Food Dec 2020

DECEMBER 2020

Total Construction takes a look at how food service practices will need to change in the new COVID world

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DECEMBER 2020

A bug’s life – the next big thing in human protein?

PLUS: Harris Farm Markets go Interstate | Making it in the US - an exporter's story

WELCOME

CEO: John Murphy Publisher: Christine Clancy Group Managing Editor (Northern):

Bugs could be the future of our protein needs

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by John Murphy. All material in Food & Beverage Industry News is copyright and no part may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means (graphic, electronic or mechanical including information and retrieval systems) without written permission of the publisher. The Editor welcomes contributions but reserves the right to accept or reject any material. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information, Prime Creative Media will not accept responsibility for errors or omissions or for any consequences arising from reliance on information published.

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I

t’s the yuck factor that is the main problem according to Dr Julian McClements. People in western cultures don’t see bugs as a viable, edible source of protein. However, over the next few decades we might not have a choice in what we consume. In a recent webinar on the Future of Food, McClements, who as well as being an academic is a food scientist, gave out some interesting stats. One was that there are already two billion people in the world who eat bugs as a source of protein and he doesn’t think it will be long before we might have to start looking towards bugs as an added source of protein.

According to McClements, there is already a bug factory in the Netherlands that has, at any one time, 7 billion bugs that are destined to be fed to farm animals. Currently, European legislation doesn’t allow for animals to be fed proteins from other animals due to mad cow disease. Some see farming insects as a way around that, with the next step making insect-based proteins for the European palette.

A couple of other things to look out for in the near future in terms of food production is 3D printed food, and foods – meat in particular – grown in a petrie dish made from cells from an animal that is still alive.

Our special feature this month is exports, and we have a great little story about a company that had a product but was having issues getting traction into the major Australian supermarket chains. Matt Parry from The Good Crisp Company decided to take a punt and spent the best part of $6,000 on a stand at the ExpoWest exhibition in California. It turned out to be the best $6,000 he spent, as his product is now in more than 7,000 stores in the US, including the

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4 Food&Beverage Industry News | December 2020 | www.foodmag.com.au

lucrative Walmart chain. Read how he did it on page 18 of this issue.

Also look at our story on page 24 from Total Construction. We all knew that COVID-19 would have an impact on how the food service industry does business. Total’s Rob Blythman and Tony Tate give us the run down on the types of procedures that will have to be taken into consideration when a new aged care facility, hospital or any other building that needs a kitchen or food service facility built.

In our Meet the Manufacturer section, we talk to Lucy Clements and her role at Accolade Wines, based in South Australia. A true wine buff, Clements has had her fair share of ups and downs over the past 18 months, but has also had a great time in an industry she loves.

Accolade Wines is one of the countries bigger wine makers and we talk to Clements about how the weather affects vintage, the supply chain and also how she got the job she loves.

We also talk to Tristan Harris who is one of the co-CEOs of Harris Farm Markets, which until recently was a NSW-centric fresh food business. The company has spread its wings into Queensland, and is looking to expand in other states in due course. How they got where they are today is but an interesting, and cautionary, tale. It shows that perseverance and the ability to learn from your mistakes can have a pay off that sees a business soar to the next level.

Finally, as this is the last issue of 2020, on behalf of everybody here at Food & Beverage Industry News, I wish everybody a Merry Christmas and happy new year.

Have a great month.

CONTENTS INSIDE

6 NEWS

14

14 MEET THE MANUFACTURER

Lucy Clements and her love of the job.

18 EXPORTS

When Matt Parry couldn’t get his foot in the door in Australia, he headed overseas and made it big.

20 CONSUMER

20

The rise and fall, and rise again, of Harris Farm Markets.

22 HEALTH & SAFETY

Poor quality flooring in food and beverage processing plants can lead to unwanted contamination.

24 HYGIENE

A look into the future as to what the food service industry needs to do when building new premises.

26 THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

Dr Julian McClements gives us the run down on the future of food – bugs as human protein, and petrie dish-grown steaks.

24

26

30 AFCCC

Why the humble thermometer has a big say in cold food supply chain.

32 AFGC

A guide to exporting to Indonesia has been released.

32

35 AIP

Packaging specialists and what their qualifications mean to them.

36 DAIRY REPORT 37 NEW PRODUCTS

www.foodmag.com.au | December 2020 | Food&Beverage Industry News 5

NEWS

AUSPACK 2021 postponed, relocating to Melbourne May 2022 A fter careful consideration, the Australian Packaging and Processing Machinery Association (APPMA) board has made the difficult decision to postpone AUSPACK 2021 in Sydney, and re-schedule the next event for Melbourne 2022. APPMA chair, Mark Dingley, said, “With an event of this scale and significance, the most important factors in our decision were if we held the event in 2021, the uncertainty around protecting the health and safety of our industry community when it comes together, and preserving the experience and value that exhibitors and visitors alike receive from attending an event the calibre of AUSPACK. “This exhibition is known for the depth of products and services on the show floor, and the unique networking opportunities available from the many events held around the show. With the continuing uncertainty around domestic state-border openings, and the very

likely reality that international flights will not be allowed until the second half of 2021, we felt we could not deliver this experience to the same high standards as previously. Moving the event to 2022 was, therefore, the right thing to do from the perspective of human health and the financial and marketing value that exhibiting businesses would receive.”

Dingley said the APPMA Board did not want to add to the congestion created by other commercially focused exhibitions moving dates from 2020 to mid-2021.

“It’s not really ideal for the industry to have a slew of shows held so closely together, and we believe the value to exhibitors and visitors will be vastly reduced. As an industry-based association, the APPMA believes moving AUSPACK to a later date provides the best outcome for industry, including the best financial ROI for exhibitors and visitors.”

AUSPACK has been re-scheduled from 2021 to 2022 due to the congestion of other shows around the same time.

“The last edition of AUSPACK in 2019 at the Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre was a record show. It surpassed all expectations. Melbourne 2022 is ideally placed to provide the scale and breadth of event that this industry needs as it gears up for the post-COVID recovery,” Jon Perry, event director with organiser Exhibitions & Trade Fairs, said.

Perry said exhibitor bookings for 2022 will be managed in a phased approach, focusing firstly on exhibitors who are currently booked into 2021 and those who regularly exhibit in Melbourne. He said exhibitors will be contacted directly by November 17th about their options, while new bookings for the 2022 show will be open in late January 2021.

Coles puts soft plastics to good use C

oles has partnered with Victorian recycling organisations RED Group and Replas to pioneer and install a concrete slab carpark made partly

out of recycled soft plastics.

Under installation at Coles Horsham, the carpark is the first commercial construction project in Australia to make use of

A Coles’ carpark at its Horsham store will be partly made out of recycled soft plastics.

6 Food&Beverage Industry News | December 2020 | www.foodmag.com.au

Polyrok – a sustainable alternative to aggregate minerals used in concrete, such as stone.

Made from plastic bags and soft plastic packaging recovered from the REDcycle program, Polyrock has the potential to divert 105,000 tonnes of soft plastics from landfill each year, if used in commercial concrete projects across Australia.

Coles state construction manager for Victoria, Fiona Lloyd, said this was the first time the product had been used in a commercial environment.

“As one of Australia’s largest food retailers, we know how important it is to support initiatives that help to close the loop with soft plastics,” she said.

“This project alone will help repurpose approximately 900,000 pieces of soft plastic, to be used in the carpark at the soon-to-be-competed Coles Horsham redevelopment.

“We’ve worked with RED Group, Replas and RMIT University throughout the whole development process and we’re excited to see how we can use this technology in more of our stores.”

Replas Joint managing director Mark Jacobsen said: “Coles, Replas and RED Group are leading the way on recycling the soft plastics that are returned to Coles supermarkets.

This new carpark will be built using Polyrok, a sustainable alternative to mineral aggregate in concrete, made from the soft plastic packaging returned to REDcycle bins at Coles.

“Polyrok reduces the carbon footprint due to the reduced thermal mass it provides. This tackles the plastic problem and climate change all while being fit for purpose.

If innovative products like this were adopted in all buildings and car parks, the collective reduction in greenhouse gasses would be enormous.”

NEWS

CSIRO partners with manufacturers for nutritious meals A ustralia’s national science agency, CSIRO, is partnering with Australian food manufacturers to help Australians choose nutritious ready meals consistent with the successful CSIRO Low Carb Diet and Lifestyle Plan.

Be Fit Food is the first provider to partner with CSIRO to develop and deliver meals that have been specifically designed to comply with the CSIRO Low Carb Diet.

The meals will feature a frontof-pack labelling mark, signalling they are a meal suitable for the CSIRO Low Carb Diet. Ready meals featuring the mark have been formulated and passed independent tests to ensure strict benchmarks have been met, making them compliant with the food and nutrient specifications of the science-based

CSIRO Low Carb Diet.

CSIRO’s senior research scientist, Grant Brinkworth, said through decades of nutrition and health research, CSIRO understood the barriers that can hold people back from improving their diet quality.

“We know that lifestyle factors like time and budget pressures and the growing rate of single-person households are fuelling a strong demand for ready meals,” he said.

“In Australia, our diet is getting worse. Of the top 20 causes of death in Australia, 14 are lifestyle related, with Type 2 diabetes one of the fastest growing chronic health conditions contributing to these startling numbers.

“As people are seeking convenient food solutions, it is important to make the healthy solution the easy option.”

The CSIRO Low Carb Diet is

an energy-controlled, nutritionally complete meal plan that is lower in carbohydrate and higher in protein and healthy (unsaturated) fats.

When compared to ready meals currently available in the Australian market, the meals displaying the Meal Suitable for the CSIRO Low Carb Dietmark on average contain 68 per cent less carbohydrate and 55 per cent less sodium.

“In a world full of so much nutrition noise, few diets have undergone the type of rigorous clinical testing and research that the CSIRO Low Carb Diet has,” Brinkworth said.

Clinical studies have shown that the CSIRO Low Carb Diet and Lifestyle Plan effectively delivers sustained long-term weight loss and greater improvements in blood glucose control, and reduction in diabetes medication requirements as well as risk

factors for heart disease compared to a traditional high carbohydrate, low-fat diet.

Be Fit Food co-founder and CEO Kate Save welcomed the partnership with CSIRO. “The new Be Fit Food Lifestyle Range has been specifically formulated to follow the exact science of the CSIRO Low Carb Diet. The range is a tasty and convenient way to enjoy the benefits of the CSIRO Low Carb Diet, without having to cook,” Save said.

“Our philosophy is that food should be the first medicine in the pursuit of optimal health and prevention and treatment of weight-related disease.

We’re delighted to partner with CSIRO to deliver delicious and nutritionally complete meal options to help people achieve healthier lifestyles.”

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www.foodmag.com.au | December 2020 | Food&Beverage Industry News 7

NEWS

Alternative Dairy Co triples sales T

he Alternative Dairy Co has experienced its strongest sales on record for its homegrown range of barista plant milks, despite the negative impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on the nation’s cafè businesses.

The Australian owned and made brand has seen its sales triple in the first quarter of FY21, compared to the last quarter of FY20. This has been fuelled by a clear shift in consumer preference towards locally made products and a fast-growing taste for plant milks by Australia’s sophisticated coffee drinkers – 55 per cent of whom prefer their morning brew at their local café and overwhelmingly want their coffee white.

In recent years dairy-free milk alternatives have continued to surge in popularity, with almond milk officially overtaking soy as the most requested dairy alternative in 2019. Almond milk is tipped to continue to grow, but it is oat milk’s dairy-like taste and creamy texture that has industry pundits predicting it’s the plant milk to watch over the next five years.

The Alternative Dairy Co enjoys

The Alternative Dairy Co is making inroads into the dairy-free market with its range of plant-based milks. the backing of Sanitarium Health Food Company, an Australian-owned company that is largely credited for introducing Australians to soy milk in the 1980s and has enjoyed success with its So Good brand for more than three decades. According to Steve Beams, Sanitarium Health Food Company general manager – sales, the reason people were increasingly turning to plant milks was two-fold.

“People have long been attracted to

the health benefits of plant milks, but a growing number of socially conscious consumers are now also seeking food and drinks with stronger sustainability credentials. In coffee, the decision to switch from dairy to a plant milk is now easy too, because it no longer represents a compromise on the coffee experience,” said Beams.

While this trend is adding momentum to the uptake in plant milks, Beams said it also gives The Alternative

Dairy Co a market advantage, particularly in competing with some of the global dairy-free milk brands.

“The Alternative Dairy Co source Australian almonds from the MurrayDarling region. Our supplier Select Harvests is committed to sustainable agriculture and has implemented some innovative solutions at their orchards to minimise the use of water and energy and support bee health. All our oats are locally grown too.”

Pepsico introduces flexitime for staff I

n recent months, Australian organisations have evolved with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrating just how adaptive and resilient the Australian workforce is.

