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BASF and IRRI join forces to reduce carbon footprint of rice

BASF and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) have entered into a scientific collaboration to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from rice production. Running by the name “OPTIMA Rice” (Optimising Management for Reduction of GHG in Rice), the collaboration with IRRI supports BASF’s commitment to enable the reduction of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) emissions by 30 percent per ton of crop produced by 2030. The joint effort is planned for multiple rice seasons in the Philippines and will take place in Laguna, where both organisations maintain research centres for rice. Rice is one of the five most widely produced cereal crops globally and is consumed by about three billion people every day. Although it is grown all over the world, Asia accounts for the largest share of its production. However, because of its geographic expansion and typical manner of wetland cultivation, worldwide paddy rice production contributes about 10 percent of total GHG emissions from the agricultural sector, mainly coming from continuously flooded wetland rice fields. Due to this large carbon footprint, it is estimated that rice production has the greatest potential within agricultural crop production to reduce GHG emissions. BASF and IRRI therefore plan to explore multiple topics related to climate smart farming in rice. These include direct-seeded rice varieties, nitrogen stabilisers, nutrient and residue management, novel chemistry tailor-made for rice farmers, and water-saving technologies such as alternate wetting and drying management (AWD). In addition, IRRI has begun further improvements to its ecophysiological model ORYZA, to include new computation algorithms for estimating GHG emissions, for application to the project. BASF will use its AgBalance™ tool to estimate the GHG emission intensity and will work with IRRI on field tests of their products to obtain high-quality agronomic and GHG data. Both BASF and IRRI aim to further develop and apply models […]

EDITION Hotels partners with Josh Niland

EDITION Hotels has partnered with one of the leading sustainable chefs in the world, acclaimed Australian restaurateur and multi-award-winning chef and author Josh Niland, to helm the signature restaurant at The Singapore EDITION. The ethically sourced seafood concept will be Niland’s first restaurant outside of Australia, an elegant home for what a sustainable, modern-age, seafood-focused steakhouse is today, with the edition of sensational meat and vegetable dishes. Having burst onto the food scene in 2016 with his revolutionary and now wildly popular approach to the way we cook, transport, age and store fish, Chef Niland has worked at some of Sydney’s greatest restaurants as well as at the UK’s legendary three Michelin starred The Fat Duck, before opening Saint Peter, his first restaurant in Sydney with his wife and business partner Julie Niland in 2016. The Fish Butchery, a retail market concept selling sustainable fish species, was later introduced in 2018. Charcoal Fish, a beachside takeaway concept offering restaurant-quality fast food, and a second Fish Butchery both followed in 2019. Earlier this year, the couple opened a second restaurant, Petermen, on Sydney’s Northern Shores. Niland is the author of award-winning ‘The Whole Fish Cookbook’ and ‘Take One Fish,’ which also received worldwide acclaim. He has just released his third book, ‘Fish Butchery,’ in August 2023. With nods to stylish Old-World elegance and tradition, The Singapore EDITION’s signature restaurant will reflect Chef Niland’s globally recognised passion for seafood and focus on creating a circular economy within the restaurant and lobby bar to mitigate waste while heightening the guest experience. In his restless pursuit of excellence, his unique creations will feature the finest ingredients from world-class producers, growers and artisanal suppliers to present a menu of fish cut to order, including rib on the bone, crown roasts and cutlets. Chef Niland’s menu […]

Fortude helps Beak and Johnston nail recipe for success with Infor M3

Beak and Johnston, an Australian family-owned fresh food manufacturer that produces innovative, value-added meal solutions, has partnered with Fortude, a global digital technology solutions company, to transform the manufacturing operations at its Greenacre plant. While Beak and Johnston is no stranger to Infor M3 having previously adopted it at their Arndell Park Facility, the manufacturer chose to partner with Fortude for the Greenacre plant roll-out because of the firm’s deep domain expertise and strong implementation track record in the food and beverage industry. “Our investment in Infor M3 is a strategic move towards becoming the top convenient meals provider of choice for all Australians. Fortude’s food and beverage industry implementation experience coupled with its extensive suite of extensions and integrations has enabled us to boost the performance of Infor’s core solution. With Fortude’s support, we have been able to streamline our operations and minimise food waste through effective master demand forecasting and inventory management. We also have been able to establish complete traceability which enables us to ensure compliance and food safety in our operations. We are delighted to have a partner like Fortude that understands our industry and growth ambitions very well,” said Ben Taboada, Group IT Manager, Beak and Johnston. Fortude’s implementation has helped the Australian food manufacturer boost its inventory visibility, overcome integration issues, simplify the stock valuation process, and eliminate supply chain inefficiencies. Fortude also introduced the Infor Manufacturing Execution System (MES) to support Beak and Johnston’s core manufacturing activities through complete traceability and accurate shelf-life management capabilities for its fresh food products. “The growing consumer demands for convenient and healthy meal solutions points to a booming frozen food industry. However, limited product shelf-life and dynamics of the fresh food industry, pose serious challenges for fresh food manufacturers,” explains Cameron Greening, Senior Vice President (Sales) ANZ, […]

