NEWS
SNIPS
8 AUGUST 2018
FONTERRA JOINS CRAZE
No matter what you call
them…muddy buns, ‘dirty
dirty’ bread or zang zang
bao…the social media frenzy
in China over the latest dessert
craze has even attracted
Fonterra Edgecumbe into the
hysteria. The global trend –
best described as a messy
chocolate croissant – has
urged the co-operative giant
to nearly double its butter
sheet production from 4500
metric tonnes to 7000 metric
tonnes at the factory as the
demand for butter to make
the buns gets more intense.
Fonterra general manager
marketing/global foodservice
Susan Cassidy says consumers
around the world love
the ‘dirty dirty’ bread’s flaky
chocolate pastry that’s coated
in chocolate ganache and
sprinkled with cocoa powder.
“It makes it impossible to
keep your face clean while
eating,” she says. “They are
popular with celebrities who
have taken to social media to
share images of their ‘muddy
bun face’ experience. Even
in temperatures of minus ten
degrees, crowds of people are
queuing for hours to get their
hands on their muddy bun.”
Edgecumbe’s operations
manager Allan Muggeridge
says the first butter sheet will
roll off the new butter line on
September 1. “We’ve been
watching demand for butter
build for a number of years
now,” he says. “The building
part of the project started
in May so it’s been a quick
turnaround to get it up and
running.” Fifteen local contractors
have been employed
to complete the expansion at
the site, which employees 380
people.
STRIPPED BACK
Proposed country-of-origin food labelling legislation has been stripped
back by the select committee considering it, HortNZ says. New
Zealand has no mandatory labelling system that tells consumers which
country their food is from, other than wine, and this is out of step with
Australia and more than 90% of New Zealand’s trading partners. The
law change was intended to cover all single-ingredient foods, but the
committee recommends covering only single types of food – fruit,
vegetables, meat, fish and other seafood – which has been minimally
processed. Under those changes, cured meats like bacon, nuts, seeds,
grains, tinned vegetables and fruit, and mixed vegetables will not require
country-of-origin labelling.
PIGS HOTEL
Two seven-floor ‘hog hotels’ are leading
the way for a series of new pig-breeding
facilities in Southern China that will
modernise the country’s farming sector.
Located in Yaji Mountain, the privatelyowned
agricultural company Guangxi
Yangxiang has developed the high-rise
pig farms that will eventually become
the largest and most intensive of their
type in the world. Each hotel can
house at least 1000 breeding sows on
each floor and, by the end of the year,
Guangxi Yangxiang is hoping that the
11ha site will contain 30,000 mother pigs
producing as many as 840,000 piglets
annually. A waste treatment plant to
handle large quantities of pig faeces
and urine is under construction, as is a
tourist attraction located in the dense
forest valley which will be sprayed with
treated waste. Although concerns over
health and food safety have made a dent
in the Chinese pork industry growth, the
company will continue its plans – which
include one hotel labelled the tallest of
its kind in the world – and achieve fullscale
operation by the end of the year.
Multiple-level pig farms have previously
opened in the Netherlands, but were
faced with public condemnation over
animal cruelty and environment damage.
Other companies in China are pushing
for sustainable, animal-free alternatives
to traditional pork production and, earlier
this year, China struck a $300 million
trade agreement with Israel to bring labgrown
meat to the market. Omnipork,
a vegan pork made from plant-based
proteins, will be launched in Asia later
this year.
NEWS
Federated
Farmers
supports moves
to significantly
reduce emissions
and meet the
Paris Agreement
commitments,
but says this
should not be at
the expense of
New Zealanders’
economic and
social wellbeing
Conservation
and associate
Environment
minister Eugenie
Sage says a ban
on single use
plastic bags is
imminent, with
consultation
planned and
the phasing out
of bags on the
horizon
It’s finished…
this year’s 226
NZ Food Awards
entrants have
been sampled,
deliberated on
and judged…and
the wait is now
on for the finalist
announcement
next month http://
foodawardsv.
massey.ac.nz/
New Zealand’s
horticulture
industry says
it supports the
concept of a
Zero Carbon
Bill with a 2050
target, provided
there are viable
alternative
production
systems and
technology
developed within
that timeframe.