Page 6 - Food and Drink Business Magazine May 2019

NEWS
Regional cold store warms community
Brewers reject alcohol in sport claims
AUSTRALIA’S major brewers have rejected claims made about the impact on children of alcohol deals in football following the release of a study by the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education.
The study highlighted the extent to which alcohol advertising is ingrained within Australia’s two major football codes, the NRL and AFL, and the effects of that exposure on children.
In an April 10 statement, the Brewers Association said Australia’s major brewers prided themselves on “responsible marketing and strict adherence to the Alcohol Beverages Advertising Code (ABAC), which stipulates no alcohol ads can be aired during programming with less than 75 per cent adult viewership”.
The Association noted that OzTAM – Australia’s official source of television audience measurement – found those aged 18+ account for the vast majority of sport viewers. It cited the 2018 AFL and NRL seasons where 92 per cent and 91 per cent, respectively, of viewers were adults.
In April, the Alcohol Beverages Advertising Code (ABAC) released its annual report revealing 154 complaints were received in 2018, with 21 upheld and 40 dismissed.
ABAC was established to promote responsible alcohol marketing via regulation, education and advice through a code that sets key standards for responsible content and placement of alcohol marketing in Australia.
ABAC chair Harry Jenkins said he was “fully aware the ABAC operates in a marketing landscape that is ever changing. Our challenge is to keep pace with changes in the digital media landscape”. ✷
UPGRADES to John Dee's existing abattoir in Warwick are underway. Wiley has been engaged by John Dee to complete the design and delivery of its regional cold store and automated storage retrieval system (ASRS) facility expansion.
The project will protect the existing 630 jobs and create 143 new full-time jobs and 138 indirect new full-time jobs.
The facility will let John Dee reduce operational costs, expand storage capacity, increase product sorting capabilities and secure the future of the local, family-owned business.
Funding for the expansion came through the federal government’s Building
Better Regions Fund. Export opportunities from this development are expexted to be around $111 million.
Wiley COO Robert Barron said the company was excited to work on a project that would boost the economy and local
jobs during construction and into the future.
It would be looking for up to 80 workers during construction, using local subcontractors and suppliers, Barron said. The works will be completed this year. ✷
Bega wins Kraft Heinz stoush
BEGA Cheese won its federal court case against US food giant Kraft Heinz, giving it the right to continue to
use the distinctive “trade dress” associated with its peanut butter.
The dairy company purchased Mondelez
Australia, a Kraft subsidiary, in 2017, and acquired its peanut butter business including assets and goodwill.
Bega Foods executive general manager Adam McNamara told Food & Drink Business the federal court decision “gives Bega Cheese
the right to continue to use the current packaging of its Smooth and Crunchy Peanut Butter products”.
The trade dress of Kraft and Bega’s peanut butter, which was agreed to be “a jar with a yellow lid and a yellow label with a blue or red peanut device, with the jar having a brown appearance when filled”, was acquired with the rest of Mondelez’s assets when Bega bought the company, concluded Justice David O’Callaghan in his ruling.
McNamara told F&DB the company was “proud to have bought the Mondelez Grocery Business in 2017” and would now review the “lengthy” court judgement.
See page 34 for Bega’s new range of peanut butter following its acquisition of the Peanut Company ofAustralialastyear. ✷
6 | Food&Drink business | May 2019 | www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au