Weekly Roundup: Plant-based food innovation advances in Southeast Asia, Cultivated fat technology raises US$24M

09 Apr 2021 --- This week in industry news, KH Roberts partnered with Leistritz to advance plant-based foods in Southeast Asia. Mission Barns raised US$24 million in funding to scale its cultivated fat technology and build a production facility. Stray Dog Capital invested in Chunk Foods, an Israel-based plant-based meat company, and Brenntag Food & Nutrition signed an agreement with Marigot for distribution in Denmark. Also, Jungbunzlauer received ISO 50001 certification for its plants in Germany and Austria.

In brief: Business highlights
KH Roberts, a creator and provider of aromas and tastes, and Leistritz, a company specializing in pharmaceutical and food processing, have come together to advance the research and development of plant-based foods specifically for Asian consumer needs. The partnership combines the expertise and deep knowledge from both companies and offers support to their growing customer base in the region.

Mission Barns has raised US$24 million in Series A funding to scale up its cultivated fat technology and to build a pilot manufacturing plant in the Bay Area.Mission Barns has raised US$24 million in Series A funding to scale-up its cultivated fat technology and to build a pilot manufacturing plant in the Bay Area. The company is focused on cultivating animal fat – without the animal. Its technology platform enables starting from a handful of pork, poultry or beef cells and feeding them a plant-based feedstock inside a cultivator. Mission Barns has developed products incorporating Mission Fat in various categories both on its own and through collaboration with leading meat companies and plant protein partners. Applications include bacon, breakfast patties, burgers, nuggets, dumplings, hot dogs, poultry sausages and meatballs.

Stray Dog Capital, a venture capital fund specializing in alternative protein investments, has invested in Chunk Foods. The current round totals US$2 million and includes investments from Good Seed Ventures and the E14 Fund. Chunk Foods was started to rapidly utilize fermentation technology to fill a gap in the plant-based meat market. Originating from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the start-up is the first to enable the large-scale manufacturing of healthy, realistic whole-muscle meat alternatives. Using solid-state fermentation, Chunk Foods will first be focused on developing beef alternatives using just a handful of healthy, recognizable ingredients.

Brenntag Food & Nutrition has inked a distribution agreement with Marigot for the exclusive distribution of Marigot’s range of plant and marine-based minerals in Denmark. Marigot’s Aquamin range is marketed as a clean, natural and bioactive marine multi-minerals source. The agreement is in line with Marigot’s ambition to grow the Aquamin business in food, beverage, dietary supplements and lifestyle nutrition markets. 

Following a public comment period, the Federal Trade Commission has approved a final order settling charges that E. & J. Gallo Winery’s US$1.7 billion acquisition of assets from competitor Constellation Brands would violate federal antitrust law. According to the complaint, which was first announced last December, the proposed acquisition would likely eliminate head-to-head competition between Gallo and Constellation and substantially lessen competition in the US for six types of wine and spirits products: entry-level on-premise sparkling wine, low-priced sparkling wine, low-priced brandy, low-priced port, low-priced sherry and high color concentrates. The final order requires Gallo to divest several product lines and remove certain others from its asset purchase agreement with Constellation Brands.

In brief: Awards
The Jungbunzlauer plants Ladenburg in Germany and Pernhofen in Austria have been awarded the ISO certification 50001, which provides the basis for continuous improvement of energy management and energy-related performance and associated cost reduction and reduction of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. With this additional certification, the company strengthens its efforts in sustainable and energy-efficient production. Based on this, an energy flow analysis has been done to implement measures to improve specific energy consumption.

In brief: Appointments 
Ocean Spray Cranberries has named two new officers to its senior leadership team. Monisha Dabek has joined Ocean Spray as its new chief commercial officer, US, and Sarah Evans has joined as the new chief human resources officer.

In brief: Other highlights2020 was a turbulent year in which much of retail bounced between being open and closed, impacting footfall significantly, says the BRC.
2020 was a turbulent year in which much of retail bounced between being open and closed, impacting footfall significantly, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC). With the UK still in lockdown, total UK Footfall decreased by 68.7 percent in March, with only a 4.9 percentage point improvement from February. This is above the three-month average decline of 72.3 percent. Footfall on high streets declined by 64.6 percent. This compares favorably against the three-month average decrease of 67.9 percent. Retail parks saw footfall decreased by 36.8 percent. This was a decline of 2.3 percentage points compared to the previous month. This is marginally above the three-month average decline of 38.8 percent. Shopping center footfall declined by 73.2 percent. This compared favorably against the three-month average decline of 76.2 percent.

Azelis is scaling up its global e-Lab platform with the launch of its e-Lab for Personal Care and Food & Health customers in the UK and for Food & Health customers in Indonesia. The launch of this platform is aligned with the company’s ambition to be the world-leading provider of digital services and insights in the industry, leading the way in customer engagement and making its e-Lab the engine for innovation through formulation. The roll-out of the Azelis e-Lab follows on the development of its global customer portal, a platform which allows easy access to Azelis’ product catalogue anytime, anywhere. Additionally, customers are able to order samples and place an order anytime and on any digital device.

Tate & Lyle has launched its Stabiliser University, a new online modular course designed to help formulators and food scientists solve even the toughest stabilizer formulation challenges. The first module – entitled “Stabiliser Fundamentals” – will take place on April 13. The one-hour session will cover the basic principles of formulating with stabilizers, challenges stabilizers can solve in food and beverage formulations, and how manufacturing and processing can impact formulation choices. Selecting the suitable stabilizer is key to solving challenges relating to taste, texture, mouthfeel, processing and labeling for new and reformulated food products. 

By Elizabeth Green