Saturday, April 18, 2026

French Plant-Based Meat Leader La Vie Enters Tofu Category After Green-Tinted Rebrand

From greenqueen.com.hk

By Anay Mridul

Paris-based La Vie, one of Europe’s fastest-growing plant-based brands, has expanded beyond meat alternatives with a line of tofu products, days after refreshing its visual identity from pink to green.

The era of plant-based meat brands entering the whole-food category is still thriving, with France’s La Vie the latest to hop on the bandwagon.

The Parisian start-up, which first made its name with vegan bacon and wacky marketing, is now one of the leading plant-based meat companies in Europe, growing faster than most competitors.

To accelerate its progress even further, La Vie is leaning into the demand for less processed, cleaner-label protein options in Europe with the launch of three tofu products, days after it decided to add more green to its pink packaging and brand identity.

“At La Vie, we see tofu as a massive white space: a product with incredible potential, but that hasn’t yet been made desirable for mainstream consumers. Our role is to change that by bringing back what really drives food choices: taste, simplicity and pleasure,” co-founder and CEO Nicolas Schweitzer tells Green Queen.

“We believe it’s still the very beginning of the tofu market in Europe, especially in France. Today, tofu is largely misunderstood, with 95% of French people perceiving it as bland or boring. For us, that’s exactly where the opportunity lies,” he adds.

La Vie targets Europe’s clean-label demand

                                                                                                        Courtesy: La Vie

Staying true to its flavour-first approach, none of La Vie’s tofu products is unflavoured. À Cuisiner is a tofu block smoked over beechwood and seasoned with soy sauce, which the company hopes will change people’s minds about the ingredient. It contains 17g of protein per 100g and can be used in salads, bowls, pasta and more.

The smoked tofu also appears in the À Poèler product, comprising teriyaki-glazed cubes ideal for Asian dishes and featuring 15g of protein per 100g serving.

Finally, La Vie has launched “ultra-crispy” tofu nuggets coated with corn flakes to give French consumers a new take on a familiar format. These contain 13g of protein per 100g and can be prepared in the air fryer, with La Vie positioning them as a vegan base for “Hot Ones-style challenges”.

All the tofu products are preservative-free and made using French soybeans, and La Vie is marketing them as “100% natural” to tap into Europe’s demand for minimally processed foods. Polling shows that 65% of Europeans are concerned about the health impact of ultra-processed foods, with 54% avoiding plant-based meats because they’re ultra-processed.

Meanwhile, half of Europeans prefer a natural or clean-label approach to healthy eating, and two in three reconsider their purchases based on ingredient lists.

The company’s marketing studies have shown that its all-pink branding doesn’t make it “sufficiently identifiable” as a plant-based brand, and adding green to the mix boosts the ‘natural’ perception of its products by nearly 17% among its target consumers. This is what led it to refresh its visual identity.

La Vie says tofu remains a niche ingredient largely confined to France’s organic sector, and these products aren’t performing well in the country, despite booming in Europe. This is due to a perception of it as bland and difficult to prepare, and to a lack of a standout brand.

“Marketing efforts haven’t been thorough enough in this market. The tofu nuggets, for example, will allow people to discover this protein in a delicious form, suitable for snacking, appetisers, or quick meals,” says Romain Jolivet, La Vie’s marketing director.

La Vie looks to replicate 2025 success with 50% revenue growth

                                                                                                  Courtesy: La Vie


The tofu launches come weeks after the French government updated its dietary guidelines to recommend limiting meat and increasing plant-based protein consumption.

France has already invested €11.7M in 10 projects to expand domestic plant protein production, as part of the agriculture ministry’s National Strategy for Plant Proteins. It aligns with the 35% of French residents who rate legumes and pulses among the richest sources of protein and the two-thirds who eat foods like beans, grains, lentils and wheat weekly.

In fact, meat consumption has been steadily declining in France over the last two decades, and one survey revealed that 53% of its citizens have cut back on meat in the last three years alone. At the same time, sales of plant-based food grew by 9% in 2024 to reach €537M, making it the third-largest market for these products in Europe. Chilled meat alternatives recorded a 15.5% growth.

La Vie has played a major role here. “We reached €30M in revenue in 2025, with over 50% year-on-year growth,” reveals Schweitzer. “And we’re planning to sustain that momentum with another +50% growth this year.”

He confirms that the company is in discussions with several major foodservice players to roll out the tofu line: “What we’re seeing is a growing interest from partners who want to expand their plant-based offering beyond meat alternatives, and tofu is becoming a very relevant option for that.”

