtleTree Labs’ latest financing round will be used to benefit its ‘scale up development’, bringing the company one step closer to commercialisation. Investors included Green Monday Ventures, CPT Capital, Artesian, New Luna Ventures, and KBW Ventures, an asset management company which also participated in TurtleTree Labs’ pre-seed round. Government agency Enterprise Singapore has also reportedly lent its support to the company in recent months. “If the rapidly deteriorating climate change situation isn’t enough to convince the world, the pandemic surely hammers home the urgency that we need to overhaul the food system for the sake of public health, food safety, and food security,” said Green Monday Group founder, David Yeung. “That explains why Green Monday Ventures is so excited to invest in and collaborate with TurtleTree Labs. We see immense possibilities in their biotech innovation platform, as well as enormous impact we can drive together.” Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud, founder and CEO of KBW Ventures, added: “We see the founding team’s commitment and the potential of this company and its technology as a winning combination. “Now more than ever, people are waking up to the benefits of food technology and the massive positive implications of innovations in cellular agriculture.” #TurtleTreeLabs #Singapore

Japanese cultured meat firm IntegriCulture has secured JPY 800 million ($7.44 million) in Series A funding to roll out its cellular agriculture to enterprise customers. The round, which was backed by Beyond Next Ventures, NH Foods and AgFunder, brings its total amount raised to JPY 1.1 billion ($10.2 million). IntegriCulture plans to use its the capital to fund research and development of its cell culture technology, new facilities and equipment and staffing and operational costs. Earlier this month, IntegriCulture launched two cellular agriculture infrastructure solutions packages using its CulNet System with plans to roll out its technology to enterprises now. The company plans to build its cell-based foie gras production site in 2020 for a 2021 launch, followed by the release of processed meat in 2023 and steak in 2025. With its funding, the company also plans to launch cosmetic products based on cultured serum and further explore the ideas for cell-cultured non-food products such as leather and fur. “I don’t think anyone else on the planet has given more thought to how to solve the problems of cultivated meat than Yuki [CEO of IntegriCulture],” said Rob Leclerc, founding partner of AgFunder. Leclerc added: “Bringing down the cost of cell culture media is the central challenge for all cultivated meat companies and IntegriCulture has the most elegant solution we’ve seen to solve this problem.” Tsuyoshi Ito, CEO of Beyond Next Ventures, said: “The environmental footprint and looming supply shortage of meat is a challenging issue in our food system. IntegriCulture offers a potential solution by developing one of the world’s least expensive and best quality cell-based meat. “Their CulNet System technology can be applied to a broad range of cellular agriculture products of food and non-food categories. We support the growth of IntegriCulture to build a sustainable future.” Other investors in the round include Real Tech Fund, Hiroshima Venture Capital and VU Venture Partners. J Skyler Fernandes, general partner at VU Venture Partners, added: “Integriculture’s technology makes the production of cultured meat affordable at scale, and will rapidly increase the commercialisation for the next generation of meat brands.” #IntegriCulture #Tokyo

BlueNalu, a start-up developing seafood products directly from fish cells, has formed a strategic partnership with Nutreco to commercialise cellular aquaculture globally as a sustainable option. The agreement, that builds upon BlueNalu’s cell-based platform technology, is intended to create a more stable and sustainable supply-chain solution as the global demand for seafood is continually increasing. A wholly-owned subsidiary of SHV Holdings N.V., Nutreco is a producer of animal nutrition, fish feed and processed meat products. Through the collaboration, Nutreco aims to bring its expertise in fish nutrition, raw materials and ingredient procurement, as well as its own technology. Lou Cooperhouse, president and CEO of BlueNalu, said: “The partnership with Nutreco is another significant milestone for BlueNalu, which will enable our team to accelerate our journey toward commercialisation, while also securing a global supply chain partner. “We expect this will provide significant value to our company, as it is our objective to introduce our seafood products in a test market during the next two years and launch our products in several global markets by the end of this decade.” In 2018, the US cellular aquaculture start-up secured $4.5 million just two months after launching. Recently, the San Diego-based company announced the premier culinary demonstration of one of its first commercial products, whole-muscle yellowtail amberjack, which performed the same as a conventional fish fillet in all cooking applications. “Since the global demand for protein is increasing, we need to provide protein from a variety of sources, including traditional aquaculture farming as well as new innovative solutions. Nutreco’s strategic partnership with BlueNalu is very exciting as it opens the opportunity to up-scale real seafood production in a highly sustainable way,” said Nutreco CEO Rob Koremans. Meanwhile, earlier this month, Nutreco partnered with Mosa Meat to accelerate the commercial release of its lab-grown meat. In 2019, it announced itself as one of the founding members of a new platform in China that enables start-ups to cooperate with global companies, alongside Danone, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola. #BlueNalu #Nutreco #US #theNetherlands

