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A mould-ripened vegan Camembert has claimed the highest honour at the 2026 New Zealand Vegan Cheese Awards, reinforcing a broader story emerging across the country's food innovation sector: New Zealand's plant-based cheese industry is no longer experimenting—it is maturing.

Czech cultivated meat developer Benemeat is signalling a different strategy. Rather than treating the traditional meat sector as the competition, the company has publicly invited representatives from across the conventional meat industry into direct dialogue, arguing that prejudice and misinformation will not solve the protein challenges facing future food systems. While details of the meeting focus on knowledge sharing and transparency, the broader message is significant: th

In a market the size of New Zealand, every new product launch is effectively a conversation with consumers. For artisan food producer Janin de Conti, founder of One Love Planet, that conversation led directly to a complete rethink of one of the company's products.

For years New Zealand consumers have been told the answer to high supermarket prices lay in attracting another international chain. But six months after opening in Christchurch, independent retailer Kai Co may be demonstrating another pathway through the duopoly debate.

Japan’s decision to invest ¥1 trillion (US$6.2 billion) in “new food” is about far more than alternative proteins. It reflects a broader strategy to prepare the country for a future shaped by an ageing population, labour shortages and increasing pressure on food security.

France's vegetable growers are warning that 2026 is becoming an annus horribilis after three major heatwaves in as many weeks pushed temperatures beyond 40°C across much of the country. Open-field crops including lettuce, carrots, onions, leeks, garlic, shallots and microgreens have suffered losses measured in thousands of tonnes, while some sectors now fear losing up to half of their annual production. Tomato crops have also stalled, with growers reporting that fruit develop

Most New Zealand food companies heading offshore begin with distributors, trade missions and sizeable marketing budgets. EatKinda has chosen a very different path. Co-founder Mrinali (Milli) Kumar has been doing what many founders only talk about, packing samples, attending startup events, fronting tasting tables, and personally introducing Americans to an idea initially sounding quiet absurd - cauliflower ice cream. Yet, as the smiles from Target's recent Brand Discovery Da

The achacha, known locally as achachairú or "honey kiss", has been cultivated for generations in Bolivia. Yet it was Australian growers who established the world's first large-scale commercial plantation in North Queensland in 2003, investing years of research into propagation, irrigation, pruning and post-harvest handling before the first commercial harvests appeared in 2009.

Generally, home mushroom growing means oyster mushrooms, lion's mane or shiitake. Now, in parts of the United States where psychoactive mushroom laws have relaxed, the same cultivation technology is increasingly being used to grow psilocybin mushrooms.

The NanoBrew project is investigating how beer waste - brewers' spent grain- can be converted into nanocellulose, an ultra-light, high-strength biomaterial increasingly used in medical dressings, sustainable packaging, cosmetics, filtration systems and advanced composites. The project will represent New Zealand at this year's international iGEM synthetic biology competition in Paris.

Growing international attention surrounding ready-portioned cheesecake is less about cheesecake itself and more about a broader shift taking place across the global food industry. Rather than producing ever larger products, manufacturers are increasingly embracing a strategy best described as "downsizing to upscale" - creating smaller, premium products delivering greater value through quality, flavour, sustainability and experience.

Poland’s efforts to extend geothermal energy beyond heating and recreation into geothermal food production offer another signal New Zealand should be watching closely. Polish researchers are examining geothermal heat for protected cropping, aquaculture, agricultural drying and food processing. Existing applications remain limited, but include geothermal-supported fish farming, vegetable cultivation and some food-processing activity.