Source
https://www.mbie.govt.nz/dmsdocument/2225-opportunities-in-plant-based-foods-pdf — original source (opens in a new tab; the file is not redistributed)
Sutton et al. (2018) — Opportunities in plant based foods – PROTEIN (PFR / MPI, SPTS 15748)
Retrieved under RT_363, but does NOT resolve it
RT_363 asked for a NZ soybean & quinoa whole-seed protein-% primary (to extend the plant-protein path beyond OT_112’s chickpea 20% / buckwheat 13–15%). This report is a strategic opportunities report, not a crop-composition dataset: it gives no soybean or quinoa protein percentage (soy/lupin are named “the two highest protein producers on an as-harvested basis” with no figure; quinoa appears only qualitatively as a complete-protein food). RT_363 stays OPEN. The document’s value is elsewhere — an independent NZ-authored land-suitability criterion set for high-value plant-protein crops that corroborates and sharpens the food model’s arable land-gate.
Attribution & framing
Prepared for MPI (the intake filename’s “mbie” is wrong — see the report’s own publication data, p.1). It is an advocacy/opportunities report (making the case for a NZ plant-protein industry), so treat its conclusions as advocacy and its figures as data points of varying provenance depth (flagged per claim).
data_quality: verifiedhere means every quoted figure was read verbatim at a stated location, not that the figure is externally validated.
Summary
Plant & Food Research report SPTS No. 15748 (Sutton et al., May 2018), commissioned by the Ministry for Primary Industries, is a strategic assessment of the opportunity for New Zealand to diversify into plant-based protein production and manufacture. It argues that carbon pricing on agriculture, and the much lower water/nitrogen footprints and nutrient-leakiness of plant vs livestock systems, make many “niche” NZ locations better suited to high-value plant-protein production than to animal protein. Its single most model-relevant output is a GIS land-suitability scan of New Zealand: applying LUC Classes 1–3, slope <5°, a growing-degree-day accumulation ≥800 (base 10 °C), and a frost-free period >180 days, it estimates New Zealand has more than 1,737,000 ha suitable for growing plant-protein crops — more than ten times the ~140,000 ha in horticulture. It catalogues the plant-protein crops grown (or growable) in NZ, discusses the “incomplete” essential-amino-acid problem (PDCAAS) that caps returns on single-crop plant proteins, and sets out a “whole-of-plant / total utilisation” economics in which protein is most viable as one of several co-products (as pea protein is isolated alongside starch and fibre; wheat gluten as a starch by-product). For Neobiome Intelligence it is an independent NZ corroboration of the food model’s arable land-gate, adding explicit climate thresholds (GDD, frost-free days) and a national plant-protein land-supply figure — but it is not the crop-composition primary RT_363 sought.
Key claims
- claim: "Report identity & purpose: 'Opportunities in plant based foods – PROTEIN' (Sutton K, Larsen N, Moggre G-J, Huffman L, Clothier B, Bourne R, Eason J), a Plant & Food Research report prepared for Ministry for Primary Industries and Plant & Food Research, SPTS No. 15748, May 2018. It is a strategic assessment of the opportunity to expand and develop NZ plant-based protein sources and high-value plant-protein food manufacturing — not a crop-composition dataset."
source_location: "Title page & Publication Data (p.1); Executive summary (pp.[1]–[2])"
- claim: "Land-suitability criteria for high-value plant-protein crops (the report's own GIS scan): 'this would be limited to versatile lands that come under Land Use Capability (LUC) Classes 1-3. Next, for ease of management and harvesting lands should be at a slope of less than 5º. In terms of climate, there should be at least a growing degree day (GDD) accumulation of 800 (base 10°C), and a frost-free period of greater than 180 days.' Using these criteria in a GIS scan of New Zealand, 'As a rough estimate, New Zealand has more than 1,737,000 ha of land suitable for growing plant protein crops. This is more than 10 times the land area currently contributing to the horticulture industry's $8 billion.'"
source_location: "§1.4 Potential for diversified cropping (p.[7]); Figure 1 (p.[8])"
- claim: "Crops grown, or that have been grown, in New Zealand usable as protein sources for human consumption: alfalfa (lucerne), barley, beans (various), canola, hemp, kumara, linseed, lupin, white maize, oats, peas (yellow), peas (green/wrinkled), potato, walnut, and wheat. Crops NOT known to have been farmed in NZ but plausibly viable in niche locations: soy, amaranth, quinoa, millet, sorghum, arrowroot/taro, chia, rice, chick pea, sunflower, sesame, tree nuts, peanuts. Soy and lupin are 'probably the two highest protein producers on an as-harvested basis' but soy is a (largely) GM crop, restricted in NZ."
source_location: "§1 Opportunities to diversify (p.[3])"
- claim: "Although data from the 2008-2009 New Zealand Adult Nutrition Survey show that plant-based proteins contribute at least 40% of adults' average daily protein intake, New Zealand protein production is currently strongly focused on proteins sourced from dairy (caseins, whey proteins) and meat."
