Page 6 - Food & Drink Magazine May 2021

NEWS
✷ TOP HITS
THE MOST VIEWED STORIES ON OUR WEBSITE LAST MONTH
AUS PLANT PROTEINS
Global agrifood company Bunge has invested $45.7 million in Australia’s only commercial plant protein fraction plant, Australian Plant Proteins.
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STEEL CITY’S OWN BEER
Lion brewmaster Chuck Hahn has worked with the Steel City Beer Company in Newcastle to bring its very own beer, Steel City, to life.
NEW
PROTEIN
COUNCIL
The National Alternative Proteins Council will represent the burgeoning sector in national policy discussions and provide a collective voice.
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NEW $18M LINE
FOR SMITH’S
A new $18 million baked chip line at Smith’s factory in Regency Park, South Australia is operating 24/7 and has created 28 new full-time permanent positions.
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CHOBANI DOUBLES FOOTPRINT
Chobani has partnered with property developer Aliro to double the footprint of its Victorian site to 21,000 square metres.
SAPUTO RENEWABLE DEAL
Saputo Dairy’s 10-year large- scale renewable power purchase agreement (PPA) with ENGIE will offset 46 per cent of its energy.
Vic Traditional Owners release native food strategy
been lemon myrtle leaf with
VICTORIA’S Traditional Owners have released a strategy restoring their leadership of the state’s native foods and botanicals industry.
The strategy is an Australian first, backed by the Victorian Government and designed to create a strong, authentic, and sustainable bushfood industry. It will guide recovery and reclamation of important knowledge and practices by mapping out the actions needed for Victorian Traditional Owners to restore their rights of biocultural species, knowledge and practices.
Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation CEO and Project Control Group chair Rodney Carter said the strategy was about making sure economic development was a positive thing for the communities and “safeguards our traditional knowledge and helps us to authentically share our culture and ancient wisdom with the world”.
The strategy details four guiding principles: culture, country, community, and
commercial, which have been developed through engagement with Traditional Owners and their communities.
Official data on the Australian native foods and botanicals industry is limited. It’s estimated the farm-gate value of the sector is now close to $50 million, with potential through investment and value-adding to increase that to $250 million.
The Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation has identified
13 priority species: lemon myrtle; mountain pepper; bush tomato; anise myrtle; finger limes; Kakadu plum; desert limes; quandong; muntries, wattleseed; riberry; davidson plum; and lemon aspen.
At a commercial scale, several native food species are traded on the open market.
In 2010, the production of
12 of the 13 priority species (including Davidson plum, riberry, wattleseed, native citrus varieties, quandong and Kakadu plum) averaged eight tonnes a year. The standout has
annual production ranging from 575-1100 tonnes. These species are successful because of reliable production, supply chain management systems, food standards and trade compliance.
In 2019, the inaugural National Indigenous Bushfood Symposium was held.
One of its outcomes was the First Nations Bushfood and Botanical Alliance Australia, the sector’s first national, Indigenous-controlled bushfoods industry body.
National Alt Proteins Council launched
A new representative group for Australia’s alternative protein sector has been launched. The Alternative Proteins Council (APC) will represent the sector in national policy discussions and ensure a collective voice for the growing industry.
The director of policy and government relations for alternative protein think
tank Food Frontier Sam Lawrence said establishing
the council now marked an important step in the sector’s evolution. Lawrence will be the council’s first secretariat.
“The plant-based meat sector has taken a collaborative and
evidence-based approach to best serve the interests of consumers around issues including product labelling.
“The APC formalises our collaboration to support the 29 companies comprising
v2food is one of the founding companies
Australia’s alternative proteins sector to engage at a national level on policy issues, enabling the sector’s shared vision and continuing to serve Australians who enjoy alternative protein products,” Lawrence said.
Founding companies include Sanitarium, ProForm Foods, v2food, Rogue Foods, Nestlé Australia and Impossible Foods. Additional companies will join in coming months.
Similarly, the council will create a working group to develop labelling guidelines consistent with Australian Consumer Law, to ensure there is a clear guidance document.
6 | Food&Drink business | May 2021 | www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au