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Food-e-News, November 2009

All the winners from the Premier’s Food Awards 2009

Winners of The Twelfth Annual South Australian Premier’s Food Awards were unveiled to over 500 guests at a spectacular presentation gala dinner last Friday. Dover Fisheries and Clean Seas Limited were dual winners scooping two awards each and highlighting that seafood from South Australian waters is world class. Ten winners were announced in total including the South Australian Hall of Fame made possible by San Remo inductee Michael Angelakis of seafood empire Angelakis Bros who was inducted for his dedication to seafood from South Australia and through his exposure of the State and produce to international audiences through the TV program ‘Out of the Blue’.

All the winners:

  • South Australian Food Industry Hall of Fame made possible by San Remo
    Inductee: Michael Angelakis of Angelakis Bros
  • KPMG Young Leader Award
    Winner: Claude Cicchiello
  • Food and Beverage Development Fund Workforce Development Award
    Winner: Robern Menz
  • Peats Soil and Garden Supplies Sustainability Award
    Winner: Clean Seas Limited
  • NAB Agribusiness Export Award
    Winner: Dover Fisheries
  • SARDI Innovation Award
    Winner: Clean Seas Limited
  • Department of Trade and Economic Development New Product Award
    Winner: Pendleton Fine Foods
  • Rural Solutions SA Services to Industry Award
    Winner: Singapore Airlines Cargo
  • Rabobank Value Adding Award
    Winner: B.-d. Farm Paris Creek
  • Food Adelaide Value Chain Award
    Winner: Dover Fisheries

Want to know more?

Sue Rogers
Premier's Food Awards
p +61 8 8226 0458
e pirsa.safoodawards@saugov.sa.gov.au
w www.safoodawards.com.au

Food at record $12.4 billion

South Australia’s food industry has shown remarkable resilience over the last year, with new figures showing Gross Food Revenue has grown by 9 per cent - or $1.0 billion - to reach a new record high of $12.4 billion. The new SA Food ScoreCard 2008/09 demonstrates the strength of the food industry and its importance to South Australia. Overseas exports of South Australian food have grown by 18 per cent over the year to reach $2.4-billion while finished food has grown steadily, returning to its previous record level of $4.4 billion, however overseas exports of finished food has reached a new record high of $1.3 billion. The rise in value adding in the food industry is a very positive trend, reducing the reliance on seasonally dependent commodities and increasing South Australia’s presence in higher value added markets.

Read the full SA Food ScoreCard Report 2008/09 (pdf, 393kb)

Want to know more?

Jack Langberg
PIRSA
p +61 8 8204 9571
e jack.langberg@sa.gov.au

Top French chefs taste SA seafood

France’s leading chefs - Henri Charvet and Jean Pierre Biffi - were given a special tour of South Australia’s pristine seafood regions during a weeklong visit last week. Representing the French chapter of Euro-Toques International they travelled to Port Lincoln and Kangaroo Island to view seafood production, packaging and harvesting processes, as well as visit McLaren Vale to sample local wines and the SA Food Centre. Getting a behind-the-scenes look at our seafood export companies the Chefs swam with the tuna at Port Lincoln, saw oysters being packed for export and toured tuna hatchery, Clean Seas Limited. Euro-Toques International is a network of over 4,000 European chefs, including 400 from France, who ensure that culinary traditions and foods with real flavour are used in modern day cooking. PIRSA and Food Adelaide have been working with the French Chapter of Euro-Toques since 2008.

For further information

Justin Ross
SA Food Centre
p +61 8 8226 8157
e justin.ross@sa.gov.au

Tour the SA Food Centre during Public Sector Week

Is food and beverage your passion? Have you ever considered a career in the food industry – maybe as a butcher, a baker or a business analyst? Or perhaps you love science and could develop brand new food and beverage products. Or perhaps you love marketing and want to help export South Australian food around the world? And did you know 1 in 5 people in SA are employed in the food industry? You can find out all of this and more by visiting a session at the South Australian Food Centre, Regency Park during Public Sector Week on Wednesday 25 November 2009. The Centre is home to a range of experienced food industry professionals including business development facilitators, food technologists and specialists as well as cheese and brewing facilities.