PepsiCo is implementing its latest policy, flextime, removes official start and finish times – allowing people to choose their work hours and balance personal responsibilities and lifestyle with work.

PepsiCo ANZ CEO, Danny Celoni, said this new policy allows people to build their work life around their personal needs and encourages everyone to embrace all of the flexible working options that are available to them.

“We completely recognise that a one size fits all work model does not suit everyone in our diverse

organisation,” said Celoni. “Our commitment to fostering a culture of flexible working for all ensures we have the best people doing their best work every day.”

One employee who has already reaped the benefits of PepsiCo ANZ’s new flextime policy is CIO Brian Green.

Being part of the IT department, Brian is often required to be online 24 hours a day, seven days a week to accommodate the broad range of time zones PepsiCo ANZ operates in meaning much of his workload begins after 5:00pm.

With the new flextime policy, Brian can stagger these hours to assist with later start and finish times, meaning his daily schedule now involves bug catching with his son around midday, and taking his

8 Food&Beverage Industry News | December 2020 | www.foodmag.com.au

daughter to soccer practice right after school.

“I am really fortunate to be working for a company that is able to acknowledge the needs of not just my role in IT but also my personal life,” Green said.

“Time with your kids is something you are never able to get back so I’m enjoying my new weekday routine and taking full advantage of the flextime policy.”

PepsiCo ANZ’s leadership team believe that offering flexibility in the workplace is critical to attract and retain good talent.

The flextime policy is just the latest in a string of well-established diversity and inclusion initiatives introduced by the company designed to help people find a work-life balance that suits them.

PepsiCo ANZ CEO Danny Celoni said flexitime will allow people to get a better work/life balance.

NEWS

Woolworths stocks Fable’s plant-based beef F

able Food Co has launched its premium plant-based braised beef ready meals range in Woolworths stores across Australia.

Backed by celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal, and developed by resident fine dining chef and mushroom scientist Jim Fuller, Fable’s plantbased braised beef launched into Woolworths. The addition of three premium ready meals to the Woolworths range includes: • Chilli Con Carne, a plant-based braised beef chilli, stewed with tomatoes, kidney beans, chipotle chilli and traditional Mexican spices, served with basmati rice.

• Stroganoff, a tomato stewed sauce with plant-based braised beef, served with dollops of creamy potato mash.

• Rogan Josh, a curry with chunks of plant-based braised beef seasoned with spices, served with basmati rice.

The Fable range is all natural, vegan friendly, and uses minimally

processed shiitake mushrooms together with all natural plantbased ingredients.

Demand for plant-based meat has surged in Australia, with one in three

Australians making the conscious decision to reduce their meat consumption, according to independent organisation Food Frontier.

Fable Food’s plant-based ready meals have found shelf space at Woolworths.

As more consumers look for nutritious plant-based options that are delicious and easy to prepare, Fable is making plant-based meal preparation easier than ever.

The single-serve plant-based meals feature Fable’s signature premium plant-based braised beef and are ready to heat and eat in three minutes.

Woolworths has seen growing demand for plant-based foods and has rapidly expanded its range of meat alternatives and plant-based ready meals to meet consumer demand.

“Plant-based options are becoming increasingly popular with our customers, and we’re expanding our product range to meet the continued growth in demand.

“We’re excited to offer Fable’s ready meals to give Aussies even more options for delicious plant-based food options,” said Leigh Gallen, Woolworths category manager, ready meals.

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www.foodmag.com.au | December 2020 | Food&Beverage Industry News 9

NEWS

Australian wine company growing export sales W

hile many areas of Australia’s economy are struggling under the weight of COVID, one local business is pushing forward with export growth across Europe and Canada.

Headquartered in McLaren Vale, Leconfield Wines is Australia’s oldest family-owned winemaking business. Owned

by Dr Richard Hamilton and his wife, Jette, Hamilton is a fifth generation descendant of Richard Hamilton 1st who planted South Australia’s first wine producing vineyards in 1837. Leconfield Wines takes in Leconfield Wines in Coonawarra and Richard Hamilton Wines in McLaren Vale. Its brands include Leconfield, Richard Hamilton Wines and Syn Sparkling Wines.

Leconfield has a history of producing top-quality, awardwinning wines. Its wines are sold across Australia, overseas and also served aboard Jetstar business class and on Great Southern Rail trains including The Ghan, Indian Pacific, Great Southern and The Overland.

“COVID has been challenging for us. As winemakers that sell our products direct to consumers through our membership and into restaurants and other hospitality outlets across the country, sales have been hit through the closure of venues. The latest lock down in Victoria was particularly challenging,” Hamilton said.

“We have also experienced mixed results overseas with some markets including China reducing spend.

“However in the face of this, we have also risen to the challenge. We have restructured to focus on building collaborative partnerships and foster growth in other overseas markets, and these strategies are already starting to yield great results.

“Damian White has been appointed to the newly created role of sales and marketing director. He is firmly focused on expansion of our international market, alongside our valued domestic and online platform partners. Christine Says has been appointed to the role of CFO to help manage the complexities of

our burgeoning overseas markets to ensure strong growth and firm cost control.

“The recent decision by Canada to remove tariffs on the import of Australian wines has also opened up new opportunities for us too.”

Leconfield has been approved for distribution and sale in three Canadian provinces: Ontario, New Brunswick and Quebec.

“We are extremely excited about this and are looking to augment our presence to other provinces as well,” Hamilton added.

In addition to Canada, the company has secured new opportunities in Finland and Belgium. In Belgium, it has partnered with Belgian food retailer, Delhaize, to supply a private label Coonawarra Shiraz under the name of Dalebrook Farm. It is also in talks regarding line extensions. This and various other emerging opportunities are proving positive for the company, said Hamilton.

“Our senior winemaker, Paul Gordon is doing an excellent job of creating new and exciting wines

from our vineyards. His ability to craft, blend and perfect is delivering superb results for us and really bolstering our ability to continually impress the market with wonderful wines.

“Kate Mooney, our marketing and events manager, who has been with us for nearly seven years, is hard at work refreshing and developing our labels and packaging to ensure we stand out on shelves, catalogues and online sites.

“Despite the challenges we are facing here at home, we are determined to achieve growth.

We’ve been through droughts, the Spanish Flu, world wars, the great depression, recessions, the GFC and now COVID. You could say ‘we are battle hardened’ and we are not about to let a virus dampen our prospects. We are all in this together, and certainly at Leconfield Wines, we are determined to get through to the other side.

“We are very lucky. At the end of the day, we can sit back and relax with a good drop. One of the benefits of winemaking.”

Nut butter obsession turns into million dollar Coles deal N

99th Monkey’s nut butter is being stocked in 650 Coles’ stores.

ick Sheridan created 99th Monkey in Melbourne in 2013. His aim was to create a nut butter that not only tastes delicious but also that was good for a person’s health and kind to the planet.

“As a former journalist (The Age, Global Coffee Report) living in London and training for my first (and maybe last) marathon in 2012, I became obsessed with peanut butter. When my wife Tracey and I returned to Melbourne, I decided to turn my nut butter obsession into a business,” said Sheridan.

Sheridan started out selling

10 Food&Beverage Industry News | December 2020 | www.foodmag.com.au

in farmers’ markets then into local stores and online. At the end of 2017, 99th Monkey was in about 800 independent retailers around Australia.

In 2018, 99th Monkey was one of five Australian businesses that were selected to take part in the Chobani Food Incubator program.

“The program helped me to expand my vision for the business and gave me the contacts and confidence to take the brand to the next level,” said Sheridan.

“2018 was also that year that I finally went all in on the business, leaving my job as editor of a coffee

magazine to focus on 99th Monkey full time – it felt like a big leap at the time considering we had a two-yearold daughter and a mortgage.”

The leap paid off and by the end of 2018, 99th Monkey was stocked in Coles’ new format stores, Coles Local. This led to 99th Monkey securing three products stocked in 200 Coles stores in Victoria in 2019.

This past year, 99th Monkey have signed a million dollar deal with Coles. 99th Monkey Natural Almond Butter and Cacao Almond Butter will be stocked in 650 Coles stores nationally.

NEWS

Coke uses recycled plastic for drink cups and lids C

oca-Cola in Australia is continuing to reduce its plastic footprint with the introduction of frozen drink cups and lids made from recycled plastic from 2021.

The latest innovation removes polystyrene – plastic that is unable to be recycled and reused – from Coca-Cola’s cold drink portfolio. By the end of 2021, this will reduce the amount of new or virgin plastic it uses by 40,000 tonnes since 2017.

“Last year we made some big changes in Australia, including moving all our plastic bottles under one litre to 100 per cent recycled plastic and removing plastic drinking straws and stirrers,” Russell Mahoney, public affairs, communications and sustainability director, Coca-Cola South Pacific said.

“We have a responsibility to reduce our environmental footprint

through innovation to help solve the plastic waste issue. Moving our frozen drinks lids and cups to recycled plastic is the next step towards meeting Coca-Cola’s global commitment to reduce plastic waste.”

Coca-Cola Australia also continues this year as the major sponsor of Planet Ark’s National Recycling Week Recovery – a future beyond the bin, which is taking place from 9-15 November.

“It’s encouraging to see big companies like Coca-Cola really step up and take responsibility for the full life cycle of their packaging and committing to using more recycled content,” Rebecca Gilling, deputy CEO, Planet Ark said. “Replacing virgin plastic with 40,000 tonnes of recycled plastic is not only a huge market signal, it prevents another 40,000 tonnes of virgin material entering our world.”

“This year’s National Recycling

Week theme is all about recovery and how we can all recycle and reuse materials – it’s a great fit to CocaCola’s commitment to reducing its plastic footprint, and we’re thrilled to be working together again this year,” Gilling said.

Under its World Without Waste vision, Coca-Cola has a global goal to collect and recycle a bottle or can for every one it sells by 2030 and ensuring none of its containers end up in landfill or oceans. Its bottler Coca-Cola Amatil plays a key role in co-ordinating all six operating container deposit schemes (CDS) around Australia.

Coca-Cola also has a global goal to use at least 50 per cent recycled material across its packaging by 2030, with Australia already achieving this goal in plastic bottles.

The new frozen cups and lids made of recycled plastic will be available from early 2021.

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Coca-Cola is removing polystyrene cups and lids from its frozen drinks line up.

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www.foodmag.com.au | December 2020 | Food&Beverage Industry News 11

NEWS

SIA launches seafood blitz in Australia S eafood Industry Australia (SIA), the national peakbody representing the Australian seafood industry, has launched the first whole-of-industry marketing blitz, supported by the Australian Government, to promote Australian seafood and unveiled the nation’s flagship brand, Great Australian Seafood.

Assistant Minister for Forestry and Fisheries, Jonno Duniam, said encouraging more domestic consumption of Australian seafood was important for the industry’s survival and recovery.

“It’s been an incredibly tough year for Australia’s seafood sector and they need our support,” Duniam said.

“The seafood industry was the first and worst hit when export markets virtually shut down overnight at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Fortunately, every Australian can play a role in helping our fishers, and it’s as simple as eating some Aussie seafood. That’s a win-win for all of us.

“This campaign will support all sectors of the seafood industry, from fishers and processors, through to those in the foodservices sector, and it will provide a much-needed boost to ensure we have a strong, sectorwide recovery.”

“This campaign is led by industry, for industry, to promote domestic sales and provide a boost to the entire Australian seafood industry supply chain as we recover,” SIA CEO Veronica Papacosta said.

The campaign, which premiered on November 8, sees the industry establish its first whole-of-industry brand similar to Australian other key protein and agricultural products.

The 12-month campaign includes consumer-facing advertising across

The SIA is wanting Australians to consume more seafood to help it recover from COVID-19. all regional and metro TV and streaming platforms, out of home including shopping centres, street furniture and roadside, digital activations and partnerships.

Calabria Family Wines buys brands A ustralian winemaker Calabria Family Wines has bought three Australian wine brands – Deakin Estate, La La Land and Azahara. The formal agreement is a brand-only sale and transfers ownership of these brands from the Wingara Wine Group, part of Henkell Freixenet, to the Calabria family.

Calabria Family Wines will now produce all of the wines across each of the brands’ portfolios from its Griffith, NSW winery, as well as manage marketing across all markets.

Calabria Family Wines will continue the current distribution partnership with Red & White for all three brands in Australia.

Calabria Family Wines will produce the brands from its Griffith winery in NSW. 12 Food&Beverage Industry News | December 2020 | www.foodmag.com.au

“Each of these brands brings something new to the table for the team at Calabria and we are eager to welcome them to the family as we diversify and broaden our wine offering,” third-generation general manager Michael Calabria said.

“Deakin Estate, with over 50 years of winemaking history

It also includes the launch of the new brand identity including logo and name, consumerfacing website, as well as all the social media platforms.

behind it, has achieved outstanding distribution, particularly in challenging export markets where many haven’t.

That can only happen with a good quality product and dedicated team behind it.

