Start-up Spotlight: Boring Oat Milk, Nature's Fynd, Varacco and more start-ups feature in our round-up

Boring approach: NZ’s first commercially mass-produced ‘local’ oat milk firm targets APAC expansion​

New Zealand’s first locally mass-produced oat milk brand Boring Oat Milk has its eye on the discerning APAC-wide coffee crowd after a successful domestic supermarket launch, and is confident that its ‘whisper, not shout’ strategy will stand out on shelves.

Boring Oat Milk claims to be the first and only oat milk brand to be made at scale locally using local oats, and that just 1% of plant-based milks on New Zealand store shelves are actually made in New Zealand.

“We are the first oat milk brand to be mass producing oat milk in New Zealand, making some 50 million litres a year at our facility,”​ Boring Oat Milk Founder Morgan Maw told FoodNavigator-Asia​.

Not plant, not meat, all fungi: Nature’s Fynd looks to conquer meat and dairy alternative markets in Asia​

US-based alternative protein firm Nature’s Fynd has its eye on both the alternative meat and alternative dairy markets in Asia, and is confident it can tackle both of these simultaneously with its highly versatile fungi protein.

Nature’s Fynd recently raised US$350mn in funds and is already planning to build its first Asian facility in Singapore by 2023, highlighting its ambitions to break into the Asian market within the next few years.

“Singapore is a key market for us as we enter Asia and we are finding that it is an ideal base from both an operational and business development standpoint,”​ Nature’s Fynd Chief Marketing Officer Karuna Rawal told FoodNavigator-Asia​.

“A key step for us [to enter the Asian market will of course be] to secure regulatory approvals - We expect to receive regulatory approval first in Singapore followed by additional key markets in Asia.”​

Taking a dip: How UN award-winning Philippines firm is challenging instant coffee’s market dominance​

Philippines-based coffee firm Varacco is looking to give instant coffee makers a run for their money with their patented ‘dip’ coffee products, which boasts the benefits of pure coffee with added convenience.

According to Varacco Co-Founder and COO Ariestelo Asilo, the firm’s coffee brand, Circa 1740, is different from regular instant coffee as it is made of pure coffee – but offered in a bag.

“When we were starting the business, our market analysis showed that some 90% of Filipinos drink instant coffee regularly and the market is worth some US$3.2bn, making the Philippines one of the largest instant coffee drinking markets worldwide,”​ Asilo told FoodNavigator-Asia​.

“Locally though the instant coffee market is mostly monopolised by Nestle, and to us we’d be glad to get just 1% of this market from them with our better-quality coffee."​

Fresh and functional: China plant-based firm All Plants churns out new oat milk products for younger generation​

Chinese plant-based start-up All Plants is intending to expand its SKUs from 8 to 11 this year, with the latest products involving fresh oat milk, and oat milk with functional benefits to target younger consumers.

Its first brand All Oats was launched this year consisting of long shelf-life oat milk and flavoured oat milk selling D2C. It also has a B2B channel, producing oat milk for independent coffee chains and coffee schools.

Among the latest product launches are a fresh oat milk series, which requires cold-chain, and a functional oat milk to help with digestion.

According to Shirley Shen, founder of All Plants, the company aims to cater to the young Chinese population with plant-based products. Its consumers are those born in the 1990s and 2000s in China, accounting for 300 million people.

Israeli insect start-up Entoprotech raises US$2m from Granot​

The funding from that strategic investor is part of an initial unpriced round to support Entoprotech’s R&D and business development plans in the next 12 months and will be part of a $30m Series A round planned towards Q4 2022.

Granot, which is one of the largest agricultural cooperatives in Israel, will also co-finance the establishment of a large production facility in Israel for Entoprotech as part of a new strategic partnership, in addition to assessing facilities in the Middle East and Africa in due course, according to the insect producer. 

Entoprotech said it plans to work with local partners to build new facilities; it is currently in negotiations with companies from the UAE, Canada, the USA, Mexico and Russia in that respect.