The Food & Drink Business Podcast

In this episode, Food & Drink Business editor Kim Berry is joined by the co-founders of functional beverage Ārepa, Angus Brown and Zachary Robinson, to talk about the science and steps needed to make a beverage truly beneficial. We discuss the rapid growth of the market with a focus on nutritional drinks that aim to improve brain health, as well as boosts in energy and immunity. We get an insi...

In this episode, Food & Drink Business editor Kim Berry is joined by Emma Stride and Ali Farid from Kerry APMEA, to talk about consumer tastes for sweetness. We discuss consumer behaviours in relation to sugar consumption, with a focus on amount, type and products. We also get an insight into Kerry’s Sensibly Sweet campaign to inform businesses, and how regulations controlling sugar in foods c...

In this episode, Food & Drink Business editor Kim Berry is joined by the co-founder and CEO of incubator and accelerator program Seedlab Australia, Hazel MacTavish-West, to discuss what it takes to help a micro business grow and succeed. We explore how Seedlab works with food, drink, personal and home care product businesses to get their products onto supermarket shelves. Hazel gives us an ins...

In this episode, Food & Drink Business editor Kim Berry talks to Young Henrys Brewing Company co-founder and gentleman at large, Oscar McMahon. The pair discuss the brewery’s recent B Corp certification and how it fits into the company’s over-arching mission to both save the planet one beer at a time and support the community that supports it. Oscar explains the success of its carbon emission...

In this episode, Food & Drink Business editor Kim Berry is joined by Michele Stansfield, Co-Founder and CEO of precision fermentation start-up Cauldron, to discuss how the company is unlocking the next evolution of the way we produce food, feed, and fibre globally. Michele outlines how Cauldron has created a continuous hyper-fermentation platform, which is highly efficient, lower in costs, and...

In this episode, Food & Drink Business editor Kim Berry is joined by Professor Paul Wood, a board member at the Australian Academy of Technology & Engineering, to talk about the economic realities of cultivated meat. We discuss its viability, the logistics, and challenges associated with the field, including costs, regulatory matters, marketing, and scalability. LINKS: Vow applies to FSANZ...

In this episode, Food & Drink Business editor Kim Berry is joined by Ray Hanly, CEO of Beak & Johnston, and Aiden Heke, CEO of Decision Inc Australia, about using data analysis services to expand businesses. We start off by discussing the role that data analysis plays in growing a business, and the move from lagging data to live data to better respond to changes in consumer behaviours. Ray...

In this episode, Food & Drink Business editor Kim Berry is joined by Lisa Rippon Lee, Vice President, Public Affairs, Communications & Sustainability for Australia, at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) and John Tortora, Group Chief Procurement & Sustainability Officer at Asahi Beverages. We discuss Circular Plastics Australia, the collaborative joint venture between the two beverag...

In this episode, Food & Drink Business editor Kim Berry is joined by the ANZ managing director for ePac Flexibles, Jason Brown, and RED Group’s marketing and communications manager, Rebecca Gleghorn. We get an insight into how ePac provides innovative flexible packaging solutions and the role RED Group plays in recycling soft plastics in Australia. We explore the importance and benefits of sof...

In a wide-ranging discussion, Food & Drink Business editor Kim Berry talks to Mondelez International president ANZ/Japan and chair of the Australian Food & Grocery Council about the local - and global - food and beverage sector. ------------------------------ The Food & Drink Business Podcast is produced by Southern Skies Media on behalf of Food & Drink Business, owned and publishe...

In the largest Asia-Pacific consumer research project for consultancy Bain & Co, 16,000 consumers in 11 different countries were surveyed and 50 hours of one-on-one interviews completed, to gain a greater understanding of consumer attitudes and experience with sustainability and the role it plays in the products they buy. Food & Drink Business editor Kim Berry talks to the report’s lead au...

With more than 20 years-experience with multinational food business Mars, Andrew Loader was looking for a new project to try doing business a little differently. Openway Food Co. is the result. With co-founder Gavin Evans and backing from private equity group Five V, Openway acquired three health food companies, Annex Foods with brands including Red Tractor, healthy snack company Table of Plenty,...

