Food and agriculture data infrastructure company, Leaf, has raised $5 million in a seed funding round led by S2G Ventures. The round also included participation from existing investors, including Cultivian, Radicle Growth and SP Ventures. Leaf provides intuitive tools to help software developers build with farm data. Its unified farm data API (application programming interface) can send and receive user-permission data across platforms in a standardised way, "enabling companies to build more applications years ahead of schedule". The company's API can also be used to scale up products for carbon and sustainability tracking, farm management lending and insurance, biotech, land and input marketplaces, agronomy, food traceability, maintenance forecasting, farmland finance, and more. Bailey Stockdale, CEO and co-founder of Leaf, said: "We started Leaf after experiencing the frustrations of developers working in food and agriculture first hand. Before Leaf, large and well-funded development teams would struggle for years to overcome inconsistent data access, formats, translation, organisation and integrations." He added: "Now these same companies and teams of all sizes use Leaf to focus on building new value for their customers instead of maintaining redundant backend infrastructure". Leaf will use the funds to grow its commercial, customer and development teams globally, enhance support for new data types, as well as launch new services that enable software developers to address health, economic and environmental challenges. Cristina Rohr, managing director at S2G Ventures, added: "Our investment in Leaf supports its continued growth and success in being a catalyst for agtech development overall. Farm data is only useful when it can be easily read and used. Leaf is rewriting the rules when it comes to building with farm data and we're excited to support them."

Kellogg's Frosted Flakes brand is launching three new cereal flavours that change the taste and colour of cereal bowl milk. The variants comprise: Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes Strawberry Milkshake, which features juicy strawberry flavour paired with creamy notes; Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes Cinnamon French Toast, a combination of caramelised brown sugar and maple syrup flavour and cinnamon spice on golden toasted corn flakes; and Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes Chocolate, which includes traditional corn flakes, sweet cocoa and vanilla flavour notes. The new cereals will be available at retailers nationwide from May for an SRP of $4.49 per 13.05oz box and $6.29 per 24oz box.

Bacardi has announced that it is bringing its premium pre-batched cocktails range to at-home consumers. Tails Cocktails, which is made using Bacardi's portfolio of premium brands, is available in five flavours: Rum Daiquiri, made with Bacardí rum; Whisky Sour, made with Dewar's Blended Scotch whisky, Gin Gimlet, made with Bombay Sapphire gin; and Espresso Martini Cocktail and Passion Fruit Martini Cocktail, both made with 42Below vodka. Tails general manager Evert-Jan Bos said: “Over the last two years, cocktail awareness has boomed as people served up daiquiris, espresso martini cocktails and mojitos to make staying-in feel extra special. Now, as the on-trade reopens, consumers are enjoying the experience of being back in the bar and they’re ordering cocktails more than ever before.” Francis Debeuckelaere, regional president of Western Europe, Australia & New Zealand, added: "With Tails we’re delivering new experiences for the home, putting cocktails on the menu whatever the occasion. We are pioneering a whole new ‘ready-to-shake’ category.” The pre-batched cocktails line-up, which was previously released on-trade, will be available from next month in supermarkets and specialist liquor stores across the UK & Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Austria and Australia.

Arla Foods has announced a new five-year growth strategy for its UK business, that includes investments in sustainability, innovation and capacity. The dairy manufacturer said that it is planning long-term investments in its UK supply chain, key sales channels and brands such as Arla Cravendale, Arla B.O.B, Arla Lactofree, Lurpak, Starbucks and Anchor. Arla will also explore the possibility of exporting out of the UK for the first time. Over the next five years, the company is seeking to grow its UK business through innovation in categories like liquid milk, yogurts, butter and spreads, milk-based beverages and cheese. Arla's ambition is to grow the branded share of revenue from 38% to 45%. Arla Foods UK's managing director, Ash Amirahmadi, said: “This growth and value-up ambition is about improving the value of dairy for our consumers through high-quality products that meet their demands, for our retail and foodservice customers as we add category value and growth, and for farmers through a sustainable farmgate price”. Additionally, as part of this initiative, the co-op hopes to recruit new farmers to meet the growing demand for milk, with global demand for dairy expected to increase by 2% year on year over the next five years. Amirahmadi added: “While we are not recruiting as of now, we will also investigate opportunities to gradually open up for new members or contracted milk who share our farmers’ commitment to producing high-quality milk more sustainably”.

