ProteinTECH News provides the latest updates on news, research, reports and links relevant this new and growing segment of NZ's agribusiness and food production industries.
ProteinTECH Events provides an independent platform for companies to evaluate the very latest in alternative protein and protein technologies, innovations and discussions from around the globe.
Latest News & Resources
Speaker Profile: Aimee Charteris
Smart Natural Food Systems – It can be done! Significant opportunities exist for food producers to develop smart natural food systems that produce the most delicious and nutritious natural produce that focus on the well-being...
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Grass-fed message won’t sell NZ products but health benefits could
New Zealand’s “clean, green, grass-fed” message isn’t unique and exporters should instead focus on the nutritional benefits of their food products, Andy Elliot says. Elliot spent much of last year studying the business models o...
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Could Omega Lamb revive NZ’s sheep-meat industry?
Genetics and chicory are giving rise to a high-country sheep so tasty that the meat industry sees it as a potential saviour. Languishing lamb sales could be in for a boost from a project that aims to produce sheep meat to riv...
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Omega lambs and fitbit cows: New Zealand responds to alternative protein threat
At Dave Harper’s family farm in New Zealand’s scenic Canterbury region, a painstakingly bred flock of lambs is grazing, not on grass, but on a field of herbs selected to unlock healthy omega-3 fatty acids in the animals’ ...
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Speaker Profile: Alison Dewes
Alison is a fifth generation farmer, veterinarian and ecologist. Her experience spans Dairying in NZ and Australia, production animal medicine, business development. She previously worked for Nestle Australia in Business Develo...
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Rural sector motivated to work towards low-carbon future
Consultation on the Government’s Zero Carbon Bill, which sets up a new legal and institutional framework for climate policy, has just ended. Every sector in New Zealand will be affected by this proposed legislation – sheep an...
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Project highlights nutrient loss challenges for farmers
Work by farmers on a Hawke’s Bay project aiming to cut their nitrogen losses has provided valuable lessons and highlighted the challenges ahead. The “Greening Tukituki” project that included two dairy farmers and two drys...
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Rod Oram: Ireland goes where NZ fears to tread
For decades, Irish farmers, scientists and politicians have flocked to New Zealand to learn how we farm so well. They saw us as global leaders. No longer. On Monday Irish farmers featured prominently in their country’s launch...
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You Call That Meat? Not So Fast, Cattle Ranchers Say
The cattle ranchers and farm bureaus of America are not going to give up their hold on the word meat without a fight. In recent weeks, beef and farming industry groups have persuaded legislators in more than a dozen states to i...
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Speaker Profile: Thomas Sowersby & Gert Jan-Moggre
The protein shift has landed in New Zealand – what was merely a promise from offshore is now here. Our protein industry is evolving and our industry is no longer talking about what might be, could be or should be possible, but ...
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Veteran environmentalist tells farmers to brace themselves for change
Change is coming and farmers can either take it by the hand or it will grab them by the throat. The magnitude of this change meant farmers have to begin planning to avoid future pain, environmentalist Guy Salmon told dairy farm...
0John King: How farming will change under water taxes
We don’t know who discovered water but it wasn’t the fish. A fear of water taxes is gripping farming and here is how I expect pastoral farmers to respond if it becomes a reality. Firstly, there will be a new interest in soil su...
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World’s first cellular agriculture research center
The Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT) Mumbai and The Good Food Institute India are partnering to set up the world’s first government research center for the development of clean meat. India is a key market in the global ...
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Speaker Profile: Shaun Hendy
Shaun Hendy, Director of Toha NZ, will be presenting on Science, but not as we know it! “For the last century, science has been dominated by government with very little role for the public or communities in selecting, funding o...
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Artificial intelligence in aquaculture may be smart key to top of the south growth
A “bunch of really smart guys” are setting out to put the top of the south at the cutting edge of artificial intelligence technology. The Nelson Artificial Intelligence Institute has flown under the radar but the team behind it...
