The recent first quarter trading update from Japanese-owned Australian food and beverage manufacturer Lion shows a volume increase of 14 per cent in the beer, wine and spirits category for the quarter ended 31 December 2012, despite an overall slowing of the category’s market. Lion said the alcohol sales volume increase came because of its acquisition of international premium and craft brands. But the Company reported that its dairy and drinks category faced challenges in the first quarter, and... ...Read more »

People sometimes “see” flavours in foods and beverages before actually tasting them, according to a scientist speaking at a meeting of the American Chemical Society on 11 April 2013. The eyes sometimes beat the tongue, nose and brain in the emotional and biochemical balloting that determines the taste and allure of food, according to Terry E. Acree, Ph.D, a Professor of Food Science at Cornell University in New York. “There have been important new insights into how people perceive food flavours,”... ...Read more »

The wine industry likes to promote the claim of a health correlation for red wine consumption. Yet this view is disputed by many health experts. The Australian Wine Research Institute is holding a conference on these issues 18 – 21 July 2013 at the Sydney Convention Centre. Advertised as ‘an opportunity to bring together world experts for a stimulating exchange of scientific information and ideas on the impacts of wine consumption on human health’, the organisers of the conference titled ‘WineHealth... ...Read more »

More than 60 per cent of Australian adults went to the movies last year, and those who saw a romance, drama, thriller, comedy or action/adventure film were more likely to have had a drink recently. “Going to the movies continues to be a favourite evening out and social occasion for a large number of Australians,” said Roy Morgan’s Media and Communications General Manager, George Persutto. He suggested that the cinema is a good environment for both mass and niche alcohol markets. According to... ...Read more »

One of Australia’s largest wine producers, Accolade Wines, has been forced to close its cask wine packaging plant due to falling sales of cask wine. The packaging plant in Buronga, situated in south-west NSW, will close this month and will relocate packaging to Accolade Wines’ Berri factory in South Australia. It is expected that ten workers from the cask wine packaging plant in Buronga will be made redundant. Accolade Wines Manufacturing Director Richard Lloyd told Australian Food News that... ...Read more »

Consumer research company Technomic has released its list of the top ten adult beverage trends that will shape the US alcohol industry in 2013. Based on ongoing research into spirits, wine and beer volume and sales, as well as surveys, interviews and discussions involving brand marketers, on-premise and retail operators, bartenders and consumers, these insights are supported by Technomic’s extensive adult beverage database including its Trends in Adult Beverage reports. The major developments influencing... ...Read more »

International marketing of two of Australia’s biggest export sectors – wine and tourism – is about to be bolstered by a new three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Tourism Australia and Wine Australia, announced this week. Collectively, wine and tourism contribute around $140 billion annually in economic value to Australia.   Wine is the fourth biggest agricultural export sector in Australia, while tourism is Australia’s largest services export sector.  The new... ...Read more »

The Australian National Preventative Health Agency (ANHPA) is conducting an enquiry into whether governments in Australia should be setting a national floor price for alcoholic drinks served in bars and hotels. The enquiry seems to have been triggered by a number of international developments where minimum pricing has been set in countries such as Russia and Scotland. The fact that  governments in Australia already impose substantial consumption taxes and turnover taxes on alcohol seems to be outside... ...Read more »

Technologists at Guala Closures Australia have developed Australia’s first screw-cap for sparkling wines. Leading Australian wine producers, De Bortoli Wines, have embraced the technology, becoming the first winery to utilize the new screw-cap. De Bortoli said they have applied the highly-anticipated sparkling screw-cap to its popular Trevi range and Willowglen Sparkling Brut from June 2012. The screw-cap has been dubbed Viiva™, and was developed in response to ongoing complaints from industry... ...Read more »

In a special interview given to Australian Food News this week, the Marketing Manager of Vok Beverages Chris Illman shared some of the secrets of the success story of his nimble South Australian group. With wine labels such as Half Mile Creek, Queen Adelaide and Step Road, beer brand Cobra, a range of rums and gins, and the increasingly popular Three Oaks Cider, as well as liqueurs, ready-to-drink beverages, and non-alcoholic items such as Bickford’s Cordial range, the Vok brand portfolio has flourished... ...Read more »