Tyson Ventures, the venture capital arm of Tyson Foods, has invested in food tech start-up Memphis Meats, a leader in cell-based meat produced directly from animal cells. Tyson, which last year invested in meat alternative brand Beyond Meat, said the move is an example of its “commitment to explore innovative, new ways of meeting growing global demand for protein”. San Francisco-based Memphis Meats expects to use the funds to accelerate product development. The company is currently recruiting to expand its team of chefs, scientists, creative people and business people. It produces beef, chicken and duck from animal cells. The company grows meat in tanks by feeding sugar, oxygen and nutrients to living cells. Last August, Memphis Meats completed a $17 million fundraising round which included investment from Bill Gates, Richard Branson and Cargill. Tyson Foods chief sustainability officer Justin Whitmore said: “We’re excited about this opportunity to broaden our exposure to innovative, new ways of producing meat, especially since global protein demand has been increasing at a steady rate. “We continue to invest significantly in our traditional meat business, but also believe in exploring additional opportunities for growth that give consumers more choices.” Memphis Meats CEO Uma Valeti added: “We are excited that Tyson Foods will be joining us in our mission to bring meat to the table in a sustainable, affordable and delicious way. “Our vision is for the world to eat what it loves, in a way that addresses today’s challenges for the environment, animal welfare and public health. We are accelerating our work and building out a world-class team to make this a reality.” Memphis Meats has said its process of creating meat uses about 1% of the land and 10% of the water needed for conventional meat production. #Tyson #MemphisMeats #US

Cultivated meat start-up Meatable has raised $10 million in seed funding to accelerate the development of its first pork prototype. The capital comes mainly from an existing investor base including BlueYard Capital, with supplemental funds from angel investors including Taavet Hinrikus, co-founder of TransferWise, and Albert Wenger, managing partner at Union Square Ventures. The European Commission also contributed funds through its Eurostars Programme. The investment brings Meatable’s total funding to $13 million. “We’re excited to announce this new funding, which will enable us to expand our scaling and cost reduction teams and to accelerate development of our first prototype,” said Meatable co-founder and CEO Krijn de Nood. “We believe no one should have to give up the meat they love – there is a way to satisfy the world’s appetite for meat without harming people, animals or the planet.” According to Amsterdam-based Meatable, cultivated meat joins plant-based proteins as a potential solution to sustainably feeding the world’s growing population. The company said cultivated meat has the potential to use up to 96% less water and 99% less land than industrial farming. Meatable’s technology can produce large batches of the cells needed to make meat in a matter of days to weeks. Only one cell is needed to start the process. The cell is sourced from a real animal in a completely painless way – and because it comes from an animal, the meat that can be made with it is real meat, not a processed substitute. “Our mission is to become the leading choice for sustainably and efficiently produced meat,” de Nood added. “To achieve that mission, we will need to solve the cultivated meat industry’s scale-up challenge. We hope that the unveiling of our first prototype this summer will show that we are making real strides toward fulfilling our mission.” Philippe Vanrie, head of the Eureka Association and responsible for the Eurostars-2 programme, said: “We are delighted that Meatable, a dynamic start-up in the cultivated meat sector, has the potential to develop a unique and innovative technology thanks to support received from the Eurostars Programme. We understand the technology developed will have a significant and positive impact on meat production and, in turn, on climate change.” #Meatable #theNetherlands