“Both La La Land and Azahara, while newer to market, are unique brands with well-established portfolios and market presence, both domestically and overseas. We look forward to relishing in La La Land’s dedication to emerging wine styles with our own Italian alternatives and celebrating Azahara’s effervescent flare and sophistication.”

Wingara Wine Group is part of Henkell Freixenet, a company that specialises in sparkling wine, which was formed in January 2019 from the legacy Henkell & Co. Group and Grupo Freixenet.

NEWS

Woolworths’ new $135m Melbourne Fresh DC W

oolworths Group’s supply chain arm – Primary Connect – has today unveiled its new Melbourne Fresh Distribution Centre (MFDC) in Truganina.

The next-generation supply chain facility will allow Woolworths to deliver fresh fruit, vegetables, meat and chilled products to more than 230 Victorian supermarkets fresh, faster and more efficiently.

At 38,000sqm, the distribution centre will provide employment to over 400 Melburnians, including many from the local area, and process around 1.5 million cartons per week from more than 500 fresh food suppliers.

The MFDC is linked via an automated airbridge with Woolworths’ meat supplier Hilton Foods Australia’s production facility, and replaces existing operations at the Mulgrave Produce DC. “The importance of a strong, responsive and resilient fresh food supply chain has come into sharp focus during the pandemic,” Primary Connect’s supply chain general manager for Southern Region Justin Dowling said. “This state-of-the-art distribution centre will take our supply chain to the next level – allowing us to get fresh food into our stores much faster for our customers. The opening is a welcome boost for local employment and will help us deliver what is

expected to be our busiest Christmas ever. The site has the latest in banana and avocado ripening technology, along with world-class refrigeration systems to ensure top product quality and freshness on the shelf.

“A fully integrated warehouse and transport management system will also help reduce freight movements as we optimise inbound and outbound deliveries. This will not only reduce the lead time for fresh food deliveries to stores, but also help cut our carbon footprint.”

The opening of the MFDC will take around 600 truck movements off the West Gate each week as Truganina is located closer to more Woolworths suppliers than Mulgrave. Co-location

with Hilton Meats will take a further 3,000 truck movements off Melbourne roads each year as it eliminates shuttle runs between Mulgrave and Truganina.

The MFDC is also targeting a Five Star Green Star rating from the Green Building Council of Australia, with a solar panel system on the roof, charge points for electric trucks, and fuel savings of more than 400,000 litres each year from transport efficiencies.

The investment on the MFDC is majority funded by landowner Charter Hall, with Woolworths signing an initial 15-year lease on the site.

This builds on an extensive national relationship between Woolworths and Charter Hall across both industrial and retail properties.

Events on the horizon of 2021 D

ue to the COVID pandemic, 2020 has had an array of events and tradeshows canceled. And while there have been some rescheduled for 2021 and beyond, there are still others where the decision has yet to be made as to whether they will go ahead or not. Here is a list of events that are set to be held in 2021. Some will be virtual meetups while others are provisionally being held at venues around the country.

Food Innovation Australia (FIAL) has several events in the pipeline: • A virtual Meet the Buyers with a different country every month, commencing February 2021.

• Four international outbound missions.

• Three international tradeshows.

• Virtual exhibitions early 2021, via the Australian Food Catalogue.

• Country specific webinars and supply chain.

• Forums, podcast, on-line events and workshops throughout the year.

Other events they will be attending include:

There are a range of events that are occurring all around Australia over the next 12 months • D omestic virtual meet the buyer events, webinars, forums and workshops for 2021; • Naturally Good 2021; • Global Table 2021; • Fine Food 2021; • Regional Flavours 2021; • Foodservice Australia 2021; and • Foodpro 2021.

Great Australian Beer Festival 16 Jan 2021 Johnstone Park, Geelong

Other events include: Gold Coast Food & Wine Expo 8-10 Jan 2021 Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre

Baking Industry Trade Show 25-27 May 2021 Academy of Interactive Entertainment (AIE), Sydney

Brisbane Food & Wine Expo 16-18 Apr 2021 Brisbane Showgrounds, Brisbane

Naturally Good Expo 30-31 May ICC, Sydney Good Food & Wine Show 25-27 June 2021 ICC, Sydney Foodpro, 25-28 July 2021 Sydney Showgrounds, Sydney Fine Food Australia 6-9 September 2021 ICC, Sydney

www.foodmag.com.au | December 2020 | Food&Beverage Industry News 13

MEET THE MANUFACTURER

Wine afficionado lands dream job at Accolade Wines It’s been a challenging 18 months for Accolade Wines, one of Australia’s major wine producers.

However, if there is one thing Lucy Clements loves, it’s a challenge. Mike Wheeler talks to the company’s operations director for Premium Wines, ANZ. operations director. I’m not officially in wine making any more but I do have all the wine makers reporting to me. I’m much more about the physical performance – efficiencies, which I love. I am now combining my retail financial background as a buyer with my wine-making skills.”

She said that working with Accolade was a natural fit for her because she had a lot of dealings with the company when she was in her various buying roles. And stepping into the operators director position offers her different challenges compared to making the wine, but they are the kinds of challenges she thrives on. Why? “Because I get to be in my natural habitat, which is being in charge of everything,” she said, tongue in cheek. “But I also have a budget and so I can make things happen, which is great. It’s lovely to be strategising and really driving our business performance. But the reason I find it to be a blessed position I am in, is that I’ve made so much wine around the world so I get it. There are many people in the office who know the winemakers ways of working and are invested But they also can’t get anything past me because I know what they are asking for.”

Banrock Station has partnered with Landcare Australia to plant more than 100,000 native trees and shrubs annually.

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ucy Clements has tasted more wine than a lot of Australians. She has been in the wine business for the best part of two decades in various roles, from being a winemaker, to a wine buyer.

Starting out as an assistant wine maker in 2000, Clements has since globetrotted around the world working in almost all the main wine-producing regions of the world, including the UK, US, and the tipple’s spiritual home, France.

One of her roles was buying for big name supermarket chain Tesco’s in the UK, which resulted in Clements being headhunted by Coles to fulfil a similar role back home in Australia. That led her to come back to Australia more than five years ago where she was Melbourne based. However, 18 months later she decided to move back to her home state of

"The reason I find it to be a blessed position I am in, is that I’ve made so much wine around the world so I get it. There are many people in the office who know the winemakers ways of working and are invested But they also can’t get anything past me Challenging 12 months Running such a big operation means because I know what they are asking for."

South Australia, where she took up a role with Accolade Wines as the group’s innovation winemaker.

Fast forward just over four years later and she is now the operations director for the company’s Premium Wineries ANZ, whereby she now has 110 staff under her, which are scattered around various locations in South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and New Zealand. It’s a role she was made for.

“I love it. It is almost the perfect

14 Food&Beverage Industry News | December 2020 | www.foodmag.com.au

job for me,” she said. “I spent three years in the group winemaking role and running the Berri Wine facility in the Riverland’s, which was my first foray into large-scale commercial wine making. I had the time of my life. I had a big team of wine makers with me and we were making some of the biggest selling wines in the portfolio and global brands, like Banrock Station.

“About 15 months ago I was asked to go across to the dark side and run our wineries division as the

many issues arise, and the past 18 months have seen a plethora of them arrive on Clement’s lap. Not that she is complaining – you get the impression that this is why she is here – at the coal face getting things done and solving problems. Her first test in the new role involved arriving in the middle of Accolade divesting itself of three wineries, two of which were in the premium range. She spent the first six months getting a baptism of fire on the legal elements of the divestment, the corporate elements of the process

MEET THE MANUFACTURER

Some of Banrock Stations’ best produce.

,and making sure all was well. She said it was a great experience getting to know her team as they went through the process to hand over the wineries to the new owners. But this was only the entrée – the real tests were to come.

“The biggest challenge was on the 20th of December in 2019 when the bush fires came through the Adelaide Hills,” she said. “We have four wineries in South Australia that I look after and we almost lost one of them, Petaluma – that was pretty frightening and challenging.”

Just as that disaster was averted and the company was in the middle of vintage, COVID-19 struck, which led to another set of issues.

“It was a weird situation going into February and March when we start vintage and having eight wineries in the middle of this, and having to keep people safe. How do we make decent wine without

interacting with people?” she said.

“We have to think of things like, ‘Do we have one pump per person in the cellar? Do we keep truck drivers out of the winery?’ It was like juggling strawberries. But like most companies have, we had these heart-warming stories come out of this situation because all of our wineries around here are very close to each other. I couldn’t see anybody because I banned them interacting with the company – internally and externally. I couldn’t go and hang in the middle with my guys and support them.”

What they did was adapt to the situation. They had daily phone calls in the middle of vintage for three and a half months. It was challenging for the company to run the vintage week in and week out because it doubled its work force during that time.

A key plank to making sure

Lucy Clements loves the challenges her job entails. www.foodmag.com.au | December 2020 | Food&Beverage Industry News 15

MEET THE MANUFACTURER

everything runs smoothly is making sure those that supply the grapes, as well as plant and machinery when needed, are well versed in how Accolade runs. Clements said not only is her team great, but their third-party suppliers and growers are also top-notch.

“The wine industry specialist suppliers we work with are fantastic,” she said. “The likes of Pall Filtration, Laforrt – the manufacturing suppliers all the way to the additive suppliers – all of these guys have been on the journey with us for years. We’ve got an incredibility good team of very highly technical specialised people based in South Australia who we collaborate with internationally in our supplier base who work hand-inhand in partnership with us to make the best wine in the most efficient way possible.

“From grapeseed from the harvest, to the calibration equipment we use to measure the grapes all the way through to what we do on our packaging lines which are sizable in the business – everybody gives it their all.”

Supply chain The availability of grapes is the most obvious part of the company’s supply chain that needs to run smoothly. And it is an issue that only Mother Nature can be responsible for, and is out of Clements and her teams’ hands.

“Because we are an agricultural business, we only do one vintage a year, so we have one load of grapes that come in every year. We are at the mercy of the elements,” she said.

“From a supply chain point of view that is the most difficult part of our business. Like most wine businesses around the world, we always look to supply as much as we can in grapes.

Should there be a position where grapes are not available, we will look to supplement our supply position with bulk wine purchases. We always prefer to do vintage contracts with people we knew because they usually meet our requirements, but if not we’ll supplement them throughout the year from other sources.”

There are some parts of its supply chain where bulk wine is a considerable element, and one of those areas is New Zealand and in its malt business. Because of the shape of its grower base in New Zealand, Accolade has to work more in a bulk wine basis there than it does elsewhere. In the Riverlands region for

Banrock Station is situated on Kingston on Murray in SA. 16 Food&Beverage Industry News | December 2020 | www.foodmag.com.au

Drought is just one issue winemakers had to deal with throughout the year. instance, 99 per cent grapes come through its partnership with CCW, which is a huge cooperative of about 500 growers. The rest of the supply chain is pretty robust and will flex to meet the demands in times of need, according to Clements.

“Most wineries of our scale rely heavily on people growing grapes for them and will have very longterm contracts with those growers.

Our viticulture team, our technical team, our grower liaison team, will work very closely with those growers so those grapes are grown to our specification,” said Clements.

“We’ve got a number of important vineyards where we grow our own grapes. There are in particular regions of Australia where we need them and we are always looking to purchase more. So we do have our own, but nowhere near enough to meet our needs. We’ve got large vineyards in

the Yarra Valley, which supply ultrapremium Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.”

With the vintage months soon on the horizon, Clements is aware that it can be touch and go between a good vintage and great one. While she is optimistic about how the vintage will turn out, she is also a realist. It’s all about Mother Nature again.

“Our Vintage 20 was a good example where there were a few issues,” she said. “We had considerable impact from drought and we had significantly fewer tonnes coming over the weighbridge than we had forecast so we were definitely in short supply position, as was mostly in the premium regions I look after.

In the Riverland’s we still had a good vintage, yet in the Barossa we were 50 per cent below estimates. That was very challenging.

“And also from a supply position we had smoke taint in the grapes.

There were fires burning in Victoria,

MEET THE MANUFACTURER

which meant there was smoke affected in grapes in the Alpine Valley and King Valley. We didn’t harvest a single berry in that region, which was a great shame and had a major impact to supply. We had the effects of the fires in the Adelaide Hills, which affected the Barossa Valley because the wind changed overnight and we had smoke in low lying areas. Every year we have something that comes our way. Potentially with this 2021, because of La Nina, we might have a wet vintage, which has additional concerns. We may get very big crops, but could have moss and mildews coming in the door and they have a major effect on wine quality.”

The future Accolade Wines is a big exporter of wine, with its main market being the UK. However, it sells into the US market, and is making inroads into China, even though the CPC has initiated an anti-dumping probe into Australian wines. Clements knows that it could have an effect on the company’s plans in the region

but she is also upbeat about the possibilities of making a splash in the market “The threat of the Chinese ban on wine imports could affect us but we don’t have a corporate position on that yet. We do have a sizable position in Asia, but I feel positive what the future holds for Accolade in the region because we have got probably the most diversified channel export strategy of any of the majors,” she said.

