Meati's $20M Plant Sells for $75K as Planted Soars, Mohair Falls
Ayana Bio and Zenfold bought Meati Foods' abandoned fermentation gear, once worth $15-20 million, for $75,000, the latest casualty of alt-protein's funding drought.
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Ayana Bio and Zenfold bought Meati Foods' abandoned fermentation gear, once worth $15-20 million, for $75,000, the latest casualty of alt-protein's funding drought [98].
02
Mercy For Animals filmed newly hatched male chicks ground alive and gassed at a commercial hatchery, renewing pressure to end a practice that kills 7 billion chicks a year worldwide [113].
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Planted's plant-based meat sales in Germany grew 57.6% this year, four times the category's pace, making it the country's eighth-largest meat-alternative brand [97].
04
FAO Schwarz banned mohair hours before a planned PETA protest, joining adidas, Gap, and Zara after investigators filmed goats thrown and mutilated during shearing [117].
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BeneMeat paused its UK cultivated meat expansion, warning a UK-EU trade deal could cost Britain control over its own novel food approvals [89].
06
Jamie Oliver's new cookbook makes the case for "beans, beans, beans" as the fix for Britain's real nutrition gap: fiber, not another five-a-day slogan [84].
Ayana Bio Buys Failed Meati Foods' Fermentation Plant for $75,000
Photo: green queen
Meati Foods, the mycelium meat maker that raised $450 million before shutting down its Colorado plant and laying off all 150 employees this year, had its industrial fermentation equipment go unsold at auction [98]. Ayana Bio and Indian partner Zenfold Sustainable Technologies then bought the 300,000-liter pilot and production capacity for $75,000, equipment Ayana estimates cost $15-20 million to build [98]. The gear ships to Zenfold's facility in India to expand Ayana Bio's plant cell bioactives business, not to revive cultivated meat production [98].
“The opportunity to acquire this fermentation equipment, at this cost, is a game changer for Ayana Bio to expand our own dedicated pilot capabilities”
Mercy For Animals Films Chicks Ground Alive at US Hatchery
Photo: mercy for animals
Mercy For Animals released undercover footage from inside a commercial hatchery showing newly hatched male chicks forced from females and killed by maceration or gassing within hours, alongside deformed or unsold female chicks discarded the same way [113][116]. The investigation targets a practice that kills an estimated 7 billion male chicks worldwide each year because they cannot lay eggs and are not raised for meat [113]. Germany and France already ban routine chick culling, and Mercy For Animals is calling for a US ban through its new Crack the System campaign [113].
“It was devastating to see that none of them were spared; they all ended up dead in a brutal way.”
Planted Outgrows Germany's Entire Plant-Based Meat Market Fourfold This Year
Photo: green queen
Swiss meat-alternative maker Planted grew its German supermarket sales 57.6% year-to-date, more than four times the category's 12.5% growth, and climbed three spots to become the country's eighth-largest plant-based meat brand by value [97]. Its fermentation-enabled whole-cut steak, resized 25% larger to 150 grams at the same price this year, more than doubled its own sales in the first seven months of 2026 [97]. Co-founder Pascal Bieri says the real test is winning meals from people who currently buy animal meat, not just growing inside a niche [97].
“The real opportunity is to earn a place in the everyday meals of the much larger group of consumers who currently choose animal meat.”
57.6%year-to-date sales growth for Planted in German supermarkets, versus 12.5% for the category [97]
150gnew size of Planted's flagship steak, up from 120g at the same price [97]
FromGreen Queen
04▲Activism & AnimalsStory
FAO Schwarz Bans Mohair After PETA Films Goats Abused in South Africa
Photo: peta
Toy retailer FAO Schwarz banned mohair hours before PETA supporters planned to protest outside its New York store with a giant "bloody" teddy bear, joining adidas, Columbia, Gap, UNIQLO, and Zara on PETA's list of brands that have dropped the material [117]. Two PETA Asia investigations into South Africa's mohair industry, the world's top producer, filmed shearers lifting goats off the floor by the tail, sitting on struggling animals, and punching identification holes through their ears with pliers [117]. PETA says mohair farms kill Angora goats once they stop being profitable, years before their natural lifespan [117].
6major brands PETA now names as having banned mohair: adidas, Columbia, Gap, UNIQLO, Zara, and now FAO Schwarz [117]
FromPETA
Worth Knowing
Food & Recipes
Try West African Jollof Rice and Beans, a one-pot dinner of tomatoes, spices, rice, and kidney beans that turns a pantry staple into a full plate of fiber and protein [80].
Wins & Culture
Alexander Zverev, the world's number-two-ranked men's tennis player and a type 1 diabetic, calls sweet potatoes "probably the best food in the world for diabetics" for keeping his blood sugar stable mid-match [131].
Innovation
Germany's Max Rubner Institute published new food-specific protein conversion factors that cut calculated protein content for legumes, nuts, and other plant foods by up to 20% compared with the 200-year-old standard multiplier [99].
GLP-1 weight-loss drugs now put $73 billion of the world's top 100 food brands' value at risk, with PepsiCo's Lay's the single most exposed brand [94].
Robigo Bio raised a Series A led by Bayer's venture arm for engineered microbial seed treatments it says can match synthetic pesticides at half the cost [88].
PhytoFoundry emerged from stealth to grow bakuchiol, a plant-derived retinol alternative, through cell culture instead of extracting it from crops [87].
Research & Nutrition
A meta-analysis of 846,589 people found the most plant-based eaters had a 10% lower cardiovascular disease risk than the least, though diets heavy in unhealthy plant foods raised risk instead [29].
A 12-week randomized trial found a self-selected vegan diet cut protein intake and shrank thigh muscle volume in adults over 65 compared with their usual omnivorous diet, an effect resistance exercise offset [30].
A meta-analysis of more than 221,000 adults linked greater adherence to plant-based diets with a 26% lower risk of cognitive impairment and dementia [47].
NutritionFacts.org's review found the meat-industry-tied NutriRECS panel excluded the Lyon Diet Heart Study, which found a 70% drop in all-cause mortality on a lower-meat diet, from its "keep eating meat" guidance [18].
Law & Policy
The Good Food Institute finds plant-based diners at quick-service restaurants spend about $500 more a year than meat-only customers, yet menus still rarely carry meatless mains [129].
Activism & Animals
PETA is pressing the US Department of War to stop funding foreign animal experiments, including a Canadian study that strangles mice to simulate "intimate partner violence" [120].
One Good Thing
In Kenya, Kenneth Odhiambo's Sondu Vegan Support Group now helps 364 families grow their own vegetables, runs vegan cooking classes, and lectures at a dozen primary schools on veganic farming [133]. Rachel Kabue, vegan since 2012, built The Vegan Society of Kenya and a feline sanctuary that started with one abandoned kitten named Jet and now cares for hundreds of cats [133]. "Being vegan in Kenya is not as difficult as people might imagine because many of our staple foods are already naturally vegan," Kabue says [133]. Fourteen years after one woman changed her diet, Kenya now has a farming, cooking, and rescue network to show for it.
Mercy For Animals