source_location: "§1 opening paragraph (p.[3]); Reference [1] = Ministry of Health 2009, 2008-2009 NZ Adult Nutrition Survey"
- claim: "Alfalfa (lucerne): 'Alfalfa leaves can contain up to 30% protein by weight and the stems up to 10%, making it a high-yielding protein crop.' The EAA profile of alfalfa is very similar to that of soy. Alfalfa is mostly used as animal feed in NZ and grows very well in drier areas such as Canterbury."
source_location: "§1.2.1 Alfalfa (Lucerne) (p.[5])"
- claim: "By-product protein streams: 'Spent grain by-product streams from brewing, and wheat bran from milling, represent significant sources of protein (19-30% w/w) and fibre (30-50% w/w) that could be utilised in New Zealand.' Oilseed 'seed cake' (canola, linseed) is protein-rich but carries anti-nutritional compounds requiring processing investment."
source_location: "§1.2.3 Cereals (p.[5]); §1.2.5 Oilseeds (p.[6])"
- claim: "Sustainability rationale for plant vs animal protein: 'The water and nitrogen footprints of plant-based food production are many times less than those of livestock farming', and nutrient 'leakiness' of annual/perennial plant systems is low. 'On an areal basis, the EBIT per hectare of horticulture exceeds those of livestock and dairy farming.' A tax on agricultural carbon emissions would reduce livestock-farming profitability while plant-based systems (lower GHG) would be less affected. Nitrogen-fixing crops such as peas reduce fertiliser requirements over the annual land-use cycle."
source_location: "Executive summary (p.[1]); §1.3 Sustainable production considerations (p.[6])"
- claim: "Whole-of-plant / total utilisation economics: 'Isolation of proteins from plant sources is most economical when the whole plant is used' — protein as one of several co-product streams. Pea protein is isolated from pea flour by isoelectric precipitation prior to starch isolation, 'so that close to 100% of the harvested pea seed is utilised'; wheat gluten protein is a by-product of washing to isolate wheat starch. This total-utilisation approach is 'the generally accepted international model for ingredient manufacture profitability.'"
source_location: "§1.7 'Whole of plant' utilisation (p.[10]); Executive summary (p.[2])"
- claim: "NZ manufacturing position & capability gap: the majority of plant proteins used in the NZ food industry are manufactured overseas (gluten in Australia/Europe, yellow pea protein in Canada/Europe). The main capability gap is at larger industrial scale — tonne-scale extraction/purification equipment is limited. NZ has demonstrated protein/starch/fibre isolation from wrinkled peas on a tonne scale (Lifestyle Foods programme 2004–2010) and processing of >20 MT at pilot-plant scale. Roquette recently invested >€300M in dedicated pea-protein processing in Canada and Europe on high world demand."
source_location: "§1.5 NZ ingredient manufacturing capabilities (p.[9]); §2.2 Capability and infrastructure (p.[11])"
- claim: "New Zealand is a primary-production nation, with 65% of its export revenues coming from agriculture, horticulture and forestry. 'From just 140,000 ha, horticulture produces $8 billion of value' — a small fraction of the area that could be used for horticulture or high-value protein production."
source_location: "§1.4 (p.[7]); Reference [9] = FreshFacts NZ Horticulture 2016"Neobiome Intelligence relevance
context: ni — feeds D02 (Smart Food Systems & Agriculture) and I02 (Food Security & Sustainable Agriculture), joining the food model’s plant-protein primaries OT_088 (faba), OT_112 (specialty grains/pulses) and the LUC arable-gate evidence (CR_052/OT_097, OT_108). Its contribution is a land-feasibility criterion set, not a new protein-yield cell.
- D02 — independent NZ corroboration of the arable land-gate, with explicit climate thresholds. The report’s GIS criteria for high-value plant-protein crops — LUC 1–3, slope <5°, GDD ≥800 (base 10 °C), frost-free >180 days OT_164 — are an independent NZ-authored confirmation of the food model’s existing arable cap (LUC 1–3 highly-productive pool, AF-41; CR_052, OT_097) and add two thresholds the model does not yet encode explicitly: a growing-degree-day floor and a frost-free-days floor (the model currently uses NIWA frost-day counts via RD_022 but not a GDD-800 gate). The slope <5° here is stricter than the model’s general <12° arable screen — a “versatile land / premium protein” tightening, not a contradiction (it is a high-value land criterion, narrower than the general arable pool). The associated national supply estimate — >1,737,000 ha suitable for plant-protein crops OT_164 — is a context/validation figure (national opportunity scale), not a per-site model input. ⚠ It is the report’s own “rough estimate” GIS output, not a validated dataset.
