Lever Foundation

10/19/2026

The Better Protein Institute scored 20 high-protein foods against both sustainability and health — emissions, water use, land use, sodium, saturated fat, cost, and availability. Tofu topped the combined ranking with 36 points. Cheddar came last with 13.

Every protein in the top 20% was plant-based: tofu, chia seeds, beans, and quinoa. Every protein in the bottom 20% was animal-based: mozzarella, lamb, beef, and cheddar. The gap wasn't close.

The full scoring is published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems.

https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/best-sources-of-protein-plant-based-animal-health-climate-tofu

Plant-based proteins blow animal sources out of the water on sustainability and health metrics, with tofu leading the charts, according to the Better Protein Institute.

10/15/2026

SaladStop has had legumes, nuts, whole grains, and mushrooms on its menus since it opened in Singapore in 2009. Plant-based food was never an add-on, it was built into the menu from the start.

The new commitment puts a number on that direction. At least 60% of the protein sourced across every shop has to come from plants. Not just the Singapore flagship. Every location, in every country it operates, by 2030, the same year the group is targeting net-zero across its operations.

Lever Foundation worked with SaladStop on shaping the commitment which reaches its outlets across Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, South Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong, and beyond. That's over five million people a year eating from menus built around less meat and dairy.

10/12/2026

The commitment lands in the context of a broader industry shift. Nearly 80% of leading Philippine restaurant chains and 85% of hotel groups have already set timelines for phasing out caged eggs. Three retailers — Heyday, Healthy Options, and FreshStart — have already completed the switch entirely. METRO Retail's deadline puts the supermarket sector firmly in step with the rest of the industry.

While these changes are promising, reducing or eliminating egg consumption remains the most direct way to support hen welfare.

10/09/2026

Good Company is a new run of profiles on the people moving plant-based food forward across Asia. Chefs, scientists, founders.

Most of what gets reported out of this region is corporate. A chain sets a target, a retailer sets a deadline. Behind each of those is a small number of people who knew what to put on the menu, and who mostly weren't introducing anything foreign to begin with.They were expanding something already there.

First up is Lever China's very own, Chef Fiona.

10/06/2026

Researchers at the University of British Columbia compared gut microbiomes across four groups — from people eating traditional Indian patterns to those who had fully shifted to Western eating. The more the eating pattern shifted, the fewer strains of beneficial bacteria remained.

Rates of inflammatory bowel disease rise within one generation of moving from India to Canada. The food changed. The gut followed. India's own food system is now shifting toward more ultra-processed foods — the researchers flag this as a warning, not just a Western story.

10/02/2026

Thailand's government wants its destinations ranked among the world's top 100 for sustainable travel by 2030, tied to a national pledge to cut tourism's carbon emissions 40% along the way.

Green Plan 2030 is how it gets there––a sustainability standard for Thai hotels, tour operators, and destinations, backed by a coaching programme that has already drawn 700 applicants training to help operators meet the mark.

Lever Foundation has joined that plan as a partner, working to make plant-based food part of the conversation: how menus and sourcing fit into a country's sustainability goals, and why what travelers eat belongs in the standard alongside energy, waste, and community impact.

09/28/2026

The hospitality industry has an emissions problem and a surprising share of it comes from the kitchen. Within a hotel's food footprint, sourcing does most of the damage, and animal ingredients drive about 70% of that.

A menu benchmark tied to certification changes the maths for thousands of properties at once, because it moves the decision from one chef's preference to a condition of staying certified.

Lever Foundation worked with the GSTC on the standard, and also works directly with hotel groups and F&B operators to put plant-based policies in place.

The Global Sustainable Tourism Council® (GSTC®) is pleased to announce the publication of the new GSTC Food and Beverage Standard. The new Standard is intended to support food and beverage service providers in the tourism sector by offering a framework for more

09/25/2026

Niti Aayog, India's government think tank, has published a roadmap to grow the country's biotech sector from $195B today to $691B by 2035. Smart proteins — including plant-based, microbial, and cultivated foods — are featured prominently, sitting within a broader bioindustrials segment projected to reach $318B.

The roadmap also flags regulatory bottlenecks as a barrier, calling for faster, risk-based approval pathways and a regulatory sandbox similar to the UK's — specifically to accelerate products like alternative proteins from lab to market.

The Indian government has published a 10-year national bioeconomy roadmap sector, which includes a focus on alternative proteins and regulatory overhaul.

09/21/2026

Artyzen Hospitality Group started with three properties in Macau and Zhuhai in 2026: at least 30% of the menu, plant-based. It's now taking that standard across its entire China portfolio by 2027, and set a target to reach every property it operates globally by 2029.

A plant-based menu commitment usually lives at the property level, one hotel, one restaurant, one chef. Artyzen has moved it to company strategy, reshaping sourcing across a whole group at once.

Lever China worked with Artyzen on the expansion, and continues to partner with hospitality groups across Greater China on plant-based food policies that hold up on cost, quality, and guest satisfaction.

09/18/2026

A GFI APAC report by Australian biotech researcher Dr. Dirk van der Kley looks at what China's fermentation scale could mean for alternative protein costs worldwide. Chinese producers already account for roughly half of global amino acid exports and 38% of vitamin exports — capacity that took decades to build.

The scale is the story. Chinese producers already account for a large share of the world's amino acid and vitamin output, capacity that took decades and heavy investment to build. Redirecting even part of it toward alternative protein could bring costs down and speed up scale-up for the whole sector, not just inside China.

China's largest fermentation manufacturers, long focused on pharmaceuticals and vitamins, are beginning to redirect their production capacity toward