All PFN ARTICLES

Singapore’s heat just got a little sweeter. Kiwi startup LILO Desserts, known for its improbably creamy, fruit-forward plant-based cheesecakes, has landed in the Lion City and it's not just passing through. With SATS Ltd now on board and tastings underway, LILO is teeing up a Southeast Asian rollout designed to take off from tarmac to set-back table.

But let’s be clear. Federer didn’t write a personal cheque for $330M. He was part of a previous capital round in 2021 that brought in $235 million, with NotCo’s latest valuation milestone reflecting cumulative investments across multiple raises. What matters here isn’t the size of his wallet, it’s where he’s pointing it.

Here’s a partnership that's literally made in vegan heaven. One of Australia’s fastest-growing plant-based brands, Plantein, has done a deal with global vegan platform abillion and the goal is simple: get more plants on more Aussie plates.

Alpro in the UK has just dropped a new plant-based range aimed squarely at kids and not just any kids. This one’s got Gen Alpha written all over it. From banana-flavoured oat drinks to choc coconut indulgence pots, it’s dairy-free, climate-considerate, and dripping in cartoon-forward packaging designed to lure the lunchbox crowd.

Once just a squishy afterthought on a pizza or a supporting act in a stir-fry, mushrooms have gone from background noise to full-blown digital celebrity. And not just any mushrooms, we’re talking about the exotic, the shaggy, the shelf-stable, the biohacked.

IKEA’s global decision to halve weekday restaurant prices is less about moving meatballs and more about social responsibility. Ingka Group, the retail giant behind the IKEA brand will slash meal prices Monday to Friday and let children eat free in dozens of markets, framing the move as “support for everyday life” rather than an inventory clear-out.

There’s a quiet little revolution brewing in your supplement drawer and it’s not ashwagandha, rhodiola, or yet another adaptogen with a complicated name and questionable Instagram science. Nope. This one’s been around since Cleopatra and has been flavouring bouillabaisse and biryanis for centuries. Say hello (again) to saffron, the golden-hued stamen of Crocus sativus, now armed with clinical receipts.

Vegetarian curry isn’t the first thing you expect from a company famous for two-stroke motorbikes and the indestructible Jimny, yet that’s exactly where Suzuki has pointed its latest innovation. What began as a canteen experiment, feeding homesick Indian engineers a taste “just like Mum makes”, has accelerated into a national retail launch - four-pack of shelf stable vegetarian curries selling online for 918 yen (about US $5.70) a pop.

Developed by São Paulo’s food-tech boffins at UNICAMP and ITAL, with help from Germany’s Fraunhofer IVV Institute, the new ‘vegan meat’ is based on sunflower flour, the stuff left behind after extracting oil from sunflower seeds. Think of it as culinary upcycling with some pretty smart tweaks.

Enter Beleaf. The Californian plant-based outfit just dropped a game changer: allergen-free Plant-Based Shrimp and it doesn’t just mimic the real thing, it does it without a trace of crustacean, contamination risk, or cleanup hassle.

Kiwi start-up. Little Pips Soda Syrups, a boutique beverage company founded by Pip Malpas, has celebrated a major milestone with its inaugural large-scale production run at the New Zealand Food Innovation Network (NZFIN).

Epic Kiwi Cheese, a bold plant-based upstart crafted smack bang in the middle of dairy country. Made in Hamilton, New Zealand, this new range isn’t just daring to exist, it’s thriving, and it’s heading to the Waikato Food Show on July 5–6 with a mission to win hearts, melt toasties, and reclaim the Cheese Hall, one dairy-free wedge at a time.