FOOD

Beyond meat? The market for meat substitutes is way overdone

Paul Wood AO Adjunct Professor in Biotechnology, Monash University Meatless burger maker Beyond Meat has just reported quarterly earnings of US$67.3 million – much better than market expectations of US$52.7 million. It is now forecasting sales of US$240 million for the 2019 year, nearly three times that of 2018. But the company is yet to make a profit, let alone one big enough to justify its current market valuation of about US$13 billion. Since it listed on NASDAQ in May, its shares have surged more 700%. Investors’ enthusiasm reflects high hopes in the future fortunes of a company promising to put the sizzle into a meat substitute. Interest is booming in plant-based meat substitutes and lab-grown meat alternatives. The appeal is summed up by Beyond Meat’s mission statement: “By shifting from animal to plant-based meat, we are creating one savoury solution that solves four growing issues attributed to livestock production: human health, climate change, constraints on natural resources and animal welfare.” How realistic is this? The data suggests not very – that meat alternatives might play a positive role but in no way are going to save the planet. Investment appetite Predictions about the market potential for plant-based or lab-made meat vary. A lot of it appears to be only slightly better than sheer guesswork. One prediction, by the well-known Barclays, is that the market could be worth US$140 billion, or 10% of the US$1.4 trillion meat market, in the next 10 years. It’s such projections that have fuelled investors’ appetite for companies working on ways to make plant-based protein look and taste like meat. There’s Impossible Foods, for example, whose burger “bleeds” beetroot juice and is the meat (substitute) in Burger King’s Impossible Whopper. The privately held company has reportedly raised more than US$500 million, and is valued at US$2 billion. Other players in […]

Assisting product development with new mini aseptic solution

In today’s fast moving food and drink industry innovation is king. Everyone is looking for the next product to give their business the edge and food fashions and trends come and go with increasing speed. Food manufacturers often need to use seasonal ingredients, potentially offering limited edition flavours or varieties of key products: from herbal ice creams and summer berry drinks, to fruity condiments and vegetable smoothies. As a result, the life of innovative products is often shorter than has been seen previously and it can be hard for new product developers and marketers to pick which will survive in the market and which will fall away. All of these factors create challenges for operational factories and production lines. No business wants to invest in a fully-scaled line for a product that may have limited (albeit still successful) sales. The new HRS Asepticblock Mini Series allows manufacturers to produce new trial products with the minimum amount of product in a short time, reducing the unnecessary expense or wastage that can accompany full scale trials, and alleviating the need to suspend or interfere with the routine production of regular products. It allows the reproduction of a full scale final pack, but from as little as 20 to 50 kg of product. The Aseptic Mini Block Series was born from the need of many of small- and medium-sized customers to produce relatively small quantities of aseptic products, but who are prevented from doing so by high upfront capital costs and low return on investment. Traditional aseptic processing lines consist of two sections; one section is the steriliser or pasteuriser (based on a suitable heat exchanger according to the product type), and the other is the aseptic filler. The HRS Asepticblock Mini Series is designed for such producers working with a range of […]

What do your motors really do?

In 1969, the first home security system was born, consisting of four peepholes and a camera that could be moved to look through any of them, broadcasting the images to a monitor. Nowadays, we can now stream and view a feed of our home security cameras on our mobiles, giving homeowners greater piece of mind. Here, Markus Brettschneider, of ABB’s food and beverage program, explains how food plant managers can add a similar level of connectivity to retrofit most motors with smart sensors to bring their plants to the digital age. Industry as a whole is utilising technologies and solutions enabled through the industrial internet of things (IIoT). Gartner predicts that 25 billion devices will be connected to the internet of things by 2020, with some agencies predicting even double this amount. This presents plant managers with a conundrum. Most food manufacturing and processing plants currently have motors powering essential equipment such as mixers, conveyors and packaging machines. These motors are just motors and do not play in the same league as the other intelligent devices in their factories. With years of service often left in the motors, it’s difficult for plant managers to justify replacing motors that work effectively for the sake of an upgrade with any smart features. However, there are alternatives to a complete overhaul in order to connect motors to the IIoT. Instead of investing in new, more intelligent or smart equipment, plant managers should invest in sensors that provide similar functionality to connected devices. For example, ABB offers smart sensors, which can be fitted to almost any standard low voltage induction motor. The pocket-sized sensor, dubbed ABB Ability Smart Sensor, is directly attached in a couple minutes to the motor’s frame, without wiring. By using sensors that feed performance data to the cloud through a […]

Pure Bottling now BRC Certified

Pure Bottling New Zealand from Tauranga has recently added the Global Quality Standard of BRC (British Retail Consortium) to its list of Certifications. This puts Pure Bottling in the unique position of being the only BRC Certified Contract Beverage Packer in New Zealand outside of the wineries. “Gaining a Globally recognised Food Safety benchmark like BRC is an important part of us becoming a world class operation and also allows our customers to gain access to many export markets” Pure Bottling General Manager Craig Ayres noted. “It was a big effort by all of the team to achieve the Double AA Audit result and the benefits can now flow through to our customers” BRC, now in its eigth issue provides a framework to manage product safety, integrity, legality and quality, and the operational controls for these criteria in the food and food ingredient manufacturing, processing and packing industry. Pure Bottling is a 4 year old organisation started by Group CEO Hamish Gordon and has rapidly grown to become a Production Partner of choice for some of New Zealand’s leading brands and retailers. They are passionate about working with brands that stand for something and want to work together to take quality NZ products throughout New Zealand and Internationally. Now with three production lines in operation across Glass & PET, Pure Bottling is ideally placed to be both a flexible and efficient Co-Packing partner. The Capabilities stretch across Soft Drinks, Juice, Kombucha, Alcohol, Liqueur & more.