0Steve Carden: farming has reached its economic, social environmental limits
As chief executive of a two billion dollar agriculture sector business I have the job of trying to figure out how we make the transition from a traditional farming business, which has been New Zealand’s backbone for over a cent...
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Humans damaging the environment faster than it can recover
Radical action is needed to combat increasing rate of environmental damage to water sources, land, biodiversity and marine life, report shows. Degradation of the world’s natural resources by humans is rapidly outpacing the pl...
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Sustainable Protein : Healthy People & Planet | Event Summary & Key Learning
Blinc’s recent Sustainable Protein event, focused on how we ensure Healthy People along with a Healthy Planet, laid out the challenges in this complex area. What is clear is that we don’t have all the answers. It will be im...
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Impossible Foods Is Exploring Realistic Vegan Fish
Impossible Foods is widely known for its vegan “bleeding” beef-like Impossible Burger, available at major restaurant and fast food chains across the U.S, including Burger King. According to a new report from the company, Im...
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Speaker Profile: Bennie Hendricks
Bennie is the Executive General Manager of Life Health Foods, and will be presenting at ProteinTECH 2019! Bennie will share insights on what is motivating New Zealand consumers to choose more plant based foods, drawn from new l...
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Ikea to Roll Out New Vegan Swedish ‘Meatballs’ Starting This Fall
Vegan diners awaiting Ikea’s new plant-based “meatballs” don’t have long to wait. Furniture giant Ikea is close to finalizing its new item, with in-store testing planned for this fall before a global rollout in summer 2...
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How our addiction to big beef ended up ruining the planet
Beef produces more carbon than any other meat, yet we still can’t get enough of the stuff. But can drastic changes in how we farm and eat turn things around? Rebecca Cole didn’t have a typical childhood. Though she grew up in...
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The Better Base: using a plant-based diet to combat disease
Could Nelson become a Blue Zone, with one of the healthiest populations on Earth? With a bit of encouragement, Nelson pharmacist and plant-based whole food enthusiast Hannah O’Malley hopes we can. The famed Blue Zones are base...
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Speaker Profile: Hazel MacTavish-West
From bleeding to nut-based “fake meats”, from “mylks” to mycelia: the plant-based protein market is rapidly evolving, and predicted to be worth USD$5.2bn by 2020 (an 8.4% growth from 2015). Europe will represent 39% of ...
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Newshub taste tests new Burger Fuel Beyond Beleaf burger
After months of trialling different products, Burger Fuel thinks they’ve nailed it. The burger chain has launched their new Beyond Beleaf burger, containing one of the Beyond vegan patties which by all accounts looks, tastes, a...
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Fonterra’s Eltham expansion rolls out first batch of cheese
The expansion of Fonterra’s Eltham site has reached a key milestone, with the first individually wrapped slices of cheese now coming off its new production line destined for supermarket shelves around the globe. The new line...
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Zero Carbon Bill: Five businesses on the road to a greener future
It’s been a big month for environmental news. Earlier in May, the UN revealed the most comprehensive health update of our planet to date. The results were painful, yet unsurprising – one million species are at risk of exti...
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Auckland’s soft plastics to be made into fence posts
Aucklanders will once again be able to recycle their soft plastics with new onshore processors giving bags and wrappers second lives as farming and gardening products. The Soft Plastic Recycling Scheme, run by the Packaging For...
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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 b...
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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” p...
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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. Im...
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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,...
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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 fro...
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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 s...
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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 n...
0Guidance 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...
0Animal 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 ...
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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 containi...
0Is 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 grea...
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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 alt...
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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 ...
0Burger 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 tast...
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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 f...
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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 f...
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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 ...
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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 ...
0Government 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 ...
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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 cha...
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Farming in the Age of Disrupted Food
Alternative proteins, plant-based diets, climate change, evolving animal ethics. Welcome to the disrupted food system. As Kiwi food producers, now is the time to ask hard questions about how we got here and where we go next. Le...
