Upcycled, water-saving tortilla chip company Kazoo Snacks is bringing its products to Sprouts Farmers Market locations nationwide. The tortilla chips are available in restaurant-style and lime zest varieties.

According to the company, each bag of tortilla chips saves 16 gallons of water per bag and are formulated with gluten-free upcycled ingredients, including corn germ, which means they also contain essential nutrients, enzymes and vitamin E.  

Brutal Foods developed a line of puffed snacks that feature chocho, a regenerative crop. Known as Andean lupin and cultivated at high altitudes, the bean has more protein per serving than salmon, tofu or chickpeas, with fiber, calcium and the nine essential amino acids.

Other ingredients in the Ecuadorian-inspired snack include rice flour, avocado oil, cassava starch and seasonings like onion powder, garlic powder and sea salt.

Planet Based Foods, known for producing plant-based meat formulated using hemp, expanded into the dessert category with the launch of a hemp-based vegan ice cream. Hemp regenerates soil, requires less water than traditional crops and sequesters carbon efficiently, making it a suitable sustainable rotation crop, according to the company. The allergen-free ice cream is available in four flavors, including butter pecan, chocolate, coffee chip and vanilla.

“We’re excited to show the world that plant-based meat is just the beginning for Planet Based Foods,” said Braelyn Davis, chief executive officer and co-founder of Planet Based Foods. “With our expansion into non-dairy frozen desserts, we’re now showcasing the utility of hemp in a range of delicious, better-for-the-planet foods. We’re relentlessly driven to innovate with hemp as part of our larger vision to help build a more sustainable and resilient food system. With climate change, soil depletion and water shortages putting significant strain on our agricultural system, the time is now to prioritize hemp as a regenerative, carbon-negative ingredient.”

Minus Coffee will be making its debut in 2023 as a bean-less coffee, instead opting for roasted upcycled roots, seeds and legumes.

The brand’s initial offering is a canned cold brew formulated with date seeds, chicory, sunflower seeds, carob, lentils, grape seeds and millet malt. Production involves significantly less water, fewer carbon emissions and a shorter supply chain than conventional coffee, said Maricel Saenz, founder and chief executive officer of parent company Compound Foods.

Cult Food Science Corp. expanded its operations and added a division that released two products, Zero Coffee and Free Candy.

Zero Coffee is the “world’s first sparkling coffee beverage made with cell-based coffee,” according to the company. The canned beverage eliminates the unsustainable land use and deforestation that results from conventional coffee bean farming. Free Candy is a performance gummy made with cell-based collagen. It is produced without the harmful environmental and ethical issues associated with animal farming, said Joshua Errett, vice president of product development at Cult Food Science

Patagonia Provisions acquired Plant Forward, Inc.’s snack brand, Moonshot, in March. The crackers’ main ingredient, wheat, is grown with regenerative agriculture and organic practices. It is traceable to the farm and the field, with the miller and the manufacturer being located within 100 miles of each other.

Patagonia Provisions aims to source ingredients that rebuild soil, protect the health of the ocean ecosystems and protect the environment, according to the company.

“Moonshot has achieved impressive growth by producing and selling delicious and nutritious crackers with a materially improved carbon footprint compared to industry standard practices,” said Paul Lightfoot, general manager of Patagonia Provisions. “Moonshot’s values and mission are strongly aligned with Patagonia Provisions, which made it easy to warmly welcome their people onto our team.”

Climate-conscious and gut-friendly ice cream company Alec’s Ice Cream added a peanut butter fudge honeycomb flavor to its line. The flavor is a play on founder Alec Jaffe’s favorite childhood candy bar, the Butterfinger, according to the company. The flavor features a peanut butter base, as well as ribbons of fudge and chocolate-covered honeycomb toffee pieces. Alec’s Ice Cream is formulated with regenerative-verified and USDA organic certified ice cream, as well as regenerative sugar.

California Olive Ranch added a line of fully recyclable aluminum bottles for three of its extra virgin olive oil products. The cans, which are built to withstand exposure to outdoor elements, are packaged with an HDPE plastic cap and a BPA-free liner, according to the company. California Olive Ranch’s 100% California extra virgin olive oil, avocado blend oil and reserve blend extra virgin olive oil are available in the aluminum bottles.