The critical role of IIoT in the future of food processing

Michael Cahill, Rockwell MES Technical Consultant As the old adage goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. New Zealand food companies, that often produce high value-add product that is exported around the globe, value their brand and reputation. Things are changing. Customer expectations for food safety and quality are unprecedented. Expectations from regulatory authorities are increasing to meet ever growing market regulation. Demand for high safe products is driving growth at an unprecedented rate. The reality is the number of food recalls has been steadily increasing over the last decade, according to FSANZ’s 2009-2018 reporting. The lack of visibility in the early stages of production is leading to an increased amount of inedible product and is posing serious food safety compliance risks. With headline after headline, product traceability from paddock to plate is becoming more and more important. Any deviation in quality in the product line will involve significant wastage and financial burden on the organisation. A sustainable approach to maintain the highest standard of production quality is sought to meet these customer, regulator and growth challenges. Connecting the dots The rise of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) has emerged as a solution to this problem. IIoT platforms and advanced analytics now enable users to fuse multiple data sources to provide contextually relevant historical and real-time data. Add in AI and machine learning and food manufacturing is more predictive and intelligent than ever before, giving workers uncanny insight into how to solve issues and predict problems before they happen. The problem isn’t a lack of data but a lack of connectivity from food companies. IIoT has provided the tools to better verify quality, establish batch genealogy and capture meaningful processing data from beginning to end. It’s now the job of manufacturing plants and farms to […]

CRC launches new food grade bio-degreaser

CRC Industries has introduced a new NSF A1-rated CRC Food Grade Bio Degreaser which expands its leading CRC Greenlight Food Safe Program range. The degreaser is an extra heavy-duty cleaner formulated to penetrate and dissolve tough grease, oil and contaminants for easy removal – safely. CRC Industries Australia Managing Director, Shona Fitzgerald, said the product had been scientifically formulated for use in food processing applications. Biodegradable, non-toxic, non-hazardous, non-flammable, pH balanced and water soluble; the degreaser’s advanced formula is powerful but non-abrasive, non-corrosive and solvent-free. The product can be used confidently on all metals and alloys and will not damage bright metals including aluminium and brass. It is safe for use on fibreglass, glass, plastics, rubber, painted surfaces and laminates. It is also gentle on the environment with all ingredients readily decomposable. “This product has been specially formulated to penetrate and dissolve tough grease, oil and contaminants for easy removal – with a focus on personal and environmental safety,” Mrs Fitzgerald said. “These properties make it ideal for use in many applications especially where there are regulations or restrictions in place concerning the types of products that can be safely used or allowed. “It can be used to quickly and effectively clean mechanical equipment motors, tools, benches, walls, floors, filters, grills, drills, grinders, rollers, dies, moulds (injection, plastic, steel, aluminium), chains, conveyers, wire rope, robotics, hoists and more.” CRC Food Grade Bio Degreaser is available in 5L and 20L bulk containers as well as a 750mL trigger pack. “The launch our new CRC Food Grade Bio Degreaser is an important milestone for CRC as we remain focussed on adding customer value through extensive research and development, anticipating demand and delivering the right solutions in an ever-changing market, whilst adhering to the strictest protocols for food safety,’’ Mrs Fitzgerald said.

Has your business registered for the Food Act 2014?

It’s the final countdown for businesses that make, sell or transport food to meet the 28 February 2019 Food Act registration deadline. This includes food manufacturing, such as manufacturers of dried/dehydrated fruit or vegetables, confectionery, meat, poultry, fish products, dairy products and fresh ready-to-eat salads. New Zealand Food Safety (a business unit of the Ministry for Primary Industries/MPI), is urging owners/managers of all New Zealand businesses that make, sell or transport food, which have not registered yet, to find out immediately if they need to register a plan or programme under the Food Act 2014. The Food Act came into force on 1 March 2016 and introduced a common-sense, risk-based approach to food safety. New Zealand Food Safety’s Manager Food & Beverage, Sally Johnston said that under the Food Act all people growing, making, transporting and selling food had a responsibility to keep it safe and suitable. “Most New Zealand food businesses have now registered, which is excellent,” Ms Johnston said. “New Zealand Food Safety, local councils and industry organisations are working hard to help all remaining businesses to meet the 28 February 2019 deadline for registration. “If existing food businesses are not registered by the 28 February deadline, they will be operating unregistered businesses, their retail customers may refuse to accept their goods or use their services, and MPI and local councils may need to take enforcement action. So, immediate action needs to be taken to get registered. “We want make it easier for businesses to make safe and suitable food and comply with food safety requirements.” Under the Food Act, new food businesses have to register as soon as they start trading and existing food businesses (operating under the Food Hygiene Regulations 1974 or Food Act 1981) had from 1 March 2016 until 28 February 2019 to register […]