La Vie is the latest plant-based meat brand to diversify beyond meat mimics in Europe. Over the last year, This has launched its Super Superfood and chickpea tofu lines, Oh So Wholesome has rolled out Veg’chop, Juicy Marbles has introduced its Umami Burger, and Symplicity Foods has brought its fermented-vegetable-based meats to supermarkets.

“We’re seeing a natural evolution of the category. Meat alternatives helped introduce plant-based eating to a wide audience, but consumers are now looking for more diversity and simpler products,” says Schweitzer.

“Whole-food options like tofu open a new entry point: they’re versatile, easy to integrate into everyday cooking, and help break the ‘ultra-processed’ perception barrier. It’s not a shift away from meat alternatives, but an expansion of the plant-based ecosystem.”

https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/la-vie-france-tofu-plant-based-meat-nuggets-rebrand/

Finland sees tofu sales soar following new nutrition guidelines

From veganfoodandliving.com

Finland is currently undergoing a dietary transformation that has caught even industry experts by surprise. A new industry market report by Plant Based Food Finland has revealed a startling increase in sales of certain plant-based foods.

This shift follows the 2024 update to the country’s national nutrition guidelines, which focused on foods that benefit both health and the environment. Recent data reveals that a staggering 15 per cent of Finns have actively altered their eating habits in direct response to these recommendations.

Rather than a minor adjustment, this has manifested as a dramatic surge in demand for whole food plant-based proteins, demonstrating that the Finnish public is remarkably receptive to science-led official guidance.

Finland’s ‘tofu boom’



The retail landscape has shifted rapidly, with sales of tofu jumping by 12 per cent and canned legumes rising by 14 per cent over the last year.


This ‘tofu boom’ was arguably accelerated by strong media attention surrounding the advice to limit processed red meats and cold cuts. The resulting headlines inadvertently spotlighted plant-based alternatives, even leading to tofu shortages as supermarkets quickly sold out.

Jouko Riihimäki, CEO of Jalofoods, noted that the company has never seen such a “sharp upswing in demand” in its three decades of operation. To keep up with the nation’s newfound appetite for plant protein, the leading producer has had to expand production capacity and recruit additional staff.

It appears that for many, the guidelines provided the necessary push to turn the intention to eat less meat into a concrete lifestyle change.

While tofu and legumes have seen sales boom in Finland, those aren't the only plant-based proteins seeing a surge. Photo © Kukka-Maria Rosenlund/ProVege

National guidelines vs global trends

Finland’s success stands in stark contrast to the dietary friction seen elsewhere. While the Finnish approach relies on a “strong policy-to-market signal,” other nations are facing more ideological divides.

Jukka Kajan, Executive Director of Plant Based Food Finland, highlighted the difference between the Finnish model and the controversial “Make America Healthy Again” strategy in the United States.

Kajan remarked that the traditional food pyramid is “based on scientific evidence linking plant-rich diets to lower risks,” suggesting that inverted models favouring saturated fats fail to provide a “stable foundation for public health.”

The Finnish data also reveals an interesting gender split; 19 per cent of women followed the new advice compared to 11 per cent of men. Kajan suggests that “cracking” the cultural link between masculinity and meat consumption remains a major opportunity for both public health and the plant-based industry.

As the nation moves towards a ‘tipping point,’ the focus is now on whether these pragmatic, health-driven choices will become a permanent fixture of the Nordic diet.

https://www.veganfoodandliving.com/news/finland-nutrition-guidelines-tofu-sales-soar/ 

Friday, April 17, 2026

How to Reduce Carbon Footprint: Sustainable Living Tips, Vegan Diet Climate Help & Electric Vehicle Adoption

From natureworldnews.com

Simple daily choices significantly help reduce carbon footprint and slow global warming effectively. Sustainable living tips transform these actions into practical, lifelong habits that anyone can adopt without major lifestyle overhauls.

Why Reducing Your Carbon Footprint Counts Now

Daily habits shape a large part of global emissions, with households responsible for about 20% of greenhouse gases worldwide. People who focus on energy conservation and waste reduction see their personal impact drop noticeably within months.

Shifts like electric vehicle adoption and plant-based eating multiply benefits across communities. These changes ease pressure on resources while improving air quality.

Transportation and food choices stand out as high-impact areas. For instance, average commuters rack up tons of CO2 yearly from fuel alone.

