Californian almond giant Blue Diamond has struck a deal with the China Chamber of Commerce to supply Chinese firms with $50m worth of almonds in the next 12 months.
Free trade discussions between India and New Zealand have hit an obstacle with the former refusing any concrete move to open its dairy sector to the Kiwis.
Chemical specialist FMC Corporation has committed US$100m to a new microcrystalline cellulose manufacturing facility in Thailand as it pushes efforts to supply the Asian market.
Manufacturers must refocus efforts on Tier III and IV cities in China and delve into e-commerce to re-ignite consumer spending in the fast moving consumer goods (FMCGs) sector amid a slow, according to analysts.
Wine makers in New Zealand are planning to use an “influence the influencer” strategy in an aim to increase their market share in China’s booming wine market.
The India food and beverage industry should reach out to its consumers and involve them in designing their food products, says a paper by a faculty member of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A).
Struggling Australian food firm Goodman Fielder has lowered its full-year 2012 (FY12) earnings forecast as costly restructuring of its baking units and rocky trading conditions slam revenues.
Marketing non-core foods to children via product packaging in supermarkets should be of immediate concern to policy makers in Australia, a new study has concluded.
Chinese dairy processor Hunan Ava Dairy Co is recalling five batches of infant formula after a local government study found high levels of cancer-causing aflatoxins.
Religious and cultural values in Asia combined with food safety concerns in the EU and US has spurred Chinese ingredients firm Fenchem Biotek to develop vegetarian softgel supplements.
The unique flavours of Filipino foods should captivate the global market and underpin a surge in exports, according to the Philippines’ Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
Australian manufacturers of branded foods could face strong competition over the next five years, suggests a new report, which predicts the share of private label products in supermarkets to increase rapidly over this period.
New Zealand has migrated to an industry-designed product recall and withdrawal system, which key businesses say will ensure even greater consumer protection.
US premium alcohol specialist Winery Exchange has struck up a partnership with a local Chinese food and importing company in a bid to cash in on the lack of brands in China’s wine market, the MD said.
UK supplier Gee Lawson has debuted organic red yeast rice (Monascus purpureus) into a sector dominated by Chinese supply and which has won a European Union health claim for cholesterol maintenance.
Cadbury parent company Kraft Foods has responded to allegations from a Chinese newspaper that a piece of Choclairs from a Beijing supermarket contained a worm.
The much touted tightness in the chia supply is not being experienced by all suppliers, with Australia’s The Chia Company extending its growing area 100% year-on-year to satisfy demand.
The permeate-free revolution in Australian milk is well and truly underway after the country’s dominant retailers revealed their commitment to phasing out the additive from products.
Vitafoods Asia 2012 will delve into three key industry issues that plague operating in the vast region’s functional food and supplements arena – regulation, trends and opportunities.
PepsiCo’s strategy to localise its Frito-Lay brand in China is ‘crucial’ but will need to be pushed further as it expands into central and western regions, says an industry analyst.
The Chinese year of the dragon is shaping up as a boon for the New Zealand dairy industry in China, the head of a growing NZ-based infant formula company has said.
New Zealand’s government has opened the door for local beef and dairy farmers to take part in a new initiative to produce high-value marbled beef for the premium segment both at home and abroad.
Australia’s medicines regulator – the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) - has added DMAA to its Schedule 9 list of prohibited substances and poisons that includes cannabis, salvia divinorum, GHB, heroin, psilocybin and LSD.
Sales of natural flavours in Western Europe are set to be overtaken by sales in the Asia-Pacific market within the next three years, according to market research firm RTS.
An explosion in Chinese demand for dairy products in the middle of the last decade led to milk supply shortages that drove suppliers to practices such as diluting milk and add melamine to boost protein readings.
PepsiCo and its snacks arm Frito-Lay has opened a news snacks factory in Wuhan, China to expand further into central and western parts of the country by catering to local tastes.
The question of whether or not to mandatorily fortify bread with folic acid in New Zealand has reached fever pitch, with one opponent being called a “folate hater” on national television.
Indonesia has ordered a strengthening of import controls over food and beverages imported into the country amongst calls from domestic players against rampant violations by importers.
Chinese authorities are clamping down on smuggling ofNew Zealand beef and other meats into the country – although the mainstream New Zealand beef industry says it has little to worry about.
The Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) says that the nation’s new ‘independent’ Alcohol Advertising Review Board (AARB) should be scrapped for lack of results.
Research has identified the key gene that determines the glycemic index (GI) of rice, opening up opportunities to develop low-GI rice and rice-based products to reduce the risk of type-2 diabetes, according to the researchers.
The latest standards issued by the Chinese Ministry of Health (MOH) around food packaging additives is only one “piece of the puzzle”, according to a legal expert from US law firm Keller and Heckman.
The Codex Alimentarius Commission has set new maximum limits (MRLs) for ractopamine in pig and cattle tissue in an effort to improve the trade of meat containing the growth substance.
Chinese milk products still cannot make the hop over the Himalayas to the booming Indian market with the company’s authorities calling for an extension on a ban on them.
Australia’s GMP Pharmaceuticals hopes to tap into the infant formula potential in China with its pharmaceutical-grade production facility in New Zealand.
Emulsifier and stabilizer specialist Palsgaard has commenced work on its US$30m production plant in Malaysia; chosen for its raw material access and strong logistics, the CEO said.
The UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) has welcomed a European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) scientific opinion on poultry meat inspection, which questioned whether current practices were sufficient to ensure consumer safety.
Indonesian herbal drug specialist Dexa Laboratories will push its natural diabetic product into European and wider Asian markets, following success in its domestic market.
