The Philippines’ Department of Agriculture has “clarified” the blue-skies announcement by its secretary, Proceso Alcala, in which when he said the country would be in a position to stop importing rice next year.
Oxfam has called on the three biggest chocolate manufacturers to conduct independent audits on conditions for women on cocoa farms supplying their factories after finding evidence of unequal pay, discrimination and hunger.
Oxfam will step up its campaign to improve the treatment of people and resources that form part of the supply chain of the world’s biggest food conglomerates, after it cast industry responses to its damning Behind the Brands report as ‘bland’ and ‘complacent’.
Unilever and Nestlé say Oxfam missed an opportunity for a wider and more comprehensive debate about food ethics after the NGO published a damning report on the supply chains of the world’s biggest food firms this week.
Associated British Foods – worst-in-class in an Oxfam report critical of 10 food giants for essentially operating under a corporate social responsibility (CSR) “veil of secrecy” – has hit back, slamming the report ‘s findings as “ridiculous”.
The rapid change in India’s food consumption habits has spurred domestic and foreign quick service restaurant (QSR) chains to implement aggressive expansion plans. And according to a new Rabobank report, this growth is set to accelerate.
With the Chinese New Year fast approaching Hong Kong is in the midst of formula frenzy, leading authorities to devise new means to safeguard the supply of baby powder to local parents.
Consumers have raised significant concerns about plastic food packaging in response to a survey covering the US, India and Sweden conducted by Innventia.
As foreign retailers gear up for entry into India now that foreign direct investment is a reality, it is fast becoming clear how the policy has the potential to offer wide-ranging benefits to Indian business as a whole. It just takes an open mind to consider...
Food policymakers in China have had a busy few days with party leadership outlining the need for agricultural modernisation, the government demanding improvements in logistics and the food watchdog offering rewards for whistleblowers.
The high level of mycotoxin contamination in Indian cereals must be addressed with improved monitoring and maximum levels for contamination set, a new study says.
Having foods and ingredients approved by Jewish rabbis may not seem a matter that would of great importance to non-Jewish food and supplement manufacturers – not so.
India’s newfound position as the world’s leading rice exporter has not escaped the attention of China, which may look to its western neighbour for increasingly greater rice supplies over the coming years.
Speaking at an industry event in Haryana, the Indian minister for state for agriculture and food processing stressed that finding new ways to detect emerging food pathogens was crucial for the domestic economy’s “sunrise sector”.
A quantity of wheat equivalent to the entire production of Australia goes to waste each year in India, according to a new report on global food wastage.
With Berg + Schmidt’s Indian deoiled lecithin plant in India now working to capacity, the lipid company has joined with its Volkmar Wywiol stablemate, Sternchemie, to invest in a Singapore plant for the production of pure soybean lecithin.
A new study by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (Abares) has identified financial and environmental concerns to be the key drivers influencing the adoption of sustainable farming practices in Australia.
The Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) has sought to assure the market that almost all of its shipments of palm cooking oil to China have met the destination’s quality control specifications.
Australian food firm Goodman Fielder said that thanks to better dialogue with its retail partners, agreed price increases across its bakery arm will help boost business further.
The New Zealand government has announced that it will support a seven-year, NZ$26m initiative to boost aquaculture by selectively breeding New Zealand greenshell mussels for the first time.
A French politician’s calls for a “Nutella tax” have been met with anger in Malaysia. Central to the terms of the proposal, which will be voted on in Paris this week, lies a 300% duty increase on palm oil imports to the country.
Kellogg and Wilmar’s 50:50 joint venture will dive into immediate opportunities in China’s developed snack market; using Pringles as its springboard, a Kellogg executive has said.
Whereas China is the key driver of the world’s seafood industry, by the end of a decade of growing affluence among its population, the country’s role will have changed dramatically, bringing wholesale changes to global prices of most major premium seafood...
According to China’s National Bureau of Statics, consumer goods sales between January and September this year totalled $2.4 trillion—an increase of 14.1% over the same period in 2011.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the country’s business and consumer watchdog, has proposed a move to allow selected potato growers associations to collectively bargain with potato buyers.
Food processing is regarded as a sunrise industry in India. However, while it is true that there has been rapid growth over the past few years, the fact remains that the levels of processing and value addition have remained significantly low.
Greenpeace has published a scorecard rating palm oil producers’ sustainability efforts, in order to provide food and other consumer goods companies with better information about how their palm oil is produced.
The Vietnamese seafood industry is eyeing exports worth $10-10.5bn by 2020, according to a leading trade official, although judging by recent trends, this might be a difficult task.
The agri-food sector in Australia and New Zealand will have to overcome a host of barriers if it is to tap the opportunities presented by rapidly developing Asian countries, and the biggest of these hurdles is capital.
A2 Corporation (A2C) – the manufacturer of a2 brand milk products – looks set to enter the Chinese market after agreeing a distribution deal with an in-market state-owned firm.
Archer Daniels Midland is in talks with Australian commodity giant GrainCorp after putting forward an offer just shy of US$2.8bn (A$2.7bn) for a cash takeover.
Guar should not be relisted on India’s futures market until regulation of trading is improved, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) says.
Archer Daniels Midland has snapped up a share of Australian bulk grains firm GrainCorp and has requested further discussions for a ‘potential transaction’.
Government grain officials across China have joined a movement to “experience 24 hours of hunger” as part of a wider campaign to promote public awareness of food security and to curb grain waste.
The prospect of lasting peace in the southern Philippines will make it easier for the government to boost agricultural production by 3.5% to 5% next year, a senior government official has revealed.
China’s appetite for vegetable oils has been one of the key factors supporting markets for the commodity over recent years, a new report by Rabobank has found.
According to the latest planting progress report from the Indian Ministry of Agriculture, this year’s acreage of monsoon oilseed crops is down significantly over last year, even though soybean planting reached a record high amid fear of drought.
Independent Thai smallholders have become the first in the world to be RSPO-certified in a move that will significantly add to the global quantity of sustainable palm oil available on the market.
Guar gum could be relisted on India’s futures market if a positive committee decision is reached next week, according to the country’s commodity markets regulator.
The US Grains Council (USGC) has projected another bumper crop of Chinese corn, and voiced its relief that China can step up to the plate as the US faces a tough harvest.
China’s rapidly growing middle-class is driving growth in the consumption of beef and meat products, a new report from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has revealed.
In another agricultural research collaboration between New Zealand and China, scientists have begun a joint study into how to improve seeds so that farmers can produce more and bigger grains.
A Chinese delegation today stressed the importance of co-ordinated global action to uphold food security and challenged economies with a five-point action plan to work to this goal.
