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.

Source: Agriland

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.

There were a number of interesting reports released this week. Soil Wealth, a report published by Croatan Institute, finds that 70 investments in U.S.-based regenerative agriculture-related projects have been made worth $47.5 billion. The Good Food Institute and Plant Based Foods Association’s most recent figures found plant-based food market value to hit $4.5 billion, with sales growing 11% in the past year. The World Resources Institute released Creating A Sustainable Food Future, which proposes a 22-part plan on how we can feed the world by 2050.

MIT Solve has launched an investment fund to back small, for profit ventures taking on global issues. Perfect Day’s $20 cultured ice cream sold all 3,000 units in a matter of hours. Beyond Meat has partnered with Blue Apron, causing its shares to surge as much as 78%. The world’s first underground micro-fulfillment center has been built in Tel Aviv by CommonSense Robotics.

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. Regenerative Agriculture Is Having a Moment and 70 Investments Worth $47.5B Are in It – AgFunder

A new report called Soil Wealth details the level of investment in regenerative agriculture-related projects.

2. Plant-Based Food Market Value Hits $4.5B, with Sales Growing 11% in the Past Year – Food Dive

Sales of plant-based yogurt saw the highest growth at 39%, while conventional yogurt sales fell 3%. Refrigerated plant-based meat increased 37%, while sales in the conventional meat category grew by 2%.

3. This 22-Part Plan Is How We Can Feed the World by 2050 – Fast Company

We need to slash emissions from agriculture while at the same time feeding billions more people. It’s a difficult task, but there’s a path forward to make it work.

4. Why MIT’s Social Tech Incubator Is Launching an Investment Fund – Fast Company

MIT Solve is now going to start backing small, for-profit ventures taking on global issues, from access to clean water to the need for a circular economy.

5. This $20 Ice Cream Is Made with Dairy Grown in Lab – and It Sold Out Immediately – CNBC

Perfect Day Foods debuted its cow-free real dairy ice cream online and 3k pints sold out within hours.

6. Blue Apron Surges Most Since IPO on Beyond Meat Partnership – Bloomberg

Blue Apron will begin introducing products from Beyond Meat on its menus in August. Shares rose as much as 78% on Tuesday.

7. Sweetgreen, Pointing to Its Own Past, Hatches New Model – Wall Street Journal

The company says it’s so much more than salad—and wants to change the way it serves up both food and new ideas, its three founders say. Inside their “Sweetgreen 3.0” project.

8. Israel: AquaMaof Fishes New Markets After $230M Investment – Food Navigator

The company is currently constructing the world’s largest indoor salmon farm in Canada. It plans to build more than a dozen aquaculture facilities in locations including Japan, Russia, Norway, Germany and Poland.

9. Months After Significant Layoffs, Joule Cooking Device Maker ChefSteps Acquired by Breville – GeekWire

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

10. Health-Ade Lands $20M Coke Equity Investment – BevNet

Along with Coke, Health-Ade investors included CAVU Venture Partners.

11. Everytable Raises Fresh Funds to Make Healthy Fast Food Affordable – Bloomberg

The restaurant chain bringing healthy meals to underserved communities has closed a $7m round to expand its subscription service and SmartFridge business and open 13 new stores by the end of the year.

12. 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.

13. China Produces Loads of “Black Gold,” But Will Caviar Lovers Bite? – Quartz

By 2020, China is projected to consume 100 tons of caviar every year. The global caviar market will be worth $1.55b by 2021, up almost 75% from 2016.

14. Israel: CommonSense Robotics Announces ‘World’s First’ Underground Micro-Fulfillment Center – VentureBeat

The center will be a full-service grocery site with three temperature zones, supporting on-demand fulfillment that will allow CommonSense’s grocery partner to fulfill delivery orders in less than an hour.

15. City Pantry, the UK Corporate Catering Marketplace, Has Been Acquired by Just Eat for £16M – TechCrunch

The premise of the acquisition is to enable Just Eat to further expand into the UK corporate catering market by leveraging City Pantry’s brand, technology and sector knowledge.

16. 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 $47.5B Invested in Regenerative Ag, Plant-Based Food Hits $4.5B + More appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

As over 90,000 food industry professionals packed the halls of the Anaheim Convention Center last week looking for the next big thing in CPG, three leaders from General Mills, Applegate and Kuli Kuli came together on stage to discuss one of the biggest emerging themes shaping the future of our food: biodiversity.

Promoting biodiversity — defined as the variety and variability of plants, animals, and micro-organisms in a system — is a key priority for each of these companies, and it’s a key element within the broader regenerative agriculture movement.

In the panel, moderated by Danielle Gould, founder of Food+Tech Connect, and hosted by General Mills, Food+Tech Connect and The Future Market, the group dove deeper into what it means to support biodiversity, the benefits it has to people and planet, and the opportunities to help consumers recognize and support the value of a more biodiverse, regenerative agricultural system.

The Panelists (l to r): Danielle Gould, Food+Tech Connect; Gina Asoudegan, Applegate; Shauna Sadowski, General Mills; Lisa Curtis, Kuli Kuli.

Why Biodiversity Matters 

“Every meal we sit down and eat, we are making choices,” proclaimed Shauna Sadowski, Head of Sustainability for the General Mills Natural & Organic Operating Unit. ”So when you put your meal down in front of you, how diverse is your plate?”

Eating a more diverse diet can certainly make meals more interesting and nutritionally complete, but it can also send a message to food producers that there’s demand for more than just the 12 plants and 5 animal species that make up 75 percent of our world’s food. Our heavily consolidated food supply not only concentrates food security risk, but it also ignores a wealth of interesting and nourishing foods that can benefit eaters everywhere.

For Kuli Kuli, introducing Americans to the wonders of Moringa is one way to help diversify our food system. Moringa, a nutrient dense food grown in the tropics, grows readily in tough environmental conditions and is a crop that improves nutrition and livelihoods worldwide. The company’s Moringa-based products, which range from smoothie mixes to energy shots, make it easy for eaters to enjoy this green superfood, but it also brings a lot of value to the ecosystem and communities where it comes from.

“Most of the farmers we work with have never exported anything before,” said Lisa Curtis, Founder and CEO of Kuli Kuli. “We help them figure out the technical aspects in order to get [Moringa] up to American processing standards.”

Kuli Kuli sources its Moringa — which grows with minimal water and in hot, sandy soils — from places like Ghana, Uganda, and Haiti to name a few, and it has worked hard to make sure those who grow this food have sustainable economic growth and nutritional security. Creating demand for previously lesser known products like Moringa builds diversity in our diets while acting as a boon to developing communities where it has become a more dependable source of income.

For General Mills, biodiversity is both about ensuring healthy ecosystems and a healthy business and food supply. “Beyond mitigating economic risk associated with threats like crop disease, pests, and climate shocks, biodiversity benefits effective ecosystem functioning, and in turn, ensures sustained yields over time,” wrote Sadowski.

“As a food company, we rely on the stable availability of agricultural ingredients,” Sadowski continued. “Our efforts to foster biodiversity balance the triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit.”

That triple bottom line benefit is the core of why increasing biodiversity is so valuable to the food system. In fact, General Mills is leaning in heavily to the idea, as it recently announced that it will be applying regenerative agriculture practices to 1 million acres of farmland by the year 2030.

Building a Farmer-Led Movement

Regenerative agriculture and biodiverse systems bring the farmer back into the forefront, especially in CPG where the brand has historically been the center of attention. Curtis emphasized that food biodiversity is not just about introducing a new ingredient to our palates, but about empowering communities around the world to actively participate in the global food system, thereby bringing them into the spotlight and diversifying the kinds of people who grow our food.

Gina Asoudegan, Vice President of Mission & Innovation at Applegate, added: “regenerative, biodiverse agriculture, to me, does not just mean the soil and the microbiology that’s there, but also the farm and the farming community.”

Supporting biodiversity and regenerative agriculture means giving a much louder voice to the farmers, who have a far more intimate relationship with the soil and environment in which our food is grown and can use that knowledge to guide product innovation.

Typically, manufacturers set the agenda on what is grown and how, with farmers having to follow their customer’s lead. This mentality is shifting at companies like General Mills, Applegate, and Kuli Kuli, and there’s been a stronger effort to elevate and tell the stories of farmers as the true innovators, entrepreneurs, and change-makers. In a sense, CPG is taking a page from the “farm to table” playbook that restaurants have been doing for decades, treating farmers more like partners versus mere suppliers.

