As part of its Champions Innovate initiative, UEFA has introduced a slew of sustainability measures for the 2024 Champions League final, which includes carbon labelling and plastic-free packaging.

Fans watching Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund battle it out for the 2024 Champions League tomorrow will be eating carbon-labelled food in seaweed packaging, as UEFA – European football’s governing body – aims to amp up its sustainability credentials.

As part of its Champions Innovate initiative (announced in September), all menu boards at Wembley Stadium and food trucks at other Champions Festival sites across London will feature carbon labels from UK startup My Emissions. It’s an extension of the latter’s ongoing partnership with Dutch food delivery giant Just Eat Takeaway.com, a UEFA sponsor since 2021.

“Partnering with UEFA and Just Eat for the Champions League Final is an incredible opportunity to showcase our carbon labelling solution on a global stage,” said My Emissions co-founder Matthew Isaacs, who was selected for Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Europe Class of 2024 alongside his co-founder Nathan Bottomley. “Through Champions Innovate, we’re bringing our solution to one of the largest sporting events in the world.”

UEFA’s Champions Innovate sustainability initiative

Champions Innovate is UEFA’s collaborative programme to address key challenges around the 2024 final beyond just what happens on the pitch. It was created by the UEFA Innovation Hub in collaboration with English governing body the Football Association, the Greater London Authority, and its media house London & Partners.

The goal for the Wembley final (June 1) is to enhance the ESG impact of the competition, according to UEFA, which partnered with three of its sponsors, each of whom worked on different challenges with the selected startups.

PepsiCo – responsible for the six-minute kickoff show – is working on reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of the show, with the long-term goal of organising a net-zero show by 2030. For this, it was teamed up with kinetic energy startup Pavegen, which generates electricity from people’s footsteps. UEFA aims to use this smart flooring tech to power the pre-match show.

Meanwhile, Mastercard is working alongside sports sustainability charity Pledgeball to boost the adoption of the former’s carbon calculator, and create a league for fans who can most effectively reduce their carbon consumption.

Just Eat Takeaway has been working with UEFA to reduce single-use plastic packaging over the last two years, bringing in Notpla’s seaweed packaging at several matches and reusable packaging as part of a circular initiative. Now, its collaboration with My Emissions, which began in September last year for businesses to put emissions information on their in-app delivery menus, has become part of the UEFA Champions Innovate portfolio too.

As part of this, My Emissions will calculate and communicate the carbon footprint of food offerings with a simple A-E rating system on all menus at UEFA sites.

Two days before the Champions League final, each startup demonstrated their pilot at a showcase event at London’s City Hall. An expert jury then awarded an additional €45,000 to the competition’s winner.

Carbon labelling a good step, but UEFA’s climate footprint is enlarging

My Emissions’ carbon labels will be displayed across all concession boards at Wembley Stadium, in partnership with caterers Delaware North. “Given the results, Delaware North will use My Emissions to create the carbon ratings for the UEFA Champions League final and season menus into 2025 and beyond,” revealed Andrew Wilkinson, procurement systems manager at the catering company.

All food trucks at the Champions Festival sites – Regents Street, Somerset House, Potters Field and Trafalgar Square – will also sport the labels. They’ve been open to the public since Thursday, and will remain so until Sunday.

Meanwhile, packaging at all these sites will be provided by Notpla, and will include a QR code to a landing page on Just Eat Takeaway’s website. This page will aim to educate fans about the environmental impact of food, providing them with an opportunity to win tickets to matches in next year’s UEFA Champions League.

“We’re able to talk to fans about the carbon footprint of food on a scale that we’ve never achieved before and encourage consumers to make more conscious choices,” said Isaacs. My Emissions has previously also added carbon labels to Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium for World Earth Day, working directly with the same caterer.

“In addition to Wembley Stadium and the Emirates Stadium, Delaware North also cater food at the London Stadium (West Ham), as well as other sites across the UK,” he said. “Due to the success of labelling, Delaware North is already looking to make carbon labelling a permanent fixture on menus at Arsenal and other stadiums for next season.”

Football has a major impact on the climate crisis, with the global industry generating over 30 million tonnes of CO2 per year, about the same as Denmark. UEFA, meanwhile, aims to cut GHG emissions in half by 2030, and reach net zero by 2040. In March, it launched a carbon calculator for football stakeholders to help reduce the sport’s climate impact.

That said, the organisation is also changing the format of its club competitions from next season, which will see teams play 177 more matches across the three tournaments. It means teams and fans will be flying two billion air miles in 2024-25 (33% higher than 2022-23), equating to 4,000 journeys to the Moon and back. Travel alone will be responsible for over 480,000 tonnes of GHG emissions (a 30% increase).

So while it uses carbon labels and taps into kinetic energy for a one-off final, UEFA’s emissions are continuing to increase, taking it further away from its 2030 goal. Football and its stakeholders need to do a lot more.

The post UEFA Champions League to Roll Out Carbon Labelling at Wembley & Other Sites for 2024 Final appeared first on Green Queen.

Swedish packaging solutions startup Saveggy has raised SEK 20M (€1.76M) to scale up its plastic-free, plant-based coating for fruits and vegetables, starting with cucumbers.

Lund-based Saveggy’s latest funding round of €1.76M was led by Unconventional Ventures, with additional participation from LRF Ventures, Almi Invest GreenTech, and angel investors.

With the twin goal of reducing plastic pollution and food waste, Saveggy will use the funds to produce its edible plant-based coating for fruits and vegetables at an industrial scale. Its first product is called SaveCucumber, which features a thin, invisible layer made from oats and rapeseed oil.

“We believe that freshness, the health of our planet, and the well-being of people should always remain uncompromised,” said co-founder and CEO Arash Fayyazi. “With this financing round, we will launch at industrial scale our first product.”

The pedigree of Fayyazi and his co-founder Vahid Sohrabpour (who is the chief innovation officer) was a major attraction for its lead investor, with Unconventional Ventures general partner Thea Messel saying: “Our investment in Saveggy was driven by the impressive credentials and substantial expertise of its founders. Their innovative technology tackles the significant challenges our food systems face.”

Killing two birds with one coat

Fayyazi and Sohrabpour launched Saveggy in 2020, describing it as a modular, customisable protection technology that can meet the requirements of different fruits and vegetables. According to the UN FAO, 45% of the world’s fruits and vegetables end up going to waste. Globally, we bin a billion household meals every single day, despite 780 million people (just under 10% of the population) facing hunger.

According to the UNEP, food waste contributes to 8-10% of global emissions. Making significant reductions in the amount of food we throw away is crucial to achieving climate and sustainable development goals relating to global heating, food security and biodiversity protection.

Meanwhile, plastic pollution – which relies on petroleum-based products – contributes to 3% of all greenhouse gas emissions (which is higher than the emissions impact of the aviation industry). Single-use plastics like those used in food packaging are devastating to the planet, especially marine life and aquatic systems, which end up back in our food system and present health threats to humans as well.

Plastic packaging is a massive problem for the food industry’s emissions (which account for a third of all emissions). In the US, for example, 63% of all municipal solid waste generated in 2014 comprised packaging materials for food and other purposes – only 35% was recycled or composted. But plastics offer a few key advantages for companies: they’re cheap to produce, they prevent water loss, they keep bacteria out, and they prolong the shelf life of produce.

Clearly, though, better solutions are needed. Saveggy’s offering isn’t a like-for-like substitute for plastic – it’s an altogether packaging-free alternative. It will benefit fruits or vegetables that have edible peels, adding a thin layer of its zero-additive plant-based coating that preserves freshness and shelf life.

Cucumbers, for example, which are 95% water and where moisture retention is crucial for freshness – after all, nobody likes a limp, shrivelled cucumber. Saveggy’s SaveCucumber innovation acts as a protective shield, preserves the water content, and slows down oxidation, extending the shelf life of an uncoated, unpackaged cucumber by three to four times.

