Welcome, Food & Bev enthusiasts

Hello hello!

In this week’s newsletter, US Govt combats food waste, the Rise and Fall(ing) of Whole Foods, and: ☁️ Scaled to the cloud, brands and acquisitions of brands you SHOULD NOT BE EATING!

We also want to take a moment to express our gratitude to all of you for being a part of this community! Your support and engagement have been invaluable, and we truly appreciate each and every one of you.

Also, sponsorship spots are open for Farm2Me please reach out here or email us! 🙂

_{In today’s rundown:}

🌱 Soil health and regenerative agriculture as a climate mitigation strategy

💡 A regenerative approach to product development, marketing, leadership, and organizational design

📊 Using data and software tools to understand, reduce and neutralize brands’ carbon footprint and get on a path to net zero emissions

🌎 How building a climate friendly brand can create a deeper relationship with your customers

🍯 What messaging resonates most with eaters around climate friendly food products

Read time: 4 minutes

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

FEATURED

Gross: UK Approves Cultivated (Cell Petri Dish) Meat in Pet Food

UK Approves Cultivated Meat in Pet Food, F&B Innovation Plummets 50% in 2024 + More
A roundup of the top food innovation news. 

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NEW TOOLS & JOBS

AI TOOLS

Tech tools powering the best DTC brands

Rebuy: AI-powered personalization for e-commerce (link)
Klaviyo: Email personalization with AI integrations (link)
Smartly.io: Personalize your Ads 100,000x with AI, per geography and customer use case (link)
Range.me: Meet 3 buyers free, and over 50,000+ emerging food buyers (link)
Okendo: Reviews & Loyalty based on paclaging, flavor, ingredients, CX, and more (link)
Fairing: Attribution Surveys to help make sense of customer intent blackholes (link)
Algolia: Personalized Search using AI for e-commerce (link)
Braze: Personalized Customer Profile Databases (CDP) (link)

QUICK HITS

CPG

Chile: Bezos-Backed Food Startup NotCo Bucks Trend to Raise $70M – Bloomberg
NotCo signed a joint venture with Kraft Heinz in February to manufacture plant-based versions of its products. It will use the funds for similar B2B co-branding licensing agreements.

Believer Meats Breaks Ground on World's Largest Cultivated Meat Plant – Food Dive
The Wisconsin-based facility will be 200k sq ft with the capacity to produce at least 10k metric tons of cultivated meat.

The Future Is Asian: Green Queen Publishes 2022 Edition of Award-Winning APAC Alt Protein Report – Green Queen
A new report by Green Queen Media argues that while plant-based meat sales may be flat in the US and Europe, in Asia Pacific, the alternative protein industry is booming.

Candy Maker Ferrero to Buy Halo Top Owner, Expanding North America Business – CNBC
Ferrero is buying Wells Enterprises, the ice cream giant that owns Blue Bunny, Blue Ribbon Classics and Halo Top.

UK: Unilever Weighs $3B US Ice Cream Brands Sale – Bloomberg
The UK consumer giant is working with advisers to review local brands such as Klondike and Breyers that may be considered for divestment.

Slovenia: Juicy Marbles Investor World Fund Secures €50M from EIF – Vegconomist
The precision fermentation platform makes cacao-free chocolate.

Israel: Fake Meat Has a Real Problem. The Solution May Start With a Pea – Bloomberg
Equinom has raised $35m to begin sales of its non-genetically modified seed varieties that don't require the processing and additives that have long blighted meat alternatives.

EU's Horizon Europe Grants €25M to Cultivated & Fermented Protein Research – Vegconomist
Projects include research in the reduction of production costs, fermentation-derived ingredients, and examination of algae-based products and microbial proteins.

Black Sheep Foods Raise a $12.3M Series A for Plant-Based Lamb – Green Queen
The company has set itself apart in the plant-based meat space by focusing on lamb, which holds great potential in Asia and the Middle East.

Malk Organics Closes a $9M Series B – Green Queen
The dairy alternative brand's commitment to organic ingredients and shorter list of ingredients has given it a competitive edge.

Market Your Sauce – Snaxshot
The past couple of years have witnessed restaurants rush into CPG and retail. Andrea Hernandez breaks down this recent phenomenon and rounds up some of her favorite restaurant food products.

Why Biotech Meat Cannot Compete With Animal Meat At Retail – Forbes
Nothing stops Americans from loving their chicken wings, not even claims of biotech meat companies.

