Every innovation journey has defining moments.
For My PlantCo, a recent visit to Australia’s Food and Beverage Accelerator (FaBA) at The University of Queensland marked one of those milestones: bringing together our team and leading researchers to review progress, celebrate achievements and map out the next phase of innovation for the Real Oats portfolio.
The visit centered on advancing our collaboration across FaBA’s Innovation Pathways, Premium Food & Beverages and Business Development teams, reinforcing our shared commitment to transforming Australian grown oats into the next generation of nutritious, sustainable and consumer focused foods.
A milestone for Oat Rice
One of the key outcomes of the visit was completing an important phase of the Real Oats Oat Rice project.
Working alongside FaBA researchers, My PlantCo reviewed the progress made across product development, process optimisation, consumer insights and commercialisation planning, confirming another important step towards bringing a completely new oat-based staple food closer to market.
For CEO Mei Yong, moments like these reinforce the value of bringing together industry and research from the earliest stages of innovation.
“Developing entirely new food categories isn’t something any organisation does alone. The best outcomes come when entrepreneurs, researchers and industry work together, challenge each other’s thinking and share a common vision for what’s possible.”
Looking beyond today’s products
Planning is now underway for the next exciting stage of the Real Oats innovation pipeline, with work commencing on Oat Noodles and Oat Pasta.
Together, these products represent My PlantCo’s broader ambition to unlock new value from Australian grown oats by expanding their role beyond traditional breakfast foods into convenient everyday staples.
Each project builds on the learnings of the previous one, creating a growing innovation platform rather than a series of isolated products.
Why partnerships matter
For My PlantCo, collaborating with FaBA is about far more than accessing research.
It is about working alongside some of Australia’s leading experts in food science, flavour chemistry, sensory evaluation, food technology, processing and commercialisation: people whose work is helping shape the future of the Australian food industry.
The partnership gives My PlantCo access to multidisciplinary expertise in data analytics, and market research along with multi million dollar laboratory and pilot equipment that helps strengthen every stage of product development, from understanding consumer expectations through to technical development, processing and pathways to commercialisation.
For future investors, manufacturing partners and collaborators, this provides confidence that innovation is being guided by rigorous science, evidence based decision making and world class research capability.
Celebrating excellence in Australian food innovation
The visit also provided an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the people helping drive Australia’s food innovation ecosystem.
A sincere thank you to Prof. Janet McColl-Kennedy and the Innovation Pathways team for completing the market intelligence and consumer insights component of our FaBA project.
Congratulations to Professor Heather Smyth, who was recently recognised with the 2026 Australian Institute of Food Science and Technology (AIFST) Education Award.
Professor Heather Smyth’s contributions to flavour chemistry and sensory science, including pioneering work such as the world’s first Texture Library Toolkit that helps manufacturers better understand and optimise food texture continue to influence food innovation across Australia and internationally.
Their insights have helped us better understand what today’s consumers are looking for, where the opportunities lie and how we can turn those learnings into products people genuinely want.
It was a privilege to spend time with researchers whose passion for sharing knowledge is helping shape the next generation of Australian food innovators.
What’s next?
The Brisbane visit concluded with a clear sense of momentum.
With Oat Rice progressing, Oat Noodles and Oat Pasta now entering their next phase, and new commercial opportunities continuing to emerge, My PlantCo’s collaboration with FaBA remains focused on: Creating innovative, consumer focused oat products that showcase the incredible potential of Australian agriculture.
Over the coming weeks, My PlantCo will also share exclusive interviews with two of FaBA’s leading researchers, Professor Heather Smyth and Dr Jiahua Shi.
Together, we’ll explore what makes Australian oats unique, their growing role in health conscious food innovation, and the research facilities available to industry through FaBA.
We’ll also look at one of the biggest challenges in food innovation: How do you take a great idea and turn it into a product that everyday consumers will actually enjoy?
These conversations will provide a behind the scenes look at the science, collaboration and innovation shaping the next generation of Australian food.
Because while products may be what consumers see on the shelf, it is the partnerships, expertise and shared ambition behind them that make true innovation possible.
12 August 2026
