All PFN ARTICLES

A tiny community on New Zealand's South Island is turning one of its ecological problems into something altogether more useful - food. From marine pest to pantry!!

A new global food biotech shortlist isn't the final word on who will shape 2027, but it provides a remarkably telling picture of where food biotech is heading. Protein Production Technology International (PPTI) has shortlisted 81 companies from 379 nominations for its eventual 27 Food-Techs to Watch in 2027. Public voting remains open until October 23, with the final 27 due to be revealed in Amsterdam in November. So this is not yet the Top 27.

Peru's blueberry industry has provided an early glimpse of what the strengthening El Niño could mean for global food production. But the emerging story isn't simply one of drought, crop failures and shortages. El Niño is changing where and increasingly when food is produced. For Australia and New Zealand, that presents risks, but also opportunities.

New Zealand avocado growers are still counting the cost of an extraordinary winter freeze that struck some of the country's principal growing regions, raising the prospect of reduced domestic avocado availability and another reminder of just how exposed fresh-food production can be to a few hours of extreme weather.

Rabobank's Succession 2050 report signals biotechnology, precision fermentation and value-added nutrition are moving from the fringe to the centre of New Zealand's food future economy.

France has reinforced its commitment to the future of food production, allocating a further €20 million (approximately US$22 million) to the second phase of its Ferments du Futur programme under the country's France 2030 strategy. The investment extends one of Europe's largest public-private fermentation initiatives and signals that advanced fermentation is increasingly being viewed as strategic national infrastructure rather than simply another emerging food technology.

Australian vegetable growers are warning one of the best winter growing seasons in years is delivering some of the poorest financial returns. Across Queensland, growers say diesel, freight, fertiliser and packaging costs remain well above historical levels while consumers, squeezed by rising living costs, are buying fewer fresh vegetables. The result is a painful mismatch between excellent crops and shrinking farmgate returns.

For years New Zealand consumers have been told the answer to high supermarket prices lay in attracting another international chain. But six months after opening in Christchurch, independent retailer Kai Co may be demonstrating another pathway through the duopoly debate.

Most New Zealand food companies heading offshore begin with distributors, trade missions and sizeable marketing budgets. EatKinda has chosen a very different path. Co-founder Mrinali (Milli) Kumar has been doing what many founders only talk about, packing samples, attending startup events, fronting tasting tables, and personally introducing Americans to an idea initially sounding quiet absurd - cauliflower ice cream. Yet, as the smiles from Target's recent Brand Discovery Da

The NanoBrew project is investigating how beer waste - brewers' spent grain- can be converted into nanocellulose, an ultra-light, high-strength biomaterial increasingly used in medical dressings, sustainable packaging, cosmetics, filtration systems and advanced composites. The project will represent New Zealand at this year's international iGEM synthetic biology competition in Paris.

Growing international attention surrounding ready-portioned cheesecake is less about cheesecake itself and more about a broader shift taking place across the global food industry. Rather than producing ever larger products, manufacturers are increasingly embracing a strategy best described as "downsizing to upscale" - creating smaller, premium products delivering greater value through quality, flavour, sustainability and experience.

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.