Brazilian Startup Launches Vegan Meatballs at 351 Restaurants 

Italian chain Spoleto recently added the vegan “Future Meatball” to the menu of its 351 locations in Brazil. The new vegan “almôndegas” are made by Brazilian startup Fazenda Futuro (“Future Farm” in English) and is served at Spoleto with spaghetti and pomodoro sauce. The chain expects to sell 150,000 servings of the vegan meatballs in the next two months and will invest R $300,000 (USD $73,515) into its “Meatball of the Future” campaign with the aim of growing the vegan option to represent five percent of all Spoleto sales in the next six months. Founded in March by entrepreneur Marcos Leta, Fazenda Futuro uses artificial intelligence to help approximate the taste and texture of beef with plant-based ingredients. In May, the food technology company debuted its flagship vegan Futuro Burger at several retailers and has since expanded to the restaurant sector. In addition to meatballs and burgers, Fazenda Futuro recently unveiled its newest product Carne Moída that can be used as a one-for-one replacement in dishes that call for ground beef.