Source: Beef + Lamb New Zealand

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.

Alpha Food Labs, our sister company, was commissioned by Beef + Lamb New Zealand and New Zealand Winegrowers to understand the current state and future market potential of regeneratively produced food and wine within the United States, Germany and the UK. The research reveals consumers may be willing to pay more for regeneratively-produced food, especially if science can show it tastes better, is better for people’s health and better for the environment.

Nestle has launched a vegan shrimp and egg product to some European markets in an effort to meet the growing demand of plant-based proteins. Meanwhile, supply chain strains and climate change have caused pea protein prices to soar 120% in Canada and North American oat harvests to shrink supplies.

Last but not least, Kellogg’s workers on strike in four states are pushing back on two-tiered wage systems and pension and benefits cuts. Errol Schweizer interviews union leaders Kevin Bradshaw and Dan Osborn for more insight into their calls for action.

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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. Regenerative Agriculture Market Scan & Consumer Insights Report

Alpha Food Labs, our sister company, was commissioned by Beef + Lamb New Zealand and New Zealand Winegrowers to understand the current state and future market potential of regeneratively produced food and wine within the United States, Germany and the UK. The research reveals consumers may be willing to pay more for regeneratively-produced food, especially if science can show it tastes better, is better for people’s health and better for the environment.

2. Why Are Kellogg’s Workers on Strike? – Forbes

Kellogg’s workers on strike in four states are pushing back on two-tiered wage systems and pension and benefits cuts.

3. Denmark’s 1.25B Kroner Plan to Fight Climate Change with Food – Livekindly

Denmark’s newest climate plan includes the largest investment in plant-based research and development in the EU to date.

4. Amazon Is Working on a Smart Refrigerator That Can Monitor Your Buying Patterns and Suggest New Products or Recipes – Business Insider

An Amazon smart fridge would represent the company’s continued expansion into consumers’ homes with its own hardware.

5. Tiny North American Oat Crop Could Be Coming for Your Breakfast – Bloomberg

The smallest harvest ever in the US is expected to shrink supplies needed for everything from Cheerios to oat milk.

6. Europe: Plant-Based Egg and Shrimp on Nestle’s Menu As It Taps into Vegan Growth – Reuters

The egg substitute, Garden Gourmet VEGGie, and vegan shrimp, Vrimp, follows the launch of its tuna substitute last year. The products will initially have a limited launch in some European markets.

7. Methane from Agriculture Is a Big Problem. We Explain Why. – Civil Eats

Agriculture and waste are the largest sources of the greenhouse gas, which scientists say is one key to limiting catastrophic warming fast.

8. Europe: Atlantic Labs Spins-Out FoodLabs, a €100M Food Tech Fund Addressing Climate and Health – TechCrunch

FoodLabs will focus on intellectual property and scalable digital business models toward a more efficient and sustainable food industry from earth to earth, from agriculture, production, distribution, human health to zero waste.

9. Meat Prices Soar, But Pea Protein Costs Are Rising Too Amid Vegan Meat Demand Surge – Green Queen

Pea protein prices have increased 120% year-on-year in Canada, the world’s biggest pea protein producer. The country has struggled to keep up with demand in the midst of drought.

10. Spain: Eatable Adventures Spearheads €50M Fund for Food and Agriculture Tech Startups – Food Ingredients First

The financing vehicle is targeting early and growth-stage startups in agri-food tech across Europe and Latin America.

11. Hormel Partners with the Better Meat Co to Develop Meat Analog Products – Food Dive

The two companies will work together to create new products using Better Meat’s Rhiza mycelium-based meat analog.

12. Ashton Kutcher and Guy Oseary Partner with MeaTech to Scale Cultured Meat Production Tech – Food Ingredients First

Kutcher and Oseary are leading a collective to accelerate MeaTech’s growth in developing and commercializing the company’s proprietary cultured meat production technologies.

13. Denmark’s 1.25B Kroner Plan to Fight Climate Change with Food – Livekindly

Denmark’s newest climate plan includes the largest investment in plant-based research and development in the EU to date.

14. Clara Foods Becomes the Every Company and Launches Animal-Free Egg White Protein – Food Dive

ClearEgg, an odorless, tasteless and soluble substance naturally found in small quantities, is now available to amp up the nutrition in beverages and other products.

15. France Bans Plastic Packaging for Fruit and Vegetables – Reuters

It estimated that 37% of fruit and vegetables are sold with packaging and expects that the measure will prevent more than one billion useless plastic packaging items per year.

16. Walmart Heir Lukas Walton Is Launching a Platform to Reshape the Food System – Fast Company

Walton has been quietly and anonymously funding the future of food and agriculture companies for years, now he’s putting a face to the dollars.

17. Burger King Becomes the First Fast Food Chain to Test Impossible Foods’ Meatless Nuggets – CNBC

Burger King will test Impossible Foods’ meatless nuggets in several markets starting Monday, making it the first fast-food chain to offer the company’s new chicken alternative.

18. Newly Launched Do Good Foods Raises $169M to Turn Food Waste into Animal Feed – Grocery Dive

The company plans to begin selling early next year chicken fed with a diet that includes upcycled food collected from grocery stores.

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