Impressing legislators and investors alike

“We are excited and proud to support the team at Saveggy and their innovation in reducing food waste, advancing sustainable agriculture, and proactively complying with upcoming plastic waste regulations,” said LRF Ventures investment director Martin Alexandersson.

In March, the EU agreed to ban single-use plastics for fresh fruit and vegetable packaging (among other applications), in response to the rise in packaging waste in the region. This means all packaging in the bloc must be recyclable by the end of the decade, and starting next year, recyclable packaging will need to be recycled at scale – in 2020, only 38% of plastic packaging waste in the EU ended up being recycled.

Such regulations will raise the stock of startups like Saveggy, which claims to be the only plastic packaging alternative offering the same shelf life extension, and the only company to be given the all-clear from the EU for edible fruit and produce coatings. And the bloc has recognised its potential too, with the European Research Agency and the European Commission providing it with a €440,000 grant under the Eurostars programme last year.

For its SaveCucumber product, cucumbers are harvested, washed and dried, before being coated with the invisible layer. The company is also working on similar coatings for other produce like bananas, bell peppers and aubergines. Its investors will now look to leverage their supply chain networks to extend Saveggy’s presence to more distributors.

“We were particularly impressed by the founders’ perseverance, having refined their formula multiple times to meet the highest standards,” said Messel. “This unwavering commitment to innovation and sustainability aligns perfectly with our mission as impact investors and made our decision to partner with them clear.”

Saveggy is testing its products with partners, and will enter a market populated by the likes of industry leader Apeel (US), Sufresca (Israel), PolyNatural’s Shel-Life (Chile) and Liquidseal (Netherlands), all of which are making plant-based coatings for fruits and vegetables. Boston-based Foodberry (formerly Incredible Foods), meanwhile, is reverse-engineering fruit skins to make edible packaging for snacks.

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US coffee company Keurig, one of the world’s largest coffee pod producers, has introduced K-Rounds, a line of plant-based, fully compostable capsules, alongside a new machine, which are slated for launch in 2025.

Next year, Keurig Dr Pepper will roll out the first iteration of its future vision. One of the most popular coffee pod makers, the company is hoping to solve these products’ waste problem by eschewing the terminology entirely. Out with the pods and the capsules, in with the rounds, it seems.

K-Rounds – Keurig’s newest innovation – are free from plastic and aluminium, instead opting for a 100% compostable plant-based cellulose coating that is so thin, it’s invisible. With this, it becomes the latest company tackling coffee and pods’ big climate problems, following in the steps of market leader Nespresso and large retailers like Migros.

“Thirty years ago, Keurig changed the way consumers brewed coffee, with the introduction of the K-Cup pod single-serve coffee system,” said Keurig Dr Pepper CEO Bob Gamgort. “Today, we are applying all our expertise to create a revolutionary new system that will redefine how consumers will brew coffee for decades to come.”

Keurig’s K-Rounds blend sustainability with functionality

According to emissions intelligence agency DitchCarbon, Keurig scores a measly 8 out of 100 in its sustainability score, which is a framework built upon over 30 emissions metrics. It suggests that the company has a high carbon intensity with room for significant improvements in climate-friendly practices. DitchCarbon suggests that Keurig’s emissions performance is over 27% worse than its peers in the beverage industry.

Clearly, change is needed, and fast. The K-Rounds are Keurig’s way of doing that, with the company expecting the product to become certified backyard-compostable by the time it comes to market. The catch, though, is that these new coffee pods can’t be used in any existing machine – they are only compatible with a new coffee brewer being launched alongside, called Alta.

Alta does have a separate chamber so consumers can still use the old pods, but the new ones – said to be the result of a multi-year innovation – can similarly allow them to brew at both high pressure for espresso-based drinks and low pressure for drip coffee, whether it’s hot or cold. The functionality attributes are key. The K-Rounds come in different quantities and grind sizes, marked with a code from food-safe inks for the Alta to recognise and deliver proper pressure, extraction and flavour. Think single or double espresso, light or dark roasts, and so on.

As for product life, the new coffee pucks are said to be shelf-stable for up to six months, though once opened, they’ll be good for 30 days before their quality begins deteriorating. This is thanks to the coating around the coffee grounds. The cellulose offers some flavour and aroma protection properties, but on its own, it would be insufficient for a long shelf life. This is why Keurig is working on recyclable secondary packaging, which will also have barrier protection.

“We’re working through the dynamics of the secondary packaging materials, exactly how much barrier protection that provides, and then how we package that up in terms of the product counts; the numbers of the pods per secondary pack,” Phil Drapeau, senior vice-president of future coffee systems at Keurig Dr Pepper, told PackagingWorld. “Those will be the numbers and the balances that will need to come together.”

He noted that the company “certainly doesn’t want to go down a secondary packaging path that is not easily recyclable for consumers”, adding that it will eventually conduct a full life-cycle assessment (LCA) to truly measure its climate impact: “We’re a little ways off from LCA. It’s clearly on our radar screen, and we know how important that’s going to be to take a holistic look. The focus started with end of life [of the packaging], to meet consumers’ needs, and then working our way back from there.”

The need for a climate-friendly coffee industry

Keurig will begin beta-testing its K-Rounds this autumn, gathering feedback and insight from retailers and coffee partners to refine and optimise the product ahead of its broader market launch for consumers, potentially in 2025.

“Our ambitious agenda reflects our commitment to providing variety, quality, value, and sustainability to the 45 million North American coffee consumers who currently use Keurig brewers and the millions of potential new households who will discover the benefits of a perfect cup of coffee prepared effortlessly in their home,” said Gamgort.

On average, packaging makes up around 30% of individual coffee capsules, which research suggests contribute to more planet-heating emissions than other brewing methods. A separate study labels coffee pods as among the worst forms of human waste for the climate in terms of long-term damage. This is because, despite many of these products being recyclable, they end up in landfill.

Coffee pods are responsible for 576,000 metric tons of waste produced every year. The issue was highlighted by Nespresso USA’s sustainability head, Anna Marcina, in an interview with NPR last year, where she revealed the business spends over $35M per year on a coffee capsule recycling system – but only 36-37% actually gets recycled in the US.

This is why alternatives like Keurig’s K-Rounds are crucial. Compostable coffee pods are slowly becoming the norm, with many coffee companies producing biodegradable capsules compatible with existing brewers from the likes of Keurig and Nespresso. The latter itself introduced paper-based coffee pods that are home-compostable in 2022.

It’s part of a larger movement to lower the coffee industry’s complicated relationship with climate change. It is amongst the highest-emitting foods globally, and the effects of the climate crisis have put 60% of the world’s coffee species, including arabica, under the threat of extinction. Meanwhile, the amount of land suitable for coffee-growing could be halved before 2050, reducing yields and consequently driving up prices.

So, packaging is just one problem. Coffee the commodity itself is a whole other issue. Some are coming up with climate-resilient ways of producing these beans, such as French crop genetics startup Amaterra, and Israeli lab-grown coffee producer Pluri. On the other hand, companies including Northern Wonder, Atomo and Prefer are eschewing coffee altogether, instead using fermentation techniques on crops like carob, chicory and lupin beans, and agricultural sidestreams such as date pits, surplus bread, and spent brewer’s grain to produce beanless coffee alternatives.

The post K-Rounds: Keurig to Roll Out Compostable Cellulose Coffee Pods Next Year appeared first on Green Queen.

Christmas is one of the most joyful and wasteful days of the year – with lots of food and lots of waste producing stats that make for uncomfortable reading. Here’s how you can have a more eco-conscious holiday this year.

Over three days of Christmas festivities, our consumption habits lead to the emission of 650kg of carbon dioxide per person, which is the same weight as 1,000 Christmas puddings. More shockingly, that is 5.5% of a person’s entire annual carbon footprint – no amount of stockings or stuffing is worth that.

It’s a lot of people’s favourite week of the year, starting with Christmas and celebrations with loved ones, and ending with a reflection of the year gone by with the promise of an even better one next. But – at the risk of being a party pooper – if we continue the way we are, there may not be any better years to come.

