Leaft Foods
Extracting edible protein directly from leaves, grown on New Zealand pasture
- Founded:
- 2019
- Location:
- Canterbury, New Zealand
- Website:
- leaftfoods.com
- Stage:
- Pilot production
- What they do:
- Extract edible protein directly from leaves
- Key ingredient:
- RuBisCO — most abundant protein on Earth
Leaft Foods
Extracting edible protein directly from leaves, grown on New Zealand pasture
Leaft Foods has developed a process to extract the high-quality protein RuBisCO directly from green leaves — the most abundant protein on Earth, found in every plant that photosynthesises. The resulting ingredient is a complete protein with a neutral flavour profile, suitable for food manufacturing at scale.
Founded by Maury Leyland Penno and John Penno, Leaft Foods draws on deep experience in New Zealand's pastoral sector. John Penno is the former CEO of Synlait and a significant figure in NZ dairy; Maury brings bioprocessing expertise to the extraction technology.
Why Noteworthy
A company that could turn New Zealand's grass into protein — without the cow — represents a genuinely transformative proposition for the country's largest export sector. The Penno pedigree makes this credible, not speculative.