“We have a huge business in the UK where we own large bottling lines in Bristol. We have a burgeoning business in the US. We export to 143 countries around the world. The UK for example, and our domestic market, are the lion’s share of where we sell our wine right now.

“We are in a fortunate position.

Asia is an incredibly important part of our business. We want to grow Asia, and it might be difficult at the moment, but we are an energetic business and we are going to do everything we can to push through on that one.” F

2021 could bring in a wet vintage for some of Accolade Wines’ products.

Sustainability of the landscape is never far from Clements’ mind. www.foodmag.com.au | December 2020 | Food&Beverage Industry News 17

EXPORTS

Dreaming big pays off for food exporter Adelaide entrepreneur Matt Parry had a dream. He just didn’t realise he’d have to go to the US to realise it. Mike Wheeler talks to the budding entrepreneur. in Australia mainly due to the lack of outlets he could get his products on-shelf. The main reason he was given was “why would we stock your crisps when we already have a successful product on-shelf?’

The Good Crisp Company’s Matt Parry.

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att Parry had a career specialising in launching fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) products for other companies into the Australian market. But he always had an itch he wanted to scratch – starting his own company and his own brand. Five years ago he decided to do just that with the Good Crisp Company and, initially, met with mixed success.

And it was this mixed success that made him up sticks and take his wife and three young daughters to go and live in the US, where he has made a good fist of getting his product out into the market. So far it is on the shelves of more than 7,000 stores including the 4,500-plus Walmart outlets. It was a deliberate strategy, but one he felt he had to do in order to get ahead, for a variety of reasons. The Good Crisp’s offering is similar to Pringles, and that was half the problem. He knew he had a great tasting product, but felt that there were limited opportunities

The Good Crisp Co’s product is now sold in more than 7,000 stores in the US.

18 Food&Beverage Industry News | December 2020 | www.foodmag.com.au

It’s a problem that a lot of budding entrepreneurs come across, but one that wasn’t going to get Parry down for long.

“The reason we went to the US was because Coles and Woolies

had Pringles and they didn’t see the demand for our product,” he said.

“Yet, when I went to the US there was a whole natural food industry with tens of thousands of stores like Wholefoods, like Sprouts, all

EXPORTS

of these shops that won’t allow any artificial colours or flavours, MSG, or things like that in the products they sell. They don’t carry conventional brands, but they are still multi-billion dollar grocery chains with thousands of stores.

They have more natural products in them.”

To say Parry is happy with where the company is at the moment would be an understatement. Yet, when you talk him, success hasn’t come easy and there were times when he was beyond anxious. But with a little risk, and bringing investors onboard, the outlook looks great.

“We had serious cash flow issues when we first started because FMCG is such a cash heavy business,” he said. “Thankfully, I was able to beg and borrow from my existing wholesale business. We used a lot of cash from that to start the new emerging business. We eventually had to raise money via venture capitalists for our US launch. They were probably the biggest ongoing issues we had – managing cash and keeping the momentum going.”

Traditionally, especially over the past couple of decades, Australian food manufacturers have targeted the lucrative Asian market – who wouldn’t want to get a foot hold in market where there are potentially a couple of billion consumers? Yet, Parry and his team deliberately avoided the market and have no designs of exporting to the region – yet. The same goes for Europe, which until the turn of the century was another go-to place for Australian food and bev manufacturers to sell their wares.

“We decided to go straight to the US because it was all about the positioning of our product,” he said.

“We are a gluten-free, better-for-you snack. That is not in demand in Asia.

Australia-made and that sort of feel, and Australia products are good for Asia, but not necessarily health foods. That was one reason we didn’t go there.

“Places like China are still 10 years behind Australia as far as demand for natural and better-foryou-type products. There isn’t a big demand for gluten free, there isn’t a big demand for non-GMO, there isn’t a big demand for natural.”

That is one of the keys to the US market for the Good Crisp Co – its “better-for-you” selling

Matt Parry has that much faith in his product that he moved his family to the US at the beginning of 2019.

"With our crisps there seems to be a real emotional need for the product and I think that is important when you are starting out, regardless of the idea... You need to identify that emotional need. I tapped into that, and I had to see how it was going to drive and be a genuine product that can be found in the consumers life." point. Parry is at pains to point out that they are not spruiking it as a “healthier” product due to the idiosyncrasies of what is considered healthy or not. Thus him pushing its non-GMO, gluten-free aspects of his product. It was these points that got him in the door in the first place.

How hard was it to get into the US market, and how did he actually get his food in the door.

“There is a massive trade show in the US for natural foods called ExpoWest in Anaheim, California, which we went to,” he said. “There were about 30,000 industry people coming through over the three days. I booked a table,

and put my mock ups of the product on the table just to see what people would do. It was a $5000-$6,000 investment all up, and we were literally stopping people in their tracks. They would come back and say ‘is that a healthy Pringle’, or ‘is that what I think it is?’ We had retailers and brokers interested straight away.”

Parry came away with a book full of business cards and a feeling in his gut that there was a real opportunity that he needed to pursue it.

He spent the next year developing the product, its packaging, and making sure that we had all the ingredients were right. He had to

be certain to make sure the layout was correct and then he went back the following year with the product ready to go.

“I contacted all those people I had met at the show and they said they were ready to place orders and we went from there,” he said. “We started off with 40 Wholefood stores in Northern California and it grew from there.”

Which is why he moved to Denver in January 2019. Parry intends on making the US his home for the next few years at least, if not longer. A side effect of his success in the US is that they have finally garnered some interest from Coles. However, he readily admits that he still finds the Australian market hard for a new brand to break into, and he believes that innovation is more rewarded in overseas markets than local ones.

Those issues aside, does he have any advice for those just starting out in the business?

“Cashflow is the lifeblood of a business,” he said. “Make sure you spend a lot of time on that. You may be a scrappy start up but you have to make sure the money is there. It is not only the lifeblood, if you don’t have it, the business dies.

But you need enough of it to keep the momentum going. There is a balance there . You need to get a lot of money, but if you have solved part A – and you have a good product – without Part B – the money – you can’t pour the gasoline on the fire.

I’ve raised multi millions of dollars for this business to keep it going and I’ve seen what it takes.”

Also, you need to know your market, he said, and make sure there is a need for it. You might have what you think is the best product in the world, but if people aren’t interested in it, and there is no need for it, then you won’t get off the ground.

“With our crisps there seems to be a real emotional need for the product and I think that is important when you are starting out, regardless of the idea,” he said.

“You need to identify that emotional need. I tapped into that, and I had to see how it was going to drive and be a genuine product that can be found in the consumer’s life.

We’re not curing cancer, but it was something we had to look into. It took us a while to hook into that, but once we did, it helped accelerate the business.” F

www.foodmag.com.au | December 2020 | Food&Beverage Industry News 19

CONSUMER

From bust to boom: Harris Farm Markets and its expansion Building a family dynasty is no easy task. Just ask Tristan Harris – his family’s business has known both good times and bad. Food & Beverage Industry News explains.

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lmost 50 years ago, a young David Harris and his wife Cath opened up Harris Farm Markets’ first store in Villawood, Sydney. It was a good business that provided for Harris and his growing brood that would end up producing five sons. It was an idyllic life, and a job that David was good at doing.

It’s usually at this part of the fairy-tale where it’s stated that 50 years later, the small business thrived through a lot of hard work, foresight and business acumen, to be the successful business it is today. And while the latter is definitely true – Harris Farm Markets is thriving and a very popular brand in its New South Wales environment – there is an interesting story behind its success.

Tristan Harris is one of the three co-CEOs of the enterprise along with his brothers Luke and Angus.

They are the three middle brothers of the Harris siblings. Both the eldest brother, Dan, and youngest Lachlan are entrepreneurs in their own right.

Dan has dabbled in the business on and off over the years, while Lachlan at one point was former prime minister Kevin Rudd’s press secretary before diverging into other pursuits.

Tristan Harris is affable and forthright when it comes to discussing, what in the end, has been a successful business. However, in order to understand the business’s current accomplishments, it’s important to go back a couple of decades to see where it got its start.

Like a lot of young entrepreneurs, David Harris was keen to expand the business when he started it up in 1971.

Harris Farm Markets was in the fruit and vegetable business and by all accounts, Harris senior was good at it. However, like a lot of businessmen with dreams, by the 1980s, in a push to expand the venture, he overstretched his capital and before long he went bust.

“During the 1980s the business was expanding very quickly and dad

Harris Farm Markets has come a long way since Dave and Cath Harris opened the first store in 1971.

expanded into Queensland and took a guy (Carlo Lorenti) from Sydney up to Queensland’s to run the operations,” said Harris. “Dad got into trouble because we expanded too quickly, he sold the store to [Carlo], who then ran it for the next 29 years.”

And now the business has gone full circle, with Harris Farm Markets recently buying the Queensland store back off Lorenti, and opening another one in the state, too – it’s first interstate foray, and one of many to

20 Food&Beverage Industry News | December 2020 | www.foodmag.com.au

come, according to Tristan. But how did the company get back on track? It turns out that father, David, learned his lesson, and came back stronger than before.

“My grandmother bought one of the stores off the bank and then dad ran that on her behalf and made some money out of that,” said Harris.

“There was profit sharing going on.

He had a number of friends who did the same thing – they bought some of the stores, and these were guys

that were not fruit shop guys at all.

They bought the stores off the bank out of receivership and dad ran them on their behalf and they paid a fee to run the centralised buying and marketing functions.”

When the investors got their money back they gifted the equity back to David Harris – it was the same process for the other nine stores.

After profit sharing and creating more cash flow, Harris started opening other stores. Tristan had started in the business, and by the time of the expansion, Luke was on board. As they started to build the operation it became apparent that the cash dividends to the partners no longer made sense. The Harris’s went back to the banks and recapitalised – took on a lot of debt – and bought those partners out back in 2011.

“It was a 20 year process of building it back into a family-owned business,” said Harris. “Shortly after that the three of us became co-CEOs. We’ve changed Harris Farms quite a lot from what was at the time – just a fruit and veg business – into one that is more into the fresh food market that you see today. We moved them into a more specific demographic.

“Fruit and veg is far more variable in its production. For a start you have weather events all the time – whether that is going to produce too much or not enough you don’t know. At times you are going to have way too much fruit and at other times not nearly enough.”

Having 20-plus stores in New South Wales, and now reaching into Queensland, is not the end of ambition for the Harris family. They do have designs on making it in the other states, with Victoria next in line. That may be some time away, and Harris knows that while Australia is a single country, you do have to take local culture into account when doing so.

“We recognise that Queensland is Queensland and that they are different from us and we need to be respectful

CONSUMER

Tristan Harris: It took 20 years and a lot of hard work but Harris Farm Markets is where it wants to be. of the differences and the local culture there,” he said. “They seem to be very dedicated to local supply for example. Our research shows they are more interested in protecting the local supply than our customers in New South Wales.

“As for Victoria, we know that they have more independent operators.

There is probably more competition in Victoria than there is in Queensland.

There are some good operators in Queensland but fewer than there are in Victoria.”

Because Harris Farm Markets is an independent fresh food provider, it has to make sure its produce is top of the range. Supply chain is important, and Harris believes the relationships the company has built with suppliers over the past three decades means they have a diverse range of growers that they can rely on to make sure the quality stays strong. He also realises, that due to the nature of the fruit and vegetable business, there has to be

give and take on both sides.

“That is an area where the strength of the relationship comes into the play,” he said. “The strength of the relationship always gets determined in that first season because every grower, no matter how good they are, has some product that is not as good as they want it to be. And every good grower knows when their product is not as good as they want it to be.”

He said retailers have a habit of saying that when there is a lot of fruit around, they will reject it on a quality basis. What they really mean is they have too much fruit and they can’t take any more. Whereas, Harris Farms like to think that it has a reputation with its direct growers, whereby if it has committed to take the fruit, it’ll take it, and if it means that the price is bad then both companies will wear the cost.

“On the other side of the coin, when it is really tight they’ll still give us the fruit we need and we won’t be

paying that super premium price for it,” said Harris. “What is absolutely critical is that when the fruit is not good, we have the conversation with them about how it is no good, ‘what are we going to do?’ All good growers will acknowledge that they’ve got a problem. You build up trust. They will either divert it back onto something like Paddy’s Market, or they will ask us to clear it for them. Sometimes that’ll be okay and we’ll put it through our Imperfect Picks bins.”

“It’s tricky at first, because you are both learning to trust each other, just like in any relationship. There are moments where you have to test the trust and if you get through those things well, your relationship is a whole lot stronger after it because you look at them and realise that they handled a tough situation well. I can rely on them and that they are not going to stick me with 10 pallets of fruit that is not good. And they know I’m not going to throw 10

pallets back at them and they’ll get killed in the market.”

