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NZ Seaweed Summit - From Tide to Trade
Seaweed has always been there at the edge of the tide - useful, humble, occasionally headline-grabbing, but next month in Nelson it gets its moment in the boardroom. The 2025 Seaweed Summit brings together industry innovators, science leaders, Māori enterprise, and even a Government Minister, signalling that this is no longer just a niche curiosity but a sector on the brink of being noticed.
1 min read


UK’s First Commercially Grown Ginger Takes Root in Hydroponic Tunnels
Alastair Hawken, founder of Hawkens Gingerbread in Grantham, has pioneered the UK’s first commercial grown ginger cultivation using hydroponic polytunnels. Inspired during Nottingham Trent University’s Help to Grow: Management Course, Alastair conceived a soil‑free flood‑and‑drain system to enable ginger production under controlled tropical conditions (25–30 °C and ~85% humidity), countering the UK's unsuitable climate for the crop
1 min read


TOMATOES! TOMATOES!! MG Group Fires Up the Glasshouse for a Red-Hot Future
In a bold move worthy of a chef’s kiss, Kiwi-based, MG Group is putting its weight and five hectares of glasshouse real estate behind the humble yet heroic tomato. Up in Warkworth, North of Auckland, the co-op’s sprawling SPL site, best known for pumping out capsicums by the crate-load, is about to get a makeover. And not just any makeover, think of it as a long-term love letter to local tomato lovers, with seedlings expected in the soil before the end of the year.
2 min read


Transparency? Scrapped. ANZ Ministers Approve Stealth GE Food Invasion
In a move that can only be described as a collective political faceplant, the food ministers of Australia’s eight states , along with New Ze
2 min read


The Matcha Meltdown and How TikTok, Oat Milk, and Climate Chaos Are Brewing a Green Crisis
Demand for matcha, that vibrant, powdered punch of green tea so loved by wellness influencers, oat milk baristas, and TikTok’s Gen Z elite, is skyrocketing so fast that the world's traditional tea farms are quite literally running dry. The Japanese farms producing tencha, the shaded green tea leaves ground into matcha, simply can’t keep up. And it’s not just a social media surge. It’s a full-blown supply chain crisis.
3 min read


Cheese The Day as New Zealand Vegan Cheese Awards Get Seriously Spicy
New Zealand’s vegan cheese scene just delivered a full-bodied, pepper-crusted slap to the dairy world with Bûche au Poivre from High Culture Cheese crowned Supreme Winner at the 2025 Vegan Society Vegan Cheese Awards.
2 min read


NZ–Singapore Future Foods Deal Just Got Fizzy with Kombucha Bros Among Biotech Collaborators
And fizzing with intent is Kombucha Bros, the local fermentation outfit quietly embedded in the University of Auckland’s flagship project on bio-fermented functional foods. While headlines fixate on hybrid meats and algae proteins, the real story might lie in the cellulose-rich scaffolds, mushroom mycelium, and botanical extractions now being turned into snacks, sips, and supplements, with Kombucha Bros tapped as a key industry collaborator bringing frontline fermentation in
2 min read


Sunshine Coast Gets $10M for a Food and Manufacturing Hub - So Why Can’t Ruakura?
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?
2 min read


The New Tesla Diner in LA Has Missed the Sustainability Offramp
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?
3 min read


Aussie Oat Oil Extraction Breakthrough Puts Plant-Based Lipids on the Menu
A new oat oil extraction breakthrough from South Australia could supercharge the plant-based sector, unlocking new possibilities for everything from buttery spreads to clean-label beauty products and it all starts with a humble grain we thought we already knew and plant-based lipids.
2 min read


Seaweed. Jobs. $1.5 Trillion. The World Just Got Schooled on The Real Power of Sustainable Aquaculture
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:
2 min read


Coconuts, Coffee and Culture - Could Sri Lanka’s Next Great Export Be the Taste Gen Z Craves?
Sri Lanka has just signed an MoU with Australia to boost its specialty coffee sector. But the real story isn’t bureaucratic. It’s botanical. It’s about unlocking the island’s microclimates, volcanic soils, and heirloom arabica varietals that have long played second fiddle to Ceylon tea.
3 min read
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