Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) will provide up to 4000 cartons of Great Northern beer to hard working State Emergency Service (SES) and Rural Fire Service volunteers to say thank you for their continuing efforts in helping Queenslanders throughout the flood disaster. CUB Queensland General Manager Cameron Levick said it was a privilege to make the beer available to SES volunteers and Rural Firefighters who have assisted during this crisis in Brisbane as a part of its ‘Flood, Sweat and Cheers’... ...Read more »

* Freeze, then thaw, in UK could hit UK sugar crop * ABF says UK sugar problems may “moderate” profit growth this year * UK grocery sales up 9%; weaker performance in Australia Concerns over the quality of Associated British Foods’ (ABF) UK sugar crop soured the food-to-retail group’s shares yesterday.ABF, which owns British Sugar, said the cold weather in the UK before Christmas and the more milder temperatures since the New Year could effect the sugar beet still to be processed. “In... ...Read more »

Wal-Mart Stores has announced plans to reformulate thousands of its packaged food products including slashing sodium by 25% and cutting sugars by 10% by 2015. The world’s largest retailer unveiled the plans at an event in Washington yesterday (20 January), attended by Michelle Obama.  Wal-Mart said the initiative aims to build on the success of the First Lady’s ‘Let’s Move’ campaign to “make healthy choices more convenient and affordable for families”. Mrs... ...Read more »

The ACCC revealed on Tuesday that it has begun monitoring press speculation regarding a possible merger between Cargill and Teys Bros. James Packer’s 51% stake in Australia’s second-largest beef processing company may be on the table for $500 million, according to the Australian Financial Review. Teys Bros is the largest Australian-owned beef processor in the country, second only to Brazilian meat giant JBS Swift. Teys Bros was affected by the Queensland flooding, with processing plants... ...Read more »

German food group Dr Oetker has acquired Simplot’s Australian and New Zealand pizza business. The company announced on Friday that the acquisition would include the Papa Giuseppi’s brand, all frozen private-label pizza made by Simplot and the pizza assets at Simplot’s facility in the Melbourne suburb of Pakenham. The Papa Giuseppi brand was previously licensed to Nestlé, and purchased by Simplot in October 2009. The companies said Simplot would continue to work closely with Dr... ...Read more »

Cereal Partners Worldwide, a global joint venture of Nestlé SA and General Mills Inc, announced today that 44 of the company’s Australian cereal brands – including Uncle Toby’s, Cheerios and Milo cereals – will carry the Heart Foundation Tick in 2011. Only two of the cereal brands, which are marketed by Nestlé in Australia, missed out on the tick – a new achievement for the category. “CPW is delighted that almost all of our cereals have earned the Heart Foundation... ...Read more »

Fonterra announced today that it will increase its farmgate milk pirices for Victorian and Tasmanian farmer suppliers after a pricing review. The company will now offer farmers a further 8c per kg of fat, and 20c per kg of protein (13c per kg of milk solids). Fonterra’s National Milk Services Manager, Heather Stacy, said the increase reflects conditions in global dairy commodity markets where prices have held and then strengthened during December and January. “Whole milk powder is now trading... ...Read more »

A controversial dietary supplement made from fruit and vegetable juice concentrate could significantly reduce the duration of colds, according to a study at the Charité – University Medicine Berlin. The study, published in the British Journal of Nutrition, followed 500 employees of the Charité over 8 months. Half the employees took the proprietary US-made Juice Plus+ supplement daily, while the other half took a placebo, in a randomised double-blind study. While both groups suffered the same... ...Read more »

NSW Minister for Primary Industries Steve Whan today met with local cane growers and industry officials in the Clarence Valley to see first-hand the impact recent floods have had on the sector. “It’s clear to me that the impact of the recent flood will be felt by the cane industry not just now or next week, but well into this year and next,” Minister Whan said. “I have seen extensive areas of young cane crops battered following inundation by flood waters and now the industry is facing a long... ...Read more »

Japan is spearheading a renewed focus on Asia for the Australian citrus industry, which is bidding to develop high-value alternatives to the deteriorating US export deal While Australian orange exports were down substantially in 2010 due to the extremely light crop of extraordinary large fruit, the quality-conscious Japanese market shone through. “Japan has been an outstanding market for us this year,” says Judith Damiani, CEO of Citrus Australia.  “Volumes during our peak July... ...Read more »