As for the future of the business, will the Harris’s keep it all in the family like a lot of dynasties do?

Harris is non-committal. He would like to keep it in the family for a long time to come, but is also realistic that his and his brothers’ dreams are not necessarily those of the rest of the family.

“All three of us have kids,” he said. “My eldest is 15 and getting towards that age where they choose what they want to do. We don’t intend to make it one of those generational type of businesses just for the sake of it. Every family business struggles with this. We need to create options for family members to come in or out of the business when its suits them. We constantly look at this – how do we create these options? You want the business to be an opportunity not a prison.” F

www.foodmag.com.au | December 2020 | Food&Beverage Industry News 21

HEALTH AND SAFETY One of the challenges is finding a surface that makes both the safety and production staff happy.

Safe hygienic flooring lessens contamination issues Flooring can hide all sorts of microbe nasties that can have an adverse effect on the processing of food and beverages. Allied Finishes can help make sure plant and machinery meet flooring standards.

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lake Caldwell has been a consultant for Allied Finishes for the past four years and is well-placed to know the safety and hygiene issues that comes with making sure food and beverage floors are kept in tip-top shape.

One of the key aspects of putting together a flooring plan for such a project is making sure that both the safety and hygiene aspects are covered, which can take some doing due to of the types of surfaces each aspect needs.

“Throughout each manufacturing facility you have got your wash bays, production areas – they’ll vary from site to site,” said Caldwell. “Some areas will have dry production areas where they’ll have less of a non-slip surface, which means it will be easier for them to clean. Whereas, with something like a beverage manufacturing facility, where a bottle might smash or a beverage is spilt, they might want a heavier non-slip surface to prevent workers from slipping.

“One of the challenges is finding that perfect balance where the safety staff are happy with the non-slip floor and the production staff are happy that the floor is easy to clean.

Trying to make both teams happy is hard. You have to collaborate with

"One of the challenges is finding that perfect balance where the safety staff are happy with the non-slip floor and the production staff are happy that the floor is easy to clean. Trying to make both teams happy is hard. You have to collaborate with them to try and find the best solution that meets both of their needs." them to try and find the best solution that meets both of their needs.”

Caldwell talks about a recent site in Moorebank, NSW where one of Goodman Fielder’s Australianbased production facilities is located. The company had issues with its brew room, where they had an existing vinyl-type floor, which was quite rubbery, according to Caldwell.

“Being a brew room they had various types of oils, and flour and yeast in the areas,” he said.

“When all those kinds of products are left on the floor, it makes for an extremely slippery surface. We were called in to deliver our expert opinion on how to rectify it. From there it was sent to our technical specifications team to find a solution. They proposed a solution by providing samples and then we went

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in and resolved the issue for them.

“We had to rip up the existing vinyl-like surface and we reinstalled a heavy-duty polyurethane cement surface, and incorporated a heavy non-slip material. These systems have a matte finish, which further adds to the non-slip of the floor. If you have an full gloss epoxy floor, this will be more slippery, as you can imagine a shiny surface is a lot more slippery than a matte surface.”

Caldwell and the team at Allied are not easily intimidated when it comes to finding fixes for flooring issues. As far as he is concerned, everything is solvable and even if the company does not have the solution at the time of the visit, they will find one quickly enough to fulfil a brief.

It beats the alternative, according to Caldwell.

HEALTH AND SAFETY

“We have found a lot of the time companies, in an effort to save money, try and do a fix themselves,” he said. “Often, this can end badly, so it pays to reach out to us. Get an expert opinion. Get a professional to do it. That way you will get what you pay for. You will get a top quality floor, hygienic and safe both food and beverage wise, and worker-wise.

It will be compliant.

“We offer warranties on all of our floors and if there are issues that we have created, we are more than happy to take it on the chin and fix it,” he said “We also understand that downtime can be an issue for some companies. It can be a much bigger cost to some clients than actually doing the floor. If there are issues we will work around what is best for them and do it as soon as we can. We are more than happy to look at any sized facility to see if we can help.

There are no limits.”

Allied staff are also aware – especially in the food and beverage industry – of the aforementioned

"We also understand that downtime can be an issue for some companies. It can be a much bigger cost to some clients than actually doing the floor. If there are issues we will work around what is best for them and do it as soon as we can. We are more than happy to look at any sized facility to see if we can help. There are no limits." downtime, and how with some companies it can cost not just money, but affect deadlines for the client’s customers. Caldwell knows it is important to get in and help resolve issues speedily. For example, the project that they did for Goodman Fielder was done within a 24-hour period. That included 120 sq m of flooring, along with coving. To give added safety to the area, Allied Finishes also added in pathways to convey the company’s internal management plan, which included highlighting the forklift zones, the shared zones and pedestrian

zones to make sure there were maximum areas of safety.

“We’ve also been working at a site in Griffiths recently – a chicken processing plant – and they gave us a weekend to come in and do as much as we could over a weekend. We finished up Sunday about 10pm and then they could drive forklifts on it by 6am the following day,” he said. “We used a polyurethane cement because epoxies take longer to cure. We do epoxy floors but there has been a shift in the past couple of years where most contractors are using polyurethane cement

probably more than they are using epoxy, especially in the food and beverage space. This is because it is much quicker to set, and it is also much more impact and abrasion resistant as well as a lot more chemical resistant.”

A product that Allied Finishes specialises in is one that has special hygiene properties that are especially appropriate for food and beverage processing plants.

“Our newly released SteriFloor range is a suite of flooring solutions that we have re-engineered to incorporate select antimicrobial additives,” he said. “It makes us stand out in the market. It is not a solution that as far as I know anybody else is offering. We think it is in the best interest of our clients to have such a product available to them.

“At the end of the day, the major thing people need to know is the safety aspects, which can boil to another few things like non-slip surfaces, traffic management plans and anti-microbial properties.” F

Allied Finishes installed heavy-duty polyurethane cement surfaces. www.foodmag.com.au | December 2020 | Food&Beverage Industry News 23

HYGIENE

Food and Beverage lead the way in COVID-19 hygiene solutions Tony Tate and Rob Blythman from Total Construction explain why COVID will make commercial kitchen designers think differently when building a new premises and the lessons the food and beverage industry can teach other industries.

Food service companies are going to be a lot more vigilant when it comes to preparing food in aged care facilities and hospitals.

W

hether it be a hospital, aged care facility, catering or any other commercial kitchen, the way these premises will be designed and built has changed forever according to Total Construction’s Tony Tate and Rob Blythman. Tate, the company’s general manager of Food and Beverage, and Blythman, who is the general manager of Total’s Engineering Construction Group, both know that the pandemic has altered the way processes are carried out in order to make sure customers stay healthy.

The good news is that the food and beverage industry is leading the way because it already has stringent controls in place when it comes to health and safety.

“With COVID you’ve got a very high level of hygiene in food manufacturing. It’s not just for longish shelf life of products, it is also for health and safety reasons,”

said Blythman. “Food manufacturing has been doing that for at least 20 years in Australia. What is happening now with COVID is that a lot of food service type people, who run everything from aged care facilities to hospitals to restaurants and hotels, will have to go through the same levels of hygiene that food manufacturing does if they want to stop the ability for the likes of COVID to spread – or any infectious disease for that matter.”

Tate said that there are three important aspects that will have to be taken into consideration when new facilities are being erected – segregation, hygiene and traceability.

“People will have to be segregated when they are preparing the food into different zones,” he said. “You can’t have low-care workers mixing with medium-care workers, or mediumcare mixing with high care and vice versa. If you look at your food service or aged care facilities at the moment,

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they get supplies coming in the back loading bay. Kitchen hands are there, but they have to be diligent because COVID lives on cardboard for three days. Potentially they’ll take the food off the supplier, and then take it out and potentially start contaminating people and themselves.

“Then the goods go to the chef who then puts it on the Bain Marie, and then another person serves it and the contamination continues. In aged care, for example, they will have to start looking at zoning because people that are coming from outside the service need to be segregated. In order to get into the food service areas they will have to go through a barrier.”

Blythman said this is a glimpse into the future and that potentially there will be investment needed in the food service arena to make sure all measures are in place to protect everybody in the food chain.

“You can talk to any food manufacturer and they understand

high-level segregation, high care, low care, and how to do that,” he said. “It is mandated in all their businesses. It needs to flow down into other aspects of the food sector. We are seeing it in aged care, and soon it will be in hospitals, too.”

Tate believes when building aged care facilities, or other buildings where food service is necessary, architects will have to look at putting areas where changeovers can happen, so the chances of contamination can be reduced. While there is a lot of care in such industries at the moment, having purpose built zones that limit such issues, might soon become the norm.

“Look at the cruise industry at the moment. It has completely changed.

When they said they were segregating into their cabins the cabin crew were wandering around everywhere. They weren’t segregated. They went to the kitchen to get the food; they went to the linen cupboard and back to the cabin. That is how people got contaminated,” he said. “The food aspect of the aged care facility is the same. They are very vulnerable. There is a storage freezer project that we did in the Illawarra, which is automated and they use robots. The technology they use there is what they could use in a cruise liner nine floors high. They could supply food and other things in the cabins without touching human beings. A lot of the technology in the food manufacturing industry can be used in other industries like the food service industry.”

He also cites another industry where hygiene was an issue, and has since been addressed.

“Ready meals is an example that adapted,” he said. “They followed the strict standards of the pharmaceutical industry. There was a time where ready meals where having outbreaks that were killing people. Then, it was all about segregated areas during the production process so there was no cross contamination.

HYGIENE

It was about hygiene levels.”

Traceability is the final piece in the puzzle, according to Tate.

The food industry has been doing traceability with barcodes for some time. He talks about the UK, where traceability was introduced due to a mad cow disease outbreak in the early 1980s. They had to trace back so they could ensure the beef wasn’t contaminated.

“Some meat would come in, they’d scan the barcode, and knew exactly where the meat came from,” said Tate. “Which farm, which paddock, which cow. It was manual, but we did it. We would do it by looking at the use-by dates, and then there was a special code – a different code would give you a different day.”

To Blythman, another aspect that needs to be considered for the food service industry is distribution, mainly due to the nature of how food is doled out in various facilities.

“If a staff member in a hospital has COVID, that nurse or doctor is usually in one area of the hospital, whereas the food distribution is

"You should wash your hands for at least 20 seconds or more, to make sure that it is all lathered with soap, because that is breaking down the molecules." designed to be everywhere from a central point, which means there is instant spreading,” he said. “You have to try and make the food distribution area captive and have gating to stop the spread. When staff distribute food and they are going out and coming back they go through a sanitisation process. Even the trollies have to be sanitised so you are minimising the risks throughout the building.

“What we are seeing in the future is back to smaller kitchens. Each floor might have its own kitchen so they can isolate at that point. There might be a gate mechanism there, and a gate mechanism at the main distribution kitchen.”

Tate said Total Construction is starting to look at three different zones when it comes to food in the aged care sector. The critical zone is where the food gets distributed.

“Zone A is your critical zone for preparation,” he said. “With Zone B you should be gowned up and masked and have filtered air because you are dealing with people. Zone C means I can walk outside and pick up packaging. And when I come into the facility it is a different zone and I have to wash my hands.”

With the hygiene aspect, Tate gives practical advice when it comes to keeping not just COVID-19 at bay but any potential virus or bacteria.

There is no point in taking half measures, he said.

“When you do wash your hands they need to be washed at a tepid temperature of 39˚C. Most people do it half properly, then they touch a door handle and away they go,” he said. “That is how contamination spreads. You should wash your hands for at least 20 seconds or more, to

make sure that it is all lathered with soap, because that is breaking down the molecules. Then you dry them with a paper towel, use the towel to open doors, and then dispose of the towel in a bin with a popup lid.

“And that is how the food industry is run to meet BRC standards and to reach Woolworths’ standard. Because the brand damage to a company if somebody gets food poisoning can be non-recoverable.”

“A lot of this stuff is about getting the design, processes and procedure right,” said Blythman.

“A lot can be improved by changing processes, simply changing the way you do things, as opposed to physical segregation within a facility, which can be an expensive exercise when building. Retrofit works may also be required. One thing is for sure, the food service arena will need to ensure food safety practices improve to reduce the risk of virus transmission to their patrons, and it is going to be a long road of change ahead for a lot of companies in the new COVID world.” F

Social distancing and making sure all staff follow strict protocols are going to be the new norms moving forward.

www.foodmag.com.au | December 2020 | Food&Beverage Industry News 25

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

The Future of Food – do we need to re-engineer the food system?

The science of food is about to change as we head into the middle of the 21st century. Mike Wheeler listened in on a webinar by prominent food scientist Dr Julian McClements and found that things are about to change.

Food science is becoming more important as countries try and meet their growing populations’ nutritional needs.

