Consumer concerns are proving increasingly powerful in influencing food and beverage formulation decisions, and Australian supermarket Coles is the latest to react and remove all added MSG and artificial colourings from its own brands.
The Australian food giant Goodman Fielder faced another quarter of declining profits and revenues even as the company prepares to sell assets in both Australia and New Zealand.
Thai sugar company, Mitr Phol, has secured a majority stake of 57.69% in Australian sugar mill MSF for A$300m, racking up the total foreign investment in Australia’s sugar production to over 60%.
Aware that food and grocery suppliers maybe too scared to report abuse of power tactics by the supermarkets, the Australian trade watchdog has said that it would offer protection for reporting parties.
A team of New Zealand scientists recently reported that they have identified a unique marker molecule in manuka honey, which is believed to be associated with the honey’s unique antibacterial activity.
A new study sponsored by the Australian Olive Association (AOA) has said that imported olive oils being marketed in the country as extra virgin olive oil are anything but olive oil.
China-based Shanghai Pengxin Group has been granted an extension until February 7 to finalise the purchase of New Zealand Crafar Dairy farms, KordaMentha, the farms’ receivers announced today.
Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has suspended poultry imports and eggs from Australia following the bird flu outbreak in Victoria earlier this week.
Supply chain management will be increasingly important for Australia’s food and grocery sector in driving steady growth set for the March quarter, according to an industry expert.
Australia has activated a national disease emergency plan after an outbreak of deadly bird flu was confirmed following the discovery of infected birds at two free-range duck farms near Melbourne in south eastern Australia.
New Zealand’s natural products industry has exceeded revenues of NZ$1billion (US$823.2m) which highlights the significance of this sector and its growth potential, especially in exports, according to an industry expert.
Controversy surrounding New Zealand’s new food safety bill refuses to die down with activists and conservatives leading protests from small producers and farmers against the bill.
Even as Chinese companies gobble up Australian food and beverage manufacturing interests, one Australian wine maker has reversed the tables by buying up a Chinese concern to expand its market.
‘Made in Australia’ is not always what it says on the tin and this effectively dilutes claims made by Australian manufacturers who use 100% local ingredients, according to the MD of BuyAustralianMade.
Unilever has called out the Advertising Standards Board of Australia over its recent order to remove a TV advertisement for the company’s popular milk-based frozen dairy snack.
Strikes at Auckland ports are forcing food manufacturers and traders to look at alternate locations for their businesses, according to New Zealand industry sources.
New Zealand’s food and beverage sector does have the growth potential to reach government targets of tripling exports over the next 15 years, with opportunities in processed foods and beverages, according to report.
Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council announced last week new draft guidelines that it hopes will encourage better nutrition for Australians.
Australian soup manufacturers will easily be able to mitigate the costs associated with the recently announced cuts in sodium levels in the country, says a food industry expert.
Australia will have front-of-the-pack labelling with easy to understand nutritional information on its food products within the next year, but it may not be the controversial traffic lights system.
A leading consumer advocate in Australia says milk product manufacturers in the region are using harmful colouring additives, despite knowing about their effects on children.
Australia and New Zealand stand on the verge of legalising hemp as a food source after the head of the countries’ bilateral food agency backed its entry into the food chain.
A new survey in New Zealand has revealed that over 80% of consumers believe the current requirement to label genetically modified (GM) foods should be retained.
The trans-Tasman food standards watchdog has called for submissions on an application to change the Food Standards Code to allow food derived from a genetically modified (GM) corn line to be sold in the region.
The debate over junk food ads in Australia has shifted base with the country’s pro-environment party calling for a ban on such ads on Internet and mobile text messages as well.
Concerns that an icy children’s treat being sold in Australia and New Zealand contains artificial colourings that are harmful to health have been dismissed by the region’s food safety regulator.
A survey of supermarkets in New Zealand has found that consumers are eating more tinned food as the cost of fresh fruit and vegetables continues to rise.
The Australian state of South Australia has called for a ban advertising of unhealthy foods to children citing surveys that found growing concerns about such advertising’s influence on them.
An Australian winegrower has launched a scathing attack on supermarket chains in the country and their lean towards private label wines, which he says is squeezing the industry’s profits.
Extracts from the New Zealand green lipped mussels may benefit joint mobility and reduce pain more than fish oil supplements, report researchers from Poland.
Failure to introduce reforms in Australia’s food and grocery sector now could see the country’s domestic industry become significantly less competitive by 2020 as falling growth will translate to job losses, a new report suggests.
Unperturbed by all the criticism and flak it has received from food manufacturers, Australian supermarket chain Woolworths has said that private labels are at the centre of its expansion plans.
The Green Party in New Zealand has said that mandatory country of origin labelling (COOL) for foods sold in the country would be one of its top priorities in any post-election policy agreement.
A gas leak on New Zealand’s upper North Island forced the closure of many food factories in the affected area, stifling production and increasing concerns for the country’s economy.
New Zealand’s first processed food innovation centre opened yesterday, marking the launch of a wider government plan to fulfil a gap in food research, development and manufacturing.
Calls for imposing a Denmark-like ‘fat tax’ in New Zealand defies common sense and would add a heavy financial burden on the common Kiwi, said the head of the country’s food council.
The Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) has said that operating profits of Australia’s food manufacturers are expected to fall by an average of 4.4% in 2012-13 because of the Federal Government’s carbon tax.
The Kiwi meat industry is in the process of investigating whether it would be feasible for it to set up an online trading auction to sell export meat products as part of its Red Meat Sector Strategy.
Australia’s top competition regulator has said that it would keep an eye on the country’s two top supermarket chains over long-standing concerns that they were wielding too much power in the country’s food sector.
New Zealand’s dairy firms, including Fonterra, are looking to buy up farms in India’s burgeoning dairy sector, but may not find going down that road free of bumps, a new government report indicates.
Coca-Cola Amatil (CCA) has opened two new blowfill lines costing AUS $35m at its Australian bottling facility in Adelaide, in a move that it said would significantly reduce its use of PET resin and energy.
Kiwi food processors are up against a new menace in the practice of “parallel imports,” in which local retailers are importing cheaper overseas versions of locally made food products.
