The news you need to know: August 2026

A billion dollar loss. A $3.5 billion dollar bet on Australian protein. And a reporting season that said more about manufacturing decisions than it did about margins. Welcome to the August edition of PLAY, your monthly wrap-up of the biggest stories shaping Australia’s food and beverage manufacturing industry. This month it is reporting season, foreign capital, a dairy business finally going to market, and a regulator saying no for the second time. Let’s get into it.

Packaging News

A group of 190 Coles investors is calling on the supermarket group to disclose its plastic packaging footprint and set a reduction target, following Woolworths’ first publication of a plastic-intensity figure.

IVE has officially opened its new Kemps Creek printing supersite in Western Sydney, with MD Matt Aitken telling guests its packaging hall is “modelled on the best examples we have seen across Europe”.

Tetra Pak has appointed Michael Wu as managing director of its Oceania business, with responsibility for the company’s operations across Australia and New Zealand.