D

r Julian McClements has an impressive resumé. He is a distinguished professor at Department of Food Science at the University of Massachusetts; adjunct professor, School of Food Science and Bioengineering at Zhejaing Gongshang University, China; and a visiting professor at Harvard University. He has more than 1,000 articles published, with 80,000 citations in other peoples’ papers, as well as 12 patents. He also published the book Future Foods: How Modern Science is Transforming the Way We Eat. When he talks, people listen.

During a recent Future of Food seminar, McClements made it clear that being in the food science arena now is the most exciting time he has seen in the industry in his 30-plus years of being involved.

What are the issues?

However, he realises there are a lot of problems within the food supply chain in terms of who is getting what and it is part of a food science practitioner’s brief to help solve these issues.

“First, there are over two billion people around the world have malnutrition or under-nutrition,” he said. “There is more than two billion people suffering from chronic conditions due to over nutrition with diseases like diabetes and heart disease. That is a huge problem where we need to reengineer the food system to try and solve.”

There are food safety issues.

Humans have a globalised food supply, which spans across the world and we’re getting ingredients from all over and bringing them together, he said. We have to make sure the

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foods are safe and we have new technologies to test those foods.

“Then there are also food sustainability issues,” he said. “The global population is growing and people are becoming richer, and that is putting more of a strain on the food supply because we have to feed everybody. We’re trying to make our foods more healthier and sustainable, but as we do that we have to make sure they taste good because nobody is going to eat them if they don’t taste good or are not affordable and if they are not convenient. We need to combine all of these things together.”

McClements believes that literally food designers and technologists will be delving into the realms of what was once science fiction to become science fact. In the past 10 years, ways of creating and

making food he saw on the television screen as a child are coming to fruition. He cites Star Trek as an example.

“When I was growing up you had Captain Kirk on the Starship Enterprise and part of the inner machinations of the starship was a food replicator machine,” he said.

“You could type in the food you wanted, and it would print it out for you. At the time it seemed really far-fetched, but who thought back then you would have phones where you could see somebody on the phone interface. You thought that was never going to happen and now we all have mobile phones. It is the same with the food replicators.”

What got McClements really thinking about food design was when he was invited to a meeting in Boston 10 years ago with

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

mathematician Eric Bonabeau.

Bonabeau was a complexity theorist, and he got a grant from NASA to make a 3D printer like the replicator, to create food for astronauts.

“He brought together, Leroy Chow, who was a commander on the international space station, as well as a gastronomy chef, an author who had written a book on food and cooking, and I was there to provide information about emulsions and things like that,” said McClements.

“It was a really exciting meeting.

They brought together all of these engineers and scientists and chefs, but I remember leaving the meeting and thinking, ‘That’s a crazy idea.

This is never going to work. This is never going to be practical’. Then 10 years later, people are 3D printing everything.”

There is even a restaurant in London, Food Ink, that has 3D printed chairs, tables, cutlery and food. Customers can type in what they want and the food is 3D printed.

“If you were training to be a chef and spent years and years training to make these really sophisticated structures to put on cakes at a highend restaurant, you might be better to be training as a software engineer.

If you can program a 3D printer to make those structures you don’t need the skills of chef anymore,” said McClements.

One of the bigger questions McClements asked aloud was, “How can we use food design principles to solve real-world problems?”

Another big issue, according to him, is the sustainably of the food supply.

The global population is growing, people are becoming wealthier, a larger fraction of people are moving into urban environments, and people are trying to move into a more westernised diet and that often involves eating more meat. He said it is estimated that we might have to produce up to 70 percent more food by 2050.

“This is going to be huge problem and something that food scientists need to address.

“There are lots of different solutions. Some of them involve being able to redesign foods,” said McClements.

One issue is trying to balance the use of agricultural land. According to the June 2018 issue of Science Magazine, in an article written

While plant-based meats are starting to take a foothold, they do have issues of their own.

by academics Joseph Poore and Thomas Nemecek, they said that farming animals takes up 83 per cent of the world’s agricultural land but only provides 18 per cent of our calory intake. This doesn’t mean those of us who like a steak or a bucket of fried chicken have to give it up, but in order to feed the world, food scientists need to start thinking differently, according to McClements. This means more plant-based foods and even other forms of proteins like insects, and what is called culture-based foods – that is meat grown in a petrie dish.

Plant-based foods In the case of plant-based foods it is not just a case of people turning to vegetarianism because it is healthier (and sometimes not, which we will come to later), but because they like the taste of vegetables in terms of being a protein replacement. And this is where food science really needs to stand up and be counted, said McClements.

“That is easier said than done. Most of us have grown up eating meat-based foods,” said

"If you were training to be a chef and spent years and years training to make these really sophisticated structures to put on cakes at a high-end restaurant, you might be better to be training as a software engineer."

McClements. “It is often seen as a status symbol to eat meat and animal products. So how can we try to improve the world? We can use the deconstruction of the hamburger as an example.”

According to McClements, one of the first things consumers and manufacturers need to understand is what makes a burger taste like it does, and then try and mimic that so consumers that usually like meat burgers will at least try the plantbased variety. And therein, lies the issue – making plant-based ‘meat’ taste like the real thing is not easy.

Yet, some companies have come very close to replicating the smell, texture and taste. McClements tasted an Impossible Burger for the first time in 2018.

“It was very similar to a beef

burger,” he said. “It has the same colour when you bite into it and it has a similar texture to a beef burger. It was a little bit mushy when you chewed it for a long time.

Part of the reason this burger tasted so good was is that the Impossible Food Company had identified heme, which is usually present in meat, has a really important role in determining the flavour and colour of beef burgers.

“They found that in the roots of soya beans you have this heme protein, which binds irons and gives the desirable colour and flavour that you need. The only problem was that there wasn’t enough heme in the roots of these soya beans to isolate efficiently. What they did was use fermentation tanks and genetically engineer it so that they could get

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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

enough heme to put in the quantities they were making.

One of the big drivers for this is that if you eat plants directly, they have a much more efficient protein yield than eating beef. They have less of an effect on the environment.

“In my lifetime in the food science area this has been one of the most dramatic changes I’ve seen.

I just found out that Impossible Foods is expanding and investing money into research. They have just got 50 new hires where they are looking for people to work in their company in San Francisco to do the next generation of their plant-based burgers. There is a huge amount of money being invested in this area.”

McClements often gets asked to consult in the food area. He said that a lot of people he talks to about plant-based ingredients want to know how to make them better and more sustainable.

“There was a lifecycle analysis done at the University of Michigan,” he said. “What they did was compare a Beyond Meat burger with a traditional beef burger and they did a full life-cycle analysis.

They found that you needed much

less water, much less land, which meant there was less greenhouse gases and much less energy for the plant-based burger.

“What is surprising to me is that most Americans eat three burgers a week. If the average American switched one of their hamburgers for a plant-based burger that would be equivalent to taking 12 million cars off the road, or powering 2.3 million homes. By doing that it is amazing how much impact we can have on the environment.”

Nutritional profile Another interesting insight that McClements brought to the fore was the nutritional profile of plantbased foods, which is that they must be healthier for consumers than their meat counterparts. Not necessarily so, he said.

“The Impossible Burger and Beyond Meat burger are very highly processed foods. They contain a lot of ingredients. Also their nutritional profile is not a lot better a traditional beef burger, and in some respect are worse,” he said. “When they were selling one of these plant-based burgers in one of the fast food chains

3D printed food will no longer be the purview of science fiction.

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in America, the [on of their plantbased burgers] had more calories, more saturated fat, more sodium and less protein than a traditional beef burger. If you look at the label is looks less healthy. It really is a work in progress.”

As mentioned earlier, one of the most exciting things about this area is the complexity of science involved in order to make these plant-based burgers, according to McClements.

In some respects it is more difficult to make them more tasty because we are trying to make them out of plant proteins.

“One of the lead scientists from Impossible Burgers came and spoke to us at the university and she was an engineer and she talked about how they make the product, “ said McClements. “Some of the things that they had to engineer into it were amazing. There were things like, the way the light was absorbed and scattered. You went from a pink colour to a brown colour so you needed some chemistry and some physics to understand that. You needed the right aroma profile so the right concentration of volatile molecules – you would have to know

what was above a beef product but also how to mimic that in the plantbased product. Then you had to get the right texture and mouth feel.”

Cultured meats Another future innovation that is closer to being a reality are culture burgers, which are burgers where the meat is grown in a petri dish or fermentation tank. This was first trialled by NASA in the 1990s, where they were trying to grow fish in a culture dish so they could feed astronauts in space. In Europe in the past decade, food technologists have been able to grow a cell from a cow in a fermentation tank, and given the right nutrients, and temperatures and growth factors, it will grow into meat cells.

“You have to exercise these meat cells so they get the right structure.

One you get them, you can grind them up and make a burger from it,” said McClements. “The first taste test with these burgers was done in 2013 and they had some chefs taste them and they said they were too dry. That was surprising because it cost nearly $330,000 of investment it. That was a very expensive burger

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

for something that tasted dry.”

But will people eat them?

McClements believes commercial applications are close and he cites a company near San Francisco called Just Foods that are using the technology in order to create different kind of chicken products.

“On their website they have a really nice video where they have some of the staff members from the company who are having a picnic,” he said. “And they are eating these chicken nuggets. And these nuggets came from a chicken called Ian. And Ian is running around the table as they are eating the nuggets, which is really weird that you can eat something that is still alive. I think they took the some cells from the feathers to get the chicken nuggets.

They say that they are going to have some products on the market fairly soon.”

More than two billion people eat bugs as a form of protein.

Insects Another alternative, instead of having cultured meat, is to have bug burgers. Insects are becoming more popular, according to McClements.

There is a restaurant in the UK called grub kitchen where they serve a menu based on insects.

One of the key things that has driven this area is that insects are seen by many as more sustainable.

They are becoming popular in Europe, you can buy bug burgers in supermarkets.

Why would consumer eat bugs?

One reason is that they have a good nutritional profile and they have a higher protein content than meat and fish. They have a lower fat content, and the fat they do have is rich in omega 3 fatty acids.

“And we all know that omega 3 fatty acids are good for your health,” said McClements. “They also have a good fibre content. By switching from beef to different types of edible insects we can improve the nutritional profile.

However, one of the biggest issues around the consumption of bugs, according to McClements, is having to overcome is the “yuk factor”. People in the Western world don’t think about eating bugs and don’t want to eat bugs. The biggest challenge in this area is how to get more people comfortable with eating insects.

“If you look the world there are already two billion people eating

"There are so many exciting things going on in different types of technology – from gene editing, food architecture, and nanotechnology and personalised nutrition...

There is lots of science to do in incredibly complicated systems we are working with." insects,” said McClements. “It is common part of their diet. Look at some of the things we do eat in the West – things like lobsters which are like a giant ocean cockroach, or shrimps which are like a sea locust, or eels which are like a big river worm.

“Between 100 or 200 years ago in New England, lobsters was seen as a food that was really for impoverished people or prisoners. They were abundant on the coast of New England and nobody wanted to eat them apart from the poorer people and now it is a delicacy in New England. They are very expensive to buy. Maybe this will be the same for cockroaches and crickets or locusts in the future.”

One of the ways of getting around the yuk factor is, according

to McClements, is instead of eating the whole insect as people do around the world, maybe they can be processed into products like flour, and people can use these flours to make different types of food such as protein bars, cakes or bread.

“To do this you really need to know food science to understand what is in these flours and how they behave in different types of food products so we get the right appearance, texture and taste so people want to eat the product,” he said. “Working with a group in Canada we have isolated proteins from bugs and made nano particles out of them to encapsulate diffident types of bioagents so we can stabilise them

and incorporate them into foods.

“There a companies now that are farming insects. A company based in the Netherlands has a huge facility where they are farming insects.

There are seven billion insects in one of these factories. That is the same number of people on the Earth in one factory. They are taking them and turning them into animal food, but also into human food.

“One of the advantages is that you can take waste materials that would normally get thrown away and feed them to the bugs who will convert them into a high source of proteins, minerals and vitamins.”

Overall, McClements is expecting bigger and better things from a food technology perspective over the next decade.

“There are so many exciting things going on in different types of technology – from gene editing, food architecture, and nanotechnology and personalised nutrition,” he said. “There is lots of science to do in incredibly complicated systems we are working with.” F

www.foodmag.com.au | December 2020 | Food&Beverage Industry News 29

AFCCC

Courses designed to bring down food waste Mark Mitchell, chairman of the Australian Food Cold Chain Council (AFCCC) explains why the thermometer is the most misunderstood tool in the food cold chain.

Not enough people in the cold supply chain keep an eye on the temperatures of goods in transit.

H

aving forecast in the last issue (Cold Chain training starts with the simple things) that the humble thermometer will be the target of a new training initiative for cold chain practitioners, here’s a small taste of the training course that might satisfy those who ask “What’s there to know about a thermometer?”

The course is now live on the website of the Australian Food Cold Chain Council and other membership organisations will add the training to their websites soon.

