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ProteinTECH 2019: Jeremy Hill will be presenting!

Jeremy Hill, Chief Science and Technology Officer for Fonterra will be joining us at ProteinTECH 2019. Jeremy will be covering the importance of complementary nutrition to sustainability of the food system. By 2030 there will be another 1 billion mouths to feed and over 2 billion more by 2050.  Finding solutions for how to sustainably feed a population of up …

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Fonterra dips hoof in alternative animal products

Fonterra has bought a stake in a Boston biotech start-up that wants to develop cow-free protein for use in products like cheese and drinks. But while the co-op says there’s room in its future for both dairy and “dairy-like” products, it insists cow-free protein isn’t necessarily more environmentally-friendly. Fonterra is dipping a hoof in the lab-grown food market by investing …

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Impossible Foods raises another $300 million

Impossible Foods said Monday it has raised $300 million in its latest funding round. The company’s announcement follows the initial public offering of Beyond Meat. Its rival’s stock has surged 173% since its debut May 2. Impossible Foods has raised more than $750 million, with help from investors like Bill Gates, Google Ventures and Serena Williams. Sales of plant-based products …

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Kiwi firm Craft Meat Company launches meat-free mince

A Kiwi company has launched a meat-free mince in a bid to meet demand from people wanting to reduce their meat consumption. Dunedin firm the Craft Meat Company has developed a 100 per cent plant-based mince made from mushrooms, tomato, almonds, coconut oil and soy protein which will hit supermarkets shelves this week. Grant Howie, co-owner of the meat company, …

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ProteinTECH Speaker Profile: Nick Pyke

Nick Pyke is a Director at AgInnovate – a consultancy service provider for agricultural businesses. Their focus is onsupporting innovation through high quality applied research designed and undertaken to ensure the outcomes from research are delivering benefits to New Zealand food producers and the agricultural industries. The health of our natural environment is critical to our survival. One side wants …

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Commercial fishing takes an environmental toll

The Environment Aotearoa 2019 report, released last week, painted a grim picture of the commercial fishing industry. The pressure of commercial fishing had eased in the past decade, and most commercially caught fish came from stocks that were considered to be managed sustainably, it said, but in some cases it had been too late. By 2017, some 16 per cent …

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New report signals nine top environmental issues facing New Zealand

A new report shows the way we live and make a living is having a serious impact on our environment. Jointly produced by the Ministry for the Environment and Stats NZ, Environment Aotearoa 2019 outlines nine priority issues in need of attention. “This report provides a health check on our environment and shows it’s under pressure in many places – …

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Guidance helps New Zealand organisations track their greenhouse gas emissions

This month, the Ministry for the Environment has released fresh guidance for businesses and organisations wanting to track their emissions. “In the last month we’ve seen both the Emissions Inventory and Environment Aotearoa reports released. These both show the need for action to reduce our emissions. This guidance can be used by all types and sizes of organisations to track …

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Animal Protein Alternatives: A Cleaner and Greener Outlook

Possibly the oldest and certainly the most widely consumed food by humans is animal meat. Humans have bred livestock for consumption since time immemorial. Although the end objective of breeding remains the same – creating a source of food – the techniques for doing so have undergone vast changes over the years to make the process as efficient and as …

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BurgerFuel launches plant-based beef burger

BurgerFuel enters an exciting new frontier this week with the launch of their plant-based beef burger – the Beyond Beleaf. Utilising the next generation of meat-free protein alternatives, this 100% vegan cheeseburger containing a meat-free beef patty, will roll-out this week across their 56 stores nationwide. Crafted to provide the full experience of a classic gourmet cheeseburger, this latest addition …

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Is It Meat? Is It Milk? – Who Cares What You Call It

The “future of protein” conversation has been, and will continue to be, a hot topic in agrifood tech. Investors have poured capital into the space, and media, both popular and industry specific, continue to cover it in great depth. And it’s a fascinating conversation – as we work together to ensure that everyone in the world gains and maintains access …

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How fake meat captured the tech world’s imagination

When Beyond Meat went public on the NASDAQ last week, investors expected the offering to be big — but no one predicted that the company would be valued at over $3 billion before the day’s end. In short, plant-based meat alternatives have officially emerged from their niche of yore, and into the mainstream. And Beyond Meat and its ilk — New …

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Less beef, more beans – experts say world needs a new diet

A hamburger a week, but no more — that’s about as much red meat people should eat to do what’s best for their health and the planet, according to a report seeking to overhaul the world’s diet. Eggs should be limited to fewer than about four a week, the report says. Dairy foods should be about a serving a day, …

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Burger King trialling new plant-based Whopper

Burger King is trialling a new plant-based burger made from ingredients including soy protein, coconut oil and potato protein. The Impossible Whopper is being trialled in US city St Louis and customers have had their first taste of the beefless patty. The burger provides a meat-free alternative to the famed flame-grilled beef Whopper. It has been described as the Whopper’s …

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Cell-based shrimp startup Shiok Meats nets $4.6M in funding

Shiok, which means “delicious” in Singapore and Malay slang, is developing shrimp, crab and lobster products by using stem cells taken from the crustaceans and feeding the cells a nutrient mix. The company says the result is friendlier to animals, human health and the environment. It also has the same taste and texture as the real thing, the company says, while providing …

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Speaker Update: Hilary Pearson will be at ProteinTECH 2019

Hilary Pearson is a confirmed speaker at ProteinTech 2019 – See below for her presentation plans at the event!   Hilary says no one at Freedom Farms considers themselves a farmer. But we care a whole lot about the future of food production in New Zealand – and twelve years ago we set out to make it simple for Kiwi …

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New Zealand faces up to its plastic problem

Tonnes upon tonnes of plastic waste with nowhere to go — there’s no easy solution, but for one group of Kiwi businesses, simply doing nothing was not an option. Until earlier this year, even the most diligent recyclers may not have given much thought to what happens to that plastic bottle after it’s been deposited in the correct bin and …

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Call for Environment Canterbury to be in vanguard of global change

Environment Canterbury (ECan) is under increasing pressure to start a public fight to save the planet. The regional council is due to debate declaring a “climate emergency” at its meeting on May 16. But on Tuesday, even the council’s often run-of-the-mill annual plan hearings became a platform for what should be done to engage the public and protect the environment for future generations. Pressure is …

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Government action plan for good farming to improve water quality

New Zealand farmers and growers are be encouraged to have farm environmental plans under a new action plan launched by the Government last year. A farm environment plan would remain voluntary nationwide with the government still deciding whether they should be made compulsory, Environment Minister David Parker said at the plan’s launch at the Don Rowlands Centre at Lake Karapiro. “That’s one of the decisions central government is …

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Speaker Profile: Grabbing life by the horns – Wayne Langford

Wayne Langford – Co-op Farmer and Founder of YOLOFarmerNZ, is confirmed to speaker at ProteinTech 2019. Wayne is dairy farmer from Golden Bay and when life got him down, he grabbed his wife and kids, jumped in the car and changed his life forever. Over 700 days later, hear his inspiring story of how this one step, has changed his …