All PFN ARTICLES

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,

Oaty Butter wins New World Emerge - oat butter goes functional, supermarket-ready. Oaty Butter just snagged New World Emerge’s Start-Up crown with an oat-based, prebiotic-fortified spread that says “goodbye flimsy marg, hello breakfast upgrade.”

In a move that can only be described as a collective political faceplant, the food ministers of Australia’s eight states , along with New Ze

New Zealand’s vegan cheese scene just delivered a full-bodied, pepper-crusted slap to the dairy world with Bûche au Poivre from High Culture Cheese crowned Supreme Winner at the 2025 Vegan Society Vegan Cheese Awards.

And fizzing with intent is Kombucha Bros, the local fermentation outfit quietly embedded in the University of Auckland’s flagship project on bio-fermented functional foods. While headlines fixate on hybrid meats and algae proteins, the real story might lie in the cellulose-rich scaffolds, mushroom mycelium, and botanical extractions now being turned into snacks, sips, and supplements, with Kombucha Bros tapped as a key industry collaborator bringing frontline fermentation in

Here’s a bold thought for a Government seemingly allergic to ambition - if Queensland can back a food and manufacturing hub on the Sunshine Coast, why can’t New Zealand do the same at Ruakura - Waikato's inland port facility?

Texture-modified food isn’t just for the elderly in care homes. And finally, someone’s doing something about it. After years of fielding desperate messages from families trying to feed loved ones post-surgery, post-chemo, or post-accident, New Zealand-based startup The Pure Food Co has announced a long-awaited move - home delivery.

The World Bank, WWF, and the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation just dropped a sprawling new report outlining how sustainable aquaculture could feed the planet, fix the climate, and create 22 million new jobs by 2050. It’s a big fish story with one clear headline:

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.

IKEA’s global decision to halve weekday restaurant prices is less about moving meatballs and more about social responsibility. Ingka Group, the retail giant behind the IKEA brand will slash meal prices Monday to Friday and let children eat free in dozens of markets, framing the move as “support for everyday life” rather than an inventory clear-out.

Kiwi start-up. Little Pips Soda Syrups, a boutique beverage company founded by Pip Malpas, has celebrated a major milestone with its inaugural large-scale production run at the New Zealand Food Innovation Network (NZFIN).