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Melt&Marble Brings First Fermented Lipid to Cosmetics Formulators With Marble7 Launch

July 17, 2026

Melt&Marble has made Marble7 commercially available, its first ingredient for the personal care market and its first product to reach commercial release in any category. The lipid debuted last week at in-cosmetics Korea, where the company presented it in the show’s Innovation Zone. Marble7 received the INCI name r-Saccharomyces Butter in March and is positioned as a 3-in-1 bioactive lipid for skincare, makeup and hair care formulations. According to the company, it is rich in Omega-7 and other bioactives, pairs a biomimetic skin lipid profile with structure and stability, and delivers a melt-on-contact transition to a smooth skin feel across multiple product categories. The company frames the ingredient as an alternative to plant, animal and petrochemical-derived lipids for formulators focused on performance and sensory consistency. “Melt&Marble’s …

Organisations and brands:

Melt&Marble

Approvals

BioCraft Makes the Case for Voluntary Safety Disclosure in Cultivated Pet Food

July 17, 2026

Cultivated pet food company BioCraft Pet Nutrition has published the safety data behind its mouse-cell ingredient, releasing what it describes as the first complete, publicly available safety record for an animal cell-cultured pet food ingredient. The filing was posted to preprint server bioRxiv and has not yet undergone peer review. The release responds to a gap in how these ingredients reach market. In the EU and UK, registration covers the production facility rather than the ingredient itself, and no shared standard defines what safety means for the category. BioCraft registered its ingredients with Austrian authorities in March 2025, clearing it to supply pet food producers across the EU without any requirement to disclose ingredient-level data. What the testing covered The filing documents the company’s testing of PE25, the mouse cell line …

Organisations and brands:

BioCraft Pet Nutrition

Studies & Numbers

YouGov Poll Finds V-Label Certification Outperforms On-Pack Descriptors in Switzerland

July 17, 2026

Vegans, vegetarians and flexitarians in Switzerland are considerably more inclined to purchase a product carrying the V-Label than one described only as vegan or plant-based, according to a representative survey commissioned by Swissveg and conducted by YouGov. The poll questioned 1,020 people aged between 15 and 79 living in Switzerland between 15 and 24 June 2026. Respondents were asked which product they would be most likely to buy when presented with different forms of labelling: no vegan labelling, the V-Label, a different certification label, the words “plant-based”, the word “vegan”, or no clear preference. Across every target group, the certified V-Label drew the strongest purchase intent. Among self-identified vegans, 74% selected the V-Label option, compared with 59% of vegetarians and 30% of flexitarians. Averaged across …

Organisations and brands:

Swissveg

V-Label

YouGov

Computer-generated illustrative image

Politics & Law

ECHR Recognizes Ethical Veganism as a Matter of Conscience in Swiss Prison Diet Case

July 17, 2026

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that Switzerland violated the rights of two vegans who were not consistently provided with meals matching their ethical convictions while in state custody. The case was brought by two brothers, both adherents of anti-speciesism, one held in a Geneva prison for around 11 months from November 2018 and the other detained for two months in 2021 in the psychiatric ward of the University Hospital of Vaud. The Court found a violation of Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects freedom of thought, conscience and religion, along with the right to an effective remedy. The judgment was delivered by a majority of six to one, and Switzerland has been ordered to pay compensation …

Fast Food

Unburger Opens Franchise Program With Ann Arbor Location Set for August

July 17, 2026

Michigan plant-based chain Unburger has begun franchising and named Ann Arbor as the site of its first franchised restaurant, with an opening scheduled for August ahead of the University of Michigan fall semester. The location will sit inside The Yard, a development near the university campus. It gives the fully plant-based quick-service brand its first outlet outside Metro Detroit, where it has operated a single flagship since launching in 2018. From single flagship to franchised brand Unburger was founded by Christopher Oliver, who adopted a plant-based diet following health problems and opened the restaurant around a menu of burgers, Chick’n sandwiches, dairy-free shakes, and other comfort-food items made without animal products. In 2021, Moe Abdallah, Anton Duhani, and Karl Makky joined the business and restructured …

Organisations and brands:

