The news you need to know: January 2026

PLAY Food & Drink Business returns, now in a monthly format. Editor Kim Berry brings you the top stories from January: Endeavour Group, Fonterra, Lark Distilling, RTDs strength, PLUS don't miss our Top 100 Food & Drink Companies report and the launch of this year's HIVE AWARDS - get your entries in now! 

Packaging News

New Cleanaway research reveals overwhelming support for packaging reform, recycled content mandates and national recycling rules, as industry looks to policy certainty to unlock the next wave of recycling infrastructure investment.

Three months after fears of a plastics supply crisis first rippled through Australia's packaging sector, the immediate sense of alarm has eased. Supply chains are still under pressure, prices remain elevated, and uncertainty persists, but PKN's conversations across the packaging value chain suggest the industry has shifted from crisis response to resilience management.

Australia’s first National Environmental Protection Agency has appointed veteran public sector leader John Bradley as its inaugural CEO, ahead of the agency’s official launch on 1 July.