Image Credit:  CNBC

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 major milestone for the food industry, the USDA has granted inspection approvals to Upside Foods, Good Meat, and Joinn Biologics, signaling the imminent arrival of cell-cultured chicken in the American market. Meanwhile, Daily Harvest, a prominent $1b food startup, grapples with the aftermath of a tumultuous year. CEO Rachel Drori breaks her silence on the inclusion of tara flour in its products and what came of the lawsuits and illnesses that followed.

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!

Our newsletter takes a lot of time and resources to produce. Make a one time or monthly contribution to help us keep it going. Whether it’s $5 or $500, every bit helps and shows us that you value our work. 

1. Cell-Cultured Chicken Gets the Final Green Light from USDA – Washington Post

The USDA announced it has issued grants of inspection to Upside Foods, Good Meat and Good Meat’s manufacturing partner, Joinn Biologics, the first companies aiming to bring the much-awaited product to the American market.

2. Daily Harvest’s Toxic Year: How the $1B Food Startup’s Quest For a New Ingredient Sent Customers to the ER – Fast Company

The CEO speaks for the first time about the tara flour that sickened hundreds, led to lawsuits and revealed big problems in US food safety.

3. The Age of Disruptive Products Is Over, Rabobank Says – Food Dive

Companies are focusing on more incremental innovation as investment capital tightens up and consumer appetite for new things has been lacking.

4. Cultivated Meat from Cows: How Omeat Uses Plasma to Grow Beef – Food Dive

The company, which has already raised $40m from key investors, says it can make products at the same cost as traditional meat.

5. These Soybeans Taste Like Pork – Fast Company

Moolec genetically engineered soybeans to make pig protein—and they want to use the ingredient to scale up realistic meat alternatives.

6. Ocado Shares Soar on Reports of Bid Interest From Tech Firms Including Amazon – Bloomberg

Ocado shares jumped as much as 47%, the most in five years, on speculation of bid interest from Amazon.

7. As Others Burned Millions to Build Robot Restaurants, This Operator Automated His for Just $200K – Forbes

Andrew Simmons plans to expand his formula for restaurants into a chain, and believes he would need just 4% of the capital Zume raised over its lifetime ($423m) to create a 100-restaurant chain and get to $100m in revenue.

8. Restaurant Tech Learns the Price of Unbridled Growth – Restaurant Business

Overhauls at Olo, Grubhub and Nextbite signal the end of the pandemic tech boom, and the need for more responsible growth.

9. New AI and GPS Technology Will Protect Oceans and Prevent Fish Stock Depletion – VegNews

The Audacious Project has given $60m in funding to Global Fishing Watch, as it strives to create a map of all the fishing vessels operating on the ocean.

10. How Benefit Cuts May Create a ‘Perfect Storm’ for Food Insecurity – Civil Eats

Hunger advocates and researchers believe the end to emergency allotments—coupled with revised work requirements for SNAP—will pressure food banks, hurt public health, impact kids and revive old prejudices.

The post USDA Approves Cultivated Chicken for Sale, Daily Harvest’s Toxic Year + More appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Image Credit:  Grit Daily

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 contrasting turn of events in the agricultural industry, Aerofarms has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, reflecting the sector’s struggle with dwindling funding and waning venture capital enthusiasm. Meanwhile, Brazil’s JBS is taking a progressive step by initiating the construction of a cultivated meat factory in Spain through its subsidiary, BioTech Foods, where it aims to produce over 1,000 metric tons of cultivated beef annually.

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!

Our newsletter takes a lot of time and resources to produce. Make a one time or monthly contribution to help us keep it going. Whether it’s $5 or $500, every bit helps and shows us that you value our work. 

1. AeroFarms Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection, CEO Steps Down – iGrow News

The investor group’s main objective is to ensure AeroFarms maintains regular operations throughout the Chapter 11 filing, serving its growing customer base and strategic selling partners, including planned retailer expansions for the rest of 2023.

2. Brazil’s JBS Starts Building Lab-Grown Beef Factory in Spain – Reuters

The factory should produce more than 1k metric tons of cultivated beef per year under its subsidiary, BioTech Foods.

3. VC Investment in Indoor Farms Plummets 91% – Pitchbook

Indoor farms raised $75.8m globally across 14 deals in the first three months of 2023, down 70% in deal value from the previous quarter and 91% year-over-year.

4. UK: Meatless Farm Exec: ‘The Business Has Unfortunately Made All the Teams Redundant’ – AFN

Plant-based meat startup Meatless Farm has laid off most of its employees after failing to secure funds to help it stay afloat.

5. Chat GPT Creates Robot Gripper for Harvesting Tomatoes – Vertical Farm Daily

TU Delft and the Swiss technical university EPFL published their findings on the process of designing a tomato-harvesting robot to address food supply challenges.

6. ChatGPT Founder-Backed Uncommon Raises $30M in a Series A for RNA-Driven Cultivated Pork – Green Queen

The biotech startup uses patent-pending RNA technologies to produce bacon and pork belly from a single animal cell sample.

7. Inside Costco’s Billion-Dollar Bet on $4.99 Rotisserie Chickens – Forbes

To ensure a steady supply of the customer favorites, the retailer built a slaughterhouse — a feat poultry leader Tyson couldn’t pull off. Forbes got a rare look.

8. $400M+ Ex-Pizza Robot Company Zume Shuts Down – Nation’s Restaurant News

Zume sold its robot pizza business in 2020 to pivot toward sustainable packaging and Picnic laid off employees earlier this year; what’s happening to pizza robots?

9. Sweetgreen Will Automate All New Stores, Target Suburban Markets – Restaurant Dive

Sweetgreen plans for all of its new restaurants within the next five years to be automated through its Infinite Kitchen system.

10. Infarm Quits Europe As Vertical Farming Withers on the Vine – Sifted

Infarm previously had operations in the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark. It has decided to shift its focus to regions such as the Middle East.

The post AeroFarms Files For Bankruptcy, JBS Is Building a Cultivated Meat Factory + More appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Image Credit: Ivy Farm

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.

Despite a historic surge in popularity, ESG investing was never designed to save the planet. As Harvard Business Review writes, the danger here is that policymakers may be led to believe that markets can solve major challenges like climate change, when in fact, only governmental intervention can help stave off catastrophe.

In the UK, cultivated meat company Ivy Farm made history by opening the largest cultivated meat factory in Europe, which the company says can produce nearly three tons of cell-based meat analogues per year.

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1. ESG Investing Isn’t Designed to Save the Planet – Harvard Business Review

The danger with ESG investing is that it might convince policy makers that the market can solve major societal challenges such as climate change — when in fact only government intervention can help the planet avoid a climate catastrophe.

2. Ivy Farm Opens the Largest Cultivated Meat Factory in Europe – Green Queen

The pilot plant is the first of its kind to open in the UK. Ivy Farm says its new 18,000-square-foot Oxford cultivated meat plant can produce nearly three tons of cultivated meat per year.

3. From Plant Based Kalbi To Tofu Cheese: A Deep Dive On Japan’s Booming Alt Protein Sector – Green Queen

The Green Queen team unpacks the alt protein market in Japan, revealing the key players, what consumers think, and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

4. Temporary Victory in South Africa Where Seizure of Plant-Based Foods Has Been Halted – Vegconomist

The Food Safety Agency (FSA) was set to begin the seizure of thousands of plant-based meat alternatives from retailers across the country for using terms such as “burger,” “nugget,” and “sausage.” Plant-based advocates have succeeded in temporarily halting those seizures.

5. Restaurant Outsourcing Startup Bite Ninja Raises $11.3M – Memphis Inno

Bite Ninja’s 12,000 workers provide remote labor for front-of-house restaurant tasks like taking orders. The round will go towards Bite Ninja’s technology platform.

6. India’s Loopworm Secures $3.4M Seed Round – AFN

Loopworm is the first Indian technology startup to farm insects for animal feed. The funding will be used for talent acquisition, research, and development acceleration, as well as setting up Loopworm’s first factory in North Bangalore to scale-up production.

