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.

At this week’s CES 2020, Impossible Foods unveiled its version of ground pork, which will be sold as a basic building block for cooking as well as in sausage form. The product will make its debut at select Burger Kings in the US. Meanwhile, China plans to release 20,000 tons of frozen pork from its reserves ahead of Lunar New Year.

With aims to triple its distribution and open up West Coast production, Oatly has partnered with Starbucks for a test run in 1,300 Midwest cafes.

In restaurant news, Grubhub is said to be exploring a sale. Robot pizza maker Zume has laid off half of its employees in order to focus on its food packaging unit.

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

1. Impossible Adds ‘Ground Pork’ and ‘Sausages’ to Its Lineup of Plant-Based Foods – TechCrunch

The new product will be making its way to select Burger King restaurants in the US. The company has raised $777m to date and is stated to be more than doubling revenues annually.

2. Oatly Kicks Off 2020 Expansion Plan with Starbucks Partnership – BevNet

Aiming to triple its distribution and open up West Coast production, Oatly has partnered with Starbucks to serve as the coffee retailer’s on-premise oat milk supplier for a test run in 1.3k Midwest cafes.

3. Grubhub Said to Explore Sale in Boon to Uber, DoorDash and Others – TechCrunch

Investors, heartened by the news, bid its equity up 17% as of the time of writing, valuing the firm at around $57 per share, or $5.2b.

4. SoftBank-Backed Zume Is Laying Off Half Its Staff and Shuttering Its Pizza Delivery Business – CNBC

The company is laying off 360 employees and creating 100 new positions in its food packaging unit.

5. China to Release 20K Tons of Frozen Pork from State Reserves – Reuters

Notice of the release comes in the run-up to the Lunar New Year holiday at the end of January, China’s peak period for pork consumption.

6. This Startup Is Creating a Massive Health Care Map and Just Raised $50M – Fortune

Komodo Health’s latest round was led by Andreessen Horowitz. Funding will go towards developing a health care map to fuel everything from more effective drug development to gleaning insights about health disparities across the country.

7. 2020 Predictions from Agri-Foodtech’s Leading VCs – AgFunder

S2G Ventures, Cultivian Sandbox, Fall Line Capital, Better Food Ventures and Middleland Capital weigh in on what they’re expecting in 2020 and beyond.

8. Walmart Unveils Robot-Run Warehouse to Whisk Food to Your Car – Bloomberg 

Automated warehouses next to stores promise to speed up online grocery orders, helping in retailer’s battle with Amazon.

9. How Food Will Change in 2020 – Bloomberg

These seven trends will shape how you eat and drink in the new decade.

10. Food Software Startup Olo Is Said to Plan US IPO in 2020 – Bloomberg

The company could seek a valuation of about $1b.

11. Inside the Quest to Bring Fonio Out of Africa and Onto Shelves Around the World – Food Dive

With a new state-of-the-art processing plant about to open in Senegal and a pasteurization plant in North Dakota, Terra Ingredients plans to increase annual exports of fonio in the thousands of tons.

12. In a Burger World, Can Sweetgreen Scale Up? – New York Times

The chain that made salads chic, modular and ecologically conscious now wants to sell you a lot of other stuff.

13. What if Children Ran the School Lunchroom? – New York Times

A new program by FoodCorps and Sweetgreen lets students customize their meals, participate in taste tests and brainstorm ways to redesign their school cafeterias.

14. Monsanto Attempts Defense That Would Negate All Glyphosate-Causes-Cancer Lawsuits – Modern Farmer

Bayer AG, owner of Monsanto, has vowed to appeal all decisions that go against it, stating that the EPA has stated glyphosate is not carcinogenic or a risk to human health. The Trump administration has announced its support for its court challenge.

15. Every Ridiculous Food Trend Predicted for 2020 – Eater

From “less focus on the center of the plate more on the outskirts” to lab-grown meat, here’s what the trend-casters predict we’ll be eating this year.

16. 2018 U.S. Food & Beverage Startup Investment Report

Over $1.45B was invested across 247 deals in 2018, according to the research in our second annual investment report produced in partnership with Ryan Willams.  Check out the report for a deep dive into the investor and investment trends. We also share a complete list of deals and acquisitions.

Our newsletter is the absolute easiest way to stay on top of the emerging sector, so sign up for it today and never miss the latest food tech and innovation news and trends, Already signed up? Share the love with your friends and colleagues!