Coles has launched its annual Christmas Appeal with food rescue charity SecondBite, and will distribute Christmas hams to community food charities across Australia.

Mars Wrigley Australia’s move to paper-based wrappers for its Mars Bar, Snickers, and Milky Way chocolate bar lines marks a world-first for the company and will be rolled out nationally from April next year.

The federal government made three key announcements regarding improving diversity and the number of women in STEM, including Prof Lisa Harvey-Smith continuing as Women in STEM Ambassador.

Melbourne based food waste start-up Forkful has received a local government grant to launch its platform across 27 suburbs in Melbourne’s southeast.

Lo Bros has launched Not Soda, described as an impact-led range in collaboration with Independent retailers Ritchies and Drakes, with a mission to clean up the ocean.

Southern Premium Vineyards, PSP Investments’ platform that owns Australian vineyards, has acquired 35 properties from, and entered a long-term grape supply agreement with, Casella Family Brands.

Coles is expanding the distribution of its own brand carbon neutral beef range, following a successful launch in April in Victoria, to include New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania.

The Food Ministers’ Meeting says it accepts the advice from the Food Regulation Standards Committee on the regulatory requirements of foods produced by cell culture and precision fermentation.

In what has been a remarkable year for Bubs Australia, the infant nutrition company has been named Australian Exporter of the Year at the annual Australian Export Awards hosted by Austrade.

The ACCC has given conditional authorisation to Aldi, Coles and Woolworths to engage in a taskforce to explore solutions to addressing the immediate impact of the program’s suspension.

Wine-focused tech accelerator FOMENT is calling for start-ups to apply for its fourth intake round, with the program starting in February. Applications close on 16 December.

The Australian Institute of Packaging is the latest signatory to the Australian Food Pact – a partnership of organisations along the farm-to-fork supply chain committed to halving food waste by 2030.

In response to the impact of severe flooding in southwest and northeast regions of Australia, General Mills is investing in a flood relief program through a $50,000 donation to Red Cross Australia.

Calls for a National Food Donation Tax Incentive have intensified this week with the release of a report outlining its design and implementation analysis at the National Food Waste Summit in Brisbane.

The National Food Supply Chain Alliance says long term supply chain issues, including ongoing natural disasters and labour shortages, means a National Food Security Plan is urgently needed.

Food & Drink Business publisher Lindy Hughson speaks to APCO CEO Chris Foley for an update on the pausing of the REDcycle collection scheme and a system in urgent need of overhaul.