McDonald’s Australia has launched a new ingredient-tracking smart phone app to squash negative rumours about its processing procedures. The new TrackMyMacca’s app launched last Wednesday, January 16 2013, allows consumers to follow the food chain of any McDonald’s product by scanning a QR-style code system on the packaging. The free smart phone app allows the consumer to check the origin of individual ingredients in any McDonald’s product, and read the stories of Australian farmers behind... ...Read more »

The Australian Federal Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) is working towards permitting importation of fresh decrowned pineapples from Malaysia. The move is likely to mean that Australian supermarkets will be able to source fresh pineapples directly from Malaysia, adding significant market pressures on Queensland growers. Growcom, the peak Queensland-based industry body, in a December 2011 submission to DAFF, had rejected the DAFF’s risk assessment of Malaysian fresh decrowned... ...Read more »

Australian shoppers should prepare for increased produce prices in stores following extreme temperatures experienced over the past 2 weeks. Fresh Food Economist Franco Lagudi expects that demand for quality produce will be high as stock over the next few weeks will fail to meet market floor standards. “Retail price point will definitely be a reflection of the quality stocked at your local fresh food retailer,” Mr Lagudi said. “Farmers have had to discard much of their produce as the damage... ...Read more »

Coles and Woolworths’ milk price war has driven many Queensland farmers out of the dairy industry according to a new Queensland industry report.  The report released today, suggests it is only a matter of time before Queensland’s milk supply is sourced from other Australian states. The latest AgTrends report from the Queensland Government has confirmed the ongoing impact of the supermarket milk war and the on-farm impacts resulting from $1 per litre milk discounting led by major supermarket... ...Read more »

A recent World Bank report says that Africa’s farmers can potentially grow enough food to feed the continent and avert future food crises “if countries remove cross-border restrictions on the food trade within the region.” According to The World Bank, the African continent would also generate an extra US$20 billion in yearly earnings if African leaders can agree to dismantle “trade barriers that blunt more regional dynamism.” According to the World Bank report―Africa Can Help Feed Africa:... ...Read more »

SPC Ardmona has upset Australian peach growers with its decision to cut the amount of fruit purchased this year. SPC has said that SPC will cut its peach quota by 17 per cent due to a “significant fall” in consumer demand. Peach growers have reported that they were only informed of the cut after they began preparing for the season, with some individual businesses expected to lose tens of thousands of dollars. In spite of this, SPC Ardmona has said the company genuinely believed that the cut was... ...Read more »

A record harvest of navel oranges in the Sunraysia and Riverland districts along the Murray River near Mildura and Wentworth have seen orange prices collapse. Hundreds of tonnes of citrus fruit are being dumped in nearby fields to be eaten by sheep. The inability of Australian oranges to compete with cheap imported juice concentrates and the high Australian dollar has many growers preferring to skip fruit-fly fumigation and simply feed the oranges to livestock. Selling to the fresh fruit markets... ...Read more »

ANZ Banking Group has released a major report detailing opportunities for Australia and New Zealand to become the food bowl for developing Asia over the next 30 years. The ‘Greener Pastures: The Global Soft Commodity Opportunity for Australia and New Zealand’ report, prepared by Port Jackson Partners for ANZ, has found that the two Trans-Tasman nations could more than double the real value of agricultural exports by 2050. Forecasters expect world food demand to rise by 60 per cent in response... ...Read more »

Gippsland Dairy has introduced smaller single serve tubs of its popular Twist yogurt range. The 160g tubs feature a spoon in the lid for the convenience of snacking on the run. Until now, Twist yoghurts had only been available in 300g and 720g tubs. Peter Meek, Managing Director of Bead Foods, makers of Gippsland Dairy, said the food manufacturer wanted to give consumers “another option by introducing a smaller portion size that can be eaten anywhere, at any time”. “The new single serve tubs... ...Read more »

The states of Queensland and Victoria are looking at culls of excessive numbers of kangaroos as a resource to harvest for Australian and overseas customers. Kangaroo, which historically has been disparaged as pet food, has now become an Australian restaurant delicacy with its low cholesterol, gamey-tasting meat prized by gourmands. According to a recent region report on Australia’s ABC radio, a Charleville-based business man in north-west Queensland has announced plans to re-open a game meat abattoir... ...Read more »