7. USDA Invests up to $300M to Expand Organic Certification – Food Dive

The investment includes providing technical assistance, farmer-to-farmer mentoring, crop insurance assistance and direct monetary support to farmers hoping to transition to organic.

8. UK Agritech Startups to Reap £16.5M in Government Funding – UKTN

The UK government will invest an additional £16.5 million into agritech research and development as part of its £270 million Farming Innovation Program.

9. The Colorado River Drought Is Coming for Your Winter Veggies – Vox

Farmers use about three-quarters of all the water that people take from the Colorado River. Winter veggies like lettuce and broccoli as well as Arizona’s wheat could take a big hit from the river’s drought, now in its 23rd year.

10. Vive Crop Protection Closes $26M Series C to Accelerate Precision Chemistry – AFN

The funding will be used to accelerate Vive’s commercial deployment of its product portfolio into new North American markets while advancing its research and development pipeline.

11. Venus Williams-Founded Happy Viking Raises $2M From World’s Top Athletes – Vegconomist

The superfood brand carries shakes and other products that aim to increase the health and performance of fitness enthusiasts and athletes. The funding will assist in new products innovations and releases.

12. The World’s First Precision Fermentation Lactoferrin Is Market Ready – Green Queen

Biotech company TurtleTree says it has developed bovine lactoferrin—a protein abundant in colostrum—using precision fermentation technology.

13. Finland’s Fazer Exploring Cell-Based Cocoa – Food Business News

Finnish government organization Business Finland is providing funding for Fazer to explore producing raw cocoa material in a lab via cellular agriculture.

14.Has Everyone Stopped Drinking? – UK Vogue

The low- and no-alcohol beverage sector has grown by 506% since 2015. Nowadays, there are enough nonalcoholic options to make quitting seem like a reasonable proposition for many.

15. Ditch Your Grocery Store. Go Foraging Instead – The Washington Post

Gabriel Popkin examines the environmental, nutritional and moral case for eating wild foods.

The post ESG Won’t Save our Planet, Europe’s Largest Cultivated Meat Factory + More appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Image credit: Unsplash

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.

Layoffs, shutdowns and cuts across food tech are getting serious, and no sector underscores that more right now than restaurant tech. One CEO, Chris Webb of ChowNow, believes that while business is strong for now, everyone is nervous about what the coming months will bring, and this dynamic has created the widespread layoffs we’re now seeing. ChowNow itself just cut nearly 100 employees, and several others including NextBite, Sunday, and DoorDash, also had to make some tough choices.

In brighter news, climate-forward companies continue to raise money activists are using a Covid-era tool to help feed families in need due to inflation.

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1. ChowNow CEO: More Restaurant Tech Industry Layoffs Are Coming – Restaurant Dive

CEO Chris Webb believes that layoffs will continue throughout the summer as the industry stays nervous about what’s in store for the future.

2. DoorDash Shutters Chowbotics – OttOmate

Just 18 months after acquiring robotic salad-maker company Chowbotics, DoorDash is shutting the startup down. “Sally” robots, as they are called, were not meeting internal company benchmarks, according to DoorDash.

GoPuff Cuts 10% of Its Workforce – CNBC

GoPuff is the latest in a string of “quick commerce” startups making staff cuts and restructuring moves. GoPuff says it will also close 76 of its fulfillment warehouses.

4. Restaurant Payments App Sunday Cuts Staff, Exits 60% of Its Markets – Sifted.eu

Sunday will shut down operations in four of the seven markets it recently expanded to: Spain, Portugal, Canada and Italy. The company did not confirm the exact number of layoffs it will make.

5. Heatflation: How Sizzling Temperatures Drive up Food Prices – Grist

As heat waves strike Europe and China, crops are withering.

6. European Parliament Holds First-Ever Cultivated Meat Debate – Vegconomist

Several key players in the field attended, including representatives from GFI Europe, Cellular Agriculture Europe, Mosa Meat, and CE Delft.

7. Why Precision Fermentation Is in the Non-GMO Project’s Crosshairs – Food Dive

The certification and advocacy group says that there are lots of unknowns about the the precision fermentation process in dairy production. Alternative dairy companies like Perfect Day say there is nothing to fear.

8. You’re Already Eating Foods With Ingredients Made Using Precision Fermentation – Green Queen

As the alternative protein industry matures, it is increasingly under attack from food industry lobbies and interest groups. Green Queen analyzes the situation to separate fact from fiction.

9. Would Carbon Labels Change the Way You Shop? – Financial Times

As food companies, retailers and environmental groups work on carbon labelling schemes, FT offers an interactive tool to help consumers calculate the greenhouse gas emissions of their groceries.

10. True ‘Carbon Farming’ Requires Deep Roots — In the Ground and in Community – Grist

To make a difference for the climate, much of that carbon we put in the ground via regenerative farming has to stay underground for a long time.

11. Shore Capital Partners Closes $290M Round for Food and Bev Fund – Food Business News

This is Shore Capital’s second food- and beverage-focused fund. It will target companies in manufacturing, distribution, packaging and other areas with $5 million to $100 million in revenue.

12. The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2022: The Full List of Winners – Eater

Copenhagen’s Geranium takes the No. 1 spot, with Virgilio Martínez Véliz’s Central in Lima No. 2.

13. Food Truck Manufacturer Cruising Kitchens Raises $100M – Restaurant Dive

Ghost Financial, a financing platform for ghost kitchen operators, made the investment and is now the “exclusive financial partner” for Cruising Kitchens. The funding will support the creation of a ghost kitchens division of Cruising Kitchens.

14. Chef’s Fable – Eater

Former employees of Blue Hill at Stone Barns, the famed fine dining restaurant from sustainability evangelist Dan Barber, speak out about working conditions and storytelling practices.

15. How Woke Food Fights Are Destroying Restaurants – NY Post

In response to Eater’s article, more than 100 current and former Blue Hill employees have signed a letter saying Eater’s portrayal of the restaurant “does not reflect our experiences and paints a false portrait that we do not recognize.”

The post Widespread Layoffs, Is Precision Fermentation Safe? + More appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Image source: Green Queen

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.

China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has published its eagerly awaited national plan. Acting as a blueprint for future developments, innovations and national economic strength, it has specifically included cultivated meat and ‘future foods’ as sectors to actively participate in, paving the way for much-needed funding increases for the sector.

Vertical farming startup Plenty has raised a whopping $400 million dollars. Walmart, who invested in the latest round, will begin to carry its leafy greens in all California stores this year.

A new study has found that plant-based alternatives have the potential to represent 6% of meat consumption by 2030. The sector would need $27 billion investments in infrastructure in order to supply the demand.

Our newsletter takes a lot of time and resources to produce. Make a one time or monthly contribution to help us keep it going. Whether it’s $5 or $500, every bit helps and shows us that you value our work. 

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. China’s 5-Year Agricultural Plan to Include Cultivated Meat and ‘Future Foods’ for the First Time – Green Queen

China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has published its eagerly awaited national plan. Acting as a blueprint for future developments, innovations and national economic strength, the plan has specifically included cultivated meat and ‘future foods’ as sectors to actively participate in.

2. Walmart Makes an Investment in Vertical Farming Startup Plenty – CNBC

The investment is part of a $400m round of funding. Walmart plans to carry its leafy greens in all California stores this year.

3. Plant-Based Ingredients Need $27B in Infrastructure Investments to Meet 2030 Demand – Food Dive

The Good Food Institute found that if the segment keeps growing at current rates, these alternatives will represent 6% of meat consumption in eight years.

4. Unovis Asset Management Closes $166M Fund, Warns Alt Protein Investors Should Avoid Ego Driven Valuations – Forbes

Alternative protein-focused VC, Unovis Asset Management, has closed an oversubscribed $166m fund II, but warns ego-driven valuations and the mentality of rushing to exits in the sector could damage founders’ well-intentioned impacts.