To that effect, there are some changes we can make that will have a drastic impact on our consumption-based impact on the climate during Yuletide. To futureproof Christmas and our planet, here are some holiday rules.

1) Sustainable physical gifts

Quality over quantity is the name of the game here. Over 60% of Brits receive at least one unwanted gift on Christmas, while 57% of Americans regift or donate presents they never wished for in the first place.

Avoid buying things that won’t get used – one way to do that is to simply ask the recipient what they’d like, and get a well-made, ethical product that will last long and can be passed on to friends, families or charity. You could also look for recycled, refurbished or preloved items, and when it comes to electric equipment, finding an energy-efficient option is the way to go.

2) Better wrapping solutions

Wrapping paper creates mind-bending amounts of waste. Greenpeace estimates that 1kg of wrapping paper contributes to over 3kg of CO2 emissions mainly due to the coal needed for production, while the amount of wrapping paper thrown away in the UK is long enough to reach the moon.

Consider reusing scrap paper from old magazines or newspapers lying around (which are destined for the bin otherwise). But even better, you could get reusable gift wraps – in the form of old fabrics, boxes, etc. – and tie them with a string instead of plastic tape. If you do get paper wrap, buy recycled and recyclable (or biodegradable if you can), and reuse for future use if you can.

If you’re like me and just can’t wrap to save your life, maybe just eschew the wrapping paper altogether – it’s the thought that counts, after all!

3) Virtual presents and donations

A more climate-conscious solution for gifts and wrappers is to avoid physical presents. Think of alternative gifts, like an experience you could spend together. This also tends to look and be more thoughtful and stands out from other gifts. Plus, it helps sidestep the extra transportation emissions produced by shipping these products.

Moreover, if the recipient feels passionate about a particular cause, consider gifting a donation to a charity of their choice. They might not really need a physical gift on Christmas, but you could help someone who could do with some kindness and help.

4) Say no to plastic

The UK’s plastic packaging amounts to 125,000 tonnes during the holiday period, with over 91% of it (114,000 tonnes) going to landfill instead of being recycled. In terms of weight, the total plastic waste is as heavy as five Statues of Liberty.

So apart from not using plastic gift wrap, reduce plastic wherever you can. Shop local and in zero-waste stores if you can to avoid packaging waste, use virtual Christmas cards, get crackers that only have jokes instead of the wasteful little gifts inside (and make sure to recycle the paper and packaging here), and get eco-friendly Christmas decorations.

5) Zero-waste decorations

Speaking of, 12,500 tonnes of Christmas decorations are destined for landfill each year in the UK, which includes nearly 70,000 miles of Christmas lights.

Only get decorations that you can reuse and/or repurpose for other settings, and avoid buying plastic if you can. DIY decorations can be a lot of fun and a good way to spend precious family time. You could dehydrate and reshape orange peels into stars for a compostable Christmas garland, make flowers from leftover tubes of empty toilet paper, or buy secondhand decorations from charity shops to reduce your consumption footprint.

6) Greener trees

An estimated 350 million Christmas trees are sold globally each year. But is it better to get a real one, or an artificial replica? It’s a tricky subject. Real Christmas trees take years to grow, and if they’re cultivated without fertilisers, that’s better than intensively grown variants. Buy local to avoid transport emissions and look for those certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

An artificial Christmas tree that can be used over multiple years (at least five) is better than buying a new one each year, though there is the use of plastic or metal to contend with. Potted trees are very sustainable, as they can be reused each year, saving emissions from transportation and spreading the carbon footprint of buying them over several years.

What you definitely shouldn’t do is buy a new Christmas tree each year – that takes your climate impact through the roof.

7) Tackling tree disposal

Aside from the impact of growing trees, a bigger problem is how these are disposed of. The UK throws away eight million Christmas trees, generating 12,000 tonnes of waste. If a two-metre-high real Christmas tree ends up in a landfill, it has a carbon footprint of 16kg (while producing the much-more-potent methane too).

Again, replanting potted trees with roots is the best way to go about this, as it avoids disposal altogether. If you need to get rid of your tree, having it chipped and spread around the garden can cut the carbon footprint by up to 80%. But these trees can also help protect coastal areas by supporting sand dunes, turned into compost or recycled – or better yet – donated to local charities for reuse.

8) Lighter lighting

Depending on the type, incandescent light bulbs can use between 25 to 175 watts per strand. Christmas lights add a wonderful touch to the festivities, but they guzzle energy (and, subsequently, carbon and our money) – extravagant outdoor lighting can result in 500kg more carbon produced per household.

Instead, opt for LED light bulbs, which only use 5kg of carbon per household and last years on end. Using a low-energy light bulb for four hours daily can save 30kg of carbon per bulb annually, compared to a standard 100W one. And you could consider getting smaller solar-powered lights for your garden, instead of full-battery versions. And don’t forget to turn those fairy lights off before bedtime.

9) Travelling lighter

Christmastime always sees an influx of travellers and major crows at airports, railway stations and on the roads. But transportation has a huge impact on the environment, particularly due to its reliance on fossil fuels. So unless you have an electric car, this is something you might want to consider if you’re travelling around this period.

If you can, avoid air travel – especially domestically (as that is responsible for the highest share of transport emissions). Use public transport like trains if possible, and if you must use a car, see if you can share a ride with fellow travellers, as that will hugely reduce your pollution and your contribution to climate change.

10) Avoid food waste

In the UK alone, 54 million excess plates of food are thrown away on Christmas – that’s enough to feed dinner to 80% of the country’s population. And while the US already wastes about 30-40% of its food supply, the USDA predicts this goes up by 20% during the holidays.

It’s crucial to not waste food at all – let alone during Christmas. While it’s easy to go overboard with the festive spirit, buy and make only as much food as you need: if you do need a lot of variety, make smaller quantities and plan your menu so you can use your ingredients in multiple dishes. If you have food left over, repurpose it into new dishes post-Christmas, or donate to people in need.

As for produce, you can get creative and use every part of the vegetable. Look for recipes that utilise scraps, and leave the peel on where you can. If you must throw something away, compost it.

11) Zero-waste cocktails

Brits drink 250 million pints of beer over the holiday period, while Americans drink 27% more during the festive season versus the rest of the year. That’s a lot of booze, but it’s also a lot of waste. There’s the packaging: in the US, 70% of wine bottles end up in landfill, while half of all alcohol containers are thrown away and not recycled in the UK. But then there’s the production aspect itself: a 500ml bottle of beer uses around 148 litres of water, while a single 125ml glass of wine needs 110 litres.

To drink more mindfully (for both you and the planet), choose sustainable spirits and/or those that come in recycled and recyclable packaging. Dispose of the leftover bottles and cans in a planet-friendly way. As for what you’re drinking, opt for zero-waste cocktails – we have a handy recipe guide for you here.

12) More mindful cooking practices

There are multiple things you can do to lower your cooking impact. For example, only pre-heat the oven for as long as it needs, and don’t leave it turned on after the food is done to keep it heated. You can consider steam-cooking vegetables like Brussels sprouts, broccoli, etc., as they can be prepared at the same time and end up using less energy.

Moreover, instead of serving people individually, let them help themselves to as much as they need – anything that’s on the plate that isn’t eaten usually goes in the bin, but you can avoid that altogether by only portioning out as much as you need.

Bonus: Make your Christmas dinner vegan

Perhaps the most impactful thing you can do on Christmas is change what’s on your plate. Meat is the standard centrepiece in a majority of households, with sides that include dairy and meat alongside vegetables, and desserts containing dairy too. But meat and dairy have a significantly higher impact on the planet than plant-based food – vegan diets can reduce emissions, water pollution and land use by 75%.

Green Queen partnered with climate data startup Calyx to measure the climate footprint of an average Christmas dinner, versus one with vegan alternatives. Across the board, the plant-based dishes had an equal or higher eco-score, especially with meat. A roast turkey with cranberry sauce had a score of D+, compared to a nut load with cranberry sauce, which had a B rating. Similarly, a roast ham with gravy had a D score, with a roasted butternut squash with mushroom gravy ranking much higher at A-.