Unburger

Angeliki Triantafyllou © European Patent Office

Milk & Dairy

European Inventor Award Goes to Scientist Behind Oatly’s Oat Protein Process

July 17, 2026July 17, 2026

The European Patent Office (EPO) named Greek-Swedish food scientist Angeliki Triantafyllou the winner of the 2026 European Inventor Award in the Industry category, recognizing the enzymatic process that turned oats into a viable dairy substitute. The winners were announced on July 2 during a ceremony streamed from Berlin, in the 19th edition of the annual award. Triantafyllou developed a method that combines a protein demidase with amylases to solubilize oat protein without fragmenting it into smaller, bitter pieces. Earlier processes had used proteinase, which at high temperatures produced off-flavors and browning while destabilizing the drink. Her approach runs at around 55°C and yields a whiter liquid base, higher protein content, and a finer, more stable foam. From Lund University lab to Oatly The work traces …

Organisations and brands:

European Patent Office

Image: Didwnddl on Pexels

R&D

Bovine Casein Grown in Plant Seeds Reaches 1.26% Protein Yield in Miruku-Linked Study

July 17, 2026July 16, 2026

Researchers have grown a key milk protein inside plant seeds at levels several times higher than earlier attempts, adding to the case for producing dairy proteins on farms rather than in fermentation tanks. The work came out of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and involved scientists tied to New Zealand molecular farming company Miruku, whose chief scientific officer, Professor Oded Shoseyov, is a corresponding author on the paper. The protein in question is beta-casein, one of the main components of cow’s milk. Casein accounts for roughly 80% of milk’s protein and gives dairy products their texture and mouthfeel, along with the melting and stretching that makes cheese behave the way it does. Recreating it without a cow is the goal for a handful of companies growing dairy proteins …

Organisations and brands:

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Miruku

Fermentation

MycoTechnology Partners With China’s Adorvia to Blend Honey Truffle Sweet Protein With Stevia

July 16, 2026

MycoTechnology has signed a global commercial collaboration with Adorvia Biotechnology, combining its Zukora Honey Truffle Sweet Protein with the Shanghai company’s Reb M stevia to give food and beverage formulators a new option for cutting sugar. The partnership pairs two natural high-intensity sweeteners in an effort to reproduce the taste and sweetness curve of sugar while lowering calories. Matching sugar’s taste profile Zukora, derived from the honey truffle, contributes sweetness without the bitterness, metallic notes, or aftertaste that often accompany high-intensity sweeteners. Adorvia’s Reb M stevia adds a fast sweet onset and strong intensity. Used together, the companies say the ingredients can be built into blends that solve common formulation problems tied to sugar reduction. The agreement covers joint go-to-market activity in North America and …

Organisations and brands:

Adorvia Biotechnology

MycoTechnology

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Studies & Numbers

European Grocers Support Protein Diversification, Blame Consumers for Slow Progress

July 17, 2026July 16, 2026

European grocery retailers overwhelmingly back a rebalancing of protein sales toward plant-based and alternative sources, yet most say they cannot move the market on their own. That is the central finding of a new report on protein diversification in retail and wholesale, produced under the School for Moral Ambition Food Transition Fellowship with EuroCommerce as host organisation. The report draws on a voluntary survey of 25 EuroCommerce members, including 15 companies, alongside interviews with national associations across 17 European countries. Support for the concept runs high, with 88% of respondents backing protein diversification. Backing for specific technologies varied: algae drew no opponents, while cell cultivation was the only category where supporters did not form the largest bloc. The demand problem Consumer adoption surfaced repeatedly as …

Organisations and brands:

EuroCommerce

Junge Menschen essen gemeinsam Gerichte mit Hülsenfrüchten

Computergeneriertes Symbolbild

Studies & Numbers

German Youth Warm to Pulses in Theory, Rarely Eat Them in Practice

July 16, 2026

Young adults in Germany hold a favourable view of pulses but have folded them into their everyday eating only marginally, according to a new study titled Are Pulses on Trend? Food Opinion Leadership Among the Younger Generation. The research was produced by consumer agency Zühlsdorf + Partner and the University of Göttingen within StrahL, a University of Bonn-led project funded by Germany’s federal agriculture ministry to raise consumption of domestically grown legumes. The researchers surveyed 1,051 people aged 16 to 29 online between 20 March and 18 April 2026. German legume consumption sits at roughly 3.3 to 3.7 kilograms per capita each year, well under the 6.5 kilograms recommended by the German Nutrition Society (DGE). Only 23% of respondents said they pay close or moderate …

