This week's top stories from 13-18 December

Another year and another COP has reached a conclusion. Was it a good outcome? Well, food was undoubtedly given a more prominent spot than in previous years, and while the FAO roadmap itself was welcome, it was not binding. That said, it could nevertheless give nations ideas as to how to move forward in integrating food systems into their climate goals. Let's hope for more next year in Azerbaijan!

Elsewhere, the food-tech sector is progressing in leaps and bounds, with one London-based biotech making two significant appointments to accelerate its production timelines and drive conversations with regulators as the company navigates approvals for its first product.

Staying in the UK, two companies announced they are collaborating to dramatically reduce the cost of cultivated meat, helping replace intensive animal farming and transition to a sustainable global food system.

And we were especially pleased to hear that a brand-new campaign calling on restaurants to add more plant-based options to their menus has revealed three major players quick off the mark to commit to the cause. Hats off to the charity behind the initiative as well as to the three companies that will probably now inform their customers about the connection between what they eat and how it impacts the environment.

Just one more week of news for this year – and next week we'll be rounding up our most-read stories of 2023.

So keep an eye out for that!

Industry News

New Wave Biotech and Multus collaborate using AI to transform food production

Multus is teaming up with New Wave Biotech to harness the speed and accuracy of AI Bioprocess Optimisation software to scale and improve the economics of using precision fermentation to produce some of the key ingredients for cell cultivation. “We and Multus are committed to creating a step-change in how Research & Development is done in the cultivated meat industry," commented Zoe Yu Tung Law , CEO & Co-Founder at New Wave Biotech . "This market is expected to reach US$25 billion by 2030 and completely transform the sustainability of our food systems, but too often these game changing innovations fail to scale and actually reach the shelves. Working with Multus, we can leverage the power of AI and synthetic biology to unlock these barriers and transform our food systems"

Click here to read the full story

Hoxton Farms puts UK at the forefront of food-tech with strategic international hires

Hoxton Farms , the London-based biotech scale-up pioneering cultivated animal fat, has today announced two senior hires to accelerate its production timeline and drive conversations with regulators as the company navigates approvals for its first product. Appointed as Head of Cell Biology, Vítor Espírito Santo (right in the picture) joins Hoxton Farms from GOOD Meat in San Francisco, California, USA, where he was Senior Director of Cellular Agriculture. Nadav Tal (left in the picture) joins Hoxton Farms from Israel to focus on bioreactor development. Previously, he was Director of R&D Engineering at Aleph Farms

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ProVeg reacts to publication of FAO’s Roadmap to 1.5C at COP28

Food awareness organization, ProVeg International , has welcomed the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation’s (FAO’s) Roadmap to 1.5C for clearly recognizing the absolute necessity for dietary transformation. However, ProVeg has also expressed concern about many of the recommendations of the same Roadmap, published at COP28 in Dubai, including solely proposing methane reduction technologies, putting forward a blanket promotion of aquatic food and not prioritising crops for human consumption over animal feed. "The Roadmap falls short of highlighting the specific benefits of transitioning toward more healthy, plant-based diets, especially in regions with excessive consumption of animal-based foods," stated Stephanie Maw , Policy Manager at ProVeg International

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University of Warwick researcher explores Christmas dinners of the future with cultivated meat

Researchers at the 英国华威大学 in the UK think that lab-grown meat, or cultivated meat, might end up being the centerpiece on our Christmas tables. Dr Radu Cimpeanu is a theoretical mathematician who works on the development of computational models to optimize the early stages of lab-grown meat production. "We are working on getting the costs down to make this whole process much more economically feasible," Dr Cimpeanu said. "This could really make a difference to people's eating habits across the board, as well as during the festive period"

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Tender Food awarded NSF grant for plant-based meats enhanced with cultured animal cells

Tender Food has announced that it has been awarded the highly competitive Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II grant by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The US$997,986 two-year grant underscores the significance of Tender Food’s innovative, plant-based, whole cuts of meat, and provides critical funding to explore the enhancement of these products by adding cultured animal cells. “We’re excited for this opportunity to collaborate with the Tufts University Center for Cellular Agriculture (TUCCA) , to explore the emerging field of cellular agriculture, and to find out if cultured animal cells can improve plant-based meats,” added Dr Luke Macqueen , Co-Founder & CSO of Tender Food

Find out more about this development by clicking here

Oatly wins four-year High Court battle against UK dairy industry association to keep the word 'milk' on its packaging

The plant-based milk pioneer, Oatly , has won a massive court battle against the UK dairy industry over the right to use the word 'milk' on the packaging of its products. The Swedish food giant beat Dairy UK Ltd, the trade association of the UK dairy industry, after a four-year battle over the use of the slogan 'Post Milk Generation' on its food and drink. Granting Oatly victory in its appeal against the officer's decision, the judge said that, having found that the public were unlikely to be 'deceived' by the trademark, they should have allowed it to be used on food and drink. The judge said that the vital point was that the trademark does not purport to describe the product and is unlikely to lead to consumer confusion

Read more about this landmark decision by clicking here

Also In The News This Week

• New study finds significant impact of plant-based diets on chronic kidney disease patients
• Algae as a surprising meat alternative and source of environmentally friendly protein
• Precision-fermentation start-up Paleo eyes pet food market with its myoglobins
• Novel meat and dairy alternatives could help curb climate-harming emissions
• Konscious Foods expands world’s first frozen plant-based sushi and more into food-service across North America
• The Cultivated B champions cellular agriculture at COP28

Our News

Read the October/November 2023 edition of Protein Production Technology International NOW!

This fifth edition of Protein Production Technology International is rammed with more than 100 pages of the latest breakthrough innovations, with deep dives on alt proteins in the pet-food industry, alternative fats, sustainable packaging, cell lines and growth media, plus some amazing exclusive interviews with some even more amazing thought-leaders driving this industry forward.

Click here to read the October/November 2023 edition

The above are just a select few stories that we have brought to you this week – there are loads more on www.proteinproductiontechnology.com – and they're published each and every day!

If you have a story that you would like us to share with the industry, please get in touch with the editor by emailing [email protected].

We look forward to bringing you more next time.

The Protein Production Technology International news team