#USA #New York #Sustainable Innovation #Mars #Unreasonable Food

Mars and Unreasonable Group Welcome New Businesses to Unreasonable Food™

On September 11, 2025, Mars Snacking and Unreasonable Group announced the addition of fourteen new companies to their collaborative initiative, Unreasonable Food™. This program is designed to promote sustainable practices within the food industry, showcasing how innovation can address some of the toughest challenges in the food supply chain.

"Changing our food system is not something that can be accomplished by a single organization alone," stated Amanda Davies, Director of R&D, Purchasing, and Sustainability at Mars Snacking. She emphasized the importance of creating a collaborative ecosystem to connect innovative startups with industry leaders, which can unlock new opportunities and hasten the transition towards a more resilient future.

Unreasonable Food was established in 2024 with the goal of supporting entrepreneurs who are transforming critical issues in the food supply chain into sustainable solutions. The selected companies for the 2025 cohort exemplify this mission by focusing on various aspects of sustainability, including reducing dairy cow emissions, expanding sustainable ingredient sourcing, and investigating solutions in natural coloring agents.

The new cohort includes:
1. Alpine Bio - Specializes in crop-engineered soybeans to produce dairy-like proteins that replicate familiar dairy qualities without relying on cows.
2. Standing Ovation - Creates animal-free casein through precision fermentation, offering authentic dairy textures for cheese alternatives and other foods.
3. Oobli - Utilizes plant-derived sweet proteins to deliver a sugar-like taste without the actual sugar content through fermentation techniques.
4. Debut Biotechnology - Focuses on the fermentation of valuable ingredients, including natural colorants, to substitute unsustainable or synthetic sources.
5. Octarine Bio - Develops a vibrant range of natural colors produced through fermentation, providing reliable and sustainable options for food and textiles.
6. DE3PBIO - Harnesses AI and biotechnology to discover plant-based functional ingredients that enhance food quality, healthiness, and nutrition.
7. NuCicer - Introduces new chickpea varieties that contain up to 75% more protein, improving taste, texture, and climate resilience.
8. Plantible Foods - Extracts protein from lemna (water lentil), a highly sustainable plant capable of replacing eggs, dairy products, and additives.
9. Hydrosome Labs - Employs ultra-fine bubbles to improve fermentation yields and nutrient absorption, making biofabrication more effective.
10. Pow.bio - Innovates with pioneering continuous fermentation technology that reduces costs and enhances production capabilities for organic products.

The initial cohort from 2024 has demonstrated the potential impact of supporting high-growth companies through a connected ecosystem driven by shared sustainability goals. Since joining the program, participants reported nearly $200 million in additional revenues, avoided 140,000 tons of CO₂ emissions, saved 310 million liters of water, and distributed 1.14 million kilograms of food to an additional 24 million people. Furthermore, they contributed to raising awareness about climate change adaptation for 2 million more individuals while creating job opportunities and improving work conditions in their communities.

Daniel Epstein, CEO of Unreasonable Group, expressed pride in welcoming these entrepreneurs into the Unreasonable Food family, highlighting their shared ambition to evolve a more sustainable and inclusive food system. Together with Mars, they plan to provide mentorship, consolidate stakeholders, and uncover opportunities that may accelerate their transformative journeys.

Over the coming years, the 2024 and 2025 cohorts will collaborate closely with Mars teams, Unreasonable Food mentors, and a global network of investors. This partnership is focused on collectively transforming food supply chains while shaping the future of food itself.

For more details about Unreasonable Food and its second-year cohort, visit the Unreasonable Food website.

About Mars, Incorporated

Mars, Incorporated operates under the philosophy that the future world we envision begins with our business practices today. As a family-owned enterprise valued at approximately $55 billion, Mars encompasses a diverse and expanding portfolio of pet care products and veterinary services that cater to pet owners globally, in addition to their food and snack products enjoyed by millions daily. Among their renowned brands are ROYAL CANIN®, PEDIGREE®, WHISKAS®, CESAR®, DOVE®, EXTRA®, M&M'S®, SNICKERS®, and BEN'S ORIGINAL™. Mars also runs global networks of pet hospitals, including BANFIELD™, BLUEPEARL™, VCA™, and ANICURA™, covering various veterinary care needs.

About Unreasonable Group, LLC

Established in Colorado, Unreasonable is an international venture that supports a community of growth-stage entrepreneurs while channeling exclusive business flows to investors. These efforts aim to facilitate a fairer future. Unreasonable Fellowship companies are active in over 180 countries, generating $20 billion in collective revenue, raising $20 billion in funding, and positively impacting the lives of over 1.4 billion individuals. Their commitment to using capitalism for noble purposes reflects their belief that reasonable ideas rarely change the world. Visit the Unreasonable Group website for more information.