Food From Thought: October 2021

DiCaprio invests in Mosa Meat and Aleph Farms, Dao Foods welcomes Rich Products, and more.

What’s in a name? A lot more than you might think.

Consider the fact that, as recently as the early 20th century, the common term for an avocado was “alligator pear.” Sound appetizing? It didn’t to California’s avocado farmers, which is why they lobbied for a name change back in the 1920s. They prevailed, and sales surged over the next century thanks in part to the more customer-friendly name.

Over the last few years, we’ve watched as the industry at large has moved away from “cellular agriculture” to embrace “cultivated meat” as the accepted term for meat produced through cellular means.

Why? Because, as Bruce Friedrich, founder and CEO of The Good Food Institute, explains: “Words matter, especially when it comes to food. Not only must food taste, look, and smell delicious, but the name needs to be appealing too. Nowhere is this discussion more salient than in the nascent industry of cellular agriculture.”

And, as with the alligator pear, consumers prefer cultivated meat over terms such as “lab grown” or cellular anything. It’s clearer, more descriptive and is reported as feeling less clinical in consumer surveys.

We’re pretty happy with that, and view this as another step in the journey toward wide customer acceptance. What do you think?

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Alpeh Farms

• Leonardo DiCaprio invests in cultivated meat firms Mosa Meat and Aleph Farms

• Cell-based meat firm Aleph Farms eyes Asia launch after MOUs with Thai Union, CJ CheilJedang

• Aleph Farms Pursues Asia Expansion as Lab-Grown Meat Attracts Investments

Alpha Foods

• Has Alpha Foods Turned You Vegan? [Clever new ad campaign]

Dao Foods

• Dao Foods Welcomes Rich Products Ventures as Investor in China-Focused Alternative Protein Startups

Geltor

• This dazzling new branding is a lesson in combatting scientific misinformation

Huera

• Heura’s Urgent Message to Boris Johnson: Plant-Based Deserves a Seat at the Table

Matrix Meats

• Israeli start-up working on technology to produce “Holy Grail” of plant-based whole cuts (Also mentions Aleph Farms)

Miyoko’s Creamery

• Miyoko’s Creamery’s Pizza Tour to Give Away 10,000 Free Vegan Pizzas

• Does Miyoko’s Creamery’s recent financial and legal successes mark the rise of non-dairy dominance?

• Miyoko’s Liquid Vegan Pizza Mozzarella Arrives to Change the Future of Pizza

• Secretly Good: this vegan cashew cheese is so tasty that it meets even my dairy-purist standards

Mosa Meat

• Leonardo DiCaprio invests in cultivated meat startups

• Meet Three Startups Developing Growth Mediums to Feed Cell-cultured Meat

NUMU

• NUMU Food Group Announces Series A Funding

Oatly

• KFC Just Launched Oatly Vegan Ice Cream in China

• Oatly ad goes from Super Bowl to AFL Grand Final

Wicked Kitchen

• Wicked Kitchen Debuts World’s First Vegan Lamb Roast

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CNBC: Asia’s food spending is set to double to more than $8 trillion by 2030, report finds

CNN: Plant-based meat was all the rage. Now plant-based seafood is taking the spotlight

Ellen MacArthur Foundation: The Big Food Redesign

Falstaff: The New Veggie Boom

Food Dive: How Aqua Cultured Foods plans to own the whole cut seafood analog space

Globe & Mail: Why the cultured meat industry needs its own Elon Musk

Green Queen: Dutch Scientists Are Making Cell-Based Caviar A Reality

Green Queen: Dutch Government Plans To Slash Livestock Numbers By 30% To Cut Emissions

New Food: “And, and, and” – the role of alternative proteins in feeding the future

NYTimes: Calling ‘Code Red’ on Climate, Biden Pushes for Infrastructure Plan

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Bridge2Food Summit + Expo, Plant-Based Foods & Proteins Americas 2021: Senior Associate Juliana Green recently participated in a panel discussion with Kitty Liang from Big Idea Ventures entitled “New Consumer Brand Propositions in Fish-Free, Meat-Free & Dairy-Free. Learn More

Future of Fish: Our own Chris Kerr recently participated in a panel discussion with Ali Tabrizi, the director of “Seaspiracy”, and Elise Bernal, Impact Finance Advisor with The Greenbaum Foundation. Watch Below.