Food and Food Services News November 2021

Japanese aroma specialist Takasago extends footprint in Germany

Japanese flavoring and fragrance specialists Takasago plans to build a two thousand square meter development and production center at its European production site in Zülpich, North Rhine-Westphalia. The company, located in the region since 1999, has already invested more than EUR 35 million at the site in recent years. The Toyko-based company is one of the world’s largest producers of flavors, fragrances and other fine chemicals for the food and beverages sector.

Vegan Junk Food Bar launches in Germany

Netherlands-based vegan fast-food chain Vegan Junk Food Bar (VJFB) has announced plans to enter the German market with the fall opening of its first store in Cologne. The franchise operation has established a reputation in the Netherlands for its innovative fast-food vegan dishes including burgers and vegan sushi. Further branches are planned in Germany as well as across Europe, adding to its four sites in the Netherlands and one site in Spain.

Prodapi MV plans pea protein plant

Prodapi MV is planning to build a factory for the production of pea protein in the federal state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Vegetarian meat alternatives using vegetable proteins can still be regarded as a niche market, but one with promising growth perspectives over the forthcoming years. The Neubrandenburg site represents a total investment of EUR 90 million and will see up to 60,000 metric tons of yellow peas processed at the plant from the end of 2023. The first financing round in September generated EUR 5 million, with further financing rounds expected to raise EUR 15 million and a further EUR 8 to EUR 15 million raised from public subsidies.

New York Pizza acquires pizza delivery service to go nationwide

Netherlands-based New York Pizza has recently acquired the Flying Pizza delivery service in northern and eastern Germany as well as Pizza Planet’s 30-plus outlets in greater Berlin to extend its German market reach to more than 100 stores. The acquisitions come hot on the heels of the September buy-out of premium delivery service Stückwerk in North-Rhine Westphalia. Although already active in the German market since 2014, the company’s acquisitions strategy is part of New York Pizza’s plans to establish itself as a major player in the pizza-delivery market.

Wuplo starts delivery service in Berlin

Russian delivery service Wuplo has entered Berlin’s crowded delivery service market with the launch of its own app-based service promising delivery within ten minutes. The company currently has one depot in the city’s Charlottenburg district, with plans to add eleven more sites by the end of the year  to reduce delivery times in the rest of Berlin. Wuplo claims to offer more than 5,000 items from what it calls its “online supermarket,” with regional and specialty products also part of the product portfolio.