From Mealworms to Mushroom Steaks as TIME’s 2025 GreenTech List Serves Up a Future Feast

Let’s face it: the Earth’s undergoing massive changes, food systems are stretched, and half of what we eat is either soaked in guilt or shipped halfway across the world. But if TIME’s 2025 World’s Top GreenTech Companies list is anything to go by, the dinner table just became ground zero in the climate fight.

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Sure, there are carbon-sucking factories in Iceland and electric planes in Vermont, but we’re here to talk about the most personal piece of the puzzle: food. From air-fed protein and cell-cultured salmon to mealworm flour and lab-grown brisket, the future of food is looking deliciously weird.

And Australia? Quietly crushing it with not one, not two, but five entries, including a vertical farm that grows lettuce like a Netflix algorithm. Meanwhile, New Zealand is nowhere to be seen. That’s right. Not a single Kiwi company made the cut.

So who’s cooking up climate-smart solutions? Let’s start with Switzerland’s Planted Foods, ranked #5, where pea protein is restructured into plant-based meats so close to the real thing, you’ll start questioning your loyalty to lamb. Right behind them at #6 is Meati in the US, crafting mushroom-root steaks that are juicy, dense, and animal-free. In the #10 spot, Dutch pioneer Mosa Meat is scaling up lab-grown beef from real cow cells—no slaughterhouses, just science and stainless steel.

Impossible Foods, ranked #13, is still doing what they do best—turning soy, beetroot and a bit of molecular flair into burgers that sizzle like beef. Redefine Meat (#25) is literally 3D-printing brisket. That’s not sci-fi—it’s lunch. Wildtype, sitting at #33, has mastered sushi-grade salmon from fish cells, no fishing rod required. Israel's Aleph Farms came in at #75. Noticeably absent is Beyond Meats.

At #52, Air Protein is doing the unthinkable as it ferments air into chicken. NASA-level fermentation, no fields, no feathers. Meanwhile, Finland’s Solar Foods at #54 is creating a neutral-tasting protein powder from CO₂ and electricity. It won’t win MasterChef just yet, but it could feed billions.

Sitting at #56, Beewise isn’t making food, but it might be saving it. Their robotic beehives are defending pollinators - aka the unpaid workers of your food system. Without bees, there’s no almonds, no apples, no avocados. So yes, they deserve the spotlight.

And while Israel’s Aleph Farms at #75 is growing actual steaks from cells, LIVEKINDLY (#76) is going meta as it bankrolls the brands pushing plant-based mainstream. NotCo in Chile, ranked #123, is using AI to reimagine milk, mayo and meat from plants, and Better Meat Co. (#124) is fermenting potatoes into protein that can be blended into hybrid meats.

Then comes Eat Just (#152), the makers of JUST Egg and the first company to ever sell cultured chicken in a restaurant. France’s Ynsect, way down at #198, is all about mealworms. You may not be ready for bug pasta, but it's on the table.

And now, the Aussies. V2food, proudly at #35, is the only Australian foodtech to crack the TIME list. Their plant-based patties are already in Hungry Jack’s and Woolies in Australia. It's science on a bun, backed by the CSIRO. It’s meat-free, but not fun-free. Also repping Australia are MGA Thermal (#85), storing solar heat in bricks; Loam Bio (#111), boosting soil carbon with microbes; Relectrify (#123), recharging batteries with second-life tech; and Stacked Farm (#228), growing vegetables in a tech stacked vertical farming environment..

But New Zealand didn’t make the list. Not a single company. Which is wild, considering the country’s entire brand hinges on “clean, green, and forward-thinking.” Where’s the plant-based lamb? The seaweed protein? The precision fermented whey powder ? All MIA. If ever there was a wake-up call for Kiwi innovators, this is it.

So what does all this mean for you? It means your food choices are now frontline climate choices. The next time you bite into a burger, ask yourself: is it air-fed? Lab-grown? Mushroom-based? Because if it’s not—it probably will be soon.

And let’s be honest: saving the planet should taste better than it sounds. According to TIME’s 2025 list, it already does.

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