Good Morning,
and great to have you join us for the Weekly Debrief for week 19 of 2021. We got the latest from the world of plant-based business, food, fashion, travel, and lifestyle, curated and contextualized for you.
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This week, we cover new technology in vegan food, the trend towards healthier meat substitutes, and adidas newest sneaker innovation which sadly proves that sustainability efforts without real leadership in style will simply not cut it.
A Glimpse into the Future of Plant-Based Food Tech
In this piece in Forbes Magazine, author John Cumbers dives deep into new technologies in plant-based food, which will help make the experience of vegan “alternatives” to the animal-based staples most grew up with (and therefore miss) better.
From marbleized “meat” to making vegan cheese stretchy and bubbly, here’s a look at some of the companies that analyze the fundamental physical properties of food to make better products. Super interesting read.
Quo Vadis, Alternative Protein Market?
Another Forbes piece takes us into the depths of the alternative protein market and looks at a new wave of companies that are out to take over from the Impossibles and Beyonds of the world by combining the taste-experience that brings non-vegan consumers to the table with better, more healthy properties.
“Just as the range of plant-based food has widened exponentially in recent years, the intersection between healthfulness and taste looks to be widening, too,” says author Brian Kateman. Another highly recommended read — and keep an eye out for the carrot hotdog, a vegan staple that’s seemingly kicking into big-corp overdrive now.
Co-Op to Level Pricing of Vegan Products
The UK retail group plans to slash the prices of plant-based products to bring them in line with meat equivalents in their sustainability quest for net zero emissions. The initiative, says Co-Op, is meant to help with “unfair pricing” of vegan food. About time.
World’s First Plant-Based Hard-Boiled Egg
… that’s what Singapore Manufacturer Osome Foods claims. The food manufacturer debuted the new product as a ‘nutrition-focused’ innovation, in an effort to provide consumers superfood-value nutrients without the need of animal products. Which leaves the question what would make eggs superfood-material in the first place, but oh well… it sure looks cool! (Which is why we used it for the header image of this newsletter).
And another World’s First: Hemp Seed Cream, Anyone?
Cream based on hemp seeds — and another world-premiere, claims company Good Hemp for their dairy-free cream concentrate. Already in use in their range alongside their of branded milk alternatives, the Devon-based company now has a new staple for use in UHT and extended shelf-life products in it’s arsenal.
Adidas and Allbirds got a Collab out and it’s… meh
It’s rather rare for two sneaker brands to collab, as this piece on Inputmag correctly observes, and even though the sugarcane-based midsole and the upper made of 30% Tencel and 70% recycled polyester make this shoe an admirable effort in new sneaker sustainability, problem is, it’s just a bit boring. And again, here’s proof that a shoe can have the lowest carbon footprint ever achieved in a sneaker by either of the two companies involved… but if it looks bland, all of that effort and engineering is not enough to excite. At least us.
Acne Studios New Collection is made from Leftover Stock
The Swedish fashion house is one of our secret favorites here at Antagonist, and we silently watch year by year, with our fingers crossed, hoping for new collections to become more and more sustainable (which is happening) and embrace vegan fashion more (which is not really happening).
Well: Acne Studios has recently released its third installment of the “Repurposed” series. Designed by Jonny Johansson, the genderless collection focuses on a range of light and heavyweight nylon, cotton jersey, and a cotton-blend ripstop for a tie-dyed outerwear capsule. And it’s made, as the name gives away, using excess fabrics and material leftovers from previous seasons. We dig that, though we’d love more info about the dye used and whether it’s vegan or not.
Last but not Least:
Even though we’re not 100% on boards in terms of style, the idea is right up our alley: The rise in single use plastic pollution since the pandemic hit is real and the estimated 129 billion (!) face masks used every month (!!) across the world are to blame.
As an alternative, Dutch brand Marie Bee Bloom has developed single-use masks made from rice paper —with flower seeds embedded in them, so that the product, once it ended up in either a landfill or a garden, will biodegrade and, best case, grow pretty plants to benefit bee population.
That’s (a) cute and (b) all kinds of awesome, so we’re on board and more than willing to overlook the debatable flower pedal details 😉
That’s it, that’s all. As always, thanks for reading and have a great weekend. Read you next week!
Yours truly,
Eric Mirbach
(Editor in Chief)
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