Materials Handling

Pet owners are constantly assessing the many food choices available to feed their furry friends. Prepared pet foods are becoming an increasingly popular choice, offering a variety of food types and flavours while meeting nutritional requirements. With a growing reputation for providing safe, consistent and nutritious pet food, the Australian pet food industry is valued … Continue reading Patented technology supplies Australian pet food ingredients to the world →

Reducing the use of packaging materials is one of the aspects that will help lead to a sustainable future. When re-designing plastic trays for ANZ’s fresh red meat sector, Sealed Air Australia ventured beyond “reduce” and found a way to “eliminate” the need for absorbent pads. Sealed Air’s Kevin Taylor is the APAC portfolio leader … Continue reading Why send 750 million soiled absorbent pads to landfill if there is a better way? →

The food and grocery manufacturing industry in South East Queensland generated more than $7.5 billion last year, a new economic snapshot has found. Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, Karen Andrews, said the industry is a vitally important contributor to the local economy, as shown in the Australian Food and Grocery Council’s South East Queensland … Continue reading Southeast Queensland food and grocery manufacturing generates $7.5 billion →

Plastic is an incredible material. It can be airtight and watertight, moulded to any shape, clear or coloured, shock-resistant, lightweight, and is chemically stable. Unfortunately, these last two features also mean plastic pollution poses a huge environmental problem. In theory, plastic is highly recyclable. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), typically used in drink bottles, can be recycled … Continue reading Bans are effective, but not the endgame in solving the plastic problem →

What goes into producing the delicious roast chicken at the heart of dinner tables across the nation? It fries down to an impressive facility that produces 12,000 tonnes of chicken pellets each week to cover South Australia’s feed requirements and service the state’s main hatchery. This is what the team at Ahrens Design & Construct delivered, … Continue reading At the heart of tables across Australia – building Ingham’s state-of-the-art feed mill →

Craft brewing has taken off in Australia over the past five years. Driven by consumer demand for something a little different outside the main brands. These usually one- or two-person bands are making inroads into traditional markets right across the country. From Perth to Sydney, Adelaide to Brisbane, micro-breweries aren’t just putting down roots in … Continue reading Gas the key to fledging micro-brewing industry →

Brownes Dairy will replace its existing milk cartons with an Australian first, a carton package made entirely from plant-based, renewable materials in a new sustainable packaging move. Tetra Rex Bio-based package is the world’s first fully renewable beverage carton, with the protective layers derived from sugar cane. “There is a lot of emphasis on the … Continue reading Brownes Dairy switches to plant-based renewable packaging →

With Australia producing 7.3 million tonnes of food waste across the supply and consumption chain, and a Federal Government National Food Waste Strategy to halve food waste that goes to landfill by 2030, now is the time for packaging technologists to review pack designs that could minimise food waste and losses. According to the National … Continue reading The role that resealable packaging plays in minimising food waste →

Kellogg’s Australia and Yume, an online B2B marketplace for the sale of quality surplus food, have announced a new partnership that enables Kellogg’s to list any surplus raw materials that become available during the manufacturing process exclusively through to the Yume platform. The Yume platform enables food suppliers such as primary producers and manufacturers to … Continue reading Kellogg’s joins Yume marketplace →

With the introduction of the plics family almost 18 years ago, Vega turned the vision of simple, standardised measurement of level and pressure into reality. The Vegabar 80 series represents a systematic further development of the concept and the products. The clear structure of the new instrument series ensures easy selection when looking for the … Continue reading Ceramic sensors ideal for food processing plants →

Supply chain, factories of the future, Industry 4.0, and an aging manufacturing workforce – all subjects that recently have started to have an impact on the food and beverage industry. It’s no longer enough to go after market share; processors and manufacturers in this space have to play the long game and ask themselves some … Continue reading Preparing for the future: sustainability, digitisation, and an aging workforce →

Cooling and forming are critical stages in the production of both chocolate and confectionery, and few companies have more experience in these areas than Melbourne-based IPCO. As an independent company owned by FAM AB, and part of the Swedish-based Wallenberg group, IPCO is a globally active engineering company with sales and service offices in more … Continue reading Steel belts for chocolate manufacturing solutions →

A fully compostable shrink-wrap for cucumbers has been developed in South Australia and is set to be launched on international markets. The compostable wrap is manufactured by BioBag World Australia and took 12 months to develop in partnership with South Australian produce and packaging businesses IG Fresh Produce. It was launched in September as an … Continue reading Compostable cucumber wrap from BioBag World →

Fast automation in confined installation spaces: igus has now developed an extra-compact toothed belt axis based on its flat drylin N linear system. The new axis consists of a standard fitment of components and is therefore cost-effective and easily assembled within a few minutes. Equipped with motor and control, the new system can carry loads … Continue reading Compact toothed belt axis for automation in the tightest of spaces →

Sister companies, Caspak Australia and Caspak New Zealand, who specialise in flexible packaging, have merged their operations and brands. While financial management of the companies will remain country-based, the merger will result in streamlining and increased efficiencies of both businesses. The merger will see the companies operate as a single entity in order to pool … Continue reading Caspak streamlines Australasian businesses →

Shoppers recycled enough pieces of plastic to go around the world one and half times at Coles last year, representing a  32 per cent increase on the previous year. Revealed in Coles’ Sustainability Report, Coles customers recycled 905 tonnes or 226 million pieces of soft plastics – including packaging such as biscuit packets, lolly bags, … Continue reading Coles increases recycling of soft plastics by 32 per cent →

Director of sustainability is an unusual title, one that is not common within a multi-national company. But not only is that Alan Adams’ role for plastic packaging specialist Sealed Air, he is also part of the leadership group for the company’s APAC region. At a recent conference at FoodTech Queensland, the education director of the … Continue reading Does plastic get a bad rap? →

The craft beer and distillery market in Australia is worth in excess of $4 billion and growing. Although currently dominated by North American brands, more exciting new craft brewers and distilleries are setting up rapidly throughout the country, with up to 600 brands now being available. The Independent Brewers Association (IBA) estimates that there will … Continue reading The right brew for beverage and distillery flooring →

Bottled water has been a refreshment for Australians for the best part of three decades. According to a recent IBISWorld report, the industry in Australia for the past five years through to 2018-19 was valued at just over $700 million, and is expected to grow by 0.8 per cent over the next year. IBISWorld believes … Continue reading AquaRush bottling facility designed to meet expanding industry needs →

The latest innovation in roasting technology from Heat and Control, the Rotary Dryer Roaster (RDR), will provide snack and prepared food operators with an end-to-end solution for the dry roasting of nut, seed and dry meat products like beef jerky. The RDR multizone convection dryer/roaster system uses the technological advances in dry roasting so food … Continue reading Rotary Dryer Roaster for nuts and meat snacks →