Australian-based global winemaking and distribution business Treasury Wine Estates Limited, formerly owned by Australian brewer Foster’s Group Limited, today announced first year profits of A$64.4 million. In its first full year report since demerging from Foster’s in May 2010, Treasury Wine Estates reports earnings that have continued to grow for the third consecutive half. David Dearie, Chief Executive Officer of TWE said, “This is a solid result, our first since we became a standalone... ...Read more »

The Coca-Cola Company and its Chinese bottling partners today announced a new investment of US$4 billion over the next three years, commencing 2012. By the end of 2011, Coca-Cola and its China bottling partners Swire Beverages Ltd. and COFCO Coca-Cola Beverage Co. Ltd. will have invested more than $3 billion in China over the last three years, bringing the total investment to $7 billion between 2009 and 2014 in the largest and fastest-growing consumer market in the world. Chairman and CEO of The... ...Read more »

Leading Australian scientists based at the CSIRO are working with the Australian ingredients manufacturer, Clover Corporation Limited, to improve the nutritional content of infant formulas. They are developing a better understanding of how nutritional bioactives can be combined in the milk formulas with natural essential Omega 3 fatty acid DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid). The aim is to improve the ability of infants to absorb bioactive ingredients that can boost the immune system of the infant. CSIRO’s... ...Read more »

A gourmet ice cream store in Hong Kong that sources milk from Australia is breaking new taboos in the ice cream world with its French Lobster flavour ice cream. Owner of the Ice Cream Gallery, ice cream chef Arron Lui revealed his most recent foray into unusual flavours at the Hong Kong Food Expo last week. Mr Liu says the French Lobster ice cream is the most complicated of the 600 flavours of ice cream he has developed since he began in 1994. The Ice Cream Gallery’s French range also includes... ...Read more »

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is consulting the general public on whether permission should be given for raw milk (non-pasteurised) products to be sold in Australia. FSANZ is calling for public comment on its Proposal P1007, looking at permissions for raw milk products to be sold in Australia. However, FSANZ has recommended permission apply only for the non-pasteurised hard to very hard cooked curd cheeses. This will involve changes to the Food Standards Code relating to storage time... ...Read more »

The State of Tasmania is seeking to maintain import restrictions on New Zealand apples. The move comes despite the fact that regulator Biosecurity Australia yesterday gave the green light to the importation of New Zealand apples into Australia. Last year, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) found Australia’s biosecurity and quarantine standards stopping New Zealand apples exported to Australia to be in breach of WTO rules. In a statement passed on to Australian Food News, the Tasmanian Premier Lara... ...Read more »

The Australian Parliament is facing a proliferation of inquiries by legislative committees to investigate numerous separate food industry issues. Here is a list of the issues currently being scrutinized by Australian politicians in Canberra. (1) Federal Inquiry into food processing A Federal Senate inquiry, to be undertaken by a committee known as the Senate Select Committee on Australia’s Food Processing Sector, will investigate pressures facing the Australian food processing industry. A... ...Read more »

Chinese food group Bright Food has finally reached a deal with Manassen Foods to buy a 75% stake in the Australian food manufacturer from its current owners. The remaining 25% shareholding in Manassen Foods will be retained by its current shareholders, including Roy Manassen, CHAMP Private Equity funds management, and members of the current senior management team. Manassen Foods has the Margaret River label and acts as a distributor for a stable of brands that includes Carr’s, McVities, Ryvita,... ...Read more »

Australia’s premier consumer advocacy group CHOICE has reignited the food debate over whether Australia should adopt a traffic light system for front-of-package labelling of packaged foods. CHOICE has called for mandatory front-of-pack Traffic Light labelling on muesli in Australia. Traffic Light labelling is a system that features red, green, or amber symbols on the label for each of the main nutrients in the product (such as fat, sugars, and salt). The idea behind Traffic Lights is to make it... ...Read more »

The latest World Bank food price report issued on 15 August 2011 has chartered a 33 percent rise in the real cost of food from July 2010 to July 2011, as food security becomes an increasing global concern. Dr Barthwal-Datta, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow who leads Sydney University’s Food Security Research Program says, “Communities in conflict have less access to food because their agricultural lands are being destroyed and their infrastructure is being destroyed. Marginalised and poor... ...Read more »