A new report released today by Food Frontier, Australia and New Zealand’s independent think tank on alternative proteins, has set out the case for investment in a national plant protein ingredient industry, calling on government to take practical and achievable steps to capture a share of this global growing opportunity – projected to nearly triple to a value of US$69.2 billion by 2032.
Unlocking Australia’s potential: The case for a national plant protein ingredient industry, informed by feedback from Australia’s ingredient manufacturers, agricultural industry leaders and research institutions, identifies a significant opportunity for Australia to build sovereign manufacturing capability, increase long-term food security and invest in our agricultural transformation, by scaling the domestic plant protein ingredient industry.
Considering the Federal Government’s recent commitment to a national food security plan, it is critical that Government consider the urgency in which catalysing investment in plant protein ingredient processing capabilities will secure Australia’s resilience to volatility in the global supply chain, particularly given the increasing impacts of climate change.
Competitors like Canada, China and the EU have all acknowledged this, and invested in national plant protein strategies, making strides to produce and process a variety of high-quality, protein-rich crops, and secure a share of the global market. In 2022 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.
“Locally, we face structural challenges such as high domestic manufacturing costs, limited catalytic investment, and a fragmented industry,” said David Bucca, Executive Chair of Food Frontier. “Australia risks falling further behind and missing this economic opportunity.”
“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.”
Andrew May of Essantis said, “Building Australia’s plant protein capability requires collaboration across the ecosystem, along with support from government, to scale faster and secure Australia’s place in global markets. Sustained growth in our sector is key to reducing our nation’s import reliance and contributing to more resilient regional communities.”
Recommendations of Food Frontier’s report include:
- Australia should establish a national taskforce to coordinate policy, infrastructure and investment efforts across jurisdictions.
- Investment in shared R&D platforms for crop breeding, processing optimisation, ingredient functionality and product application, and byproduct valorisation is critical.
- Government should help the industry drive demand and reduce adoption barriers through targeted marketing, reformulation incentives, traceability systems, and data on ingredient usage and trade flows.
- Manufacturing should be scaled via strategic investment in regional hubs, shared infrastructure and capital co-investment frameworks.
- Workforce and regional supply chains should be built through targeted training, grower engagement, crop contracting and regional ecosystem development.
Australia produces roughly 59 million tonnes of protein-rich cereals, pulses and oilseeds annually, including a vast majority of the crops used for plant protein ingredients. It leads globally in lupin, is a major producer of wheat and canola, and has high growth potential in pulses such as chickpeas, lentils and faba bean. Despite this, Australia annually exports over 65% of its protein-rich source crops as unprocessed commodities: in an example year (2023), Australia exported 40.9 million tonnes of unprocessed protein-rich source crops and then imported an estimated 118 thousand tonnes of processed plant protein ingredients.
The Food Frontier report clearly demonstrates Australia’s production advantage and the potential for the local industry to become market leading, but government and industry must seize this opportunity before we are outpaced by our global competitors.