Nieuws uit Oceanië

AUSVEG CEO Richard Mulcahy said today that diseased potatoes had the potential to threaten the viability of the entire Australian potato industry if the Australian Federal Government allows potatoes to be imported for processing from New Zealand.

The lack of rain in the Kavanagasau area on Fiji has affected potato farms in the area and many farmers fear losing their crops. A Kavanagasau farmer Jagar Nadan Naidu says they have requested for water pumps from the Agriculture Department.Naidu says ...

Potato growers who supply Simplot Australia’s Ulverstone potato processing plant have put their case for a four per cent price increase for the 2010/11 growing season, the equivalent of another $13 a tonne. Simplot has yet to respond to the growers’ p...

Scientists from Adelaide’s Flinders University found that the starch contained in cold, cooked potatoes would reduce the cancer risk associated with eating red meat, with increasing evidence available that a diet high in red meat can increase a person’...

NZX-listed meat processor Affco is the target of a full takeover bid by its largest shareholder, Talley's Group, which has agreed to buy out the next-biggest investor, raising its stake to 76 per cent.Talley's, which owned 53 per cent has reached an ag...

FIJI will soon be reducing the amount of potatoes imported into the country if a potato planting scheme introduced yesterday becomes successful.And chips manufacturer Flour Mills of Fiji has assured it would work closely with farmers to use the locally...

Bluebird Light Plus Sea Salt Potato Chips (150g bags) displaying Best Before date 25 August 2010 should not be consumed due to the presence of undeclared allergens – milk, soy and gluten.   There have been no reports of illness, however any person conc...

Australian scientists at SARDI are making major strides in diagnosing potato diseases before the potato crop is planted.Watch ABC video on this topicAustralia’s $500 million-plus potato industry will benefit from new DNA tests that can quickly and accu...

Potato growers across Australia have been urged to protect the local industry from a major pest which has established itself in New Zealand. New Zealand potato producers have been coming to terms with the disease Zebra chip. The disease is seen as...

McCain Foods has told growers in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania it requires 10 per cent less potatoes for the 2010-11 season and wants to cut the price by AU$45 per tonne. A meeting of potato growers at Ballarat last week angrily rejected Mc...

Striking workers at the McCain Foods Ballarat factory in Australia were ordered back to work yesterday following a dispute over rostered days off. The strike started when workers walked off the job on Monday night after the company failed to come to ...

Potato growers in the Moorabool region (Australia, near McCain Foods Ballarat factory) say they could be forced out of business after McCain Foods planned a AU$45 a tonne price cut next season.   With McCain’s tonnage also set to be reduced by 10 per c...

Australian potato producers are feeling the pinch, due to an increase in processed potato imports from Europe, American and New Zealand. Since 2004, annual processed potato imports have risen 400 per cent, from $20 million to $109 million. Tim Heisse...

A newly discovered ability for people to taste fat could hold the key to reducing obesity, Deakin University health researchers believe.   Deakin researchers Dr Russell Keast and PhD student Jessica Stewart, working with colleagues at the University o...

AUSVEG Chairman, John Brent, today expressed dismay at the lack of Australian representation at the Fruit Logistica Trade Fair just concluded in Berlin and called on Australia’s political leaders to place more emphasis on the agricultural industry and ...

Latest research from Leatherhead’s Global Food Markets database suggests that the key food sectors in Australia are weathering the global recession well. Although there are signs that consumers have begun to economise during the slowdown, many sectors ...

A woman has been taken to hospital with respiratory problems following a large fire at McCain Foods' potato stores in Timaru this morning. Flames, reportedly 20m high, were seen rolling out of one of four empty potato storage sheds. Thick, black an...

Restaurant Brands lifted third quarter sales 4.7 per cent to $72.9 million, led by strong growth from its KFC operation.The current economic climate was still not adversely affecting overall positive sales growth, the company said today. The rise for t...