Organisations and brands:

University of Göttingen

Zühlsdorf + Partner

Foto: Heather Brock on Pexels

Studies & Numbers

Plant-Rich Diet Shift Could Cut Agricultural Land-Use Emissions 76% by 2050, Cornell-Led Study Finds

July 16, 2026

A worldwide shift toward healthier, more sustainable diets by 2050 would shrink livestock numbers, free up farmland, and cut net CO₂ emissions from agriculture-related land-use change by 76%, according to a study published in Nature. The research was led by Cornell University with the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP). The 76% figure compares a transformation scenario against a business-as-usual pathway by 2050. Measured instead against 2020 levels, the same modelling points to an 85% drop, according to the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, whose researcher led the work. The study builds on the 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission report, which found that global adoption of a flexitarian Planetary Health Diet could prevent around 15 …

Organisations and brands:

Cornell University

Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research

Investments & Finance

Certified Organic Drink Mix FAVE Secures $1M Seed and Enters Nearly 500 Sprouts Stores

July 16, 2026

California startup FAVE has closed a $1 million seed round led by Supernatural Ventures and secured a national retail rollout across Sprouts Farmers Market, positioning its organic powdered drink mixes against legacy brands that dominate a category valued at close to $1 billion. The company, headquartered in Carlsbad, sells USDA Organic and Non-GMO Project Verified drink mixes formulated with 6 grams of organic cane sugar and 25 calories per serving. It describes the products as the first certified organic entrants in a powdered drink mix aisle historically built on artificial dyes, artificial flavors, and servings carrying 30 to 40 grams of sugar. The launch range covers Lemonade, Fruit Punch, Strawberry Lemonade, and Tangy Orange. FAVE was founded by Ryan Raish, a consumer packaged goods sales …

Organisations and brands:

FAVE

Sprouts Farmers Market

©UPSIDE Foods

Studies & Numbers

Commercial Hiring Overtakes R&D as Alt Protein Companies Chase Revenue in 2026

July 16, 2026July 15, 2026

Alternative protein employers spent the first half of 2026 hiring for sales, marketing, and operations at a rate that outpaced technical recruitment, according to new data from recruiting group Food Impact Partners, which runs the Food Impact Careers job board. Commercial roles made up 34.1% of all job posts tracked between January and June, up from a roughly even split with technical hiring when the group began collecting data in 2023. Technical roles held at 23.7%. The firm reads the change as a sign that companies are moving out of research-heavy build phases and toward revenue generation and market expansion. The pattern shows up across some of the sector’s most recognizable names. Oatly, Quorn, Beyond Meat, and French brands HappyVore and La Vie all posted a disproportionate share of commercial openings. Beyond Meat’s activity stood …

Organisations and brands:

Food Impact Careers

Food Impact Partners

Investments & Finance

BioHarvest Secures $1.4M Israeli State Grant to Bring AI Into Plant-Cell Development

July 16, 2026July 15, 2026

Plant-cell biomanufacturing company BioHarvest Sciences has been approved for a 4.33 million NIS grant, roughly $1.4 million, from the Israel Innovation Authority to fund a research program applying machine learning to its plant cell culture work. The funding will support work to replace trial-and-error methods in plant cell culture with a data-driven system. By combining bioinformatics, chemo-informatics, and artificial intelligence, BioHarvest intends to build a platform that predicts whether plant cell propagation will succeed and increases active metabolite yields. The company plans to integrate data science, computer vision, and high-throughput digital sensing into its existing biological development workflows. Second grant of the year This is the second grant BioHarvest has received from the Authority this year. The first went toward scaling its manufacturing facility through industrial automation and factory-floor machine learning, …

Organisations and brands:

