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FoodTech Weekly #79 by Daniel S. Ruben
News on FoodTech, food, and society
Daniel S. Ruben
December 10, 2021 • Estimated Reading Time: 12 minutes
FoodTech Weekly #79
Hi there,
I went to Helsinki (Finland) this week, for meetings with some local FoodTech and startup ecosystem leaders (flight CO2 emissions offset viaTrine). The weather was a refreshing -23C (-9F), which I balanced out by going to the sauna, in compliance with local customs. Also had a chance to dine at Finnjävel which was amazing.
It's been 24 months since my last business trip, and while I haven't missed flying, I have really missed the personal connections. The serendipitous encounters with other humans, that Zoom can never fully replace.
I also had a odd burger experience. More on that later.
'Wind is making it feel colder' is, I believe, the official tourism slogan of the Nordics
This week's rundown:
Eggcelent: A $175M round brings the EVERY Company closer to launching animal-free egg protein
Now get us non-browning avocados: Canadian company OSF brings in harvest of non-browning apples
Department of unnecessary knowhow: Why coffee makes you poo
Let's go!
Conversations
I've been too busy. Again.
Noteworthy
The EVERY Company (which used to be called Clara Foods) has banked a $175M Series C round, from investors like McWin, Rage Capital, Temasek, Wheatsheaf Group, SOSV, and TO Ventures. The EVERY Company develops animal-free egg proteins, using precision fermentation.
Dutch sustainable grocery delivery service Pieter Pot has raised a €9M Seed round, led by ETF Partners. Customers order their groceries online, and get everything delivered in reusable jars. When receiving their next order, the customers return the empty jars to the drivers. Each jar is reused at least 40 times. The company is active in the Netherland and Belgium, and plans to expand across Europe.
Pieter Pot
U.K. plant based milk startup Mighty has nabbed £7M in fresh funding. The company now plans to expand across Europe. Over in Texas, NadaMoo! brought in a $10M Series B, helping it to expand its range and reach of its plant-based icecreams. Speaking about plant-based milk, Oatly is struggling with supply chain challenges (as demand outstrips supply) so the company is opening three new production facilities by 2023 in the U.S., U.K., and China, which will enable the production of 450 million liters (119 million gallons) of plant-based milk, to mitigate the situation. This year, the company opened three new facilities in the U.S., Singapore, and China.
Brazilian startup Clubbi, which enables small food retailers like neighborhood markets and grocery stores to stock up on products that they need, has nabbed a $4.5M Seed round to expand across the country. The company wants to help small food retailers get rid of intermediaries that drive up prices. The company, which has 40 staff and currently serves 1,000 grocery stores in Rio de Janeiro, estimates there are 200,000 mom-and-pop stores in Brazil that are potential customers. The funding round was led by Valor Capital Group and ONEVC, with support from Better Tomorrow Ventures, Latitud, and Canary.
Cargill is phasing out industrially produced trans-fatty acids in its entire global edible oils portfolio by 2023, even in countries with no legislative mandate. Trans fats are adverse to human health and were banned already in 2003 by Denmark; many other countries have followed since. Speaking about cooking oils, here's a cool solution that turns your used cooking oil into a disposable solid, to avoid sewer system fatbergs.
MeaTech of Israel has 3D printed a cultured steak, and it looks very realistic. The steak weighed in at 4 oz (about 100 grams).
Image: MeaTech
Sweden's wine industry is expanding; the country now has 40 commercial vineyards, and a few more are added every year. According to the Swedish Trade Organisation for Oenology & Viticulture, climate change is making it easier to grow grapes in the country.
London-based agtech firm Gardin has secured $10.8M in Seed funding, from e.g. Molten Ventures, LDV Capital and Seedcamp. Gardin combines machine learning tech with remote optical sensors to help farmers understand how individual plants are doing.
The number of field robots in operation has doubled since 2020.
Israeli sustainable packaging startup Melodea has developed MelOx, a plant-sourced (wood pulp!) barrier coating that products packaged products from oxygen as well as oil and grease transmission. The coating, which is compostable and recyclable, eliminates the need for aluminium and plastic. The company has raised $20M thus far, from e.g. Swedish Holmen and paper producers Klabin in Brazil and Double A in Thailand.
Image: Melodea
Scientists at U.C. Davis in California have developed a new type of cooling cube, that could "revolutionize" how food is kept cold, without relying on ice or traditional cooling packs. The new jelly ice cubes do not melt and are anti-microbial. The cubes contain 90% water, are soft to the touch, and can be reused up to 12 times before being composted. They can also be cut to any size or shape.
Yemoja of Israel is growing a red microalgae (in indoor photobioreactors) which can be used as a 100% plant-sourced heme substitute, for use in plant-based and cultured alternative meat products. The company has raised $11M so far, led by SIBF VC, and is about to kick off its B round.
Yemoja production plant. Image: Yemoja
Mike Wolf of The Spoon went to Starbucks to try their milk from Perfect Day, made using precision fermentation. Mike's conclusion: From a taste and experience perspective, that novel milk is identical to conventional cow's milk.
Okanagan Specialty Fruits (OSF) of Canada has completed its fall 2021 harvest. The company has developed different varieties of non-browning apples, such as Golden, Granny, and Fuji. OSF silenced the PPO enzyme that make apples go brown when e.g. bruised.
Dutch-Israeli AgTech startup Future Crops has secured $30M in funding. The company has developed a fully automated indoor vertical farming system that grows its crops in a unique soil substrate composition. The first warm of 8,000 sq. m (80K sq. ft) is up and running in Westland, The Netherlands.
Future Crops farm in The Netherlands
News from the FoodTech Weekly community
Trophic (US) is hiring a Head of Protein Science... Chromologics (Denmark) is recruiting an Analytical Chemist... Ohayo Valley (US) is looking for a Scientist... Orbillion (US) has many open roles... Aqua Cultured Foods has an opening for a Microbiologist... Aqua-Spark (The Netherlands) is hiring a Dealflow Manager, Africa... KARANA Foods (US) is recruiting a Director of Business Operations... Fermify (Austria) are looking for a Bioprocess Engineer... PINC (Paulig Incubator) is hiring a Senior Investment Manager.
Forward Fooding just announced their 2021 FoodTech 500 Finalists.
Thrive Accelerator is looking for mentors.
DigitalFoodLab has released the annual French FoodTech Top 25.
A coalition of European cultivated meat companies including e.g. Gourmey, SuperMeat, Mosa Meat, Aleph Farms and Meatable have launched Cellular Agriculture Europe.
VC investment in sustainable agriculture startups stands at $3.8B, a 46% increase vs. last year, according to Dealroom.
True Investor just opened up for business -- it's a peer network that offers exclusive access to qualified international AgTech and FoodTech dealflow. More info here.
Want to share some FoodTech news/project with other FoodTech Weekly subscribers? Hit reply.
Random Stuff
We've all been there: An overdue book was returned to an Idaho library -- 111 years late.
Supplies of cream cheese are running dry, from New York City to North Carolina. Delis and bakeries are scrambling to find that schmear.
Why coffee makes people poo.
Dozens of camels were disqualified from a Saudi beauty contest after the camel owners had manipulated them with hormones, Botox, and facelifts.
OK -- so I had a portobello mushroom burger in Helsinki:
My reaction:
I love you.
Daniel
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This issue was produced while listening to Skyfall by Adele. Follow me on LinkedIn and Twitter. And here's the Appetizer which I co-host. Did your brilliant friend forward this to you? Subscribe here.