Applications by 6 August for next year’s Nuffield Scholarship, which helps recipients broaden their horizons with regard to on agrifood-related topics, then translate those learnings into action ‘back home’.

The AFGC has teamed with GS1 Australia to improve supply-chain data across Australia’s food and grocery manufacturing industry.

Ten UNSW academics, PhD candidates and alumni will travel to esteemed US research institutions and organisations under the flagship foreign exchange program.

The federal government has pledged $5.2m to upgrade the capability of QUT Mackay’s biomanufacturing scale-up facility, used to demonstrate the viability of new technologies and produce products in sizeable quantities.

Escavox co-founder and CEO Luke Wood talks with AgFutures about the company’s Blue Box, a smart supply-chain tracking device dubbed ‘CCTV for food’.

The federal government has appointed an expert working group to develop a roadmap setting out Australia’s research infrastructure needs and priorities for the coming five to 10 years.

Discussion at RDA’s Food in the Capital event centred on what’s needed to reposition Canberra and the surrounding region as a sustainable, economically viable agrifood hub.

The ‘Tomato rhizobiome project’, designed to find ways to foster robust microbial colonies in the root zones of hydroponic greenhouse tomato plants, is proceeding well, with initial findings ‘very promising’, says industry partner Costa Group.

In a career spanning decades, continents and planets, Distinguished Professor David Tissue has maintained a thirst for exploration and a desire to help crops thrive, even in the most hostile environments.

Further diversifying its offerings, Australia’s leading horticultural producer-distributor has acquired banana business Pacific Coast Produce Marketing, enabling it to license the environmentally friendly Red Tip™ Ecoganic™ banana.

The first in a series of CRC-commissioned reports on this fast-growing horticultural sector investigates target crops and technologies for commercial protected cropping in Australian conditions.

WA’s Peel Business Park, site of the soon-to-be-built WA Food Innovation Precinct, is seeking expressions of interest from agrifood and ancillary businesses keen to carve their own footprints in the precinct.

Proud North Queenslander Anne Stünzner, fresh from advocacy and economic advisor roles in local government and regional economic development, is looking forward to her new role leading the CRC for Northern Australia.

Michael Fox, co-founder and CEO of thriving alt-meat SME Fable Food Co, has been busy running the company – and guesting on podcasts Curveball and The Mentor, where he discussed sustainable food production, pandemic pivoting and how he secured investor backing for Fable.

Eligible agrifood SMEs can apply for dollar-matched funding of up to $200K to scale up, commercialise and develop new food products within the new WA Food Innovation Precinct via the just-launched Enterprise Support Program.

Construction has begun on WAFIP, which will include an advanced food-manufacturing facility and food science, processing and educational facilities. The CRC will work with its WA partners to deliver R&D services within the precinct.

The focus of the Food in the Capital conference, held over two days in October 2020 and May 2021, was on the critical role food production, consumption and new technology will play in helping Canberra to become a fully sustainable city.

NSW Farmers is joining forces with primary producers statewide to offer farm-based experiences to primary-school students participating in the federally funded Kids to Farms program.

Big data pioneer and licence-holder of the world’s most widely used livestock performance analysis software, BREEDPLAN, the University of New England’s Agricultural Business Research Institute (ABRI) celebrates a half-century of operation this year.

The world’s first clear solar glass greenhouse is up and running at Murdoch University’s grains research precinct. Renowned geneticist Professor Chengdao Li and his team will use the facility to develop new breeding technologies for use in commercial cropping.

Austrade’s latest export market updates indicate significant potential for Australian food and ag-tech exports across the ASEAN region – and even some bright spots in China.

Apply by 4 June for the UN’s ‘Best Small Business: Good Food for All’ – a contest recognising SMEs worldwide that exemplify the UN’s goals of creating sustainable, equitable, inclusive and resilient systems for producing and distributing healthy food.

