Bega Cheese and Kraft Foods Australia have reached a multi-million dollar agreement, which will create 150 new jobs. It involves Bega purchasing a factory at Strathmerton, in northern Victoria, with Kraft committing to a 10-year supply agreement. Under the agreement, Bega Cheese will in turn provide cheese cutting, packaging and processing expertise and capacity for Kraft’s Australian and New Zealand business through a long term supply agreement, while committing to add significant volume to... ...Read more »

The Council of Better Business Bureaus (BBB) has announced its approval of Nestlé USA’s advertising pledge as a participant in the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative - which was created to encourage companies to restrict advertising to children. The Children’s Food & Beverage Advertising Initiative was created in 2006 by BBB, with 10 major food and beverage companies, which accounted for more than two-thirds of children’s food and beverage television advertising... ...Read more »

Australia’s largest publicly listed food manufacturer, Goodman Fielder, has warned that first-half profit is likely to be down 15% on last year with private label pressure and commodity costs impacting on the business. The company booked a 10.2% increase in revenue to $2675.4 million in the fiancial year 07/08 and net profit, on a normalised basis, rose marginally to $220.7 million. “Today in our region we are operating in a climate of considerable uncertainty. We are in the midst of... ...Read more »

Zip-Pak, a global leader in building brands through resealable packaging, has launched new technology which will enable greater differentiation amongst manufacturers. The ZIP-PAK TopZip Jr. retrofit system, launched at PACK EXPO International 2008, is economical, upgradeable and has a smaller footprint than traditional stand-alone zipper applicators. These benefits allow companies in emerging Asian markets to provide consumers with brand-differentiating resealable packaging for powdered milk, tea,... ...Read more »

A pan-European study by the European Food Information Council (EUFIC), presents interesting information for the food industry - with food labels found to be widely understood and recognised. “While there are several nutrition labelling schemes across Europe, our findings show that people recognise them and generally know how to use them to make informed nutrition choices,” commented Professor Klaus Grunert of the University of Aarhus, Denmark, who conducted the study for EUFIC. “Nutrition... ...Read more »

Australians love buying “house brand” cotton wool and sugar but baulk at the thought of deserting trusted brands when it comes to sunscreen and ice-cream. And, while private labels have been a strong growth segment for supermarkets over the past few years, there are a number of product categories in which Australians have tried the no-name option and come back to national brand favourites, according to business information analysts IBISWorld. Last year house brand sales accounted... ...Read more »

Australia’s peak food and grocery manufacturing industry association, the Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC), says that the introduction of the federal government’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) must ensure that the domestic and international competitiveness of Australia’s food and grocery manufacturing sector is maintained.AFGC Chief Executive Kate Carnell believes that Australia’s world leading, $70 billion food and grocery manufacturing sector is at risk... ...Read more »

In part two of our discussion of the economic crisis and its impact on different sectors of the food industry we shine the spotlight on supermarkets, manufacturers, gourmet retailers and convenience stores. Supermarkets Supermarkets, as a whole, will be one of the least affected sectors in the wake of any further deterioration in economic conditions. Supermarkets do face the prospect of consumers ‘trading down’ within the store and reducing purchases of ‘non-essentials’ but, despite... ...Read more »

Fibre, green tea extract and soy protein are among the ingredients food and beverage manufacturers are turning towards to help lighten the growing pressures of the global obesity epidemic, according to Euromonitor International’s new report “Weight Management Ingredients in Foods and Beverages“. As consumers increasingly turn to healthier lifestyle choices and governments push to address and create a solution for rising obesity rates, manufacturers are looking towards ingredients... ...Read more »

Retailers Woolworths, Coles, and Franklins have today joined the Australian Food and Grocery Council in a push toward the Daily Intake Guide, with a plan to adopt the labelling system on private label products. The Daily Intake Guide is a front-of-pack food labelling system developed in consultation with dietitians and health experts to assist consumers in understanding what’s in a serve of a particular product and how it contributes to their daily diet. Australian National Retailers Association... ...Read more »