3D food printing on the menu for summer scholar

A Lincoln undergraduate has had a taste of a new concept in food production after completing a 10-week summer scholarship using 3D printing technology on campus. Sahiti Peddisetti, who is about to begin her final year of a Bachelor of Science (Food Science), was tasked with creating 3D reconstructed food products from low value cuts of meat and additional natural ingredients, such as plant-based protein. The pilot study involved producing new foods in a range of shapes, textures and colours via a 3D food printer, allowing her to experiment with different ways of reshaping the materials into desirable products. Sahiti’s supervisors, Drs Hannah Lee and Damir Torrico, say the project has important implications for sustainability, as increasing available protein in foods can reduce waste and fully utilise existing animal and plant-based proteins by improving their functional and nutritional value. The reconstructed foods that Sahiti created used tough, low-value meat cuts, with the addition of pea plant protein isolate and gelatine. “Our findings have shown that the tenderness of different 3D printed, cooked beef cuts follow the same trend as normal, cooked beef cuts,” Sahiti said. “For example, beef blade tends to be less tender than beef rump, in both normal and 3D printed conditions. “From a sensory perspective, the 3D printed, cooked beef samples were identified as ‘dry’ and ‘easily melting’ with a ‘strong beef flavour’. This was directly related to the meat preparation and cooking methods, which involved freeze drying of meat and conventional methods of cooking. “In the future, we would like to use techniques that can easily transform meat cuts into puree, ready to use for printing. This way, we wouldn’t lose the meat’s original qualities.” The pilot study leads into a research project with Massey University, which will involve Dr Lee and other Lincoln academics developing […]

Fifth generation Australian farming family launches story & recipe book Sharing their story of resilience, heartbreak and passion for real food. After the enduring heartbreak of the worst drought in Australian history, relief was on it’s way in the form of rain, but the storm turned to hail destroying 4 million avocados along with hopes and dreams. When things seemed that they could not get any worse, bushfires struck and the real fight to save their farm began. Julia Foyster grew up in Germany. Twelve years ago she decided to backpack through Australia with a friend. She joined ‘Willing Workers on Organic Farms’ and worked and lived with farming families in exchange for board and accommodation. She harvested coffee beans, picked, packed and sliced mangoes, worked on a horse riding farm, and eventually ended up on her now husband’s farm picking and packing avocados, mangoes and limes. A decade later they are married with two kids. In the first few years, Julia drove tractors, helped run the packing facility, helped to establish new orchards and investigated new crops to grow. Julia says: “It wasn’t until my first of many floods that I realised the severe emotional toll on my new family. Witnessing the destruction of our watermelon crop revealed what it truly meant to be married to an Australian farmer. “No one really talked about the financial loss or the emotional strain. Everyone just threw themselves into working even harder to make up for the loss. We replaced our watermelon crop hoping that we would still be able to grow another but just before we could harvest, another flood hit. “I realised it wasn’t enough for me to stand by and watch things unfold. I had to do my part to help my family financially and the idea for Tweed […]

EECA building energy use picture in NZ food and beverage sector

The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) is building a picture of energy use in the NZ Food and Beverage sector (not including dairy, meat and seafood). Importantly, the findings of this project will help EECA to design effective programmes to support energy efficiency and decarbonisation for the Food and Beverage sector. To participate in the study – a simple survey, which is due back by the end of October – should take 15-20 minutes and can be completed online at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MTPVXPP

New Zealand Food Network launches South Island branch for communities in need

The New Zealand Food Network has today announced the official opening of a second warehouse and distribution centre – in Christchurch, helping to provide an even greater level of support for food insecure communities throughout the region and beyond. One year on from the start of New Zealand’s nationwide lockdown, many Kiwis are still grappling with the financial impact of COVID-19 related job losses, redundancies and reduced hours – and the sharp increase in national food insecurity levels that came with that first lockdown has been largely sustained. Canterbury has been one of New Zealand’s hardest hit regions, with COVID-19 compounding challenges created by the 2011 earthquakes and subsequent recovery efforts. In fact, an analysis of 2018 census data reveals that, even prior to the pandemic, the Canterbury region suffered from some of the highest deprivation levels of anywhere in New Zealand. The impact of long-term border closures has also been felt particularly sharply by communities throughout Otago and Southland, as many businesses, once heavily reliant on international tourism, have been left struggling to stay afloat. New Zealand Food Network CEO, Gavin Findlay, says, “The opening of our Christchurch operation will enable us to better serve these hard-hit communities in a number of ways. “The geographic proximity means we’ll be able to respond more quickly to requests for food from food hubs around the region – providing more immediate support for communities in need. It will also enable us to tap into much-needed additional supplies from food donors throughout the South Island, that we’ve previously been unable to collect from our Auckland site. The NZFN acts as New Zealand’s food rescue facilitator, collecting and safely storing bulk food donations, with food then able to be requested on an as-needed basis (and at no cost) by approximately 40 food hubs around […]

