Nieuws uit Australië

Another price cut in a contract settled yesterday between South East potato growers and major potato-processing company McCain Foods Australia has threatened to wipe-out the industry if the downturn continues, according to potato producers in the region.

In New South Wales, Australia, Matt Simmons can barely keep up with demand for the organic potatoes he and wife Sue grow on their 48-hectare farm on the Hawkesbury River.

AUSVEG CEO Richard Mulcahy said today that diseased potatoes had the potential to threaten the viability of the entire Australian potato industry if the Australian Federal Government allows potatoes to be imported for processing from New Zealand.

Potato growers who supply Simplot Australia’s Ulverstone potato processing plant have put their case for a four per cent price increase for the 2010/11 growing season, the equivalent of another $13 a tonne. Simplot has yet to respond to the growers’ p...

Scientists from Adelaide’s Flinders University found that the starch contained in cold, cooked potatoes would reduce the cancer risk associated with eating red meat, with increasing evidence available that a diet high in red meat can increase a person’...

Australian scientists at SARDI are making major strides in diagnosing potato diseases before the potato crop is planted.Watch ABC video on this topicAustralia’s $500 million-plus potato industry will benefit from new DNA tests that can quickly and accu...

Potato growers across Australia have been urged to protect the local industry from a major pest which has established itself in New Zealand. New Zealand potato producers have been coming to terms with the disease Zebra chip. The disease is seen as...

McCain Foods has told growers in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania it requires 10 per cent less potatoes for the 2010-11 season and wants to cut the price by AU$45 per tonne. A meeting of potato growers at Ballarat last week angrily rejected Mc...

Striking workers at the McCain Foods Ballarat factory in Australia were ordered back to work yesterday following a dispute over rostered days off. The strike started when workers walked off the job on Monday night after the company failed to come to ...

Potato growers in the Moorabool region (Australia, near McCain Foods Ballarat factory) say they could be forced out of business after McCain Foods planned a AU$45 a tonne price cut next season.   With McCain’s tonnage also set to be reduced by 10 per c...

Australian potato producers are feeling the pinch, due to an increase in processed potato imports from Europe, American and New Zealand. Since 2004, annual processed potato imports have risen 400 per cent, from $20 million to $109 million. Tim Heisse...

A newly discovered ability for people to taste fat could hold the key to reducing obesity, Deakin University health researchers believe.   Deakin researchers Dr Russell Keast and PhD student Jessica Stewart, working with colleagues at the University o...

AUSVEG Chairman, John Brent, today expressed dismay at the lack of Australian representation at the Fruit Logistica Trade Fair just concluded in Berlin and called on Australia’s political leaders to place more emphasis on the agricultural industry and ...

Latest research from Leatherhead’s Global Food Markets database suggests that the key food sectors in Australia are weathering the global recession well. Although there are signs that consumers have begun to economise during the slowdown, many sectors ...

Cargill announced today that it has entered into an agreement to purchase Goodman Fielder's Commercial Edible Fats and Oils business. The A$ 240 million purchase includes the Commercial business' four fats and oils refining assets located in West Foots...

A snack food company has proposed barbecueing and bagging two of Australia's national symbols, the kangaroo and the emu.Smiths Snack Foods, the Australian division of Frito-Lay/Pepsico, launched the potato chip flavour "BBQ Coat of Arms". The...

McCain Foods ha anunciado que cerrará su planta de procesamiento de hortalizas en Smithton, en el noroeste de Tasmania, en noviembre de 2010. La fábrica le ofrecerá planes de despido a sus 115 empleados permanentes, con una antelación de seis a 12 me...

McCain Foods Australia will close its vegetable processing plant in Smithton (Tasmania) after completion of the coming processing season.Staff involved was informed earlier today. McCain Foods Managing Director Australia/New Zealand Steven Yung: "...