Green Queen Media

🇺🇸🛒 AMERICANS USING GLP-1 DRUGS ARE SPENDING LESS ON GROCERIES AND UPFs For Ozempic users, chips, baked goods, calories, and grocery bills are all on the decline, according to a new study by Cornell University’s SC Johnson College of Business. Using data from Numerator, the research has found that American households with at least one user of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs typically spend 5.5% less in supermarkets within six months of taking the medications, with high-income households seeing a sharper 9% decrease. These reductions are primarily driven by a shift away from ultra-processed foods (UPFs) like savoury snacks, baked goods, cheese, cookies and soft drinks. UPFs have become central to Americans’ food decisions – they make up 73% of the national food supply and contribute to 60% of calorie consumption. While there were modest increases in spending on fresh produce and yoghurts, grocery baskets generally become healthier through the removal of calorie-dense products, rather than the addition of fruits and vegetables. And while the impact on grocery bills softens after the first six months, spending trends remain “negative and statistically significant”, according to the researchers. “Our findings highlight the potential for GLP-1 medications to significantly reshape consumer food demand, a trend with increasingly important implications for the food industry as adoption continues to grow,” the report suggests. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/eFKpMEaK #GreenQueen #health #nutrition #ultraprocessedfood #ozempic #research

🥗🍖 SAGE, A FORMER VEGAN RESTAURANT THAT BEGAN SERVING ‘REGENERATIVE’ MEAT, CLOSES DOWN AFTER 14 YEARS One of California’s most prominent vegan eateries, Sage Plant Based Bistro & Brewery shifted gears in April last year. Facing a host of financial struggles, the restaurant decided to add ‘regeneratively farmed’ meat and dairy to its menu, changing its name to Sage Regenerative Kitchen. It sparked an enormous backlash from customers, animal rights groups, as well as its own employees. The Instagram post announcing the move was flooded with criticism for what was until then a beacon of plant-based dining in Southern California. But nine months after announcing the shift, the restaurant has closed its remaining locations in Echo Park and Pasadena. Its final day of service was Sunday, January 5, making it the latest vegan casualty in the area’s hospitality sector. The Echo Park site was Sage’s first eatery, established back in 2011. Known for its Brazilian bowl, buffalo cauliflower, tofu breakfast burritos, and vegan pizzas, the restaurant became hugely popular over the next decade, opening two other locations, as well as a cloud kitchen. But the business – operated by Mollie Engelhart and her husband Elias Sosa – has been fraught with financial challenges for the last few years. In 2023, it had outstanding rent and taxes, prompting the owners to close the cloud kitchen and the site in Agoura Hills. The couple also sold their home in California “in hopes of breathing new life into Sage”, according to the announcement of the closure. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/eeMXHFaa #GreenQueen #vegan #sustainability #futurefoods #foodsystems #foodtech #plantbasedmeat

🇪🇺🧀🌱 EU INVESTS €5M IN FERMENTATION PROJECT TO CREATE BETTER-TASTING VEGAN CHEESES & KEFIR With vegan cheese the fastest-growing plant-based category in several European markets, the EU is investing millions into a project aimed at improving the taste, texture and nutritional value of non-dairy cheeses. The Delicious initiative, coordinated by the RISE Research Institutes of Sweden (Rise), brings together 17 entities from nine countries – from research centres and universities to SMEs and large companies – to create next-gen dairy alternatives. Backed by a €5M investment from the EU’s Horizon Europe programme, the four-year project will blend plant-based raw materials with inputs derived from precision fermentation, yeast biomass and fibre-producing microbes to obtain the desired sensory properties without additives, artificial flavours, or ultra-processing. “By integrating advanced technology with consumer insights, we aim to accelerate the shift towards plant-based diets and set a new standard for the plant-based dairy industry,” says project coordinator Charilaos Xiros, a senior researcher at Rise. The Delicious programme convenes several fermentation startups focused on alternative proteins and fats, including Arbiom, Melt&Marble, and Väcka . Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/eqqyR5zz #GreenQueen #altprotein #futurefoods #vegan #foodtech #sustainability #innovation #nutrition