Natural health food brand Good4U has released a new salad topper variant, which is rich in vitamins and minerals, designed to be sprinkled on salads, wraps or soups. Good4U’s Caesar Crumbles Salad Topper combines roasted, crumbled fava beans with vegan caesar seasoning and seaweed. The new offering is made from all-natural ingredients and contains no added sugar, 7g of plant-based protein, vitamin D and iodine, as well as being vegan-friendly and gluten-free. The company claims that the salad topper contains 110% more fibre than standard croutons, as well as 70% more protein. Caesar Crumbles Salad Topper will be available in Tesco stores from 11 April.

Nexira has increased its acacia processing capacity by more than 20% at its Normandy, France, site and invested over $10 million in industrial facilities. The 20% increase means Nexira can produce more than 35,000 tonnes of acacia fibre annually, meeting increased global demand for nutritional ingredients. The investment includes a new spray dryer to enhance productivity and energy performance. Mathieu Dondain, general manager of development at Nexira, said: "With these investments, we are significantly increasing our production capabilities, while pursuing a strategic focus on the health and nutrition markets and reducing our carbon footprint. We are confirming our leadership in acacia with a market share of over 40% and are further accelerating our diversification by adding new natural and organic ingredients to our portfolio." He continued: "The growing market of nutritional products is boosting the demand for acacia fibre, particularly in the United States. It has been heightened by the Food and Drug Administration’s recent decision to grant dietary fibre status to acacia, following the citizen petition supported by Nexira. Our new production capacities will allow us to meet this demand not only for acacia fibre but also other natural ingredients; we have additional long-term plans for production in the US to better serve our customers on the North American continent." Further investments at Nexira's acacia processing plant are planned for the rest of 2022 through to 2023. Watch FoodBev's interview with Nexira about how acacia can meet health and sustainability needs:

Israeli food tech start-up, BioBetter, is exploring the potential of the Nicotiana tabacum (tobacco) plant in overcoming challenges of scaled production in cultured meat. The company says that this "botanical breakthrough" could significantly reduce the cost of cultivated meat and facilitate rapid scale-up. While cellular developments in cultivated meat are becoming more prevalent, challenges surrounding cost and scalability in the mass market still remain. In a statement, BioBetter said: "Cell-derived meat requires a culture medium composed of a mix of amino acids, nutrients, and – most importantly – growth factors (GF’s) without which cells cannot multiply. Currently, such media are costly due to the complexity of producing GF’s." "For example, insulin and transferrin GFs are collected from livestock, making it difficult to obtain large quantities. Some can be attained via fermentation of yeast or bacteria, but those methods require expensive facilities. The purification process also is complicated and expensive." BioBetter's process involves turning tobacco plants into bioreactors for expression and large-scale production of the proteins. "Plant bioreactors use renewable energy and fixate CO2. They are self-forming, self-sustaining and biodegradable. BioBetter uses open-field plantations to enable fast, efficient and flexible response to market needs," the company said. Tobacco plants can achieve up to four growth cycles annually and can be harvested year-round, making the plant widely accessible to the cultivated meat industry. Using a proprietary protein extraction and purification technology, BioBetter is able to exploit almost every part of the tobacco plant and deliver a high purity product at scale. Amit Yaari, CEO of BioBetter commented: “There are multiple advantages to using Nicotiana tabacum as a hardy vector for producing GFs of non-animal origin. It is an abundant crop that has no place in the food-and-feed chain due to its extremely bitter taste and content of undesirable alkaloids." He continued: "The global trend for reducing tobacco smoking also is raising concerns among tobacco growers that the crop might eventually become obsolete. Yet the tobacco plant has huge potential to become a key component in the future of food.”

SHS Drinks is introducing a new range of energy drink-inspired alcoholic RTD under its WKD brand, called WKD X. WKD X will launch in two variants: WKD X Blue and WKD X Gold. The new 7% abv drinks contain caffeine, guarana and taurine. Alison Gray, head of WKD at SHS Drinks, said: “Consumers are already well versed in mixing alcoholic drinks with energy drinks – what WKD X delivers is the convenience of a pre-mixed format from a respected brand that consumers know and love. For depot managers and convenience retailers keen to focus on where incremental RTD category growth will come from, WKD X marks the spot.” The new range will be available from May in single 500ml cans in both standard and £3.29 price-marked packs.