There are legions of things you can do to have a more sustainable Christmas and celebrate it with as much merriment as usual – food, though, should be top of the list.

The post 12 Ways of Christmas: Holiday Rules for the Climate-Conscious appeared first on Green Queen.

What does the future look like for food tech? French consultancy DigitalFoodLab has released its annual State of FoodTech Trends report for 2024, distilling 28 directions in six ‘mega-trends’, including sustainable proteins, food is medicine and automation.

Food tech is the future of food. That’s what DigitalFoodLab, a French strategy consultancy counting over 50 clients including the likes of Nestlé and Danone, wants you to know.

In the fourth edition of its annual State of FoodTech Trends report, the insights firm has identified 28 key things to look out for in food tech next year and beyond – divided into six broad categories – and outlines how long each will take to reach a point of maturity.

The report points out that 2024 will be an exciting yet complicated time for food tech, with an uncommonly large number of trends in the ‘disillusion’ phase, and many in the ‘excitement’ stage paving the way for disillusion. This has resulted in food trends being scattered all around a curve measuring expectations against time – tracking how a new tech becomes a trend, reaches a peak of excitement, which fades into disillusionment before its challenges are addressed, after which it becomes a disruptor seen by every observer.

Speaking to Green Queen, Digitalfoodlab co-founder Matthieu Vincent said he was most surprised at the extremes in many ecosystems, “we both super hyped up startups while at the same time, quite a lot of the companies in the space are in the disillusionment stage, which creates a strange situation where one part of the foodtech ecosystem is thriving while many startups are struggling to avoid bankruptcy.”

He added that he is most sceptical about the alternative protein trend because he has doubts about “the ability of many companies to sustain the hype.” While he is bullish on the space overall, “the problem is in the definition of ‘long-term’. We think most companies have overpromised on their ability to reach mass production fast so a period of reckoning may be coming where we’ll see which startups have the technology and the financial means to deliver in time to satisfy investors.”

Vincent noted that the trends have geographical specificities too. “In the report, trends are mapped from a global perspective, but obviously their impact and the way they will reach different markets will be hugely different. Let’s take the healthy ageing trend – if we broaden the topic to ‘healthy ingredients, this trend is far more advanced in Asia where there are already many products on the market (and regulation that is pushing the space forward, for example in China.”

So what does DigitalFoodLab predict the future of food tech to be? Here are the six mega-trends shaping the industry in 2024.

Food tech trend #1: The resilient farm

Agtech is a critical component of the food tech ecosystem. “Multiple trends drive us toward a more sustainable and resilient farm: the growing appetite for locally grown foods, fewer farmers and workers, energy costs, climate change concerns, notably regarding arable land, and the convergence of technology and farming,” the report states.

This trend is going in two directions: existing farms are being augmented as more intelligent and automated, and between urban, indoor and next-gen farms, the former is overtaking the latter in terms of hype, investments and acquisitions.

Precision farming is one of the six food trends representing the future of agriculture. A farm management concept based on data measurement and analysis, it’s a well-established ecosystem that seeks to “increase food production by improving in-farm decision-making, product traceability and quality”. While one of the oldest agtech ecosystems, it’s yet to mature, with universal access to software and tools a key challenge.

Farm robotics, meanwhile, are the first step towards autonomous agriculture, featuring AI and machine learning tech. Out of the disillusionment stage, its growth is linked to a reduced pool of skilled workers and sustainability (cutting the amount of required inputs). There’s also indoor and urban farming, which is facing a reckoning thanks in part to the energy crisis, but this ecosystem is expected to grow around business models spotlighting tech over farm operators.

In terms of insects for animal feed, there’s a growing disillusionment as industrial facilities are more complicated to run than previously thought, while a consolidation based on the type of insects startups choose is likely. One of the new trends this year (which hasn’t appeared in DigitalFoodLab’s previous reports) is bio inputs, a field where companies are developing a new generation of organic and more efficient fertilisers. It’s still in its infancy, but is being boosted by the energy crisis and rising costs of fertilisers.

The final trend (and another new one) for the resilient farm is future crops, which involve improving seed quality for disease resistance, increased yields, flowering control, nutritional enhancement and longer life post-harvest. Genetic hybridisation (crossing) and gene editing are two of the most common technologies used by startups here.

Food tech trend #2: Sustainable proteins

Alternative proteins have been on the rise for a while now, and for good reason. They’re much more environmentally friendly and present health benefits over animal-derived foods – and there’s the animal welfare aspect too. Even with the recent sales decline of plant-based meat, the category as a whole has been gaining traction.

There are five key directions part of the sustainable protein segment, with scale, costs, consumer acceptance and regulatory approval as the main hurdles to overcome, along with financing the industrialisation of these products. DigitalFoodLab proposes distributed production (bioreactors in the cloud, alluding to the cloud computing sector) as a potential solution.

The first trend here, of course, is plant-based protein. This trend has gone backwards from the ‘rising stars’ (overcoming disillusionment) stage to between the excitement and disillusionment phases. “We wrongly and collectively believed that plant-based products and alternative proteins, as a whole, were ready for mass adoption,” the report notes. Consumer concerns around health, taste and price are the key deterrents, but new facilities, cleaner labels and industry collaboration are markers of better things to come.

Next up is cellular agriculture – in this case, cultivated proteins – which is still in its infancy and at least three to five years away from being market-ready (apart from the very limited availability of cell-cultured meat in the US and Singapore). Mass adoption is much further away, and the key challenges (excluding regulatory approval) are lower costs, serum-free formulations, stable cell lines, better taste and texture, and scaling production. Large facilities are already underway, with several set to be operational by 2025.

Then there’s what’s known as the third pillar of alt-protein: fermentation. Precision fermentation – like cell cultivation – is hitting its peak in the excitement stage, with most companies focused on recreating dairy proteins by inserting the genetic code of the desired protein in a microorganism before fermentation. Regulatory and scale-up barriers (especially for casein) are key here, with price parity (and how to transition farmers effectively once that happens) also important.

Biomass fermentation, meanwhile, is also at this peak, with startups either using microbes that can produce proteins in an uncontrolled environment or using carbon dioxide as feed to create protein products. This faces similar challenges, notably regulatory clearance and flavourful products. Molecular farming – which involves genetically modifying plants to become bioreactors producing proteins – is highly promising and more scalable than precision fermentation or cell cultivation, but it’s still in an experimental stage, with the first large-scale demonstrations expected in the next two to three years.

Food tech trend #3: Instant retail

This trend encapsulates all innovations enabling consumers to access food quickly and efficiently from their screens, in one click, a concept that can be extended to anti-food-waste platforms, ethnic marketplaces, autonomous stores and restaurant delivery.

There are four trends here, all out of the hype phase. Smart stores, still approaching this stage, entail upstream concepts (warehouse automation), on-shelf tech (checkout-free stores) and complete automation. The adoption is very slow here, with large companies like Amazon leading the way, and the increasing need for more workers may speed this up.

Quick commerce – involving deliveries in usually less than 30 minutes from small warehouses – is facing loads of challenges, including zoning limitations and high labour costs. “If things move fast in FoodTech, nothing came close to the speed at which quick commerce startups went to the moon and are now crashing,” DigitalFoodLab noted, adding that disruption can still happen thanks to market consolidation and via delivery robots rather than the Q commerce we know today.

New retailers are reinventing grocery shopping from the ground up, considering online channels as their only focus. Some of the giants here offer identical products to incumbent retailers, but promise to do better, while smaller innovators are disrupting the market with subscriptions, reusable packaging, ‘ugly’ produce or damaged products.

The most mature trend in this category is restaurant delivery. Here, consultation is still underway, while regulations of driver status are no longer a priority outside Europe. These companies have also entered grocery delivery, demonstrating a viable profitability path, and they’re increasingly essential to foodservice.

