In a groundbreaking move to reduce plastic waste, Tesco, the UK's largest supermarket chain, has launched a trial to replace plastic stickers on avocados with laser-etched labels. The initiative, which began this month in collaboration with fruit supplier Westfalia, aims to eliminate the use of nearly a million plastic stickers on Tesco's extra-large avocados alone. This innovative approach involves using computer-guided lasers to remove a tiny layer of the avocado's skin in less than a second, leaving a design that communicates essential information such as size or variety to customers.

The trial is currently underway in approximately 270 Tesco stores across south-east England. If customer feedback is positive, the retailer plans to roll out the scheme across its entire network. In addition to the laser-etched labels, Tesco is also testing a switch from plastic trays to more easily recyclable cardboard packaging for some twin-packs of avocados. This change could potentially save more than 20 million pieces of plastic annually, with the potential to increase to 25 million pieces across the pre-packed range.

Tesco's avocado buyer, Lisa Gilbey, expressed enthusiasm for the project, stating, "We're always looking for innovative ways to reduce the environmental impact of our products and cut down on plastic waste in the home through changes to our packaging. We're really excited to hear customer feedback on our new laser-etched avocados, avoiding the need for a barcode sticker that can easily be forgotten and left on when recycling through household food waste." This initiative comes at a time when Tesco has witnessed a 15% year-on-year increase in avocado sales, despite concerns about the fruit's carbon footprint and ethical standards on farms.

Westfalia Fruit, the UK's main avocado supplier based in Spalding, Lincolnshire, has been instrumental in this eco-friendly endeavor. Graham Isaac, the general manager of Westfalia Fruit, commented, "We are confident that, with a clear focus and united effort as an industry, we will be able to significantly reduce our waste, use natural resources responsibly, and protect the environment and biodiversity for all our futures." The company has conducted extensive trials to ensure that the laser etching process does not compromise the quality, shelf life, or taste of the avocados.

Tesco is not the first retailer to explore this technology. The Spanish company Laser Food, which has collaborated with retailers, has also tested laser labeling on various fruits, from coconuts to apples. As consumers become increasingly environmentally conscious, initiatives like these could pave the way for a significant reduction in plastic waste across the food industry.

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With so much going wrong in the world – much of it related to climate change – the climate at least appears right for startups working in the sector, the nonprofit innovation company PLANETech reports.

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Climate-tech is already the focus of receiving worldwide attention from senior tech and investment figures. Bill Gates recently said he estimates that climate-tech would build about 10 companies the size of Google and Amazon, and BlackRock CE, Larry Fink predicted that the next 1,000 unicorns would be climate-tech ventures.

According to PLANETech – a joint venture of Israel Innovation Institute, led by Dr. Jonathan Menuhin, and Consensus Business Group, led by Vincent Tchenguiz – 2021 saw a total $2.2 billion invested in Israeli climate tech startups, 57% higher than previous 2020 record.

At the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in October, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett declared that Israel would become a leader in climate innovation.

Two months ago, PLANETech and the Israel Innovation Authority published the first report to map 1,200 climate companies, 637 of which are startups developing climate technologies, whose findings seemed to back up Bennett's prediction.

"By the end of the 2021, the annual investments in Israeli climate tech companies reached $2.2 billion, exceeding last year's fundraising record of $1.4 billion by 57%," said Uriel Klar, Director of PLANETech.

The biggest fundraising rounds for climate startups were secured by the following four companies:

Future Meat, which has raised $347 million for the development of sustainable cultivated meat technology.

Wiliot, which has raised $200 million to improve supply chain footprint via battery-free sensors.

UBQ Materials, which has has raised $170 million to convert waste to climate positive thermoplastic, including an investment from U2 lead singer Bono.

VIA, which has raised $130 million to promote an advanced digital platform for shared transportation.