“Quality and accessibility are two key pillars of the California Olive Ranch brand, and our goal with this launch is to provide premium extra virgin olive oil and avocado oil blends to all consumers, removing price as a prohibitive purchase factor,” said Michael Fox, chief executive officer of California Olive Ranch. “The launch of the aluminum bottled oil collection highlights the brand's dedication to delivering consumers a versatile product line of high-quality cooking staples, essential for everyday needs.”

Alter Eco, which directly partners with farmers who use regenerative farming practices, debuted new flavors of its truffle thins and a new offering: the blackout bar. The truffle thins are available in crème brûlée, raspberry crème and orange crème varieties. The blackout bars feature 85% cacao and are available in almond and orange varieties.

In 2022, Alter Eco transitioned 690 cacao farmers and 1,590 cacao acres to regenerative agriculture, according to the company.

Hemp-based food and beverage maker Gaia’s Farming Co. launched a line of plant-based butters.

Founded in 2019, Gaia’s used hemp, able to absorb four times more carbon dioxide per acre than trees, according to the company, to create its sustainable alternative oat milks. The company’s newest additions, hemp and peanut butter and hemp and almond butter, carry on this focus with ingredients like high-oleic peanuts, skin-on almonds and hemp hearts. 

The hemp-based spreads are formulated to add a nutty twist to any number of foods, including toast, overnight oats, pancakes and stir-fry, and act as good sources of plant-based protein and omega-3 fatty acids. Both products also are palm oil free and contain no added salts.

ADM launched its direct-to-consumer food ingredient line, Knwble Grwn, which complements the Chicago-based company’s ongoing sustainability initiatives by advancing regenerative agricultural practices. The product line, inspired by a women- and minority-led team at ADM, includes flaxseed, hemp seed, flax oil, hemp oil and quinoa. ADM is partnering with small, local and traditionally underrepresented farmers, including veterans, Indigenous Americans and other diverse growers, to produce the crops using practices that help protect the environment.

Airly Foods released crackers that aim to remove greenhouse gases from the air, by sourcing from farms that use regenerative agricultural practices. Each box features its carbon footprint.

“The way Airly grows oats and wheat for its crackers results in the net of farm activities removing carbon dioxide, the most prevalent greenhouse gas, from the air,” said Mark Izzo, PhD, co-founder and chief executive officer of Airly. “If solutions like Airly can gain traction, you will see a rapidly accelerating shift of the food system toward carbon drawdown…not just emitting less.”

Plant-based cheese powered by artificial intelligence (AI) will soon be headed to the market through a partnership between The Bel Group and Climax Foods, Inc., Berkeley, Calif., a company that uses AI to match the texture, flavor and nutrient density of plant-based alternatives with their conventional counterparts. The two companies will work together to bring plant-based cheese to the market for brands like Laughing Cow, Kiri, Boursin, Babybel, and Nurishh, core brands of The Bel Group. Additionally, Bel has acquired a stake in Climax Foods.

“Food is a key lever to address climate change, and we, at Bel, have a strong determination to explore new territories and develop innovative solutions that will define the future of food, for all,” said Cécile Béliot, chief executive officer of the Bel Group. “The products we will develop in partnership with Climax have the potential to make a big difference: they can meet the three-fold challenge of sustainable, nutritious, and accessible. This collaboration epitomizes our co-innovation strategy by combining their distinctive technological data science and AI platforms and expertise with Bel’s pioneering and historical knowledge.”

Plant-based brand Simpli expanded its portfolio with a line of regenerative organic-certified beans, legumes, grains and superfoods.

“With the launch of our new products, we are extremely proud to become one of the leading Regenerative Organic Certified licensed brands helping spotlight the best practices for healthy communities and the planet while providing delicious and nutrient-dense products to consumers across the United States,” said Sarela Herrada, co-founder of Simpli.

Renewal Mill and Just Date partnered to launch a gluten-free muffin mix formulated with upcycled ingredients. Renewal Mill transforms the leftover pulp from plant milk production into “climate-friendly flours” and baking mixes. Its latest launch, a chai oat muffin mix, was developed in collaboration with specialty sweetener brand Just Date. The product is made with Renewal Mill’s upcycled oat milk flour and organic date sugar derived from dried and ground kentichi dates that previously were wasted.