Food tech trend #4: Food as medicine

Food as medicine has been evolving for some time now – we’ve written extensively about it too. This trend is the new avatar of DigitalFoodLab’s previous ‘food personalisation’ direction, with the convergence of health and food at the heart of things. Two of the key pillars – especially in the US – are produce prescription programmes and medically tailored meals.

These initiatives can have a “potentially massive impact”, but there are very few players. One of the sub-trends here is food coaching, “a move from services to devices”, encompassing health testing apps and diet and nutrition platforms. This is in the disillusionment stage at present, with more scientific rigour needed to reach a wider audience.

Healthy ageing includes ingredients that help us live longer. One aspect is adding new ingredients like genetically modified produce or breast-milk-derived innovations to existing foods, while the other category seeks to reduce long-term damage caused by processed foods. This segment – a new trend – is approaching the excitement phase.

One that’s far away is personalised food – supplements or meals customised for people based on test results, and evolutive micronutrition to print supplements for home or office use. Low adaptability is a key concern for the former, while high costs and unconvincing tech are currently discouraging consumers from the latter.

Food tech trend #5: Automation

The food automation sector is in limbo. “For many years, startups have used robotic arms and other complicated and costly technologies to replicate humans’ actions, but it is not working,” the report said. Now, the new goal is to scale down factories to the size of a restaurant instead of emulating chefs with robotic arms.

There are four trends at play here, with none at the hype stage. Cloud kitchens and virtual restaurants (“primarily a marketing expert that creates restaurant brands and menus”) are approaching the end of the disillusionment phase. Virtual restaurants are becoming more digital and offering their brands as a sales tool for restaurants, but the sector is compounded by influencer-owned brands. While the boom isn’t over, the report predicted that there will be a phase of rationalisation with concentration in the hands of a handful of players.

Moving from hype to disillusionment, cooking robots can include collaborative robots that replace employees for complex tasks, automated eateries, and automated kiosks and vending machines. DigitalFoodLab noted: “They don’t solve a real-world problem and are far from becoming profitable: what is the point of using a $25,000 robotic arm to serve coffee?” New solutions focus on less expensive robots (mechanical tools, really) and adapting them to humans.

Delivery robots became prominent after the pandemic, but were less successful than anticipated, with several down rounds, layoffs and shutdowns. It will take a bit of time to see robots and drones used in our daily lives at scale. 3D printing, on the other hand, is one futuristic tech finally finding its use. A new trend on the list, it’s allowing companies to display greater creativity and better define the texture or ingredients used in complex products like meat and seafood alternatives.

Food tech trend #6: The smart supply chain

The final category of food tech trends for 2024 relates to smart supply chains, driven by the fight against food waste as well as digitalisation to reduce labour costs and promote standardisation.

Digital restaurant services – facilitating booking, online order management, payment and HR management – represent the most mature trend here, with acquisitions in this space expected to continue as services become more integrated. Smart packaging is in its disillusionment stage, underlined by underinvestment despite technologies working to cut food waste, improve shelf life, and enhance safety. The real disruption may come from protective layers (which keep moisture and oxygen out) instead of the packaging itself.

Reusable packaging (a new trend separated from the smart packaging direction) involves startups managing reusable packs or developing a network of collectors combined with digital tags. Regulation is crucial here, with single-use plastic bans driving interest in these solutions.

Another new trend, food waste management techniques are being created across the supply chain – spanning foodservice, unsold food, on-shelf solutions and home appliances – with the focus being shifted from discounting to software solutions, and now expected to evolve towards retail procurement management, with food waste and merging with B2B marketplaces in mind.

These B2B marketplaces are the third new trend, with startups digitalising the supplier-store relationship through mobile apps and integrated messaging systems. There are multiple types of players here, and competition from prominent companies adds a degree of challenge. Finally, the digital supply chain is focusing on carbon counting and decarbonisation, with the main challenge involving data about livestock and agricultural production. Startups are also developing carbon credit trading platforms, while others help inform consumers about their carbon footprint through food.

It’s an extensive list with loads of innovations, potential and challenges – how will these food tech trends pan out over 2024? We’ll have to wait and watch (this space).

The post From Sustainable Proteins to Food is Medicine, 6 Trends Shaping the Future of Food in 2024 appeared first on Green Queen.

New York-based sustainability research firm HowGood has partnered with Majid Al Futtaim, which operates Carrefour in the UAE, to bring the former’s climate impact labels to five of the French retail giant’s stores in Dubai, including one at COP28. HowGood’s stamp will be digitally displayed on over 2,500 food products.

HowGood, the US research agency that boasts the largest ingredient and product sustainability database (covering over 33,000 ingredients), has teamed up with Majid Al Futtaim – which operates Carrefour stores in the UAE – and SES-imagotag (a digital solutions provider for physical commerce) to bring climate impact labels to more than 2,500 food items.

The collaboration will see HowGood’s climate impact labels appear on product packaging at five Carrefour Dubai locations: Mall of the Emirates, City Centre Deira, City Centre Mirdif, Dubai International Airport’s Terminal 3, and its store at COP28 (situated at the Blue Zone in Expo City). It will make Carrefour the only retailer in the region to transparently disclose the sustainability ratings of its products.

How HowGood’s climate labels will work at Carrefour

Consumers will now be able to identify the climate and social impacts of the food they buy via three labels provided by HowGood, which include information on carbon footprints and comprehensive sustainability credentials. These labels will utilise SES-imagotag’s digital shelf edge tags, which enable “seamless visibility” for consumers to help them make purchasing decisions.

The first label, Product Carbon Footprint, is a measure of the greenhouse gas emissions of the food item from cradle to shelf. The second, the Comprehensive HowGood Sustainability Rating, ranks products based on their socio-environmental impact via a percentile system. If a food has the ‘Best’ rating, it means the product has better social and climate credentials than 95% of all others assessed. ‘Great’ indicates 85% and ‘Good’ 70%.

These ratings are part of Carrefour’s Choose Better programme as well, which is launching at COP28. It aims to “educate, empower and reward customers” for making better-for-you and eco-friendly choices accessible and affordable. The scheme is built on three pillars – For You, For the Planet, and For Communities – highlighting the health, environment and social focus points. It’s a pertinent campaign, given that 83% of the Emirati population doesn’t eat its daily recommended servings of five fruits and vegetables.

“Our launch of the Choose Better programme is not only a testament to our commitment to sustainability, it also aligns with our purpose to help customers shop smarter and live better by helping them make healthier, more sustainable shopping choices,” said Sheila Chaiban, CMO at Majid Al Futtaim. Carrefour itself claimed to have reduced its emissions by 36% in 2019 and intends to cut them by a further 30% by 2030 and 55% by 2040 (from a 2019 baseline).

The third HowGood label available at Carrefour stores is called Product Sustainability Attributes, which digs deeper into additional climate concerns. This helps shoppers identify which products use less water (Water Smart), have lower GHG emissions (Climate Friendly), comprise simpler formulations with a maximum of seven or fewer ingredients (Clean Label), are made with ingredients not dependent on commercial or industrial processing (Minimally Processed), and respect workers’ rights (Fair Labor).

Catering to consumer trends and government plans

HowGood says the three labels bring transparency to multiple areas of concern surrounding the food industry and its impact on the planet. Food systems are responsible for a third of all global emissions, with meat accounting for 60% of these. As the UAE hosts the UN climate summit in its Year of Sustainability, the focus on food and its impact on the climate is more pronounced than ever before – especially given that the UAE wastes roughly 38% of all food produced daily, while food imports make up 90% of its supply and 6% of its population remains undernourished.

At the Future Food Forum in Dubai in September, a panel discussed consumers’ rising interest in plant-based and flexitarian diets in the country – 44% of its residents are open to substituting meat and dairy with vegan alternatives. And a YouGov poll last month revealed that 55% of Emirati citizens identify as flexitarian (including pescetarians), vegetarian or vegan.

