This year’s Annual Food and Grocery Executive Program, run by the Institute of Food and Grocery Management, will be held from the 18th through 23rd of September at the Mt Eliza Centre for Executive Education in Victoria. This program is for present and next generation leaders in the Australian and New Zealand fresh food, grocery, beverage and FMCG industry.  The course provides a unique opportunity for managers and entrepreneurs across all industry segments to network and address current issues... ...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 »

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 »

10 -13 July 2011: During four days in July, more than 9,000 key decision makers from Australia’s food and beverage manufacturing and processing industries are anticipated to attend the triennial Foodpro, the largest Australasian food and beverage industry trade exhibition of its kind. The attendees recognise time at Foodpro as a critical business investment.  After all, this industry sector, generating sales and service income of more than $100 billion annually, is the nation’s largest, encompassing... ...Read more »

The Ardagh Group has announced that it has begun manufacturing the first Australian-made aluminium beverage bottles at its facility in Taree, NSW. Ardagh said it took the decision to extend the Taree aluminium portfolio from aerosols to aluminium bottles after its research identified an opportunity to enter a niche, but growing, market segment. “Aluminium bottles offer some specific advantages to beverage brand owners,” said Ardagh Group business development manager Sion Orritt. “The... ...Read more »

Billed as the largest show of its kind ever in Australasia, Foodpro, the pre-eminent trade event for the food and beverage processing industry across the region, returns to Sydney on Sunday 10 to Wednesday 13 July 2011. Showcasing the most comprehensive display of innovative food processing developments and technologies, Foodpro is certainly the imperative triennial destination for the food and beverage industry. This year Foodpro will confidently fill five large halls at the Sydney Convention &... ...Read more »

Australia’s largest café group The Coffee Club has finalised its 2010 financial year results, announcing a 16.6% increase in sales, taking global sales to $264 million for the year. The company attributed its strong Australian performance – almost 32% growth in annual profits – to streamlined business operations and strong consumer demand. The company also described its operations in as perfoming “exceptionally well”, with 300% sales growth for 2010, fuelled by the opening... ...Read more »

Consumer research group Datamonitor today released a new report on sports nutrition, saying that sports nutrition food and drink brands have the potential for tremendous growth if they can encourage mass consumption by widening the appeal of their products. However, the group says they risk losing their loyal core customer base if they over-market their products. According to Datamonitor, although sports nutrition brands have already made progress in the mainstream market, there is still room for... ...Read more »

Schweppes Australia has added two new flavours to its family-favourite line, Schweppes Lemonade. Schweppes Limeade and Orangeade have no artificial colours or flavours and are sweetened with stevia, a natural plant extract, in addition to sugar, so contain absolutely no artificial sweetener. Schweppes said that using stevia as part of the sweetening of carbonated beverages is a “really exciting development”, representing “true innovation” in the beverages category. “Orangeade... ...Read more »

Coca-Cola Amatil, the Australian-based bottler and distributor for Coca Cola across Oceania, has announced plans to invest A$100 million in Indonesia over three years, doubling the company’s investment in the country. The announcement was made at Coca-Cola Amatil’s annual investor presentation in Indonesia yesterday. “The opportunity for CCA in the Indonesian market is to participate in the growth in the consumption per capita of commercial beverages through increasing theavailability... ...Read more »