Kiwi startup Leaft is developing a leaf-based protein concentrate that can be used in place of eggs. It has already been whisked into a pavlova.
OPINION: As the world scales up food production to feed more global mouths, innovative startups are mobilising to address the growing environmental impact. Food security is also a key driver of food innovation, reflected in Singapore’s 30 by 30 mission to grow 30 per cent of its own nutritional needs by 2030. This is an ambitious task as a city state, and it will most definitely need intense innovation. Researchers are doing some really interesting and almost sci-fi stuff in this space, creating whole new food groups with clever science. In New Zealand, Dr Laura Domigan of Auckland University is leading our cellular charge, having won funding in late 2020 from a joint Singaporean and New Zealand fund to explore aspects of scaling cellular foods. But what’s out there already?