One thing everybody can agree on: We all have to eat. The four Brands That Matter 2022 Food category honorees are exploring sustainable, innovative ways of feeding the masses in that’s good for us and good for our planet—and even exploring how food grows in space.
While Once Upon a Farm keeps kids’ diets nutritious, Nature’s Fynd and Miyoko’s Creamery point to an eco-friendly, plant-based future that doesn’t compromise taste or quality. Meanwhile, Chomps is putting a sustainable twist on beef production, so no matter your diet, you can feel good about the food you rely on for everyday fuel.
Chomps
Even in the age of plant-based everything, Chomps is keeping beef both relevant and sustainable. The meat stick company works with farmers in Tasmania and New Zealand who raise cattle according to regenerative agriculture, which centers around farming in harmony with nature through practices like rotational grazing, which combats climate change by rebuilding soil organic matter and restoring degraded soil biodiversity. By focusing on good soil health, Chomps’s farmers enhance natural landscapes, improve climate resilience, and sequester more carbon from the atmosphere, making the meat industry earth-friendly. It’s good for you, too—in 2022, Chomps was selected to join the Alliance to Control Excessive Sugar, a band of better-for-you brands working to educate consumers and encourage a culture more mindful of sugar intake.
Miyoko’s Creamery
In the ever-growing field of plant-based dairy substitutes, Miyoko’s Creamery is putting artistry before science. Catering to an audience of foodies, the company is aiming to legitimize plant-based cheese and butter as an accepted mainstream option for fine foods. In 2022, Miyoko’s Creamery discovered a new allergen-friendly “super plant milk” for making cheese and butter from watermelon seeds that contains more protein than cow’s milk, which its already used in groundbreaking vegan cottage cheese and liquid mozzarella. In its mission to perfect the art of crafting cheese and butter from plant milks, the brand is on track to show the world that the love of fine food and the love of all animals don’t have to be mutually exclusive.
Nature’s Fynd
In less than a year, Nature’s Fynd has gone from a scientific discovery to a global presence in the vegan and sustainable food industry. While conducting NASA-backed research, Nature’s Fynd’s scientists discovered a fungal microbe with origins in Yellowstone National Park that they now ferment to grow Fy, a vegan protein that’s available to consumers in meatless breakfast patties and non-dairy cream cheese—so far. Fy could be the future of food on Earth and in space, as Nature’s Fynd again collaborates with NASA to see if the protein can grow in microgravity, potentially feeding the deep space travelers of tomorrow.
Once Upon a Farm
Children’s nutrition brand Once Upon a Farm—whose founder, Jennifer Garner, discussed the brand at Fast Company’s 2022 Innovation Festival—is creating new standards for what a healthy, sustainable diet for kids looks like. In the past year, Once Upon a Farm has transformed from an LLC to a Public Benefits Corporation and become the first brand to receive the First 1,000 Day Promise Certification from the Clean Label Project, which looks to certain European regulations to set a higher standard in baby food nutrition. It’s also the first fresh baby food company made available to federally-funded Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, which inspired the state of Texas to authorize refrigerated fruit and veggie blends in its WIC program and opening the door for like-minded brands to be more accessible to families in need.
This article is part of Fast Company’s 2022 Brands That Matter awards. Explore the full list of brands whose success has come from embodying their purpose in a way that resonates with their customers.
Recognize your brand’s excellence by applying to this year’s Brands That Matter Awards before the early-rate deadline, May 3.
