With the Cash for Containers scheme now in place in the Northern Territory as reported last week by Australian Food News. NT’s Consumer Affairs government department has warned companies that unfair price rises could result in fines. NT Chief Minister Paul Henderson has urged Territorians to report any extreme price rises claimed to be as a result of the Cash for Containers scheme to a dedicated consumer affairs hotline. Mr Henderson said, “Consumer Affairs have the powers to slap suppliers with... ...Read more »

Queensland horticulture body Growcom, says it intends to assess opportunities for Australian fruit and vegetable growers to generate credits under the Australian Government’s Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI) scheme. The scheme allows landowners to generate carbon credits, and ultimately income streams, by conducting projects that reduce emissions or sequester carbon in the environment. Growcom’s David Putland said the scheme involved around a set of ‘approved methodologies’ that determined... ...Read more »

A report commissioned by the UK government on how to improve environmental labelling on food products has outlined the difficulties of producing a single “green” label. The report by the University of Hertfordshire, the Food Ethics Council and the Policy Studies Institute today (7 February) revealed that the number of different environmental labels on food – covering issues such as carbon emissions and water use – has been growing. The number of labels, the report noted, has... ...Read more »

Food processors and manufacturers will be driven out of business if they don’t start adopting a sustainable approach, warns AgriFood Skills Australia. According to Michael Claessens, General Manager for Workforce Development and Analysis at AgriFood Skills Australia, food manufacturers are facing ever-increasing challenges to business viability resulting from rising energy costs, reduced access to affordable water supplies, greater environmental regulation, more demanding and discerning ‘green... ...Read more »

The concept of “green cities” is usually associated with urban planning in the more developed world. But it has a special application, and significantly different social and economic dimensions, in low-income developing countries. As cities grow, valuable agricultural land is lost to housing, industry and infrastructure, and production of fresh food is pushed further into rural areas. The cost of transport, packing and refrigeration, the poor state of rural roads, and heavy losses in... ...Read more »

The latest major food product promotion programme financed by the EU is focusing heavily on healthy foodstuffs – with organic, fruit and vegetable products getting the lion’s share.The European Commission has approved 19 one-to-three year publicity programmes in 14 member states that will promote sales in the EU. The total budget of the programmes is EUR60.6m, with the EU funding 50% and the rest of the costs being met by national governments and participating food industry associations. Notable... ...Read more »

The Australian Association of National Advertisers’ (AANA) has released a Practice Note for its new AANA Environmental Claims in Advertising and Marketing Code, which came into effect on 1 January 2010. “Given the range of industry sectors and environmental issues to which the Environmental Claims Code applies, the Code itself provides general principles and not overly prescriptive rules,” said AANA CEO, Scott McClellan. “This Practice Note is more detailed, providing clause... ...Read more »

Whilst protecting our environment has been the focus for leaders this month, when families around the world sit down for their festive feast this year many will have Australian exporters to thank for foods with a sustainable flavour, according to Austrade Chief Economist Tim Harcourt. Mr Harcourt noted that sales in many Christmas-related food categories had soared this year, while sustainable products were performing well. “Several food and beverage export categories have being growing strongly... ...Read more »

In response to the increasing number of ‘green’ claims being made by advertisers, the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) has published an Environmental Claims in Advertising and Marketing Code. The Code has been adopted by AANA to ensure that marketers apply rigorous, industry-wide standards when they make environmental claims in advertising or marketing communications. The use of the term ‘green’ has come to prominence over the past couple of years as companies... ...Read more »

The notion of going green, buying organic, and sourcing free trade products is gathering momentum in Australia and around the world, but research released in Australia suggests the added expense remains a significant deterrent. Business information analysts IBISWorld decided to test the theory that sustainable grocery shopping was too expensive, revealing that, while the ‘organic’ food shopping basket was 70% more expensive, there are a host of cost-effective ‘green’ options. A... ...Read more »