Widespread Layoffs, Is Precision Fermentation Safe? + More

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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.

Layoffs, shutdowns and cuts across food tech are getting serious, and no sector underscores that more right now than restaurant tech. One CEO, Chris Webb of ChowNow, believes that while business is strong for now, everyone is nervous about what the coming months will bring, and this dynamic has created the widespread layoffs we’re now seeing. ChowNow itself just cut nearly 100 employees, and several others including NextBite, Sunday, and DoorDash, also had to make some tough choices.

In brighter news, climate-forward companies continue to raise money activists are using a Covid-era tool to help feed families in need due to inflation.

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1. ChowNow CEO: More Restaurant Tech Industry Layoffs Are Coming – Restaurant Dive

CEO Chris Webb believes that layoffs will continue throughout the summer as the industry stays nervous about what’s in store for the future.

2. DoorDash Shutters Chowbotics – OttOmate

Just 18 months after acquiring robotic salad-maker company Chowbotics, DoorDash is shutting the startup down. “Sally” robots, as they are called, were not meeting internal company benchmarks, according to DoorDash.

GoPuff Cuts 10% of Its Workforce – CNBC

GoPuff is the latest in a string of “quick commerce” startups making staff cuts and restructuring moves. GoPuff says it will also close 76 of its fulfillment warehouses.

4. Restaurant Payments App Sunday Cuts Staff, Exits 60% of Its Markets – Sifted.eu

Sunday will shut down operations in four of the seven markets it recently expanded to: Spain, Portugal, Canada and Italy. The company did not confirm the exact number of layoffs it will make.

5. Heatflation: How Sizzling Temperatures Drive up Food Prices – Grist

As heat waves strike Europe and China, crops are withering.

6. European Parliament Holds First-Ever Cultivated Meat Debate – Vegconomist

Several key players in the field attended, including representatives from GFI Europe, Cellular Agriculture Europe, Mosa Meat, and CE Delft.

7. Why Precision Fermentation Is in the Non-GMO Project’s Crosshairs – Food Dive

The certification and advocacy group says that there are lots of unknowns about the the precision fermentation process in dairy production. Alternative dairy companies like Perfect Day say there is nothing to fear.

8. You’re Already Eating Foods With Ingredients Made Using Precision Fermentation – Green Queen

As the alternative protein industry matures, it is increasingly under attack from food industry lobbies and interest groups. Green Queen analyzes the situation to separate fact from fiction.

9. Would Carbon Labels Change the Way You Shop? – Financial Times

As food companies, retailers and environmental groups work on carbon labelling schemes, FT offers an interactive tool to help consumers calculate the greenhouse gas emissions of their groceries.

10. True ‘Carbon Farming’ Requires Deep Roots — In the Ground and in Community – Grist

To make a difference for the climate, much of that carbon we put in the ground via regenerative farming has to stay underground for a long time.

11. Shore Capital Partners Closes $290M Round for Food and Bev Fund – Food Business News

This is Shore Capital’s second food- and beverage-focused fund. It will target companies in manufacturing, distribution, packaging and other areas with $5 million to $100 million in revenue.

12. The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2022: The Full List of Winners – Eater

Copenhagen’s Geranium takes the No. 1 spot, with Virgilio Martínez Véliz’s Central in Lima No. 2.

13. Food Truck Manufacturer Cruising Kitchens Raises $100M – Restaurant Dive

Ghost Financial, a financing platform for ghost kitchen operators, made the investment and is now the “exclusive financial partner” for Cruising Kitchens. The funding will support the creation of a ghost kitchens division of Cruising Kitchens.

14. Chef’s Fable – Eater

Former employees of Blue Hill at Stone Barns, the famed fine dining restaurant from sustainability evangelist Dan Barber, speak out about working conditions and storytelling practices.

15. How Woke Food Fights Are Destroying Restaurants – NY Post

In response to Eater’s article, more than 100 current and former Blue Hill employees have signed a letter saying Eater’s portrayal of the restaurant “does not reflect our experiences and paints a false portrait that we do not recognize.”