New research from the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) and Roy Morgan has found that despite cost-of-living pressures, 17.3 million Australians are estimated to spend $2.05 billion on hot cross buns, easter eggs or other special food this year, approximately $400 million more than in 2023.

A new report from agrifoodtech investment and intelligence platform AgFunder has revealed the food and agriculture technology market has been hit by a current venture capital downturn. The sector posted a 49 per cent year-over-year decline in funding in 2023. 

The day has finally come. APPEX is here. After two years of build-up, the vision of show owner APPMA has been realised, to create an all-of-industry event of a size and scale not seen before. And so it has. Exhibitors numbering 440-plus have filled all 20 bays of the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre.

Crippling tariffs imposed by China on Australia’s wine industry in 2020 look set to be removed, with China releasing an interim draft determination to do so overnight. The industry is cautiously hopeful, with a final decision expected in the coming weeks.

The recent Future Food Systems Conference in London saw experts from around the globe come together to discuss the complex challenges and opportunities of emerging food systems. Sustainability consultancy, Salterbaxter, shares its five key takeaways from the conference with Food & Drink Business readers.

Australia’s premier craft beer festival, GABS, has announced it is relocating the Melbourne leg of its three-city tour from its ‘spiritual home’ at the Royal Exhibition Building to the Melbourne Showgrounds.

The winners of this year’s Australian Organic Industry Awards, hosted by Australian Organic Limited (AOL), have been crowned. Top honours went to Australia’s largest certified organic meat producer, Hewitt, winning Business of the Year. It’s retail brand, Cleaver’s Organic Meat, took home Brand of the Year.

Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) Australia has announced that following a strategic review, the company will withdraw from the sale and distribution of the Rekorderlig Cider brand in Australia.

Disorganisation, haphazard storage, locating stock, and safety are common distribution challenges. Robotic Automation explains how a specified Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS) shuttle system can help solve those issues.

Asparagopsis, or red seaweed, is a hot topic now due to its ability to cut methane emissions from cattle. Marine scientists at CQUniversity’s Coastal Marine Ecosystems Research Centre (CMERC) are researching a variety that grows in warm waters and may also help prevent coral bleaching.

Wide Open Agriculture (WOA) has signed a binding conditional MoU to sell its retail brand, Dirty Clean Food (DCF), to CEO Jay Albany’s holding company, DCF Global. Albany will resign as WOA’s CEO immediately, after 15 months in the role.

After nearly six years at the helm of Australian Organic Limited (AOL), Niki Ford is stepping down as CEO at the end of July. Ford was AOL’s first female CEO and led the organisation through a demerger and restructure while driving discussion on regulatory reform for the organics sector. 

When New Zealand cheese company, Dairyworks, contacted Process Partners to install a new line, the food engineering firm offered another idea that would drive greater productivity, efficiency, and savings. Kim Berry speaks to Process Partners program manager – Food Manufacturing & Packaging, Craig Gilbert.

McKenzie’s Foods, a household name in pantry staples, has launched into an entirely new market with the release of its Ready to Bake Cookies. It is the company’s first foray outside ‘scratch cooking’ products such as specialty flours and baking aids in its 172-year history.

In a bid to remove more than 10,000 kilograms of plastic from circulation, Coles has begun phasing out the plastic bottle seals for its two and three litre milk bottles.

For the fourth consecutive year, Mars Food & Nutrition Australia has committed to help Foodbank Australia by supplying Dolmio and MasterFoods products and ingredients that will make three million meals for people experiencing food insecurity.