5. UK: Zapp Snaps Up $200M to Supersize Its Instant Grocery Play – TechCrunch

China’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has published its eagerly awaited national plan. Acting as a blueprint for future developments, innovations and national economic strength, the plan has specifically included cultivated meat and ‘future foods’ as sectors to actively participate in.

6. 3D-Printed Plant Steak Startup Raises Funds to Chase Carnivores – Bloomberg

Israeli startup Redefine Meat has raised $135m in new funding for its roll out of 3D-printed plant-based steaks across Europe. New funds will help build out a factory in the Netherlands.

7. Belgium: Deliverect Raises $150M at a $1.4B+ Valuation to Streamline Online and Offline Food Orders – TechCrunch

The company works with independent and large chains to streamline ordering and delivery. It plans to expand beyond Europe and into the US soon. It has recently begun to offer its services to CPG companies as well.

8. Purely Elizabeth Raises $50M for Expansion – Food Dive

The company said it plans to expand its existing SKUs in nutrient-dense breakfast food categories, as well as launch into a yet-to-be-announced category.

9. Starship Technologies Picks Up €50M from the EU’s Investment Arm to Expand Its Fleet of Autonomous Delivery Robots – TechCrunch

Campus deployments make up a majority of Starship’s business, but signs are pointing to a shift towards grocery.

10. Kula Bio Closes $50M Series A to Further Develop Its Low Emission Biofertilizer – AFN

The startup says its alternative to traditional nitrogen fertilizer is crop-agnostic, non-GMO and cost-effective for farmers.

11. As Regulations Gets Closer, Upside Foods Acquires Cultivated Seafood Company Cultured Decadence – Green Queen

Cultured Decadence has developed cell lines and feed for the creation of high-end crustaceans. It will now adopt Upside’s brand name and bring seafood products to its portfolio.

12. Aavishkaar Capital to Launch $250M ESG Fund to Invest in Asia, Africa – Deal Street Asia

The firm has already made the first close at $55m and plans to raise the targeted capital over the next 2 years.

13. Investigators Probe Alleged Fraud Involving Over $240M in Federal Child Nutrition Dollars – The Counter

A Minnesota non-profit was paid to feed thousands of hungry children every day during the pandemic. Federal investigators allege that the meals never materialized.

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The post China’s 5-Year Ag Plan Includes Cultivated Meats and Future Foods, Plenty Raises $400M + More appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Source: Misfits Market

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.

Online grocers and restaurant tech companies are still riding on the successes they gained from the pandemic. Misfits Market has doubled its value to $2 billion in 5 months, raising a whopping $225 million. Toast is seeking a $16 billion valuation at its IPO, up from the $5 billion valuation it earned before the pandemic.

In the alt protein space, Eat Just has just closed a $97 million round to construct its massive bioreactors and scale production. Beyond Meat has partnered with PepsiCo to launch plant-based products in 2022. The alt seafood sector has attracted more funding within the first 6 months of 2021 than over the entire year in 2020.

Our newsletter takes a lot of time and resources to produce. Make a one time or monthly contribution to help us keep it going. Whether it’s $5 or $500, every bit helps and shows us that you value our work. 

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. Misfits Market Nearly Doubles Value to $2B in Five Months – Bloomberg

The startup has raised $225m to add five more states to its distribution as well as prepare for its expansion into dairy, frozen and prepared foods. Unlike other online grocers, the company focuses on suburban and rural markets.

2. Eat Just Raises $97M More to Fund Cultured Meat Production – Bloomberg

Eat Just will use the investment to make the massive bioreactors it needs to scale up output.

3. Alternative Seafood Sector Raised Record $116M in First Half of 2021 – Green Queen

The alt seafood industry has attracted more funding within the first 6 months of 2021 than over the entire year in 2020.

4. PepsiCo Targets Early 2022 to Roll Out Products from Joint Venture with Beyond Meat – CNBC

The partnership gives Beyond a a chance to leverage Pepsi’s production and marketing expertise for new products, while Pepsi can deepen its investment in plant-based categories.

5. Global Food Giants Pour $80M Into Lever VC Alternative Protein Fund – Green Queen

The fund is dedicated to investing in food techs using novel plant-based, cell-based and fermentation technologies to develop sustainable alternatives to animal protein, and currently boasts a portfolio of 19 companies.

6. Amsterdam: Gates Foundation Leads $707M Investment in Dutch E-Grocer Picnic – AFN

Picnic has become a household name in its native Netherlands. It claims it’s able to keep prices on par with brick-and-mortar supermarkets thanks to the efficiencies gained through its vertically integrated ‘own the supply chain’ model.

7. GrubMarket Gobbles Up $120M at a $1B+ Pre-Money Valuation to Take on the Food Supply Chain – TechCrunch

The company is now at a $1b annualized run-rate, having grown revenues 300% over last year. It will now be looking into growing its territory and tech, moving ahead in a market that is largely absent from competitors.

8. Toast Seeks $16B Valuation at IPO After Restaurant Tech Company Helped Eateries Survive Pandemic – CNBC

Toast raised funding at a $5b valuation just before the pandemic and then cut about 50% of its staff as shutdowns forced restaurants to close their doors. Business bounced back quickly as restaurants leaned on tech to survive the crisis.

9. The Largest Meal Kit Company in America Could Be the First to Unionize – Eater

Workers at two HelloFresh factories in California and Colorado are organizing with UNITE HERE, a labor union representing workers in the hotel, food service, manufacturing and other industries.

10. Israel: MeaTech Is Now Churning Out 100% Pure Cultured Chicken Fat – Green Queen

MeaTech has revealed it is now producing 700 grams of cell-based chicken fat biomass in one single production run.

11. Coffee Cells Produced in a Bioreactor Through Cellular Agriculture – Phys

VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has successfully produced coffee cells in a bioreactor through cellular agriculture.

12. California’s Farms Face a Reckoning – New York Times

Trimming back on farming in California could be done without serious harm to the state’s economy. While irrigated agriculture used 51% of the state’s water in the drought year of 2015, farms make up just 0.8% of California’s economy.

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The post Misfits Market $2B+ Valuation, Cultured Chicken Fat, Coffee & Mozzarella + More appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Source: Wall Street Journal

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.

Eat Just has become the world’s first company to gain regulatory approval to sell its cell-cultured chicken in Singapore. Kind will acquire Nature’s Bakery for a projected sum of $400 million, following news of its acquisition by Mars.

Restaurant tech startups are gaining traction amid the pandemic, with news of Toast’s valuation soaring to $8 billion seven months after cutting half its staff. In addition, Lightspeed has acquired Upserve for $430 million. Last but not least, Uber has completed its acquisition of Postmates for $2.65 billion.

During an economic roundtable Tuesday, President-elect Joe Biden expressed his support for providing restaurants with grants instead of loans.

We need your support. Producing our newsletter takes a lot of time and resources, and we need to change our business model to keep it going. To date, we’ve funded our work through our events, sponsorships and consulting, which are all on hold due to the pandemic. If you find our newsletter to be a valuable resource, we hope you will consider making a one time or monthly contribution, so we can keep the newsletter going and free for those who can not afford a subscription fee. Whether it’s $5 or $500 every bit helps and shows us that you value our work. Not able to contribute right now? You can help by sharing our newsletter with friends and colleagues. 

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. Eat Just to Sell Lab-Grown Meat in Singapore After Gaining ‘World First’ Regulatory Approval – TechCrunch

The cell-cultured chicken will eventually be produced under Eat Just’s new GOOD Meat brand through partnerships with local manufacturers and go on sale to restaurants before it is available to consumers.

2. Kind Acquires Nature’s Bakery – Food Dive

Terms of the deal were not disclosed but believed to be around $400m. The acquisition will help Kind owner Mars continue to build its health-and-wellness business.

3. Restaurant Tech Startup Toast Soars to $8B Valuation Seven Months After Cutting Half Its Staff – CNBC

Toast laid off half its employees in April, but has bounced back quickly. The company was previously valued at $4.9b in February, before the pandemic.

