Major Australian supermarket Coles has entered long-term supply partnerships with two Australian dairy co-operatives, Murray Goulburn Co-operative Co. Limited (Murray Goulburn) and Norco. Coles has signed a ten-year contract with Murray Goulburn, which is Australia’s largest dairy co-operative. The contract will see Coles private label milk supplied by Murray Goulburn’s Devondale brand in Victoria and New South Wales (NSW) from July 2014. Devondale processes approximately one third of Australia’s... ...Read more »

The total value of food and liquor retailing in Australia grew by 4.2 per cent in 2011-12, to $135.8 billion. The figures come from ‘Australian Food Statistics’, a report produced by the Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) with data extracted from Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The report also confirms that spending in supermarkets and grocery outlets continued to account for the bulk of food retailing expenditure in 2011-12, with a share of 62 per cent.... ...Read more »

Recently Australian Food News reported the launch by barcode company GS1 of its own mobile phone app, GoScan, designed to let consumers access extra information about products. The GoScan iPhone app allows consumers to rapidly and easily access trustworthy information about a product. Jay Dillon, an independent marketing consultant, has written a guide for food marketers on how best to use the app. Mr Dillon told Australian Food News there are plenty of apps in the market that can read barcodes and... ...Read more »

Data analysis is changing the way we manufacture food, track our diets and serve our dishes, having an impact on everything from food safety to trends in restaurants, according to US-based business analysis organisation Good Data. Writing on the Business2Community website, Good Data’s Ana Andreescu said the saying “you are what you eat” might have to be updated to “you analyse what you eat”. In the area of food safety, Andreescu said ‘big data’ is already being used by farmers to analyse... ...Read more »

A scheme that offered a health insurance rebate that lowers the cost for healthier supermarket foods, such as fruit and vegetables and wholegrain foods, has been successful in improving the diets of shoppers. The scheme also appears to have reduced the consumption of nutritionally less-desirable foods. The findings by the global research organisation, RAND Corporation, which are based on a scheme developed in South Africa, demonstrates an alternative to tackling nutritionally-poor dietary patterns.... ...Read more »

Supermarket giant Woolworths this week announced plans to trial buying milk directly from dairy farmers in the Manning Valley in New South Wales. Woolworths says the trial of a direct relationship between the supermarket and dairy farmers is “seeking to give dairy farmers a better deal for their milk, end-to-end transparency from shed to shelf, the certainty of a longer term contract and a closer relationship to their consumers”. Woolworths wants to stock milk sourced directly from the Manning... ...Read more »

In a groundbreaking speech this week, a representative of the National Heart Foundation of Australia  told a national conference of planning professionals that agricultural land around Australian cities should be protected by city planners. Dr Robert Grenfell, National Cardiovascular Health Director at the Heart Foundation said State governments should consider food production as part of their metropolitan planning strategies in order to provide better access to “fresh, nutritious, culturally... ...Read more »

One of Australia’s dominant dairy processors, Fonterra Co-operative Group Limited, has announced a drop of 32 per cent in earnings in the Australian arm of its business, although the Company saw a stronger-than-expected overall half yearly result. Fonterra is based in New Zealand but is a major player in the $5 billion dairy products industry in Australia. According to the Nielsen 2012 ‘Retail World Grocery Guide’ for Australia, Fonterra holds a 27 per cent value share and a 24.2 per cent volume... ...Read more »

Australian food box delivery company Aussie Farmers Direct has called on Australians to support peach farmers in Victoria’s Goulburn Valley who are having to let this year’s bumper crop of clingstone peaches go to waste due to a lack of sufficient market demand. Aussie Farmers Direct says it plans to ‘rescue’ tonnes of peaches by creating a new consumer market for the surplus fruit. “This year’s near perfect growing season for clingstone peaches has produced a high quality crop of canning... ...Read more »

Supermarket giant Woolworths is facing heated criticism from its suppliers after a recent newspaper report revealed the existence of a dossier produced by the Company. The dossier reportedly claims that increased competition from Aldi was driving Woolworths to expand its private label product range. The claims in the Woolworths dossier have added fuel to an already-heated debate about how the major food retailers deal with their suppliers. Both Woolworths and Coles are currently being investigated... ...Read more »