All PFN ARTICLES

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.

Rotorua isn’t just opening another factory, it’s opening the door to a $50 billion bio-economy. The new 63-million dollar biofactory proposed for the SCION facility, takes the raw power of New Zealand’s forestry sector and creates a whole new paradigm where logs are no longer the endgame, they’re the feedstock for fuels, chemicals, and high-value materials that can rival fossil-based products on the world stage.

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.

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?

This must-read article delves into the transformative potential of biomanufacturing and its role in building a sustainable, future-focused e