A $90 million upgrade is planned for the Purina PetCare pet food factory in Blayney, New South Wales, Nestlé Australia announced.

For field instrument manufacturer VEGA, being at the forefront of the Industrial Internet of Things means means bridging customers’ needs and existing infrastructure to advanced systems in an economical and practical way. VEGA online content manager Claudia Homburg writes.

A new, consolidated analytics platform, Nutritics, will give food and healthcare industries direct access to FoodTrack, CSIRO says. FoodTrack was developed in 2014 by CSIRO and the Heart Foundation.

A new report, Rebuilding Australia: the role of small business, has found that in the midst of a pandemic and recession, small business owners in Australia are showing resilience and optimism.

When a global pandemic focuses attention on protecting business, it’s hard to think about growth. Managing director Asia Pacific for global food service company Compass Group Mark van Dyck says this is a time of massive opportunity.

Casual labour will play a key role in Australia’s post-COVID workforce, says APG Workforce general manager Dhaval Trivedi, with the food and beverage sector expected to be the “largest catalyst for revival”.

Frosty Boy Australia is diversifying its business beyond dessert and beverage manufacturing, tapping into the $36.6 million wellbeing segment in Australia with the launch of its supplements range Wellboost.

The Federal Government has announced a $10 million mission to secure the nation’s food supply chains, as well as build resilience to future shocks experienced across the agrifood industry.

Unilever will separate parts of its tea business into a separate entity following a review launched in January, the company announced in its 1H 2020 results. Unilever’s tea business includes Lipton, Brooke Bond, PG Tips and T2.

The second webinar in a series launched by B2B marketplace Yume to reframe the approach to food waste in Australia is scheduled for 12 August. Series presenter will be CEO of Food Nation, Lise Walbom.

Changing consumer behaviour amid COVID-19 restrictions continues to have adverse impacts on Coca-Cola Amatil’s business, as it reports a nine per cent drop in trading volumes in June 2020 compared to June 2019.

The July/August issue of Food & Drink Business is out. It looks at how to respond to the pandemic, a start-up developing cultivated meat, features on ready meals, hard seltzers, the latest Industry 4.0 news and much more.

Pernod Ricard has revised its predicted 20 per cent profit downgrade to 15 per cent, citing strong cost mitigation.

Kraft Heinz Australia has launched a direct-to-consumer channel, Heinz to Home. It is one of the first large Australian F&B companies to do so, as DTC ecommerce grows due to COVID-19.

Elixinol Global will retain its Hemp Foods Australia business due to recent “enhanced performance”. Elixinol had announced in February it would be sold for $500k to a Shanghai-based buyer.

The CSIRO has signed an 18-month partnership agreement to help develop new sources of protein and omega-3 oils from ocean microbes. The initiative aims to contribute to Australia’s growing ‘blue economy’ target of $100 billion per annum by 2025.