Page 35 - Food and Drink Business Magazine May 2019

Australian Organic signs up ambassadors
ORGANICS & NATURALS
Health coach and author Elle Halliwell.
AUSTRALIA’S organics industry body has named media personalities Elle Halliwell and Luke Hines as its 2019 ambassadors.
Hines is returning to the ambassador role for Australian Organic while Halliwell was recently appointed to inspire consumers to try organic products and produce.
Halliwell is a motivational speaker, MC, health coach and author. Hines is a functional nutritionist, author and personal trainer.
A mission for the pair is to highlight the importance of seeking out products bearing the Australian Organic Bud logo.
“We’re really happy to be supported by and working with learned health expert Luke once again following a
tremendously successful collaboration for last year’s Australian Organic Awareness Month [AOAM] and our cookbooks,” Australian Organic general manager Niki Ford said.
“We’re also very pleased to welcome Elle to the team given her commitment to living a chemical-free, healthy lifestyle.”
Australia Organic says demand for organic products is growing year-on- year with the industry now estimated to be worth $2.4 billion.
It has grown almost 88 per cent since 2012. This is attributed to consumers' appetite for natural, unprocessed healthy food and a growing awareness of environmentally sustainable practices. ✷
Nutritionist, author and personal trainer Luke Hines.
$55m organic dairy facility breaks ground
WORK has begun on the construction of a dairy manufacturing facility in Victoria that will include Australia’s first dedicated organic nutritional spray dryer. Corio Bay Dairy Group (CBDG) is building the new $55 million plant to produce organic infant formulas and other nutritional powder products. CBDG is a joint venture between Aussie farmer-owned Organic Dairy Farmers of Australia (ODFA), Wattle Health Australia (WHA), and Blend &
Pack. The plant will be located adjacent to the Organic Dairy in North Geelong and use organic milk from the dairy farmers who own ODFA, and a 50 per cent stake in CBDG. Both operations will work together, and when the facility is fully operational in 12 months, the spray dryer will have capacity to process in excess of 200,000 litres of fresh organic milk daily.
CBDG says the plant will bring great economic benefits to Geelong, directly employing around 45 staff, in addition to generating work for a range of contractors. Newly appointed CEO Dr Tony Mckenna said the initiative was a great opportunity to be part of the growing organic movement and to bring quality, organic nutritional products from farm to consumer.
“Being part of the shareholder value chain for the ODFA farmer
owners is also something
I’m looking forward to. Farmers are such an important part of our communities and the innovative farmers who own Organic Dairy Farmers of Australia have brought significant benefit to the dairy industry since 2002, and will continue to be a disruptive force for positive change into the future,” Mckenna said.
“The success of CBDG will help drive the farm gate milk price for ODFA farmers and I’m pleased to be part of a successful and positive dairy farming story.” ✷
www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au | May 2019 | Food&Drink business | 35