- D02 — plant-protein crop set + by-product protein streams widen the protein-path candidate list. The NZ-growable protein-crop set (alfalfa, barley, beans, canola, hemp, kumara, linseed, lupin, white maize, oats, peas, potato, walnut, wheat) OT_164 extends OT_112’s six-crop shortlist; alfalfa/lucerne leaf protein ‘up to 30% by weight’ (stems up to 10%) is a leaf-protein-concentrate candidate distinct from the whole-seed pulse anchors (faba ~28–31%, OT_088) — but it is leaf, not seed, and alfalfa is a forage in NZ, so it is a candidate flag, not a
LEGUME_PROTEIN_KG_HAinput. Spent-grain/wheat-bran (protein 19–30% w/w) and oilseed cake are by-product streams the “whole-of-plant” economics rests on. The whole-of-plant / total-utilisation framing corroborates why single-crop plant protein is economically marginal unless run as a co-product — relevant context for any community-scale protein-processing cost the model might later carry. - I02 — the diversification & food-security case, and the plant share of NZ protein intake. Plant-based proteins already contribute ≥40% of NZ adults’ average daily protein intake (2008-09 NZ Adult Nutrition Survey) OT_164 — a NZ baseline for the plant leg of the diet-diversity/food-security frame (LIT_056, OT_112). The report’s core sustainability argument (plant protein has many-times-lower water and nitrogen footprints than livestock; horticulture EBIT/ha exceeds livestock/dairy; N-fixing crops cut fertiliser) supports the regenerative/diversified-cropping selection the food model already makes (D_001) with a NZ-specific, MPI-commissioned voice.
Research targets
Documents to retrieve
- None raised. The report’s own upstream references that could carry the RT_363 figures — Day L (2013), ‘Proteins from land plants’, Trends in Food Science & Technology 32(1):25-42 (its reference [4] behind “soy and lupin are the two highest protein producers”) — is an international review, not the NZ crop-composition primary RT_363 requires, so it does not resolve RT_363 and is not raised as a new target. The ≥40% figure traces to the already-known 2008-09 NZ Adult Nutrition Survey (MoH 2009); the $8B/140,000 ha figure to FreshFacts 2016 — neither warrants a dedicated RT.
Research gaps
- RT_363 — NOT resolved; stays OPEN. RT_363 sought a NZ soybean & quinoa whole-seed protein-% primary. This document, though retrieved under RT_363 and authored by the exact suggested org (Plant & Food Research), is a strategic opportunities report and contains no soybean or quinoa protein-% figure (soy/lupin named as top producers “on an as-harvested basis” with no number; quinoa qualitative only). The soybean/quinoa protein-% gap persists — a FAR/PFR crop-composition dataset (not an opportunities report) is still needed. RT_363 therefore stays Open: this retrieval was checked and does not deliver the figures. No new RT raised (RT_363 already covers the gap).
- (Noted, not raised) GDD-800 / frost-free-180 land-gate. The report’s explicit climate thresholds (GDD ≥800 base-10; frost-free >180 d; slope <5°) are directly encodable in a future plant-protein-specific feasibility gate. This is an engine-design note, not a document-retrieval target — the NIWA climate layer to implement it is already ingested (RD_022).
Notes
Authoritative primary — Plant & Food Research report SPTS No. 15748 (© PFR 2018), prepared for MPI, read verbatim via pdftotext -layout (22 pp). Not AI-prepared, so no retrieval-provenance block is required. data_quality: verified = every quoted figure traces to a stated page/section (see source_location on each claim); this is traceability, not external validation.
⚠ Provenance depth of the headline figures (do not over-trust): (a) the >1,737,000 ha suitable-land figure and the LUC/slope/GDD/frost-free criteria are the report’s own GIS scan output, self-described as “a rough estimate” — a PFR analysis, not a published validated land dataset; (b) the ≥40% plant share of adult protein intake traces to the 2008-09 NZ Adult Nutrition Survey (MoH 2009); (c) $8B from 140,000 ha horticulture traces to FreshFacts 2016. Only the alfalfa (30%/10%) and spent-grain/wheat-bran (19–30% / 30–50%) composition figures are stated as the report’s domain fact without a chained citation.
⚠ Advocacy framing (load-bearing). This is a government-commissioned strategic case for a NZ plant-protein industry. Its narrative conclusions (e.g. “significant opportunities”, “we do not believe there is an option for NZ to do nothing”) are advocacy and are not treated as evidence; only the discrete quantitative claims above are carried, each with its provenance flagged.
⚠ Filename mis-attribution. The file as received was named for MBIE, but the report’s publication data (p.1) states it was “prepared for: Ministry Primary Industries and Plant & Food Research” — i.e. MPI, not MBIE. The slug (pfr-mpi-opportunities-plant-protein-2018), display_name and citations use the correct commissioner.
Cross-references (no edits required unless noted): the food model’s plant-protein primaries OT_088 (faba seed protein, the LEGUME_PROTEIN_KG_HA anchor) and OT_112 (six-crop specialty grain/pulse set — the page whose ingest raised RT_363); the LUC arable-gate evidence CR_052 / OT_097 and the potato-agronomy land/water layer OT_108; the NIWA climate layer RD_022 (the frost/GDD data that would implement this report’s climate gate); the diet-diversity frame LIT_056.
Connections
Links to
Referenced by
Sources (1): OT_168
SSI indicators (1): I02: Food Security & Sustainable Agriculture
EDT domains (1): D02: Smart Food Systems & Agriculture