BioHarvest Sciences

Israel Innovation Authority

Products & Launches

Silk Adds Protein Yogurt and Ready-to-Drink Shakes to Plant-Based Range

July 15, 2026

Danone-owned Silk has extended its Silk Protein line in the United States with two new products, a plant-based yogurt and a shelf-stable protein shake, both formulated around soy-derived complete protein. The Silk Protein Yogurt carries at least 12g of protein per serving alongside 4g of fiber and five added nutrients including calcium, vitamin D and vitamin B12. It launches in Vanilla, Strawberry, Peach and Mixed Berry at a suggested price of $1.99 for a 5.3oz cup and $6.79 for a 24oz tub. The company describes it as the only plant-based yogurt to source all of its protein from a single complete protein. The Silk Protein Shakes are the brand’s first entry ready-to-drink, ambient-stable format beverage, with each serving contains 30g of protein, 5g of fiber, …

Organisations and brands:

Silk

Leather Alternatives

South Korea Turns Surplus Melons Into Vegan Leather for Wallets and Bags

July 16, 2026July 15, 2026

A rural county in South Korea has begun commercializing a vegan leather made from Korean melon by-products, redirecting fruit that would otherwise be thrown away into a material now certified for consumer goods. Chilgok County, in North Gyeongsang Province, said on July 12 that its Agricultural Technology Center had developed and commercialized the leather after starting research in 2024. The work began during that year’s rainy season, when melons unsuitable for sale were being discarded. Some floated down the Nakdong River, raising environmental concerns, and stock purchased to stabilize prices was also going to waste, according to the county. From whole fruit to peel powder Early attempts to make leather from whole melons failed because the fruit’s high moisture and sugar content prevented the material …

Image: Hson on Pexels

Plant Cell Cultivation

CPI Signs On to €6.3M EU Cocoa Project Growing Cacao Cells in Bioreactors

July 15, 2026

The UK’s Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) has joined COCO-AI, a four-year Horizon Europe programme testing whether plant cell culture and artificial intelligence can produce cocoa and other high-value natural ingredients without relying on conventional farming. The project carries €6.3 million in funding and brings together nine international partners drawn from industry, academia, and research and technology organisations. COCO-AI intends to extend its platform to eight further plant species once the cocoa work is established, generating methods that could apply to a wider set of ingredients used across food, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics. How the platform works Plant cell culture grows plant cells directly in bioreactors under controlled conditions, rather than cultivating whole crops in fields. The technique is already used commercially in cosmetics and pharmaceutical …

Organisations and brands:

Centre for Process Innovation (CPI)

horizon europe

Thomas Hensellek - Image supplied

Interviews

Nous Raises €2.3M Led by dsm-firmenich Ventures to Scale Koncentra Toward US Launch

July 15, 2026

Italian ingredient company Nous has closed a €2.315 million seed round to advance commercialization of Koncentra, its botanical functional ingredient for the energy category. The round was led by dsm-firmenich Ventures, with participation from FoodSeed, the foodtech program of CDP Venture Capital’s National Accelerator Network, and Eatable Adventures through Accelera Ventures. The capital will fund additional clinical studies, supply chain expansion across Europe and Asia, and entry into the US market, which Nous plans to begin in November 2026. By the end of 2027, the company is targeting at least three published clinical studies and annual production capacity of at least 60 tonnes of Koncentra. Lorenzo Pessini, CEO of Nous, stated, “This investment is an important milestone for Nous as we move from scientific validation …

Organisations and brands:

Nous

dsm-firmenich

Startups, Accelerators & Incubators

EIT Food Names 18 Agrifood Scaleups to 2026 RisingFoodStars Cohort

July 14, 2026July 14, 2026

EIT Food has named 18 companies to its 2026 RisingFoodStars cohort, restructuring the programme from an accelerator format into a verification-based recognition intended to signal commercial readiness to investors and corporate partners. The Brussels-based organisation, supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), an EU body established in 2008, said the selected companies were assessed against indicators covering leadership, commercial model, operational readiness and growth potential. Companies that pass the review receive a Scaleup Verification Badge. A response to Europe’s scaleup gap The reframing addresses a persistent structural problem in European venture growth. Citing EU policy material, EIT Food noted that nearly 30% of European unicorns relocated outside the bloc between 2008 and 2021, and that only 8% of global scaleups are based …

Organisations and brands:

EIT Food

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