ANZ Focus: Magic Valley, Fonterra, Nutri V and more brands from Oceania feature in our round-up

Time to beef up commercialisation for cultivated meats with collaborative regulation – Australia’s Magic Valley​

Australian cultivated meat start-up has detailed how it has been engaging with regulator Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) as it looking to roll out its first product down under by 2024.

Since 2020, the Australian food technology company has been working on the country’s first cultivated lamb meat.

Fonterra’s SEA functional future: NZ brand outlines strategies for success after new beverage launches​

New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra has outlined its functional beverage ambitions across South East Asia after a spate of new ready-to-drink (RTD) product launches under the Anchor and Fernleaf brands.

Anchor traditionally focused on mainstream dairy products, including butter, milk, and yoghurt.

Veggie powder power: Australia’s Nutri V eyes snacking space to take upcycled foods mainstream​

Australian upcycling firm Nutri V – a partnership between vegetable producer Fresh Select and Australia’s national science agency CSIRO – has taken its first steps into the B2C snacking space, with its CEO stating there is more product innovation on the cards.

It recently launched Nutri V goodies, a range of puffed snacks. ​They contain two vegetable servings in each pack, and “offer a higher vegetable load than many other snack foods on the market​,” according to the firm.

Fast, not furious: New Zealand food sector welcomes ‘expeditious’ development of new Grocery Code of Conduct​

The food and grocery sector in New Zealand has acquiesced for the government to develop the first full version of the new Grocery Code of Conduct to speed up introduction, but has stressed that its administration will subsequently need to move out of its control.

After years of debate over the introduction of a local Grocery Code of Conduct, the bill to introduce this was finally introduced to parliament late last year, with its first reading formally taking place on November 24 2022.

Kiwi then kip: Consuming kiwifruit with evening meal linked to improved sleep and mood – study​

New Zealand researchers have found that consuming fresh or dried kiwifruits, alongside a standard evening meal, led to significant improvements on the sleep quality and mood scores of participants.

Funded by the New Zealand Tertiary Education Commission and the country’s High-Value Nutrition National Science Challenge, the research stated that the improvements were explained by serotonin metabolism.