Weekly Roundup – Week of 8.8.2022
August 12, 2022
This week’s roundup features food-and-beverage-related stories of the past week from new technology to delicious product launches and menu items – all curated from our team of strategists and food enthusiasts:
Tattooed Chef Leverages The Plant-Based Craze With New Frozen Food Offerings
The founder and chief creative officer at the Tattooed Chef, Sarah Galletti, has found a new passion for creating healthy, frozen plant-based foods. Right now, the company is working on launching dozens of new products to retailers that meet consumer demand. In a recent article published by The Food Institute, Galletti states, “More consumers are looking for help – and health – in the kitchen, and we see an increasing demand for convenient, healthy, ready-made foods. On the average weeknight, 63% of plant-based intenders are cooking with ready-made ingredients, favoring options like our popular vegetable blends.” She adds that while consumers are looking for more healthy choices, they also are demanding that these foods are rich in flavor and texture. Read the Q&A with Sarah Galletti Here.
New Funding In AI Technology Helps Grocers Reduce Waste
Afresh, a startup founded in 2017, offers a software platform that allows grocery store operators to track fresh food sales and forecast future customer demand. According to Afresh, “supply chain teams can consult the data to optimize the amount of fresh food they procure from suppliers in a way that minimizes food waste.” The company states that stores that adopt its platform on average reduce food waste by upwards of 25%, and companies can use its platform to increase their fresh produce operating margin by 40% or more. Afresh says it will use its newly closed $115 million funding to “further grow its market presence and strive to fulfill its purpose of eliminating food waste and making nutritious food more accessible.” Learn More.
John Mackey, Co-Founder of Whole Foods, Shifts Focus to Restaurants & Wellness Centers
As John Mackey sets out to retire from Whole Foods Market next month, he has no plans to settle down. Bloomberg reports that Mackey, a partner in the startup Healthy America LLC, helped raised about $31 million from investors earlier this year and aims to launch a “national network” of medical wellness centers and vegetarian restaurants. The company is excited to merge together healthcare, wellness, and culinary under one roof. Mackey, a long-time vegetarian, offers that the new restaurants will balance health-promoting plant-based options with healthy indulgences. Wellness centers are expected to offer memberships and a la carte options. Read More.
Fishing For Cultivated Seafood?
Founded in 2020, Bluu Seafood continues working toward solving the world’s seafood production problems, including overfishing, contamination from heavy metals and plastic, and cruelty. The company uses stem cell technology to develop full fish species in a lab environment. The company launched two products – fish sticks and fish balls – made from cultivated fish cells and plant proteins to enhance how they cook and feel in the mouth. Bluu earned $7 million in seed funding just last year and plans to continue pushing toward creating sustainable “synthetic” seafood. Read the Full Story.
Rethink How You Think About Taco Bell
While we don’t like to play favorites, Taco Bell has launched or relaunched several menu items worth sharing. Last week, Taco Bell announced that they are bringing back their popular Mexican Pizza as a permanent menu item this fall. Could this possibly be due to their CEO Mark King receiving a high amount of hate mail? Taco Bell also added to their refreshing line of beverages with the addition of the Mango Whip Freeze which joins Mountain Dew® Baja Blast® Freeze and Wild Cherry Freeze frozen drinks. The latest menu item adds a bit of sweetness to their primarily savory offerings. The new Strawberry Bell Truffle features vanilla cake studded with strawberry pieces and soaked in strawberry milk and then filled with a sweet corn fudge center. The outside is coated with a sweet and slightly salty strawberry and sweet corn cake coating, studded with tiny pieces of Taco Bell’s Crunchy Taco Shell. See More on how Taco Bell and other frequented QSRs chains are shaking up their menus this summer.
Stop back every Friday to read more of our weekly favorites.
