Beyond Is Back as New Zealand’s Leaft Joins TIME Magazine’s Best Inventions of 2026

Beyond has taken plenty of criticism over what goes into its plant-based products. Now, a mince made with just four ingredients has earned a place among TIME Magazine's Best Inventions of 2026 and given consumers a fresh reason to look at the brand. Beyond Ground Faba combines water, faba bean protein, potato protein and psyllium husk. TIME calls it “next-gen plant-based protein”.

For the person wondering what to cook tonight, the appeal is rather more straightforward: a versatile protein with a short ingredient list. Each serving delivers 27 grams of protein, four grams of fibre and 140 calories, according to Beyond. The product is mild and unseasoned, ready to absorb whatever flavours the cook brings to the pan. Think tacos, a spicy rice bowl or a generous spoonful stirred into a tomato pasta sauce. That flexibility matters. It gives people room to make familiar meals with a different source of protein, without having to learn an entirely new way of cooking.

For a company so closely associated with recreating the burger, this feels like a meaningful development. Beyond is giving plants more room to stand on their own. A shorter label cannot settle every argument about food processing or nutrition, but it does make the proposition easier to understand. Consumers can see what is in the pack, consider the protein and fibre, and decide whether it earns a place in their kitchen.

New Zealand’s Leaft Foods brings another dimension to that conversation. Its Leaft Blade also features in TIME’s 2026 Best Inventions selection, turning protein extracted from green leaves into a ready-to-drink product. The Canterbury company has developed a process to recover Rubisco, a protein involved in photosynthesis, from crops such as alfalfa, known here as lucerne. The challenge has been getting that protein out of the leaf in a useful form and at commercial scale.

The consumer result fits into a 100ml pouch. Leaft says Blade provides 18 grams of leaf protein and six milligrams of iron, with no powder to measure or shaker to wash. Grown and made in Canterbury, it offers a compact option for people wanting a convenient protein boost. Beyond supplies something for the frying pan; Leaft supplies something ready to drink. Both make plant protein easier to fit into daily life.

There are still practical hurdles. Beyond Ground Faba is offered through the company’s US online shop, and Australian or New Zealand availability has yet to be confirmed. Recognition also tells us little about repeat purchases: price, flavour and convenience will ultimately determine whether people come back.

But something worth watching is happening here. Beyond’s much-debated brand now has a product with a remarkably simple pitch, while a New Zealand company is finding food value in the leaves growing around us. For consumers, the promise is tangible: useful nutrition, understandable ingredients and more ways to put plants on the menu. The real test begins at the kitchen bench.

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