Food & Beverages

AEGIC’s oat noodles and oat ‘rice’ are destined for supermarket shelves, with a Western Australian based company set to begin producing the innovative foods. AEGIC’s oat scientists developed manufacturing processes for 100% whole grain noodles and a ‘rice’ product that can be eaten like regular rice.

The Ferrero Group is selling its $70 million hazelnut development near Narrandera amid claims that the region’s climate played a key factor in its decision. The move to not proceed with its NSW project is considered a major blow to the establishment of a commercial-scale hazelnut growing industry in Australia.

A Coonawarra cabernet sauvignon has claimed top honours at the Limestone Coast Wine Show, outclassing 443 other entries from 62 exhibitors. Yalumba’s 2021 Sanctum Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon won the Bill Redman Trophy for Best Wine of Show ... Chief of Judges Philip Rich said the winning red, which retails for under $30 a bottle, impressed from the outset.

The 22nd Limestone Coast Wine Show ... a panel of 16 expert critics led by new chief of judges Philip Rich will begin tasting nearly 450 of the Limestone Coast’s best wines in the heart of terra rossa country at the Coonawarra Soldiers Memorial Hall. This year’s guest international judge, Sweden-based wine consultant Madeleine Stenwreth, is among those relishing the role of sampling so many quality entries over the coming days.

Denmark's first whisky and rum distillery will open early next year at Raintree Farm’s The Dam restaurant. The announcement comes as the first-release single-malt whisky reaches its final months of a two-year ageing process.

Yamba chef Marley Van Den Boom has brought invaluable food knowledge and skills back to his hometown after completing a three-month internship at the restaurant that has been named the world’s best multiple times, Japan’s three-Michelin-star restaurant Noma. The 22-year-old told the CV Independent he started working in a Yamba café aged 14 as a dish washer while in high school...

The year is 1979. How’s business? ... “It was like a corner store, a general store. Sold everything food wise, from ice cream to groceries, veggies ... And I bought the shop on condition I got the recipe for the ice blocks" ... Final question, Roger - where is the recipe for these ice blocks?

It's been a few seasons since Australian Rural & Regional News found out all about the innovative farm to plate online marketplace, Farmer to Fridge (formerly Half A Cow) from founder James Gilbert. Especially with prices the way they are, it's timely to find out how this young business is travelling, and what it has to offer meat producers and meat eaters too.

Mark McHenry is a physicist, an innovator and an explorer of clean energy solutions. He’s worked on research projects in America, the Philippines and Mozambique and is an Associate Professor at Murdoch Uni’s Harry Butler Institute ... Mark is currently putting his physics knowledge into numerous food and energy projects and one of his studies involves truffles.

The proposed redevelopment of the historic Grafton Brewery is in doubt after council posed over 100 conditions on the business including restrictive operating hours ... But Mr Firth said the development may never be realised due to the onerous and duplicitous requirements that make the development potentially unworkable.

Maldon is soon to have a new music-bar-pizza cocktail lounge–the Blue Cockatoo. Somewhere to eat, drink, relax, socialise, and go karaoke ... The Blue Cockatoo name is in honour of their three birds. People come from all around Victoria to see them. And to hear them.

Lestatt Hammond-Hurst from Glenreagh will represent NSW in the baking category at the WorldSkills Australia 2023 National Championships in Melbourne ... “In preparation for the competition, I’ve been working hard on my consistency, and making sure everything I take out of the oven looks perfect and has the same texture and colour."

Joan Hayman. Sixteen years ago, two Kyogle Tidy Towns members had a dream. They realised there was a need for a place where local producers could sell the products of their labour. They wanted to the town to see what was produced locally and to decrease the food miles their food travels  and help the planet.

Even early removal of Chinese anti-dumping tariffs would not be enough to prevent Australia’s wine industry facing several years of oversupply, Rabobank says in its newly-released Wine Quarterly Q3 2023 report ... So large is the current oversupply, says Ms Piggott, that Australia has the equivalent of 859 olympic swimming pools worth of wine in storage.

Powick’s Pantry’s potentially winning spicy tomato relish is languishing in a mail sorting facility in Sydney instead of being delivered to the Sydney Food Show for judging ... it has still not been delivered and is apparently sitting in the mail centre a week after it was posted.

Nhill is excited to have a funky new coffee van open in the main street from Saturday. ‘Lots of Laughter’ will be opening at 44- 46 Victoria Street (where the Nhill Garden Centre was). Local Lachlan Keller, who is an experienced cook, is looking forward to serving the local community.

Popular local apprentice butcher Claire Keleher is an entrant in the Australian Meat Industry Council’s Apprentice of the Year competition. Competing last week in Brisbane at State level, Claire showed her skills amongst the best in the business. Out of fourteen entrants only Claire and another entrant were school based, with many of the others being at the end of their apprenticeships.

Viv Markham. Maldon Bakery owner Rebecca Barnett is pretty chuffed that her business has been selected as the National Bakery Industry of Australia’s bakery of the month for July. Her business has only been open for nine months, but under her guidance, it has been going from strength to strength.

The latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, released on 26 July 2023, shows food inflation slowing in the June quarter. Rabobank senior food retail analyst Michael Harvey said “Food inflation is at 1.6 per cent for March to June (unchanged from the last quarter), and 7.5 per cent year-on-year – slowing down from last quarter at 8 per cent”.

Ukrainian chicken producers have made a good marketing move. Thanks to this, the retail price of boneless chicken meat is about US$3 for one kilo. This is the most affordable meat in Ukraine. Beef and pork producers have yet to strike back ... Private entrepreneur Lyudmila Koloshko speaks about how profitable it is to sell "Leg meat".