Showcasing Australia's food innovators

From vegetable crackers to automated hospital trolleys, Australian innovations in the food and agribusiness industry are the focus of a book launched at the Australian Institute of Food Science & Technology conference.

The book Celebrating Australian Food and Agribusiness Innovations, published by Food Innovation Australia Ltd (FIAL), showcases 50 leading innovations in agriculture, food, drink and packaging, as chosen by a panel of technical experts from industry, academia and research.

Products featured range from automated food transport trolleys for hospitals and a blade-stopping mechanism for bandsaws to an enzyme system to extract more juice from apples, almond milk for use by baristas and baked beans with added vegetables.

The chair of FIAL and the Food and Agribusiness Growth Centre, Peter Schutz, says the book shows that Australian food and agribusiness companies have plenty to be proud of.

“Innovations such as these contained in the book demonstrate that Australian companies are responding to changes across the global landscape,” Schutz said.

“Focused innovation will be critical to meet the fundamental food challenges of the next 20 years as identified in the CSIRO’s seven megatrends — issues such as renewability of resources, targeted nutrition, ageing and food functionality.”

Fine Fettle is one of the companies responding to these opportunities by producing a nutritious food snack which reinvents vegetables into a more accessible form, by squashing them flat and drying them into a cracker.

The book is available from the FIAL website.