Bel Group backs plant-based innovation with Paris accelerator on the cards The dairy major is partnering with Big Idea Ventures (BIV) to accelerate projects in alternative proteins. BIV currently runs accelerator programmes in New York and Singapore but has revealed plans to launch a Paris edition later this year.
Demand for alternative proteins is on the rise. In the plant-based space, the Good Food Institute (GFI) estimates that US consumers are spending 28% more on plant-based foods compared to 2017 figures.
Between 2017 and 2019, the plant-based cheese market grew by nearly 51%, and, according to a recent announcement by Big Idea Ventures (BIV), it is not just vegan players that see potential in the space.
Sparked by the health crisis of COVID-19, personalized and active nutrition will be at the forefront of consumers' daily and long-term health goals in 2021, according to a new report from FrieslandCampina Ingredients.
Swedish brand Nick’s – which entered the US in late 2019 with a range of light ice creams and generated revenues of $10m in its first full year on the market (2020) – has hired dairy industry veteran Carlos Altschul to head up its US business after raising $30m to fuel its expansion plans.
The latest round of funding – led by Stockholm-based Gullspång Invest (early investors in Oatly) and Capagro, a VC fund dedicated to food-tech – will help Altschul, formerly CEO at skyr brand siggi’s, to build his team and expand distribution.
While Nick’s plays in multiple categories of the store
Challenger brand Oatly and Flora margarine-owner Upfield are among the brands hoping to overturn a ban on dairy-like terminology for plant-based alternatives. The European Dairy Association, however, tells FoodNavigator that challenging Amendment 171 ‘undermines clear consumer information’.
A new petition is calling on the European Commission and Member States to reject Amendment 171.
Voted in by the European Parliament in October last year, the amendment bans dairy-related terms for plant-based alternatives. This means that once enforced, terms such as ‘almond milk’ and ‘vegan cheese’, as well as ‘yogurt-style’ and ‘cheese alternative’, will be prohibited for dairy-free products sold across the bloc.
The ban was not well received by many outside the dairy industry. At the time, the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC) said the Parliament’s decision was a ‘pity’, and that such terms had ‘nothing to do with consumer protec