Israel: This Lab-Grown Meat Startup Is Cutting Straight to the Steak – Bloomberg
Aleph Farms is unique among emerging cultivated meat producers in offering steaks, but first, the company has to get approval to sell it somewhere.

Swiss Court Sides With Planted Foods on Use of ‘Meaty’ Labeling Terminology – Green Queen
The Zurich Administrative Court has sided with Swiss plant-based protein manufacturer Planted Foods and its use of terminology including “chicken” and “BBQ.”

Singapore: Cultivated Meat Just Landed In a Butcher Shop for the First Time – Green Queen
Eat Just’s Good Meat is now available through a Singaporean butcher shop, Huber’s Butchery.

Israel: How Forsea Is Avoiding the "Scaffolding Challenge" of Cultivated Meat and Seafood – AFN
Forsea is using organoid technology, mostly used in pharma and developmental biology to produce cultured seafood.

Impossible Foods EU Patent Revoked; US IP Dispute with Motif FoodWorks Ramps Up – Food Navigator
Motif FoodWorks has filed a suite of new petitions challenging US patents held by Impossible Foods over the use of heme proteins. The move comes a week after the EPO revoked an EU patent held by Impossible Foods.

Layoffs in Food Industry Mount As PepsiCo Joins Coca-Cola, General Mills, Walmart and Others in Cost-Savings and Restructuring Efforts – Food Navigator
PepsiCo joins the ranks of food manufacturers, retailers and delivery companies laying off employees or offering buyouts to reduce their workforce and offset inflationary pressures.

How Barilla Is Trying to Go Premium with New Pasta Line – ModernRetail
Barilla, the Italian pasta manufacturer that’s been around for 145 years, is trying to reach new shoppers with a new premium line of pasta.

SPAC Belong Signs Merger Letter-of-Intent with Plant-Based Food Company – Seeking Alpha
The SPAC added that it has entered into a non-binding LOI with a plant-based food company with annual revenue of over $50m.

Beyond Meat Is Looking For Beyond Steak to Boost Revenue – Forbes
Beyond Meat is hoping its new product Beyond Steak will capture consumer interest and boost revenue.

The Dumb Money Driving The Plant-Based Meat Boom – Forbes
In an exclusive excerpt from Raw Deal, investors see companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods as a way to help save the planet. The problem is, they also want to get rich. Instead, they may die trying.

Retail Food Startups Get Advice From a Two Time Entrepreneur on How to Succeed in the CPG Industry – Forbes
It's not enough for a retail food entrepreneur to just have a good product. You need to be nimble, act locally and be prepared to fail fast.

How Smaller CPG Pantry Startups Are Trying to Hit the Mainstream – ModernRetail
Several DTC CPG brands are popping up to refresh the shelf-stable category, at a time in which shoppers are more used to cooking at home.

Keurig Dr Pepper Spends $863M for Stake in C3 Energy Maker – Food Dive
Keurig Dr Pepper is buying a 30% stake in Nutrabolt, the maker of energy drinks such as C4 Energy and Xtend Energy. The move is part of its strategy to better position its portfolio to changing consumer trends.

Doehler Ventures Invests in Clean Food Group's Palm Oil Alternative – FoodBev
Clean Food Group has developed a sustainable "bioequivalent alternative" to palm oil.

RETAIL

How the Whole Story Documents the Rise and Rise of Whole Foods – Forbes
John Mackey's new book is a highly readable account that charts the vision, ambition and hubris of a company that changed the grocery landscape forever.

How AI and Automation Will Reshape Grocery Stores and Fast-Food Chains – CNBC
The food industry is leaning heavily into AI, investing billions of dollars to improve service and cut costs by implementing new automation technology.

Instacart Partners With New York’s Largest Healthcare Provider To Bolster Food Access – Grocery Dive
The tie-up with Northwell Health is focusing first on supporting expectant mothers in food-insecure communities.

New Whole Foods Partnership Aims to Reduce Food Waste – Grocery Dive
The tie-up with online surplus food marketplace Too Good To Go is intended to help the grocer meet its goal of cutting food waste in half by 2030.

Kroger-Albertsons Deal Is Haunted by ‘Spectacular’ Past Failure – Bloomberg
The largest US supermarket deal ever would spin off 579 stores, but critics warn of repeating a decade-old divestiture that left shoppers paying the price.

