All PFN ARTICLES

Amazing to think a whey product can come not from a cow, but from water. New Zealand’s Nutrition from Water (NXW) has just unveiled Marine Whey™ Golden 35, a protein concentrate clocking in at 35% and designed for bakery, nutrition, and dairy-alt applications. Whats amazing is it’s grown from microscopic aquatic organisms, not milk.

The Australian plant-protein sector is still alive and kicking and valued USD 338 million in 2024 and tipped to push nearly USD 600 million by 2033. The headlines sound good, but scratch the surface and you see what’s really going on: a solid, middle-of-the-road year-on-growth of 6.6% means the sector is maturing, not exploding.

Forget kale chips, Israel’s Brevel wants you crunching on microalgae pasta and crackers. Using illuminated fermentation (think: high-tech photosynthesis in a tank), Brevel has cracked the code on turning algae into something you can actually eat without holding your nose. The result? Protein-rich tagliatelle looking like it belongs in a boutique pasta bar and dark, nutrient-packed crackers screaming “future snack aisle.”

K-food is moving from curiosity to convenience aisle in Australia. South Korea's CJ Bibigo’s frozen gimbap rolls are in Woolworths, and now rubbing shoulders with sushi packs and frozen dumplings. But CJ's isn’t stopping there as mandu dumplings, kimchi, rice balls, corn dogs and even frozen Korean meals are all hitting Australian freezers. Local manufacturing is appears to be the answer. “Made in Australia” mandu (dumplings) went to #1 in Woolworths within seven months, prov

Pasture grown crops like Barley may soon jump from stockfeed and beer kegs into your latte glass. Scientists at Plant & Food Research are turning hull-less barley into smooth, creamy dairy alternatives - milks today, yoghurts tomorrow, with a nutty, fibre-rich profile speaking directly to oat-milk drinkers hunting for something new.

Rotorua isn’t just opening another factory, it’s opening the door to a $50 billion bio-economy. The new 63-million dollar biofactory proposed for the SCION facility, takes the raw power of New Zealand’s forestry sector and creates a whole new paradigm where logs are no longer the endgame, they’re the feedstock for fuels, chemicals, and high-value materials that can rival fossil-based products on the world stage.

Australia’s supermarket aisles just got a little more European chic. Woolworths has cut a deal with Waterdrop, the Austrian hydration brand that turns plain old H₂O into a functional wellness statement with a dissolving cube. From this week, more than 900 stores nationwide will stock five of its vitamin and electrolyte SKUs - berry, cola, peach, grapefruit, and passionfruit.

Brain fog? Grumpy gut? Say hello to The Ārepa Brain x Gut Powder, the Kiwi brain drink brand’s smoothest innovation yet, only this time in a dry format. This isn’t just another supplement on a crowded shelf. It’s a deliberate step away from liquids into the more portable, spoon-and-shake world of powders, a nod to convenience, travel, and daily ritual.

Apple waste might just be the new secret sauce in meat hybrids. A Cornell study shows the pomace, the skins, seeds, cores and pulp left over from juicing, can be freeze-dried, milled, and blended into beef meatballs at up to 20% without consumers noticing a thing. The result? A fibre boost, longer shelf-life, and a lower reliance on animal protein, all in a format tasting and feeling the same.

Japan has perfected the art of turning fruit into treasure. The Miyazaki-grown Taiyō no Tamago mango known as "Egg of the Sun", is ruby red, sugar-loaded, and flawless, is a status symbol that routinely sells for thousands at auction during the early summer. These aren’t just mangoes; they’re objects of desire, cultivated with almost surgical precision under glass, bathed in sunlight reflected by mirrors, and handled like Fabergé eggs. The price? A cool $4,000 a pair at seaso

Asia is fast becoming the launchpad for crossover dessert collabs where food-tech and wellness meet indulgence. Think Euglena’s algae nutrients churned into vegan scoops with Kind Kones in Singapore and Malaysia, or Ajinomoto’s ice cream carrying Finnish Solein protein, functional nutrition in a spoonful. Even bean-free coffee start-up Prefer has teamed with Melvados to sell coconut-latte vegan ice cream across 13 stores, while TurtleTree’s vegan lactoferrin is hitting the RT

Wattie’s Heinz may be walking away from New Zealand peaches, Hawke’s Bay peaches, but growers don’t have to.