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Opening the farm gates
Metaphorically speaking, dairy farmers have closed their farm gates in recent times for fear of criticism, but this now needs to change, says Federated Farmers dairy vice-chairman Wayne Langford. “The farm gates need to be open...
0Farmers must fight back now
Farmers need to engage emotionally with their sector’s environmental critics, highlighting their links to the land, Fairlie Basin farmer Mark Adams told Beef + Lamb’s annual meeting in Timaru. “We can come across as entit...
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Phyllis Tichinin: Presenting at ProteinTECH 2019
“It’s not the COW, it’s the HOW” Phyllis Tichinin is an Organic Dairy and Pastoral Group plant ecologist. She will be speaking on The Carbon Sequestration Aspects of Grazing Animals in NZ: The Consumer Demand and Human He...
0Honour the Microbes and don’t Kick the Cow
Why is it that one carrot just tastes ho-hum and another carrot seems to explode with flavour in your mouth? What’s going on? Aren’t they both just carrots? In short, your ‘wow’ response to the flavourful carrot is your...
0Summit to address ‘dramatic changes’ in NZ agriculture
This year, the “Grow 2019,” farming conference will tackle some of the big questions about the future of food and fibre in New Zealand. The two-day summit, which was held in Christchurch this April, will look into some of the i...
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Speaker Profile: Lain Jager will be at ProteinTECH 2019
Lain Jager – A vision for the New Zealand Food and Fibre Sector. At ProteinTech 2019 he plans to touch base on how a finite biosphere and growing human population necessitates significant change in the global food production sy...
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Alternative Proteins accepted in the U.S., China and India
Researchers from the University of Bath, the Good Food Institute, and the Center for Long Term Priorities collaborated on the first quantitative comparison of consumer attitudes towards plant-based and clean meat across China, ...
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The Meat of the Future? Slaughter Free and Environmentally Friendly
Meat: one of the most discussed food topics of the last years. I’m not a doctor, neither am I a scientist, so I don’t have the appropriate skills to confirm or deny what the various world associations share daily about meat...
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Guy Salmon: Confirmed for ProteinTECH 2019
Climate change is a rising concern for our planet, come listen to Guy Salmon who is a confirmed speaker at ProteinTech 2019. See below for what he plans to talk about at the event: Guy is the executive director of Ecologic, a s...
0Alternative proteins research published
Beef + Lamb NZ commissioned the study to better understand the shifts in food, food production technology and consumer trends and distinguish the hype from reality. The report shows alternative proteins are likely to become a m...
0Alternative proteins an opportunity, not a threat
Alternative proteins have been making the headlines recently, with some suggesting they pose a threat to New Zealand’s agricultural sector. ASB’s GM for Rural Business Richard Hegan spoke to The Country’s Jamie Mackay, saying h...
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Rod Oram: MC for ProteinTECH 2019
The global food system will change radically over the next few decades. Its goal is to deliver more and healthier food while contributing to the revitalisation of the ecosystem. Quite simply, the issues are healthy food and hea...
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Barnett Sporkin-Morrison – International Guest Speaker at ProteinTech 2019
Barnett Sporkin-Morrison is an Advisor from The Alternative Protein Show run by Olivia Fox Cabane across the United States of America. Barnett specializes in Agriculture economy, including consumer and producer decision making....
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Food for thought at New Zealand AgriFood Week
The future of New Zealand’s food story was shaped this month as thousands walked through the gates of this year’s New Zealand AgriFood week, in association with ASB. ‘Food for Who?’ is the theme of this year’s event w...
0Focusing on the need for farming change
The first woman to stand for director of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) says she wants to transform how richer countries farm animals, though she kept clear of suggesting any decrease in the global herd, writes...
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Meet ProteinTECH 2019’s Keynote Speaker: Shama Lee
Shama is reimagining the food system with innovative engineering. Starting with meat, her breakthrough startup Sunfed uses clean technology to make delectable meat without the animal. Shama’s goal is to create healthy and nouri...
