Food Frontier report calls for national taskforce to unlock plant protein potential in Australia

Food Frontier has published a new report exploring how Australia can leverage a globally competitive ingredients industry to capture a share of the growing demand for plant protein ingredients, while building sovereign manufacturing capability, increasing long-term food security, and investing in agricultural transformation.

The report — Unlocking Australia’s potential: The case for a national plant protein ingredient industry — details how the building blocks of a globally competitive, value-adding industry are already in place. 

Australia has world-class agricultural inputs, a growing cohort of manufacturers, and mounting market traction across food, beverage, feed, and other applications.

However, according to the analysis from the independent think tank on alternative proteins in Australia and New Zealand, the country risks being outpaced by other regions unless there is “catalytic leadership to align these efforts. “

Scaling the domestic plant protein ingredient industry

The report calls for the Australian government to play a pivotal role in uniting the value chain, de-risking investment, and activating the market conditions required for growth at scale. 

It says that global demand for plant protein ingredients is surging, driven by food system innovation, consumer trends, and a focus on traceability, sustainability, and supply chain security. Yet Australia — despite strong crop production and an existing global footprint in wheat protein ingredients — primarily exports raw commodities, missing out on high‑value ingredient manufacturing of our protein‑rich crops.

The report notes that competitors such as Canada, China, and the EU have all invested in national plant protein strategies and made strides to produce and process a variety of high-quality, protein-rich crops and secure a share of the global market. 

In 2022, the Australian government agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), identified plant proteins as an AU$6 billion market opportunity for Australia to grow and diversify its high-quality protein products as part of its AU$13 billion by 2030 National Protein Map.

Production advantage

With a national strategy, Australia has the capability to become a leader in diverse plant protein ingredients, building a premium, provenance-led industry and capturing more market share. 

Megan Redmond, director of Government & Strategic Engagement at Food Frontier, tells Food Ingredients First how the report makes the case for bolstering Australia’s plant protein ingredient industry because the country is already in a strong position to lead. 

“We have one of the world’s most advanced and reliable grain production systems, a foundation of diverse ingredient manufacturers and a reputation for producing premium products,” she says.

“Our crops, like lupin, where we’re a global leader, and our high-growth pulses like faba bean and lentil, are exactly what customers in key export markets are looking for. We just need to leverage these strengths to create high-value products instead of exporting raw commodities.” 

Australia produces approximately 59 million tons of protein-rich cereals, pulses, and oilseeds

annually, including a vast majority of the crops used for plant protein ingredients. However, the report points out that despite this advantage, Australia has yet to shift away from bulk exports and translate this advantage into a nationally scaled value-addition opportunity. 

“Doing so would enable greater domestic economic return, support regional resilience and meet growing global demand for quality ingredients,” it says. 

Report’s recommendations

The report — informed by feedback from Australia’s ingredient manufacturers, agricultural industry leaders, and research institutions — makes a series of recommendations, including establishing a national taskforce to deliver a strategy, drive demand generation, and reduce adoption barriers. 

It also calls for more investment in shared R&D platforms and innovation infrastructure, scale for domestic manufacturing capacity through strategic investment, and building the workforce and regional supply chains for long-term growth.

“A national task force is the critical first step to translate growing momentum into national impact. We see the need to convene government, industry, growers, researchers, investors, and regional representatives to co-design and deliver a fit-for-purpose strategy,” Redmond adds.

“These are the key voices required to ensure we’re all aligned on priorities like infrastructure investment, R&D, and workforce development, and to legitimize the industry as a national priority and a global opportunity.” 

Building the country’s plant protein capabilities requires collaboration across the ecosystem and support from the government to scale faster and secure Australia’s place in global markets. But structural challenges such as high domestic manufacturing costs, limited catalytic investment, and a fragmented industry are holding the country back. 

David Bucca, executive chair of Food Frontier, talks further about the country’s risk of falling behind. “Australia’s agricultural production is world-leading. Now, we have a chance to compete with other global grain producers and top plant protein ingredient manufacturers, but we must act fast.”

“Without decisive action, we risk remaining a lower-value commodity exporter, reliant on overseas manufacturers for imports, resulting in lost value for primary producers and higher costs for Australian consumers.”