Leaft Foods: low impact, high value protein production
Summary
Leaft Foods captures Rubisco, the most plentiful protein on the planet - existing in green leaves and responsible for photosynthesis. Leaft Foods helps move Aotearoa New Zealand towards being a global leader in plant protein, by allowing farmers and growers to diversify in a complementary way to their current farming system, whether that is dairy, sheep, beef or arable.The creation of this new product allows growers, logistics partners, service providers and other food and fibre industry participants to build new products and services on top of this new value chain. Additionally innovative new manufacturing processes and product developments may come from this new method of extracting plant protein.What the panel had to say about Leaft Foods:Leaft Foods presented an exciting new product, with the potential to diversify the agricultural industry, providing strong benefits across the Aotearoa New Zealand food chain and farming ecosystem.They made a strong case to demonstrate commercial viability and evidenced a clear vision for sustainable growth in the food industry, as well as a strong working relationship with local iwi, Ngai Tahu. We are thrilled and honoured to be recipients of the rohia grant, which has come at a perfect time for us, supporting our go-to-market activities as we prepare to launch our Leaf protein products. This is a big milestone for us in our journey to create a new value chain delivering low impact and high value protein products into global markets from New Zealand.