"In addition to the two investments in Future Meat and UBQ Materials last month, SolarEdge has become the first Israeli company to enter the S&P 500 index and Tomorrow.io is going public on Nasdaq with $1.2B valuation," Klar noted.

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Students from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology's Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering have won top prizes in a European food innovation competition designed to develop healthy and sustainable food for everyone.

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The EU-supported Food Solutions Project is part of EIT FOOD – a program that fosters innovation to create healthy and sustainable food for all. The premise of the competition was to take real-world nutritional and sustainability challenges faced by the food industry and come up with solutions that can potentially transform the food system and promote sustainability and health.

Experts and mentors from top European universities supervised the student's progress, together with leading companies Nestle, Danone-Nutricia, Döhler, IMDEA and Puratos.  Two Technion teams won first place prizes, and another came in third.

This year, the Technion's participating teams chose to tackle two challenges: GrOAT: creating an innovative, healthy, and sustainable product using an oat-based ingredient (a challenge presented by the Finnish company Myllyn Paras, which invests considerable resources in "plant-based innovation"); and FoodFE: (Food for the Elderly) – to design novel food products for the elderly that address the issue of loss of taste, palatability, and efficiency of nutrient uptake.

Once the teams had formed, they spent some six months developing their products. The process involved attempts to assess product manufacturing at the Technion's food pilot plant and support from senior industry representatives. The students also consulted with chefs at Tel Aviv culinary school Bishulim, who helped refine and resolve some of the culinary aspects of the projects.

The Bioat Group – graduate students Maayan Ben-David, Liora Bernstein, Carolina Lejterer, and Gil Raphael – won a first place prize for their vegan "labaneh" cheese spread, based on a fermented oat ingredient. The team's product also came in first in the crowd favorite category.

Judges praised their vegan labaneh as delicious, and employees from a company with origins in the Middle East said that the taste was very close to that of dairy-based labaneh.

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The CRACKEAT Group – Dor Abu Hazira, Shlomit Hakim, Hadar Kochavi, Victoria Skortov, and Linor Rochlin – won first place for a soy-based, creamy treat for the elderly with a crisp cookie on top. The product was praised by the judges for its unique presentation and taste. The final product provides a complex experience of different textures, while also being more environmentally friendly than current packaging solutions. It is high in protein and fiber, sugar-free, and low in saturated fat.

Coming in third place in the Food Products Challenge for the Elderly was another group from the faculty – Shahar Hefner, Nova Neumann, Christine Oviad, and Dana Raz. The four developed Lite Delight, a unique nutritional snack based solely on natural ingredients and tailored to the needs and desires of the senior population. The product offers something chewy, but not too chewy, that is portable and tasty. The individual brownie-like cake bar was praised for its soft, fluffy texture, combined with a sweet taste and no added sugar.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the groups did not fly to Europe to present their products but sent them by courier to the judges so that they could taste them first-hand. The judges praised Bioat, CRACKEAT, and Lite Delight for their quality and congratulated the teams on their professionalism and attention to detail in their packaging and branding.

"This win wraps up a whole year of hard work," said faculty members and mentors Dr. Maya Davidovich-Pinhas, Professor Uri Lesmes, and Professor Avi Shpigelman.

"This achievement demonstrates the excellence of students in this faculty, not only in the engineering and technological aspects, but also creatively and in their ability to deal with all aspects of the process from market research, creating a business feasibility study, addressing regulatory and marketing issues, conducting shelf-life analysis, planning the commercial manufacturing process, and of course presenting their product to experts," they said.

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A startup based in Tel Hai in northern Israel might have accidentally struck gold in the search for ingredients that will make plant-based meat alternatives "bloody."

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Yemoja, Ltd., which focuses on developing marine ingredients for the nutraceutical and cosmetics B2B sectors, has discovered that red microalgae can mimic the "bloody" juiciness of medium-rare plant-based burgers and steaks.

