Kraft Foods is encouraging the Indian government to develop a comprehensive cocoa production development policy, claiming domestic supplies are too poor and scant to fuel its growing needs. Atul Bhatia, executive director for research and innovation at Cadbury’s Indian subsidiary, stressed in an interview with just-food that while cocoa is an essential part of his company’s business, imports are often essential. Production is not widespread – cocoa is not a native crop – and... ...Read more »

Coca-Cola Amatil has launched its new bottle preform and closure facility at Eastern Creek in Victoria, a $57 million investment in its beverage manufacturing capability. The new plant, which uses injection moulding technology, will manufacture plastic bottle caps and PET resin “preforms”, which are test-tube shaped moulds used to manufacture CCA’s PET plastic beverage bottles. CCA said the Eastern Creek facility is the final stage in CCA’s vertical integration of its manufacturing facilities... ...Read more »

Australia’s largest cafe group, The Coffee Club, will enter the emerging Chinese coffee drinking market this month, opening a cafe in the Yuexiu District in Guangzhou, with a major franchise license sold to the Guangzhou Golden Swan Enterprise Co. John Lazarou, Director of The Coffee Club, said now is the perfect time for the business to enter China, with a strong coffee culture growing in the country despite most Chinese traditionally drinking tea. “With over 1.3 billion people, a growing middle... ...Read more »

Ireland’s Kerry Group has lifted its target for volume growth from 2013 as the company set out its forecasts for its next five-year cycle. The company, which owns a variety of food businesses in Australia, set out a target yesterday for its annual like-for-like volumes to rise 3-5% between 2013 and 2017. The company’s current aim is for like-for-like volumes to climb by 2-4% a year but it expects that growth to accelerate. “We expect to achieve like-for-like volume growth of 3%... ...Read more »

Patties Foods has announced that it has signed an agreement with Retail Food Group, owner of the Brumby’s bakery franchise, to supply savoury pastry products to outlets across Australia. MD of Patties Foods Ltd, Greg Bourke, said the supply agreement with Retail Food Group is in line with Patties strategy to grow its Out of Home market, capitalising on the investment in production capacity at the company’s Bairnsdale baking facility over recent years. Patties has also supplied savoury... ...Read more »

Unilever CEO Paul Polman last week outlined the manufacturer’s strategic shift towards emerging markets to take advantage of their rapidly-growing populations. Speaking at the Cannes advertising festival, Polman said that one of the major drivers of change is the shift of economic power to the east and the south. He asked if the current marketing agency model is the right one in “helping brand owners anticipate the needs of the next billion consumers in the fast growing markets of the... ...Read more »

Health officials are investigating a fresh outbreak of E. coli in France, with a possible link to UK seed firm Thompson and Morgan. The UK firm has suspended internet sales of its rocket and mustard vegetable sprouts after ten people were affected by E. coli in Bordeaux. The recent E. coli outbreak in Germany, one of the largest the world has seen, killed dozens and sickened thousands. The outbreak was attributed to contaminated beansprouts. This latest outbreak is currently being investigated by... ...Read more »

The Australasian Sandwich Association continues its search for Australia’s best sandwich maker, with Matt Wilkinson of Pope Joan in Brunswick East, Melbourne, crowned the winner of the Southern Final of the Great Australian Sandwichship. The competition, held at the FSA Expo in Melbourne, is sponsored by George Weston Foods’ foodservice arm, and run by the Australasian Sandwich Association, a newly-formed café and sandwich industry body. Competing against four of the best sandwich makers... ...Read more »

From July 10-13, the Australasian food manufacturing industry will descend upon Sydney for the much anticipated triennial iconic event: Foodpro. Foodpro 2011 has already exceeded the expectations of organisers with a record-breaking number of exhibitors, confidently maintaining its status as the largest food processing exhibition in the Asia Pacific. As the biggest and most complete exhibition yet, more than 320 Foodpro exhibitors will fill five halls of the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre,... ...Read more »

Children’s exposure to television advertising for unhealthy fast food has not changed since the introduction of industry self-regulation, and fast food ads are significantly more frequent overall, according to new research from the University of Sydney. The research, led by dietician Lana Hebden and published in the Medical Journal of Australia today, analysed all TV ads broadcast during a four-day sample period, in both May 2009 and April 2010. The Australian Quick Service Restaurant Industry... ...Read more »