
ProteinTECH 2022
Since 2018 this food technology innovation conference has attracted leaders in food production, food and agricultural science and innovators across the food manufacturing sector.
With a firm focus on practical business outcomes, this conference is aimed at people in the food production and food supply chains.
ProteinTECH showcases entrepreneurs achieving growth and niche market outcomes in the emerging food technologies.
In 2022, we have an exciting new format. ProteinTECH 2022 is now a hybrid event, with in-person venues located in Sydney, Auckland and Palmerston North and the virtual event streamed live online!
Meet the trailblazers, innovators and early adopters making their own path through a rapidly growing new market.
Updates

Event Details
What is ProteinTECH?
ProteinTECH is a food technology conference, providing industry pioneers with information on the latest innovations and developments in the alternative protein space.
At ProteinTECH, we bring together people who have vast experience and specialised skills with plant-based proteins, both from local and international organisations. This creates a place for discussion and collaboration for conference attendees, where one can have face-to-face interaction with others in their field.
Topics covered:
Session 1: Emerging Products and Global Technologies
Session 2: Case Studies - Product Development
Session 3: Markets, Trends and Channels
Session 4: Ingredients and Flavours That Work
Session 5: Technologies to Deliver Texture
Session 6: Case Studies - Marketing Perspectives: How To Be Different!
Who Attends?
The New Zealand agribusiness and food production industries, including:
- Agribusiness consultants
- Food science researchers
- Industry analysts
- Food technology managers
- Food science consultants
- Food industry pioneers
- Agribusiness technology suppliers
- Key suppliers to agribusiness and food science operations
- Corporate food & ingredient companies
- Agri and horticultural providers
Key Speakers

DEREK SARNO, Co-Founder, Wicked Healthy
UK-Based Derek Sarno is the co-founder of Wicked Healthy, LLC, and Developer of the pioneering Plant Based range Wicked Kitchen sold throughout the U.K. He also serves as Executive Chef & Director of Plant-Based Innovation for Tesco PLC, where he is leading the company’s efforts to bring delicious, unpretentious vegan foods to market. Prior to co-founding Wicked Healthy and partnering with Tesco, Derek served as the Senior Global Executive Chef for Whole Foods Market. Derek is a serial entrepreneur, founding several award-winning restaurants and food service companies in the United States, and co-author of the Whole Foods Market Diet cookbook (Fall 2018), and the Wicked Healthy Cookbook (Spring 2018).
THOMAS KING, CEO, Food Frontier
Australia and New Zealand’s next food frontier. Sausages made from plants, chicken grown from cells – alternatives to conventional meat are rising rapidly. However, is it still early days for this fast-growing sector? The development and adoption of plant and cell-based meat has remained limited down-under, until now.


SUZY SPOON, Owner, Suzy Spoon's Vegetarian Butcher
Suzy is driven by the needs of her customers for high quality, high protein meat alternatives that tick a variety of boxes.
Her customers demand clean label products that are superior in flavour, with familiar textures and shapes that work in traditional recipes and on the plates of busy families.
HAZEL MACTAVISH-WEST, Owner, MacTavish:West
Hazel is an independent consultant with 25+ years’ experience in plant and food science, natural flavours and fragrances, colours and bioactives.
In Australia, Hazel works with primary producers, food manufacturers, retailers and consumers, to create tasty, practical and on-trend new food products. A key focus is greater use of fruit and vegetables as healthy and functional ingredients in a diverse range of food products. Hazel provides food innovation training to the Australian food industry, especially the vegetable sector and regional agri-food producers.
Hazel has been awarded a Churchill Fellowship for a study tour of Europe in early/mid 2018 to investigate the opportunities to incorporate more fruit and vegetables into value-added, convenient, healthy foods.

Speaker Expressions of Interest
If you are keen to be a speaker at our conference and you are an early adopter, developer, innovator, technology supplier, service provider or researcher within the food production sector, our conference team would like to hear from you.
Contact the Innovatek Office on 07 921 1382 and ask to speak to John Stulen, Programme Manager for this event. Alternatively, email John at john.stulen@innovatek.co.nz.
Event Programme
Stay tuned - the 2022 ProteinTECH Program will soon be released!

Sponsorship & Exhibition Opportunities
ProteinTECH 2022 will be a tremendous opportunity for companies to maximise their exposure to the New Zealand alternative protein industry.
Innovatek has earned a well-deserved reputation over 20 years of providing both event sponsors and exhibitors with a unique independent platform for promoting their products and services to the industry in this region.
For further details contact John Stulen, (+64) 7 921 1382 or (+64) 27 275 8011, john.stulen@innovatek.co.nz.

Contact
Innovatek
Since 1998, Innovatek Ltd has run an extensive series of technology related events for Australasian forest products companies. Over 200 conferences, trade shows and exhibitions have been run for local companies.
Innovatek Contact Details
(+64) 7 921 1382
1800 126 398 (from Australia)
Rotorua Office
Innovatek Ltd
Building X91, Sala Street,
Rotorua 3010, New Zealand
PO Box 1230,
Rotorua 3040, New Zealand
Ph (+64) 7 921 1382