"While working on a new formulation for cosmetic applications, we serendipitously discovered that this specific composition yields a substance that resembles blood in appearance and texture," notes Dr. Amikam Bar-Gil, co-founder and CTO of Yemoja.

"Encouraged by the first test results, we decided to push the boundaries further and take it to the next level, trying it out in test products. The results were an immediate proof of concept," Bar-Gil says.

The company's formulation, branded Ounje – meaning "food" in the Yoruba language – is derived from the Porphyridium strain of algae, which it grows indoors. Yemoja says that the algae-based ingredient could potentially serve as a 100% plant-based substitute for heme for the alternative meat industry.

Yemoja reports that its patented microalgal heme substitute not only provides the initial red pigment to raw plant-based meats, it also browns up nicely when put to the sizzle. It also congeals like real meat juices, "expressing a viscosity similar to gelatin when cooked," the company says, citing an "appealing crunchiness and appetizing meat aroma."

Beyond the visual and textural meat-like appeal that the algae provides, microalgae is a highly sustainable crop, boasting a 20%-30% protein load and harbors the complete essential amino acids profile. Algae are also a valuable source of essential fatty acids, polyphenols as well as minerals and vitamins, and gaining esteem as a powerful superfood.

"The demand for clean, naturally sourced alternative proteins that can dually exert a less harmful impact on the environment is an internationally sought venture," adds Erez Ashkenazi, co-founder and CEO of Yemoja. "Our advanced patented cultivation system offers a high-value yet cost-effective solution that can be easily scaled up to the unique needs of the various alt protein/meat producers to help bolster this rapidly growing category."

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Foodtech startup MeaTech 3D has successfully bioprinted a 3.67 oz (104-gram) cultivated steak, primarily composed of cultivated real fat and muscle cells, the Ness Ziona-based company announced Tuesday.

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MeaTech believes this to be the largest cultured steak produced to date.

"Today's breakthrough is the culmination of over one year's efforts in our cellular biology and high-throughput tissue engineering processes, as well as our precision bioprinting technology," said MeaTech CEO and CTO Sharon Fima.

"By bioprinting a 3.67 oz steak comprised of living tissue, we believe we have both validated our core technologies and placed ourselves at the forefront of the race to develop high-end, real cell-based cultivated premium meat products," Fima said.

The cells used to make the steak were produced using a proprietary process that isolates bovine stem cells from tissue samples and multiplies. Upon reaching sufficient cellular mass, stem cells were formulated into bio-inks compatible with MeaTech's proprietary 3D bio-printer. The bio-inks were printed from a digital design file of a steak structure. The printed product was placed in an incubator to mature, where the printed stem cells were differentiated into fat and muscle cells that develop into fat and muscle tissue, respectively, to form the MeaTech steak.

MeaTech's goal is to develop a true replacement for conventional steak that maximizes cell-based content rather than non-meat ingredients. The cultivated does not contain any soy or pea protein, substitutes typically used in plant-based meat alternatives.

The company intends to continue improving upon its bioprinting and cultivation technologies to produce cultivated meat that better mirrors the key characteristics of farm-raised, premium steak.

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Israel is rapidly positioning itself at the vanguard of alternative meat and dairy development, with numerous startups working on either eliminating the animal element from the food we consume or finding a way to skirt slaughter and/or dairy farming through cultured meat and dairy products.

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One of the newer players on the scene is Imagindairy Ltd, a foodtech startup that creates milk proteins it says is identical to those in cow's milk.

Imagindairy's proprietary technology allows manufacturers to offer cow-free, sustainable milk and dairy products.

The technology in use at Imagindairy is based on 15 years of research led by company co-founder and CSO Professor Tamir Tuller of Tel Aviv University. It feeds microorganisms instead of cows, and the select microorganisms the company employs are up to 20 times more efficient than cows at converting feed into food, resulting in highly functional milk proteins that boast the same texture, flavor, and nutritional value as milk from cows.

