Representatives from all sectors of Australia’s cattle and sheep industries are meeting in Sydney this week to set the strategy and budget allocations for Meat & Livestock Australia’s (MLA) global marketing programs for the year ahead. MLA is responsible for providing marketing services to over 47,000 cattle, sheep and goat producer members and the broader red meat industry in Australia. For each of Australia’s major beef and sheep meat markets there is a dedicated industry taskforce committee... ...Read more »

Australian listed public company Collins Foods Limited, announcing its third quarter results, has blamed “challenging” trading conditions for the company’s underperformance. Collins Foods operates the food service retail outlets Sizzler in Australia and KFC in Queensland. Announcing its results, Collins Foods said that, as a result of the third quarter same store sales being less than prior year by 2.4 per cent for KFC and 1.7 per cent for Sizzler, the company has revised its expectations... ...Read more »

Kellogg’s have released a new product for Australian shelves, All-Bran Fibre Toppers, to be marketed as a convenient way to improve digestive health. Made with natural wheat bran, oat fibre and psyllium husks, the small buds can be spread onto any food item. The marketing claims include the product being high in fibre, low in fat, and rich in vitamins and minerals B1 and B2, niacin, folate, iron, magnesium and zinc. The product promotes digestive health through consumption of fibre. Half a cup... ...Read more »

One of Australia’s largest poultry producers, Turi Foods, has been ordered by the Federal Court of Australia, to pay AU$100,000 penalty after admitting to a misleading claim. In September 2011, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) instituted proceedings in the Federal Court against Turi Foods, which supplies La Ionica brand meat chickens in New South Wales and Victoria. The claim was that the chickens were “free to roam”. The ACCC alleged that Turi Foods made “false or... ...Read more »

The Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA) today launched a campaign calling on Australians to kick-start 2012 year by taking part in a healthy ‘pledge’. The Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA) has launched the social media-based campaign in the lead-up to Australia’s Healthy Weight Week (22 – 29 January 2012). Under the theme ‘One change at a time’, it aims to motivate Australians, and especially young women, to pledge to take on healthy eating and exercise habits. The campaign... ...Read more »

Coca-Cola has announced the final 50 names that feature on bottles of Coke across Australia for January 2012. Back in November 2011, the multinational beverage manufacturer announced that it would be extending its Australian ‘Share A Coke’ promotion. The promotion began in October 2011, when Coca-Cola South Pacific introduced 150 names to bottles and cans of Coke. The company allowed people a chance to vote for the final fifty names to be featured on Coke bottles in 2012 through its Facebook... ...Read more »

Food manufacturing giant Unilever has appealed a decision by the Advertising Standards Board which ordered that an advertisement for its Paddle Pop products be taken off air over a claimed breach in the Responsible Children’s Marketing Initiative (RCMI). The advertisement for Unilever’s Bubble Gum Berry Lava Paddle Pop and the Hero or Villain Choc Orange Paddle Pop is set in a jungle and a voiceover describes the products. In what is being described by Unilever as a far-reaching precedent, the... ...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 »

In the December 2011 issue of Food Technology magazine, published by the US-based Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), contributing Editor A. Elizabeth Sloan writes about the latest whole grain trends in food: 1.     Food marketing claims relating to the benefits of whole grains are now the most sought after health claims on food packages, followed by claims about dietary fiber, according to the Food Marketing Institute’s (FMI) 2011 U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends report. 2.      The number... ...Read more »

Australian national grocery wholesaler, Metcash, has reported a 14.3 per cent decline in profit to A$94.4 million for the six months to 31 October 2011. Metcash’s executive Andrew Reitzer said that challenging operating conditions have persisted due to reduced consumer confidence, highly value-conscious consumer, and continuing deflation. The profit decline takes into account “significant items and discontinued operations” associated with the company’s Franklins acquisition. Excluding these... ...Read more »