Source: Impossible Foods

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.

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. You Can Finally Buy Impossible Foods’ Meatless Burger in Grocery Stores, Starting Friday – Vox

The meatless burgers will be available at 27 Gelson’s Markets in Southern California starting Friday. The company will announce more retailers later this month when its burgers are slated to debut at East Coast grocery stores. It also plans to make them available in supermarkets in every region nationwide by mid-2020.

2. Online Grocery Sales Grew 15% This Year – Grocery Dive

Online grocery sales have grown 15% this year and now account for 6.3% of US households’ total grocery-related spending.

3. Crisp Launches with $14.2M to Cut Food Waste Using Big Data – VentureBeat

FirstMark Capital led the round. Crisp ingests and analyzes data to help food brands forecast their food production requirements. Its open beta kicks off on October 1.

4. China Mengniu Dairy Makes $1B Bid for Australian Infant Formula Maker Bellamy’s as Beijing Pushes Self-Sufficiency – Fortune

China’s largest milk maker is expanding its presence overseas. The company expects a deal to be closed by the end of the year.

5. Denmark: Vegetarian Meal Delivery Startup Simple Feast Raises €30m to Take on the US – Sifted

US-based venture capital firm 14W lead the round in the on-demand organic, plant-based prepared meal delivery service. With operation in Denmark and Sweden, Simple Feast is hosting to expand to California now.

6. Never Mind Supermarkets, Zak Normandin Says The Future Of Beverage Is On Your Phone – Forbes

Dirty Lemon parent company Iris Nova has announced the first four beverage brands to be sold through its “c-commerce” platform, including Minna, Sanzo, Halo Sport and Vina. Brands will also receive up to $250,000 in investment from Iris Nova. The company plans to invest $100 million over the next three to five years to launch more upstart brands on the platform, in addition to creating a pipeline of private-label products.

7. Israel: Trigo Vision Raises $22M Series A for the Checkout-Free Future of Grocery – AgFunder

Red Dot Capital led the round. The new funds will be used to help the Trigo Vision scale its technology to meet the needs of larger store formats.

8. Whole Foods, Whose Owner, Jeff Bezos, Is Worth $115B, Is Cutting Health Care Coverage for Part-Time Workers – Eater

Up to 1,900 workers are losing medical benefits “to better meet the needs” of business.

9. Le Pain Quotidien Replaces Chicken Egg Frittata With Vegan JUST Egg Version Nationwide – VegNews

Starting September 18, restaurant chain Le Pain Quotidien (LPQ) will replace its original frittata (made with chicken eggs and other animal products) with a vegan version made with JUST Egg at all of its locations in New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC.

10. How a No-Deal Brexit Could Destroy the Irish Dairy Industry — and Threaten Peace – NPR

The lack of a border has contributed to a booming dairy business between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland – the types of dealings experts say helped make peace between the two a reality.

11. What Happens When Delivery Startups Use Employees Instead of Contractors – Quartz

Yesterday, California governor Gavin Newsom signed AB5, a bill that may force delivery companies to reclassify their contract workers as employees. Quartz examines the business models of delivery companies that already hire their drivers as employees.

12. FarmWise Raises $14.5M Series A to Expand Its Weeding Robot Service – AgFunder

The round was led by Calibrate Ventures alongside Wilbur Ellis, Xplorer Capital, and Alumni Ventures Group. Its AI-powered weeding robot provides personalized care to every plant it touches, according to the company, using machine learning modules, computer vision, and high-precision mechanical tools.

13. A Think Tank Predicts Beef and Dairy Will Collapse in 11 Years. Is it Right? – Food Dive

According to a forecast written by think tank RethinkX projects that demand for cow-associated products will fall by 70% in 11 years due to the speed and scale of cellular  technology-driven disruption.

14. Cannalysis Raises $22.6M Series A to Automate Cannabis Compliance Testing – AgFunder

CanLab, a cannabis, hemp, and CBD testing laboratory network, led the round. The funding will be used to expand into new states and to invest in robotics and data-automation.

15. Consumers Are Confused About Sustainable Diets, Survey Finds – Food Dive

Four in 10 adults aren’t sure whether a sustainable diet is the same as an environmentally sustainable one, according to a study by the International Food Information Council Foundation. Still, two-thirds agreed that an environmentally sustainable diet can include protein from both animal and plant-based sources.

15. 2018 U.S. Food & Beverage Startup Investment Report

Over $1.45B was invested across 247 deals in 2018, according to the research in our second annual investment report produced in partnership with Ryan Willams.  Check out the report for a deep dive into the investor and investment trends. We also share a complete list of deals and acquisitions.

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