JUST Co-Launches Asian Food Tech Accelerator, Walmart’s Leafy Green Blockchain + More

Source: Ad Age

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.

After recent E.coli outbreaks found in lettuce, Walmart has announced the launch of a program that requires its suppliers of leafy greens to trace its products using blockchain. It was successfully piloted with IBM Food Trust Network.

JUST has partnered with Brinc to launch a food tech accelerator in Hong Kong. Participants will get access to JUST’s discovery pipeline, data, tools and raw materials to develop products.

In restaurant news, Uber is in early talks to buy the Deliveroo for more than its valuation of $2 billion.

Check out our weekly round-up of last week’s top food startup, tech and innovation news below or peruse the full newsletter here.

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3. Walmart Asks Lettuce Suppliers to Trace Products Using Blockchain – Supply Chain Dive

Participation in the program will be mandatory for all suppliers of lettuce and leafy greens in 2019. The retailer has been developing and piloting the system for 18 months with the IBM Food Trust network.

4. JUST Partners with Brinc for Asian Food Tech Accelerator – Food Dive

Brinc will invest more than HK$500k per team. The teams will have access to JUST’s discovery pipeline, data, tools and raw materials to develop products.

5. Sweetgreen’s First Market Opens This Week With Frozen Yogurt and Local Produce – Washingtonian

The Tavern takes over the salad chain’s original storefront in Georgetown.

6. How Dan Barber Helped Sweetgreen Get a New Squash on Its Menu – Fast Company

The squash variety, called Robin’s Koginut, was created by Row 7, the new seed company founded by Dan Barber. Sweetgreen bought 100K+ seeds and worked with its farmer network to plant them on six farms across the country, offering Row 7 the first large-scale test of how the squash performs in different climates and soils.

7. Beyond Meat Dishes Up Plant-Based Options at Del Taco – The Spoon

The plant-based meat startup will launch two branded tacos: the Beyond Avocado Taco and the Beyond Taco. This marks the company’s first partnership with a fast food chain.

8. Grubhub Buys Israeli Campus Food-Delivery Platform Tapingo for $150M – Haaretz

Operating in over 150 campuses, Tapingo processes tens of thousands of sales per day from more than 500k customers for on-campus cafes, cashierless stores and chain restaurants.

9. DFA Enters Pilot Project with Food Blockchain Startup – Feedstuffs

DFA has partnered with ripe.io to leverage data from member farms and its manufacturing plants to support more consumer engagement.

10. Land O’ Lakes Launches Digital ERP Tool to Measure Profitability of Sustainable Farming Practices – AgFunder

The new digital tool helps its farmers implement sustainable management practices and increase profitability. The data will be available to food companies to measure and monitor the sustainability credentials of their supply chains.

11. Yumble Raises $7M for Kids Meal Delivery Service – The Spoon

The round was led by Sonoma Brounds. It will use funds to invest in marketing, hiring and national expansion.

12. Colorado Meatpacker Recalls Ground Beef After E. Coli Death – Bloomberg

Cargill is recalling more than 132k pounds of ground beef after a suspected E. coli outbreak killed one person and sickened 17.

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