Today, food manufacturers are taking a long, hard look at their business to assess the best way to navigate not only the economic downturn, but also the increasing regulatory pressures for food safety as a result of a series of food scandals – the most recent being the salmonella-contaminated peanuts in the US. Food companies thus face conflicting objectives of securing credit lines at the same time as ensuring food safety and quality management, which calls for new, creative and potentially... ...Read more »

With an ageing population comes opportunity for food and beverage marketers, according to new analysis from Datamonitor. In a follow up to their research into the non-alcoholic beverage market, they have looked into the prospects for the alcoholic beverage sector within the Seniors market. Matthew Taylor, Consumer Analyst at Datamonitor, believes that premium products will continue to get a boost in demand from older consumers. “Alcoholic drinks are enjoyed by all age groups above legal drinking... ...Read more »

The Australian food and beverage industry is continuing to review product formulations and processing technologies to reduce the use of salt, according to Australia’s leading organisation representing food and grocery manufacturers, the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC). AFGC Chief Executive Kate Carnell said that it was well known that most Australians have too much salt in their diet, putting them at risk from high blood pressure, stroke and cardiovascular disease. Recent research... ...Read more »

The winners of the 2009 Vogue Entertaining + Travel Produce Awards were announced last week, with Victoria’s Carla Meurs and Anne-Marie Monda taking out the top award for Producer of the Year. Their company, Holy Goat, was recognised for the third consecutive time in the dairy category at a presentation held at Justin North’s renowned restaurant, Etch by Bécasse. The Vogue Entertaining + Travel Produce Awards were created to celebrate and uncover the best of Australia’s producers... ...Read more »

Coles has announced the hiring of Tony Buffin as their new Chief Financial Officer. He will claim the position vacated by Terry Bowen when he moved to the position of CFO of Coles owner Wesfarmers. Mr Buffin joins the Coles business from his position as Executive Vice President and Managing Director of loyalty management firm Groupe Aeroplan. He had previously held the role of Chief Financial Officer at the company before taking over the MD role. His knowledge of loyalty programs could prove invaluable... ...Read more »

Portion control fails to consume shoppers, fine dining success is reliant on quality and ambiance and pasta thrives in challenging economic times, according to three new reports from market and consumer research firm Mintel. 100-calorie packs a tough sell: price and size deter hungry consumers 100-calorie packs were introduced earlier this century with great success in America and were designed to appeal to shoppers keen for a snack that wouldn’t pile on the pounds. Though weight and health... ...Read more »

Australian bakers were reminded today that they need to replace the salt that they currently use in bread making with iodised salt by 9 October 2009. When launching the Australian User Guide for Mandatory Iodine Fortification today, Food Standards Australia New Zealand’s Chief Executive Officer, Steve McCutcheon, said that the baking industry needs to be aware of the changes that become mandatory next October. “Iodine is essential for good health and mild iodine deficiency has re-emerged... ...Read more »

For the first time UK scientists have shown what the food poisoning bug Salmonella feeds on to survive as it causes infection: glucose. The discovery of the weakness for sugar could provide a new way to vaccinate against Salmonella. The discovery could also lead to vaccine strains to protect against other disease-causing bacteria, including superbugs, according to the Institute of Food Research (IFR). “This is the first time that anyone has identified the nutrients that sustain Salmonella while... ...Read more »

Asda, the UK’s second largest supermarket chain, reported its twelfth successive quarter of market out-performance with underlying sales rising by 8.4% last week as they enhanced their innovation on the back of new programs to engage consumers. The company attributed the results to a heightened focus on value – assisted by thousands of ‘rollbacks’ and improved private label quality as well as new innovations derived from customer insights. Asda announced that more than £60m... ...Read more »

A dead rat in the storage area of a Sydney restaurant joins a fish market which stored crabs in a toilet cubicle on the name and shame list in NSW. The name and shame database, run by the NSW Food Authority, was introduced last year in a bid to improve food safety standards at food retail outlets by publicly ‘outing’ those who did the wrong thing. Since its introduction there have been 1000 fines dished out to almost 600 businesses. Choy Restaurant in Sydney’s east was handed three... ...Read more »