"We are excited to share this news with our partners and colleagues," Imagindairy co-founder and CEO Dr. Eyal Afergan explains.

"The market is eager to develop new dairy analogs based on our animal-free proteins. Once we reach commercialization, more consumers will be able to enjoy eating animal-free dairy products. It's hard for people to make big changes, especially when it comes to the foods they enjoy, but when there's an alternative with the same flavor and experience that is more aligned to their values, it becomes easy," Afergan adds.

Earlier this month, Imagindairy completed a $13 million seed round led by MoreVC, a leading seed stage investor in Israel that manags $275 million across three funds. Other participants included Strauss Group, Entrée Capital, S2G Ventures; Collaborative Fund, New Climate Ventures, Green Circle Foodtech Ventures; Emerald Technology Ventures and Pierre Besnainou.

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The company will invest the funds raised in expanding its facilities, increasing its professional team, and boosting research and development capacity to meet the demands of its partners.

Imagindairy is currently collaborating with leading dairy companies, offering a complete range of dairy-free proteins.

Strauss Group CTO Eyal Shimoni said, "Imagindairy ticks all the right boxes. This is innovative technology that can help solve world hunger in our growing population; it's a solution that is green and animal-free. We at Strauss group, one of the leading dairy companies in Israel, identified the potential in this start-up in the early stages and have confidence in its managers to help lead the alt-protein revolution toward a better, more sustainable future."

"Imagindairy's innovative technology allows dairy companies to develop new products or reformulate existing products, without involving animals and with a dramatic reduction in carbon-footprint," says Glen Schwaber, a partner at MoreVC.

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The world produces enough food to feed the entire global population twice over, but hunger remains a worldwide epidemic, with 40-60% of fruits and vegetables produced worldwide lost or due to spoilage or waste. Now Israeli agro-tech startup Sufresca Ltd. is seeking to combat both food waste and plastic use.

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The green solution from Sufresca, founded in 2020, is the result of a 15-year R&D effort led by company CSO, Prof. Amos Nussinovitch, at his lab at the Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Sufresca has developed an edible, biodegradable, water-based emulsion composed of wholly natural food ingredients. When applied to a fresh fruit or vegetable, the solution creates a breathable coating. Minute disruptions within the coating acts as a partial barrier that allows for optimal gas exchange, which slows down the process of post-harvest maturation and ripening and subsequent degradation and decay.

The team was determined to find a formula that could be adapted to a broad spectrum of fresh produce. "Each vegetable has its own unique traits," says Nussinovitch. "In our search for the common denominator that connects the plant kingdom, these physiological distinctions had to be addressed."

Sufresca says its solution can extend the shelf life of produce by up to several weeks, saving plastic packaging and extending shipment time.

"The chaotic structure of our coating was inspired by the cuticle structures that naturally layer plants to protect them from extreme environmental conditions and from water loss," explains Sufresca CEO Efrat Boker-Ferri.

To apply its solution to existing systems, Sufresca has developed a business model that it says makes its green coating a highly scalable and convenient option for producers, distributers, and exporters of fresh produce.

"Retailers and packaging houses are seeking cost-effective solutions to reduce waste and are kind to the planet," Boker-Ferri says.

"Our natural formula can be easily integrated into existing industry equipment, is adaptable to the various coating techniques and is completely safe to use. While we do offer a range of support services and guidance, our system is very straightforward to implement, eliminating the need for Sufresca personnel to be on site, increasing its affordability."

Sufresca recent closed $3.5 million in seed investment led by Israel's OurCrowd VC, followed by the food and agro-tech focused group FEAT Investments, as well as other investors. The round supports an initial $1.3 million previously raised from Agrinnovation and Rimonim.

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Rehovot-based foodtech startup Redefine Meat has launched of the first-ever category of plant-based whole cuts that achieve a level of product quality comparable to high-quality animal meat, the company announced Tuesday.