That third HowGood label also ties in with what people are looking for in the country. For flexitarians and vegetarians, health is the topmost priority (58% and 59% chose it, respectively) when it comes to food choices, according to the YouGov survey. That focus on clean-label ingredients and minimal processing will appeal to this cohort, but there’s a broader precedent as well: global ingredients manufacturer Ingredion has previously found that 50% of the country’s citizens are prioritising their food and drink’s nutritional content and naturalness.

These labels have proven to be influencing consumer purchases. HowGood partnered with SES-imagotag in London recently, and the use of its attributes increased product sales by 25.8% on average. The Fair Labor attribute brought a rise of 45.1%.

It’s another chapter in what will be the UN’s first food-focused climate summit, where the FAO is set to introduce a roadmap for the agri-food sector to align to the 1.5°C goal, which COP28 president (and head of UAE national oil company Adnoc) Dr Sultan Al Jaber claims is still possible – despite recent scientific reports saying otherwise. In fact, one study has found that the world is currently on track for 3°C warming above pre-industrial levels, amplifying the importance of striking international climate deals at COP28.

“Food brands and retailers have an immense opportunity to drive transparency and empower more sustainable decision-making,” said HowGood chief innovation officer Ethan Soloviev. “Our launch at COP28 will be a clear signal of where the future of retail is headed with regard to sustainability.”

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Cigarette-style warnings about the impact of climate change on food can cut meat consumption, according to a study by Durham University. Researchers found that adding pictorial climate warning labels deterred Brits from choosing meat dishes by 7.4 percentage points, and participants aren’t be opposed to policies mandating such labels.

‘Smoking kills.’ It’s a ubiquitous label found on cigarette and tobacco packaging, a mandatory label designed to deter people from smoking, without actually banning the act. Can governments do the same for meat consumption, which also kills?

That’s what researchers are Durham University ventured to find out in a UK-wide study published last month in the peer-reviewed journal Appetite. Surveying 1,001 Brits, the study aimed to find whether providing pictorial labels about the impact of meat-eating on climate change, health and pandemics on menus can influence people’s decisions to opt for a meat dish.

Meat consumption has been linked to increased risks of obesity, heart disease and certain types of cancer, while the industry has been found to be taking inadequate steps to prevent future zootonic pandemics. Meanwhile, meat’s impact on climate change has been well-documented. Reserach has shown that vegan diets can reduce emissions, land use and water pollution by 75% compared to meat-rich diets, and that replacing half of our meat and dairy consumption can halt deforestation and double climate benefits.

How the packaging of cigarettes can inform climate labelling

The study split participants into four groups and asked them to imagine they were in a university canteen. Each group had to choose from four hot dishes – including burgers, curries, burritos, lasagna, quiche and pasta bake – which were meat-based, fish-based, vegetarian and vegan.

For one group, the meat option came labelled with “Eating meat contributes to poor health”, accompanied by a picture of a person getting a heart attack. Another group had the label “Eating meat contributes to climate change” alongside a picture depicting deforestation, while the third group placed the meat option alongside “Eating meat contributes to pandemics”, showcasing caged animals.

The other group had no such labels surrounding the meat option – here, people chose meat 64% of the time. But when looking at the different labels, all represented a reduction in opting for meat, with the pandemic warning being the most effective, dropping the number of people choosing meat to 54% (a 10-point decline). The health warning, meanwhile, saw an 8.8-point decrease, while the climate change label affected a 7.4-point reduction.

This is in line with a recent Smart Protein survey of 750 UK consumers by ProVeg International, which found that health was the top motivating factor for Brits to reduce meat and dairy consumption, with 48% citing it. This was followed by environmental reasons (29%) and animal welfare (25%).

Similarly, a 1,000-person survey by Bryant Reserach, ProVeg and Plant Futures last month revealed that health benefits are the number one reason for Brits to eat plant-based meat (39%), followed by taste and texture (36%) and environmental benefits (17%).

The UK’s climate fight

Despite the more pronounced effect of the health labels, attitudes towards mandating such labels were flipped, with participants indicating they aren’t opposed to mandatory cigarette-style climate labels on food, but are less supportive of the health and pandemic labels.

This is key, since meat reduction needs to be a priority for the UK. According to a recent YouGov poll, 72% of its citizens classify themselves as meat-eaters. The country’s Climate Change Committee, which advises the government on net-zero goals, has recommended a 20% reduction in meat and dairy consumption by 2030. But in June, the CCC said the UK’s pace of action to reduce emissions by 68% by 2030 from a 1990 benchmark is “worryingly slow”.

Last month, ONS data revealed that meat and dairy consumption in the UK is at its lowest since records began in 1974. But the intake of fruits and vegetables has also dropped. And in September, UK prime minister Rishi Sunak U-turned on the country’s climate commitments, facing backlash after pushing back the deadline for gas and diesel car bans from 2030. Sunak said he remained committed to sticking to the UK’s net-zero goal for 2050 in a more pragmatic and realistic manner, although did not outline how he would do so.

Meanwhile, analysis by GFI Europe in August found that the UK needs to invest £390M in alternative proteins between 2025 and 2030 to avoid losing momentum to other countries.

“Reaching net zero is a priority for the nation and the planet,” said study lead Jack Hughes. “As warning labels have already been shown to reduce smoking as well as drinking of sugary drinks and alcohol, using a warning label on meat-containing products could help us achieve this if introduced as national policy.”

Hughes told TIME that adding these climate labels could actually get the UK to reach about halfway towards its target. He compared it to a similar study in 2021 in the US, which had text-only labels. That study didn’t find any significant impact, and Hughes suggested it could be due to cultural differences, but because of the addition of images and citations to the sources of information too.

A growing body of evidence

“It is not up to me to speculate or recommend how companies and restaurants use this research,” Hughes told TIME. “If these were to be implemented in the real world, what our research shows is that putting these warning labels alongside meat options when people are making decisions might be an effective way to reduce the amount of meat people are choosing.”

And there is precedent in the real world, as evidenced by the partnership between catering company Chartwells and research firm HowGood, which last week revealed that there has been an increase in student demand for climate-friendly meals in US universities after the introduction of eco labels.

Other studies that have explored the efficacy of climate labels include one from the Food Quality and Preference journal earlier this year, which found that 63% of Brits would be deterred from buying meat if it had an eco score in the red and 52% would consider buying meat alternatives if they had a better rating (though the sample size was only 255). A wider-ranging analysis by CarbonTrust, compiling data from three YouGov polls totalling over 10,000 respondents from eight countries (including the UK), revealed that two-thirds of respondents find carbon labelling a good idea.

Milica Vasiljevic, a senior author of the study, said: “We already know that eating a lot of meat, especially red and processed meat, is bad for your health and that it contributes to deaths from pollution and climate change. Adding warning labels to meat products could be one way to reduce these risks to health and the environment.”

The post Meat Kills: How Cigarette-Style Warnings Could Help Cut the UK’s Meat Consumption appeared first on Green Queen.

In a world packed with celebrity spirits, some are spotlighting sustainability with innovative plant-based alcohol offerings, from zero-waste to zero-ABV. Here are three of our just-launched faves.

If it feels like there are way too many celebrity-backed or -owned alcohol brands, that’s because there are. There’s practically a new one every month. Just this year, we’ve seen Blake Lively launch Betty Booze, Jennifer Lopez unveil Delola, Jason Momoa introduce Meili, Matthew McConaughey partner with his wife for Pantalones, and Michael Bublé expand his Christmas empire with Fraser & Thompson.

It’s an oversaturated market, but some are cutting through the noise to offer more sustainable booze for fans, given it’s an industry linked to “water and food insecurity, environmental degradation, pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and greenwashing”, according to one report.

It’s not just you that alcohol leaves thirsty – liquor itself is thirsty: a 500ml bottle of beer uses around 148 litres of water, while a single 125ml glass of wine needs 110 litres. An average person uses around 142 litres of water a day, to put that into some context.

There’s also a waste problem. In the US, 70% of wine bottles end up in landfill, while half of all alcohol containers are thrown away and not recycled in the UK. Meanwhile, for every litre of tequila, about 5kg of pulp and 10-15kg of acidic waste are left over, both of which can contaminate soil and water supplies in production regions.

