Weekly Podcast Episode 15: Space meat, PepsiCo’s green bond and more

Tune into the latest edition of FoodBev’s weekly podcast, where we take an in-depth look at some of the biggest stories from the food and beverage industry over the last week – click here to access on Spotify.

This week’s podcast features significant sustainability funding efforts, major acquisitions, meat grown in space and a round-up of the Anuga tradeshow.

Last week, PepsiCo announced that it will issue around $1 billion worth of ‘Green Bonds’ to investors, claiming that it will use the proceeds of the bond sale to fund sustainability initiatives in areas such as packaging and transport.

This is the first green bond that the company has issued, and PepsiCo has announced that it plans to invest the proceeds to “advance its sustainability agenda” in line with sustainability commitments already announced by the company.

There was another major story on the topic of sustainability as well, as Unilever, which owns brands such as Ben & Jerry’s, Knorr, and Lipton, has announced plans to halve its use of virgin plastic by 2025.

Meanwhile, bakery company Aryzta has received an offer to sell the majority of its stake in French frozen food firm Picard to Invest Group Zouari (IGZ), which will acquire a 43% stake for €156 million.

Elsewhere, Campari Group purchased a majority stake in the owners of ‘super-premium’ alcohol brands Montelobos mezcal and the Ancho Reyes liqueur, for approximately $35.7 million, marking Campari’s entry into the high-growth mezcal category.

A particularly interesting story came from Israel-based start-up Aleph Farms, who has successfully cultivated cell-grown meat in space, over 248 miles away from any natural resources.

The company has claimed that the experiment marks a significant first step toward ensuring food security for generations to come, while preserving the earth’s natural resources.

This week’s podcast also features a round-up of some of the key trends from this years’ Anuga tradeshow, where plant-based foods, functional options, insect protein and low and no-sugar products featured strongly.

You’ll find all this and more in this week’s podcast – click here to subscribe.

Presented by: Martin White, Emma Upshall and Bryony Andrews

Edited by: Martin White