Image Credit: Fast Company

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 recent news, Jeff Bezos has committed $60 million through the Bezos Earth Fund to advance research in alternative meat production, aiming to enhance both affordability and nutritional value within the industry. Meanwhile, Oprah Winfrey’s collaboration with Ozempic in a weight-loss special signifies a significant shift in the narrative surrounding obesity, presenting it as a disease rather than a personal failing, indicative of a broader trend in the weight-loss industry’s rebranding efforts.

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. Jeff Bezos Pledges $60M to Alternative Meat Research – Fast Company

The Bezos Earth Fund is supporting research to help the alternative-meat industry lower costs and improve nutritional content.

2. Oprah, Ozempic and Us – New York Times

Her special is a harbinger of how the weight-loss industry is rebranding: Obesity is a disease, and — for the first time — it’s not your fault.

3. Acre Venture Partners Closes $140M Agrifoodtech Fund, Places Bets On Ag Robotics, AI/ML – AFN

Fund III will invest from pre-seed stage up to series B, with money reserved for follow on investments.

4. Simu Liu Slings Dumplings – Snaxshot

Observations from SXSW and EXPO, from VC money (or lack thereof) being showcased at booths and celebrity spottings.

5. The Most Innovative Companies in Food for 2024 – Fast Company

Why JM Smucker, Driscoll’s, Chomps and Scout are among Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in the food category.

6. Targeting $50M, Mad Capital Unveils New Fund Aiming to De-Risk Regenerative Organic Farming – AFN

Speciality finance shop Mad Capital has launched its Perennial Fund II that provides US farmers with loans to help them transition to regenerative and/or organic agriculture.

7. Why We’re Now Living in The Golden Age of Snack Food – Bloomberg

The technological breakthroughs behind the variety and abundance.

8. How Erewhon Turned the Grocery Store Into a Designer Brand – Fast Company

For turning smoothies into a cultural touchstone, the organic grocer is one of Fast Company’s most innovative retailers for 2024.