🧈 Butter but better

Apeel Sciences, ProducePay, Nature's Fynd, Plantible and Heura Foods.

These 5 startups came out on top in the latest edition of the FoodTech 500, a ‘definitive’ list of the global entrepreneurial talent at the intersection between food, technology and sustainability.

For the full list of all 500 FoodTech scaleups and startups to watch, head this way.

Up next: Applications for the FoodTech World Cup close this Monday, why not enter your startup into the global competition focused on Food for Health with FoodHack, Givaudan and Nestlé Research and Development Lausanne (or forward to a startup who should apply).

Or: If you’ve developed an innovative cheese alternative, why not enter the Lidl x ProVeg Cheese Alternative Innovation Competition to experience working with a major retailer.

This week in FoodTech:

🌾 Top 50 regenerative farmers
🥔 5 tons of protein-producing potatoes
🥚 23 egg-replacement startups to know

The Digest

📈 What’s up? Chobani is making the ‘biggest plant investment in its history’, investing $500 million to expand its Idaho facility by 500,000 square feet, boosting production by 50% and creating at least 160 new jobs.

📉 What’s down? The USDA reports that wholesale egg prices are sharply declining due to stable bird flu conditions and lower demand, though retail prices have yet to reflect the drop.

🦄 A map of the 55 FoodTech unicorns in 2025 to know.

🥫 US metals-dependent trade groups are urging the Trump administration for exemptions from new 25% tariffs on aluminium and steel, warning of inflation, job losses, and increased reliance on foreign canned goods.

👨‍🌾 Top 50 Farmers is an initiative aiming to elevate regenerative farmers across Europe to a level of recognition similar to that of celebrity chefs, in order to enhance public awareness of sustainable agriculture and improve farmers' income.

🌾 Climate solutions provider 3Degrees launched the Low Carbon Fertilizer Alliance, backed by Mars and CF Industries, to fund emissions reduction initiatives in fertiliser manufacturing and agricultural supply chains.

👀 Good Read: McKinsey explores how biotech and fermentation technology can revolutionise food production, creating sustainable proteins and ingredients while unlocking a $100-150 billion market by 2050.

Fundraising

💵 Bread and Butter Ventures closed its Fund IV at $40 million to continue investing in seed-stage foodtech, digital health, and enterprise SaaS startups, backed by institutional investors like Allina Health, Fifth Third Bank, and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community.

🇪🇸 The Spanish regional government of Galicia launched an €18 million public-private initiative to boost plant-based protein production, including funding for ingredient company Inproteins to extract proteins from pulses.

🚀 Ignite20 Ventures is launching a $7 million venture fund and accelerator to support 20 early-stage CPG startups annually in food, beverage, health, beauty, and pet care, offering $50,000 investments, mentorship, and a 12-week hybrid program culminating in a demo day.

🐟️ Swedish startup Hooked Foods raised SEK 8.4 million to support new plant-based product launches and expand its operations whilst improving production efficiency and profitability.

🌱 British agritech startup Elaniti secured funding to advance its AI- and DNA-powered soil microbiome intelligence tool, designed to help farmers optimise productivity and transition toward sustainable, regenerative agriculture.

➡️ Check out all 10 funding rounds from this week.

New in Startups

🥔 PoLoPo has successfully completed a field trial yielding five tons of protein-producing potatoes and expanded its lab capabilities to meet growing demand, as it works to position itself as a leader in molecular farming for functional food proteins.

⬇️ US cultivated meat company UPSIDE Foods has undergone another round of layoffs as it restructures to focus on commercialisation and scaling, shifting plans from a large Illinois facility to expanding its smaller California site.

🧈 Bill Gates-backed startup Savor launched a butter made from carbon as a sustainable alternative to palm oil and conventional fats, with restaurants and bakeries set to be early adopters.

☀️ Solar Foods has begun commercialising its air-grown Solein protein in the US, targeting the health and performance nutrition market with its Solein Protein Bites, a snack combining the sustainable protein with peanut butter, hazelnuts, and chocolate coating.

⚖️ Chilean food tech startup NotCo unveiled a GLP-1 Booster that uses food as a natural alternative to Ozempic, addressing the growing demand for weight management solutions amid rising obesity rates and concerns over the side effects of GLP-1 medications.

🤝 Eat Just and its subsidiary GOOD Meat have settled a legal dispute with bioreactor supplier ABEC, agreeing to pay $4.4 million after a disagreement over contract amendments for large-scale cultivated meat production.

🍬 TopGum launched Gummiotics, a functional gummy supplement combining probiotics, postbiotics, and prebiotic fibre in a patent-pending matrix to support gut health.

🧫 South Korea’s Korean Muslim Federation has issued a fatwa recognising that cultivated meat can be Halal if it meets specific requirements, with startup Simple Planet now pursuing certification.

🍖 Poland’s Proteine Resources has developed the ‘world’s first’ scalable beef analog for pets that matches real beef’s nutritional profile 1:1, while cutting production costs by up to 50%.

Plant Based

🍖 Juicy Marbles debuted "Pork-ish”, the first whole-cut plant-based pork, expanding its Meaty Meat line with a more affordable option designed for versatile culinary applications.

🍄 The Better Meat Co secured a deal with a major South American meat company for its Rhiza mycoprotein in blended meat applications, while launching a $15 million fundraising round to support its global expansion plans.

🌱 Benexia launched Seeds of Wellness Chia Milk, which it claims is the first plant-based milk made from whole chia seeds, offering omega-3s, fibre and protein while being sustainably produced using a near zero-waste process.

🤝 Better Nature is launching an enhanced Organic Tempeh with higher protein and gut-friendly benefits at major UK retailers to appeal to meat-eaters seeking healthier alternatives.

Big Food

🚀 McVitie’s owner Pladis is launching an Accelerator Programme to support food tech, health, and sustainability startups, offering tailored mentorship, industry connections, and guidance on global expansion and product innovation.

💰️ Vivera, a subsidiary of JBS SA, is acquiring The Vegetarian Butcher from Unilever to expand its presence in the plant-based meat market. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. + Why it’s a bold play.

🍫 Lidl is launching its own Dubai-Style Chocolate bars exclusively on its TikTok Shop, following its successful debut on the platform last month.

🍦 Ben & Jerry’s claims that Unilever fired CEO David Stever for supporting the brand’s social mission, not for job performance, as part of an ongoing dispute over corporate control and political activism ahead of Unilever’s planned ice cream spinoff in 2025.

🍔 McDonald’s Canada is testing the McVeggie, a vegetable-based burger, at 37 locations, shifting away from plant-based meat after the Beyond Burger’s failure in the country.

From the Community

👋 Join us at a FoodHack Meetup in Amsterdam, Copenhagen, New York City, Lisbon, Berlin, Tel Aviv. Sign up here.

👀 Are you hiring? Reply to this email with a link to the role and we can include in the next edition of FoodHack.

🍍 Spot the difference: Wild vs cultivated pineapples.

🥚 Mapping 23 players on chicken egg replacements.

📊 The FoodTech 2024 VC Trends Report is now live.

🪂 Just for fun: The art of fundraising your first round.

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Until next time - Stay Hungry