The Territory Labor Government will invest $8.5m over five years with the federally-funded Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre to fast-track manufacturing innovation projects – including agribusiness-related projects – across Australia’s Top End

In an initial trial in the UNSW-EcoMag project, chemical engineers at UNSW were able to produce very high-purity Mg citrate using their state-of-the-art spray-dryer. It’s a first, successful step towards EcoMag’s goal of scaling up to commercial production using the new process.

A new CRC project is comparing two novel light-spectra-shifting films on energy-efficiency and crop productivity in greenhouse-grown lettuce.

Australia has the potential to become a major player in the billion-dollar global edible insect industry, producing nutritious, sustainable, ethical protein products to bolster global food security, according to a new roadmap by Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO.

WSU has cemented its position in the Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings as one of the world’s top-ranking tertiary institution with regard to social, environmental and economic impacts.

A new report pinpoints five ‘future forces’ likely to impact Australia’s agriculture sector and agrifood supply chains over the next 10 years, extrapolating seven plausible 2031 scenarios as food for thought and for constructive, change-oriented conversations.

If Canberra and the ACT backed the development of sustainable local food production and urban farming systems, the region could become a leader in urban agriculture and in meeting our emissions targets, contends Regional Development Australia ACT CEO Michael Claessens.

The idea of ordering slaughter-free authentic meat is becoming a reality, says Professor Johannes le Coutre, a food scientist from UNSW Sydney’s School of Chemical Engineering.

FIAL invites eligible SMEs or micro-businesses with products or services related to food and beverage supply-chain integrity to submit EOIs with a view to participating in the Traceability and Provenance Zone at foodpro 2021, in Sydney in late July.

Iconic Australian health food brand Sanitarium has developed a new breakfast cereal designed specifically for toddlers and preschoolers: Weet-Bix Little Kids Essentials is high in fibre and essential micronutrients, low in sugar and has no artificial flavours, colours, preservatives or added salt.

In this useful report, QUT’s Randall McHugh explores the pros and cons of specialist industry clusters, and examines the potential benefits to our agrifood sector of clustering in locations well suited to agrifood operations..

In a paper just published in Critical Reviews in Food Science, researchers from UNSW Sydney’s School of Chemical Engineering. review the literature on functional attributes of plant-derived proteins and explore how these might be improved by inducing a partial Maillard reaction and subsequent conjugation.

A new research and innovation hub, based at Charles Darwin University and with nodes in Katherine, Alice Springs, Broome and Perth, will help Northern Australia’s producers and communities prepare for and respond to drought.

A consultation paper on university research commercialisation is the latest effort by the federal government to increase the impact of Australia’s oft-groundbreaking research. This article from The Conversation looks at a recent study on industry-university collaboration.

Accenture’s Cohort ’21 initiative helps circular-economy innovators from across the globe – including several in the agrifood space – showcase and scale their ideas for upcycling waste. To contribute to the collective effort, join The Circular Accelerator’s Circular Community Action Group.

The federal government’s Modern Manufacturing Initiative is offering dollar-matched funding to Australia-based manufacturers with suitable recycling and renewables projects, but act fast: you have until COB on Wednesday 5 May to get your application in.

It’s official: NSW Minister for Better Regulation and Member for Tamworth Kevin Anderson has announced that the Namoi region will be the state’s fourth Regional Jobs Precinct. The CRC will work with the Namoi Joint Organisation, NSW Government, UNSW and UNE to help plan the new precinct.

Western Australian globe artichoke producer Mt Lindesay has teamed with researchers at Murdoch University in a project to validate key properties of their artichokes.

Commonwealth, State and Territory government funding is available to help Australia’s food, beverage, agricultural and ancilllary organisations, big and small, revive and thrive post-pandemic.

The federal government has opened grant applications to food and beverage manufacturers under its $1.3b Modern Manufacturing Initiative. But act fast: the application window closes at COB 27 April.

