Leaft Foods cracks century-old challenge to unlock Rubisco protein at scale

Leaft Foods, a New Zealand-based company, has achieved what food scientists have been attempting for more than a century: extracting the protein Rubisco from green leaves at commercial scale while preserving its delicate structure and functionality. Rubisco, short for ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase-oxygenase, is the most abundant protein on Earth, found in every green leaf. Although researchers have long recognized its extraordinary nutritional and functional properties, previous extraction methods destroyed the protein’s structure, rendering it unusable for food applications.

Leaft’s breakthrough could represent the foundation of a new protein economy. Described by the company as 'the utopia protein', Leaf Rubisco outperforms whey in amino acid profile, digestibility and functionality, while producing 97% fewer carbon emissions. Unlike storage proteins such as those in soy and peas, Rubisco is an enzyme protein that plays a critical role in photosynthesis. It combines superior nutrition with functional properties such as gelling, foaming, emulsifying and solubility, which make it well suited to a wide range of food applications.

The company’s founders, John and Maury Leyland Penno, were inspired in 2018 during a Stanford University innovation program focused on the future of food. Both brought long careers in agriculture and business, including Maury’s time at Fonterra and John’s co-founding of Synlait Milk. They began exploring whether New Zealand’s green landscapes could provide a new source of sustainable protein. After inviting Ross Milne, a former GEA engineer, to join as CEO, the team set out to solve the long-standing challenge of extracting Rubisco without destroying its properties.

The solution lay in a gentle, food-safe process that preserves the protein’s integrity. By focusing on lucerne (alfalfa), a crop known for its soil health benefits and resilience, Leaft created a production system that aligns with regenerative agriculture. Canterbury farmers such as Andrew Bailey and Tim Ridgen are already partnering with the company to grow lucerne for Rubisco extraction. Bailey described the crop as “a renewable crop with not too many inputs into it. It gives us another crop we can grow sustainably, and we can grow it really well. Within 42 days we can go from a crop we harvested and harvest again.” Ridgen, who expanded his family’s cropping farm before joining Leaft’s grower network, added, “Working with Leaft just feels right. Their vision for the future of food doesn’t just inspire, it reflects everything we believe in. We farm with purpose. Sustainably. Responsibly. And when a company like Leaft shares that vision, the connection is effortless.”

In 2024, Leaft scaled its technology into a 30,000ft2 commercial demonstration facility in Canterbury, capable of producing one tonne of product per week. The plant validated not only the extraction process but also the unit economics, giving the company confidence that its approach is commercially viable. The company is now selling commercial-grade Rubisco ingredients to business customers and has soft-launched its first consumer product, Leaft Blade, a performance nutrition drink.

Leaft Blade is formulated as a 100ml serving that delivers 17g of Rubisco protein. According to the company, it digests faster than conventional protein, with early users – including athletes – taking it before or during training to align with the body’s anabolic window. Leaft positions the product as the fastest and cleanest form of protein available, combining speed of absorption with amino acids such as leucine, tyrosine and tryptophan to support performance, focus and recovery. The launch represents a shift from reactive post-exercise nutrition to proactive preparation, the company argues.

Leaft emphasizes that its platform is more than just a single ingredient. By extracting value from 100% of harvested leaves, the company creates multiple revenue streams from a single crop. This includes protein isolate for use in food applications as well as other functional compounds with potential uses in nutrition and beyond. The company believes its system demonstrates how advanced food technology can work alongside traditional farming to deliver both economic and environmental benefits.

Having emerged from years of quiet development, Leaft is now actively sharing its progress and building partnerships. Early sample packs of Leaft Blade are already available in New Zealand and the USA, with limited quantities as production scales up. Commercial Rubisco ingredients are being evaluated by food manufacturers seeking new protein sources with superior functionality and lower environmental impact.

As the alternative protein sector faces consolidation and questions about long-term viability, Leaft argues that its technology provides a fundamental solution rather than a short-term trend. By tapping into the world’s most abundant protein source – green leaves – the company positions itself at the forefront of a potential new protein economy. Farmers, food companies and consumers are now beginning to see the results of what was once considered impossible: turning the overlooked leaves of ordinary crops into a foundation for sustainable nutrition.