“[Farmers should] tell us what’s good for the farmland and then we will take those foods and create products around them,” said Asoudegan, with a round of applause from the audience that followed.

This approach is evident in Applegate’s newly launched the New Food Collective, “a community of farmers, butchers, and eaters who champion real and delicious food.” The first product from that initiative is a line of sausages made from regenerative, pasture raised pigs. Letting those pigs roam and graze the woods and fields builds healthy soil, improves water retention, and builds biodiversity on the land, but also creates incredibly flavorful meat. So much so that the product line won a Nexty Award for Best New Mission-Based Product at this year’s Expo West show.

A key part of the General Mills approach to biodiversity and regenerative agriculture is forging closer ties with its farmers. “We want people to know that regenerative agriculture is a farmer led movement and we need to use our scale to amplify that message to consumers,” noted Sadowski.

The company has been hosting an ongoing series of farmer roundtables as one of the ways to listen more closely to its farmers. One outcome from this collaboration is a Regenerative Agriculture scorecard, which acts as a framework for how to reach key outcomes such as soil health, above ground biodiversity, and economic resilience in farming communities. General Mills designed the scorecard alongside farmers, scientists, and other experts and actively solicits feedback to iterate and ensure user-friendliness and value to farmers.

But while the farmer-manufacturer collaborations have largely been fruitful so far, there are still more opportunities at this stage to expand these types of relationships and make the transition to regenerative practices easier for farmers everywhere.

During audience Q&A, a farmer solemnly raised his hand to critique the move toward more regenerative, biodiverse practices spurred on by manufacturers. He mentioned that while he already knows how to grow food in a regenerative way, he isn’t always compensated for that additional effort and as a result, can’t farm that way right now.

While he didn’t state any official connection to any of the manufacturers on the panel, it was clear that there was still more work to further incentivize farmers like him to shift toward a more regenerative model.

The panel was quick to respond emphatically to the farmer with heartfelt reassurances that they are very focused on the needs of the farmer and building sufficient market demand so they can be appropriately compensated for cultivating a better product. There was a palpable sense of empathy for farmers and all that they go through to make our food.

“People are part of this system, so how do we change the economic models to make this way of farming viable for them?” said Asoudegan. “I am your people!”

75% of our food comes from just 12 plants and 5 animal species: Mike Lee of The Future Market introduces the panel.

Making the Case to Eaters

Listening closely to farmers and being attune to the needs of the land are only half the battle for food manufacturers. They still need to translate the value of biodiversity and regenerative agriculture to everyday consumers, which are critical to creating the financial incentives necessary to shift supply chains. These agricultural values are not yet recognized and valued by mainstream consumers on a large scale, so the industry has a lot more to learn and do to raise awareness.

“When we first started talking about crop rotations, integrated livestock management, and perennial systems…how many of our consumers understood what that meant?” said Sadowski. She also alluded to the fact that the way Annie’s communicated the regenerative benefits of some of its product lines has evolved, and will continue to evolve, as they find out what messages work and don’t work with consumers.

“We are still learning about how to talk about this,” said Sadowski. “We’re looking at the ways we are bringing the topic to people without overly beating them on the head with it. The package is one place where we can communicate, but we also have a lot of other areas.”

Similarly, Curtis recalled times when the environmental benefits of her main ingredient didn’t immediately translate into incremental sales for Kuli Kuli.

“We did consumer tests at farmers market around Moringa trees and how they’re great for soil and for the planet, but found that people would come talk to us for 30 minutes and then walk away without buying anything,” she said. “We found that we were putting people in this non-profit state of mind where they were interested at a high level but did not make the connection of ‘oh, I can make this impact if I buy this product.’”

And therein lies the crucial challenge and opportunity for the movement: how do manufacturers convince consumers at scale that biodiverse, regeneratively grown food is something they should prefer and likely pay a premium for?

It was evident that each company had a strong blueprint and much progress to show for how to create a biodiverse, regenerative production system. But as a still growing movement, there’s a significant challenge ahead to bring the ideas espoused by the panelists to the everyday eater who may not immediately understand how these agricultural methods translate into a differentiated food product.

Just down the hall from the ballroom we were sitting in, some of the more than 3,000 food brands at Expo West were evangelizing a litany of “on-trend” features of the moment: keto, CBD, probiotics, and more. Naturally, these products appeal first and foremost to tried and true needs of the individual: lose weight, ease pain, stay healthy, and so on. Whether those products can fulfil the promises they make is a whole other topic in and of itself, but regardless, it’s hard to ignore the fact that these selfish pursuits have created an enormous financial opportunity for food brands of all sizes.

Juxtaposed against this sea of products vying to meet the most visceral, highly personal needs, the challenge in the coming years for the regenerative agriculture movement is to build the case for the question that every consumer implicitly asks of their food: what’s in it for me?

The case is compelling for how biodiversity and regenerative agriculture can benefit the planet and the people who grow our food. But can the industry make a stronger connection between these methods and how they directly make more delicious, more nutritious food? Can they tell a story of how food grown this way can deliver on the trifecta of being better for people, planet, and palate? Or are the altruistic benefits enough, and the increasingly progressive food consumer will support the regenerative movement solely for the sake of the planet and farmers, with less regard for their own personal benefit?

These are significant questions, and how the industry answers them will set the pace of scale for biodiversity and regenerative agriculture in the coming years. But hearing from the pragmatically ambitious and accomplished panelists and the companies they represent, one is left with the confidence and optimism that the future of our food system is in good hands.

To learn more about the current and future state of biodiversity and what the industry is doing, read our ongoing editorial series and check out more info on the future of biodiversity at The Future Market.

The post Food Biodiversity at Expo West 2019 appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Food+Tech Connect and The Future Market are hosting Biodiversity: The Intersection of Taste & Sustainability, an editorial series featuring interviews with over 45 leading food industry CEOs, executives, farmers, investors and researchers on the role of biodiversity in the food industry. Read all of the interviews here. 

The National Young Farmers Coalition is an organization dedicated to helping young farmers succeed. Below, I speak with executive director Lindsey Lusher Shute about why biodiversity is critical to the future success of agriculture in the United States, what policies and investments are needed to help farmers cultivate more biodiverse farming operations and what eaters can do to support a more biodiverse food system.

______________________

Danielle Gould: Is biodiversity a priority for National Young Farmer Coalition? If so, how and why?

Lindsey Lusher Shute: Biodiversity is an important component of our mission as we support the policies and practices that enable a more sustainable, successful future for U.S. agriculture. According to our latest farmer survey, practices that support biodiversity are also a priority for young farmers: 75 percent of our farmers practice sustainable methods, 63 percent follow organic standards and 81 percent of our farmers run diversified operations.

DG: How does the National Young Farmers Coalition define and think about biodiversity? What does an ideal biodiverse food system look like?

LLS: On a farm, biodiversity means not only the plants, invertebrates, mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish that already live there — but also what we as farmers introduce to the landscape.

I can’t imagine an upper limit for biodiversity, and particularly in this moment when we are seeing the collapse of biodiversity on a global scale. It’s frankly hard to even describe what “good” might mean when it comes to biodiversity because there are still so many discoveries being made. We are a long way off from knowing even the extent of life on this planet and the interwoven nature of it all.

DG: As a farmer, how do you think about biodiversity?

LLS: On our farm, we’ve collaborated with the Hawthorne Valley Farmscape Ecology Program to look at insect biodiversity on our farm and how beneficial insects interact with pests. Over the course of the research on our property, they found three kinds of butterflies that we didn’t even know about: the Fiery Skipper, the Common Buckeye and the Hackberry Emperor. With wild pollinators responsible for pollinating half of all food crops, knowledge of these native species and the habitats that support them is incredibly valuable.

Biodiversity is meaningful to Ben and I because we want our farm to support life in all of its forms, and also because we know that biodiversity is critical to the farm’s success.

DG: What is National Young Farmer Coalition doing or planning to do to promote biodiversity?

