This issue of Food & Drink Business is laden with stories of innovation, collaboration, and leadership. From cutting edge traceability technology, to palatable vegan cheese, Murray cod to zero alc wine that tastes like wine, there is a story for you.
On the cover
Matthews Australasia, an industry leader when it comes to intelligent product identification, inspection and software traceability solutions, graces the cover this month. CEO Mark Dingley explains how the company developed iDSnet Cloud, a tool for suppliers to produce GS1-compliant labels for cartons and pallets with the aim to reduce compliance errors. It has been so successful that the company has made it free for the industry. Dingley explains how that decision reflects a core value of the business, to help improve Australia's manufacturing industry as a whole. Our feature goes on to look at other projects Matthews is currently involved in, and what I enjoy so much about this story are the insights Dingley provides into something many of us don't even notice and take for granted - until our parcel isn't delivered. It is a great example of how one company in one part of our industry is making its processes more user friendly, efficient, and less prone to mistakes. (Page 14)
Editor's Picks
Sanctioning Transparency
Source Certain is a supply chain and forensic provenance company. The work it does is fascinating, from diamonds to the most basic of commodities. In this article I talk to CEO Cameron Scadding about the remarkable work he is doing to ensure the security and transparency in trade of crops grown in Ukraine. Scadding explains how often the full ramifications from sanctions are not truly appreciated or understood, and how the work Source Certain does can go someway to push the dialogue along. As he says, "There is a great tension here. We have a real threat around food security and a need to ensure that supply chains are not funding conflict. How do we manage that?" (Page 16)
Engineering Compassion
Our Rising Star feature is a hot favourite with many of you and this month we talk to Sarah Qian, the founder of Compassion Creamery, the world's first oat creme cheese. It makes complete sense that someone who studied chemical engineering, completed her thesis in cancer research, and worked as a management consultant has done such a thing. She is passionate, determined, funny, and self-depreciating. Her product is not even on supermarket shelves yet but it is only a matter of time. (Page 10)
Mullin over a new wine
Yes, Spring is upon us, but the weather still welcomes a glass of comforting spiced mulled wine. Julie Hirsch, one half of the team behind Eloments Tea, and two new partners Sony Salzman and Raegen Allsbrook have worked with Fairtrade farms in Sri Lanka to develop a mulled wine infuser, Mullin. Each single use infuser (made from biodegradable soilon mesh) is filled with spices and citrus that have been ethically and sustainably sourced from the Sri Lankan farms. So simply warm a cup of red wine, pop in the infuser, and relax. Innovative, ethical, and delicious. (Page 24)
NoLo sceptic to ZERO hero
What happens when you ask a winemaker with serious credentials to make a zero alc wine? It turns out you get a zero alc wine range with serious credentials. Paul Burnett from Accolade Wines did just that. As the winemaker behind Accolade's brands Hardys ZERO and &Then, he explains just how they have made a zero alc wine taste like, well, wine. (Page 26)
Australia's "mangnificant icon"
Murray cod. According to the chair of Aquna Sustainable Murray Cod, Ross Anderson, that is exactly what the mighty Murray cod is. The company has been working tirelessy on its sustainability credentials and building a reputation with celebrity chefs like Heston Blumenthal. But now it has its eyes set on consumers and seeing cod on the weekly meal plan in homes across the country. (Page 28)
