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.

Across Australia and New Zealand, the next wave of food innovation isn’t coming from flashy lab-grown meats or AI-driven drinks, it’s bubbling up from humble roots: garlic bulbs, chicory beans, and kiwifruit - a wellness boom.

Arepa New Zealand has taken a world-first step from blackcurrant to brain performance. In partnership with Plant & Food Research and Callaghan Innovation, (now under the BioEconomy Science Institute umbrella), scientists have identified sarmentosin, a naturally occurring MAO-B inhibitor found in New Zealand blackcurrants. The compound helps protect dopamine, the neurotransmitter linked to mood, motivation, and mental clarity, marking a scientific and commercial breakthroug

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.

The world’s largest blueberry is about to hit New Zealand soil, literally. The Eterna variety, famed for its ping-pong-ball size and 20.4 gram world-record fruit, is being planted in Kerikeri and Waikato by The Fresh Berry Company in partnership with global powerhouse Driscoll’s.

New Zealand is quietly rewriting the rules of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), a field that’s been brewing herbs the same way for 5,000 years. Enter Alpha Group, once a West Auckland garage project, now a global biotech heavyweight — whose patented low-temperature extraction tech is stripping active compounds from plants, fungi, and fruits without destroying their potency.

What’s really at play here is a shift in how fresh produce reaches Asia’s growing middle class: farm-to-feed-scroll. Chilean cherries have long relied on logistics and Lunar-New-Year gifting culture; now they’re adding algorithms. For the AG2, grown in Chile’s Colchagua Valley and rooted in 1950s Californian genetics, TikTok isn’t just an ad channel, it’s the market itself.

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.