The New South Wales Government has committed $100m to help existing regional businesses grow, boost regional job numbers, and encourage interstate and overseas firms to invest in non-urban NSW.

A new report from ABARES details global megatrends set to shape the future of our nation’s agriculture sector – from data-driven disruption to dramatic climate change.

The federal government is consulting key stakeholders on current and emerging technologies in the health and agriculture sectors that could advance or undermine Australia’s national interests.

SME CRC industry participants may wish to apply for the Australian Manufacturing Growth Centre’s new Commercialisation Fund. It offers dollar-matched grants of between $100,000 and $1m to small-scale, collaborative manufacturing projects.

A recent World Economic Forum report contends cutting supply-chain emissions to near-net zero by 2050 is more readily achievable than you might think. And the food and ag sector could do the most to help.

Australian food and beverage manufacturing firms have just four weeks to apply for grants under Round 1 of the federal government’s Modern Manufacturing Initiative to help them scale up, employ and export. So act fast!

The time is right for a coordinated effort to bolster resilience in our regions and invest in their strengths, contends the National Farmers’ Federation, which released its Regionalisation Agenda paper this week.

Scientists from Murdoch University and WA DPIRD have published an improved reference genome for narrow-leafed lupins, paving the way to new high-performance varieties of the protein-rich pulse legume.

UNSW scientists have been honoured for their world-changing discoveries, including revealing the physics of sea-level change, understanding heatwaves, and creating cheap flexible stable and non-toxic solar cells.

A shared vision for a carbon-neutral Armidale region will soon become reality, thanks to a new partnership between the University of New England, Armidale Regional Council, Business New England and an engaged local community.

Costa Group’s Lovacado-branded avocados now have QR codes embedded in their stickers, enabling the company – and consumers – to track each avo’s path from farm gate to packing shed to plate.

QUT has appointed Professor Kerrie Wilson as Pro Vice-Chancellor, Sustainability Strategy, to provide strategic leadership and advice on embedding sustainability into the university’s strategy, policy, research and education.

Food & Fibre Gippsland and Federation University have teamed up to help the region’s agribusinesses surmount obstacles to commercialisation and economic success. Enter the Challenge for a chance to win six months of mentorship, funding and R&D support.

For UNSW Associate Professor and networked embedded sensor expert Wen Hu, automated farms supplying ‘smart cities’ with premium fresh food are the way of the future. And IoT systems are paving the way to this new, networked reality.

A Queensland-Sri Lanka research team has developed a cheaper, faster, more accurate way to ascertain optimal drying times for various crops, using apples to trial the technology.

Appointed to the ‘Commercialising native rice project’ early in 2020, CRC PhD student and beneficial indigenous-species expert Gehan Abdelghany is working on the theoretical component of her doctorate from Egypt while she waits for travel bans to lift.

EcoMag Ltd, which turns Pilbara sea-salt waste streams into 99% pure magnesium compounds, is working with UNSW scientists to scale up production and, potentially, produce base ingredients for high-value foods, drugs and nutraceuticals.

Ensuring Asian-market access to Northern Australia’s premium perishable produce could be worth $5.6b p.a. in revenue to Queensland alone. So the CRC for Developing Northern Australia is keen to get it right.

Australia’s leading horticultural-industry body has launched an initiative to teach kids the connection between fresh, healthy foods and better moods.

Researchers at Murdoch University’s ANPC and Bruker have filed a patent on a fast new way to detect COVID-19 infection: testing for SARS-covid-2’s biological ‘fingerprint’.

Community collaboration on the proposed New England Science and Innovation Regional Hub has wrapped up with a ‘clear vision’ to seek funding to progress the hub in 2021.

UNSW Associate Professor Pat Spicer’s broad-ranging career spans industry, academia and two continents. The constants? Complex fluids and collaboration.