From growing up in the lentil belt of Canberra, to co-founding one of the country’s leading craft breweries, Capital Brewing Co, Laurence Kain talks to and Food & Drink Business editor Kim Berry about being Australia's first climate active certified fully carbon neutral brewery. Laurence and co-founder Tommy Hertel opened the brewery in 2016 after successfully running venues in Canberra and bu...

Australian Native Products is the world’s largest grower and supplier of lemon myrtle. In this episode Food & Drink Business editor Kim Berry talks to general manager Ross Norris about the business and this, the queen of lemon herbs. We start off discussing the history of Australian Native Products, its expansion, and establishing a consistent, high quality, organic product. Ross explains how...

Food & Drink Business editor Kim Berry catches up with SPC chair Hussein Rifai on the company’s local and global growth, food as medicine, and the domestic challenge of building a level playing field for home grown products and imports. We start with the recent news of a $111m raise and how its value was more than financial. Hussein explains that with the investment coming from Australian comp...

Food & Drink Business editor Kim Berry talks to the three directors of The Upcycling Initiative (TUI) Foods: Peter Taitoko, Tony Cartwright, and Mike Nagorcka. We meet each of the men and discuss the experience they bring to the company – Peter’s long background in processing and fitout with his company RMR Process; Tony’s equally esteemed background in FMCG; and Mike’s experience as a fifth-g...

Food & Drink Business editor Kim Berry talks to Chantale Millard, the CEO and managing director of Maggie Beer Holdings, about its growth from the company selling products from Australia's culinary icon Maggie Beer to where it stands today, a scalable premium ecommerce and omni channel business, set to meet its group revenue guidance of $100 million for FY22 Chantale recounts her history with...

The industry leader when it comes to aseptic carton packaging systems and solutions SIG has paired with Australia’s premium stock and bouillon brand Massel to launch its latest range in Australia. In this episode, Food & Drink Business editor Kim Berry talks to Baris Altay, SIG’s ANZ marketing and business development manager, and Mark Caine, the marketing director for Massel, about the new ca...

Brianna Casey is the CEO of Foodbank Australia, Australia’s largest food relief organisation that provides essential food & groceries to front line charities around the country. In this episode, Brianna talks to Food & Drink Business editor Kim Berry about food insecurity and its prevalence within all walks of life in Australia. Even before the Black Summer bushfires and COVID, Foodbank wa...

Ray Hanly left his Irish homeland to join Beak & Johnston, one of Australia’s largest chilled ready meal manufacturers. His goal was to not only grow the company, but to change the minds of Australian consumers about prepared meals. In this episode, Ray talks to Food & Drink Business editor Kim Berry about what that involves. Ray talks about the challenge of breaking down consumer mistrust...

Duxton Vineyards produces around six per cent of Australia’s annual wine grape supply, but the business is committed to a lot more than high quality grapes. In this episode, Food & Drink Business editor Kim Berry talks to Duxton’s managing director Wayne Ellis and environmental manager Dylan Klingbiel about what sets the company apart. Wayne provides an overview of the company, with more than...

Global food futurist Tony Hunter is back, talking to Food & Drink Business editor Kim Berry about the latest developments in food tech, from cultured meat to mycoprotein and beyond. In our second episode with Tony, he is straight out of the gate reminding us that the future of food is technology and not just those traditionally associated with food and beverage. We talk about how technology fr...

For Tim Noakesmith, it has been quite the non-linear career trajectory to his current role as co-founder of cultured meat company, Vow. But when you know he’s life goal was to have a major impact on the world, it makes sense he is now at the helm of one of the international leaders in this ground-breaking field. We start with Vow’s origin story and the basics of how cultured meat is made. Tim expl...

Food & Drink Business editor Kim Berry talks to Coca-Cola Europacific Partners vice president and general manager of Australian, Pacific and Indonesia Peter West about the transition from Coca-Cola Amatil to CCEP, how the company navigated the pandemic, and his leadership experience and goals. ------------------------------ The Food & Drink Business Podcast is produced by Southern Skies Me...

Food & Drink Business editor Kim Berry talks to Grant Davidson, managing director of Davidson Branding, about the changes in consumer behaviour and the increase in startups in the FMCG sector. The episode opens with Grant commenting on the roller coaster of fundamental shifts in shopper behaviour over the last 18 to 24 months, with COVID speeding up some changes but also the Millennials becomi...