All PFN ARTICLES

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.

When Europe’s biggest army base, Catterick Garrison in the UK (13,000 enlisted soldiers) puts Redefine Meat's bioprinted meat on the lunch menu, you know the rules of protein are changing.

Coconut water just got a remix as Raw C Coconut Water teams up with Pistachio Papi to drop what they’re calling the world’s first pistachio-and-white-chocolate infused coconut water.

' Singapore Food Outlet Closures' isn’t just a sad headline, it’s looking like a structural reset. As rents, wages and ingredient costs bite, closures have climbed to ~307 F&B outlets a month in 2025 (up from ~254 in 2024). That squeeze is pushing diners home and straight into supermarket chillers, convenience chains and delivery-friendly formats (RTE/RTH).

New Zealand’s vertical farm outfit 26 Seasons just inked a deal with Saudi Arabia’s Qassim Strawberry & Fruit Cooperative Society, swapping know-how and strawberries in equal measure. It’s not just about berries – it’s a signal that New Zealand’s premium food tech is sliding quietly into the Gulf’s Vision 2030 supermarket basket.

Whitworths has just dropped the UK’s first unprocessed walnut-based meat-free mince, and it’s a quiet challenge to the fake-meat aisle. Forget long ingredient lists and over-engineered soy bricks, this mince is just walnuts, lentils, and quinoa, spun into a texture that actually chews like beef. At £3.20 a pack, it’s aimed squarely at shoppers tired of the ultra-processed plant-based tag.