Called the Cold Chain Professional Development Series, this course is just the beginning of a concerted campaign by the AFCCC to lower the country’s serious food loss and wastage figures.

There are four more codes to be written, with accompanying training modules covering the entire cold chain including all facets inbound and outbound from the grocery and retail environment.

The AFCCC is charging a low fee for the online thermometer course, which will go towards funding the work on the other codes.

Leading players in Australia’s fight against food waste have applauded the initiative. The respected special adviser to the Fight Food Waste CRC, Mark Barthel said of the online training modules, ‘...a great job of

encapsulating all of the information required for a practitioner to understand the importance of an integrated cold food chain and the use of the most appropriate thermometer technology’.

The training is aimed at two audiences – the cold chain practitioners, those who work at the coalface of the cold chain and most likely to need thermometers in their hands; and managing practitioners, who are responsible for overseeing a compliant critical control point and ensuring that the right thermometers are used and understood for the job at hand.

The training modules go back to the basics of what a thermometer does, and the technologies they use to convert resistance changes into a numerical value.

There are five main technologies in common use in the cold chain – thermistors, thermocouples, resistive temperature detectors, infrared thermometers and bimetallic devices.

These technologies are applied across four types of thermometers – probe, infrared, time temperature recording devices and single use temperature indicators.

The Code spells out the advantages and disadvantages of all of them, plus their response speed, sensitivity and stability.

Before a thermometer of any kind is even switched on (or perhaps even purchased) the practitioner must determine a number of things if the plan is to arrive at an accurate temperature of any product.

For the thermometer itself, they first need to know the thermometer speed, its accuracy and its ease of use for the intended job.

All chilled or frozen foods have their own safe temperature specifications, so when selecting a type of thermometer, a cold chain practitioner needs to understand these parameters: • type of food being carried; • type of packaging – bulk on pallets, in boxes, cling-wrapped;

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• state of the food – chilled or frozen; • target temperature – centre or surface; • measurement accuracy and response time; • thermometer sensor stability over a period of time; and • ease of use and cost effectiveness.

The ideal thermometer should: • reach 90 per cent of final reading in less than three minutes; • have less than ± 0.5°C accuracy at –20°C to 30°C temperature range; • change by no more than ±0. 3°C when operated at –20°C to 30°C temperature range; • have at least one digit after the decimal point on the display reading; • be robust, shockproof and waterproof; • be easy to clean and allow good thermal contact with the tested food; • be operated by a dry cell battery and have a means of warning when the battery needs replacing; and • suit the target measurement (for example, robust rigid stem with a sharpened point for insertion into product, and a flat head for betweenpack measurements.

Depending on the accuracy required, the next decision must be whether a destructive or non-destructive measurement can be taken.

The non-destructive method is whereby a practitioner uses either a probe or infrared thermometer that only measures the surface temperature of chilled or frozen products, and that may not give an accurate reading of the core temperature of foodstuffs.

The successful use of a probe relies on excellent surface contact between the probe and the item being measured.

Even shapes and sizes of probes will be different if inserted between boxes on pallets, or loose packages.

With the destructive method, a pointed probe thermometer is inserted into the product or pressed firmly into its side. This method is considered the best and most accurate for measuring the temperature of non-bagged

products. This measurement method is also the only way load rejection and potential liability claims can be avoided, provided that the probe thermometer used has proven calibration, accuracy and limitation tolerances.

If temperatures are regularly measured in a single-product environment, an infrared thermometer can be used, but a knowledge of emissivity value is needed. It’s not as simple as buying any infrared thermometer and expecting a valid reading by just pointing and shooting.

A reflective surface on a produce box or package will also give a false reading.

An infrared thermometer cannot see through glass, liquids or other transparent surfaces. If pointed at a window, it will measure the window pane temperature. The visible laser beam emitted by these thermometers is purely an aid for aiming – it is not measuring anything. It shows the centre of a measuring spot, which emits the infrared energy that is measured by the thermometer to arrive at a temperature reading. The size and coverage of that spot is critical to accurate temperature measurement.

The energy is measured as emissivity, which is expressed as a value – from 0 for a mirror, to 1.0 for a black surface. The emissivity value of most unpackaged foods is in the 0.9 to 0.95 range, but if the food packaging has a reflective surface an accurate temperature cannot be taken unless steps are taken to artificially darken the surface of the packaging. If your workplace manages one product type only, an infrared thermometer can be selected with an emissivity value suitable for the measurement of that product. The emissivity value will be preset at the time of manufacture, and cannot be changed.

But for cross-docks that handle a variety of food products, in a variety of packaging, and at varying temperatures an infrared thermometer with useradjustable emissivity must be used. F

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AFGC Indonesia is a nation of 271 million people that has the potential to substantially increase its intake of Australian food and beverage exports.

New “how-to” guide for those looking for Indonesia opportunities Wondering how to get your product onto Indonesian supermarket shelves or how to secure Halal certification? A new guide for Indonesia-focused Australian exporters offers a wealth of information.

Food & Beverage Industry News explains.

I

ndonesia, Australia’s large and rapidly developing northern neighbour, offers great export opportunities for innovative Australian food and beverage manufacturers but entering any new market is not without its challenges.

Now a new guide offers deep insights to help Australian food and beverage manufacturers learn about the Indonesian market, discover where opportunities might exist and understand what they need to do to turn those opportunities into new business.

The Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) has released the Food and Beverage Export Guide to Indonesia, a comprehensive guide to all aspects of the Indonesian market, from consumer trends and popular products, through to regulatory requirements.

Australian food and beverage manufacturers enjoy a reputation for quality that has made their products sought after in overseas markets such as China, where a growing middle

"Australian food and beverage manufacturers enjoy a reputation for quality that has made their products sought after in overseas markets such as China, where a growing middle class has fuelled huge demand for premium products." class has fuelled huge demand for premium products. While China is the leading export destination for Australian food product categories – accounting for just over 20 per cent in 2017/18 – Indonesia is already a significant market.

Australia is the fourth-biggest source of food and beverage imports in Indonesia, after Thailand, the US and Argentina. Those four countries accounted for 56 percent of Indonesian packaged food and beverage imports in 2019, with key products being sugar, vegetable and animal oils or fats, coffee, tea, spices, ready meals, milled grain products and dairy products.

However the South-east Asian

32 Food&Beverage Industry News | December 2020 | www.foodmag.com.au

nation of 271 million people has the potential to substantially increase its intake and Australia is well-positioned as a supplier since the signing of the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA) in July this year.

The IA-CEPA aims to provide better access to the Indonesian market for Australian exporters, providing for import duties to be removed, or arrangements to be substantially improved, for more than 99 per cent of Australian goods.

Creating the Indonesia guide involved a deep dive into all aspects of the market by researchers Euromonitor International, whose work included visits to retail stores

in Jakarta and Bali and interviews with market players ranging from importers and distributors through to local manufacturers.

Potential exporters can use the guide to learn not just about Indonesia’s economy and broad trends in local consumer markets but also granular details such as popular packaging formats in each category or a breakdown of the $8.3 billion retail snacks market.

About one-fifth of snack category products are expected to be sourced from imports in Indonesia, according to the guide. Confectionery is currently the biggest segment at $3.02 billion but is not the fastest-growing, with savoury snacks showing an 8.4 per cent growth in retail value in 2019 as Indonesians consumers embrace a “snacking lifestyle”.

Australian producers may also be interested in trends in the highestvalue and fastest-growing category of staple foods, which includes rice, pasta and noodles, baked goods, processed meat and seafood, breakfast cereals

AFGC

and processed fruit and vegetables.

The retail staple foods market was worth $21.5 billion market in 2019 and imports currently account for about 23 per cent of supply, according to the report. Staple foods is tipped to be the fastest-growing food and beverage category in 2020-24, with emerging trends including a desire for organic rice among consumers from medium-to-high-income households.

In addition to retail markets, the guide examines the foodservice sector, which is also growing. The demand for staple foods through foodservice rose 4.7 per cent in 2019, with rice, pasta and noodles driving demand.

Euromonitor’s researchers noted that the staple foods category is dominated by Indonesian companies but industry sources suggested that international staples account for about 16 per cent of sales and imports are expected to rise as middle-to-upper income consumers become more familiar with overseas brands.

The guide also offers details of Indonesia’s supply chains, with

breakdowns of routes to market, listings of the major players in each sector and analysis of retail channels covering everything from independent grocers to hypermarkets owned by major groups such as French retailer Carrefour.

Regulatory and import requirements are also covered, including a comprehensive list of regulatory bodies and their roles, Indonesian labelling requirements and an explanation of Halal Certification – an important requirement for most food and beverage products in Indonesia, which has the world’s largest Muslim population.

AFGC deputy CEO Geoffrey Annison said the guide is meant to serve as a tool to help Australian food and beverage exporters understand the Indonesian market.

“Indonesia is a top-10 export destination for the Australian food and beverage sector and promises to be an important growth market,” Annison said.

“Improved market access and

reduced barriers to trade enabled by IA-CEPA will help exporters realise this opportunity.”

The guide also lists challenges and opportunities that exist in Indonesia’s supply chains and regulatory system.

On the regulatory requirements, it notes that some can be complex and lengthy but also concludes that “the Indonesian food and beverage market is known to reward those brand manufacturers (exporters) that persevere, as the growing demand for imported and premium products continues to open new opportunities that can materialise in substantial market share”.

The guide was funded by a grant from the Australian government’s Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment, with support from the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade).

The Food and Beverage Export Guide To Indonesia can be found on the Australian Food and Grocery Council website. (https:// www.afgc.org.au/) F

Exporters can use the guide to learn about Indonesia’s granular details such as popular packaging formats. www.foodmag.com.au | December 2020 | Food&Beverage Industry News 33

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CPP Designation on the rise in Australasia Author

Nerida Kelton MAIP, Executive Director, Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP)

As the mark of excellence internationally and a must-have recognition of industry proficiency and achievement, the Certified Packaging Professional (CPP) continues to gain momentum in Australasia.

Being an AIP member, the Institute offered me guidance and support in achieving my CPP designation.

Julie-Ann: The main reason I undertook the on-line Fundamentals of Packaging Technology course through the AIP, and then the CPP program, was to really broaden my skills and knowledge of the packaging development process. (left to right) Sarah Yanez, Raycee Blen Aguirre and Julie-Ann Cuya.

A

ttaining the Certified Packaging Professional (CPP) designation is an excellent investment in professional development.

The credential defines the packaging professional and allows organisations to seek out and hire the right professional based on verified knowledge, skills and industry contributions. CPP demonstrates broad competency in all major areas of packaging. CPPs today typically enjoy more senior, decisionmaking positions in their companies, and research also suggests that holders of CPP often out-earn their noncertified peers. We talk to the latest round of qualified CPPs, Sarah Yanez MAIP CPP, director, Totally Wrapt Packaging; Raycee Blen Aguirre MAIP CPP, Packaging Specialist, Aero-pack Industries; and Julie-Ann Cuya MAIP CPP, Packaging Specialist, Oleo-Fats.

How long have you been in the industry? What are your areas of expertise?

Sarah: I have been working in the food industry for over 16 years, with most of the time focused on packaging. I initially worked in large FMCG and commodity businesses in wrapped snacks, ice cream, bulk dairy, baby formula, snack bars and cereal. More recently I have been helping small businesses and start-ups to navigate the NPD landscape and find packaging solutions for their products.

Raycee: I have been working in the Packaging Industry for three years now.

I am currently working as a packaging

specialist and my key responsibilities involve planning and directing activities concerned with design and development of different packaging containers for all our products ranging from food ingredients, chemicals for personal and home care, and aerosol products. I work with internal resources and packaging suppliers to provide creative, timely, and costeffective solutions for new and existing products.

Julie-Ann: I have been working in the packaging industry for eight years as a packaging specialist for food applications. My role involves development, sourcing and selection of primary, secondary and tertiary packaging of all types. But the majority of materials I work with are flexibles, rigids, corrugated and folding cartons. I am also responsible for the supplier selection and part of the team conducting supplier audits.

What made you apply for the Certified Packaging Professional (CPP) Designation?

Sarah: The program has enabled me to look back at some real situations that have arisen over the years and review what happened and why.

Raycee: I have been preparing for this and in 2020, when I knew I was finally ready and qualified to take the CPP program, I was confident because I had great mentors from my University where I studied packaging.

I am also thankful that I met AIP at the Propak Philippines Trade Show.

How important is attaining the CPP designation to you?

Sarah: As I am currently working on my own without up-to-date peers, it is reassuring that I can continue to work for clients knowing that I am able to offer a quality, up to date service that is globally recognised.

Raycee: The CPP designation is a leading trademark of excellence internationally and for me, it is a must have achievement as a professional who works in the Packaging Industry.

Julie-Ann: It serves as a professional achievement for me to have been able to attain the designation that is also being recognised globally. Aside from the recognition it is also an attestation of continuous learning and development as a packaging profession.

