All PFN ARTICLES

China’s next Five-Year Plan is shaping up less like an agricultural roadmap and more like a national tech manifesto and foodtech is suddenly in the mix. Beijing’s leadership has tied biomanufacturing to its industrial self-reliance strategy, signalling proteins, enzymes, and precision-fermented ingredients now belong alongside semiconductors and EV batteries in the country’s quest for technological sovereignty.

Kiwi, Leaft Foods has taken its green-tech know-how beyond the human plate and straight into the pet bowl. The Rolleston-based startup, best known for pioneering Rubisco extraction for human nutrition, has now applied its leaf-protein technology to create Alfalfa Protein Concentrate (APC), a nutrient-dense ingredient designed specifically for pet food.

Forget kale chips and charcoal lattes, 2026 is about gut health, protein, and stress relief-the holy trinity of food predictions.

..innovators Heliograf and Vert Design Studio have created the world’s first plastic-free, home-compostable soy sauce dropper, made entirely from renewable plant pulp. It breaks down in weeks, not centuries, leaving no microplastics behind. Holy Carp !! It's the new soy sauce fish.

Australian deep-tech player Nourish Ingredients has quietly shifted gears from startup to global operator, establishing a new commercial hub in Leiden, the Netherlands, the same energy-neutral “BioPartner 5” campus housing Europe’s biggest biotech disruptors. Best known for its Tastilux and Creamilux fats, precision-fermented lipids that mimic the sensory and aromatic profiles of animal fats, Nourish is now positioning itself at the centre of the EU food-innovation ecosyste

Lupin milk just got serious. Australian innovator, Wide Open Agriculture (WOA) has developed a lupin milk formulation using its proprietary lupin protein isolate and lodged a Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) application to protect it. Think clean flavour, creamy mouthfeel and barista-grade foam without the chalky, “beany” aftertaste that’s dogged earlier attempts.

Enter Squeaky Bean and their new plant-based pies - Braised Veggie and Spanish Chorizo Style - now hitting Tesco shelves just in time for the autumn chill. Each one is golden-crusted, bean-packed, and brimming with fermented vegetables for added gut-friendly flavour.

For anyone who’s ever tried a plant-based fish finger and thought, “Nice idea, but it still smells like beans,” science might finally have your back. Researchers in Brazil have mapped the exact aroma compounds that make real fish smell and taste “from the sea.” Their work with mushroom-based fillets and soy–oat blends at the Federal University of Lavras has decoded the volatile molecules that turn bland into believable.

Canada’s got a taste for hybrids, but not the meaty kind. Vancouver’s Maia Farms has unveiled The Shred, a next-gen protein that blends oyster mushroom mycelium and Canadian yellow pea protein, promising the chew, flavour, and versatility missing from earlier soy or wheat-based offerings. The startup says it’s using fermentation tech to mimic natural fibre alignment, producing a pull-apart texture that actually feels like food, not filler.

Australian based, Fable’s hybrid meat gamble as shiitake beef lands in the belly of the beast. In a bold move that’s raising eyebrows across the future food landscape, Fable Food Co has crossed the plant-animal line with its new shiitake-infused beef range, now launched through Central Market in Texas, the beef capital of the United States.

Australia's New South Wales Government just dropped its playbook for the next wave of regional manufacturing and it’s all about plant protein. With a glossy new prospectus aimed at luring investors and food manufacturers out of Sydney and into the bush, this is more than a feel-good sustainability pitch; it’s a calculated move to turn 4,500 existing food and beverage businesses into a network powering the global plant-protein boom.

And there it is, another line between “NextGen Food” and “everyday grocery” blurred beyond recognition. Israeli alt-meat innovator Redefine Meat has officially landed its bio-printed “New-Meat” range inside ASDA UK, pitching itself not as a vegan option, but as an upgrade to real meat. Seven products, from Pulled Beef and Lamb Kofta Mix to Flank Steak, are rolling into freezer chests nationwide.