Source: New York Times

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.

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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. Uber Buys Postmates for $2.65B – New York Times

Together, Postmates and Uber Eats would have a 37% share of food delivery sales in the US, behind DoorDash with 45%. Postmates will continue to operate under its own name.

2. Perfect Day Expands Series C to $300M; Significantly Boosts Efficiency of Animal-Free Dairy Production – Food Navigator

CPP Investments led the round, with participation from Temasek and Horizons Ventures. The round is an expansion of a previously announced $140m round. It will enable Perfect Day to increase the efficiency of its production process.

3. 53% of Restaurants Closed Amid Coronavirus Have Shuttered Permanently, Yelp Data Shows – Restaurant Dive

As of June 15, there were 140k total business closures on the website since March 1.

4. Almost 90% of US Meat Plant Workers With Virus Are Minorities – Bloomberg

Of the cases that disclosed race and ethnicity, 87% involved minority workers – with employees identified as Hispanic accounting for 56% of infections despite making up less than a third of the overall workforce.

5. CDC Says 9% of Meatpacking Plant Workers Have Been Diagnosed with Covid-19 – CNBC

As of May 31, 86 worker deaths across 23 states can be tied to Covid-19. Nearly 240 meat processing facilities had at least one confirmed case among its workers.

6. Stark Racial Disparities Emerge As Families Struggle to Get Enough Food – Politico

Nearly four in 10 Black and Hispanic households with children are struggling to feed their families during the coronavirus pandemic — a dramatic spike that is exacerbating racial inequities and potentially threatening the health of millions of young Americans.

7. Uber Grocery Delivery Launches in Latin America and Canada, US to Follow Later This Month – TechCrunch

The initiative is a product of its acquisition of Cornershop back in late 2019. The launch covers 19 cities in Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia and Peru, and is set to expand to the US at some point later this month – specifically to Miami and Dallas.

8. Food & Ag Anti-Racism Resources + Black Food & Farm Businesses to Support

Check out our list of resources to learn about systemic racism in the food and agriculture industries. We also highlight Black food and farm businesses and organizations to support.

9. Several Businesses Listed as Receiving Stimulus Loans Claim to Have Never Even Applied – Eater

Among newly identified businesses are restaurant chains and big-name restaurants including French Laundry, PF Chang’s, TGI Friday’s and Chop’t. There is more than $100b in loans yet to be granted.

10. After Grinding Investigation, Luckin Coffee Confirms $300M Revenue Fraud – TechCrunch

Starting around April 2019, around the time of its IPO, the company began inflating revenues. They were overstated by $35m in Q2, $99m in Q3, and almost $166m in Q4.

11. Cox and Bunge Back Growers Edge in $40M Series B Round – AgFunder

SG2 Ventures, Skyline Global Partners and Cox Enterprises led the round. The funding will mainly be used to build out its data analysis efforts. Growers Edge works with ag retailers and product manufacturers to crunch their data and produce a crop plan.

12. IntegriCulture and Shiok Meats Partner to Ramp Up Cell-Based Seafood Production – AgFunder

The two companies will develop inexpensive cultured serum for growing shrimp meat in the lab.

13. US Government’s Box Food Aid Promise Falls Short – Reuters

The program fell short of its target to deliver $1.2b worth of food to food banks, churches and other organizations in need by June 30. As of July 1, the agency verified 63% of the boxes pledged.

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