KiwiHarvest urges Kiwis to waste less and feed more this World Food Day

Today, on World Food Day, Aotearoa’s largest food rescue organisation, KiwiHarvest is calling for New Zealanders to Waste Less and instead Donate Food to local organisations – as the economic impact of COVID-19 means that more Kiwis are struggling with food hardship than ever before. Blandina Diamond, KiwiHarvest General Manager, says that while initial donations from generous individuals and businesses have been a significant help, demand for food has remained consistently high, even since lockdown came to an end. Between April and September of this year, KiwiHarvest distributed over 1.2 million kgs of food – an increase of over 60% from the same time last year. Before COVID-19, KiwiHarvest distributed an average of 98,000kgs of food per month to its recipient agencies which rose to 216,000kgs at its peak in June, an increase of 120.4%. “The support we’ve received from businesses and individuals so far has made an enormous difference to those in need. In spite of this generosity, we’re going to see the fallout of COVID-19 being felt for a long time, and food insecurity in Aotearoa being an ongoing issue for many of our most vulnerable whanau and families. “At the same time, figures from Love Food Hate Waste estimate that each and every year Kiwis throw away over 157,000 tonnes of food which could feed over 337,000 people. It’s disheartening to see so much good food going to landfill which wastes growing and supply chain resources and creates greenhouse gases, when it could instead be redistributed to communities in need. “This World Food Day, we’re encouraging individuals and families to look at their own food choices and behaviours to see how they can reduce their food waste and instead donate food to their local food bank or organisation to help create a food secure Aotearoa,” says Diamond. […]

Aptean launches new food and beverage ERP partner program

Aptean, a global provider of mission-critical enterprise software solutions, announced the launch of a new, global partner program designed to expand the company’s geographic reach for its Aptean Food and Beverage ERP solutions with world-class channel sellers. The partner program extends Aptean’s Microsoft Dynamics 365 platform offerings for Business Central, Finance and Supply Chain Management in select European, Middle Eastern and African (EMEA) countries, as well as in the Latin American (LATAM) and Asian Pacific (APAC) markets. As food and beverage organisations around the world continue scaling their businesses to keep up with consumer demand, their need for best-in-class enterprise resource planning technology becomes critical to finding success in today’s unpredictable economic landscape. To navigate margin pressures, improve traceability and quickly adapt to changes in the supply chain, these businesses need specialised software designed for their industries, as well as regional customer support resources that operate in local time zones and languages. “Aptean’s Food and Beverage ERP Partner Program recognises those who have proven to be trusted advisors to their clients and are committed to the food and beverage industry. Additionally, our partners are uniquely positioned to provide the highest quality of service, technology and expertise to ensure customers achieve success with our unified ERP system,” said Bob Kocis, Chief Revenue Officer at Aptean. Launching with Velosio, iPlan Global, Notora, Olivia Sistemas S.L. and Rödl & Partner as charter members, this program will enable Aptean to support, recognise and reward its approved partners as they provide sales and support for software both in the cloud and on-premise. “Our partnership with Aptean has strengthened our ability to meet the evolving requirements of food and beverage organisations. Together, we provide the ability to operate more effectively by enhancing visibility and creating more efficient, profitable business practices. Our team is looking forward to gaining […]

New startup supports local Kiwi artisan producers

The Kiwi Artisan Co launches off the back of Covid-19 pandemic New Zealand online startup, The Kiwi Artisan Co, selects the finest small batch artisan goods for food lovers nationwide, supporting and celebrating local independent producers from Southland to Central Otago, Canterbury to Nelson, and Hawkes Bay to Northland. The artisans, specifically chosen by The Kiwi Artisan Co, handcraft their goods from locallysourced, high quality ingredients in small batches using sustainable production processes. The thoughtfully curated range of delectable sharing platter boxes are tailored to individual tastes and dietary requirements. Each online order received at kiwiartisan.co.nz is hand packed and delivered direct to your door, making it easier for foodies to entertain, connect and discover the real taste of New Zealand with friends and family. The Kiwi Artisan Co takes pride in sharing the story behind its artisans and their products, providing customers with a deeper understanding of where their food comes from and the craft by which it is produced. Originally a simple market stall in Central Otago supporting local producers, The Kiwi Artisan Co came to fruition off the back of the Covid-19 Pandemic. Like most small retail operations, the business struggled to survive during lockdown and was particularly affected as local markets and events were cancelled across the country. Without a strong online presence, operations came to a standstill. “The shutdown period was tough, but it was even tougher watching those small artisan producers struggle who really depend on local markets and retail shops to survive,” explains Dave Thorn, founder of The Kiwi Artisan Co. “We were determined to launch The Kiwi Artisan Co business online as a way to support the small batch artisan community and broaden artisan platter options for Kiwis who love to entertain at home.” Dave quickly set about building a small team […]

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