So as we push towards a more sustainable and ethical food system, here are three celebrity-led alcohol brands launched just this year that pull focus on these very themes.

Woody Harrelson: Holistic Spirits Co.

Described as the world’s first plant-powered spirits company, Now You See Me actor Woody Harrelson teamed up with health and wellness entrepreneur Amy Holmwood to launch Holistic Spirits Co.

The brand debuted gin and vodka flavoured with botanicals and positioned as superfood-containing, better-for-you drinks. “No alcohol will ever be healthy, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be more conscious of what we’re putting in our bodies while we enjoy spirits, in whatever setting that may be,” says Holmwood.

The Origen vodka’s base spirit is made from organic white wheat, while the Harmony gin is made from organic corn, and both are infused with artichoke leaves, elderberries, green tea leaves, and muscadine grapes. The latter additionally makes use of botanicals like juniper berries, coriander seed, hyssop, lemon peel, lime peel, angelica root and orris root. At 35% ABV, neither spirit has any artificial colours and flavourings or added sugars.

“For years I’ve wondered who was going to come along and put my favourite superfoods into spirits,” says Harrelson a long-time vegan and star of nature documentaries like Kiss the Ground and its forthcoming sequel. He has also invested in plant-based meat and seafood brands Wicked Kitchen, Abbot’s Butcher and Good Catch. “I think it’s a marvellous thing that Amy came up with, and I admire her sense of purpose. It was a no-brainer to get involved from the start.” (Holmes, who has degrees in biotech and nutrition, developed the recipe in 2022.)

Both the spirits are distilled using what the company describes are “sustainable initiatives and green, cutting-edge” techniques. Moreover, the Holistic Spirits Co. has been accepted into the Positive Luxury Butterfly Accelerator Programme, which helps innovative sustainable businesses scale up through financial aid and tailored support.

Lewis Hamilton: Almave

Another vegan celebrity with a strong investor portfolio, Formula One legend Lewis Hamilton teamed up with Montelobos Mezcal and Alma Finca maker Casa Lumbre to unveil a blue agave tequila – with a non-alcoholic twist.

Hamilton, whose investments include the popular plant-based fast-food chain Neat Burger and Chilean alt-protein startup NotCo, launched Almave with Casa Lumre co-founder Iván Saldaña to cater to the growing number of teetotal and sober-curious youth consumers. In the UK, for example, over a quarter of 16- to 25-year-olds are teetotallers, while the number of college-age Americans who don’t drink has risen from 20% to 28% in the last decade.

Almave claims to be the only company to be using blue agave to make alcohol-free tequila. It’s made using the same raw materials and in the same part of Mexico, but eschews the fermentation process that turns the liquid into alcohol. For this reason, Almave’s liquor can’t legally be called tequila, and is instead referred to as a blue-agave spirit (much like labelling conventions prohibit alt-milk manufacturers from using dairy-related terms).

Regardless, the company promises the “same distinct agave taste and character”, making a product “true to the land, true to the plant”. There are two variants: the Almave Ámbar, which boasts notes of roasted blue agave, sweet caramel and toasted wood, and the Almave Blanco, which is characterised by balanced sweetness and acidity.

Emma Watson: Renais Gin

Ever the goody-two-shoes, Hermoine has stayed true to her dentist parents with a spirit that’s better for your teeth than others. It also happens to be better for the planet.

But it’s not just her fictional parents she’s paying homage to. Emma Watson’s family has deep ties to French winemaking, and her father owns an award-winning wine company called Domaine Watson. While she may have been absent from our screens for a few years (rumour has it she’ll be back soon), Watson has been busy cooking (sorry, distilling) up a gin brand with her brother, Alex. The twist, as is standard with gin, is that made from grapes, not grains.

Renais Gin valorises the winemaking sidestream by upcycling byproducts – French pressed wine grape skins and lees – some of which come from the Watson family vineyard. These are mixed with a distillate made from Kimmeridgian stone (the soil type of the Chablis terroir), pressed Grand Cru grapes and a whole host of botanicals: linden flowers, cubeb berries, coriander seeds, acacia honey, lemon peel, angelica roots, lime slices, rock salt and juniper.

The company is certified as carbon-neutral by ClimatePartner, which evaluates the entire supply chain to “cut out as much carbon as possible, and offset the remainder through humanitarian and ecological initiatives”. Offsetting programmes aren’t always the best idea, though, as the company acknowledges. “We know we’re not perfect, but are committed to offsetting our footprint while working in the background to minimise our impact.”

Renais Gin uses solar-powered stills and tackles the packaging problem too, partnering with the Magical Mushroom Company to create biodegradable mushroom packaging.

Who says wizards can’t be sustainable?

The post Gin-gardium Leviosa: Celebs Shake Up Spirits Sector with Plant-Powered Liquor Brands appeared first on Green Queen.

Earthshot Prize-winning British startup Notpla’s seaweed-based packaging has become the ‘first and only’ material recognised as plastic-free by a European Union country, following a nine-month verification process under the EU’s Single-Use Plastics Directive (SUPD) by the Dutch government.

In July of this year, the Netherlands imposed a plastic tax on disposable plastic food containers, which mandates customers to pay 25 cents for food packaging for takeout and delivery purposes. The move was aimed at encouraging consumers to reduce their consumption.

It was part of the Netherlands’ strict drive against the single-use plastic industry, whose self-regulated and unsubstantiated claims were unsatisfactory. According to Notpla, the EU defines plastic as a material containing polymers that are chemically modified and/or synthetically polymerised, with the SUPD cracking down on these harmful materials with country-specific laws to prevent single-use plastics, require mandatory labelling, or implement taxes on the use of these materials – as the Dutch government has done in alignment with the Bloc’s regulation.

The Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) – the Netherlands’ environmental body – tested thousands of material solutions and classified them as plastic, including those claiming to be plastic-free, like aqueous dispersion coating (which contains microplastics).

But Notpla, which makes biobased seaweed-based packaging, has now become the first material to be recognised as truly plastic-free, following a nine-month process by the ILT. The result was independently investigated by global sustainability firm Eunomia Research & Consulting.

Shaping up a more sustainable foodservice sector

The British startup uses natural extracts found in seaweed and doesn’t make any chemical modifications, which enables it to leverage the natural polymers to provide the grease and moisture resistance needed by food boxes to perform their function, and crucially, to bypass fossil-fuel-derived polymers.

The startup says that conventional containers and bioplastic alternatives can contain petrol-based coatings that “stick around forever” or release harmful toxins, its seaweed- and plant-coated solution can be recycled with existing paper streams or composted at home, “just like a fruit peel”.

Speaking about the milestone recognition from the Dutch government, Notpla co-founder Pierre-Yves Paslier said: “This sets Notpla apart and aligns perfectly with our mission to reduce society’s dependence on plastic. We look forward to helping Dutch restaurant owners meet their plastic reduction goals.”

Notpla, which was one of the winners of the Prince William-led Earthshot Prize in 2022, says its plastic-free food containers can prevent 15 million single-use plastic packaging units from being produced in the Netherlands (the company claims its solutions have diverted 3.5 million pieces of single-use plastic from entering the environment across all its markets). Companies using Notpla packaging would no longer need to charge consumers for the plastic tax, making it a win-win for both consumers and businesses alike.

The seaweed packaging will also help the catering industry reach its plastic reduction goals and ensure single-use items can still be used – for businesses that can’t implement reuse schemes due to hygiene or other factors, this is still a plastic-free solution.

A distribution partnership and other plastic-free applications

The startup, which has raised over £10M in funding, has entered a strategic partnership with Dutch manufacturer Conpax to produce and distribute plastic-free food packaging throughout Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Foodservice operators and other businesses will be able to buy Notpla’s food packaging starting in January, helping them achieve and promote their eco goals.

Conpax director Roy Suiskens said the collaboration will ensure the widespread availability of the seaweed-coated foldable cartons in the Benelux region. “From our own facilities in the Netherlands, we will design, manufacture and supply new sustainable single-use products made from Notpla-coated board and distribute this to the Benelux market who are calling out for this exact solution,” he explained.