Reduce carbon footprint using practical sustainable living tips. See vegan diet climate help and electric vehicle adoption for everyday steps against global warming. Manfred Langpap/Pexels

Energy Efficiency: Quick Wins at Home

Homes offer prime spots for sustainable living tips that cut energy use without discomfort. Switching routines starts with basics anyone can tackle.

  • Use LED bulbs to slash lighting energy by up to 75%—they last 25 times longer than old incandescents.
  • Unplug chargers and electronics when idle to stop "phantom" power draw, which adds 10% to bills.
  • Set thermostats to 68°F in winter and 78°F in summer, saving 10% per degree adjusted.
  • Air-dry clothes instead of using dryers, which guzzle electricity equivalent to a full fridge running nonstop.

A study from Columbia University's Earth Institute lists these as top easy steps, noting they require zero upfront costs for most households. Insulating doors and windows seals in warmth, further trimming heating needs by 15-20%.

Smart power strips automate shutoffs, making forgetfulness a non-issue. Over a year, these tweaks compound to match planting hundreds of trees in CO2 absorption.

Vegan Diet Climate Help: Food Choices That Matter

Animal agriculture drives 14.5% of global emissions, more than all cars and planes combined. A vegan diet climate helps by dodging methane from livestock and land clearing for feed.

Plant-based meals rely on crops that use 75% less land and emit half the CO2 of meat-heavy diets. Beans, lentils, nuts, and grains deliver protein with minimal environmental toll.

Frontiers in Nutrition research shows vegans halve their food footprint, freeing resources for reforestation. Seasonal veggies travel shorter distances, cutting transport emissions too.

  • Start with Meatless Mondays to test waters—swap burgers for black bean patties.
  • Batch-cook grains like quinoa or oats for easy weeknight meals.
  • Explore recipes with tofu or tempeh, which pack nutrients without the emissions spike.
  • Grow herbs on windowsills to reduce packaging waste from store-bought greens.

These shifts not only reduce carbon footprint but boost health through fibre-rich foods. Over time, they challenge supply chains hooked on factory farming.

Electric Vehicle Adoption: Driving Change Forward

Electric vehicle adoption revved up globally, hitting 18 million units on roads by early 2026. EVs produce zero tailpipe emissions, slashing urban smog when charged on renewables.

Home solar setups pair perfectly, turning drive time carbon-neutral. Incentives in many countries drop costs, making models affordable for middle-income buyers.

PwC reports passenger EV sales climbing despite supply hurdles, with batteries now lasting 300,000 miles. Public chargers expand daily, easing range anxiety.

Sustainable living tips extend to hybrids for transitioners:

  1. Carpool via apps to share rides and cut solo trips.
  2. Bike or walk for distances under two miles, burning calories while saving fuel.
  3. Maintain tire pressure monthly—underinflation wastes 3% more gas.
  4. Use transit apps for real-time routes, avoiding traffic jams.

Pairing EVs with these habits maximizes reduced carbon footprint gains. Cities with strong adoption, like those in Europe, report 30% drops in transport pollution.

Waste Less, Live More Sustainably

Landfills spew methane, a gas 28 times stronger than CO2 at trapping heat. Everyday refuse reduction keeps scraps out of piles and resources in use.

Composting kitchen waste diverts 30% of household trash, turning peels into garden gold. Reusable bags, bottles, and containers nix single-use plastics headed to oceans.

  • Shop bulk bins for grains and spices to skip excess packaging.
  • Repair clothes or donate instead of tossing—textile waste clogs dumps yearly.
  • Choose secondhand furniture via apps, extending item lifespans.
  • Opt for digital receipts and bills to trim paper use.

The Center for Biological Diversity highlights 12 such strategies, emphasizing they build community resilience. Mindful buying favours durable goods over fast fashion, curbing production emissions.

Smarter Habits for Bigger Impact

Layering sustainable living tips creates momentum. Track progress with free apps that log energy, diet, and travel to visualize savings.

Local foods cut shipping miles—farmers' markets offer fresh picks with lower footprints. Ditching air travel for trains preserves jet fuel for essentials.

Vegan diet climate help shines here, as plant staples store longer without refrigeration. Electric vehicle adoption fits urban dwellers ditching parking hassles.

Communities hosting challenges see participation soar, turning solo efforts collective. These patterns foster innovation, like shared e-bikes in neighbourhoods.

Sustainable Living Tips That Stick Long-Term

Sustainable living tips like electric vehicle adoption and vegan diet climate help yield results that last. Individuals tweaking habits reduce carbon footprint steadily, building planetary buffers against extremes.