Danish ice cream producer and Food Union subsidiary, Premier Is, has promoted its chief commercial officer Claus Dahlmann Larsen to CEO. Larsen succeeds Kim Gade Pedersen, who will remain on the company's supervisory board. Prior to joining Premier Is, Larsen held several roles at Carlsberg between 1996-2005 and The Kellogg Company between 2005-2016. He also worked at Aujan Coca-Cola Beverages as commercial director between 2016-2019. Food Union's CEO, Arturs Čirjevskis, said: “The management of the company is now handed to Claus Dahlmann Larsen, a proven commercial and marketing professional both locally and internationally". He continued: "He is entrusted with an ambitious task to drive the growth of Premier Is through excellence in sales and marketing, implementation of revenue-increasing initiatives, the launch of new and innovative product categories in Denmark, as well as through building the foundation for Danish brands to perform on an international level”. Last month, Food Union appointed Arturs Čirjevskis as its next Europe CEO, following the resignation of Normunds Stanevics.

Froneri has expanded its Cadbury ice cream portfolio with the launch of Cadbury Darkmilk. Cadbury Darkmilk features a creamy vanilla ice cream with a chocolate centre. Darkmilk joins the brand's three other ice cream varieties, including Dairy Milk, Flake99 and Buttons. Brunhilde Van Antwerp, UK head of marketing for Cadbury ice cream, said: “At Cadbury ice cream, we wanted to introduce a product that caters specifically for more grown-up taste buds looking for a richer chocolate taste experience. Cadbury Darkmilk delivers the perfect combination of rich and creamy flavours for moments of true indulgence.” Cadbury Darkmilk will be available in packs of four at major retailers nationwide for an RRP of £3.

Benecol has introduced a range of plant-based oat yogurts and health shots that are enriched with plant stanols – said to help lower cholesterol. The range consists of yogurts and shots, both made with Finish oats. Flavours include strawberry, raspberry & blueberry, mango, blueberry and plain. The range is also gluten-free. Plant stanols have gained popularity in recent years, praised for their ability to lower cholesterol, a risk factor for coronary heart disease. Sneahmoyee Banerjee, brand manager at Benecol, said: “We’re hugely excited to announce the launch of our new Benecol Oat range, it will increase our consumer offer and bring innovative healthy solutions to the cholesterol-lowering category. The new Oat range provides younger, more discerning consumers with a product that is proven to help lower cholesterol, without compromising on great taste. The new oat range will be available in the UK across Sainsbury's, Asda, Ocado and Waitrose retailers. Oat shots: 100g, RRP £3.95 Oat Yog♥rt pots: 350g, RRP £2.50

Diageo has agreed to sell its premium Scotch whisky brand, Windsor, to Bayside/Metis, a South Korean private equity group for KRW 200 billion (approx. £124 million). The transaction, which will also include the W series, will see Diageo supply Scotch whisky to Bayside/Metis under a 10-year supply agreement. Sam Fischer, president of Asia Pacific and global travel for Diageo, said: “This transaction marks the next chapter for Diageo Korea. We remain fully committed to the market and further developing our international spirits and beer business, which is being driven by premiumisation and consumer interest in categories like international whisky." He continued: "We take a disciplined approach to capital allocation and this sale is very much in line with our track record of active portfolio management. We are grateful to our Diageo Korea employees for all their dedication and support of the Windsor business and we will work with them, the Union, our valued customers and partners, and Bayside/Metis to ensure a smooth transition.” Bum Jun Kim, CEO of Bayside Private Equity for Bayside/Metis added: “Windsor is an important addition to our investment portfolio and allows us to participate in the dynamic Korean beverage alcohol market. We are confident that we can build on the innovation of Windsor and unlock further potential. We will work closely with Diageo to ensure a smooth transition over the next few months.” The deal is expected to be completed in fiscal 2023. New product releases from Diageo: RTD Smirnoff flavoured vodkaCaptain Morgan limited-edition cherry vanilla rum