LLS: Biodiversity cannot be achieved on one farm alone; policy and practices across the globe impact the health of our land and the biodiversity of our individual farms. We have spoken out on behalf of our farmers on many issues that impact biodiversity: land use changes, climate change, seed biodiversity, pesticides and herbicides, sustainable farm practices that are intended to work in tandem with the natural environment.

We advocate with our farmers, bringing producers from across the country to Washington, DC to ask Congress to support conservation policies that support and encourage biodiversity on the farm. Lastly, we also work to empower young farmers who are passionate environmentalists and farm in a way that supports biological diversity.

DG: What is the business case for biodiverse agriculture?

LLS: There is no farmer, no matter the scale or practice, who doesn’t recognize the importance of biodiversity. Farmers continuously rely on the bounty of nature and ingenuity of science to help them grow healthy crops.

That said, I would like to see more farmers embrace seed and breed biodiversity because what farmers choose to buy and grow on their farms today has an real impact on future farm biodiversity. When we no longer use a seed variety or only raise a certain kind of livestock — promoting, say, certain traits for economic efficiency alone — our community intentionally narrows the genetic diversity in agriculture.

And really that’s the crux of it: in a world with climate change, we need choices and regionally adapted varieties of seed and breeds. With choice, and with diversity, we reduce risk and build needed resilience.

DG: What investments need to be made to create a more biodiverse food system?

LLS: Farmers need to be supported as they implement conservation practices that increase biodiversity. A farm conservation plan, as currently required by USDA, should incorporate more measures of biodiversity and considerations for increasing it on each farm. We need ongoing research into organics, seed varieties, breeding and the like to continue to expand what farmers can grow, as well as more research into farm practices that are both efficient and ecological.

And lastly, we must address climate and land use. The nation must invest in a new economy that will drastically reduce our carbon footprint and halt global warming, and we need to protect our natural landscapes and habitats from fragmentation and development. All of these things — smart planning, research, science and conservation —represent major investments.

DG: What are the greatest challenges and opportunities farmers face for creating a more biodiverse system? What are you doing to overcome or capture them?

LLS: This might not be an obvious answer, but one of the most difficult issues for our farmers is land ownership. Without land ownership very few of our farmers can make investments into farm infrastructure and conservation that could adequately address the global crisis of biodiversity. Who owns and manages our landscapes is a critical question.

We also hear from many farmers about their need for extension and technical support services for organics and sustainable agriculture. This is a major need.

And lastly, we need to take a hard look at pesticides and herbicides and how they are impacting biodiversity. The recent issues around dicamba are a stark reminder of the negative impacts that farmers can have on the environment, and an impact that can extend well beyond the farm.

DG: How might we get more farmers to invest in biodiverse agriculture?

LLS: First and foremost, farmers need to own land. After that, they need low-interest loans or grants to support the cost and a consumer who is willing to pay a little more for food grown with practices that support a healthy ecosystem.

Research that makes the economic case for biodiversity may also encourage these practices. If you can demonstrate that improved diversity ultimately boosts productivity and sales potential, many more farmers may make the transition. As we’re already seeing, the increased consumer demand for sustainably grown products, even at higher price points, is also enabling farmers to invest in these practices.

Lastly, ensure that farmers, including beginning farmers and farmers of color, have access to key conservation programs so incentives are distributed equitably to farmer to promote biodiversity on their farms and ranches.

DG: What are some of the most important things food manufacturers, retailers, chefs and other key actors across the food supply chain can do to support biodiverse agriculture?

LLS: Buy local. Make the effort and deal with the small quantities that may be available now — because your purchases will help a farm and a farm community grow. I’ve also been impressed with Dan Barber and other chefs who are actively seeking to expand the varieties available to them, and who are working directly with farmers on breeding.

DG: Are there certain products you would like to see more of in the food industry — either in foodservice or CPG — that would help promote a more biodiverse agricultural system?

LLS: Again, I just want to have the opportunity to buy more products that were made by family-scale farmers with good practices. I also think that the entire idea of “foodservice” does not lend itself to biodiversity. When an institution is seeking perfect uniformity of weight or size or fat content, they are naturally limiting diversity of what’s grown. To address biodiversity, the entire industry would require a significant shift in priorities and different expectations for preparation and price.

DG: What is your vision for what a more biodiverse food system looks like in 10-15 years?

LLS: I’ll just say that 10-15 years is lightning fast when it comes to farming and agriculture. We have moved so far from animal and crop production that truly reflects a diverse food system, that I know it will take decades to build something that’s truly different on the ground. That said, I do think that we’re on our way in many respects and I am so hopeful about the young people I see farming today who care deeply about these issues. As these farmers take more leadership in the food system, we see positive shifts.

A more biodiverse food system must be fundamentally based on a system that defaults to locally grown products and is prepared for differences and diversity in ingredients. It is a system where consumers put even greater value on food that is grown with community in mind, with biodiversity in mind and is willing to be a little bit slower overall.

The idea of “slow” and “patient” is a fundamental value in a biodiverse system. We must take the time to listen and observe the environment around us, and work with it as we grow food; consumers must take the time to buy local products and support biodiversity and sustainable practices with their food budgets; and communities must take the time to listen to each other and advance innovative solutions to land use, climate and the pressing environmental issues of our day.

Read all of the interviews here and learn more about Biodiversity at The Future Market.

___________________________________

Lindsey Lusher Shute, Executive Director and Co-founder of the National Young Farmers Coalition

Under Lindsey’s leadership, Young Farmers grew from a few volunteer farmers to a nationwide network with 42 chapters in 28 states and a base of over 150,000. Lindsey has edited and authored nine reports for the coalition, including Building a Future with Farmers: Challenges faced by Young, American Farmers and a Strategy to Help Them Succeed. This report established Young Farmer’s first policy platform and was the first to survey the nation’s millennial farmers. Farmland Conservation 2.0: How Land Trusts Can Save America’s Working Farms and a New York Times op-ed, “Keep Farmland for Farmers”, launched a national land access campaign that engaged hundreds of land trust professionals in making farmland affordable for future generations of farmers.

The coalition has become a force for leadership development and grassroots campaigns. It has passed 4 state laws and recently won hundreds of millions of dollars for small and sustainable farms in the 2018 Farm Bill. The national network of chapter leaders is now a pathway to leadership for young farmers, helping them raise their voices at the local, state and national levels.

Lindsey regularly speaks at conferences and to national media on farm issues, and was recognized as a “Champion of Change” by President Barack Obama. She was named among “20 Food Leaders Under 40” by Food Tank, and an “American Food Hero” by Eating Well Magazine. Lindsey holds a M.S. in Environmental Policy from Bard College and a BFA from New York University.

Lindsey and her husband, Benjamin, own and operate a 900-member CSA farm in Columbia County, New York.

The post The Future of Farming Must Be Biodiverse, Says National Young Farmers Coalition appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

The conversation about the future of food has exploded over the past half decade. Much ink has been spilled examining virtually every new food innovation from lab grown meat, to soil-free indoor farms, to new forms of genetically modified foods.

One of the forces behind this food tech movement are a legion of starry-eyed entrepreneurs fueled by millions in venture and corporate funding, looking to transform this $5 trillion industry into one that’s more efficient, sustainable, delicious, and healthy.

But just as many of these new, high-tech ideas will have a big impact on the future of food, so will many older, lower-tech ideas that have resurfaced into the zeitgeist. One quick walk down the supermarket aisles is a reminder of how the food industry aspires to produce simpler, more wholesome food that evokes attributes of the past, before food became an industry.

Organic. Free Range. Grass-Fed. The premium buzzwords of today simply describe how all food, by default, was made yesterday. What’s old has become new, but as we continue this conversation about the ideas that will carry us into the future, one very old concept is surging back into the food dialogue: food biodiversity.

The Intersection of Taste and Sustainability

Food Biodiversity, or more specifically, agrobiodiversity, is defined as the variety and variability of the plants, animals, micro-organisms, and biocultural systems linked to food. That’s the technical definition.

This variety and variability brings strength and resilience to food ecosystems, as it’s much harder to bring down a system where a diverse constituency of organisms both support and compete against one another to advance the health of the ecosystem.

The Irish Potato Famine is a stark reminder of what can happen when a critical food source lacks biodiversity, as a single disease was able to wipe out enough of the monocultured potato supply that 1 million people died of starvation and sickness.

