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Australia is ending 2025 in full identity-rebuild mode, and food is the battlefield. According to new social and search data from Pureprofile and Quilt.AI, Australian consumers are loudly declaring the future belongs to them, their producers, their ingredients, their provenance lanes, with 81% of trending sentiment fixated on "Australian-made" goods and the cultural comfort of eating from their own backyard.

Victoria, Australia has just given plant-based protein a serious upgrade, opening a $12 million Plant Protein Hub and glasshouse at Agriculture Victoria’s Horsham SmartFarm. This isn’t a token ribbon-cut, it’s a fully kitted-out engine-room with shared labs, a test kitchen, analytical gear and grower access, built to turn lentils, chickpeas and field peas into the next wave of high-protein products.

Australia’s precision-fermentation scene just got louder. Eden Brew has landed a regulatory first with FSANZ officially accepting its application for assessment — the first precision-fermented milk protein ever to enter the ANZ regulatory system. For a market still arguing about whether next-gen dairy is “real enough,” this is the moment the science steps into the ring with the regulators.

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

In a world of weather shocks and geopolitical tension, Cellular Agriculture Australia has thrown down the gauntlet — food isn’t just sustenance, it’s national security. Their new white paper “Made & Grown: The Future of Food Biotechnology & Biomanufacturing in Australia” argues that investing in biomanufacturing is no longer optional; it’s a sovereign imperative.

Ferrero is quietly reshaping the global nut map. The Italian confectionery giant, famous for Nutella and Kinder, has been planting thousands of hectares of hazelnut orchards across Chile’s Maule and Ñuble regions to guarantee supply for its spreads and chocolates. The South American orchards now complement Ferrero’s holdings in Italy, Turkey and the U.S., offering counter-seasonal harvests and greater climate security.

Lupin milk just got serious. Australian innovator, Wide Open Agriculture (WOA) has developed a lupin milk formulation using its proprietary lupin protein isolate and lodged a Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) application to protect it. Think clean flavour, creamy mouthfeel and barista-grade foam without the chalky, “beany” aftertaste that’s dogged earlier attempts.

French cultivated-meat startup GOURMEY has just submitted the first cultivated-duck application to Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ), marking the first cultured-meat filing since Vow’s local debut. The company’s cell cultivated duck biomass (Anas platyrhynchos domesticus) is designed for foie gras and pâté formulations with a 5–80 per cent inclusion rate.

Australians just delivered a reality check to big Soft Drink/Soda. Raw C coconut water sold over 500,000 one-litre bottles in a single week at Woolworths, marking the biggest week ever for coconut water and for the first time, it outsold 1.25-litre PET soft drinks on units. Baseline sales jumped nearly 40%, showing the switch to “healthier hydration” isn’t a fad; it’s the new fixture.

Australia’s food future just got a shot of adrenaline. Startupbootcamp Australia has unveiled its latest Cluster Connect accelerator cohort and the line-up reads like a bio-food dream list. Mushrooms, cultivated meat, seaweed biotech, native plant supplements, all under the eye of the federal Department of Industry, Science and Resources. It’s no longer just drones and packaging with the focus shifting squarely into biomanufacturing for food.

The Australian plant-protein sector is still alive and kicking and valued USD 338 million in 2024 and tipped to push nearly USD 600 million by 2033. The headlines sound good, but scratch the surface and you see what’s really going on: a solid, middle-of-the-road year-on-growth of 6.6% means the sector is maturing, not exploding.

K-food is moving from curiosity to convenience aisle in Australia. South Korea's CJ Bibigo’s frozen gimbap rolls are in Woolworths, and now rubbing shoulders with sushi packs and frozen dumplings. But CJ's isn’t stopping there as mandu dumplings, kimchi, rice balls, corn dogs and even frozen Korean meals are all hitting Australian freezers. Local manufacturing is appears to be the answer. “Made in Australia” mandu (dumplings) went to #1 in Woolworths within seven months, prov