Apps gamify tracking, while group challenges spark accountability. Forward momentum comes from stacking small wins into routines that endure.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How Can I Start Reducing My Carbon Footprint Today?

Begin with easy swaps such as unplugging devices and switching to LED bulbs, which cut energy use quickly. Track habits using free apps to measure progress and stay motivated.

2. Does a Vegan Diet Really Help the Climate?

Yes, vegan diet climate helps significantly lowers emissions from food by avoiding livestock methane and land use. Plant-based choices can halve food-related footprints compared to meat-heavy diets.

3. Is Electric Vehicle Adoption Worth the Cost?

Electric vehicle adoption pays off through zero tailpipe emissions and lower fuel costs over time, especially with incentives. Pair it with carpooling for maximum reduced carbon footprint benefits.

https://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/72872/20260415/how-reduce-carbon-footprint-sustainable-living-tips-vegan-diet-climate-help-electric-vehicle.htm 

Have you Tried This Vegan Banana Milk Yet?

From plantbasednews.org

Banana milk is currently trending, but Mooala has been making its plant-based version for nearly a decade 

National Banana Day is this week, which Mooala described as “the perfect excuse” to try its vegan, organic banana milk.

Banana milk is one of the latest food trends to hit TikTok, but Mooala, a plant-based beverage company based in Dallas, Texas, has been making it for nearly 10 years.

Mooala Brands was founded by Jeff Richards in 2012 after he was diagnosed as lactose intolerant. He experimented with recipes for milk alternatives and created the first Mooala banana milk using bananas, sunflower seed butter, cinnamon, and salt.

In an email to Plant Based News (PBN), Mooala praised the “simplicity” of its Original Banana Milk, and described the flavour as “creamy” and “subtly sweet” thanks to the combination of organic bananas and coconut cream. “It delivers that nostalgic banana bread taste (without the added sugar) in a clean, drinkable form.”

Mooala’s Original Banana Milk is nut-free and dairy-free. The beverage is also free from gluten, soy, and carrageenan, and boasts a short ingredients list. Along with the original flavour, Mooala’s banana milk is also available in vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. All four are available from Amazon and at Target, Sprouts, Aldi, and Publix.

To make your own spin on TikTok’s banana milk trend, try adding it to lattes, hot chocolate, or smoothies. Products from Banana Wave, a Florida-based banana oat milk company, are also available on Amazon, and Almond Breeze produces its own almond-banana blend, which is also “made with real bananas.”

Growing demand for plant-based milk


             Mooala makes several plant-based oat and almond milk products in addition to its classic banana milk      Mooala

Compared to dairy, banana milk is low in calories and fat, and bananas are naturally rich in vitamin B6, potassium, and fibre. Nearly 42 percent of households in the US purchased plant-based milk at least once in 2023. Globally, the plant-based milk market was estimated to be worth USD $20.84 billion in 2024, and is projected to reach roughly $32.25 billion by the end of the decade.

Thursday, April 16, 2026

Climate Cookbook: Vegan Asian Street Food

From bluedotliving.com

In Yang Liu’s new cookbook, she takes you on a sustainable tour of street food markets from Shanghai to Bangkok


This winter, my kitchen was filled with the sputter of zucchini fritters, the scent of sweetened coconut cream in Vietnamese coffee, and the crunch of tanghulu — or fresh fruits coated in a glass-like glaze of almost colourless caramel. I was cooking my way through Vegan Asian Street Food: Over 80 Plant-Based Recipes for Every Occasionthe latest cookbook from Yang Liu, who also jointly runs the popular Instagram account @littlericenoodle with her partner, Katharina Pinczolits. The recipe collection, photographed by Pinczolits, is remarkable for its breadth and for the simple way it swaps typical meat ingredients for effective, lower-carbon stand-ins like mushrooms, tofu, or plant-based ground “beef.”

Globally popular and regionally specific dishes rub shoulders in the cookbook, which has chapters on China, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea, and Japan and which reflects Liu’s lifelong love of sprawling markets and tiny roadside stands all over the continent. Liu spent her early years living in different parts of China, where she remembers the hot breakfasts and cool snacks that fuelled her: During summers in Hunan, she and her cousins would wake up early to buy spicy rice noodles for breakfast from a vendor on their street. In Guangzhou, she’d buy pan-fried dumplings filled with garlic chives on the way to school and fortify herself with bubble tea during breaks. After she became vegan as an adult and travelled through other parts of Asia, her love of street food spiralled outward.

