Start-up Spotlight: The Leaf Protein Co, Avant, Yacon New Zealand and more feature in our round-up

By Pearly Neo

- Last updated on GMT

The Leaf Protein Co, Avant, Yacon New Zealand and more feature in this edition of Start-up Spotlight. ©Getty Images
The Leaf Protein Co, Avant, Yacon New Zealand and more feature in this edition of Start-up Spotlight. ©Getty Images

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The Leaf Protein Co, Avant, Yacon New Zealand and more feature in this edition of Start-up Spotlight.

Cleaning up snack foods: Big brand interest in cleaner and healthier options paving path for leaf protein sector

The interest in cleaner and better-for-you snacks shown by big food and beverage brands, including Mondelez, Nestle and Vitasoy, is paving the way for a new specialised area of plant-based proteins to enter the market, namely the RuBisCo leaf protein.

This is according to The Leaf Protein Co Co-Founder and CEO Fern Ho, who told FoodNavigator-Asia​ in the most recent episode of our F&B Trailblazers podcast that this rising interest from various big brands has served as a major catalyst for the firm’s rapid growth since its inception two years ago in 2020.

‘Only produce what we eat’: Singapore-based firm Avant on the sustainability case for cultivated seafood

Eating cultivated seafood will become a “more efficient” way to consume protein by slashing waste, while also removing fears over the intake of microplastics, according to Singapore-based firm Avant.

Avant’s CEO Carrie Chan was a keynote speaker at our Growth Asia Summit held in Marina Bay Sands, Singapore between October 11 and 13. Chan was speaking on the topic “Epicentre APAC: Why the region is primed to see cultivated seafood take-off”. 

“[Cultivated seafood] is a lot more efficient use of resources. We only produce what we eat. If we don’t eat the tail or the bone, then we don’t cultivate it,”​ Chan said.

The next Manuka honey? NZ winner of NutraIngredients-Asia Start-up Award ready to go overseas with yacon product

The winner of NutraIngredients-Asia Awards 2022 Start-Up prize believes its flagship product – a prebiotic fructo-oligosaccharides juice extracted from yacon – could follow in the footsteps of Manuka Honey and become New Zealand’s next big exports success.

Yacon New Zealand was up against fellow finalists Live Yourself Vitamins from Turkey and fellow New Zealand company Zestt Wellness for the award.

Founded in 2016, Yacon New Zealand’s products are built upon over two decades of research on yacon – a tuber plant indigenous to South America.

Immunity coffee: Australian firm creates postbiotic blend in Nespresso-compatible capsules and instant powder

An Australian firm has created a barista coffee blend containing postbiotics designed to be beneficial to the immune health.

The coffee blend is currently available in capsules compatible with the Nespresso machine and instant freeze-dried powder.

Created by Queensland-based Coffee Roasters Australia, the blend consists of four heat-killed postbiotics, including Lacticaseibacillus paracasei, Lactobacillus plantarum, Bifidobacterium, ​and Lactobacillus rhamnosus.

Hitting the sweet spot: How sugar-replacement start-up will maintain brand focus after conglomerate merger

Ensuring that brand focus is maintained after joining a larger company is crucial to sustain and boost growth, according to sugar replacement start-up Swiftlet which has become part of Vietnamese conglomerate Senix Health Group.

ASEAN-based sugar replacement firm Swiftlet recently successfully completed a major merger and acquisition (M&A) with Senix, and is strategically positioned to be one of the company’s leading healthier foods businesses.

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