Tunnel Hill Mushrooms is a standout example of ambient agriculture, leveraging stable underground microclimates to produce premium gourmet and medicinal fungi with minimal energy input.

Consumers want veg, but they also want convenience. Brad’s gives them both without guilt, without processing fatigue, and without needing to understand a chemistry set on the back of the pack. It’s simple, trustworthy, colourful and crucially, reliable. The kind of brand you grab because you know the veg is real.

The global move away from the word “vegan” reflects a deep shift in how consumers perceive identity-linked food choices. Viral social proof shows that taste bias isn’t sensory, it’s psychological. Anonymous plant-based products routinely outperform animal-based benchmarks when the vegan label is removed, indicating that terminology, not technology, is the barrier. This is reshaping branding, menu engineering, and front-of-pack strategy across major markets.

Seaweed chips, lentil crackers, chickpea protein bites, millet-based snack bars, and adaptogen-fortified munchables are becoming the new defaults, driven by busy urban consumers seeking quick nutrition without compromising flavour. With 2025 purchasing data showing India's plant-based snack boom surges in plant-based, fortified, and “mini-meal” snacks, India effectively becomes the world’s largest behavioural sandbox for plant-forward convenience foods.

A controlled feeding trial in lactating mothers demonstrated that switching from beef to a plant-based meat analogue rapidly altered breast milk fatty acids (↑ medium-chain SFAs, ↓ long-chain PUFAs including ARA). This rapid biological response signals broader implications: if a single dietary swap can alter milk composition in under a week, then continuous consumption of animal meat is almost certainly reshaping adult blood lipid profiles daily, through mechanisms already do

Thai based, Molly Ally exemplifies a new strategic shift in Asia’s dairy-free category: products built around physiology-first design. With 70–90% lactose intolerance rates across East and Southeast Asia, the real addressable market is not “vegans”, it is everyone who wants dessert without digestive consequences. This reframing unlocks scale the Western plant-based category has struggled to reach.

The US hitting 3 Billion pounds (1.3B Kgs) of avocados (Hass Avocado Board) signals category maturity and an accelerating shift toward nutrient-dense, whole-food ingredients with global scalability. Multi-origin sourcing (California, Peru, Mexico) is strengthening category resilience, but the deeper story is cultural as avocados have become a permanent dietary anchor with cross-meal relevance, high perceived value,

Plates London received its Michelin star in July 2025, validating plant-based fine dining at the highest culinary level. But the new data changes everything: 95% of its diners still eat meat. This recasts the star itself as less of a milestone and more of a catalyst, showing plant-based cuisine is not only culturally acceptable but commercially magnetic among mainstream diners. It confirms a behavioural shift where diners don’t need to be vegan to choose plant-based.

China has issued its first-ever approval for Fusarium venenatum as a new food raw material, marking an historic milestone for the country’s future-food roadmap. This approval elevates mycoprotein from “alternative” to “strategic ingredient,” offering clarity on safety, production parameters, and mandated labelling for children, pregnant women, and those with fungal allergies.

The resurgence of Chocolate Haggis sits inside a broader trend of heritage comfort foods being re-engineered as novelty treats. Driven by nostalgia, social shareability, and a hunger for light-hearted food fun, the Scottish market is embracing a dessert version of a cultural icon..

Victoria’s new Plant Protein Hub at Horsham SmartFarm is more than a local upgrade, it’s a structural plug-in to a wider ANZ innovation grid. With $9m for the hub and $3m for a climate-smart glasshouse, the site offers shared spaces for start-ups, researchers and growers, backed by a test kitchen and advanced analytical kit to develop high-protein crop varieties for plant-based.

Global almond supply is ramping up, production is forecast to hit 1.8 million tonnes (shelled), the highest since 2020-21, underpinned by favourable yields in the US, EU and Australia. At the same time, shifting consumer demand toward plant-based and flexitarian diets has elevated almonds as a credible protein source, offering about 21–22g protein per 100g, comparable to many animal proteins.

FSANZ’s acceptance of Aussie, Eden Brew’s BCPP1 submission marks the first time milk protein via precision-fermentation has entered the ANZ regulatory system. This is an exciting moment not only for Eden Brew but for the broader ecosystem of novel-protein developers who now have a concrete pathway to follow.

The Top 20 food-tech companies identified here demonstrate a global move away from “alternative protein” novelty and toward industrial-grade food architecture. This is the beginning of a new supply-chain model.

The rise of herbal tea reflects the collision of ancient wellness culture with modern consumer anxiety. The category has evolved from “grandma’s remedy” to a high-margin, health-driven beverage sector, powered by natural ingredient claims, caffeine-free positioning, and regionally dominant players in Asia-Pacific. Chamomile leads due to bioactive compounds and marketing-friendly health narratives, while packaging innovation and sustainability demands reshape distribution.

A next-generation mycoprotein platform has emerged via CRISPR-engineered Fusarium venenatum, enabling 88% faster biomass production, 44% lower sugar input, and up to 60% lower emissions. This materially shifts cost curves, potentially enabling broader retail penetration and finally addressing alt-protein’s affordability ceiling. The consumer effect is simple: better texture, cheaper protein, and less “processing guilt” compared with traditional isolates.

Korean Temple Food signals a subtle but powerful shift: cultural cuisines rooted in discipline, gratitude, and seasonal plant ingredients are starting to influence the global future-food landscape more than tech-first products. Its rise is being driven by wellness-seeking consumers, sustainability interest among younger demographics, and the “cultural food as lifestyle” wave that’s now spilling across Asia, Europe, and North America. This draws a clean line between plant-base

Brevel’s entry into the chlorella market backed by illuminated-fermentation and full-system control, signals a major shift toward precision-grown microalgae. Purallis is positioned as “pure, stable and customisable,” offering brands unprecedented control over nutritional profiles, contamination risks, and supply reliability.

Global plant-based yogurt demand is expanding at a steady 9.2% annual growth, led by gut-health trends and the normalisation of dairy-free products in mainstream retail. Coconut yogurt remains one of the strongest textural performers, but ANZ brands like Raglan (NZ), COYO (AU), and Coco Bella (AU) operate with a strategic disadvantage: total reliance on imported coconut cream and milk from Thailand and Sri Lanka.

The latest Innova top food trends Insights data cements 2026 as the year when protein innovation must intersect with lifestyle relevance.