Three Rivers Market and Knoxville's Grocery Scene – The Checkout
Errol Schweizer reviews Tennessee's local grocery co-ops, discusses how emerging brands can survive the private label wave and offers his take on The Whole Story Book by John Mackey. 

The Walmart Frozen Foods Aisle Is a Stoner’s Paradise – Eater
A typical supermarket frozen foods aisle is too practical, too reasonable. The Walmart frozen foods aisle is where one goes to dream.

RESTAURANTS

Uber Eats to Pay Millions for Listing Chicago Restaurants without Consent – TechCrunch
Uber has agreed to a $10m settlement with the City of Chicago for listing local restaurants in the Uber Eats and Postmates food delivery apps without the restaurants’ consent, as well as for charging excess commission fees.

Slutty Vegan Founder Pinky Cole Wants Her $100M Chain to Rival Burger King – Fortune
With backing from some of the top names in the restaurant industry, Cole is in strategizing mode, recently pivoting from a plan to open a location in each major market to launching multiple restaurants in particularly strong markets.

MarginEdge Lands $45M to Give Restaurants Real-Time Spend Data – TechCrunch
MarginEdge provides invoice processing, inventory management, recipe analysis, budgeting, performance tracking and supplier bill payment capabilities.

Inside the Fight to Pay Food Delivery Workers $23 an Hour – New York Times
App services warn that a proposed wage increase for New York City workers could mean higher delivery costs.

The Fast Food Industry Just Proved How Easy It Is to Hijack California's Referendum Process – Fast Company
Voters will now likely decide the fate of a consequential pro-worker proposal, but were they misled by corporate-backed signature gatherers?

This Restaurant Group Grows 50K Pounds of Seasonal Products on Its Own Regenerative Farm – Fast Company
Maryland’s Atlas Restaurant Group has 22 high-end restaurants that are supplied with fresh, local produce.

Food Delivery Apps Press to Amend New York City Fee Caps – WSJ
Grubhub and other services say current limits leave them feeling pinched. Restaurants fear price-gouging.

McDonald's Just Opened a Digital Drive-Through in Texas – Fast Company
McDonald’s concept restaurant has no seating and no ball pits—just a conveyor belt that will deliver you a burger and fries.

What We Don't Talk About When We Talk Fast Food's Chicken Sandwich Wars – Bon Appetit
Years after Popeye's viral moment, fast food companies are still fighting to create the hot new version. But what's the cost on our food system?

New DoorDash Layoffs Are Another Sign Tech Companies Don’t Truly Understand How We Eat – Bon Appetit
The largest delivery player in the US grew too fast, while the startup Wonder is pivoting to be a meal kit service.

McDonald’s New Gold Card Promotion Is Really Smart – Forbes
Back in the day, having an engraved biz card was a sign of success, then came the Amex Black Card, then the 80s hit with Crystal Champagne, Absolut Vodka, Porches, and designer everything and now it's the McDonald's Gold Card.

AGRICULTURE

Republican Plans for Ag Policy May Bring Big Changes to Farm Country – Civil Eats
Project 2025 and the Republican Study Committee budget both propose major changes to how the government supports commodity farmers. They might face strong opposition from ag groups and their farm constituents.

ADM Targets 5M Acres of Regenerative Farmland by 2025 – AFN
ADM has transitioned more than 2.8m of its acres to regenerative agriculture in partnership with more than 28k growers.

Natural Ventures Closes Inaugural Fund Targeting Ag Innovation – Alternatives Watch
The impact investment strategy aims to advance sustainability in the global food and water supply.

This Long-Dead Scientist’s Collection of Rare Seeds Could Help Keep Us Alive – Mother Jones
A UK-Chinese collaboration has sequenced the DNA of all the 827 kinds of wheat that are now being used to create hardy varieties with improved yields that could help feed Earth’s swelling population.

Could AI Robots With Lasers Make Herbicides — and Farm Workers — Obsolete? – LA Times
A shift from harmful herbicides to intelligent robots would have far-reaching consequences for California's $50b agriculture industry.

Rescuing Kelp Through Science – Civil Eats
Breakthrough genetic research at a Massachusetts lab could save the world’s vanishing kelp forests—and support American kelp farming, too.

Are Companies Using Carbon Markets to Sell More Pesticides? – Civil Eats
Many programs meant to help farmers address climate change are now owned by companies that sell chemicals, which could boost practices that depend on pesticides rather than those that reduce their use.

