Image source: New York Post

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 the G-7 Summit, President Biden warned that there could be global food shortages as a result of the Russian invasion, amid rising inflation and lingering supply chain issues.

Meanwhile, a new report found that agrifoodtech startups raised a record $52 billion in 2021, nearly doubling the previous year’s total.

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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. Biden Warns of ‘Real’ Food Shortage Risk Over Russia’s Invasion into Ukraine – The Hill

President Biden warned Thursday that there could be global food shortages resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine and announced steps to prevent a potential crisis.

2. Agrifoodtech Ventures Raised Record $52B in 2021, Nearly Doubling Previous Year’s Total – AFN

That represents an 85% increase over 2020’s $27.8 billion total, indicating the accelerating — and increasingly urgent — demand from investors and consumers for technologies that can enable more sustainable and resilient food systems.

3. Beyond Meat Bets On Vegan Jerky As Initial Product Launch For PepsiCo Partnership – Green Queen

The move represents Beyond’s first foray into shelf-stable products.

4. Turkey: Getir Officially Announces $768M Series E Round, Now at Decacorn $11.8B Valuation – Tech.eu

Across Europe and the US, the company now boasts a network of over 1.1k g-stores and close to 40m app downloads across 9 countries, delivering almost one million orders daily.

5. Indonesian E-Grocery Startup Sayurbox Raises $120M in Series C Funding – Forbes

The startup was founded with the social mission of providing market access to local farmers through the digitization of Indonesia’s agri-supply chain. It currently works with more than 10k farmers.

6. As Sanctions Bite Russia, Fertilizer Shortage Imperils World Food Supply – Reuters

Western sanctions on Russia, a major exporter of potash, ammonia, urea and other soil nutrients, have disrupted shipments of those key inputs around the globe. Growers are scrambling to adjust.

7. To Raise a Fund, This Agtech Outfit Built a Content Company First (Now It Has $60M to Put to Work) – TechCrunch

The capital will go toward AgFunder’s new fund that it expects will reach $100m over the next couple months.

8. Instacart Just Gave Grocery Retailers the Keys to the Castle – Forbes

Instacart’s new offering will allow retailers to essentially white-label many elements of Instacart’s digital and retail operations capabilities – a boon for smaller retailers who lack the capital to invest in building their own omnichannel capabilities.

9. Sustainable Global Consumer Trends and What It Means for Farmers – Evoke

Alpha Foods co-founder and co-CEO Mike Lee observes the top four consumer trends and the opportunity areas for farmers to take charge in designing solutions that will help shape the future of food, which he believes is currently led by celebrity chefs.

10. US Farm Groups Urge Sowing on Protected Land As War Cuts Off Ukraine Supply – Reuters

Farm groups are urging the USDA to allow farmers the ability to plant on acres set aside for conservation, to help fill the absence of Ukrainian corn, wheat and sunflower oil amid Russia’s invasion of the country.

11. Sweetgreen to Open First Drive-Thru in Chicago Suburb – Restaurant Dive

The restaurant will also feature an observation window so customers can watch meal preparation from their cars as they wait to pick up their orders.

12. The Brave New World of Legalized Psychedelics Is Already Here – The Nation

Welcome to the strange new world of “psychedelic capitalism,” where dozens of startups have already raised millions to commercialize psilocybin, DMT, mescaline and LSD–despite the fact that all of these “classic psychedelics” are still ranked as Schedule I drugs.

13. Food Businesses Lose Faith in Instagram After Algorithm Changes – New York Times

Instagram’s choice to prioritize videos over photos creates unforeseen costs for small companies, leaving many owners disheartened.

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