0Dairy boom has coincided with decline in water quality: rivers unsafe for swimming
It has been a classic summer in New Zealand: hot days, barbecues on the beach and lazy afternoon games of cricket. But dozens of beaches, rivers and lakes have been closed to the public owing to pollution from farming. Accordin...
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Is the future of meat animal-free?
Advances in cell culture research are moving the commercialization of clean meat closer to reality, potentially yielding significant benefits in the areas of food safety, food security, and sustainability. What is clean meat? A...
0Morning Star Farms will be 100% plant-based by 2021
MorningStar Farms is making moves! The leading vegetarian brand, a subsidiary of Kellogg Company, just announced a landmark commitment to making their entire product line fully plant-based by 2021. The transition will effective...
0Putting down new roots: Taupo Beef and Lamb shares progressive views from the paddock
Our farming systems stand on the precipice of intense change. The task of how to feed a growing population that is set to reach 10 billion people by 2050 in the face of climate change, resource scarcity, and land degradation ha...
0Alternative protein reports published
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and Plant & Food Research have released their joint report: The evolution of plant protein – assessing consumer response. The report was commissioned to assess consumer responses to p...
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Impossible Foods launching in Singapore
Foodies in Singapore will soon have more veggie options to look forward to with the launch of Impossible Foods’ plant-based meat in March. Following an earlier launch in Hong Kong, the United States start-up late February anno...
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Gordon Ramsay Adds Vegan Impossible Burger to His Menus
Singapore is set to welcome another vegan meat product to its shores, Business Insider reports. The vegan movement in Singapore is growing. Late last year, it was reported that “vegan activities” in the island nation had in...
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Meat that’s not meat: the impact of alternative proteins
Red meat consumption in New Zealand has fallen 57 percent in the last decade and companies like Air New Zealand have started offering meat free burger patties. But Plant and Food Research scientist Dr Jocelyn Eason told RNZ’s S...
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Plant protein food developments accelerating
A new food technology conference in Auckland is focused on potential threats and opportunities from rapidly developing alternative proteins. The speed of change for other protein sources for food products is vital intelligence ...
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Food battle brewing, but not on supermarket shelves
Since the year started, almost every week so far, we’ve seen media coverage announcing yet another new protein-based food product hitting supermarket shelves. While the stories are hyped by media portrayal of backlash from farm...
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Science key to plant protein success
An upcoming food technology conference in Auckland on alternative proteins for food production will debate whether it’s a market challenge or a massive new opportunity for local producers. Science leaders here say the changin...
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Plant proteins and food exports: More depth to industry than meets the eye
TV news and social media highlight Impossible Burgers going global, and Vivera plant-based steaks are flying off Tesco’s shelves in Britain. True to form they have focused the public’s attention on threats to our agricultur...
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Food technology and money speeding up change
An upcoming conference in Auckland on alternative proteins offering consumers new food choices will include a debate on whether new plant-based proteins will disrupt traditional meat producers’ markets or simply bring more ch...
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100% plant-based steaks set to hit supermarket shelves
Breakthrough: Dutch company brings first plant-based steak to Tesco supermarkets Dutch food manufacturer, Vivera has just announced, as the first company in the world, it will bring a 100% plant-based steak to market. Vivera ha...
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Plant-based proteins growing faster than predicted
What do Millennials prefer on their plate? Will they eat … less meat … or meat-less meat? Meat-less meat here in New Zealand and in key export markets … What’s the trend? The speed of technology change in alternative pr...
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Serious potential for food production changes with protein technology
The speed of technology change in alternative proteins for food is now attracting increasingly positive comments from high profile leaders across the agriculture and food export sectors. A national conference in Auckland in Jul...
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New ProteinTECH conference is on the money
The new conference, ProteinTECH 2018, is planned for July 2018, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Synthetic meats and alternative protein sources are a hot topic around the globe currently, and the Innovatek team pl...
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