Biodiversity is crucial to the health and safety of our food supply. But to us, biodiversity in food means something even more. Biodiversity sits at the intersection of taste and sustainability, where we can simultaneously satiate an eater’s desire for new, interesting foods, while supporting a more diverse cornucopia of foods being cultivated in the world.

Globally, 75% of our food comes from just 12 plants and 5 animal species. This enormous level of consolidation around just a handful of food sources not only magnifies the impact of any attack on the food supply — like the Irish Potato Famine — but it also consolidates our taste buds around just a few flavor experiences.

Of course, these few ingredients are remixed within the industrial food complex as a diverse ecosystem of brands, which gives the illusion that we’re eating from variety, but there is so much more to taste and experience in the world.

Eating from a more diverse selection of foods can reduce our reliance on the small handful of industrialized crops for our sustenance. For example, creating more demand for foods like Moringa, a nutrient-dense superfood from Southeast Asia, Fonio, a drought-resistant ancient grain from West Africa, or Kernza, a deliciously sustainable grain from the United States, provides a chance to simultaneously enrich our bodies, our planet, and the communities that cultivate these foods.

These foods are all great places to start, but they’re just the tip of the iceberg, as we humans in aggregate only eat 150 out of 30,000 edible plant species which leaves an entire world of flavor to explore.

Sustainable, Biodiverse, and Selfish

Forging a closer union between food that sustainably bolsters biodiversity and food that’s selfishly delicious, is a formula that will enable the sustainable food movement to truly attain scale and longevity. You can get a lot of people on board for a cause rooted solely in altruism, but you can get even more if you can also tie that cause to a selfish benefit.

These two causes — one altruistic, one selfish — need not be mutually exclusive. For example, Patagonia Provisions’ Long Root Ale, the first beer to be made from the environmentally enriching grain, Kernza, is a great example of how we can do right by our taste buds and the planet. A more biodiverse food system simply grows our opportunities for more products like Long Root Ale.

This approach of making more irresistibly delicious foods, that enrich the individual, from more sustainable or regenerative ingredients, that enrich the planet, is necessary to further mainstream the idea of food that’s great for people and planet.

In food, great taste gives you the license to promote other virtuous causes, and flavor is the vehicle that will bring us to a more biodiverse and sustainable food system.

To Learn More About Food Biodiversity:

• Biodiversity, an online exhibit at The Future Market
• Join the conversation at #biodiversefood

The post The Future of Food is Biodiverse appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

There was a time, prior to the 20th century, when agricultural soil was rich, healthy and organically dense. Soil, in all of its regional variations, had always been a deeply complex ecosystem of microbes, minerals, decomposing organic matter, air and water. Our agricultural society was built upon it.

Following two World Wars and the Great Depression, modern agriculture – with its reliance on mechanization, synthetic fertilizers, and the pursuit of ever higher yields – was widely adopted with the goal of achieving global food security. While modern agriculture was successful at increasing yields, and thus food security, its use of chemicals to fight weeds and pests severely degraded soil health. Industrial agriculture literally treats soil like dirt – a at an alarming rate. If current trends continue, soil as we know it (or more importantly, as we need it) will be gone by the year 2050.

“We know more about the movement of the celestial bodies then we do of the soil underfoot.” Leonardo DaVinci said that in 1500, and this still holds true today.

In 2050, at least 10 billion people inhabit our planet. Yes, there will be advances and scaling of controlled environment agriculture, which will play an increasing important role in food security. But any future that includes 10 billion people eating healthily, sustainably and equitably will require soil – healthy soil. To meet this challenge, we have to start now.

Soil is at the nexus of agriculture and climate change. Ten million hectares of cropland are lost annually because of soil erosion, which is the equivalent of 30 football fields per minute. For every .1 meter of soil eroded, yields are reduced 4 percent, and there is a 10 percent loss of yields for every one degree rise in temperature. We burn 10 calories of fossil fuel for every single edible calorie. This is not sustainable.

Soil is also the nexus between agriculture, climate change and nutrition. In 2050, when population growth is estimated to grow to 10 billion and CO2 concentrations are expected to reach 550ppm, nutritional levels of protein, iron and zinc in staple crops such as wheat and rice will be lowered by as much as 17 percent. This will leave 2 billion people deficient in at least one or more essential nutrients, while 1.4 billion women of childbearing age and children under 5 will be at high risk of iron deficiency, 122 million people will be protein deficient, and 175 million people will become zinc deficient.

These are staggering numbers with profound future implications for human health, food security and geo-political security. We need significant resources and talent to spur the innovations that are needed to tackle these challenges.

FoodShot Global: A New Investment Model For a Better Food Future

Earlier this month, I launched FoodShot Global, a new nonprofit investment organization dedicated to transforming the food system into one that is healthier, more sustainable, and more equitable. For us, science, technology, innovation and investment are the keys.

Our first mandate is to solve big, global-scale problems. Our second mandate is to do this through collaboration, since no one fund, bank, foundation, university, corporation, non-profit or NGO alone can make the transformational changes that we need. As such we’ve brought together a consortium of world class Founding Partners, including Rabobank, Generation Investment Management, MARS, UC Davis’s Innovation Institute for Food and Health, The Rockefeller Foundation, The Builders Initiative, Armonia and the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture. We have also partnered with a number of Resource Partners, including The Nature Conservancy, The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, The Path Foundation, and The Soil Health Institute. And our third mandate is to look to longer horizons and to align prize dollars, equity, and debt across a capital continuum.

We want to empower visionary entrepreneurs and change agents, and that takes time and resources. On the early side of our capital continuum, FSG has established the GroundBreaker Prize, a $525,000 award to groundbreaking rising stars in research, social enterprise and public policy/advocacy. The GroundBreaker Prize is the largest prize in food and agriculture. Further down the capital continuum, FoodShot Global has aggregated up to $10 million for equity investments and up to $10 million a year in debt.

Investing in a Healthier Soil Future

For our inaugural year, we are focusing on soil, because healthy soil is critical to the future of food and is an area ripe for research and discovery.

Solving the challenges around soil will not come down to a single solution – we need a collaborative effort that unites disparate disciplines and technologies into a new soil operating system — Soil 3.0.

Achieving the new soil operating system will take several steps. First, we need technology that allows us to observe and build global data sets for soil at the finest levels of detail. This means investing in sensing and imaging technologies that can give us new insights into what’s happening beneath the earth’s surface and tapping into the latest developments in robotics solutions to create autonomous equipment that can take samples, manipulate seeds and crops, and maintain conditions like soil humidity and pH levels without constant human input.

Second, we need to tap the very latest in biology, science and chemistry to understand soil itself – its organic material, mineral content and the chemical exchanges between the microbes and the plant. It’s not enough to understand the soil microbiome – we also need insight into the phytobiome and the interdependent ecosystems surrounding the plant. Presently, we know mostly what these phytobiomes are, but we don’t truly know what they do.

For exploration: Is it possible, for instance, to breed plants that have a lower impact on the degradation of organic matter in soil? Or even cultivate plants which have a regenerative effect on soil as part of their growth process? Are there microorganisms or inoculants that can catalyze soil regeneration?

Finally, all of this work will generate unprecedented data on how soil works. We’ll need new solutions in data analysis, predictive modeling and visualization to parse this deluge of information and obtain workable intelligence about the most promising areas for action and study.

Even more exciting is the promise of the ideas yet to come, which may hold the key to growing healthier, more resilient and more sustainable food. Somewhere in a lab or a garage in Singapore, Delhi, Nairobi, Brooklyn, or Vancouver, there is a scientist or technologist with an inspired but nascent idea that will be a breakthrough contribution to this integrated approach. We want to find them. We want to fund them. We want to look deeper into the soil and deeper into the future to make sure we realize a better one.