👱🏻♀️☕︎ MINUS COFFEE TARGETS WOMEN’S WELLNESS WITH BEANLESS INSTANT OAT MILK LATTE As the demand for functional drinks expands, women-led startup Minus: A Compound Foods Company – which makes coffee without the bean – has entered the space with a dairy-free instant latte powder that prevents caffeine crashes, provides complete protein, and enhances sleep. The San Francisco-based firm’s Instant Oat Milk Vanilla Latte is geared towards women’s wellness and cortisol balance, featuring half as much caffeine as the average cup of coffee, a dose of L-theanine to improve focus while avoiding jitters and brain fog, and 6g of pea protein. And by eschewing coffee beans for a variety of upcycled and lower-carbon ingredients – think date seeds, chicory and lentils – it’s much better for the planet, as well as a coffee industry facing high demands and strained supplies. It marks the brand’s second beanless coffee line, following its canned cold brew and vanilla oat milk latte. “Instant coffee allows us to innovate and offer consumers an energising product that doesn’t compromise their wellbeing,” Maricel Saenz, founder and CEO of Compound Foods – Minus’s parent company – tells Green Queen. She outlines Minus’s goal to support women’s health, which is “often overlooked”, through balance and sustained energy. “We designed this product with their unique needs in mind – whether it’s reducing caffeine jitters, increasing protein intake, or supporting energy transitions during perimenopause,” she says. Like Minus, several others – including Voyage Foods, Atomo Coffee, Prefer | bean-free coffee, and Northern Wonder - Coffee Free Coffee – are making beanless coffee. But Pluri and Stem are working on cell-based versions, and Amatera is leveraging molecular biology and crop genetics to develop perennial coffee varieties. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/et2rWi2T #GreenQueen #coffee #upcycling #innovation #futurefood #health #climatechange #climateaction #sustainability

🌱🍽️ HIGH-FIBRE, PLANT-BASED DIET COULD HALT BLOOD CANCER PROGRESSION RISK Researchers at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) have reported results from a clinical trial featuring 20 people with a precancerous blood disorder and an elevated body mass index (BMI) at risk for developing multiple myeloma, a rare blood cancer that affects the bone marrow. The participants of the Nutrivention study received 12 weeks of high-fibre plant-based meals and 24 weeks of coaching, and exhibited positive results in the disease progression trajectory. People lost 8% of their body weight on average after 12 weeks, while there was a sustained BMI reduction of 7% after a year. There was also a significant improvement in quality of life, insulin resistance, gut microbiome health, and inflammation. For two of the participants whose disease was progressing prior to the study, the intervention stabilised the trajectory, suggesting that a high-fibre, whole-food vegan diet may have delayed progression. Additionally, none of the participants had progressed to multiple myeloma one year after enrolment. “This study showcases the power of nutrition – specifically a high-fibre plant-based diet – and unlocks a better understanding of how it can lead to improvements in the microbiome and metabolism to build a stronger immune system,” said Urvi Shah, a myeloma specialist at MSK who led the study. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/eu9NSguv #GreenQueen #altprotein #futurefood #plantbased #vegan #nutrition #health #sustainability

🇺🇸💰⚖️ NEW YORK SIGNS LAW TO FINE BIG OIL POLLUTERS $75B VIA CLIMATE CHANGE SUPERFUND With Donald Trump, who loves fossil fuels and denies climate change, taking presidential office again in three weeks, the state where he made his name is taking on Big Oil for its impact on the planet. New York will penalise oil and gas producers for their contributions to greenhouse gas emissions between 2000 and 2018 to shift the cost of climate adaptation “from everyday New Yorkers to the fossil fuel companies most responsible for the pollution”. Known as the Climate Change Superfund Act, the law was signed by Governor Kathy Hochul this week, and will raise $75B over a 25-year period from fossil fuel producers. For context, three of the largest domestic oil companies – ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Shell – raked in $85.6B in combined profits in 2023 alone. It applies to fossil fuel companies that the state determines are responsible for over a billion tonnes of global greenhouse gas emissions. Although New York is likely to face legal challenges against the act, it has also set up a Climate Change Adaptation Cost Recovery Program to ensure that the money paid by these polluters goes towards adapting the state’s infrastructure to the impacts of the climate crisis. The legislation is modelled on the Superfund law from 1980, which requires that companies pay for the cleanup of toxic waste from oil and chemical spills. This one focuses on the climate impact of fossil fuel production because it’s the biggest contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions and has an outsized influence on the increase of extreme weather events. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/ebgjQF5C #GreenQueen #climateaction #climatechange #sustainability #policy #emissions #pollution

