The October 2009 issue of the Journal of Food Science reviews the key concepts of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and suggests it has a key role to play in food safety. RFID technology enables identification of an object from a distance without requiring a line of sight. RFID tags can also incorporate additional information such as details of the product and manufacturer and can transmit measured environmental factors such as temperature and relative humidity. As a result, RFID technology... ...Read more »

Jindi, located in the heart of the Victorian dairy belt and renowned for its award-winning Brie, has expanded its retail offering this month with the introduction of eight new variants in response to changing preferences of cheese consumers. The four new blues, washed rind Rustic Brie and more complex flavoured, premium Reserve range have been developed by veteran cheese artisan, Normandy-born Franck Beaurain, in new state-of-the-art facilities which almost perished in the fires that ravaged Gippsland... ...Read more »

Lean Cuisine has enhanced their range with the development of four meal variants that each help target specific areas of nutritional concern including; protein, fibre, wholegrain and calcium. The Everyday Wellbeing range extends Nestlé’s successful Lean Cuisine brand and is designed to maintain their focus on the health conscious consumer. The health and wellbeing trend may have taken a back seat over the past year while economic conditions stole the limelight, but industry analysts are predicting... ...Read more »

Wesfarmers has reaffirmed to investors that the Coles turnaround is progressing as planned in their annual shareholder review. Chairman Bob Every said that, long-term, the company was confident that the oft-maligned Coles business could match it with the best retailers in the world, not just Australia. “It has been particularly pleasing to see the Coles, Kmart and Officeworks turnarounds gathering momentum,” he told shareholders. “The opportunity for Coles is not simply to move... ...Read more »

The Senate Economics Committee is set to investigate contracts between the major supermarkets and dairy group National Foods as part of their analysis of pricing in the dairy industry. Earlier this month the Committee was asked to determine whether farmers were being hard done by in response to uproar following price cuts – largely focusing on price reductions by National Foods in Tasmania. Committee member, Tasmanian Senator Richard Colbeck, has told the ABC that the investigation will now... ...Read more »

Food manufacturer Goodman Fielder has appointed Clive Stiff to the role of Managing Director, Fresh Baking, in the wake of last month’s resignation by Gordon Hardie. Mr Stiff will be responsible for the company’s baking operations in Australia and New Zealand where it holds leading market shares. His most recent appointment was as CEO France for Procter & Gamble, a US$2bn business. Prior to this, he held General Management, Marketing and Strategic Planning roles for Procter &... ...Read more »

Aldi Australia booked a record profit of over $70 million in 2008, according to a newspaper report. The privately-owned German grocer, which entered the Australian market place over eight years ago, has been expanding rapidly along the east coast, opening over 25 stores annually. Their rapid growth has already seen them surpass the 200 store milestone and they have plans to see this rise to around 700 in the years ahead. The company already has a market share nationwide of over three per cent. Documents... ...Read more »

The Managing Director of Lion Nathan Australia, Andrew Reeves, is set to take the position of MD of dairy and juice group National Foods. Last week Ashley Waugh, the current Managing Director of National Foods, announced his intention to move on from the firm. The management shake-up comes following Lion Nathan shareholder approval for the takeover by Japanese beverage group Kirin Holdings. The approval means that Kirin will combine their Australian operations (which include National Foods) under... ...Read more »

Australia’s largest beverage provider has joined with telecommunications group Telstra in announcing a 10-year whole of business telecommunications contract that they maintain will help CCA increase revenues, reduce costs and improve productivity.The relationship is Telstra’s largest exclusive contract in the enterprise and government sector and will see the firm provide a range of next generation telecommunications capabilities and fully managed services to CCA’s 130 offices in... ...Read more »

The Premier of Victoria, John Brumby, says Asian shoppers are lining their trolleys with Victorian produce after spotting a host of local products in a Hong Kong supermarket. Five months ago the Premier launched a $1.4 million food processing plant for Donny Boy Fresh Food Company in Derrimut. This week, as he perused the shelves of Great Supermarket in Hong Kong, Mr Brumby spotted the familiar fruit juice (Preshafruit) on the shelf. “This juice not only boost’s Hong Kong shoppers’... ...Read more »