NZ’s largest food manufacturing, technology and logistics Expo “Adding Value to NZ’s Food Chain”

More than 4,500 visiting industry professionals from both New Zealand and around the world will converge in Auckland to attend the sectors largest combined trade only industry event – Foodtech Packtech (FTPT) and the Materials Handling & Logistics Expo (MHL). Hosted at the ASB Showgrounds in September, this year’s event will be the largest show in decades – it’s certainly a must attend event for anyone in the food and beverage manufacturing and packaging or transport and logistics industries! Across the halls you will experience some 240+ exhibiting suppliers covering important capability issues – everything from food safety, processing and security technology through to industrial packaging and preservation solutions, and specialist product handling and logistics. Ngaio Diagnostics deliver the tools used to minimise any chance of microbial or allergen contamination. Their range offers simple, cost effective solutions suitable for companies of all sizes. In 2016, FTPT connected Ngaio to a major NZ company that was able to save them over 10% on their Gluten testing costs. Not only was Ngaio able to help with cost-effectiveness, but they were also able to implement a test with superior ease of use and accreditation, ultimately improving their entire food safety program. Integrated Packaging, a returning exhibitor in 2018, will tell you that “FTPT is the perfect platform to interact with groups of people from a variety of companies and be able to demonstrate first-hand what your company’s capabilities are”. At the 2016 show, Integrated Packing connected with a vast number of companies, saving one of them over $20,000 p.a. by improving their manufacturing processes. This year Integrated Packing will be showcasing a range of new solutions that are unique to this market. This will be of great appeal to companies including meat, poultry and small goods. With sustainability being such a hot topic, […]

New innovations improving primary industry

Day two of the 50th New Zealand Agricultural Fieldays kicked off with the Innovations Awards breakfast where a selection of New Zealand’s top innovations were on display, all with creative ideas on improving New Zealand’s agricultural industry. New Zealand National Fieldays Society CEO Peter Nation spoke of the importance of innovations at the National Agricultural Fieldays. “One of the main reasons the New Zealand agricultural industry is so recognised and respected around the world is because of the innovations coming from awards like these. The people here today are shaping the future of farming and will be making major changes in in the industry in another 12months.” Says Nation. The entrants were supported by a group of knowledgeable and insightful sponsors who have provided advice around law, research, networking, engineering, technology and science. Judges spoke of how the winners were successful at picking good problems to solve and being very creative in the way they solve them. Innovations that were easy to use, cost-effective, efficient and enhanced value came away with top honours. The 2018 Innovation Award winners are: Fieldays Grassroots Prototype Award – Acuris Systems This prototype robot, autonomously navigates kiwifruit orchards while capturing highly accurate fruit data. This data is then analysed to provide growers with quality information and insights to their orchards performance. Fieldays Grassroots Established Award – Pamu Farming New Zealand Landcorp has just completed its second season of deer milking in partnership with the Peter and Sharon McIntyre. Significant, world first research and intellectual property has been developed from behind the farm gate through to a finished RMP approved product which Pāmu Foods can now use to assess market demand and price tolerance. Fieldays Prototype Highly Commended – Maraeroa C Incorporation. Ginseng Berry Gin is a New Zealand first made from ginseng berries grown in […]

Synlait Palmerston North officially opened

“We’re very excited to be opening Synlait Palmerston North, which is home to our new Research and Development Centre,” says John Penno, Managing Director and CEO. “We have some major opportunities in front of us. With the strong team and partnerships we’ve got in place to lead liquid innovation within our business, we won’t miss a beat,” he says. Vice Chancellor of Massey University, Professor Jan Thomas, opened the facility and highlighted the important new relationship between Synlait and the university. “The establishment of Synlait’s new Research and Development Centre at Massey’s Manawatū campus is an excellent example of industry and the university collaborating closely to achieve real, tangible outcomes,” says Professor Thomas. “Strategic partnerships like these are vital if we are to start and grow new industries, create new jobs, and to remain competitive in the global marketplace. Massey University is New Zealand’s premier provider of food research and education, and at the forefront of pioneering such partnerships with the food industry.” she says. Synlait Palmerston North is a partnership with Massey University and FoodPilot, one of the New Zealand Food Innovation Network’s four hubs. The Palmerston North team will primarily concentrate on innovative dairy liquid product development, as well as supporting processes and technology. They will also play an important role in developing innovative export-orientated cream opportunities that leverage Synlait’s upcoming $125 million advanced liquid dairy packaging facility at Synlait Dunsandel. Synlait plans to double their investment over the next two years, having committed around $7 million to research and category development in the current financial year. They will be investing around $2 million on additional equipment for the FoodPilot facility, which can be used by others. Synlait currently has around 35 staff members working within the Research and Development Team, but this will continue to grow as […]

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