About The Author

Victor Friedberg, Founder – FoodShot Global

Victor Friedberg has been at the forefront of innovation, global development and sustainability for more than 20 years. A well-known thought leader in food system innovation, investment, and sustainable global development.  Victor is the co-founder of S2G Ventures, a leading food and agricultural venture fund and lead investments into transformative companies like Beyond Meat, Ripple, Lavva and Apeel Sciences among others.  As Founder and Chairman of FoodShot Global, a new non-profit investment platform to catalyze breakthrough scientific and technological solutions – Moonshots for Better Food – Victor is continuing his work to cultivate a healthier, more sustainable, and equitable food system. FoodShot invites entrepreneurs and researchers to submit funding requests for moonshot-scale ideas that will create a new soil operating system for the 21^st century. A healthy soil operating system will lead to more nutritious food, reduced agrochemical inputs, increased yields, higher farmer profits and healthier land and water ecosystems. By storing carbon, soil is also a key tool in fighting climate change. Healthy soil sets the framework for a food system capable of sustainably producing healthy, nutrient-dense food that is accessible to all. Applications and nominations for FoodShot Global’s challenge, Innovating Soil 3.0, are due by December 1, 2018 at www.foodshot.org/apply.

The post Our Dirty Secret: Soil is on the Endangered List 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.

The maker of Keurig’s coffee maker machines has purchased Dr Pepper for $19 billion in cash, making it one of the largest nonalcoholic drink deal on record. Tyson’s VC arm is now taking bets with lab-grown meat with an investment in Memphis Meats. Ripple Foods received a $65 million investment led by Euclidean Capital.

In retail news, meal kit service Sun Basket has secured a $42.8 million investment from August Capital. Uber drivers can now begin selling products through Cargo, which raised $5.5 million from CRCM Ventures and eighteen94 capital, Kellogg’s VC fund. Alibaba has made two major investments in India’s delivery space: $200 million in BigBasket and $150 million in Zomato. Irish food group Total Produce has purchased a 45% stake in Dole for $300 million with plans for a complete acquisition within five years.

Two major publications have brought attention to two major issues occurring on America’s farms: a sexual harassment epidemic and children’s safety at risk operating farm machinery.

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. Keurig to Acquire Dr Pepper Snapple – Wall Street Journal

The deal will give shareholders of the soda maker nearly $19b in cash and go down as one of the largest beverage deal in years. Keurig’s owner, JAB Holding, is expanding its coffee business into sodas and ready-to-drink beverages.

2. Tyson Joins Bill Gates, Cargill to Invest in Lab Meat Producer – Bloomberg

The company’s VC arm has invested an undisclosed sum in Memphis Meats, adding to the string of high-profile backers including Cargill, Bill Gates and Richard Branson. The company will use the Tyson funds for product development.

3. Goldman Sachs Invests in Pea Milk Startup – Bloomberg

The $65m investment in Ripple Foods was led by Euclidean Capital with participation from Khosla Ventures, Fall Line Capital, S2G Ventures and Goldman Sachs.

4. Sun Basket Secures $42.8M in Funding – Meat + Poultry

The Series D round was led by August Capital and included Unilever Ventures. New funding will be used to build out its personalization tech, expand its menu offerings.

5. Cargo Raises $5.5M to Let Uber Drivers Sell Snacks and Essentials Nationwide – TechCrunch

The funding comes from CRCM Ventures and eighteen94 capital, Kellogg’s VC fund. The startup plans to deploy its hardware and software solution in about 20k cars and open in one new city each month for the next six months before its Series A.

6. Nuro’s Self-Driving Vehicle Is a Grocery-Getter and Errand-Runner – TechCrunch

After raising a $92m Series A round, the startup has revealed its autonomous vehicle platform designed to transport goods from a local business to a customer or from one person to another.

7. ‘Super’ Crops and Cows – Bill Gates, UK Inject Cash into Farm Science – Reuters

Research for growing “super crops” and breeding higher-yielding dairy cows received a funding injection of about $174m from Britain’s Department for International Development and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

8. Total Produce to Buy Stake in Dole Food Company for $300M – The Irish Times

The Irish food group will purchase all shares in Dole within five years, having acquired an initial 45% stake for $300m in cash. Total Produce has the right to acquire an extra 6% of Dole at any time.

9. India: Alibaba’s Twin Investments: BigBasket Gets $200M and $150M for Zomato – Business Standard 

With the capital, BigBasket will take on giants Amazon and Flipkart, which are vying to grow their presence in the online grocery space. Zomato will utilize the funds to combat its two largest rivals Swiggy and Foodpanda.

10. There’s a Sexual Harassment Epidemic on America’s Farms – The Atlantic

Many of the women who work in agriculture often have few options but to put up with abuse on the job. Undocumented workers without papers and workers on temporary visas are extremely vulnerable to exploitation in the workplace.

11. 5-Year-Olds Work Farm Machinery, and Injuries Follow – New York Times

Children are growing up driving large farm machines to help their families. Thousands are injured every year, and many are killed.

12. Kroger Strikes Back at Amazon Go with Expansion of Shopper Tech – Bloomberg

Kroger is expanding its “Scan, Bag, Go” technology to 400 stores. The system allows customers to use a handheld scanner to log grocery items in their cart as they shop, while also viewing coupons and a running total of their order.

13. Why Online Grocery Could Be a $100B Opportunity in the Next Four Years – Food Dive

Online grocery adoption is accelerating thanks to changes in consumer behavior and a few key acquisitions. Seventy percent of shoppers will be buying groceries online by 2022.

14. CaliBurger to Launch Payments Using Facial Recognition – The Spoon

After a successful pilot, the quick service restaurant is expanding the use of facial recognition at its Pasadena location from just unlocking loyalty accounts to paying for meals.

15. Walmart to Launch Online Grocery Delivery in Japan, E-Book Sales in US – NPR

Walmart is joining with Japan’s largest e-commerce retailer Rakuten to launch an online grocery delivery service in Japan. The deal includes opening a combined e-commerce fulfillment center in Tokyo to deliver groceries to a wider region.

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 Keurig Acquires Dr Pepper, Tyson Invests in Memphis Meats, Ripple Foods Raises $65M + 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.

If you missed the Winter Fancy Food Show in San Francisco last weekend, be sure to check out The Future Market to explore themes on cannabis cuisine, blockchain chicken, and more.

Amazon’s long-awaited checkout-free convenience store opened its doors on Monday. The company also announced its marketing platform, causing investors to salivate over its ad business and increasing market value.

Two major acquisitions were made in the on-demand food delivery space–David Chang’s Ando was swallowed by Uber Eats and Square, owner of Caviar, bought out the long-established Texas-based company, Entrees On-Trays. DoorDash has joined the food waste movement by partnering with Feeding America on a pilot program to deliver surplus food to places in need.

David Barber, co-founder of Blue Hill restaurants, has launched a $30 million fund with Zoe Feldman for agriculture and hospitality tech, CPG and experiential retail companies.

And finally, National Geographic featured an article that visualizes China’s industrializing agricultural economy, reminding us of the country’s ever-growing population and shrinking farmland.

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. Inside Amazon Go, a Store of the Future – New York Times

The technology inside Amazon’s new convenience store, opening today in downtown Seattle, enables a shopping experience like no other — including no checkout lines.

2. Uber Eats Acquires Ando, the Food Delivery Startup from David Chang That Makes Its Own Food – TechCrunch

Ando is shutting down its service immediately as it begins to integrate with Uber Eats. The news comes as Uber CEO declares Uber Eats will be the largest food delivery company in the world this year.

3. 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.

4. Almanac Launches Fund for Scalable & Sustainable Businesses – BevNET

David Barber, co-owner of Blue Hill restaurants, and Zoe Feldman have launched a $30m fund for agriculture and hospitality tech, CPG and experiential retail companies. Almanac will invest in seed or series A rounds for early stage brands and has already closed three investments.

5. Amazon Has a Plan to Become Profitable. It’s Called Advertising – Bloomberg

Over the past several years, Bezos & Co. have quietly put together a marketing platform. Analysts predict it will become the first company with a $1T market value.

6. DoorDash Is Now Using Its Algorithm to Deliver Extra Food From Restaurants to Food Banks – Fast Company

DoorDash and Feeding America have launched a pilot program called Project DASH allowing restaurants to have their surplus food delivered to places in need through their MealConnect app.

7. Bacardi Is Buying Patron in Deal That Values the Tequila Company at $5.1B – CNBC

The deal will make Bacardi the biggest spirits player in the super-premium segment in the US. Tequila has been a fast-growing category as consumers shift away from beer and vodka.

8. PrecisionHawk Raises $75M Series D from Big Tech and Big Ag – AgFunder

The round was led by Third Point Ventures, Intel Capital, Comcast Ventures, Syngenta Ventures and Dupont. The company offers drones and subsequent data management and analysis.