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Initially available at select restaurants in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Israel, this marks the first time that high-end restaurants will offer plant-based whole cuts as part of their menus. The range of New-Meat products includes beef and lamb cuts, as well as premium-quality burgers, sausages, lamb kebabs, and ground beef.

Eshchar Ben-Shitrit, co-founder and CEO of Redefine Meat said: "Over the past few weeks at COP26, we've seen world leaders commit to landmark goals such as the elimination of all deforestation by 2030, which requires a significant reduction in global meat consumption. Redefine Meat has its eyes set on the real problem – not meat, but the way it's produced. We have a genuine solution that today, not in 2030, preserves all the culinary aspects of meat we know and love, but eliminates cattle as a means of production.

"We've achieved a level of superiority in taste and texture that surprised even some of the most recognized chefs in the world, and our unique technological capabilities enable us to replace every part of the cow for the first time. By continuing our close collaboration with the top-tier culinary world, we will accelerate our product rollout in the coming months – beginning with Europe and followed by the USA and Asia – and launch within multiple distribution channels next year," Ben-Shitrit added.

Redefine Meat's products were recently served at a private blind-tasting event for top UK chefs, where they received further praise.

British chef and restaurateur Marco Pierre White, the youngest chef to be awarded three Michelin stars, said: "When I first tasted Redefine Meat, I was mind-blown. The world needs to eat less meat, but the reality is that until now plant-based meat products have fallen way short in terms of the quality and versatility required for our menus. Redefine Meat's New-Meat products are pure genius, giving you all the sustainability and health benefits of plant-based, without the compromise on taste and texture."

Michelin-starred Dutch chef and TV personality Ron Blaauw, added: "Honestly, I was so surprised by the texture and structure of the meat. The first time I tried it, I remember closing my eyes and appreciating the chewiness and mouthfeel like I would a great cut of meat. For me this is a gamechanger, as we can now serve another variety of high-quality meat to our customers that just happens to be made from plant-based ingredients. Even now my head is still spinning with the possibilities this meat creates for our menu."

Joachim Gerner, head chef at Restaurant FACIL in Berlin (two Michelin stars) also added: "While we've seen the quality of plant-based meat products increase in recent years, this by far comes the closest to animal meat. I see huge potential for these products with meat lovers."

Israeli chef Shahaf Shabtay said, "My cuisine is truly global, inspired by my favorite influences from kitchens across Asia, Europe and Latin America. Redefine Meat has created an ingredient that allows me to unleash full creativity and create dream menus whatever the cuisine. As a chef, the ability to cook for every type of diner – vegetarian, vegan, kosher and more – without barriers or compromise, using a variety of techniques including roasting, grilling, and slow cooking, is quite simply incredible."

New Meat is currently available at the following fine dining establishments:

Marco Pierre White's Steak Houses (22 restaurants across the UK)

Chotto Matte (London)

Brigadiers (London)

Burger Bear (London)

Ron Gastrobar (Amsterdam)

Ron Gastrobar Oriental (Amsterdam)

Ron Gastrobar Indonesia Downtown (Amsterdam)

Ron Gastrobar Indonesia (Amstelveen)

NENI Amsterdam (Amsterdam)

RDM Hospitality Group's Coffee Bar (Tel Aviv)

RDM Hospitality Group's Herzl 16 (Tel Aviv)

Hotel Montefiore (Tel Aviv)

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Israel's Aleph Farms, which grows steaks directly from animal cells that are not genetically engineered and not immortalized, has signed Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with two of Asia's largest food companies, global protein leader Thai Union and Korean food and lifestyle company CJ CheilJedang, the company announced this week.

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Asia is leading the global food industry in supporting and adopting cell-cultured meats. Singapore is the first country in the world to approve cultivated meat and to offer it on a restaurant menu.  Cultured chicken had its global debut in Asia, a region of the world that, while vulnerable to food insecurity and struggling with scarcity of natural resources, is also seeing increased meat consumption thanks to rising income, growing populations and increased urbanization.

