All PFN ARTICLES

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.

A new global study reveals arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi – microscopic fungi living in the soil – form an underground network stretching an estimated 110 quadrillion kilometres across the planet. Rather than one giant organism, it functions more like the internet itself with billions of interconnected local networks linking plant roots and exchanging nutrients, water and carbon.

California-based TRIC Robotics has developed autonomous field robots that use UV-C light to suppress pathogens, fungal diseases and pests without applying conventional chemical sprays. Operating mostly at night, the robots expose crops to precisely controlled doses of ultraviolet light, disrupting disease cycles while reducing the need for chemical intervention. The timing is significant.

The concept is simple but powerful. Imagine a Taupo Bio Valley stretching across New Zealand's geothermal corridor, where renewable energy, industrial heat and biotechnology come together to produce the next generation of food ingredients and nutritional products. Precision fermentation facilities could manufacture animal-free whey protein, casein, collagen and specialised food ingredients using microbes rather than livestock. Geothermal energy would provide the stable power

The Mexican avocado industry has smashed a new Guinness World Record after producers in Tancítaro, Michoacán created the world’s largest bowl of guacamole bowl, weighing in at 6.8 metric tonnes and whipped up over just two and a half hours. More than 1,000 growers and community members participated in the spectacle during the 13th annual Avocado Festival, turning what could have been a quirky publicity stunt into something much bigger - a reminder Mexico remains the undispute

Greenland is back in the headlines, not for geopolitics or melting ice, but for something far more practical: food. In the Arctic town of Sisimiut, population roughly 6,000, a local hydroponic farm is proving lettuce, not logistics, might be the real sovereignty issue. As imported produce arrives soggy, bruised, and eye-wateringly expensive, locally grown crunchy greens are quietly winning shelf space.

Vietnam’s seafood economy, one of the world’s most export-oriented and livelihood-intensive, is watching a new frontier emerge in the form of bioreactor-based seafood cultivation. “Cell-cultured seafood” grown in giant industrial bioreactors, stainless-steel tanks more like brewery vats, rather than ponds, could produce tuna and shrimp without a single drop of seawater, completely free of mercury and microplastics. This represents a major change in traditional aquaculture an

In the UK, Marks & Spencer ( M&S) is under fresh scrutiny after a vigilante food waste watchdog posted a video on Instagram and TikTok showing wheelie bins of in-date, unsold food and flowers left behind an M&S store, everything from sliced meats and whole chickens to potatoes and bakery goods still days from expiry.

Vietnam’s busy cities are confronting rapid urbanisation and shrinking farmland by augmenting traditional organically grown vegetables with cutting-edge urban vertical farming models. In Ho Chi Minh City, cooperatives like Tuan Ngoc Hydroponic Vegetable Cooperative are expanding hydroponic and IoT-controlled production, scaling from 1,000 m² of leafy greens in 2019 to over 10,000 m² today and boosting output from 3 t to ~30 t monthly while maintaining premium quality and trac

Since the first Gisborne truffière produced in 1993, more than 40,000 inoculated trees across 100+ sites have been planted from the Bay of Plenty to Canterbury. Yields of well over 100kg per hectare have already been achieved, reputedly among the highest in the world for cultivated truffles. Agronomically, New Zealand isn’t the problem but whether the country can become a serious player in the global truffle game.

Organic dried fruit is quietly having a moment and not the dusty trail-mix kind. According to Verified Market Reports, the category is riding a wave of clean-label snacking, rising disposable incomes, and a renewed appetite for food that feels both simple and earned. The firm projects a 6.5% annual growth from 2026 to 2033, pushing the market from US$3.35bn in 2024 to US$5.78bn by 2033. This isn’t dried fruit nostalgia, it’s a food sector re-valuation.