4. Lightspeed Acquires Restaurant Software Company Upserve for $430M – TechCrunch

Upserve brought in $40m in revenue during the 12-month period ending on September 30. The deal is supposed to grow Lightspeed’s footpring by 7k locations.

5. Uber Completes $2.65B Postmates Acquisition – Restaurant Dive

Uber will run the consumer-facing Postmates app separate from its Uber Eats app. The acquisition will give Uber Eats the largest market share in Los Angeles.

6. Biden Calls for Grants to Support Restaurant Industry – Restaurant Dive

Biden’s support for direct aid to restaurants is no small statement. The industry wasn’t a topic of discussion during the presidential debates and isn’t mentioned in the Biden-Harris transition plan.

7. Farm Produce Platform Nice Tuan Makes It $450M Funding for the Year with Alibaba-Led Tranche – AgFunder

The company has raised $196M co-led by Alibaba and Jeneration Capital. New capital will be used to expand sales channels and generate more income for small and medium-sized businesses.

8. Meet The Breakout Entrepreneurs Who Are Resetting the Food Industry While Under 30 Years Old – Forbes

The 2021 Forbes Food & Drink 30 Under 30 list highlights up-and-coming superstars from the worlds of restaurants, packaged food, alcohol, recipe development and ag tech who have persevered despite the odds.

9. UK: Environment to Benefit from ‘Biggest Farming Shake-Up in 50 Years’ – The Guardian

The £1.6b subsidy farmers receive every year for simply owning or renting land will be phased out by 2028, with the funds used instead to pay them to restore wild habitats, create new woodlands, boost soils and cut pesticide use.

10. Seattle Startup Flexe Raises $70M As E-Commerce Rise Fuels Demand for Flexible Warehousing Platform – GeekWire

T Rowe Price led the round. Funding will be used to double the size of the company’s engineering team and grow its sales arm.

11. China: HungryPanda Raises $70M for a Food Delivery App Aimed at Overseas Chinese Consumer – TechCrunch

Kinnevik led the Series C. Funding will be used to continue its global expansion. HungryPanda is now live in 47 cities across Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand and the UK.

12. Kate Farms Nets $51M from Goldman Sachs, Others for Organic Tube-Feeding Formulas – AgFunder

The startup will use funding to boost its innovation and expansion efforts.

13. Walmart Is Buying JoyRun Assets to Add ‘Peer-to-Peer’ Product Delivery – TechCrunch

Financial terms were undisclosed. JoyRun offers a peer-to-peer food and drink last-mile delivery.

14. Mexico: Orbia Launches $130M Venture Fund, Injects $2M into Plant Health Startup SeeTree – AgFunder

The fund will focus on Series A and B deals with an average check size of $1m to $6m with a focus on Israel, Europe and the US.

15. DoorDash Seeks Valuation of Up to $32B in IPO, Double What It Was in June – CNBC

The company is looking to raise up to $2.8b in its IPO and list 33m shares at a price between $75 and $85.

16. A Fight Over Agriculture Secretary Could Decide the Direction of Hunger Policy – New York Times

The delicate proxy clash has pitted Democrats eager to emphasize issues like hunger and nutrition against traditionalists who believe the department should represent rural America.

17. Food & Ag Anti-Racism Resources + Black Food & Farm Businesses to Support

Check out our list of resources to learn about systemic racism in the food and agriculture industries. We also highlight Black food and farm businesses and organizations to support.

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The post First Lab-Grown Chicken Approved For Sale, Biden Calls for Restaurant Grants + More appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Source: Toast

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.

Retail news made headlines this week – Blue Apron is exploring strategic options including putting itself up for sale. Ahold Delhaize USA announced it is shutting down the Midwest division of its online grocery business, Peapod.

The valuation of Boston startup Toast has climbed to $4.9 billion with its $400 million Series F funding. The company plans to expand its offerings to include financial products to fund restaurant business growth.

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. Payments Tech Provider Toast Raises $400M at $4.9B Valuation – Wall Street Journal

The round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners and TPG, in addition to Tiger Global Management and Greenoaks Capital. The company plans to expand its offerings to include financial products to fund restaurant business growth.

2. Blue Apron Eyes Options Including a Sale – Wall Street Journal

The company is exploring strategic options including putting itself up for sale, after the meal kit maker reported more customer defections and another quarterly loss.

3. Peapod Shutting Down Online Grocery Shopping and Delivery in the Midwest – The Spoon

Ahold Delhaize USA announced this week that it is shutting down the Midwest division of its Peapod online grocery business. The operation accounted for $97m of the company’s overall $1.1b in revenue.

4. Liquid Death Raises $9M to Make Canned Water Cool – TechCrunch

Velvet Sea Ventures led the round. The startup is expanding its lineup with a sparkling water can.

5. China: HungryPanda, a Food Delivery App for Chinese Communities, Raises $20M – TechCrunch

83North and Felix Capital led the round. Funding will be used on hiring, product development and global expansion, particularly in the US.

6. Israeli Seed Breeder Equinom Closes $10M Series B – AgFunder

BASF Venture Capital led the round. The company will be releasing a high-protein pea variety in 2021.

7. Green Queen Releases First-Ever Asia Alternative Protein Report – Green Queen

From market trends to the latest “2.0” alternative protein startups, accelerators and potential areas for further innovation, the report is the most comprehensive look at the alternative protein industry in Asia to-date.

8. Singapore Budgets $215M to Support Deep-Tech Startups – E27

This will include emerging technologies such as biopharma, medtech, advanced manufacturing and agrifood tech and will help them gain better access to capital, expertise and industry networks.

9. Los Angeles-Based ‘Deep Tech’ Investment Firm Riot Ventures Is Raising a $75M Fund – TechCrunch

The fund invests in startups applying innovations in automation, artificial intelligence, computer vision, computational biology, material sciences and robotics to industrial products and processes.

10. This Bacon Looks Like the Real Thing As It Sizzles – but It’s Made from Fungus – Fast Company

Prime Roots has launched limited sales of its first product – a fungi-based bacon – online today.

11. Walmart to End Jetblack Shopping Service – Wall Street Journal

The retail giant is shutting down its personal shopping unit, which offers fast product delivery on orders placed through text message, and laying off most of its roughly 350 staffers after abandoning plans to find investors for the unprofitable operation.

12. Bayer, BASF Ordered to Pay $265M in Weedkiller Crop-Damage Suit – Wall Street Journal

A jury ruled against Bayer and BASF in a crop-damage case, awarding $265m to a Missouri peach farmer who claimed the companies encouraged farmers to irresponsibly spray a hard-to-control weedkiller.

13. US Watchdog to Investigate Trump’s Farm Bailout Program – New York Times

The Government Accountability Office will review how the $28b farm bailout aimed at cushioning trade-related losses was spent.

Our newsletter is the absolute easiest way to stay on top of the emerging sector, so sign up for it today and never miss the latest food tech and innovation news and trends, Already signed up? Share the love with your friends and colleagues!

The post Toast Raises $400M, Blue Apron Eyes Sale + More appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Source: Yahoo

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.

Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Brown announced that the company is now developing plant-based bacon. The launch date has not been confirmed. In addition, the company has just partnered with Dunkin’ to offer Beyond Sausage breakfast sandwich at 163 restaurants in Manhattan at $4.29. Nationwide expansion will follow.

Eatsa has rebranded as Brightloom and announced $30 million in funding led by Tao Capital Partners and Valor Equity Partners. It has also inked new deal with Starbucks, allowing it to license aspects of the coffee company’s technology, offering a version on its own hardware and mobile platforms for other food companies to use.

After two decades of R&D, a new apple variety dubbed the Cosmic Crisp – a hybrid between the Honeycrisp and Enterprise, a late-ripening, long-storing apple – is landing this fall with aims to disrupt the apple industry.

And finally, Trump’s USDA has announced a proposal that puts 30 million SNAP recipients at risk of losing their eligibility. The rule could potentially rescind free school lunch from more than 200,000 children.

