NZ–Singapore Future Foods Deal Just Got Fizzy with Kombucha Bros Among Biotech Collaborators

Scott Mathias
Jul 28
2 min read

When government science funding starts flowing and kombucha shows up on the lab bench, you know something’s shifted. This week, a quiet but punchy announcement from MBIE confirmed the next phase of New Zealand’s food future, not through another dairy export or red meat reboot, but via fungi, fly larvae, fermentation… and yes, fizz.

The Catalyst - Strategic New Zealand–Singapore Future Foods Research Programme has greenlit four heavyweight biotech projects, each worth up to NZ$3 million. The stated aim: accelerate science-backed food innovations that are not only sustainable, but also scalable, health-enhancing, and ripe for commercialisation across Asia-Pacific. Behind the jargon lies a clear intent and that is to fast-track the rise of New Zealand’s post-paddock food industry.

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 insight to the table.

Kombucha Bros range — Source: Kombucha Bros

From their humble roots making probiotic brews, the company is now contributing to research focused on converting New Zealand-grown fruit waste, native plants like horopito and kawakawa, and microbial cultures into a new generation of wellness foods. It’s science with a distinctly local palate and designed not just for health, but for high-margin differentiation in Asian markets.

Also on the biotech lineup are algae food systems, insect protein extractions, and cell-cultured hybrid meat, all designed to push New Zealand’s food sector further up the value chain. But the inclusion of Kombucha Bros signals something deeper - a recognition the future of food isn’t just lab coats and petri dishes. It’s fermentation tanks, trusted brands, and scalable IP that consumers already have in their fridge.

Professor Siew-Young Quek, the University of Auckland scientist leading the fermented foods arm, describes the goal as “building a suite of novel, bioactive food ingredients rooted in Māori innovation and scientific rigour.” The team also includes Māori producers, Massey University, Malaghan Institute and Singaporean deep-tech partners, all aiming to move from trials and beyond. That means taking these ingredients out of pilot phase and into real-world commercial readiness within three years.

If successful, the outcomes could include new product categories - think fermented functional snacks or gut-friendly drinks enriched with fungal fibres - which fast-moving companies like Kombucha Bros could scale and export. And it’s not just a science win. It’s a consumer win too. These foods aren’t theoretical. They’re tangible, tasty, and tailored for a market increasingly demanding nutrition with provenance, low-carbon credentials, and storytelling baked in.

This Catalyst programme also carries a sense of geopolitical momentum. Singapore is hungry for food security innovation. New Zealand is hungry for an export reset. Together, this partnership is laying down a marker for what next-gen food trade might look like - smart, collaborative, and grounded in biotech rather than border tariffs.

Audio Sponsors Link

ENDS:

Comments

Top Food Trends For 2026 - Protein Reigns

“Top Food Trends for 2026 – Protein Reigns” still holds, but the protein story now lives inside a bigger behavioural shift where people want options that fit their day, fit their wallet, and fit their mental bandwidth. Single-serve meals, snack-ready bites, and genuinely useful plant-forward proteins are now the scaffolding of everyday eating.

25 minutes ago1 min read

Why Global Blueberry Demand Keeps Climbing

Global blueberry demand is no longer a trend, it’s a structural shift. The market is now worth USD $10.8–$11.5 billion, heading toward $17–19 billion by 2030, and the numbers explain the momentum. In the US, per-capita consumption has shot past 1.3kg a year, backed by soaring imports up 300% over the last decade. Shoppers aren’t dabbling, they’re committing.

2 hours ago1 min read

New Zealand Turns Methane Into Protein

If the world needed a plot twist in the protein story, this is it - Methane into proptein - researchers at the University of Canterbury and the New Zealand Institute of Bioeconomy Science are showing that methane, yes, methane, can be converted into high-quality protein using microalgae and methanotrophic bacteria. It’s early-stage science, but the implications land squarely in future-food territory.

21 hours ago1 min read

Is It Time For Zespri To Think The Unthinkable in China?

Did you know China is now sitting on 10,000–15,000 hectares of G3-type gold kiwifruit, all descended from stolen New Zealand genetics? Most shoppers haven’t a clue. They just see sweet, gold-fleshed fruit and buy whatever looks good and a huge chunk of that “gold kiwi” is Chinese, not Zespri. Quiet, massive, and maturing fast, China’s shadow G3 world is now too big to ignore.

22 hours ago1 min read

New Air India Menu Quietly Puts Plant-Based on Global Display

Air India just pulled a move most airlines keep avoiding. by making plant-based the norm, not novel. Forget the token vegan meal baked in 1992, this is a full cabin rollout of vegan, gluten-free, allergen-friendly and low-oil dishes designed to feel like real food rather than “special meal” purgatory. Khichdi, stuffed paranthas, curated veg mains, it’s the first time an old-school flag carrier has presented plant-based eating as part of modern Indian aviation rather than a fr

4 days ago1 min read

Veganburger vs Vegaworst Funny How EU Consumers Know The Difference

Let’s call it like it is, when almost 21,000 Dutch consumers were asked whether terms like vegaworst or veganburger were confusing, a thumping 96% knew exactly what they meant. That alone pulls the rug out from under claims EU shoppers can’t tell a plant-based sausage from an animal one. The data couldn’t be clearer, consumers aren’t confused, regulators are.

4 days ago1 min read

Atlantic Fish Co & the Nordic Seafood Bet

Here’s the strange but fascinating twist in the seafood universe right now: Atlantic Fish Co, a U.S. start-up growing fish fillets from real fish cells, is suddenly finding itself buoyed by an unexpected current from the North, Norway. Scandinavia, already one of the planet’s largest producers of wild-caught and farmed fish, is now plugging capital into the next frontier: cultivated seafood.

6 days ago1 min read

Pee Protein. Where No Hu-Man Has Gone Before.

Strap in: the European Space Agency (ESA) has just signed a deal with Finnish startup Solar Foods to test a protein powder made from microbes, air, electricity and urea (yes, that urea, found in urine) aboard the International Space Station; giving a whole new meaning to pee protein!!