9. OriginTrail Raises $22.5M for Supply Chains Blockchain Protocol – Coinjournal

The startup’s technology aims to increase trust and efficiencies, bringing transparency to supply chains. OriginTrail is part of the Bits x Bites tech accelerator program and has piloted its technology with Chinese online food store Yimishiji.

10. To Battle Amazon, Kroger Eyes Alibaba Alliance – New York Post 

Executives of each company met each other in China last month. Sources hint at a possible deal spanning online and offline sales.

11. Square Has Acquired a 32-Year-Old Restaurant Delivery Company – TechCrunch

Square has acquired Entrees On-Trays to expand the footprint of its on-demand food delivery service, Caviar, in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas area. It will also allow Caviar to deliver from long-standing favorites, grow existing markets and pilot cross country pop-ups.

12. 5 Women Sue Monster Energy Over Abusive, Discriminatory Culture – Huffington Post

The women say they were bullied, harassed and even assaulted. They’re out of work, and the men who allegedly behaved badly still have jobs.

13. Hong Kong: Asia’s Favorite Bean Just Got Served Up as Scrambled Eggs – Quartz

JUST, formerly Hampton Creek, debuted its “Just Scramble” for the Asian markets in Hong Kong. The company is showing off the fruits of its $90m investment from Horizons Ventures. It plans to get its products into China, Japan and India.

14. How China Plans to Feed 1.4 Billion Growing Appetites – National Geographic

As more Chinese crave Western-style diets, the booming nation rushes to industrialize an agricultural economy long built around small farms.

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 Inside Amazon Go, David Barber Launches $30M Fund, Uber Eats Acquires Ando + 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.

_______________

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.

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 Nestle Sells its Candy Unit, Advice on Launching a Food Startup, Zomato Valued at $2.5B + More appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Agriculture is undergoing a digital revolution. The demand for information along the food supply chain is driving the evolution of digital-based solutions for growing food and increased agtech adoption. From precision farming to biotechnology, there is a growing crop of startups using data and technology to make food production more sustainable, efficient and profitable.

Join us to hear how food innovators are advancing the way we farm at our January Food+Tech Meetup in partnership with AgFunder. Presenters will do a deep dive into their business strategies, technologies, challenges and lessons learned.

Come network with the community and get a taste from emerging F&B startups: Dream Greens by Aerofarms x Saxon + Parole x Impossible Foods, Baking Supply Co, Bowery Farming, Gotham Greens x Kite Hill, Nomad Trading Co, Up Mountain Switchel, Lily Puffs and Ocean Hugger Foods.

SCHEDULE:
6:30 – 7:15pm: Networking
7:30 – 9:00pm: Presentations + Q&A
9:00 – 9:30pm: Networking

PRESENTERS:
Steve Sibulkin, Co-Founder & CEO, Agronomic Technology Corp (Adapt-N)
Steve Sibulkin is the co-founder and CEO of Agronomic Technology Corp, a data and software company that provides proprietary crop, soil, water and fertilizer modeling to help farmers achieve profitable sustainability. The company’s Adapt-N solution is used by leading food companies, agricultural retailers, agronomists and farm technology companies. In November 2017, Agronomic Technology Corp was acquired by Yara International. Steve has founded and lead several successful technology-driven ventures, including at Giving Zone, Mainspring, Ogilvy & Mather, and Sapient.  He has a B.A. from UCLA and an MBA from Kellogg at Northwestern.

Megan Nunes, Founder & CEO, Vinsight
Vinsight founder + CEO Megan Nunes, grew up in the farming business. After almost a decade-long career in the satellite industry, she turned her tech knowledge back home. Her San Francisco-based startup now offers forecasting software and data analytics to famers who are growing almost anything that’s not corn, wheat, or soy. Vinsight is an application that aggregates geospatial data, weather data and geographical information data to provide the grape and almond industries with analytics for what is happening in field. Their goal is to improve yield and revenue for growers while providing ultimate insight and transparency to all areas of the value chain.

Dr Deane Falcone, CTO & Senior VP of Plant Science, Freshbox Farms
We combine a farmer’s common sense with a strategic business vision, a commitment to innovation, and the latest in plant science technologies to grow healthier foods and harvest higher returns. As urban density increases around the world, locally sourced food is taking on greater importance. Crop One drastically reduces transportation carbon use due to our farms’ proximity to the point of consumption and nearly eliminates usage of other resources, particularly water. Our processes have a dramatically lower ecological footprint and our proprietary information management systems allow us to create superior plant quality with no pesticide/adverse chemical intervention. Instead, we use our digital and mechanical controls to influence plant behavior – growing fresher, tastier greens. As the most capital efficient vertical farmer in the world, we are also able to lead the vertical farming industry to serve volume market segments such as food service.

Reese Mozer, Co-Founder & CEO, American Robotics
Reese Mozer and his colleagues have been studying drones and their application in agriculture for almost a decade. The summary: The hype is fading, and drones don’t work yet for farmers. Limits on battery life and rural-area data transfer make current options time consuming, complicated, and entirely impractical. American Robotics has resolved these issues with ScoutTM: a fully-automated, self-charging drone system, capable of functioning independently for entire seasons. Once our DS1 Drone Stations are installed, a fleet of connected, weatherproof ScoutsTM function autonomously in the field, seamlessly delivering health reports regularly and reliably. By removing the need for human pilots and utilizing the computing power of these drone stations, we’ve created a solution that is 6-45x more cost effective than alternatives.

Federico A. Tripodi, CEO, Calyxt
Calyxt is combining its leading gene-editing technology and technical expertise with its innovative commercial strategy to deliver healthier specialty food ingredients and agriculturally advantageous traits. Our technology enables us to precisely and specifically edit a plant genome to elicit the desired traits and characteristics, resulting in a final product that has no foreign DNA. We believe the precision, specificity, cost effectiveness and speed of our gene-editing technologies will enable us to provide meaningful disruption to the food and agriculture industries. Federico A. Tripodi holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Washington University’s Olin Business School, as well as an agronomic engineering degree from Buenos Aires University. He has gathered extensive experience in agricultural R&D and product development during his nearly two-decade career in the ag biotech and seed industry.

PARTNER:

AgFunder is the online investment platform for AgriFood technologies. We help accredited, institutional, and corporate investors discover and invest in startups transforming the food & agriculture industry using proprietary research, big data, and machine learning. Our industry-leading market intelligence is supported by a database of over 11,000 companies and analysis from over 150+ machine learning algorithms to help to identify and assess the best investment opportunities from around the world for our managed funds and co-investment opportunities, as well as to provide support to our portfolio companies.

HOST:

Kickstarter is a funding platform for creative projects. We are an independent, founder-controlled company of 132 people working together in an old pencil factory in New York City. Over 10 million people, from every continent on earth, have backed a Kickstarter project from films, games, and music to art, design, and technology. To date, tens of thousands of creative projects — big and small — have come to life with the support of the Kickstarter community.

SPONSORS:

FoodBytes! by Rabobank is a next-generation pitch competition that brings together game-changing startups, investors and industry leaders. FoodBytes! discovers the most ground-breaking startups and provides a safe haven for entrepreneurs to receive the mentorship, connections and capital they need to grow their businesses. Alumni include Back to the Roots, MycoTechnology, Love the Wild, Imperfect, Burlap & Barrel and Seal the Seasons. FoodBytes! is headed to San Francisco on March 1.

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.

The post Join Our AgTech Meetup with AgFunder 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.

As consumer tastes change, the ten largest packaged-food companies in the U.S. have lost approximately $17 billion in revenue  over the past three years. To combat lost market share, Campbell and Hershey’s are betting on salty snacks.  Campbell’s acquisition of Snyder’s-Lance for $4.87 billion and Hershey’s buy out of SkinnyPop for $1.6 billion. And more capital continues to flow into food startups. Frozen meal delivery service Daily Harvest raised a $43 million Series B round led by Lightspeed.

In retail news, grocers have been absorbing the rise in food prices in order to stay afloat in the increasingly competitive market. Brandless received a star-studded second close of its $35m Series B round that included Steph Curry, Randi Zuckerberg and Jessica Seinfeld.