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. Beyond Meat Is Developing a Plant-Based Substitute for Bacon – Bloomberg

The company doesn’t have a launch date, but CEO Ethan Brown said the product is improving as it goes through development.

2. Beyond Meat’s Restaurant Reach Expands With Dunkin’ Sandwich – Bloomberg

Dunkin’ will offer Beyond Sausage breakfast sandwich at 163 restaurants in Manhattan at $4.29. The plan is to go national with the menu item.

3. Eatsa Rebrands As Brightloom, Inks Deal with Starbucks, Raises $30M – The Spoon

The round was led by Tao Capital Partners and Valor Equity Partners. Brightloom will integrate Starbucks customer engagement software in exchange for Starbucks taking an equity stake and joining its Board of Directors.

4. After Two Decades of R&D, The Cosmic Crisp Apple Lands This Fall. It Could Disrupt an Entire Industry – California Sunday 

The Cosmic Crisp is the result of crossbreeding the Honeycrisp and Enterprise, a late-ripening, long-storing apple.

5. Retail’s Adapt-Or-Die Moment: How Artificial Intelligence Is Reshaping Commerce – CB Insights

Traditional and new-school retailers alike are using AI and robotics to automate various parts of the retail chain, from manufacturing to last-mile delivery.

6. Self-Service Kiosk Market to Reach $30.8B – Restaurant Dive

Self-order kiosks are making an increasing appearance at QSR restaurants as different retailers look for ways to provide consumers with a tech-driven experience.

7. Is It Possible to Raise a Carbon-Neutral Cow? – Fast Company

Here’s why Stonyfield, Danone, Annie’s and other food companies are leading a regenerative agriculture revolution.

8. Japan: Lab-Grown Foie Gras Will Be in Restaurants by 2021 – Livekindly

Cultured meat company IntegriCulture wants to bring its cultured foie gras to restaurants by 2021.

9. New Trump Administration Rule Could Kick 3M People Off Food Stamps – Salon

The USDA is set to propose a rule that will redefine SNAP eligibility and potentially rescind free school lunch from more than 200,000 children.

10. OpenTable Now Offers Delivery with Help from Uber Eats and Grubhub – Engadget

OpenTable announced that it’s partnering with Uber Eats, Caviar and Grubhub to offer meal delivery from over 8k restaurants in 90 cities across the US.

11. Uber Is Testing An All-in-One Subscription for Rides, Food Delivery, Bikes and Scooters – The Verge

$24.99 a month gets customers discounted rides and free food delivery.

12. UK: Uber Is Launching a Restaurant “Accelerator” to Fill the Gaps It Sees on Uber Eats – Quartz

Uber plans to launch a restaurant accelerator program in partnership with Karma Kitchen in London. Restaurants selected for the 3 week program will work on everything from photographing food to streamlining delivery operations.

13. 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.

14. Women, Women of Color & Gender Non-Conforming Innovator Database

We created this open-source list to increase representation, support and investment in women, women of color & gender-nonconforming innovators in food. Join the list & help us spread the word using #womxninfood

Our newsletter is the absolute easiest way to stay on top of the emerging sector, so sign up for it today and never miss the latest food tech and innovation news and trends, Already signed up? Share the love with your friends and colleagues!

The post Beyond Meat Takes on Bacon, Cosmic Crisp Could Disrupt Apple Industry + More appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Technology promises to transform the restaurant industry. From talent management and personalization platforms to ghost kitchens and corporate catering marketplaces, startups are aiming to help restaurants improve operations and increase revenue. How do these technologies and new operational models work? What do they actually mean for restaurants?

Join us for What’s Next in Restaurant Tech at WeWork HQ for a deep dive into Zuul, Harri and HUNGRY’s business models, technologies, challenges and lessons learned. You’ll also be able to network with the community, demo cutting edge restaurant technologies and sample innovative food & beverages.

Explore cutting edge technologies from The.Fit, Plate IQ, ItsaCheckmate, BentoBox and OpenTable. Enjoy tasty bites and drinks from Hella Cocktail, Element Farms, Mosaic Foods and more.

Do you have a food or beverage product you’d like to sample  at this event? Apply here!

SCHEDULE:

6 – 7:30pm: Networking, tech demos and food and beverage sampling

7:30 – 9pm: Presentations + Q&A

9 – 9:30pm: Networking

PRESENTERS:

Corey Mancione, Co-Founder & CEO, Zuul 

Corey is co-founder and CEO of Zuul, a turnkey solution for well-known restaurant brands, allowing effortless growth and new market share through access to a network of delivery only shared kitchen establishments. Before founding Zuul, Corey grew up in a family that owned and operated restaurants. In 2015 Corey was fortunate to be the first employee at Relay Delivery where he served as the Director of Sales and helped develop the optimal delivery playbook for restaurants in NYC. Today, Corey leverages his knowledge of the restaurant delivery scene and over-arching industry to help restaurants expand into new markets faster than they ever imagined possible.

Sean Fitzgibbons, Co-Founder & COO, Zuul
Sean worked in the food technology space, where he served as Director of Channel Growth with San Francisco based Zipongo, a digital nutrition platform that manages and reduces chronic disease by making it easy to eat well. Today, Sean acts as COO of Zuul, where he leverages his knowledge of the food tech space and experience in strategic partnership development to design initiatives that drive growth and ensure restaurant brand success.

Luke Fryer, Founder & CEO, Harri

Luke developed Harri to solve the hospitality industry’s greatest challenges: finding, hiring and managing great talent. Harri is an entirely new kind of software platform for HR and operations: Workforce OS. Broad in scope, narrow in vertical focus and deep in rich, industry-specific functionality as a result. Harri consolidates up to 30 fragmented point solutions into single, elegant, mobile first enterprise platform and massively streamlines the chore of daily operational challenges faced by employees, line managers and executives alike.

Eman Pahlavani, Founder & COO, HUNGRY

In 2017 Eman founded HUNGRY, a DC based food-tech platform that connects independent chefs to offices for corporate catering. HUNGRY recently closed an $8 million dollar series A with backing from Motley Fool Ventures, Sands Capital, and Marcy Venture Partners (Jay-z’s Venture fund). Today HUNGRY operates in 5 cities and will be in 20 cities by the end of 2020.

THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS

WeWork Food Labs is building a community of entrepreneurs, industry experts and investors to fix food, now and for the future. A workspace and global platform, Food Labs is dedicated to startups impacting the future of sustainable food.

OpenTable: We love what can happen around the restaurant table. Since 1998, we’ve been committed to empowering that experience. From helping restaurants grow and run their businesses, to enabling diners to discover and book the perfect table every time they dine, our story is one of connection—among diners, restaurants, and their communities. Every month, OpenTable diners write more than 1 million restaurant reviews. Our network connects diners with more than 51,000 restaurants worldwide and finds restaurants for more than 28 million diners each month.

James Beard Foundation: For more than 30 years, the James Beard Foundation has highlighted the centrality of food culture in our daily lives. Through the James Beard Awards, unique dining experiences at the James Beard House and around the country, scholarships, hands-on learning, and a variety of industry programs that educate and empower leaders in our community, the Foundation has built a platform for chefs and asserted the power of gastronomy to drive behavior, culture, and policy change around food.

METRO Xcel is a program for later stage startups in the restaurant and hospitality-tech sector. Run by METRO, Europe’s predominant club wholesale grocer, on a quarterly basis, the program provides later stage founders with the necessary tools to scale fast and sustainably while also unlocking access to several sales channels. Applications are open now. Learn more and apply: www.metroaccelerator.com

Brooklyn Brewery: Like our namesake borough, the Brooklyn Brewery is made up of a rich collection of characters from all over the world. In our Williamsburg home, these characters are dedicated to brewing and selling great beer and enriching the communities we serve. Together, these Brooklyners have assembled the skills needed to transform a home brewing hobby into an independent brewery with a brand that has become an international beacon for good beer.