Want to book a tour?

Register at www.publicsectorweek.sa.gov.au

International tradeshows - now recruiting!

Food Adelaide, in conjunction with DTED, PIRSA and CITCSA are organising a South Australian stand and in-market mission for Gulfood, UAE, 21 to 24 February 2010. This is the key international tradeshow in the Middle East and has proven to be a successful platform for establishing and growing exports to the region for South Australian food businesses. Expressions of interest are also open for the renowned Asian tradeshow, Food and Hotel Asia, 20 to 23 April 2010. Held only every second year, this is the flagship event in the region, suitable for established businesses and those new to export.

For additional information

Clare Bagshaw
Food Adelaide
p +61 8 8300 0022
e clareb@business-sa.com

Foodweek expanding for producers

Foodweek online has been providing news and information to the grocery sector for 40 years and in 2010 will be moving in a new direction. Small, independent food producers and growers in Australia and New Zealand have seen considerable growth in the last few years, and Foodweek have identified a need in this community for a reliable source they can turn to for news and information in their sector. The new generation Foodweek will provide companies with a one stop source of information spanning news, regulatory information and links on a state by state and federal basis, new product information, producer profiles, economic data and more. However before Foodweek gets this new direction underway they need feedback from you on what it really is that producers want or need and have put together a short survey.

Please complete the Foodweek Survey

Want to know more?

Kiren Thandi
Foodweek
p +61 2 8224 8300
e kiren@octomedia.com.au
w www.foodweek.com.au

New Food Strategy underway

The upcoming South Australian Food Strategy 2010-2015 was endorsed by the Premier’s Food Council Executive in October. As a result, work towards the operational Plan is now underway with six industry champions each assigned to one of the six priorities. These champions have also been assigned a representative from PIRSA to assist with the process and to ensure industry and government collaboration. The operational plan will set a framework around the priority areas of the strategy describing the programs, resources, actions and measures of success that will be implemented to respond to each priority. It is envisioned that the operational plan will be completed by March 2010.

For more information

Vicki Mavrakis
PIRSA
p +61 8 8226 1744
e vicki.mavrakis@sa.gov.au

Export bulletin tracks horticulture

The latest bi-monthly export bulletin produced by PIRSA Market Intelligence shows that the last 12 months have been challenging for SA exporters. While demand for some traded products has decreased, exchange rates were favourable for exporters. This second edition features the horticulture sector and highlights that for South Australia this is a relatively small exporting sector but with significant opportunities. Citrus and almonds are the largest export products while olive oil and pistachio exports have shown the strongest export growth in the last few years. Importantly the value of world trade in horticulture has grown by 60% in the last five years.

Food Export Bulletin - Issue 2, November 2009 (pdf, 175kb)

Want to know more?

Matthew Palmer
SA Food Centre
p +61 8 8226 1919
e matthew.palmer@sa.gov.au

SARDI on the pulse

South Australia's production of high value pulse crops, grown largely for the food export market to the Indian subcontinent and the Middle East, has been boosted with the launch of two red lentil varieties, a chickpea and a broad bean. The varieties released through Pulse Breeding Australia, which partners SARDI and Adelaide University, offers growers improved reliability and quality to help stabilise and increase production. The State now leads Australia's lentil production with crops currently fetching prices treble the value of wheat. Pulse crops occupy over 350 000 hectares, with a farm gate value of more than $150 million.

For more details

Larn McMurray
SARDI
p +61 8 8842 6265
e larn.mcmurray@sa.gov.au

Pendleton's exporting to USA

Pendleton Estate will begin distributing its range of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Flavoured Extra Virgin Olive Oils nationally throughout the US. Export to the US has been a high priority for the company and with a US marketing firm they have developed the Pinnaroo Hill label, specifically targeted at the US lower premium market. Currently, US consumers use about half a litre per year of extra virgin olive oil and this is expected to double in the next seven years. Pendleton believe they are well placed to take advantage of this growth, expecting their sales to double annually over several years.

For more details

Grant Wylie
Pendleton Estate
p +61 8 8346 0455
e grantw@pendletonestate.com.au
w www.pendletonestate.com.au