🇯🇵☕♻️ STARBUCKS JAPAN REPLACES PAPER WITH BIODEGRADABLE STRAWS MADE FROM PLANT-BASED POLYMERS Five years after ditching plastic for paper, Starbucks Japan is bidding adieu to paper for bioplastics. The coffee company is overhauling its straws by swapping paper with a biodegradable, plant-based polymer, marking the company’s latest efforts to greenify its supply chain. The straw is made from Green Planet, a bioplastic made by Japanese materials company Kaneka Green Planet®. The firm’s forks, knives, stirrers and spoons are already used by Starbucks at its stores across the country. Now, its straws are available at 32 locations in the Okinawa Prefecture, ahead of a nationwide rollout in March. Thicker straws for Frappuccino drinks will follow a month later. Starbucks began its transition away from fossil-fuel-derived plastic straws in Japan in 2018, launching paper straws certified by the Forest Stewardship Council in 2020, followed by paper cups for takeaway drinks (which have their own challenges), cutlery from biomass materials, and resin cups for in-store iced beverages. In addition to packaging, Starbucks is also making its physical stores more sustainable, aligning them with vigorous third-party standards across eight environmental impact areas: water stewardship, partner engagement, energy efficiency, waste diversion, renewable energy, responsible materials and sites and communities. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/erQFeSKU #GreenQueen #sustainability #innovation #zerowaste #climateaction #plastics #pollution #foodsystems #circulareconomy

🧊🍱 THE SECRET TO SAVING FOOD WASTE? STICK IT IN THE FREEZER A national survey in the US has found that discarded frozen items account for only 6% of all household food waste, and based on the small share, researchers say stocking freezers could be a great way to prevent the wastage of food that’s otherwise perfectly good. “We found that households with home freezing behaviours are more likely to have less food waste than other households,” said lead author Lei Xu who conducted the study with Brian Roe, a professor at The Ohio State University. The study was based on data from questions added to the National Household Food Waste Tracking Survey, with over 1,050 Americans participating. Respondents were asked to estimate the percentage of all discarded food that was frozen in the previous week, and whether it was originally frozen or placed in the freezer later. The poll found that 85% of households buy frozen foods, and 55% do so to reduce waste. These households were also more likely to shop infrequently (two to three times a month) and have an annual income of under $50,000. The data also showed that households that frequently freeze food waste significantly less of it. Those more likely to freeze fresh items of extra food were aged 45 and above, and living in households with at least three people. This suggests that consumers with a home freezing routine could be more experienced at managing group meals and inspired to slash food waste, according to the authors. The researchers found that of the frozen food that ends up tossed in the trash, 30% more was discarded from the refrigerator instead of the freezer. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/ew32-rr2 #GreenQueen #foodwaste #circulareconomy #foodsystems #pollution #zerowaste #emissions

🇸🇬 🍫☕ PREFER TAKES ON COCOA-FREE CHOCOLATE AFTER BEANLESS COFFEE SUCCESS Would you have a mocha made without the coffee and the chocolate if it tastes the same anyway? Prefer | bean-free coffee, which is making planet-friendly alternatives to carbon-heavy food commodities, is betting on it. The Singapore-based startup made splashes last year with the market launch of its beanless coffee, which utilises waste bread, soy milk pulp, spent brewer’s grain, and fermentation to offer an alternative to your morning latte that won’t hurt the planet. Coffee is one of the most carbon-emissive food items – in fact, its GHG impact is surpassed only by red meat, and dark chocolate. There is already a glut of companies working on novel meats, whether plant-based, fermentation-derived or cultivated. But now, more and more startups are cropping up to tackle the cocoa industry. Prefer has joined that list, with a cocoa-free chocolate prototype now in the works. While most details are under wraps here, co-founder and CEO Jake Berber says the firm is venturing into the cocoa world for the same reason that propelled its beanless coffee innovation. “The price of cocoa is skyrocketing – we believe our solution solves a globally impactful problem,” he tells Green Queen. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/euE5gtzX #GreenQueen #cocoafreechocolate #foodtech #sustainability #innovation #futurefoods #climateaction

🇬🇧🍴🌱 UNITY DINER: EARTHLING ED’S POPULAR VEGAN RESTAURANT IN LONDON ANNOUNCES CLOSURE While Veganuary is usually a celebratory month for plant-based businesses, it spells a bittersweet end for one of London’s most beloved vegan restaurants. Unity Diner, an eatery and cocktail bar veganising fast-food classics, will close its doors on February 1 after more than six years of operations, becoming the latest casualty in the UK’s embattled hospitality sector. Co-owned by animal activist and vegan influencer Ed Winters – popularly known as Earthling Ed – the restaurant’s news has been met with an outpouring of grief from customers and fellow restauranteurs. It has over 40,000 followers on Instagram, demonstrating its popularity in the London vegan ecosystem. But in a statement posted to the social media platform on December 30, Unity Diner confirmed it was closing after price hikes in a hospitality environment still reeling from the effects of Covid-19. “Sadly, we’ve not been spared from the economic situation affecting the hospitality sector here in the UK, and with soaring costs since Covid and our landlords now wanting to increase the rent, the time has sadly come for us to call it a day,” it wrote. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/e9djQGer #GreenQueen #vegan #sustainability #plantbasedmeat #foodsystems #vegandining