Climate Change's Toll On Global Agriculture: A Looming Crisis – Forbes
Challenges faced by essential crops such as cocoa, olive oil, rice and soybeans and potential solutions to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change.

Indonesians Who Paid Thousands to Work On UK Farm Sacked within Weeks – The Guardian
Indonesian workers who paid thousands of pounds to travel to Britain and pick fruit at a farm supplying most big supermarkets have been sent home within weeks for not picking fast enough.

Michigan Farmworkers Face Precarious Work and Labor Exploitation. Many Are Migrant and Seasonal Workers – Fast Company
In 2013, the last year for which official records exist in Michigan, the state saw close to 94k migrant and seasonal farmworkers.

What Could Conquer the Superweeds? Bayer and Others Turn to AI – WSJ
Farmers are running out of chemicals to fight resistant weeds that threaten food crops. Innovative tech aims to speed up new options.

How Two Wandering Cows Started a Culture War – NY Times
When Hornee and Blackee strayed from their pasture, they set off a chaotic chain of events involving death threats, chicken rustlers and Joaquin Phoenix. The town of Newfane, NY, hasn’t been the same since.

The People Who Feed America Are Going Hungry – Grist
Climate change is escalating a national crisis, leaving farmworkers with empty plates and mounting costs.

When Is It Safe To Burn Fields? In Thailand, Farmers Can Turn to a New App to Check. – Grist
Researchers at Chiang Mai University developed a system that aims to reduce deadly smog from agricultural burning, while shifting the blame away from farmers.

Australia: Sun Cable Ogs Raise $1.7M Seed Round for Their Carbon Removal & Recycling Startup, Fugu – Startup Daily
The startup is producing 2000 shipping container-sized machines annually at manufacturing facilities around to world extract a gigaton of CO2 from the atmosphere annually by 2032. 

Permia Sensing Secures £150K for Precision Farming Techniques in Palm Plantations – Tech.eu
The company has developed precision farming techniques supported by IoT, AI, sensors and robotics to transform the way palm plantations are managed. 

Tracking Tire Plastics—and Chemicals—From Road to Plate – Civil Eats
Auto tires shed dangerous microplastics and harmful chemicals. New research suggests that both can make their way into crops. 

EATERS

US Government Issues First-Ever National Strategy to Combat Food Waste – Green Queen
The White House has introduced a national strategy to fight the US’s mounting food waste problem, which includes extending the shelf life of products and upcycling foods into other commodities.

Consumer Trends Report – Coefficient Capital 
New research on Gen Z beauty, Zyn, GLP-1s, YouTube and more. 

Psychedelic Mushroom Edibles Promise Health Benefits. Be Wary, Experts Say. – Washington Post
Officials are amplifying warnings about the risks of unregulated and sometimes illegal products advertised on social media and sold online or in vape shops.

This Japanese Drink Curbs Hunger By Turning Into Jelly In Stomach – Money Control
A new Japanese drink promises to satiate hunger for two to three hours by turning into jelly once it reaches the stomach.

Can New York City Treat Its Food Scraps As More Than Trash? – Civil Eats
Community composters are beloved—and imperiled—across the city.

Food-as-Software – RethinkX
Food that can be designed anywhere, developed anywhere, downloaded anywhere and produced anywhere.

Noma Chef René Redzepi Wants to Make Insects Delicious. In ‘Omnivore,’ He Explains Why – LA Times
To change habits and have more things in our diet, Redzepi believes we need to make them utterly delicious so that people choose them. Deliciousness is the change factor.

How Preps Can Change the Food System – Illuminate Food
Preps are freshly cooked whole foods sourced from regional farms that save labor in any kitchen.

11 Startups Using Tech To Change The Way We Eat – Fast Company
A sampling of some of the tastiest—and oddest—new foods incorporating technology in various creative ways.

Is a Fiber Supplement Just as Good as Fiber From Food? – NY Times
Experts explain what fiber supplements can and can’t do for your health.

The New Holy Grail for Weight-Loss Drugs Is Sleep Apnea – WSJ
Popular anti-obesity medicines are in testing for a range of other diseases. Positive results could prompt more insurers to pay up.

Taxes On Sugary Beverages Are Working. Should They Be Placed On Ultra-Processed Foods? – Salon
Colombia became one of the first nations in the world to tax UPFs. The US has yet to follow suit.
 

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