Australian retail food brand manager and franchisor Retail Food Group Limited (RFG) announced earlier this week that retail trade performance of its four franchise systems during December 2008 remained positive, thus consolidating “excellent 1H09 results” and indicating that Australian consumers are still willing to indulge their taste buds with comfort foods. The Donut King, Michel’s Patisserie, Brumby’s Bakeries and bb’s café franchise systems have continued to achieve... ...Read more »

The number of consumer level food recalls reached their lowest level for eight years in 2008 in a sign that manufacturers are continuing to improve the effectiveness of their food safety systems. There were a total of 43 consumer level recalls reported last year to food regulator FSANZ (Food Standards Australia New Zealand). An analysis of data published on the Federal Government’s ‘Product Recalls Australia’ site reveals that this compares favourably to recent years, with the... ...Read more »

Global market intelligence firm Synovate has released data from its global economy and prices survey, revealing where people were intending to or already had switched brands and which market categories were most likely to suffer as people come to grips with living on a budget. Synovate’s Global Director of Knowledge Management and Insight, Mike Sherman, said the year ahead was going to prove difficult for most. “The old rules no longer apply. But in times like this, brands should show... ...Read more »

Medisyn Technologies, Inc., announced last week a research and licensing collaboration with Kraft Foods to discover effective bioactive ingredients suitable for food use and take advantage of increased consumer interest in functional foods. The work, which began in December, 2008, utilises Medisyn’s Forward Engineering technology platform to identify, analyse and optimise promising bioactive compounds. It can accurately predict how a compound will behave based on its structure, greatly streamlining... ...Read more »

Yum! Brands is to test a co-branding of their Pizza Hut outlets in Australia in a bid to boost market share. The company has seen Domino’s assume the market leadership in the fast-food pizza market after they held top spot at the turn of the century. Pizza Hut Chief Executive Albert Baladi said Pizza Hut would maintain its strong focus on pizza but wants to now become just as famous for pasta. “The launch of tuscani pasta, along with testing the Pasta Hut brand, is the first step in Pizza... ...Read more »

The European heart health ingredients market is developing lucratively due to the growth in the functional foods sector, triggered by a global fitness fad among consumers. Extensive media coverage has heightened consumer awareness about the fatality of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and the ill effects of obesity, heightening interest towards low fat and heart-healthy food products. New research from Frost & Sullivan, European Heart Health Ingredients Market, finds that the market earned revenues... ...Read more »

Grocery food prices could retreat by up to 15 per cent in some cases, according to an agricultural expert, as lower fuel costs and strong overseas harvests force the price of food staples down from the record highs of last year. Dairy and meat prices could be among those to decline, according to Mick Keogh, an agricultural expert at the Australian Farm Institute. Mr Keogh advised that the economic deterioration has reduced farming costs, while northern hemisphere harvests had been very good. “Certainly... ...Read more »

Tesco opened its first store of the future last week in Cheetham Hill, Manchester, a store they believe to be the UK’s most energy efficient. The store has been built using Tesco’s new low carbon blueprint which will provide a foundation for stores built in the UK going forward, and follows similar claims by other UK supermarkets last year that they had opened the region’s most energy efficient supermarket. Asda and Sainsbury’s, the region’s second and third largest... ...Read more »

A lawsuit regarding Procter & Gamble patents for packaging of their Folgers Coffee brand has been settled amicably with Kraft. P&G filed a lawsuit against Kraft for alleged infringement of packaging patents by Kraft’s Maxwell House. P&G suggest that the packaging of Folgers gives a competitive advantage and claimed the innovation of their containers had helped grow the Folgers brand. “We are delighted by the terms of this settlement and will not hesitate to do what... ...Read more »

Italian-based dairy group Parmalat SpA is considering a bid for the dairy unit of Australia’s largest food company – Goodman Fielder, according to Italian reports. Parmalat, which owns the Pauls, Vaalia and Physical brands, last year failed in an attempt to expand their dairy operations, withdrawing their bid for Australia’s Dairy Farmers after failing to come to a suitable agreement with their proposed joint venture partner Murray-Goulburn. Italian newspaper la Repubblica reported... ...Read more »