Can Ice Cream Save the World? 🍦

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Read time today: 2:36 min

Hi friend,

It’s Friday morning. You are reading VITAMIN C 🍋. 

There are 5M+ articles this week about food and climate. I hunted down the 5 that deserve your attention.

Here they are:

1. [Money] 💰 There are still trillion dollars waiting to be invested in our agrifood system.

Europe’s agrifoodtech is bouncing back. Funding may be down globally, but Europe still raised $3.8B in 2024, returning to pre-Covid and pre-crazy valuation levels as in 2020.

Why? Because “resilience” is the new investment thesis.

Startups tackling food security, logistics risks, regenerative ag, and climate-resilient crops are top of mind.

While only $3.8B was actually invested last year in agrifood startups in Europe, over €1T in private and public capital remains on the sidelines.

This includes trillions allocated through the EU Green Deal — so-called “dry powder” earmarked for green innovation, including agrifoodtech.

The next wave of European agrifood startups isn’t just about growth, it’s about securing the food system before the next big crisis hits.

Dive into the numbers here.

2. [Startup Spotlight] 🍦Not plant-based. Not animal-based. What’s left?

Japanese food giant Ajinomoto just released three new ice cream flavors in Singapore — all made with Solein, the novel protein created by Finnish startup Solar Foods.

Why does this matter?

Solein doesn’t come from plants or animals. It’s made by fermenting CO₂, air, and electricity — with near-zero environmental impact.

No land use. No cows. Still delicious ice cream.

Ajinomoto is launching the flavors – vanilla mochi, chocolate-lemon peel, and salty caramel-nut – as part of a larger strategy to bring sustainable indulgence into the mainstream.

I can’t wait to try it!

Read more here.

3. [Startup Spotlight] 🍄‍🟫The $90B diaper industry is about to be eaten alive… by fungi.

The diaper industry is booming - but it's also one of the biggest household plastic polluters on Earth.

Billions of diapers hit landfills every year, taking centuries to break down.

I wish this was an exaggeration. When my son was a newborn, we were taking out the trash every single day. It adds up fast — and it doesn't go away.

Hiro Technologies, a U.S.-based startup, is tackling this issue head-on.

They developed the MycoDigestible Diaper — a diaper embedded with a packet of plastic-eating fungi.

Once tossed, these fungi activate in landfill conditions, turning the diaper plastic into mycelium and nutrient-rich soil in weeks, not centuries.

Read more about their technology here.

4. How sustainable are German supermarkets?

German supermarkets love to brag about their climate goals. But what happens when we dig into the receipts?

The newly released Superlist Environment Germany, by Madre Brava and Questionmark Foundation, just did that — and the results are eye-opening.

They examined what supermarkets are actually doing (not just saying) in 3 key areas:

↳ Reaching Net Zero

↳ Promoting plant-based eating

↳ Supporting sustainable farming

Here’s what they found:

❌ 90% of protein promotions were still meat-based

❌ No supermarket was transparent about how much of their product range is sustainably certified

❌ Most lacked real, measurable roadmaps to meet their climate targets

So yeah - lots of green buzzwords, but the execution? Often still stuck in the freezer aisle.

Some bright spots:

 ✅ Lidl tops the list — they’ve even placed plant-based options next to meat to nudge better choices.

 ✅ Edeka, Kaufland, and Lidl also committed to price parity for plant-based private-label products.

Read more here.

 5. [Fun] 📦 Innovation ≠ Adoption

You can build the most complex, beautifully designed system in the world…

But if the user doesn’t want it?

They’ll choose the cardboard box instead.

Just ask this cat.

Or consumers.

Or food startups wondering why their perfect product isn’t flying off the shelves.

Lesson: Innovation only works if people actually want to use it.

Stay awesome,
Lia

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