The Trump administration’s new policies reap bad news for small and organic farmers. Last Friday, it withdrew an Obama-era rule that would have increased animal welfare standards for organic poultry. The newly passed GOP tax bill will only benefit 4% of US farms and cause many farmers to lose health insurance.

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. Campbell, Hershey Bet That Salty Snacks Will Reignite Sales – Bloomberg

As consumer tastes change, 10 of the largest packaged-food companies in the U.S. have seen about $17 billion in revenue evaporate over the past three years. To combat lost market share, Campbell and Hershey’s are betting on salty snacks.

2. Campbell Soup to Buy Snacks Company Snyder’s-Lance for $4.87B – CNBC

The deal is the largest ever in the soup company’s 148-year history. It points to the opportunity big food companies see in snacks, appealing to the increasing number of people who eat and shop on the go.

3. Hershey Nears $1.6B Deal to Acquire SkinnyPop Parent Amplify – CNBC

The deal values Amplify at $12 a share, a 71% premium. It comes as Hershey doubles down on its efforts to move beyond chocolate.

4. The Future is Frozen (Daily Harvest Raises $43M) – Medium

Lightspeed has led Daily Harvest’s $43m Series B round and joined the company’s board. The frozen food category presents higher customer retention and margins, enabling Daily Harvest to invest more aggressively in continued product innovation and growth.

5. Product Information Firm Label Insight Gets $21M in New Funding – Food Dive

The funding round was led by Delta-v Capital alongside River Cities Capital Funds. It will be used to hire additional employees with a focus on data science, sales and marketing.

6. Ireland: Nuritas Raises $20M Series A for AI Ingredient Discovery Platform – AgFunder

Funding was led by Cultivian Sandbox in partnership with agrochemical giant BASF’s human nutrition and pharmaceutical subset. New capital will go toward expansion in the US market.

7. Whole Foods’ 365 Has Sold $10M Worth of Product on Amazon – Food Dive

The natural and organic brand is now the number two best-selling private label line after Amazon Basics. Private label brands account for 0.2% (or $450m) of Amazon’s $177b in estimated revenue.

8. Why Steph Curry, Randi Zuckerberg, and Jessica Seinfeld Invested in This Generic Grocery Store – Fortune

Brandless, the online retailer of generic consumer products, has a star-studded second close of its $35m Series B round. Funding was led by New Enterprise Associates.

9. Tovala Raises $9.2M Series A Round to Fund Expansion – The Spoon

Funding was led by Origin Ventures, bringing total raised to $13.14m. New capital will be used to grow its user base and company.

10. FarmWise Raises $5.7M Seed Round for Vegetable Weeding Robot – AgFunder

The round was led by Playground Global with Felicis Ventures, Basis Set Ventures and Valley Oak Investments. The startup will use funding to commercialize its automated weeding robot.

11. USDA Nixes Higher Animal Welfare Standards for Organic Label – SF Chronicle

On Friday, the Trump administration withdrew rulings that would have increased animal welfare standards for organic poultry.

12. Most American Farmers Will Be Hurt by the GOP Tax Bill – Mother Jones

Only 4% of US farms with around $1m in annual sales are in a high enough tax bracket to benefit from the lower rate. The bill puts farm co-ops at risk, adds to pressure to cut federal farm spending and may cause farmers relying on Obamacare to lose health insurance.

13. Cargill Goes Tech With Plan to Nurture New Wave of Food Startups – Bloomberg

Techstars Farm to Fork Accelerator is a partnership with Cargill, Ecolab and Techstars. The initiative will focus on food security and safety, and will begin accepting applications next month.

14. A Year in Review: 2017 Food and Agriculture News – Food Tank

2017 saw a monumental shift in global politics, a series of natural disasters and indications of growing malnutrition and obesity. Yet, the growing movement for food security, justice and sustainability are effecting change in the food system.

15. The Top 10 Farm Tech Deals of 2017 (How Many Can You Name Without Clicking?) – AgFunder

The largest funding rounds went to Indigo Agriculture’s $203m Series D, Plenty’s $200m Series A, Maihuolang’s $150m Series A, Farmers Business Network’s $110m Series D and Uptake’s $117m Series D.

16. CaliBurger Launches Facial Recognition Pilot for Fast Ordering – The Spoon

The facial recognition kiosk will pilot at CaliBurger’s Pasadena location and will roll out to its 40 locations next year.

17. The Future of Grocery Shopping Has Arrived in China – Quartz

China’s second biggest online retailer, JD, plans to open hundreds of unmanned convenience stores built with facial and image recognition technology.

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 Campbell and Hershey’s Bet on Snacks as Top 10 CPGs Lose $17B, Daily Harvest Raises $43M + 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.

The agtech sector drew in major investments this week. Gingko Bioworks led the way with $265 million, followed by Indigo, which raised $203 million. Uptake announced a $117 million series D round and Arzeda closed a $15.2m series A round. Lumen Bioscience, a biotech company, raised $13 million.

In CPG News, Nestle has made its fourth giant acquisition this year with its purchase of vitamin maker Atrium Innovations for $2.3 billion.

Blue Apron underwent a CEO shuffle this week, as Matt Salzberg announced he was stepping down after many disruptive changes and a 70% slump in sales since the company’s IPO.

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. Blue Apron’s Problems Are Too Big for Any CEO – Bloomberg

Co-founder Matt Salzberg stepped down as CEO, turning the job over to current CFO Brad Dickerson. The company’s sales have tumbled 70% since its IPO.

2. Nestle to Buy Vitamin Maker Atrium Innovations for $2.3B – Reuters

It hopes to expand its presence in consumer health care as it seeks to offset weakness in packaged foods. This is Nestle’s fourth purchase in recent months, following Sweet Earth, Blue Bottle Coffee and Chameleon Cold Brew Coffee.

3. Steve Case’s $150M Rise of the Rest Seed Fund Launches with an Impressive Roster of Investors – TechCrunch

The fund has secured backers including Jeff Bezos and Eric Schmidt. It plans to provide membership and financing to entrepreneurs located outside of Silicon Valley, NYC, Boston and other major business hubs.

4. Farming Startup Indigo Raises $203M with Help from Dubai Fund – Reuters

The agtech startup raised an addition $47m from the Investment Corporation of Dubai, bringing the the it’s total Series D funding to $203 million. The company is now valued at $1.4b and will use the funding to open or expand new offices in Australia, Argentina and Brazil, as well as continue to research.

5. Gingko Bioworks, ‘The Organism Company,’ Is Now Worth over $1B – Recode

The Boston-based startup has raised $265m from an unknown investor. The company creates fragrances and foods out of microbugs.

6. Uptake Raises $117m Series D for Machinery Data Analytics Software – AgFunder

Baillie Gifford led the round, which also included GreatPoint Ventures and Revolution Growth. The investment round brings Uptake’s total funding to $264m. It is now valued at $2.3b.

7. Hain Celestial Acquires Natural Sweeteners Company – Food Business News

The company acquired Clarks for an undisclosed amount. The natural sweetener company generated about $9.5m in net sales in 2016.

8. Maple Leaf Foods to Acquire Plant-Based Protein Company – Food Business News

The company will acquire Field Roast Grain for $120m to expand its alternative protein portfolio in the US market.

9. Nutpods Secures New Funding Ahead of Retail Expansion – BevNET

Plant-based creamer Nutpods has secured an undisclosed sum from CircleUp Growth Partners and has landed 3k new retail accounts.

10. In the UK, a Takeaway Company Is Now Worth More Than Almost Every Major Supermarket – Quartz

Just Eat, which specializes in the delivery of mass-market takeaway foods, is set to join the UK’s benchmark stock index just 3.5 years after going public. Its stock has surged 40% this year, giving it a market value of $7.5b.

11. Arzeda Closes Series A on $15.2m for Plant-Based Computational Protein Production, Led by OS Fund – AgFunder

With the new funding, Arzeda will ramp up its capacity to produce custom proteins and will double its staff.

12. Brazil: Naspers, Innova Capital Invest $82M More for Movile’s iFood Delivery Business – TechCrunch

The new capital infusion brings Movile’s total haul to over $250m. As of September 2017, the company reached 6.2m monthly orders and became the largest food delivery company in Latin America.

13. Feeling Blue? Biotech Startup Raises $13M to Create ‘Natural’ Color Pigments Using Algae – GeekWire

Lumen Bioscience raised funds from Avista Development Corporation, BioEconomy Capital and biotech investors along with a $1.8m grant from the Department of Energy. The funding will support its manufacturing of pigments made from spirulina.

