Australian Good Taste Magazine has begun its annual search for Australia’s Home Cook of the Year, with the 2010 Golden Whisk Awards now open to passionate amateur cooks with simple, great recipes to share. The competition has partnered with Channel 10′s morning program The Circle, allowing viewers to vote on recipes, as well as giving them a chance at a year’s worth of groceries from Woolworths and weekly gift cards. The most popular recipe will receive a new $500-prize People’s... ...Read more »

The sales of certain ready meal lines in the UK are in “terminal decline” as more local consumers look to cook from scratch, retail giant Asda has claimed. Paul Kelly, Asda’s corporate affairs director, told a food conference in London that a growing number of UK shoppers were turning their backs on selected lines in favour of cooking from raw ingredients. Kelly said the economic downturn had led to more scratch cooking and argued that, despite concern over the levels of culinary... ...Read more »

The Marketing Director of Coles sees the refurbishment of stores across the country and the entry of new competitors to the Australian landscape as an opportunity to rid the country of a “backward” approach to supermarket retail. Joe Blundell, who joined the supermarket chain last year from UK retailer Asda, said the industry still had a way to go in order to improve the damaged perception of supermarkets. The new management team at Coles has readily admitted that there was chronic underinvestment... ...Read more »

The Brisbane take away and dining out market is suffering as Brisbanites stay home and cook, according to recent research by the local branch of global information and insight group TNS. Spending on take-away food and eating out over the past six months is down, with one in two Brisbane residents having spent less or put spending on hold in these areas over the past six months. While spend on take-away food and eating out is down, spend on groceries in Brisbane is up, with one in five spending more... ...Read more »

As the credit crunch bites, cooking techniques like braising and stewing, have seen a surge in popularity among thrifty consumers. Slow cookers are the latest must-have gadget enjoying a revival from the appliance graveyard, according to UK retailer John Lewis. They have reported a recent boom in sales of the appliances, up 25% year on year, as cash strapped consumers move away from being a generation of ‘breast and sirloin’ to more affordable cuts of meat, suitable for braising and stewing... ...Read more »