PepsiCo has announced a $216 million multi-year investment in long-term, strategic partnership agreements with three US-based farmer-facing organisations. The partnerships – with Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI), Soil and Water Outcomes Fund (SWOF) and the IL Corn Growers Association (ICGA) – are designed to drive adoption of regenerative agriculture practices across the US. The company expects the combined impacts of the partnerships to support the uptake of regenerative practices on more than 3 million acres, delivering approximately 3 million metric tons of GHG emission reductions and removals by 2030. PepsiCo will work alongside the organisations to establish and scale financial, agronomic and social programs that enable the transition to the new practices through education, upfront investment in outcomes, cost-sharing and peer coaching and networking. Driven by ‘PepsiCo Positive’ (pep+), the company’s strategic end-to-end business transformation, the investment is set to help the US farming community make changes that secure production volumes and mitigate the impacts of climate change. Jim Andrew, chief sustainability officer at PepsiCo, said: "It's critically important to partner, for the long term, with organisations that have earned the trust of farmers as they make the transition to adopt climate-smart agriculture practices. We intend to be shoulder-to-shoulder with farmers as they work to make soil healthier, sequester carbon, improve watershed health and biodiversity, and improve their livelihoods." By 2023, the collaborative efforts of the partnership are expected to deliver more than 500,000 regenerative acres. By 2030, PepsiCo predicts PFI to reach around 1.5 million acres; SWOF to reach nearly 1 million acres; and ICGA to reach approximately 600,000 acres. Adam Kiel, managing director of SWOF, said: "We are excited to expand our partnership with PepsiCo and farmers in its supply chain to support the adoption of regenerative agriculture practices that have measurable impacts on soil health, the environment, and farm sustainability. By providing high-quality and customised agronomic assistance to farmers implementing new practices we help them reduce emissions and nutrient loss, unlock a new revenue stream, and increase the value of their farmland for current and future generations." The investment will significantly contribute to the food and beverage giant’s ‘pep+’ targets, which include driving the adoption of regenerative agriculture practices across 7 million acres by 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2040.

Canadian vertical farming company, GoodLeaf Farms, has announced that it will open a climate-controlled indoor farm in the Montréal suburb of Longueuil by the middle of 2023. The new farm is backed by a CAD 7 million loan ($5.2 million approx.) from the government of Québec and several smaller grants from economic development agencies. GoodLeaf says that the 100,000-square-foot vertical farm will produce 1.9 million pounds of microgreens and baby greens for grocery stores and the hospitality sector across Québec, with capacity to also supply Atlantic Canada. GoodLeaf’s system is said to be free of pesticides, herbicides and fungicides, and uses 95% less water than the same crops in an open-field farm. The plants are grown in a complex hydroponics system that provides them with nutrient-rich water, while LED lights are engineered to replicate the spring sun. Barry Murchie, CEO at GoodLeaf Farms, said: “GoodLeaf is building a national network of vertical farms, ensuring Canadians from coast to coast have access to fresh, sustainably and locally grown leafy greens year-round. Our new farm in Longueuil is perfectly located to support all consumers across Québec via retailers and foodservice operators.” He continued: “We are excited to work with the visionary partners in Québec who have astutely created a provincial strategy recognising the need for innovative new approaches to agriculture. In the near future, Québec and Canada will gain greater control of our food security and dramatically reduce the dependency on imported produce.” Alexandre Lagarde, vice president of foreign investments at Montréal International, commented: “Thanks to its strategic geographical location, its supply of green energy and a large pool of ‘locavores,’ Greater Montréal is a very fertile ground for companies such as GoodLeaf”. Lagarde added: “Vertical farming technology brings to our plates fresh and sustainable food that is grown, manufactured and produced within our region, which is perfectly aligned with a very popular tendency. It also helps reduce carbon emissions and other pollutants, another important objective for Montréal International as we seek to develop a green, sustainable economy.” The project is anticipated to create more than 70 new employment opportunities.

Finnish dairy and food company Valio has created a new milk chocolate bar using artificial intelligence. “The Bar” is designed by humans, and its recipe is based on AI analysis of milk chocolate lovers’ thoughts, cravings, and tastes worldwide. Valio created the futuristic concept together with local chocolate artists of Kultasuklaa company. The Bar is a proof of concept of what the dairy company's milk powder solution can do and what the future of milk chocolate could look like through the use of AI. Valio’s senior vice president, Timo Pajari said: “The needs and preferences of global milk chocolate fans are changing. Growing awareness of health challenges affects the confectionery industry with governments around the world already starting to regulate sugar use and consumption. With our Valio Bettersweet solution, the taste remains the same even though the amount of sugar is reduced.” Last spring the company used AI to analyse over 1.5 million public milk chocolate-related social media discussions around the world and surveyed hundreds of people about their preferences regarding chocolate. The AI analysis was produced by the Finnish company Aiwo Digital in cooperation with Valio’s consumer insight team. The recipe for healthier chocolate was based on AI’s findings which resulted in five different chocolates with less sugar. Each chocolate layer has a different taste and texture designed to fit a different use case: impulse, craving, delight, hunger and relaxation. The topographic design of the bar designed by professional designers allows the layers to be easily separated.