Edible Manhattan tells the story of how the city eats. Along with other Edible New York properties, we are part of a national network of Edibles across North America. We chronicle how the region eats. Through editorial and at events where our stories come to life, we celebrate the people who are building the sort of food culture we want—one that’s diverse, accessible, sustainable and delicious.

The post What’s Next in Restaurant Tech appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Image source: Forbes

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.

Meal kit companies continue to compete in the space with news of growth amongst big industry players this week. Meal delivery service Marley Spoon has announced IPO plans to raise $53m on the Australian Securities Exchange, while HelloFresh has expanded into 600 stop & shop stores.

AgriProtein has closed a $105 million funding round to fund the construction of new insect factories. The capital raise represents the largest on record for an insect farming company.

And finally, order-ahead app Ritual has closed a $70 million round to rethink the social office lunch break. A broader look at foodtech themes in the hospitality industry can be seen in The Mixing Bowl and TechTable’s 2018 Restaurant Tech Ecosystem map.

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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1. Marley Spoon, the Cook-at-Home Meal Kit Service, Announces IPO – TechCrunch

The Berlin-headquartered company is aiming to raise $53m on the Australian Securities Exchange. The IPO will give the company a market capitalization of $152m on listing.

2. AgriProtein Raises $105M for Insect Farms – AgFunder

Funding came from a corporate financial institution that could not be disclosed. It is the largest capital raise on record for an insect farming company. AgriProtein feeds black soldier flies with municipal waste and sells them as feed for the livestock industry.

3. HelloFresh to Sell Meal Kits in Giant Food, Stop & Shop Stores – Wall Street Journal

HelloFresh is putting its meal kits in 600 stores. It’s the widest launch to date of meal kits onto supermarket shelves.

4. Canada: Order-Ahead App Ritual Picks Up $70M to Rethink the Social Office Lunch Break – TechCrunch

The round was led by Georgian Partners, with existing investors Greylock Partners, Insight Ventures and Mistral Venture Partners all participating. It will go towards getting the experience right for a single office building.

5. 2018 Restaurant Tech EcoSystem: Power Shift Underway with Decrease of the Data Gap – Forbes

The Mixing Bowl and TechTable detail the most important foodtech themes impacting the hospitality industry, identifying areas ripe for investment and acquisition, plus opportunities and challenges for investors, operators and entrepreneurs.

6. The Trade War Continues: Mexico Imposes $3B Tariff on US Goods – Modern Farmer

Mexico is the US’s second-largest trading partner. It just announced a targeted tariff on pork, cheese, apples, bourbon and potatoes that will impact the agriculture industry in America.

7. A Working Capital Solution for the Next Generation of Brands – CircleUp

CircleUp has just launched its credit offering for direct-to-consumer, e-commerce and subscription companies.

8. Tyson to Sell Sara Lee, Three Other Non-Protein Brands – Reuters

The company would be selling Sara Lee Frozen Bakery and three other non-protein brands to private equity firm Kohlberg & Co as it sharpens its focus on its core business. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

9. Gates Foundation Invests in Dairy Tech Stellapps $14M Series B, First in India – AgFunder

The round was led by IndusAge Partners alongside the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Qualcomm Ventures and ABB Technology Ventures. Funding will go towards expanding Stellapps globally.

10. Self-Heating Can Company, HeatGenie Raises $6M – The Spoon

Financing was led by ARTIS Labs with Almanac Investments participating, and brings the total amount raised to $9.6m. HeatGenie will use funding to complete product development and bring it to market.

11. This $50K Prize for Immigrants in the Culinary Arts is Now Accepting Applications – Edible Manhattan

The Vilcek Foundation will award three prizes to immigrants born in 1980 or later, working as chefs and food preparers, beverage professionals and/or food writers. The application deadline is June 11, 2018.

Our newsletter is the absolute easiest way to stay on top of the emerging sector, so sign up for it today and never miss the latest food tech and innovation news and trends, Already signed up? Share the love with your friends and colleagues!

The post Marley Spoon Announces IPO, HelloFresh Expands Meal Kits to 600 Stores + More appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Image source: Tate’s Bake Shop

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.

We’ve released our first annual Food & Bev Startup Investment report of 2017, which saw $1.08b in venture capital investments across 99 deals. Check out our report for a deep dive into the deals and trends.

Some major acquisitions took place in the CPG space this week. Nestle is betting $7.15 billion on Starbucks to revive its coffee sales, by paying the rights to market its branded products. Mondelez has purchased Tate’s Cookies for $500 million as it seeks to address changing consumer tastes.

Meal kit are getting a boost as they move in-store. Blue Apron announced a 30% reduction in price for its meal kits sold in Costco. Chef’d announced expansion to more than a dozen retailers nationwide, including Costco, Harris Teeter, Tops, Hy-vee, Weis and Gelson’s Markets. Purple Carrot closed $4m from Del Monte.

And finally, the USDA’s long-awaited GMO label is here–term “bioengineered” will be used to label foods instead of “genetically modified”. Calorie counts are now required at thousands of restaurants, grocery stores and movie theaters.

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. 2017 US Food & Beverage Startup Investment Report – Food+Tech Connect

Introducing our first annual Food & Bev Startup Investment Report by Ryan Williams. There were $1.08b in venture capital investments across 99 deals in 2017. Check out our report for a deep dive into the deals and trends.

2. Nestle Bets $7B on Starbucks to Revive Coffee Sales – Bloomberg

Nestle will pay $7.15b for the right to market Starbucks-branded products, marrying its international distribution network with the allure of the biggest name in coffee.

3. Beloved Tate’s Cookies Has Been Scooped Up by Oreo’s Parent Company – Fast Company

Mondelez purchased Tate’s Cookies for $500m. Tate’s sales have quadrupled over the past five years. It plans to expand its distribution as a standalone business.

4. Meal Kit Maker Blue Apron Turns to Costco as Customer Growth Slows – Wall Street Journal

Blue Apron is now selling its meal kits in select Costco stores at 30% off the normal price. The company has plans to expand distribution beyond San Francisco and the Pacific Northwest in the future.

5. Chef’d Selling Meal Kits at Costco, Gelson’s, Other Retailers – Biz Journals

Helping with the retail push is Smithfield Foods, which invested $25m in Chef’d last year. The meal kit will expand to more than a dozen retailers nationwide.

6. Soft Robotics Raises $20M to Expand Operations – TechCrunch

Funding came from Scale Venture Partners, Calibrate Ventures, Honeywell Ventures and Tekfen Ventures, along with existing investors. The new round will help push Soft further into the F&B categories, along with larger presence in retail and logistics.

7. Uber Plans to Test Food Delivery by Drone in Under 30 Minutes – Bloomberg

The company plans to deliver food by drone in San Diego as part of a wide-reaching commercial test program approved by the federal government.

8. Tom Brady’s Vegan Meal-Kit Maker Gets Del Monte Capital Infusion – Bloomberg

Purple Carrot has just received $4m from Del Monte, which gives it access to a national distribution network and supply chain.

9. Square Launches Restaurant Point-of-Sale Platform – TechCrunch

Square for Restaurants handles everything from menu updates, floor layouts, employee scheduling and performance tracking to tip splitting. Restaurants no longer need a separate tablet system for Caviar.

10. Israel: Rootility Raises $10M Series C Led by ADM Capital – AgFunder

ADM’s Cibus Fund was joined by GreenSoil Investments and Middleland Capital. The startup uses root-focused plant breeding methods to increase crop yields. It plans to use the funding to scale its operations and enter new markets in Asia.

11. Bushel Raises $7M for Farm Relationship Management Tool – AgFunder

Funding came from a syndicate of individual investors in the agriculture and software industries. Since launching in June 2017, it has expanded to more than 400 elevator and ethanol plants across the US and Canada.

12. IFF Joins M&A Rush in Flavorings With $7.1B Frutarom Deal – Bloomberg

International Flavors & Fragrances jumped into a rush of dealmaking in the food-flavoring industry, agreeing to buy Israel’s Frutarom. The company is tapping the fast-growing market for natural food ingredients.

