The Spoon rounded up a great “crop” of stories this week. Read on to learn more about Amazon’s meal kit expansion and record-setting plant-based food sales.
Amazon rolls out meat kits to more Whole Foods stores
Amazon is expanding its meal kits to more Whole Foods locations. This past March, the Seattle-based retailer began selling its meal kits at Whole Foods stores in the Bay Area, Southern California, Arizona and Nevada, as well as select locations of its Amazon Go stores. According to Grocery Dive, as of this week, interested shoppers can find the meal kits in Whole Foods in a total of 16 states plus Washington, D.C. As Amazon just shuttered its restaurant delivery service, this meal kit expansion is clearly a new tactic for the company to get into your homes (and kitchens).
Parmela Creamery raised $1.25 million for plant-based cheese
This week Parmela Creamery, maker of cultured, plant-based cheeses made from nuts, announced this week it has raised $1.25 million in seed funding. The round was led by 25Madison with participation from Gather Ventures and Luke Abbott. Parmela, which was founded in 2015, will use its new funds to grow its product lineup and increase marketing efforts and reach. Parmela’s cheeses are currently available in thousands of grocery stores nationwide, including Whole Foods.
Givaudan cuts ribbon on new innovation center
Swiss flavor and fragrance giant Givaudan opened the doors to its new innovation center in Switzerland this week. According to a press release from the company, the new center will “accelerate its global efforts in creating differentiated and sustainable flavour, taste and fragrance solutions.” Last year Givaudan teamed up with Danone, Mars, and others to launch MISTA, a San Francisco-based incubator for new businesses solving problems in the food system problems. This new center, however, marks Givaudan’s largest internal innovation effort to date and will include kitchen spaces, labs, and areas to host startups.
JUST gets patent for its vegan egg
This week JUST, the San Francisco-based startup making animal-free food, was awarded a patent for its plant-based egg product. JUST Egg, which is made of mung beans, is available nationwide at Whole Foods as well as in restaurant chains such as Veggie Grill. According to an email from JUST, the company has now sold the plant-based equivalent of 8.2 million chicken eggs.
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