Australian chef Jake Nicholson has claimed third place for Australia in the prestigious San Pellegrino Cooking Cup, held in Venice late last month. Nicholson’s dish of John Dory, baby squid in ink and marsala with soft white polenta, treviso, pinenuts and currants saw him surpass seven of the world’s best young chefs, but fall just short of South Africa and Italy – in first and second places, respectively. The day long challenge saw the young chefs pit their skills against each... ...Read more »

Australia’s finest young chefs and waiters last week completed a tour of Victoria’s leading food and wine regions in preparation for judging of the Electrolux Appetite for Excellence competition. The competition, co-founded by celebrated restaurateurs Luke Mangan and Lucy Allon, is now in its fifth year and rewards the leading young performers in Australia’s competitive restaurant industry. The competition was set-up to nurture young talent toward becoming the next Neil Perry, Guy... ...Read more »

The global outlook for the foodservice sector is relatively stable for the years ahead, although strong growth for restaurants is not expected until 2011. “Consumers are cutting back on eating out and this is particularly hurting full service restaurants and cafe/bars,” Elizabeth Higgins, Euromonitor International’s expert on consumer food service, noted. “We are seeing some trading down but in some cases lower income consumers are choosing not to eat out all together and... ...Read more »

Since its launch into the foodservice sector, the Heart Foundation has helped its Tick licensees offer Australians healthier meals and now they are planning to expand its use to healthier snacks sold at food outlets. The Heart Foundation reported that ‘Tick’ options at foodservice outlets had been well received by customers and companies using the Tick had even unexpectedly uncovered greater business efficiencies and profitability across many areas of their businesses. Coral Colyer, Food... ...Read more »

The state finalists for the prestigious Electrolux Appetite for Excellence Awards were announced last week in three categories: Electrolux Young Chef, Electrolux Young Waiter and Electrolux Young Restaurateur. Now in its fifth year, Electrolux Appetite for Excellence, co-founded by Luke Mangan and Lucy Allon, is dedicated to educating and nurturing emerging hospitality industry professionals. The finalist chefs from across the country participated in a professional ‘cook off’, racing... ...Read more »

Tough new food safety training requirements will be in place by next year in an effort to reduce the number of foodborne illnesses, NSW Minister for Primary Industries, Ian Macdonald, said yesterday. “Our aim is to have mandatory training requirements in place by 2010 to ensure each hospitality business in NSW has a designated food safety supervisor responsible for implementing safe food handling on the premises,” he advised. “This will involve individuals being trained by registered... ...Read more »

The vast majority of licensed food service businesses are at risk of having their liquor license suspended in a week, according to Restaurant & Catering Queensland (RCQ). By the close of business on Thursday 19 February only 12% of current liquor licensees in the food service sector had submitted their license fee to the Queensland Government Office of Liquor, Gaming and Racing (OLGR). Failure to renew the liquor license by 2 March would result in automatic suspension, with businesses found... ...Read more »

Drivers of flavours and ingredients in foodservice and retail are to include the downturn, health and wellness, and heightened consumer interest in environmentally friendly consumption decisions, according to the latest edition of the annual Food Flavors and Ingredients Outlook series – published by market researchers Packaged Facts. For instance, using coupons, eating fewer meals out, preparing more home cooked meals from scratch, and substituting private label products for leading branded... ...Read more »

As the financial crisis continues to bite, cash-strapped British consumers are turning to discount supermarkets such as German giant Aldi to cut the surge in the cost of living, industry analysts say. Britons, widely-known for their devoted predilection for big-selling supermarkets such as Waitrose and Sainsbury’s, have begun looking elsewhere due to the rising increase in food costs. And with the festive season just around the corner, discounters are moving upscale, introducing organic, value-added... ...Read more »

The financial turmoil of 2008 hurt some restaurants as consumers sought to save money by eating at home more often. The impact was fortunately softer in Australia than America where the restaurant industry, from fast food to fine dining, is determined to get people in the door in 2009. Mintel Menu Insights, which tracks US restaurant menus, expects five trends to influence foodservice in 2009. Restaurants will re-invent comfort food, mix up their cocktails, focus on fresh ingredients, take Mediterranean... ...Read more »