In this week’s industry news, there are moves in the cell-based pet food space, innovators are leveraging “green technology” in the coffee arena, and the FAO has launched a series of projects targeting transforming agri-food systems. Meanwhile, Univar Solutions has become an authorized distributor for Camlin Fine Sciences’ aroma ingredients in the US and Canada and Brenntag partners with Royal Avebe.

In brief: Business moves
Univar Solutions has become an authorized distributor for Camlin Fine Sciences (CFS) aroma ingredients in the US and Canada. The new agreement will allow Univar Solutions to bring CFS’ products to market in a region historically short on supply, flags the company. Univar Solutions will offer the adorr vanillin range to customers. CFS produces the vanillin range, a widely used flavoring in various markets like chocolate, bakery, beverages, pharmaceuticals, nutrition, and flavor and fragrances. 

Brenntag has announced a partnership with Coöperatie Koninklijke Avebe U.A. (Royal Avebe), an international farmer cooperative producing potato starch and potato protein. Product applications include food, animal nutrition and the construction industry. Brenntag Specialties has signed an agreement to take over a Royal Avebe site in Izmir, Turkey. 

Tate & Lyle has opened its new Customer Innovation and Collaboration Centre in Jakarta, Indonesia, marking an important milestone in the company’s growth strategy to expand its presence in the Asia Pacific region, and Indonesia specifically, into which it has been supplying for over a decade. Tate & Lyle aims to support healthy living in Indonesia through food science and ingredient solution innovation. 

BioCraft Pet Nutrition has derived and characterized a chicken cell line for cat and dog food, adding another meat ingredient to its portfolio that already includes cultured mouse meat. According to the company, BioCraft’s proprietary cultured chicken offers all the essential nutrients cats, and dogs need without chemical and bacterial contaminants, antibiotics, steroids or other hormones. Derived from stem cells, BioCraft’s chicken is neither genetically modified nor immortalized. 

Fidante, Challenger Limited’s multi-affiliate funds manager, has entered into a strategic partnership with Proterra Investment Partners Asia, a private equity investor focused on the Asian food and agribusiness sectors. This strategic partnership via a minority stake investment into Proterra Asia aligns with Fidante’s overarching objective to provide investors with access to innovative investment managers while enabling its investment manager affiliate partners to scale their businesses and to focus on delivering returns for investors.

In brief: Sustainability news
CoffeeTech start-up ansā Roasting is applying new green technology to redefine the way coffee lovers indulge in their favorite beverage. Its sleek, fully autonomous mini-roaster, designed to elegantly perch on any office countertop, introduces on-demand roasting of raw green coffee beans. ansā’s initiative offers a more Earth-friendly approach to savoring coffee and promises a new dimension, according to the company. ansā is paving a greener path to the coffee experience, one that bypasses the intermediary and the need for capsule packaging and delivers bespoke raw green coffee beans directly to the consumer in 100% recyclable boxes.

A survey conducted by global food awareness organization, ProVeg International, has found that China’s Generation Z is very open to eating plant-based foods and cultivated meat. The survey found that 19.3% of respondents are flexitarian, 79.1% are omnivores, 1.0% are vegetarian and 0.6% are vegan. A total of 65% of respondents said they knew about plant-based meat and 20% of consumers said they were willing to purchase cultivated meat once it received market approval.

Starbucks plans to develop a new sustainability learning and innovation lab at Hacienda Alsacia, the company’s global agronomy headquarters for research and development, located in Costa Rica. The lab will serve as a hub for hands-on and virtual learning opportunities for Starbucks partners (employees), students, researchers and industry leaders to innovate and scale sustainable solutions for some of the world’s most challenging environmental and social issues, including climate adaptation and agricultural economics. 

Building on the growing momentum to tackle environmental problems by addressing how food is produced, the Global Environment Facility has approved 26 projects led by the FAO. The projects total US$174.7 million in GEF funding, leveraging US$1.2 billion in co-financing. The projects will target transforming agri-food systems, tackling biodiversity loss, climate change, ecosystem degradation, and pollution on land and in the oceans. 

In brief: Other highlights
Carbone Fine Food released its newest flavor, Spicy Vodka, which joins the company’s premium, jarred sauces portfolio. US consumers can recreate Carbone’s Spicy Rigatoni Vodka dish at home. This has been developed in partnership with the founders of Major Food Group, Mario Carbone, Rich Torrisi, and Jeff Zalaznick. 

The latest research by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board explores key consumer buying behavior for red meat across the Middle East, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Quality was consistently high across all the regions researched; in the case of Europe and North America, it was followed by taste and price value. In Southeast Asia, food safety was prominent, while in the Middle East, the importance of halal assurance was evident. The study highlighted that food safety, taste and freshness are key messages to reinforce quality. There was particular interest from consumers in the Middle East in the animal slaughter method and how the meat was processed. Fifty-six percent of consumers agreed that “knowing how the animal was slaughtered” was important to them, with 47% stating that “knowing how the meat was processed” was important. 

Standing Ovation, a key player in the food transition specializing in the production of non-animal caseins by precision fermentation, has joined the Precision Fermentation Alliance and the Food Fermentation Europe, two trade organizations representing precision fermentation players in the food industry in the US, Europe and Israel. These two organizations aim to act as the industry’s spokespersons to government bodies, industry and other economic players, as well as consumers, to promote the use of precision fermentation for a resilient and sustainable food system.