Former WA Premier Alan Carpenter has taken on a senior position with Australian conglomerate Wesfarmers just over a year after losing the state election and raising the ire of the firm for his stance against deregulated trading hours. The owner of Coles advised today that Mr Carpenter would assume the position of Executive General Manager for Corporate Affairs. Chief Executive Richard Goyder appears to have put his disappointment with Mr Carpenter’s policy against deregulated trading hours... ...Read more »

Kraft Foods has said that its premium Cote d’Or chocolate brand will convert to the use of sustainable cocoa beans. Beginning in France and Belgium, Cote d’Or dark chocolate will contain cocoa sourced from farms that meet Rainforest Alliance sustainability standards. This programme will then be rolled out in the UK, Germany, Spain, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, the Netherlands, Canada and the United States. The brand will be the “first mainstream chocolate” to carry the Rainforest... ...Read more »

An executive at brewer Foster’s has conceded that the decision to introduce the ‘Boonie Doll’ promotion may have been an error despite it resonating with many of their VB customers. The promotion involved a David Boon figurine, which would send messages – such as ‘when are we going to the pub?’ – based on prompting from the Channel Nine commentary team. Boon, an accomplished cricketer who is well known for reportedly drinking 52 cans of beer during a flight... ...Read more »

Consumer products giant, the Procter & Gamble Company, last night announced organic sales growth of two per cent “on better than expected results across most business segments”. The maker of Pringles raised its outlook for the October – December quarter and fiscal 2010 organic sales growth citing modestly higher expectation for market growth. “Our September quarter results give us encouragement we are making the right choices to grow market share profitably,” said... ...Read more »

The world’s largest cereal maker, Kellogg Company, has reported a year-on-year 6% surge in earnings for the third quarter but sales were down slightly due to the impact of foreign currency translation. “The current economic environment has placed significant pressure on our consumers,” David Mackay, Kellogg Company CEO, said. “However, the environment also provided us with both the incentive and the opportunity to build an even stronger company for the future. We are aggressively... ...Read more »

The Federal Government’s Food and Health Dialogue, which will provide a ‘framework for government, health groups and industry to work collaboratively across the food supply chain to improve dietary intakes’, was formally announced this week by the Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Mark Butler. Chaired by Mr Butler, the Dialogue is part of a broader strategy to increase consumption of fruits, vegetables and whole grain foods; reduce the consumption of risk-associated nutrients,... ...Read more »

Speaking at the Australian Food and Grocery Council Industry Leaders Conference on Wednesday, Parliamentary Secretary for Trade, Anthony Byrne, highlighted tremendous opportunity for Australian food exports in Asia.”Australia’s food, beverage and grocery industries turn over $100 billion, employ 315,000 Australians and export $25 billion worth of goods each year, representing 25 per cent of total manufactured exports,” he noted. “In 2008‐09, Japan was our largest food export... ...Read more »

West Australian Agriculture and Food Minister, Terry Redman, this week opened a new state-of-the-art fresh food production facility in Bibra Lake. Mr Redman said fresh produce would be sourced from Western Australian growers to supply the factory which will produce an average of 15,000 bags of fresh salads, vegetables and stir-fries per day for supermarkets and greengrocers across the State. “The opening of Harvest FreshCuts is an exciting investment in WA, employing up to 100 people by the... ...Read more »

Coles has initiated a voluntary consumer level recall of their ‘Coles Smart Buy Frozen 20 Hamburger Patties’ due to the possible presence of metal fragments in some product. Only the product listed below, with the matching best before date, is affected. Package Description & Size: 1kg, Cardboard box Best Before: 22 APR 2010 Australian Distribution: National  Read More →

Simplot Australia has purchased the licence to manufacture the Lean Cuisine, Maggi and Papa Giuseppe brands from food giant Nestlé. The move will see Simplot takeover the operation of the Pakenham factory and re-badge it as the Gippsland Food Company. Under the licensing agreement Simplot Australia will acquire the right to manufacture, market and sell the frozen meal brands of Lean Cuisine, Maggi and Papa Giuseppe throughout Australia and New Zealand. Simplot Australia Managing Director Terry O’Brien... ...Read more »