Australian extra virgin olive oil producers gathered in Glenelg, Adelaide on Friday night for the results of the largest and most prestigious awards event in the industry’s calendar – the Australian Olive Association’s 14th National Extra Virgin Olive Oil Awards Show. 13 gold medals were awarded from over 200 entries, which were scrutinised in an intense two-day judging process by 26 olive oil experts, with Best Oil of Show going to Jos and Kathy Weemaes , Gooramadda Olives, North... ...Read more »

The Royal Queensland Food & Wine Show is set to stimulate the taste buds of a nation of beer drinkers with the results of their first ever Beer Competition on 21 October 2010, offering a comprehensive snapshot of the quality of Australian brewing for the industry, and a trustworthy purchasing guide for consumers through gold, silver and bronze RNA medals. The Gold Coast’s Burleigh Brewing Company was the big winner, taking out the rubberstampbeer.com.au trophy for Champion Beer of Show,... ...Read more »

The operators of fruit and vegetable stores in Wagga and Sydney have been fined almost $90,000 for underpaying 40 of their workers. The penalties were handed down in the Federal Magistrates Court in Sydney yesterday following a prosecution by the Fair Work Ombudsman. The Fair Work Ombudsman told the Court that 20 shop assistants at the former ‘Fruit World’ and ‘Fruit Market’ stores on Baylis Street in Wagga were underpaid a total of $84,000 – and 20 shop assistants at the Roselands... ...Read more »

Spanish food group Ebro Foods is in exclusive talks to buy Australia-based Ricegrowers, which trades as SunRice. The agreement, announced on Wednesday (20 October), gives Ebro exclusivity on the basis of an enterprise value for SunRice of AUS$600m (US$592m). SunRice is based in New South Wales and sells around 500,000 tons per annum of branded rice foods principally through the retail channel. Its main markets include Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, the Middle East and the US. SunRice said that,... ...Read more »

Mars Inc is to restructure its global chocolate operations in a bid to make the company more focused and competitive in the marketplace. The US-based food group told just-food last night (21 October) that the realignment would take place worldwide although final decisions were still to be made on the details of the revamp. Earlier this week, UK reports said the Mars bar, Snickers and Galaxy maker was restructuring its business in the country. However, Alison Clarke, corporate affairs director... ...Read more »

Woolworths yesterday announced its first quarter results, with sales for the group up 4.2% to 13.9 billion, excluding petrol. Sales in the Australian food and liquor division were up 3.2% to 9.3 billion, and comparable sales were up 2%. New Zealand sales were up 4.7% to 1.37 billion. In addition to growing sales, the company opened one new supermarket and fifteen new liquor stores in Australia, and completed refurbishment of nine supermarkets and nine liquor stores. New Zealand opened four new supermarkets... ...Read more »

Pupils at three New Zealand primary schools are getting their hands dirty in their flourishing school garden with the Garden to Table Trust Programme, where they learn how to grow and harvest fresh fruit and vegetables, and then cook up a storm in their school kitchen, creating meals out of their freshly harvested produce. The program has taken its inspiration from the positive results of Australia’s Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden Program. Research from Deakin and Melbourne Universities... ...Read more »

Ajinomoto has defended its artificial sweetener product aspartame, of which the Japan-based food group is the largest supplier, and questioned the potential of natural sweetener stevia. Critics have long claimed that aspartame is associated with numerous health risks. Retailers, including the UK’s Marks and Spencer and South Africa’s Woolworths Holdings, have removed aspartame from their own-label lines in recent years. Meanwhile, Asda, the UK arm of Wal-Mart, has been embroiled in a... ...Read more »

Cheese and dairy manufacturer B.-d. Farm Paris Creek is conducting a recall of its Paris Creek Tilsit, Cheddar, Gouda and Norwegino cheeses due to microbial contamination with the food pathogen Listeria monocytogenes. The South Australian manufacturer is recalling cheeses with use-by dates from 18/10/10, up to and including 26/01/11, in 200g prepackaged sizes from major supermarkets, and all wheel sizes from delicatessens and restaurants. The recall applies to cheeses Australia-wide, and to products... ...Read more »

Japanese dairy firm Yakult has said it will continue to conduct human studies to back-up the health benefits of its probiotic products, after the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) cast doubt on health claims for probiotics. In a series of opinions published on Tuesday, EFSA assessed more than 800 health claims from food companies. The claims included assertions that probiotic bacteria strains boost the immune system and reduce gut problems. However, EFSA’s independent panel of scientists... ...Read more »