All PFN ARTICLES

“Top Food Trends for 2026 – Protein Reigns” still holds, but the protein story now lives inside a bigger behavioural shift where people want options that fit their day, fit their wallet, and fit their mental bandwidth. Single-serve meals, snack-ready bites, and genuinely useful plant-forward proteins are now the scaffolding of everyday eating.

Global blueberry demand is no longer a trend, it’s a structural shift. The market is now worth USD $10.8–$11.5 billion, heading toward $17–19 billion by 2030, and the numbers explain the momentum. In the US, per-capita consumption has shot past 1.3kg a year, backed by soaring imports up 300% over the last decade. Shoppers aren’t dabbling, they’re committing.

If the world needed a plot twist in the protein story, this is it - Methane into proptein - researchers at the University of Canterbury and the New Zealand Institute of Bioeconomy Science are showing that methane, yes, methane, can be converted into high-quality protein using microalgae and methanotrophic bacteria. It’s early-stage science, but the implications land squarely in future-food territory.

Did you know China is now sitting on 10,000–15,000 hectares of G3-type gold kiwifruit, all descended from stolen New Zealand genetics? Most shoppers haven’t a clue. They just see sweet, gold-fleshed fruit and buy whatever looks good and a huge chunk of that “gold kiwi” is Chinese, not Zespri. Quiet, massive, and maturing fast, China’s shadow G3 world is now too big to ignore.

Air India just pulled a move most airlines keep avoiding. by making plant-based the norm, not novel. Forget the token vegan meal baked in 1992, this is a full cabin rollout of vegan, gluten-free, allergen-friendly and low-oil dishes designed to feel like real food rather than “special meal” purgatory. Khichdi, stuffed paranthas, curated veg mains, it’s the first time an old-school flag carrier has presented plant-based eating as part of modern Indian aviation rather than a fr

Let’s call it like it is, when almost 21,000 Dutch consumers were asked whether terms like vegaworst or veganburger were confusing, a thumping 96% knew exactly what they meant. That alone pulls the rug out from under claims EU shoppers can’t tell a plant-based sausage from an animal one. The data couldn’t be clearer, consumers aren’t confused, regulators are.

Here’s the strange but fascinating twist in the seafood universe right now: Atlantic Fish Co, a U.S. start-up growing fish fillets from real fish cells, is suddenly finding itself buoyed by an unexpected current from the North, Norway. Scandinavia, already one of the planet’s largest producers of wild-caught and farmed fish, is now plugging capital into the next frontier: cultivated seafood.

Strap in: the European Space Agency (ESA) has just signed a deal with Finnish startup Solar Foods to test a protein powder made from microbes, air, electricity and urea (yes, that urea, found in urine) aboard the International Space Station; giving a whole new meaning to pee protein!!

Veggie tea drinks have moved from niche novelty to legitimate new category, led by brands like Millie’s Sipping Broth in the US, essentially broth in a tea bag and GOBBi, which positions itself as a savoury “energy tea” with tomato, mushroom and miso profiles. Add in the OGs like Numi’s early “Savory Tea” lineup, plus celery-ginger and herbal-vegetable hybrids across Asia, and the signal is clear: warm, vegetable-forward teas are becoming a recognised hot-drink ritual.

Alejandro Cancino (ex Fenn Foods and The Aussie Plant-Based Co) has always been one of the few operators who shaped its rise with real integrity. While others chased supermarket space at any cost, he obsessed over renewable energy, responsible packaging, and carbon-neutral production, often putting principle ahead of profit. Now, after stepping back and spending time in Indonesia, he’s returned with something feeling far closer to his food philosophy: Murni, and a clean, shel

Global pistachio demand isn’t just growing, it’s ballooning into a full-blown indicator of how consumers are shifting their diets. When a category leaps from US$7.9bn (2023) to a projected US$16.1bn by 2032, you’re looking at more than a nut trend; you’re looking at a behaviour shift. Pistachios hit the sweet spot in '24 and '25 for being plant-based, nutrient-dense, fibre-loaded, and snackable in a way almonds never quite managed.

Plant-based egg innovator, Crafty Counter’s new Protein Buns are the kind of functional convenience foods consumers are absolutely primed for - soft, gluten-free, microwave-ready, and stuffed with a hemp-based “egg” scramble packing 40% more protein per gram than a real egg. In a protein-obsessed food economy, this is the kind of micro-innovation that creates its own demand curve.