Image Credit: 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.

In a groundbreaking move, the UK government has unveiled a landmark £2 billion plan to support the advancement of its biotech ecosystem, with a particular focus on the cultivated meat and fermentation industry. Meanwhile, the New York Times sheds light on the challenging circumstances faced by America’s aging farmworkers, predominantly immigrants, who find themselves on the brink of retirement without the safety net of Medicare or Social Security, despite decades of dedicated service to the country’s agricultural sector.

In other news, we’ve wrapped the first season of our podcast in partnership with AgFunder: New Food Order, a nuanced investigation into the business of tackling our climate and social crises through food and agriculture. Read all about why we launched the podcast, and be sure to subscribe and share!

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1. UK Government Backs Cultivated Meat and Fermentation in Landmark £2B Plan – Vegconomist

Over the next ten years, the government will fund the necessary activities and reforms to propel the country’s biotech ecosystem, which includes the cultivated meat and fermentation industry.

2. Retirement Without a Net: The Plight of America’s Aging Farmworkers
– New York Times

Immigrants who worked decades on US farms are reaching retirement age in a country that offers them neither Medicare nor Social Security.

3. Silicon Valley’s $445M Robot Pizza Revolution That Wasn’t – Fast Company

The zesty tale of Zume Pizza, one of the biggest flops in Silicon Valley history.

4. Kitchen United Will Sell or Close All Physical Units, Pivot to Software – Restaurant Dive

The ghost kitchen pioneer, which raised $100m last year to fund the expansion of its food halls, said it began to offload its locations months ago. It has already shuttered its Kroger units.

5. A Mushrooming Trend: How Fungi Became An It Food – The Guardian

The mushroom moment of the past few years shows no sign of ending. What’s feeding its enduring popularity?

6. The Next Big Technologies in Food and Agriculture for 2023 – Fast Company

From solar-powered farm equipment to the world’s first vaccine designed for bees, these technologies are bringing much-needed change to our food systems.

7. What a Cheeseburger Reveals About the Human Rights Abuses Hiding in Our Food – Fast Company

From child labor to modern slavery, global food supply chains are worse off than you think.

8. Plant-Based Milk Maker Ripple Foods Raises $49M on Back of ‘Explosive Growth’ in Kids’ Products – AFN

Ripple Foods claims to stand out from other firms making milk from yellow peas by utilizing novel technology that strips out unwanted components from plant protein to yield ‘Ripptein.’

9. Matsmart-Motatos Tackling Food Waste with €40M Investment Led By Circularity Capital – Tech.eu

Matsmart tackles the issue of waste in the food supply chain by procuring and reselling overstock goods that traditional retailers can’t buy.