Page 5 - Food&Drink Business Magazine June 2019

Mars Food launches start-up accelerator
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THE Seeds of Change project
is designed to help early stage Australian food start-ups. The Mars Food Australia innitiative is in partnership with Food Innovation Australia Ltd (FIAL).
At the launch event on 28 May, Mars Food Australia GM Hamish Thomson explained six participants will be chosen for a tailored four- month program to tackle their biggest individual
challenges to growth. They will also recieve a grant of up to $40,000.
Thomson says Mars won’t be seeking equity in the start-ups because “it didn’t feel right”.
It is about nurturing the next generation of food innovators, like the company’s founders, Thomson explains.
R&D director Peter Crane says the accelerator is a first for the company.
“We hope we can share some of the lessons we have learnt along the way and, in turn, would be delighted to learn ourselves from the start-ups we are lucky enough to work with,” he says.
For Thomson, entrepreneurs operate very differently from a large, established multinational company, and he sees the project as beneficial for Mars
as for the participants. Applications are open for
Australian-based, food-focused start-ups with innovative differentiated offerings, new business models and emerging technology in one or more of eight focus areas:
• sharing world flavours;
• easy-meal solutions;
• responsible food;
• creating with care;
• better for you;
• plant-based eating;
• accessing Asia; and
• food manufacturing and
value chain transformation. Applications close on 19 July. ✷
STORIES ON OUR WEBSITE LAST MONTH
It was compulsory for speakers at the launch to mention how excited they were. L to R: Roger Elfenbein, Zentient Culture; Peter Crane, Mars Food Australia R&D director; Dr Christine Pitt, CEO Food Futures Company; Food Innovation Australia Ltd chair Peter Schutz; and Mars Food Australia general manager Hamish Thomson.
PERNOD RICARD & JACOB’S CREEK
Jacob’s Creek owner, Pernod Ricard, has told Food & Drink Business it won’t comment on “market rumours” that it was preparing the wine label for sale.
Pernod Ricard told F&DB it had “already mentioned several times that it intends to continue the dynamic management of its portfolio”.
DIAGEO LEADS ON PARENTAL LEAVE
International drinks producer Diageo will give all employees 26 weeks of fully paid parental leave, regardless of gender, carer status or length of service. Diageo Australia MD David Smith says the move was about “removing barriers to career progression and ensuring talent
is retained and nurtured”.
COOPERS LAUNCHES NEW BEER Coopers Brewery has expanded its range of naturally conditioned beers with an Extra Pale Ale (XPA). It was rolled out in keg format to hotels across Australia
in mid-May.
FOOD RECALLS DUE TO ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE AND POOR PRACTICE
Risk management specialist SAI Global reports on a record level of food recalls in 2018, saying it reflects problems with organisational food safety culture as well as poor training, controls and a lack of accountability.
COLES TAKES THE WELLNESS ROAD
Coles has introduced a new range of 28 health food products as part of its
new Wellness Road range. Driven
by consumer demand
for healthier options
the range includes
nut flours, seeds,
grains, oils
and noodles.
World first mango innovation bears fruit
IN a world first, a team from Central Queensland University (CQU) has built an automated mango harvester prototype. A recent trial recorded 75 per cent efficiency in automatically identifying and picking fruit.
CQU professor Kerry Walsh told Food & Drink Business that the auto-harvester represents a significant departure from traditional bulk harvesters, which knock all the fruit to the ground and are only suitable when external damage isn’t an issue.
“This machine is trying to pick one fruit at a time without damaging it. Technology like machine vision and mechatronics can be used in the field to selectively pick a fruit according to size and colour,” he says.
The technology would help address labour issues as well, he says. Relying on overseas labour for a short tree fruit harvest can be a “management hassle, but if you have an auto-harvester, it’s like a pack line – fewer staff numbers, but a more technical labour force,” Walsh explains.
Yeppoon’s Groves Grown Fruit hosted the trial, and farmer Ian Groves said he was excited
by its potential. It identified and counted fruit to within just a few per cent of the actual number of fruit in the entire block, he says.
“It could measure when the fruit would mature, means we can schedule our workforce, order the right number of cartons, and the size of the inserts going into those cartons.
For Groves, the technology could be a
“real game changer” for the entire industry. ✷
www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au | June 2019 | Food&Drink business | 5