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 Blue Apron CEO Steps Down, Nestle’s $2.3B Wellness Acquisition + 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.

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.

_______________

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.

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.

Big investments were made in the this week, with Hormel Foods striking a $850 million dollar deal to acquire craft deli meat brand, Columbus. CircleUp also announced its $125 million venture capital fund that will incorporate the proprietary machine learning platform as a tool to help guide investment in early-stage consumer and retail companies. Big beer maker Constellation Brands invested $191 million in a Canadian marijuana company – cannabis beverages maybe on the horizon in the alcohol industry. Plant-based and cultured proteins are on the rise, and the niche market appears to be driven by vegan and generation Z consumers. Campbell’s has noticed this trend and taken action by joining the Plant-Based Foods Association.

In other news, Aerofarms absorbed a $40 million investment led by IKEA and David Chang. The company’s total funding is now at $130 million. ImpactVision, the software startup that uses hyperspectral imaging to determine the quality and ripeness of produce, has closed a seed round of $1.3 million dollars to further develop its technology.

After much anticipation, HelloFresh priced its IPO on Frankfurt, raising up to $369 million. It is now worth twice as much and has grown three times as fast as its competitor, Blue Apron. The company also announced that it will launch a healthy meal kit for kids with the help of Joanna and David Parker. Blue Apron’s meal kit sales and customer spending per order increased, despite losing customers for its second quarter in a row. 

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. Hormel Foods Strikes $850M Deal to Buy Premium Deli Meat Brand Columbus – Food Navigator

Columbus currently has annual revenues of $300m and is growing at about 5% year-over-year. Its acquisition will widen Hormel’s scale in the deli category and broaden its consumer base.

2. CircleUp Closes $125M Fund Powered by Machine Learning – BevNET

The new venture capital fund will be used as a tool to help guide investment in early-stage consumer and retail companies. It will be used to make at least 18 bets on consumer brands a year.

3. AeroFarms Brings in IKEA and David Chang to Close $40M Series D – AgFunder

Retired US Army General David Petraeus, ADM Capital, AllianceBernstein and Merass also joined the round, which brings the company’s funding to $130m. Some of its new investors are representative of its plan for global expansion. 

4. Blue Apron Competitor HelloFresh Prices IPO, Raises Up To $369M – TechCrunch

The cooking kit delivery company priced its IPO at €10.25 ($11.91), which would value the company at nearly $2b. The company received backing from Rock Internet, Insight Venture Partners and Baillie Gifford. 

5. Constellation Brands Hops into Marijuana Beverage Market with $191M Deal – Food Dive

The alcoholic beverage giant will acquire a 9.9% minority stake in Canopy Growth Corporation, a Canadian marijuana company, for $191m. Constellation can begin selling marijuana-based drinks in Canada and other nations that allow recreational marijuana use.

6. ImpactVision Raises $1.3M Seed Round to Determine Food Quality with Hyperspectral Images – AgFunder

The software startup uses hyperspectral imaging to help food supply chain companies determine the quality and ripeness of food products. Its seed funding was led by Acre Venture Partners and will be used to develop its technology further. 

7. Gen Z is Creating a Market for Fake Fish – Civil Eats

New Wave Foods and Ocean Hugger Foods are two companies rolling out plant-based seafood products to food service operators like college campuses, corporate cafeterias and large retailers. 

8. Vegans are Taking Over the Trillion-Dollar Meat Industry (Yes, Real Meat) – Organic Authority

In 2008, PETA offered up $1m to the first scientist who could create and bring to market cultured chicken grown from chicken cells. This laid the groundwork for the profound and lucrative shifts into the cultured meat industry.

9. Campbell Soup Joins Plant Based Foods Association – Food Navigator

It is the first major food company to join the PBFA, a new trade association dedicated to boosting consumption of plant-based foods. The company also recently launched a new line of plant-based milks under its Bolthouse Farms brand. 

10. Blue Apron Revenue Beats Estimates, Sending Shares Higher – Bloomberg

Sales increased 2.5% to $210.6m in the company’s third-quarter. Despite losing customers for the second quarter in a row, meal kit sales and customer spending per order increased. 

11. HelloFresh Co-Founder Is Working on a Prepared Meal Service for Kids – TechCrunch

Yumble has partnered with Joanna and David Parker to launch its new line of healthy meals for kids. It has raised $1.5m so far and is currently offered in 26 states on the East Coast.

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 Hormel’s $850M Acquisition, HelloFresh Raises $369M IPO, CircleUp Closes $125M Fund + 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.

News of sexual misconduct allegations have given rise to long-seated issues in the male-dominant restaurant industry. Amongst the guilty contenders was the Besh Restaurant Group, which was accused of creating a culture that allowed harassment and assault. The increasing awareness has since prompted restaurants to reflect, react and publicly define their policies and commitments to creating a culture that’s inclusive and respectful of its workers.

In more restaurant news, ChowNow, a “shopify for restaurants,” has raised a $20 million Series B round led by Catalyst Investors. While the online restaurant space continues to show growth, automated restaurant Eatsa has regressed as it shuttered all but two of its original SF locations this week.

HelloFresh is aiming to make a bang on Frankfurt with an IPO valued at $1.8 billion – more on the results after November 2. Amazon’s drone delivery deployment seems more possible with Trump’s new executive order that is designed to speed the approval of drone flights over crowds for longer distances.

Breaking CPG news this week includes Canada banning Soylent, Nestle pulling out of the GMA and a report that 80 percent of mainstream baby formula and food brands are tainted with arsenic, lead, cadmium and acrylamide. Major offenders included Gerber, Enfamil, Plum Organics and Sprout.

And finally, Chinese scientists have introduced the first-ever genetically engineered pig bred for 24 percent less fat. The genetic modification is said to make pigs less expensive to raise and more resilient in cold weather.

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. How the John Besh Allegations Are Prompting Restaurants to Reevaluate Their Own Policies – Food & Wine

The incident has become an opportunity for restaurants to reflect, react, and publicly define their policies on workplace harassment and their commitment to creating a culture that’s inclusive and respectful of all its workers.

2. Amazon to Control Nearly 45% of E-Commerce in 2017 – Retail Dive

Online sales will account for 9% of all US retail sales by the end of 2017, and the retail giant is poised to capture $196.75b of those sales.

3. HelloFresh Aims for $1.8 Billion IPO Valuation – Bloomberg

The meal kit startup set a price range of 9 to 11.50 euros a share. It’s looking to raise €243m to €311m euros to invest in expanding its business and will begin trading in Frankfurt on November 2, 2017.

4. These Baby Foods and Formulas Tested Positive for Arsenic, Lead and BPA in New Study – USA Today

Researchers found 65% of products tested positive for arsenic, 36% for lead, 58% for cadmium and 10% for acrylamide. Mainstream brands including Gerber, Enfamil, Plum Organics and Sprout were among the worst offenders.

5. CRISPR Bacon: Chinese Scientists Create Genetically Modified Low-Fat Pigs – NPR

Chinese scientists have created 12 healthy pigs with about 24% less body fat than normal pigs in hopes of providing farmers with animals that would be less expensive to raise and would suffer less in cold weather.

6. Amazon’s Dream of Drone Deliveries Get Closer With Trump’s Executive Order – Bloomberg

Trump issued an order designed to speed the approval of drone flights over crowds for longer distances. The administration says it wants to open new commercial uses for drones and create jobs.

7. ChowNow, a GrubHub Competitor, Raises $20 Million Series B Round – TechCrunch

Catalyst Investors led the investment, bringing total funding to the company which calls itself a “shopify for restaurants” to nearly $40m.

8. All-Automated Restaurant Chain Discovers Humans Don’t Like Buying Food from Vending Machines – Grub Street

Eatsa is closing all but two of its cashierless locations. Its original SF locations will remain so the company can continue R&D and build out its retail brand.

9. Canada Bans Soylent for Not Being Real Food – Eater

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency stated the product does not meet its requirements for a meal replacement, and therefore cannot be sold in the country.

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 John Besh Resigns Amid Sexual Harassment Allegations, HelloFresh Aims For $1.8 Billion IPO + More appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.