Food advertising network, Gourmet Ads, has issued its predictions of what the online advertising landscape has in store for those who are looking at advertising in the food sector.  Speaking from Australia and operating as a global business, Gourmet Ads’s founder and managing director Benjamin Christie has tipped the following trends: 1. Media Buying with Data In 2011, one of the buzz terms was DMP (data management platform). Christie  predicts that digital media buyers will seek out media-buying... ...Read more »

New research from Harvard University, in the U.S., has shown that cooked meat provides more energy than raw meat. The researchers claim their findings suggest cooking played a pivotal role in human evolution by increasing the energy content of some foods. Conducted by Rachel Carmody, a student in Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), the research also raises... ...Read more »

A University of Sydney PhD student has discovered that a patient’s diet and cookery styles impacts on the required doses of medicines commonly used to treat illnesses such as depression and psychosis. Vidya Perera, a final year PhD student in the university’s Faculty of Pharmacy, found that people from South Asia could need lower doses of these medicines because they are likely to have lower levels of CYP1A2, an enzyme that metabolises drugs. Vegetables such as cabbages, cauliflower and broccoli... ...Read more »

Queensland Premier and Minister for Reconstruction Anna Bligh has thanked the staff at Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food for feeding hungry Ipswich residents during the recent floods. Queensland is the first State to partner with Jamie Oliver’s highly successful Ministry of Food program, with the Government committing up to $2.5 million over four years to support its delivery in partnership with The Good Foundation. “The staff at Jamie’s Ministry of Food worked tirelessly throughout those vital... ...Read more »

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh will have a personal cooking lesson with Britsh celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, along with thousands of Queenslanders and other Australians tonight. The celebrity chef will take part in a live webcast streaming direct from his London kitchen into Australian homes and will be broadcast on a big screen at a special community event at Ipswich. “I will be at the Ipswich event cooking along with the Mayor of Ipswich Paul Pisasale and Junior Master chef Judge Anna Gare, as... ...Read more »

SBS has announced a new series starring Luke Nguyen, acclaimed owner and chef of Sydney restaurant Red Lantern, which follows a culinary journey through the northern regions of Vietnam. The series will begin airing on December 2nd, starting in imperial Hue. Travelling north toward Hanoi and Sapa, Luke explores nine regions of Northern Vietnam over ten half-hour episodes. “The cuisine in the northern parts of Vietnam is more delicate, elegant and refined,” says Nguyen, “As I travelled from Hanoi... ...Read more »

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has announced that Queensland will be the first State to partner with Jamie Oliver’s highly successful Ministry of Food program, helping Queenslanders to prepare healthy meals at home with the support of world-renowned chef Jamie Oliver.. Bligh said a Ministry of Food Cooking Centre is to be based in Ipswich, while a mobile Ministry of Food Outreach Truck will visit Queenslanders in other communities and schools to conduct demonstrations and cooking classes. “We... ...Read more »

A brand new event is launching in Sydney this December that will bring Australia’s favourite cooking show to life and is set to be the hottest ticket in town for anyone in the food and beverage industry – MasterChef Live. With the phenomenal success of the last two television series, the new live event will build on the power of the MasterChef brand with a festival of cooking to be held from 10-12 December at the Hordern Pavilion and Royal Hall of Industries at Moore Park. Encompassing... ...Read more »

Pasta giant Barilla has announced its largest integrated marketing campaign in Australia, ‘Share the Passion’. The campaign consists of a $4.5 million above-the-line investment over the next twelve months, including TV and print advertising, a national on-pack consumer promotion, a national demonstration program, Casa Barilla cooking events, public relations and various trade and consumer activities. The company will build on the success of its Casa Barilla Cooking School in Sydney, with... ...Read more »

US-grocery retailer Whole Foods market has launched an App to help users “eat and live better”. Called the Whole Foods Market Missions App, it revolves around more than 70 challenges known as ‘missions’, where users engage in a series of steps to earn badges. Users can create a profile to track the badges, like ‘Organic Avenger’ and ‘Local Yokel’, they earn and their favourite tips, which can be shared through Facebook, Twitter or email. “The... ...Read more »