13. India: Walmart Beats Amazon in $15B Flipkart Battle – Bloomberg

The deal will give Walmart a leading position in the growing market of 1.3b people and a chance to rebuild its reputation online.

14. Mandatory GMO Labels Are Coming to Your Food – The Washington Post

Food products may be exempted from labeling if they are made with some refined GM sugars and oils, or if it contains those ingredients in certain amounts. The term “bioengineered” will be used to label foods instead of “genetically modified”.

15. Obama’s Calorie Rule Kicks in Thanks to Trump – Politico

One of Barack Obama’s top food policy rules has escaped Trump’s war on regulations. Starting Monday, calorie counts will have to be posted at thousands of restaurants, grocery stores and movie theaters.

Our newsletter is the absolute easiest way to stay on top of the emerging sector, so sign up for it today and never miss the latest food tech and innovation news and trends, Already signed up? Share the love with your friends and colleagues!

The post Mondelēz Acquires Tate’s for $500M, Blue Apron and Chef’d Expand Now Selling Meal Kits at Costco + More appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

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.

Amazon continues to be an unstoppable force in the grocery wars. The e-grocer recently announced a 50% growth in Q1 earnings through groceries, worth $650m. Recently, the company announced its launch of in-car deliveries. The newest player to enter the game in grocery delivery is DoorDash–the company just launched a pilot program with Walmart in the first of what may be a major move to become a back-end platform for retailers. Walmart is ready to roll out its blockchain technology to help reduce waste, better manage contamination cases and improve transparency.

In restaurant news, Square has acquired corporate catering company Zesty to strengthen Caviar’s corporate ordering business. Delivery robotics company Marble just closed a $10 million series A round to move beyond food and into last-mile logistics. Restaurant wholesale ordering platform ChefHero raised $12.6 million to expand into Chicago. Chipotle is now considering franchising and drive-thru models.

Back to the Roots has announced a partnership with Whole Foods to roll out its indoor gardening kits in all stores. Silicon Valley’s latest investments have focused on aquaculture technology, which has shot up from zero to nine deals in the past four years. And finally, Beyoncé announced the launch of her new vegan meal planner, 22 Days Nutrition, powered by artificial intelligence.

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. Amazon’s Online Grocery Sales Grew 50% in Q1 – Food Dive

Amazon sold $650m worth of groceries through its website in this year’s first quarter. Beverages were the top-selling items on the site, representing $285m in sales.

2. DoorDash Makes a Big Push into Grocery Delivery through a Pilot Program with Walmart – TechCrunch

DoorDash is rolling out grocery delivery with Walmart in Atlanta in the first of what may be a major move to become a back-end platform for companies that want a delivery button on their website but don’t want to build the entire network themselves.

3. Peapod’s New Sales Model Highlights E-Commerce’s Competitive Edge Compared to Brick & Mortar – Food Navigator

The new model offers site-wide price reductions on everyday items as well as buy-more-save-more discounts on bulk purchases, which allow consumers to pay less than half the price of the regular service.

4. Beyoncé Is Using Artificial Intelligence to Help You Eat Vegan – Forbes

After giving birth to twins, Beyoncé announced the launch of her new vegan meal planner, 22 Days Nutrition. The platform allows users to discover meals, plan their week, shop and cook for meals created by nutrition guidelines that Beyoncé and Jay Z follow.

5. Square Acquires Corporate Catering Startup Zesty – TechCrunch

Square plans to use Zesty’s assets to strengthen Caviar’s corporate ordering business. Neither company disclosed financial terms of the deal.

6. Delivery Robotics Company Marble Raises $10M, with Plans to Move Beyond Food – TechCrunch

The series A round involved the likes of Tencent, Lemnos, Crunchfund and Maven, bringing total funding to $15m. The startup now refers to itself as a last-mile logistics company.

7. ChefHero Raises $12.6M, Expands its Buying Platform Into Chicago – The Spoon

The round was led by Accomplice.co, with participation from Golden Venture Partners, Precursor Ventures and Math Ventures. ChefHero aims to streamline wholesale food ordering for restaurants. It plans to build out a team and expand into Chicago.

8. Aquaculture Is the Latest Hotness for Silicon Valley Venture Capitalists in 2018 – Quartz

Since 2013, the number of venture-backed deals shot up from zero to nine last year. Much of the recent investment centers on machine learning and machine vision. This year, two of the biggest investments have been in Aquabyte and XpertSea.

9. Oakland’s Back to the Roots Bets Big on Indoor Gardening – SF Chronicle

The company has formed a partnership with Whole Foods to devote an entire section of each market devoted to indoor gardening kits.

10. Walmart Is Getting Suppliers to Put Food on the Blockchain – Bloomberg

The retailer is ready to use the technology on its food business to help reduce waste, better manage contamination cases and improve transparency.

11. Amazon to Start Offering In-Car Deliveries – Wall Street Journal

The company is joining General Motors and Volvo Cars to deliver packages to cars. The deal expands Amazon’s efforts to get consumers comfortable with the idea of strangers entering their personal spaces.

12. The Founder of Online Luxury Website Net-A-Porter Is Launching a $75M VC Fund for Retail Tech – Business Insider

Imaginary Ventures has raised $75m for its first fund. It will invest in early stage, direct-to-consumer businesses targeting retail technology. The VC firm previously invested in Daily Harvest.

13. Drive-Thrus? Franchising? It’s All on Chipotle’s Table Now – Bloomberg

The company will now consider franchising and opening drive-thru restaurants. It plans to rely on new foods and testing to bring back customers.

14. Why the GOP Food Stamp Overhaul Might Not Work – Politico

Republicans have proposed a massive expansion of an obscure job training program as a way to get millions of people off of food stamps. There’s little evidence that SNAP job training works, let alone that it can be scaled up quickly for millions more people.

15. Are GMO Foods Safe? – New York Times

Although 90% of scientists believe GMOs are safe, only a third of consumers share this belief. Among commonly expressed concerns are unwanted changes in nutritional content, the creation of allergens and toxic effects on bodily organs.

Our newsletter is the absolute easiest way to stay on top of the emerging sector, so sign up for it today and never miss the latest food tech and innovation news and trends, Already signed up? Share the love with your friends and colleagues!

The post Beyoncé’s AI Driven Vegan Meal Planner, Amazon’s Online Grocery Sales Grew 50% in Q1 + More appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

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.

First, if you’re headed to The Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco, be sure to come visit us at The Future Market booth to explore themes on cannabis cuisine, blockchain chicken, and more.

In other news, Nestle has finally closed its deal to sell its US candy business to Ferrero for $2.8 billion as it moves into healthier, faster-growing categories. French microorganism developer Novolyze has raised a €2.2 million ($2.69m) second seed round for its foodborne illness mitigation technology.

Food waste-to-fertilizer tech startup WISErg has raised $19 million to build a second facility in California.

Instacart has acquired voice-shopping Canadian startup Unata for $65 million, signaling where its headed in its battle with Amazon. Ready-made meal startup Urban Remedy has raised $17 million led by General Mill’s venture arm, 301 Inc. Delivery logistics platform Briggs swallowed $12 million, bringing total funding to $22 million. Kroger announced plans to roll out a new digital display technology that may change grocery shopping as we know it.

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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1. Nutella Maker to Pay $2.8B for Nestle US Candy Unit – Bloomberg

Nestle agreed to sell to Ferrero in its first step away from the candy business. It plans to focus on healthier, faster-growing categories like coffee, pet food and water.

2. Introducing Six New Concept Products From The Future Market

The Future Market is launching six new concept products at the Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco on Sunday, January 21. Visit us to explore themes on cannabis cuisine, blockchain chicken, and more.

3. Instacart Acquires Coupon and Voice-Shopping Startup Unata – Bloomberg

The deal totals to $65m and gives the retailer new kinds of e-commerce tools and a path to expand in Canada. Unata specializes in digital coupons and is developing a voice-activated tool to allow customers to purchase goods online using devices.