Thai Union and CJ CheilJedang are expected to help to accelerate Aleph's scale-up, go-to-market activities and elevate distribution of cultivated meat in existing marketing channels across the APAC region. Aleph Farms announced a similar agreement with Mitsubishi in Japan.

Recently, Aleph Farms raised $105 million in a Series B round led by L Catterton, the largest global consumer-focused private equity firm, and DisruptAD, ADQ's venture platform, and included participation from Temasek, a global investment company headquartered in Singapore.

"We are excited to partner with key players in the Asia market and establish a new category of meat products to address increasing consumption in the region," said Didier Toubia, co-founder and CEO of Aleph Farms.

"We carefully consider partnerships that reflect our core values and sustainability commitments, and both Thai Union and CJ share our resolutions for achieving carbon-neutrality and enhancing food security for all people of Asia and around the world. Temasek is an ideal investment partner with an intrinsic understanding of the Asian market," Toubia said.

"We are highly excited to deepen the relationship with Aleph Farms to explore the market potential of alternative beef produced from cultured cells," said Sze Cotte Tan, CTO of Food R&D at CJ CheilJedang. "We are at the forefront of a trend in Asia food industry as Asian consumers show increasing interest in alternative proteins, and we have the opportunity to lead consumption patterns toward a more sustainable, resilient future that benefits all of Asia and the world."

Beef is Southeast Asia's second fastest growing meat category, with consumption expected to increase as much as 16% by 2022 in a region that, historically speaking, has primarily consumed fish and other seafood. Research from Thai Union and Aleph Farms reveals that 74% of Singaporeans and 97% of Thais are willing to try cultivated meat. In Singapore, a key motivator for trying cultivated meat is the environmental benefits, while in Thailand, diners favor the ability to trace the meat's origins.

Thai Union is closely tracking changing consumer demands and the need to find new, sustainable ways to meet increased global protein demands to respond to the growing population of the world. Thiraphong Chansiri, President and CEO of Thai Union, said "Following our investment, we are excited to work with Aleph Farms, which is already well known for its technological advancement and strong commitment to sustainability, to further explore collaboration opportunities in Asia."

Aleph Farms revealed the world's first cultivated beef steak in 2018, produced meat in space in 2019 and cultivated the world's first ribeye steak earlier this year. The company is planning an initial market launch in 2022, pending regulatory approval.

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Peace of Meat, a Belgian subsidiary of Israeli foodtech startup MeaTech 3D, which is developing a suite of advanced manufacturing technologies for cultivated meat production, has cultivated just over 700 grams (1.54 pounds) of pure chicken fat biomass in a single production run, the company announced this week.

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This is believed to be the first public demonstration of growth in a single run of this quantity of 100% pure cultivated cell biomass, grown entirely outside an animal.

While many consumers enjoy plant-based meat alternatives, many find it falls short of replicating the flavor and mouthfeel of conventional meat. MeaTech believes that real cultured animal fats can potentially deliver signature flavors, aromas, and textures currently derived from conventional farmed meat, thus delivering an enhanced consumer experience when combined with plant-based ingredients. This new product category is referred to as hybrid meat.

MeaTech CTO Sharon Fima said, "The production capabilities we have demonstrated … are a successful step in line with our strategy of developing a pilot plant for cultivated fat production, which we are planning for 2022."

David Brandes, managing director of the Peace of Meat subsidiary, commented, "Producing this quantity of pure cultured material in one run is a breakthrough toward potentially manufacturing cultivated chicken fat at an industrial scale and cost parity."

According to Brandes, the product is designed to be "just like conventional chicken fat."

"Today's preliminary production success brings us one step closer to our longer-term goal of changing human diets towards more sustainable, yet equally savory, food choices," Brandes explained.

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