Researchers from the National Vegetable Protected Cropping Centre at Western Sydney University have netted an Award of Merit from the Australian Institute for Horticulture for donating their glasshouse-grown produce to those in need.

Australia’s iconic health-food brand is working with UNSW food-technology experts to optimise the formulations and protocols for its dairy- and additive-free Barista milks so that they’re creamier, foamier, silkier and ‘stretchier’.

NSW Department of Primary Industries, keen to bolster the position of agricultural producers in the state’s proposed new land-use strategy, urges all agribusiness stakeholders to contribute feedback to the Agriculture Commissioner’s land-use Options Paper by the end of February.

Australia’s peak industry body for fruit and vegetable growers has teamed with Sydney-based researchers and agricultural experts to explore the potential social, environmental and economic benefits of intensive indoor urban cropping systems.

Two UNSW academics are helping ensure that Indigenous peoples and communities reap the benefits of products developed from bush foods and traditional medicines.

Australia’s first solar-photovoltaic industrial microgrid is up and running at DevelopmentWA’s Peel Business Park in Nambeelup, Western Australia, with the innovative network now providing clean, green power to the site following the completion of Stage 1 works.

Canberra Region Food Collaborative and Regional Development Australia ACT are seeking input from local food-industry stakeholders to help structure sustainable, self-sufficient, supportive food systems for the nation’s capital.

Sanitarium Health Food Company, the name behind iconic Australian food products such as Weet-Bix, netted two major awards including the top gong at Woolworths’ Supplier of the Year 2020 awards in December.

On 2 December 2020, the CRC hosted its first online Research Showcase, highlighting projects approved, in progress and completed under our three Research Programs (RPs) over the CRC’s first full year of operation.

For Dr Gal Winter, lecturer and microbiologist at northern NSW’s University of New England, studying the ecology of microbe colonies – most recently, those surrounding tomato plant roots – has been a cross-continental endeavour.

The Future Food Systems CRC 2019/2020 Annual Report provides an overview of project achievements, financials, the CRC inception process and highlights of the first half year of operation.

QUT-based robotics engineer Dr Chris Lehnert specialises in solving commercial automation challenges, developing novel solutions for an array of real-world applications. Right now, he’s developing components for high-tech vertical farm modules in a CRC collaboration with Greenbio.

For Priti Krishna, Foundation Chair of Sustainable Agriculture at Western Sydney University and lead researcher on the CRC’s Blueberry nutritional optimisation project, it’s not just about growing better crops; it’s about growing crops better.

For this IT-pro-turned-UNE-microbiology post-grad, the chance to study the root microbiome of greenhouse-grown tomatoes with Costa Group under the CRC was one too good to refuse.

With support from Liverpool City Council, The George Institute for Global Health will extend its successful FoodSwitch platform to include food-service providers from the Liverpool area south-west of Sydney, helping event organisers make healthier food choices.

This brilliant scientist was the first in her family to attend university. But for Elaine Holmes, world-leading metabolic scientist, WA Premier’s Research Fellow and recent recipient of a prestigious Australian Laureate ARC Fellowship, academia proved a natural fit.

Hydroponic tomato grower Costa Group and scientists at UNE and WSU will explore microbial diversity in tomatoes’ root zones in a bid to find novel ways to combat disease in humid glasshouse environs.

Queensland University of Technology Professor Sagadevan Mundree is an expert in the fields of biochemistry and cell biology, agricultural and industrial biotechnology, and tropical crops – notably pulses. He also loves to hike.

The ‘IoT for indoor cropping’ project under the CRC’s Research Program 2 has commenced after a months-long delay due to COVID-19-related lab closures. Now, the first trials are underway at WSU’s newly opened experimental glasshouse facility, reports project lead and […]

For UNSW’s Professor Sami Kara, sustainable manufacturing is a key to future prosperity and a cleaner, greener planet. Scientica Education Fellow and Director of Vertically Integrated Projects in the University of New South Wales’ Faculty of Engineering, Sami isn’t one to silo […]

To gain the edge in global markets, Australia needs to produce blueberries with superior quality and health benefits. This project will ascertain the production conditions needed to maximise key ‘nutraceutical’ traits in polytunnel-grown berries.

