Australian pie producer, Garlo’s Pies, is preparing to move into a new production facility in St Peters, in Sydney’s inner west, as the Company expands its distribution channels into major supermarket retailers in New South Wales (NSW). Garlo’s Pies, which was founded by former National Rugby League (NRL) captain Sean Garlick, his brother Nathan and father Terry in 2001, will now be stocked in Coles and IGA across NSW, and in Woolworths in Sydney. Garlo’s Pies said the new production facility... ...Read more »

UK-owned global rice business Tilda has launched a new children’s rice and vegetable range in Australia, using an elephant character called Tilli to appeal to kids. Available in 125g pouches, there are four flavours in the new range: Cheese and Tomato, Sunshine Vegetable, Sweet Vegetable and Wholegrain, and Mild and Sweet Curry. Tilda said the meals are designed to provide one serving of the recommended 5 daily servings of fruit and vegetables, and cater to a child’s taste pallet. The new range... ...Read more »

The performance of the Australian manufacturing sector, including food and beverage manufacturing, worsened significantly in April 2013 amid weakening economic conditions, according to industry association the Australian Industry Group (AI Group). The latest AI Group Australian Performance of Manufacturing Index (Australian PMI) recorded 36.7 in the month, down 7.7 points on March. Readings below 50 indicate a contraction in activity, with the distance from 50 indicative of the strength of the decrease. Significant... ...Read more »

Three information technology students from the University of Sydney have won the Microsoft Asian Cup with their BlueClover mobile phone app, which is designed to help diabetics manage their condition. The students have been invited to showcase the app at the annual Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank Forum held in Delhi, India in early May 2013. The meeting is a major forum for policy makers, key industry leaders and non-government organisations to discuss solutions to economic and development... ...Read more »

The proportion of consumers satisfied with German-owned Australian supermarket Aldi is once again comfortably higher than Australia’s other three major supermarket chains, according to market research organisation Roy Morgan Research. In November 2012, both Coles and Woolworths came within 1 per cent point of Aldi, making it the closest race in five years. But the latest results from the Roy Morgan Supermarket Satisfaction report show Aldi edging back toward the nine-out-of-ten mark, with 89.7... ...Read more »

Global market research organisation Nielsen has launched the first Australian ShopperLAB research facility, which has been installed in the Company’s Sydney head office. Nielsen said the lab, which will be announced this week at the Consumer 360 conference in the Blue Mountains in New South Wales, will enable manufacturers and retailers to better understand shopping behaviour and test concepts through “observation, interviews, eye tracking and neuroscience”. Aimed primarily at marketers, category... ...Read more »

Sales of bottled water will overtake carbonates as the leading global soft drinks category in the next two years, according to data from beverage market research company Canadean. Canadean said the global trend toward bottled water is being bolstered by its healthy image, as well as necessity in areas of the world that are lacking alternative safe water supplies. Asia The main driver behind the category re-positioning is coming from Asia, according to Canadean. Volume sales in Asia are predicted... ...Read more »

The third quarter sales results of Wesfarmers Limited (Wesfarmers) showed its subsidiary Coles put in a strong sales performance for the three months to 31 march 2013. Coles’ headline food and liquor sales for the third quarter were $6.5 billion, up 6.6 per cent on the previous corresponding period. Food and liquor sales were up 5.5 per cent to $20.8 billion for the financial year to date. Comparable food and liquor store sales increased 5.3 per cent in the third quarter and 4.3 per cent for the... ...Read more »

Australian triathlete Charlotte McShane has signed on as ambassador for food manufacturer Simplot Australia’s meat-free brand Quorn. Made with mycoprotein – a meat-free form of protein and a member of the fungi family – Simplot Australia says Quorn products are also cholesterol-free and high in fibre. The new campaign will see Scottish-born twenty-two year-old McShane, who hopes to represent Australia at the Commonwealth Games in 2014 and in Rio de Janeiro at the 2016 Olympic Games, giving... ...Read more »

The rate of growth in retail trade in Australia decreased marginally in the first three months of 2013, and is expected to ease further as the year continues, according to a report from grocery retail representative body Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) and pallet and container manufacturer CHEP. The report, called the AFGC CHEP Retail Index, showed 3 per cent growth in the March quarter year-on-year, but forecasts growth will ease to 2.6 per cent in the June quarter. In the month of March,... ...Read more »