4. Advice on Launching a Food Startup – Part 1 – NXFOOD

Over the next couple of months, Danielle Gould will be sharing a series of blog posts with advice on how to create the next big  idea, find product market fit and launch a food startup.

5. Urban Remedy Raises $17M for Fresh-Focused Platform – Project Nosh

Investment was led by General Mill’s venture arm, 301 Inc and will go towards expanding staff, increasing production capacity and expanding into a new market. The startup delivers ready-to-eat meals, juices and snacks.

5. Delivery Logistics Platform Bringg Raises $12M from Strategic Investors, Including Salesforce Ventures – TechCrunch

The startup offers retailers and companies like Coca-Cola and Panera visibility into delivery operations with features like driver tracking, notifications and driver-to-customer communications. Its Series B funding brings the total round to $22m.

6. Kroger Is Rolling Out a New Technology to Nearly 200 Stores That Could Change Grocery Shopping As We Know It – Business Insider

The Kroger Edge digitally displays pricing and nutritional information as well as video ads and coupons for various products. It will eventually communicate with customers’ smartphones and highlight products as they walk down store aisles.

7. India: Morgan Stanley Marks Up Valuation of FoodTech Unicorn Zomato to $2.5B – Inc42

Zomato is expected to clock up to $1.3b in revenue, including delivery fees in FY2018. Its valuation could reach $6.7b in the next 10 years.

8. Harvesting Robotics Market to Reach $5.5B from Early Adopters Alone – AgFunder

Despite this, only a few products have reached the commercial market and only 3% of growers are currently using harvesting robots on their farms. Financial concerns are both the strongest deterrent and motivator for adoption.

9. France: Novolyze Raises €2.2M Seed Round to Prevent Foodborne Illness with Microbes – AgFunder

Its funding came from private investors, family offices, public research programs and grants. Money will go towards expanding its marketshare in Europe, the US and Asia as well as developing a digital product that will allow food processors to verify their food safety process.

10. Kimbal Musk Is Leading a $25M Mission to Fix Food in Schools across the US – Business Insider

In 2011, Musk launched his nonprofit Learning Gardens in 300 public schools in US cities. He is now renaming it Big Green and expanding it nationally. The $25m effort could see 100 more gardens built in each of the four new cities by the end of 2020.

11. Amazon Led the US in Online Grocery in 2017 – Business Insider

Amazon sold $2b in grocery products, up 59% year-over-year. The retailer is estimated to have 18% of the US online grocery market, with packaged food products leading sales.

12. WISErg Brings Funding Total to $57M for Food Waste Tech with Series C – AgFunder

The food waste-to-fertilizer tech startup has raised $19.2m led by Laird Norton Company, Second Avenue Partners and other existing investors. WISErg will use the new funds to build a second facility in California.

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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.

Bossa Nova Robotics raised $17.5 million to build out its line of inventory-scanning retail robots. The funding round comes fresh off of a deal with Walmart that will roll out its robots across 50 of the retailer’s locations. Good news came for the big-box chain as it posted its strongest quarterly U.S. sales growth in nearly a decade. Ovenly, a New York City retail and wholesale bakery business, is creating a more inclusive economy through an open hiring process for its bakery, working with organizations to hire political refugees and citizens returning from the criminal justice system.

Chobani CEO and founder Hamdi Ulukaya envisions Twin Falls, Idaho as the ‘Silicon Valley’ for food innovation. The city is home to the company’s largest yogurt factory and home base for its global R&D team. The Italian 180-year-old company, Barilla, is embracing the future of food through a new venture fund and innovation hub called Blu1877.

In restaurant news, a new organic fast food restaurant called Grown is cropping up in in sports stadiums, hospitals and even Walmart. DoorDash added former Twitter VP of engineering, Jeremy Rishel, and former VP of product at Groupon, Rajat Shroff, to its team in its efforts to expand into more cities and deliver products other than food. Chef José Andrés explained in a talk for TEDx MidAtlantic how he and his nonprofit World Central Kitchen served more meals than any other organization as well as the struggles he faced with FEMA. The Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC), a progressive labor organization that provides education and support to restaurant workers, has created a “Racial Inequity Toolkit”: a how-to manual for restaurant owners and management who want to begin weeding out potential sources of racial and gender bias in their hiring and operational practices.

Will a meatless food industry featuring lab-grown meat, seafood substitutes, and insect protein be the future of food? CB Insights put together a report on how the $90 billion global meat industry gets disrupted. Investigation into the USDA deregulation team reveals deep ties to the industries being regulated, including those that oppose environmental regulations, corporate lawyers and political dark-money groups.

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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1. Bossa Nova Raises $17.5M for Retail Robots – TechCrunch

The Series B round was led by Paxion, bringing total funding to $41.7m. The startup plans to use the capital to build out its team, with a focus on autonomy software and artificial intelligence.

2. Barilla Launches Blu1877, A Food Focused Venture Fund & Innovation Hub – The Spoon

Its first focus is making seed investments in food entrepreneurs that are creating new products related to Barilla’s core business and adjacent markets in pasta and meal solutions.

3. Walmart Posts Strongest US Sales in Years, Powered by Groceries, E-Commerce – Wall Street Journal

Shares jumped more than 8% for the world’s largest retailer. Its grocery business delivered the strongest quarterly same-store sales growth in more than five years, including sales from online grocery pickup now.

4. Chobani Wants Twin Falls To Be a ‘Silicon Valley’ for Food Innovation – Magic Valley

Chobani wants to turn Twin Falls, Idaho, the town that is home to his largest yogurt factory, into a center of food innovation. It broke ground on a 70k sf building that will house a startup incubator for Idaho food businesses, as well as office for its global R&D team and other employees.

5. An Open Door for Pesticide Lobbyists at the USDA – New York Times

Investigation into the USDA deregulation team reveals deep ties to the industries being regulated, including those that oppose environmental regulations, corporate lawyers and political dark-money groups.

6. Our Meatless Future: How The $90B Global Meat Market Gets Disrupted – CB Insights

Will a meatless food industry featuring lab-grown meat, seafood substitutes, and insect protein be the future of food? Food giants from Tyson to Cargill are working to navigate a future where protein isn’t dominated by traditional animal sources.

7. Grown Is a 100% Organic Fast Food Restaurant Coming to Your City Soon – Bon Appetit

Thanks to Shannon Allen, Grown restaurants are popping up in sports stadiums, hospitals, and even Walmart. The organic fast food restaurant has expanded to six locations in just 16 months.

8. DoorDash Has Hired Ex-Twitter and Groupon Execs to Spearhead Big Expansion Plans – Business Insider

Rishel and Shroff will help DoorDash fine tune its delivery time predictions and build the company’s ever-growing stable of restaurants and food brands.

9. Restaurants Have a Racial Equity Problem. Here’s How to Fix It. – Eater

The Restaurant Opportunities Center created a “Racial Equity Toolkit” for restaurant owners and management who want to weed out potential sources of racial and gender bias in their hiring and operational practices.

10. A Recipe for a More Inclusive Economy: Sweet Treats + Good Jobs – B the Change

Ovenly has had an open hiring policy since 2012, working with organizations to hire political refugees and citizens returning from the criminal justice system. The company has 56 employees and is quickly expanding to additional locations.

11. From 3D-Printed Meals to Electrocuting Your Food, These Startups Are Shaping the Future Of Cooking – CB Insights

Next-gen ingredients, robotic appliances, novel cooking methods, on-demand and personalized food have the potential to fundamentally change what we eat and how we cook it.

12. José Andrés Says FEMA Kicked Him Out of Its Building – Eater

In a TEDx talk, Andrés spoke about his experience grappling with FEMA as well as his strategy and execution feeding Puerto Rico.

Our newsletter is the absolute easiest way to stay on top of the emerging sector, so sign up for it today and never miss the latest food tech and innovation news and trends, Already signed up? Share the love with your friends and colleagues!

The post Bossa Nova Raises $17.5M For Retail Robots, Barilla Launches Venture Fund + More appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.