How important is the CPP for the greater recognition of people in the packaging industry?

Sarah: I have long felt that the art of packaging technology is somewhat like completing an apprenticeship. It is not until you have worked on a range of products and packaging formats that you really become proficient.

Raycee: The CPP designation is an indication that an individual has profound knowledge of packaging materials, processes and machineries, packaging development and testing, and packaging laws and standards. It signifies that a person is internationally proficient as a packaging professional and deserves to be given recognition in the industry.

Julie-Ann: It is a bonus on top

of completing the FPT course to also attain the Certified Packaging Professional designation, and I feel elated.

Were there any new learnings or takeaways that you gained?

Sarah: In my initial packaging studies we spoke a lot about how the landscape was likely to change as on-line shopping became more prevalent. It has been interesting to reflect on how our anticipated scenarios have played out, but also how the focus on single serve, convenience packaging – which was a common trend at the time – has now reverted to bulk packaging, refillable containers to reduce packaging waste.

Raycee: Successful Packaging Professionals allow others to teach them, guide them, and show them what they know in the packaging industry.

Julie-Ann: It serves as a comprehensive reference if one wants to simply familiarise themselves with the basic principles of packaging technology and/or the industry itself.

Where to from here?

Sarah: The next 12-18 months is likely to have a strong sustainability focus as our new nationwide strategies for consistent recycling and material collection are rolled out.

Raycee: My current job is a great match for my skills and experience and it continues to provide me opportunities to increase my expertise and skills in managing the package development process and providing packaging solutions for the organisation’s product.

Julie-Ann: It serves as a professional goal to those people who are working in the packaging industry. Also, to those who want to further hone their skills and knowledge at the same time widen their connections in the packaging world. It also recognises the competency and proficiency of packaging professionals. F For more information contact the AIP

www.foodmag.com.au | December 2020 | Food&Beverage Industry News 35

DAIRY REPORT

Global dairy commodity update A part from the ongoing turbulence in the US cheese market, global dairy markets have remained calm as COVID-19 infections rise and stringent movement restrictions return. Dairy market fundamentals are however mixed across major producers and regional factors continue to influence the value directions in commodities.

The effects of the first wave of COVID outbreaks – from lockdowns and their roll-back – had limited overall effect on dairy demand, helped by resilience of sales through grocery channels. This was also cushioned in Europe by summer demand for cream which avoided large butter surpluses.

Second wave case outbreaks are far larger in scale than in Q2-2020, yet governments will take a mixed in response in applying restrictions – some avoiding unpopular lockdowns.

The adequacy of retail demand will be tested as governments now offer less income support and the closure of food service outlets will weaken cream use. There is an uncertain volume impact of more cautious discretionary spending on the dairy category.

Meanwhile, commodity prices have recovered and dairy commodity buyers in price-sensitive export markets will face a more complex economic outlook and may not have the need or

incentive to restock.

The risk of further stock-build in butterfat depends on the resilience of cheese demand in the EU and US as well as the prospects for increased exports. There will be an ongoing slow and bumpy recovery in food service channels while business and tourism travel and events will be limited through much of 2021.

Milk growth picked up recently but won’t be sustained through coming months (outside the US) as weather and feed costs will start to impact milk production in several regions.

Global trade remained ahead of the prior year in August but at a slower pace than each of the previous two months. The year-on-year growth across major commodity categories was lower in most cases. Butterfat trade was most impacted - August trade fell by a combined 11 per cent.

Skim milk powder Spot prices for SMP have been mixed recently – steady in NZ since mid-September, weaker in the US as milk supply expands, and firmer in the EU.

Whole milk powder Prices for WMP have stabilized in the past few months, with EU and NZ product converging and trading

Milk growth has picked up but won’t be sustained over the coming months.

36 Food&Beverage Industry News | December November 2020 | www.foodmag.com.au

around the $4,100 mark. At the earliest October GDT Event, WMP values gained, steadying at the latest event.

to fall 6.8 per cent. This came despite a continuing slide in NZ average shipped prices, while EU values continued to increase.

Cheese values in the US gained through October, while NZ and EU prices have steadied with EU values remaining competitive. US Q1-2021 futures prices have also increased with the rampant spot market, but once additional supplies are available, futures prices suggest a large correction

Whey

Cheese

Butter Butterfat trade fell 10.8 per cent in overall terms, pulled lower than the prior month’s decline by a 20 per cent fall in AMF trade, while butter trade worsened a little

Whey product values were steady through October and remain under the complex influences of COVID19 on milk supplies, the prospects for increasing cheese output, relative SMP prices and weak demand for highconcentrate products as infant formula trade remained subdued and fitness markets have been closed-down due to movement restrictions. F

NEW PRODUCTS

Achieving higher efficiency at lower cost Those responsible for the extraction, processing, storage, industrial plant distribution, consumption or sub metering of natural gas will find the latest advances in thermal mass flow measurement with Adaptive Sensing Technology (AST) from Fluid Components International (FCI) can help them achieve higher efficiencies at lower costs while reducing their carbon footprint to protect the planet and boost profits. The accurate, reliable measurement of natural gas is critical in a wide range of industrial processes and manufacturing applications.

For example during oil extraction, refining, transport and storage, it is sometimes necessary to flare off excess gas at the well-head, or later on during the separation process to remove water and contaminants, or aboard LNG vessels or at landbased storage facilities and distribution depots. Many manufacturing and processing industries, as well as large commercial buildings and campuses, also rely on natural gas as a fuel source to power boilers, burners, dryers, engines, furnaces, generators, kilns and more. Controlling natural gas costs is critical to product quality, competitiveness and profits.

FCI’s green-friendly AST thermal flow meters help process and plant operation engineers in these industries conserve natural gas resources by measuring it more accurately and consistently with an innovative, patent-pending flow meter hybrid sensor drive. This measuring technique combines both of the industry’s highly proven constant power (CP) and constant temperature (CT) thermal dispersion sensing technologies in one flow meter.

AST thermal flow meters measure in CT mode during start-up and through the lower flow ranges, and will then shift into CP mode at mid-range and higher flow rates. The result is AST achieves a best of both technologies performance level to deliver extremely fast response with extended measuring ranges at low power consumption to maximise sensor reliability and reduce instrument energy expenses as well. FCI’s AST technology flow meters feature a rugged no-moving parts thermal flow element design, which provides direct mass flow measurement of air and gases with just a single process penetration. This

approach saves plant real estate space and eliminates unnecessary installation labour, additional wiring and other expenses. It also prevents the performance degradation encountered with other flow technologies, which require the addition of expensive temperature and pressure sensors to compute an inferred mass flow. With no moving parts to plug or foul, and virtually no pressure drop, AST thermal flow meters deliver extensive lifecycle cost savings over higher maintenance technologies. The result is more accurate, repeatable mass flow measurement at the lowest total installed cost.

The FCI Model ST80 Series and the Model ST100 Series AST technology thermal mass air/gas flow meters are highly responsive (within 1 second) and accurate to ±0.75 per cent of reading, ±0.5 per cent of full scale, with repeatability of ±0.5 per cent of reading. They are suitable for use in air/gas temperatures up to 450°C. Their wide flow range, from 0.08 to 300 NMPS and array of analogue outputs and digital bus communications allow their application in almost any industrial process or manufacturing application. The Models ST80 and ST100 Series Flow Meters come with impressive global HazEx certifications for Div.1/Zone 1 level safety in the most demanding environments.

Best-in-class integrated or remote displays feature full graphics and text with touch controls, offering flow rate or totalised flow data as well as sophisticated diagnostics.

AMS Instrumentation & Calibration (03) 9017 8225 www.ams-ic.com.au

PPC-F15C-Q370 15-inch AI-ready modular Panel PC ICP Australia has introduced iEi’s PPC-F15C-Q370 AI-ready modular Panel PC. The PPC-F15C-Q370 Panel PC is powered by 8th Generation LGA1151 Intel Core i7/i5/i3 and Pentium processor. It can be used as an inference computing system for AI applications.

This Panel PC has a unique modular design to achieve high flexibility by assembling the FLEX series system with the LCD touchscreen module. The excellent active cooling method is utilised to effectively transfer heat from the chassis and maintain system performance.

Including four low-profile PCIe slots for various expansions, two of them are PCIe 3.0 x8 slots for adding GPU cards or image processing cards for highperformance Artificial Intelligence computing. Four 2.5-inch SATA SSD bays with RAID function are protected in a lockable cover to ensure security of data and disks.

The system is also equipped with two M.2 M-key (2280) slots to support PCIe SSD and NVMe, providing a variety of storage interfaces for users to choose from.

Key features: • 15-inch Panel PC with 8th Generation LGA 1151 Intel Core i7/i5/i3 and Pentium processor; • four hot-swappable and accessible HDD drive bays, supporting RAID 0/1/5/10; • two PCIe 3.0 by 4 and Two PCIe 3.0 by 8 slots; • dual M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 3.0 x4 NVMe SSD support; and • QTS-Gateway support.

ICP Electronics Australia (02) 9457 6011 www.icp-australia.com.au www.foodmag.com.au | December 2020 | Food&Beverage Industry News 37

NEW PRODUCTS

PPC-F15C-Q370 15-inch AI-ready modular panel PC igus has developed the twisterband HD so that cables and hoses can be guided safely and reliably even during rotary movements. The lightweight energy chain, available from Treotham, is very stable, easy to fill and can even cope with rotating speeds of up to 180 degrees a second. It rotates around its own axis.

Due to the long service life of the series, igus has now added two further sizes to the twisterband HD product range, these new sizes being intended for especially small installation spaces.

High rotation speeds and a small installation space mean that energy cables, data cables and hoses are subjected to a great deal of stress. Compact and reliable solutions are especially called for in the case of small installation spaces such as in machine tools, and igus has therefore added two new sizes to its twisterband HD series. The energy supply series is already being used successfully in woodworking machines as well as in workpiece positioners in the automotive industry. With the twisterband, rotary movements up to 7,000 degrees are possible on the horizontal plane and 3,000 degrees on the vertical plane in an extremely small space, even at speeds of up to 180 degrees per second. Slip rings can therefore be replaced in the case of a limited rotation angle. Different media lines as well as bus cables or even fluids can be guided with one system easily, cost-effectively and without any interruption. The inner compact heights of the new sizes are 11 and 18 millimetres: optimal for very small installation spaces such as in rotary tables or on robots.

HD has a longer service life. The robust energy chain has demonstrated its long service life in igus’ own 3,800 sq m test laboratory. In conjunction with chainflex cables, which are designed for motion, the twisterband HD achieved a very long service life in the tests. Due to its modular structure, the energy supply system can be lengthened or shortened as desired. The cables can be inserted in the guidance system easily and can be replaced or extended at any time, this being a further advantage over slip rings. The twisterband HD series is currently available from Treotham in a total of four sizes with an outer diameter of 140 to 500 millimetres.

Treotham Automation www.treotham.com.au 1300 65 75 64

High strength due to special technical design characteristics The twisterband HD is very slim, light and fits closely around its own axis of rotation. The energy chain consists of individual chain links that can be connected to each other by means of a pin-and-hook principle. This results in a defined bend radius and simultaneously ensures greater stability. The energy supply solution is made of maintenance-free tribo-polymers into which a fibreglass-reinforced material has been worked. As a result, the twisterband

Rugged IP65 & MIL-STD-810G-certified handheld mobile Backplane Systems Technology has released Winmate’s E430RQ8 4.3-inch rugged IP65 & MIL-STD-810G-certified handheld mobile with Qualcomm Snapdragon 660.

The E430RQ8 is a rugged IP65 waterproof and dustproof mobile handheld with a 4.3-inch 800 x 480 panel with direct optical bonding and optional 1D/2D Barcode Reader for data collection. The rugged mobile is equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 Octa-core processor that delivers stable performance at a higher level of power efficiency Sealed to IP65, the E430RQ8 rugged mobile computer is built to withstand harsh environments, protected against water and dust. Compliant with MILSTD-810G, it can operate in extreme temperatures ranging from -20°C to 60°C (-4F to 140F) and endure shock, vibration, and 4-foot drops.

Weighing only 260 grams the E430RQ8 is an ultimate compact pocket-size 4.3-inch rugged mobile computer for on-the-go real-time communications, monitoring, and data capture.

The E430RQ8 offers WLAN, BT, and WWAN functions to enable robust communications anytime and anywhere. With a built-in 8.0 MP camera on the rear side, it can capture photos, videos, documents instantly, or utilize the front 2.0 MP camera for applications such as self-video recording, or video communications.

Key features: • Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 (Octa-Core 2.2 GHz); • 4.3-inch 800 x 480 panel with direct optical bonding; • optional 1D/2D barcode reader for data collection; • IP65 waterproof and dustproof; and • supports android 9.0.

38 Food&Beverage Industry News | December 2020 | www.foodmag.com.au

Backplane Systems Technology (02) 9457 6400 www.backplane.com.au

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