All PFN ARTICLES

Here’s a bold thought for a Government seemingly allergic to ambition - if Queensland can back a food and manufacturing hub on the Sunshine Coast, why can’t New Zealand do the same at Ruakura - Waikato's inland port facility?

The neon glows at the new Tesla diner, the roller-skates glide, and the Cybertruck boxes stack neatly beside burgers and fries. But when the dust settles around Tesla’s much-hyped “retro-futuristic” Diner & Drive-In in Los Angeles, there’s one awkward question buzzing louder than the Superchargers outside: where exactly is the sustainability?

The World Bank, WWF, and the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation just dropped a sprawling new report outlining how sustainable aquaculture could feed the planet, fix the climate, and create 22 million new jobs by 2050. It’s a big fish story with one clear headline:

New analysis from the Good Food Institute APAC shows China is surging ahead in the global race to lock down cultivated meat patents. Of the top 20 patent applicants in the world, eight are Chinese, with a staggering number coming from public universities and government-linked institutions. Translation? This isn’t just corporate hustle, it’s a full-blown national strategy.

Biomanufacturing, cheese and meat, isn’t just food innovation, it’s fast becoming a national security priority, and Australia and New Zealand risk falling behind as the world ferments the future without them.

The shelves may still be stocked, but behind the scenes, one of the world’s most recognisable food brands is collapsing under the weight of its own cans. Del Monte Foods Corp. has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US, announcing a fire-sale of assets and a management pledge to “reset” the company under new ownership.

Bobby-calf protein snack, Mīti, has walked away with a prized Fieldays 2025 Innovation Award, but the win has ignited backlash over New Zealand’s long-running bobby-calf dilemma and sharpened consumer curiosity about cultivated, bio-manufactured meat alternatives. Oamaru start-up Alps2Ocean Foods Tapui Ltd took the Early-Stage and People’s Choice trophies for a “world-first, shelf-stable, functional protein snack” made from surplus dairy calves – animals routinely removed fro

Britain’s Generation Z (16–30 years) are emerging as early adopters of cultured meat, marking a significant milestone for cellular agriculture. A new Ipsos Observer UK poll of 1,098 adults reveals 47% of Gen Z Brits would be willing to eat cultivated meat. That’s nearly half of young consumers open to ditching meat derived from living animals for something brewed in a bioreactor.

A world-first circular bioprocessing system developed by Powered by Plants (PbP) and backed by the New Zealand Food Innovation Network (NZFIN) is upcycling the ugly underbelly of our horticulture sector, think discarded onions, surplus carrots, bruised blueberries, into high-value powders, extracts, and concentrates for the food, nutraceutical, and supplement industries.

Mark your calendars, future foodies. On 14 October, the Sofitel Wentworth in Sydney will become the unofficial HQ for bold moves, big questions, and even bigger protein ambitions as AltProteins 25 swings into town.

A now-viral LinkedIn thread by former Alibaba ANZ boss Pier Smulders summed up the mood - ‘grubby, transactional, and embarrassingly one-sided’. While PM Christopher Luxon was busy snapping selfies and talking up “hundreds of millions” in dairy and education deals, innovation leaders back home were asking a simple question - where the hell were our FoodTech companies in the China trade dialogue?

In a move that will rattle both Big Meat and the deep-pocketed FoodTech set, Chicago’s Clever Carnivore just dropped a petrie dish and the cost of cultivated pork production media (the liquid cells are grown in) by achieving a new benchmark price of USD$0.07 per litre at pilot scale. No bovine serum. No pricey pharma vendors. Just some secondhand steel and a serious attitude adjustment to bioprocessing. What is more, no need for animal slaughter.