All PFN ARTICLES

Wai Mānuka is redefining what a functional soda looks and tastes like. This sleek 250 ml can carries more than fizz; it’s a celebration of the famed mānuka honey, Maori design, and cultural pride, blending New Zealand's signature sweetness with a sophisticated sparkling edge.

After a quarter century of gruesome experimentation, New Zealand’s last genetically engineered - GE animal trials have come to an end. The Soil & Health Association and GE Free NZ say the closure of AgResearch’s Ruakura facility marks the end of an era defined by animal suffering, failed science, and ethical neglect. Their meta-report reveals that from 2000 to 2024, hundreds of cows, goats, and sheep were subjected to GE and gene-editing trials that produced no commercial ben

New Zealand has dropped $42 million into a brand-new Biodiscovery Platform, with the goal of turning native biodiversity into export-ready pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and functional foods. Announced by Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Dr Shane Reti, the seven-year investment will fund the newly formed Bioeconomy Science Institute, which aims to translate cutting-edge R&D into products that actually make it to market.

New Zealand diners are done scanning QR codes and waiting for robots to smile. According to the national Restaurant Association’s 2025 Consumer Dining Insights Report, Kiwis still want their food served with eye contact and a bit of human warmth. Service quality and consistency outrank everything else, from portion size to price tag, in deciding where people spend their $112 a week.

Pasture grown crops like Barley may soon jump from stockfeed and beer kegs into your latte glass. Scientists at Plant & Food Research are turning hull-less barley into smooth, creamy dairy alternatives - milks today, yoghurts tomorrow, with a nutty, fibre-rich profile speaking directly to oat-milk drinkers hunting for something new.

Brain fog? Grumpy gut? Say hello to The Ārepa Brain x Gut Powder, the Kiwi brain drink brand’s smoothest innovation yet, only this time in a dry format. This isn’t just another supplement on a crowded shelf. It’s a deliberate step away from liquids into the more portable, spoon-and-shake world of powders, a nod to convenience, travel, and daily ritual.

Wattie’s Heinz may be walking away from New Zealand peaches, Hawke’s Bay peaches, but growers don’t have to.

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.

Europe is putting farmers at the centre of the cultivated meat revolution. The CRAFT Consortium, a coalition of Wageningen University, Mosa Meat, Aleph Farms, Multus, Kipster, Royal Kuijpers, and RespectFarms, has begun designing the world’s first cultivated meat farm, backed by €2 million in EIT Food funding. The model promises to slash water use by 78%, land by 95%, and social costs by 56%, while giving farmers a direct stake in cellular agriculture.

Little Lato has done it again. For the second year running, the Auckland dairy-free gelato maker has scooped the Tetra Pak Dairy-Free Champion at the NZ Ice Cream & Gelato Awards, with its Mango Lassi Vegan Gelato.

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.

New Zealand’s latest migration settings are colliding with its food ambitions. Net migration has collapsed to just +13,700 (YE June 2025), while a 13-year-high 71,800 citizens packed up and left, most young, skilled, and irreplaceable. Those empty lab benches and processing plants aren’t abstract,