Impossible Burger 2.0, Big Dairy Floods School Lunches + More

Impossible Foods 2.0 | Source: Impossible Foods

Every week we track the business, tech and investment trends in CPG, retail, restaurants, agriculture, cooking and health, so you don’t have to. Here are some of this week’s top headlines.

As part of biodiversity month here at Food+Tech Connect, we’ve launched an editorial series featuring interviews with over 45 CEOs, execs, farmers and investors. We’ve also partnered with The Future Market, to launch Biodiversity: The Intersection of Taste and Sustainability, a digital and physical biodiversity exhibit debuting at The Winter Fancy Food Show in the What’s Next in Food room January 13-15, 2019.

In this week’s top news, Impossible Foods has launched a new formula of its ground beef that will now be sold in grocery stores. It’s now venturing into the development of steak.

A riveting piece on the USDA’s move away from Obama-era school nutrition standards reveals how Big Dairy will soon flood school lunches. In other words, more fat, sugar and salt. The ongoing government shutdown has left risks of food safety and undocumented hirings in its wake. The many ways it’s affecting how Americans eat can be found here.

And finally, read up on a recap of trends and innovations in AgTech and ResTech  in 2018, and what to expect in 2019.

Check out our weekly round-up of last week’s top food startup, tech and innovation news below or peruse the full newsletter here.

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1. Introducing Biodiversity: The Intersection of Taste & Sustainability

We interviewed 45+ CEOs, execs, farmers and investors about the role biodiversity plays in our food industry. Read this week’s published responses from Crop Trust, General Mills, Impossible Foods, Kuli Kuli, Row 7 and Sir Kensington’s,

2. The Future of Food Is Biodiverse

Biodiversity is crucial to the health of our food supply and it sits at the intersection of taste and sustainability. Biodiverse food is sustainable food.

3. We Tried the New Impossible Burger – Fast Company

The meatless burger that bleeds has a new, even more convincing formula–and will soon be sold in supermarkets, not just restaurants. We took it for a spin in the kitchen.

4. Big Dairy Is About to Flood America’s School Lunches With Milk – Bloomberg

The Department of Agriculture is throwing out Obama-era school nutrition standards and tossing a lifeline to the dairy industry. It’s called more fat, sugar and salt.

5. A List of Food Tech Startups That Defined 2018 Trends and What to Expect in 2019 – AgFunder

From packaging innovations to information technology, a number of food tech innovations dominated the agricultural industry in 2018.

6. Food Inspections by the FDA Have Been Sharply Reduced, Alarming Critics – The Washington Post

The agency, which oversees 80% of the food supply, has suspended all routine inspections of domestic food-processing facilities.

7. Police Close Sexual Assault Investigations of Mario Batali – New York Times

New York police are said to have closed cases involving three women’s reports that the celebrity chef attacked them in restaurants.

8. Walmart Taps Udelv for Latest Driverless Car Tests to Deliver Groceries – CNBC

The pilot will be taking place in Surprise, Arizona. The retailer has already worked with companies including Ford and Waymo to experiment with driverless cars.

9. Olo Gets an $18M Investment to Save Restaurants from Tablet Hell – The Spoon

The investment was led by Tiger Global Investment. Its customers include big name brands like Denny’s, Which Wich, Five Guys, Jamba Juice and Chipotle.

10. GM’s Cruise Partners with DoorDash to Test Autonomous Food Delivery – The Verge

The pilot will commence in early 2019 in San Francisco.

11. The Future of the $13B Food Delivery Industry Rests on a Better Shelf – Fast Company

Most restaurants aren’t optimized to have their food picked up. Companies like Eatsa are rethinking their spaces to cope. Its newest product is a modular shelf dubbed the Spotlight Pickup System.

12. 2018 Recap: The Year in ResTech Innovations – PYMNTS

QSRs sought to provide their customers with digital alternatives to ordering at the counter in 2018.

13. Breadbot Is an Autonomous Bakery in a Box, Coming to a Grocery Store Near You – Digital Trends

The bread making machine creates up to 10 loaves of bread per hour from scratch and is destined for groceries and specialty shops.

14. Women, Women of Color & Gender Non-Conforming Innovator Database

We created this open-source list to increase representation, support and investment in women, women of color & gender-nonconforming innovators in food. Join the list & help us spread the word using #womxninfood

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