Leaft Foods, a New Zealand-based innovator in sustainable protein, has announced its entry into the pet nutrition market with Alfalfa Protein Concentrate (APC), a leaf-derived protein that offers meat-like nutrition with a fraction of the environmental footprint. With aspirations to enter the European market by 2026, the company recently announced a strategic alliance with Meateor Pet Food Ingredients New Zealand for distribution in the United States.
After years of research, Leaft Foods developed APC, which takes the most prevalent protein in the world, Rubisco, straight from green leaves. The company’s entire utilisation strategy, which optimises the value of all components of harvested lucerne plants, naturally evolved into the new ingredient.
“Our total utilisation approach was always designed to create value from the entire leaf, and pet nutrition represents the perfect application for our Alfalfa Protein Concentrate,” said Ross Milne, CEO of Leaft Foods. “We’re providing pet food manufacturers with a way to maintain their premium meat-forward positioning while significantly reducing their environmental footprint.”
Through the use of Meateor’s robust logistics and client base, the collaboration with Scales Corporation’s Global Proteins Division will expedite Leaft’s entry into the U.S. market.
“American pet owners increasingly demand premium nutrition with minimal environmental impact,” said Tim Harty, General Manager, Meateor Pet Food Ingredients. “APC enables manufacturers to deliver on both fronts.”Manufacturers may easily include APC in their current manufacturing processes due to its meat-compatible frozen block shape. APC produces 99% fewer carbon emissions than beef and lamb, according to an independent life cycle evaluation, and a 5% addition to formulations can lower a product’s embedded carbon by as much as 20%.
With Hitowan, GoodNoze, and Fourflax integrating APC into new product lines, Leaft has already experienced success in the Asia-Pacific markets. Over the next five years, Leaft hopes to build its sustainable protein business into a multimillion-dollar enterprise by building on these successes.
