From the CEO
This month, the CRC has taken its food-industry cluster and value-chain transformation activities to a new level, with major projects in discussion in both Peel, Western Australia, and the Namoi region of New South Wales. These projects will align closely with local, state and Commonwealth Government programs to boost Australian manufacturing and increase the resilience of the economy post COVID-19. Related to these initiatives, the CRC is contributing to the Commonwealth Growth Centre for Food and Agribusiness' strategic roadmap, Program 2030, with six CRC experts and industry leaders serving on the various working groups. The roadmap will help direct government policy and investment in the future food sector as Australia strives to increase the resilience of its domestic supply systems and, at the same time, build scale in high-value export markets. Collaboration is the order of the day, with the CRC joining iMove CRC, the CRC for Northern Australia, the National Farmers’ Federation and other industry, regional and research entities in an Australia Research Data Commons project bid to increase the capability of research organisations to provide supply-chain analytics and planning services to industry and government.
David Eyre
CEO, Future Food Systems
Project News
FoodSwitch extension to provide ‘healthy food procurement’ database for Western Sydney
As part of the CRC’s efforts to improve the nutritional outcomes of food systems, The George Institute for Global Health will be delivering a project to extend its globally successful FoodSwitch data/technology platform to include healthy menu offerings from food-service providers, initially in the Liverpool area of Western Sydney. The extension will add local data and functionality to the FoodSwitch database to help local organisations make healthier catering choices. Liverpool City Council, a partner in the project, is looking forward to becoming an early adopter of the new service.
InProfile
Meet Professor Elaine Holmes: Microbiome-diet expert
Elaine Holmes is a key part of the world-leading team at Murdoch University’s Australian National Phenome Centre and the recipient of a prestigious Australian Laureate ARC Fellowship.
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NSW Circular
Creating a more sustainable economy
Established in 2019, NSW Circular is helping the state transition to a circular economy in which waste problems are transformed into sustainable, value-adding solutions. Increasing regional manufacturing capability hinges on access to sustainable energy, water and waste management solutions. Members of the CRC research consortium are working with NSW Circular to accelerate industrial adoption of new technologies in renewable energy, hydrogen and green chemistry. Australia is a global leader in clean tech and it is exciting to see opportunities for applying this expertise in the future food sector.
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Education program
This month, we welcomed another PhD student into our doctoral-candidate cohort: Gareema Pandey, MSc will be working on the ‘
Optimising blueberry quality’ project under protected-cropping expert and WSU’s Chair of Sustainable Agriculture, Prof. Priti Krishna.
We are also advertising for a second PhD student to join the ‘
IoT for indoor cropping’ project team, based at the Western Sydney University’s Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment (HIE) under the joint supervision of WSU’s Prof. Oula Ghannoum and Dr Yi Guo, and UNSW’s Prof. Wen Hu. For details and to apply,
click here.
Partner news
FIAL’s Program 2030: shaping Australia’s future food industry
CRC founding partner - the Commonwealth Growth Centre for Food and Agribusiness, FIAL - is consulting with stakeholders right along the value chain to develop its roadmap to a sustainable, profitable 2030 for Australia’s food and agriculture sector.
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STEM success in nationwide research ratings for UNSW, QUT
Partner universities UNSW and QUT held their own against some stiff competition in the Engineering and Science categories of the latest Australian research ratings.
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UNSW food scientists compare natural emulsifiers for future food formulations
A research team led by Cordelia Selomulya, UNSW Professor of Chemical Engineering and the CRC’s Research & Commercialisation Director, has published a paper about the team’s comparison of two of our best ‘natural emulsifiers’: dairy and plant proteins.
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Food & Fibre Gippsland names category finalists in its Agribusiness Awards
Will beer, berries, bovine products or beeswax wraps get the Entrepreneurs’ gong in Food & Fibre Gippsland’s Excellence in Agribusiness awards? F&F G’s annual awards attract a hot field of contenders, and this year is no exception.
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NSW DPI on the pulse with chickpea growers’ concerns
With Ascochyta blight a concern across Australia’s northern chickpea-growing regions, planting blight-resistant varieties could make a big difference to farmers’ bottom lines. DPI’s latest chickpea-trial findings offer timely guidance.
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Digital technology to drive safe, sustainable future transport networks for Australia
A new, Cisco-funded Research Director in Digital Transport at UNSW will guide the development of a technological agenda to improve the safety, efficiency and sustainability of our future transport systems.
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Greenhouse tomato industry abuzz about new pollinating robot
An autonomous pollinating robot designed by Israeli company Arugga is being trialled at Costa Group’s multi-million-dollar Tomato Exchange facility in Guyra, NSW.
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UNSW Engineering energy expert shortlisted for prestigious Global Energy Prize
Professor Joe Dong’s ‘outstanding and sustained contribution to the operation, control and cybersecurity of smart power grids’ helped secure him a finals berth in the highly ranked Global Energy Prize.
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NT’s new Young Tall Poppy talks turtle
Charles Darwin University ecologist Dr Carla Eisemberg has netted a NT Young Tall Poppy Science Award for her research impacting Indigenous health and livelihoods, and the sustainable harvesting of native turtles.
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Newsbytes
Alt-protein start-ups attract big bucks in H1 2020
AgFunder’s Agrifoodtech Mid-Year Investment Review found that investment in ‘innovative foods’ start-ups focused on ‘cultured meat, plant-based and fermented proteins, and novel ingredients’ skyrocketed between 1 January and 30 June 2020.
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Australia’s first-ever guidelines on sharing Indigenous land management know-how welcomed
More than 100 Indigenous custodians contributed to these guidelines on sharing. and building on 40,000-plus years of knowledge around managing land, sea and environmental resources.
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Why some lab mice get fat on fructose and others, not so much
Researchers at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) have found that mice prone to obesity and diabetes metabolise fructose better after receiving faecal matter transplants from mice with more useful gut microbes.
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Events
Food & Fibre Gippsland Awards Presentation Gala Dinner
Friday 20 Nov 2020
On Friday 20 Nov 2020, Food & Fibre Gippsland will recognise, reward and celebrate the region’s outstanding agribusinesses at its annual awards presentation and gala dinner, this year to be held at Sale’s historic Cobb & Co Stables. Book your table now.
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