Weekly Roundup: BASF releases fifth Palm Progress Report, Azelis acquires Quimdis

23 Jul 2021 --- This week in industry news, BASF announced the fifth edition of its Palm Progress Report featuring figures for 2020. Meanwhile, supplier Azelis acquired French food ingredients distributor Quimdis and hydroponic garden specialist Rise Gardens raised US$9 million in Series A funding.

In brief: Business developments
BASF launched the fifth edition of its Palm Progress Report featuring figures for 2020. Last year, the company purchased 227,213 metric tons of RSPO-certified sustainable palm (kernel) oil. This corresponds to 100 percent of the total volume purchased. In addition, BASF made further progress in developing transparent supply chains: Almost 95 percent of the global oil palm footprint – a total of 441,107 metric tons – could be traced back to the oil mill. The company has committed to source palm kernel oils exclusively from RSPO-certified sustainable sources.

Food ingredients supplier Azelis acquired Quimdis, a French distributor of food ingredients and specialty chemicals for other sectors. This acquisition strengthens Azelis’ offering to fast-growing and attractive markets while also enhancing the position of Azelis France in the life sciences sector. Quimdis now specializes in the ingredients distribution and formulation development, with solid positions in the French market and with sales into more than 45 countries.

Urban Remedy – a plant-based food company offering certified organic ready-to-eat meals, snacks and cold pressed juices – has closed an US$18 million Series D fundraising round, led by Manna Tree, a Colorado-based (US) investment firm committed to improving human health through nutrition. Joining in the round are existing partners Builders Fund and Obvious Ventures.Urban Remedy has closed an US$18 million Series D fundraising round. (Credit: Urban Remedy)

Rise Gardens, which makes indoor, smart hydroponic garden systems, raised US$9 million in an oversubscribed Series A round, led by TELUS Ventures. Current Rise Gardens investors True Ventures and Amazon Alexa Fund also participated in the round, along with new investor Listen Ventures – bringing the total amount raised to date to US$13 million. The additional funds will be used to continue the company’s product innovation and expansion into new markets.

In brief: Product launches
LIVEKINDLY Collective launched its Swedish plant-based brand Oumph! in the Australian market. The range’s hero product is Pulled Oumph!, chunks of extruded soya protein in BBQ sauce. LIVEKINDLY Collective Australia’s general manager Shaun Richardson, comments: “In the early days of the plant-based movement, plant-based consumers were seen by the market as a homogenous group – the stereotypical vegans. Now, as plant-based gains pace in becoming the “new normal,” we’re at an exciting phase where we’re realizing that there are many different types of people that enjoy plant-based foods – and there are many different ways to enjoy them.”

Green Boy Group has launched Plant-Dairy Protein, a new functional plant-based protein developed for the plant-based dairy industry. Plant-Dairy Protein is a “dairy grade” non-GMO functional plant-based protein powder. Plant-Dairy Protein has a neutral flavor profile, enhances mouthfeel, boosts nutritional properties and enlarges the textured aspects in plant-based dairy products.

Applied Food Diagnostics (AFD), a microbiology company, unveiled a new quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) diagnostic solution. AFD’s Total QC-qPCR line of test kits simultaneously detects the target food pathogens using green fluorescent protein. The Total QC-qPCR line immediately distinguishes a quality control positive strain tagged with the green fluorescent protein while identifying a naturally occurring wild strain on the same aliquot during the initial rapid screening procedure.

In brief: Miscellaneous
Cargill and Ecolab announced the latest class of entrepreneurs to join the Techstars Farm to Fork Accelerator, a three-month, mentorship-driven program that engages early-stage entrepreneurs changing the face of the global food system. The 11 start-ups in the 2021 Techstars program are utilizing technology to innovate solutions in areas including the future of food retail, food safety and workforce development and management. The food value chain is one of the last major industries to completely modernize, but the latest technologies are having a major positive impact throughout the food system, says Techstars Farm to Fork Accelerator managing director Brett Brohl. “We’ve seen tremendous industry leadership from our partners Cargill and Ecolab in using technology to drive real business value for themselves and customers, and this year’s Farm to Fork startups are poised to do the same.”LIVEKINDLY Collective launched its Swedish plant-based brand Oumph! in the Australian market. (Credit: Oumph!)

A £7.5 million(US$10.3 million) investment in new technology and upgrades at 2 Sisters Food Group’s UK Poultry site in Sandycroft is creating more than 200 new jobs. The site, based on Sandycroft Industrial Estate, processes one million birds per week and is one of the biggest sites within 2 Sisters employing more than 1300 colleagues. 2 Sisters is a major supplier to the UK’s largest supermarkets, as well as providing wholesale products to KFC. This investment has enabled the installation of new technology including automated packing lines, new packaging machines, upgrading of cutting lines to increase capacity and the introduction of X-ray bone detection machinery for fillet production.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Republic of Korea, through its Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, signed a new Framework Arrangement. The partnership focuses on food safety and standard setting. Korea will provide US$10 million to help implement and monitor Codex Alimentarius international food standards, with the goal of containing and reducing foodborne antimicrobial resistance. The condition poses a threat to human and animal health andalso has serious implications for food safety, food security and the economic well-being of millions of farming households.

Give and Go Prepared Foods commenced a voluntary recall of 26 muffin products in the US due to the potential for the products to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes. These microorganisms are known to cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.

By Benjamin Ferrer