Food Frontier and CAA share a vision to build a resilient and sustainable food future for Australia by accelerating the commercialisation of emerging food production technologies and ingredient innovation.

As the ecosystem representing these converging food technologies and applications evolves, it has become increasingly clear that it requires a unified voice across policy, regulation and market development.

By integrating Food Frontier into CAA and combining our expertise and resources, we will establish that voice and deliver greater impact across a broader scope.

CAA and Food Frontier have strong vision and mission alignment and a history of collaboration, with our teams working alongside one another to support various cross-sector initiatives for years. Bringing our core capabilities and resources together enables us to deliver greater impact, across a broader scope, while also establishing a strong, unified voice for the sector at a critical moment where its needs are evolving.

The sector we serve is undergoing a significant shift, where innovations once considered discrete (such as plant-based proteins, precision-fermented ingredients or cultivated meat) are beginning to converge with diverse applications across the food system. CAA’s new consolidated strategy enables it to devote resources to the most promising opportunities while creating continuity from across both organisations’ expertise.

Yes, with this merger, CAA’s work will expand beyond cellular agriculture to include the most promising innovations contributing to a sustainable and resilient food future for Australia.

In 2026, we will introduce a new focus on the diversification of domestic plant protein ingredient supply chains.

CAA will engage with the ecosystem of future food leaders to set its future strategy that explores opportunities beyond our current focus.

In short—yes.

Cellular agriculture is just one part of the emerging food production technologies and ingredient innovation ecosystem that CAA supports. As CAA expands its remit with this merger and this sector continues to rapidly evolve, it will become critical for the organisation’s identity to reflect the ecosystem it serves.

In late 2026, CAA will engage deeply with the ecosystem to inform and strengthen its future strategy and external positioning, with the aim of introducing a refreshed identity that better captures the scope, ambition and promise of what our combined organisation is here to do.

Over many months, we worked through a structured and deliberate process involving the executive leadership teams and Boards of both organisations – as well as our staff, who have been part of the conversation throughout. Together, we concluded this is a natural point of integration. Both organisations have reached a stage of maturity where Food Frontier merging into CAA makes sense, and the evolving ecosystem we serve is ready for a single, coordinated voice for advocacy and engagement.

Food Frontier’s Executive Director and Operations Coordinator will join CAA, bringing complementary skills and historical knowledge of the Food Frontier’s work and ensuring the organisation’s relationships, assets, and IP can be carried forward effectively.

Food Frontier’s long-standing board member and current Chair, David Bucca, will join CAA’s Board.

Executive Director Hannah Andersen, Chair David Bucca and the Food Frontier Board will continue to serve at Food Frontier through the end of 2026, ensuring a smooth and considered wind-down of the organisation.

CAA has introduced a consolidated strategy, which you can read about here. Learn more about the organisation’s programmatic focus for 2026-27, including how they will carry forth Food Frontier’s work, in the CAA Year in Review.

Sam Perkins, Joanne Tunna, or [email protected] are the best points of contact.

The team at CAA is expanding from April, and you can learn more about the growing team here.

For up to date information on CAA’s programs, news and opportunities, visit the CAA website (cellularagricultureaustralia.org), where you can subscribe to their newsletter, or follow them on LinkedIn.

While Food Frontier’s website, including existing research and resources, and social profiles will remain online in 2026, there won’t be any new updates through these channels going forward.

Food Frontier’s core capabilities and rich IP focused on plant proteins will be integrated into CAA’s organisational strategy and structure. Food Frontier team members and Chair will join CAA and the CAA Board respectively, bringing complementary skills and historical knowledge of Food Frontier’s work and ensuring the organisation’s relationships, assets and IP can be carried forward effectively.

Food Frontier’s rich library of resources (including research, reports and historical sector news) will also continue to be available on its website in 2026, after which point key resources will be housed on CAA’s website.

The transition has commenced, with full team integration planned in April.

Food Frontier will continue to operate in a wind-down capacity through 2026, with Executive Director Hannah Andersen, Chair David Bucca and the Food Frontier Board overseeing that process. Food Frontier’s website, research, reports and resources will remain accessible throughout this period.

The Food Frontier brand will be used alongside CAA’s for relevant pieces of work already underway. Later in 2026, CAA will explore repositioning its strategy and refreshing its identity to capture the full scope of the organisation and ensure its set up to effectively support the ecosystem in the long term.

Food Frontier’s website, social and contact channels will remain online through 2026 as CAA’s leadership explores how best to provide key historical resources to the sector in the long term, including housing key resources on CAA’s website.

As the first dedicated conference for emerging proteins and food technologies in Australia—with hundreds of speakers and thousands of attendees from across the globe— the AltProteins conference’s four-year run represents an incredible success.

CAA also has a history of hosting prominent convening events, including Made & Grown and the Cell Ag Summit.

As our newly combined organisation takes shape, we’ll be taking stock of how we can best bring people together in ways that serve the sector’s evolving needs. Large-scale events are one part of that picture, but so are targeted symposiums, workshops and other formats that create more focused dialogue — and we’ll be looking at what can be most effective as our strategy evolves.