Source: Ecovative

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.

Alternative protein companies have raised a whopping $1.5 billion through the first half of the year, according to the Good Food Institute’s latest report. In other plant-based news, Green Monday Holding has raised $70 million to expand its plant-based pork and frozen meals into 10 new markets across Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and North America.

While the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted shopping habits, a new report reveals that online grocery sales will continue to grow in the long term, leaping to $250 billion by 2025.

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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. Alternative Protein Companies Have Raised a Whopping $1.5B Through July of This Year – TechCrunch

Fermentation-focused startup companies raised 3.5 times more capital than cultivated meat companies worldwide and almost 60% as much as US plant-based meat, egg and dairy companies.

2. Online Grocery Will Leap to $250B in 5 Years – Grocery Dive

E-commerce will account for 21.5% of total grocery sales, worth $250b, within five years. Retailers can attract the growing number of consumer ages 45 and older who have recently turned to new shopping strategies.

3. Green Monday Holdings, Asia’s Answer to Beyond Meat, Raises $70M from TPG, Swire Pacific – TechCrunch

The company will use the money to expand into 10 new markets across Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and North America. It will add 20k new retail outlets for its products and launch new flagship stores in China and Singapore.

4. Canada: CDPQ and S2G Ventures Partner to Invest in Sustainable Food Businesses – FoodBev

CDPQ will invest up to $125m over the next three years, and S2G will invest up to $100m.

5. 87% of New York City Hospitality Owners Couldn’t Pay Full August Rent – Restaurant Dive

Of those businesses, more than 34% said they expected to pay no rent at all for the month, while 48% planned to pay partial rent.

6. Canada: CDPQ and S2G Ventures Partner to Invest in Sustainable Food Businesses – FoodBev

CDPQ will invest up to $125m over the next three years, and S2G will invest up to $100m.

7. France: E-commerce Startup Mirakl Raises Funds at $1.5B Value – Bloomberg

Mirakl has raised $300m led by Permira. The company makes software that helps build marketplaces and online stores for customers including Hewlett Packard, Kroger and others.

8. Wildfires Make Dangerous Air For Farmworkers: ‘It’s Like You Can’t Breathe’ – NPR

As fires ravage California, farmworkers are dealing with dangerous air in incredible heat. Hernan Hernandez of the California Farmworker Foundation says there’s “nowhere near” enough protective gear.

9. In a Year of Climate Reckoning, Where Does Joe Biden Stand on Climate and Agriculture? – Civil Eats

Fires rage in the West as storms, hurricanes and floods hit the rest of the country. Progressives are pushing Biden to transform the food system and manage and mitigate the effects of the climate crisis.

10. Cargill Wants to Help Farmers Turn Over 10M Acres to Regenerative Ag by 2030 – AgFunder

Cargill will focus on row crop rotations that include corn, wheat, canola, soybeans and other staple crops. It plans to provide technical and agronomic resources for farmers, training opportunities and data collection support.

11. Independent Watchdog Report Finds Inequity in Farm Aid Payments – New York Times

Big farms, along with Southern farmers, disproportionately benefited from the $23b trade assistance program. The top 25 big farms got an average of $1.5m each, while the national average was $16k.

12. 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.

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