All PFN ARTICLES

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

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.

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.

Saudi Arabia’s first reported harvest of white strawberries in Hail isn’t really about berries, it’s about status crops. According to the Saudi Gazette, the Kingdom now claims a place as the world’s third producer, after the US and Japan, to grow this rare varietal, bringing agricultural progress and premium innovation into one.

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

Tunnel Hill Mushrooms might be Australia’s most atmospheric food producer, literally growing the future inside a cold, abandoned Tasmanian train tunnel. In a world obsessed with glasshouses and steel-and-LED vertical farms, this one goes the other way: deep underground. The result? A quiet, almost eerie form of ambient agriculture turning a 19th-century sandstone tunnel into a precision-engineered microclimate for gourmet and medicinal fungi.

Singapore has formally shifted to a hybrid food resilience model, blending local production with trusted imports as it pushes back its “30 by 30” target to 2035. The new plan sets 20 percent local supply for fibre (leafy greens, mushrooms, beansprouts) and 30 percent for protein (seafood, eggs), down from the once-ambitious goal to produce 30 percent of all nutritional needs by 2030. The revision reflects hard realities: limited agricultural land, high energy and labour costs

The idea of growing coffee indoors isn’t just a lab-curiosity anymore, it’s going commercial. Meet Big Guns Coffee, a U.S. veteran-and-daughter venture using hydroponics to grow coffee in a warehouse-style setup, controlling light, temperature, humidity and CO₂ to mimic the tropical highlands.

New Zealand’s vertical farm outfit 26 Seasons just inked a deal with Saudi Arabia’s Qassim Strawberry & Fruit Cooperative Society, swapping know-how and strawberries in equal measure. It’s not just about berries – it’s a signal that New Zealand’s premium food tech is sliding quietly into the Gulf’s Vision 2030 supermarket basket.

Edinburgh-based Intelligent Growth Solutions (IGS) and Aberdeen’s Modutec signed a deal to build what they’re calling the world’s first “GigaFarm” in Dubai’s Food Tech Valley. The first 20 towers are shipping now, with a full build-out of 200 growth towers projected to crank out more than 3,000 tonnes of fresh produce a year. What's interesting is that volume replaces just one per cent of the UAE’s fruit and veg imports, a glimpse of how much reliance on overseas supply chain

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.