Panda hacks, AI groceries, and lab-grown chicken news 🐼🐓

^{Welcome to VITAMIN C ®, the newsletter exploring topics in food innovation, climate and everything in between. If you missed the last editions, check them out here.}

Read time today: 2 minutes 50 seconds

Hi friend 👋,

it’s Friday morning and you are reading VITAMIN C.

Halloween is over a week ago. But to me it feels like the spooky days aren’t over yet - with the current political turbulences around the world. 

Next week I’ll do something fun: I’ll be traveling to L.A with a political delegation from Berlin, attending the Green Tech Festival. Will any of you also be there? 👀

Today’s insights range from eco-consumer trends and lab-grown meat to robot-powered grocery delivery. 

Grab a coffee (or a lemonade), and let’s dive in! 🍋

Here is something interesting:

While more and more people feel the planet’s fate is sealed, they’re doubling down on buying eco-friendly stuff.

Only 40% of Americans think we still have time to “save the planet (declined 10 percentage points from 50% in 2021),” but nearly half (49%) say they’re doing more to protect it (up from 43% in 2021).

What’s fueling this? Eco consumerism. People are handing their dollars to brands that make them feel good about their choices.

It’s not just plant-based food (up 27%!)—tech and fashion are in on it, too. According to Mintel over 70% of consumers consider energy efficiency when buying gadgets, and 62% want sustainable materials in their clothes.

Of course there is always a bias in studies with self-reporting surveys, but I'd like to believe those numbers.

Read more here.

Personalized Nutrition expert Tim Spector (who I was lucky to meet two weeks ago) and over 1,000 other health pros from the UK want the NHS (National Health Service) to make vegan food the norm in hospitals.

Their argument is simple: plant-based meals aren’t just healthier; they’re cheaper and way better for the planet.

A New York trial already saw big cost savings and a 90% satisfaction rate.

The idea? Default to plant-based, keep meat as an option, and watch both health and budget improve.

For more details and video, check out Plants First Healthcare.

Imagine ordering groceries and having them arrive via robot instead of bike courier.

Starship Technologies and Bolt are bringing this to reality, Estonia, with electric robots delivering groceries for zero emissions.

The question I’m asking myself: Do these robots reduce environmental impact or make it worse?

With many cities already relying on low-emission bike couriers, robots might just be shifting emissions rather than eliminating them.

Nonetheless, want to see these delivery robots in action? Check out the video here.

Lab-grown chicken might soon compete with organic prices!

In a study published by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, researchers, alongside the startup Believer Meats, achieved a low-cost, high-volume production method for cultivated chicken meat using continuous bioreactors.

This tech could cut carbon emissions by more than 90% and reduce water demand by 80% - a huge win for sustainability.

But can it meet the needs of a growing population without high renewable energy input? The race to a greener protein future is on!

Learn more here.

I saw this post and loved the creativity!

A Mexican family took over a former Chinese restaurant and wanted turn it into a Mexican place.

Instead of repainting the entire walls new, they kept the panda mural and just added sombreros!

Sometimes, a low-cost, quirky solution grabs way more attention than a full overhaul. So, if you're looking to stand out, think outside the box and embrace a little humor - sometimes that’s all you need to grab attention (and even go viral).

Happy Friday,
Lia

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