A four-year, multi-disciplinary project under the CRC’s Research Program 1 will help ‘prepare the ground’ for commercialising Australian native rice, at same time creating new opportunities for indigenous enterprise.

The Western Sydney Agrifood Mapping and Analytics project will contribute to the evidence base for specialised food industry clusters in the region.

A new CRC project involving Coffs Harbour City Council and researchers at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) will construct a detailed overview of food production in the Coffs region of NSW and explore prospects for its growth through expanding output […]

BeefLedger and an interdisciplinary research team at QUT will work with food-buying groups across Australia and China to explore blockchain-based approaches to streamlining cross-border trade, in the initial proof-of-concept stage of a multi-stage Future Food Systems project that will develop the soft and hard digital infrastructure needed to support the growth of smart trade.

Inefficiencies in supply chains are exacerbated by disruptions to demand, such as the recent panic buying at supermarkets worldwide following COVID-19-related shutdown announcements. UNSW’s Professor Sami Kara explains how the ‘bullwhip effect’ typically resulting from sudden changes in demand impacts […]

It’s business not-quite-as-usual under COVID-19 restrictions, but Sydney-based start-up Sprout Stack is adapting to the new normal with increased hygiene and safety protocols and forward-looking ‘remote’ research.

Innovative Brisbane-based company Austgrains is working with pulse-crop experts at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) and food scientists from universities across Australia to develop tasty pulse-based products with proven nutritional and prebiotic credentials. It is hoped the research will benefit […]

As an agri-biotech company, Greenbio Group looks forward to working with automation experts in the Australian Centre for Robotic Vision at Queensland University of Technology to develop high-tech automated facilities in which to grow food and medicinal plants for use in high-value […]

The first General Meeting of the Future Food Systems CRC was held on Monday 16 December. Members of the CRC entity elected the independent, skills-based Board by unanimous resolutions. The Board now comprises the Chair, Fiona Simson, Valerie Linton, Peter […]

As a food grower, you might think I’m part of a dying breed of people. Climate change, scarcity of arable land and price pressures are enough to add worry lines to the most weathered farmer’s face. And while I worry […]

CRC partner Providence Asset Group brings a wealth of expertise around smart technologies – including renewable energy for microgrids and world-first hydrogen technology for green-power storage – to the collective table, and is positioned to play a key role in […]

New CRC partner BeefLedger, with its expertise in blockchain technology and hands-on experience in the Chinese market, will be a boon to participants looking to export premium high-value food products. And that doesn’t just mean beef. Driven by a belief […]

Cordelia Selomulya is a Professor of Chemical Engineering at UNSW and has taken up a lead role in the Future Food Systems CRC as its Director of Research and Commercialisation. She brings extensive experience working with industry partners, including Bega, […]

On Friday 18 October, Liverpool City Council hosted a meeting of interested stakeholders to discuss Future Food Systems CRC research priorities for the proposed food and agribusiness hub in Western Sydney. Held at the site of the new Western Sydney […]

A Food Hubs, Logistics and Trade Forum was held on June 28 in Liverpool, the centre of the CRC’s Western Sydney future food hub. The event brought together CRC industry, government and research participants from across Australia. Participants explored how […]

The establishment of the Australian National Phenome Centre (ANPC) at Murdoch University, a key research partner of the Future Food Systems CRC, will advance our understanding of the human phenome, underpinning more sophisticated personalised medicine and paving the way for […]

Liverpool City Council has won a Committee for Sydney Smart Cities Award for the third year in a row. Council was awarded Best Cross-Sectoral Collaboration for its work in agribusiness across three tiers of government, researchers, businesses and farmers. Liverpool […]