Apart from its food packaging solution – which has been previously trialled by food delivery service Just Eat in the UK – Notpla has a host of plastic-free solutions for various applications. Its first flagship was Ooho, an edible packaging solution for on-the-go hydration during sporting events.

Its current product portfolio also includes a laundry sachet, ocean paper, and food oil pipettes, while it has developed prototypes or is working on energy gel pods, spice and bath oil sachets, lube and sunscreen pipettes, toothpaste and skincare pearls, as well as rigid cosmetics and product shells and cutlery.

Other companies working on plastic-free materials meant to replace plastic packaging include US-based Sway, London-based Flexsea and

The post Notpla: Earthshot Prize Winner’s Seaweed Packaging Named ‘First and Only’ Plastic-Free Material Under EU Regulation appeared first on Green Queen.

Consumers are more focused on personal and planetary health than ever before, governments are clamping down on greenwashing, and businesses are offering services to cut climate impacts and provide better labelling – are labels like Nutri-Score and Eco-score the future of food packaging?

Two weeks ago, Oatly launched a new campaign challenging the dairy industry to showcase its climate footprint. While the company itself has been doing this for a few years now, this felt a little different. It’s one of the world’s largest oat milk companies directly calling out the industry it hopes to replace – and it comes at a time of reckoning for the livestock industry.

Recent investigations have shown how departments of the UN and the EU have been heavily influenced by lobbyists from the animal industry on matters including environmental sustainability and caged farming, respectively. The former is striking, given that officials were pressured to water down their reporting about the effects of the livestock sector’s emissions.

And earlier this week, it emerged that food production in Brazil, the world’s largest beef exporter, accounts for 74% of its total emissions. And of these, 78% are associated with the beef industry. It comes on the back of alt-protein companies – which have long focused on the environmental superiority of their analogues – doubling down on the health aspects of their products.

What we eat is just as crucial as how it affects us and the planet – and increasingly so. It’s more important than ever for brands to be transparent on-pack about the health and climate credentials of their offerings, as evidenced by recent scientific studies and consumer surveys on product labelling and government clampdowns on greenwashing.

Will product labels like Nutri-Score and Eco-score be standard images on food packaging globally?

Health and sustainability are key for consumers

Let’s take meat as an example. It has a much higher carbon footprint than plant-based or cultivated alternatives, and most red and processed meat products that have a climate label on their packaging will have a low score. In Belgium, for example, a mince and pork blend at Colruyt supermarket has a red E Eco-score, the lowest possible. Similarly, in Scotland, Lidl trialled carbon labelling in 105 supermarkets in 2021, and one brand’s bacon had a C rating.

These labels have been found to influence people’s purchasing decisions, as evidenced by a peer-reviewed study of 255 Brits (a small sample size) last month. It found that 63% of consumers would be deterred from purchasing meat if it had an eco score in the red, while 52% would consider buying a meat alternative if it had a better rating. Meanwhile, 58% said they’re interested in eco-labels, but require more information – highlighting the need for more education and awareness among consumers.

In 2020, Carbon Trust carried out an analysis of three global YouGov polls totalling 10,540 participants, finding that two-thirds of respondents find carbon labelling a good idea across all countries surveyed. Support was highest in Italy (82%), France (80%) and Spain (79%). It’s because of these attitudes that industry giants like Upfield and Hilton have introduced carbon labels on their products and menus, respectively, while Unilever has committed to doing so (although it hasn’t implemented anything yet).

In terms of health labels, a French study of 1,201 adolescents aged 11-17 last year revealed that 54% had already been impacted by Nutri-Score labels during food purchases, indicating how these labels affect behaviours across demographics. This is key since peer-reviewed research last month revealed that for children and adolescents, increased plant-based food consumption alongside food fortification and supplementation where needed is recommended for sustainable and nutritionally adequate diets.

In general, health and sustainability are growing drivers of consumers’ food choices. Last year, an 8,000-person McKinsey survey covering the US, UK, France and Germany revealed that between 37-52% of people have cut their meat consumption in the last year out of health concerns, with similar or higher numbers for salt, fat, sugar and processed foods. Across the four countries, eating more fresh fruits and vegetables was the most significant change they’ve made in their diets since the pandemic.

Additionally, 60% said they value sustainable solutions – but health came out as a bigger priority, with 60% choosing it as their most important eating priority, versus a third who picked sustainability. Another survey from 2022 showed that 73% of Brits felt it was important for food and drink to have low carbon footprints, while 49% wanted to see carbon footprint labelling on products.

Consumers want food that’s better for them and the planet, and companies that can help them buy the right products will likely be winners. That’s what a study found earlier this month, stating that “food companies can enhance their sustainability efforts by prompting customers to think before nudging them into consuming more sustainable food”.

Increased government attention

There are more regulations and proposals regarding carbon and nutrition labelling, as well as greenwashing. In 2022, the EU Commission announced it would introduce “harmonised mandatory front-of-pack nutrition labelling” to “empower consumers to make informed, healthy and sustainable food choices” by the end of the year, although this has now been postponed and the legislation is yet to be implemented.

But some countries – like France, Spain and Belgium – have already adopted Nutri-Score labels, while certain brands in Portugal, Slovenia, Austria and Ukraine have voluntarily begun using these labels to better inform consumers. Food products in the UK also have a nutrition label designed by the Food Standards Agency.

Meanwhile, France and Denmark are set to introduce environmental labelling schemes in 2024. There have been calls for a similar plan in the UK too. These moves signal a wider effort to curb greenwashing across product categories. The UK’s new Green Claims Code lays out a six-point checklist to help businesses make credible environmental claims.

The EU, meanwhile, finalised a new law to effectively ban greenwashing last month, banning terms like ‘carbon-neutral’ and ‘eco-friendly’ from product labels, unless businesses can provide “proof of recognised excellent environmental performance relevant to the claim”. One of its proposed sister laws, the Green Claims Directive, mandates businesses to assess and meet new minimum “substantiation requirements” for sustainability claims – but progress on this has halted.

“Generic environmental claims are popping up everywhere, from food to textiles. Consumers end up lost in a jungle of green claims with no clue about which ones are trustworthy,” said Ursula Pachl, deputy director of consumer advocacy group BEUC.

She added: “Consumers have a crucial role to play in the green transition, so it’s good news they will have more information to make sustainable choices when buying food, new clothes or home appliances. The new EU rules will enable consumers to navigate through a sea of green claims and choose durable products that live up to expectations.”

Startups and data solutions creating better labels

A bunch of businesses and organisations are helping businesses measure their eco impacts and put climate and nutrition labels on their products. UK food regulatory consultants Ashbury recently conducted research to gauge what these labels could look like, and used AI-generated images to illustrate the results. Products like beef, milk, cheese and dark chocolate all had high footprints, while items like tea had low scores.

In 2021, British startup Provenance launched its Provenance Framework, an open-source rulebook listing the criteria companies need to fulfil to make a true environmental claim, and avoid greenwashing and misleading consumers. And Agribalyse, a French life-cycle assessment database for food and agriculture, provides environmental reference data on over 2,500 products consumed in France (including imported foods).

There’s also the True Animal Protein Price coalition, which is lobbying governments to reflect the true climate cost of these products and increase the VAT on meat to offset the tax on fresh produce. Meanwhile, startups like My Emissions, Planet FWD, Foodsteps, Reewild and Klimato all help food businesses reduce their emissions and better label their products.

Speaking on the Investing in Regenerative Agriculture and Food podcast, Tina Owens, a regenerative agriculture consultant, highlighted how only 1% of nutrition data is tracked on food labels, explaining that this is a huge opportunity for brands. ”If we know 1% of nutrition, we’re not even at the rotary phone stage of nutrition. We’re at the telegraph stage,” she explained. “And yet, we as consumers know to seek those things out for purchasing. And so, the bare minimum… is what we’re after – we’re after this foundational step.”

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