By veganizing many of the original recipes — swapping kelp and shiitakes for mackerel in Malaysian asam laksa soup, reinterpreting Korean fried chicken as fried tofu — Liu puts a sustainable spin on meat-heavy dishes. She also points out that Asian street-food cultures come by some sustainability naturally: Vendors commonly source ingredients seasonally and are scrupulous about finding a purpose for every useful part of an ingredient. Indonesian longtong, or rice cakes, for example, are boiled in a casing of banana leaves that impart a distinct flavour; banana leaves also serve as compostable plates for pad thai.

What makes Vegan Asian Street Food such fun to cook from is Liu’s deft scene-setting at the top of each recipe. When I shallow-fried sizzling tofu, my stovetop speckling with tiny droplets of oil, I could almost hear the crackle and pop from the iron plates she describes the vendors using, and see the steam billowing up at a Chinese night market in winter, the scent of cumin and chili offering heat, of a kind, just as they did in my Brooklyn apartment.

three scallion pancakes

RECIPE: SCALLION PANCAKES (CONG YOU BING)
  • Author: Yang Liu
  •  
  •  Yield: Makes 4

Scallion pancakes are loved for their crispy, flaky layers and savoury flavour. Easy to make, they’re the essence of comfort food and are just right for breakfast, lunch, or a late-night snack. The dough is rolled out thinly, brushed with oil, and sprinkled generously with chopped scallions, then folded and rolled again to create multiple layers. Once cooked on a hot griddle, the outside becomes golden and crispy while the inside remains soft and chewy, with the scallions adding extra aroma and taste. They’re an example of how basic ingredients can be transformed into something truly delicious.


INGREDIENTS

UNITS SCALE
  1. Mix the flour with a pinch of salt and the water, and knead to form a dough. Put the dough in a bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside for 30 minutes.
  2. Heat the oil in a small saucepan over high heat until the oil reaches about 456°F. To check whether the oil is hot enough, hold a wooden chopstick in the oil. If it is immediately surrounded by tiny bubbles, the oil is ready to use. Place the scallions in a small bowl and pour the hot oil over the top to make scallion oil.
  3. Divide the dough into 4 portions and shape each into a round. Using a rolling pin, roll out one round on a lightly floured surface until very thin. Brush with scallion oil and sprinkle with a pinch of salt and five-spice.
  4. Carefully roll up the thin dough round, pull the roll a little longer with your hands, then encircle the roll around one end to form a dough spiral that resembles a cinnamon roll. Flatten the spiral with your palm to make a round pancake. Repeat with the remaining dough portions.
  5. Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat until hot. Add a pancake, reduce heat to low and cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until one side is golden. Flip and repeat to cook the other side. Repeat with remaining pancakes.



RECIPE: Guoba Potato (Guoba Tudou)





RECIPE: Guoba Potato (Guoba Tudou) 

  • Author: Yang Liu
  •  
  •  Yield: Serves 2

Guoba potato is a widely loved street food from Sichuan. “Guoba” normally means “rice crust,” but it can also refer to other crusty or crispy foods. In this dish, the potatoes are first boiled, then deep-fried, resulting in chunks that are crisp and golden on the outside, but soft and tender inside. Once you mix the potatoes with the sauce, the dish has many layers of flavour and texture.


INGREDIENTS

SCALE

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook for 10 minutes. Drain, then return the potatoes to the pan, add the cornstarch or potato starch and flour, and mix well to combine.
  2. Mix the garlic, cuminSichuan peppercornssaltchili flakes, and sesame seeds in a large bowl.
  3. Heat the canola oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. To check whether the oil is hot enough for deep-frying, hold a wooden chopstick in the oil. If it is immediately surrounded by tiny bubbles, the oil is ready to use. Keep the oil temperature steady for deep-frying.
  4. Carefully spoon about 2 tablespoons of the hot oil over the garlic and spice mixture. Add the soy sauce to the mixture.
  5. Add the potatoes to the remaining hot oil and fry for about 15 minutes until golden and crispy. Remove the potatoes with a slotted spoon or a sieve and transfer to the bowl with the spices. Add the chili oil, scallions, and cilantro, and mix everything well.

NOTES

Chili oil: You po la zi, or Sichuan Chilli oil, can be made using the recipe in Vegan Asian Street Food or this recipe.

https://bluedotliving.com/climate-cookbook-vegan-asian-street-food/