The Chinese bakery and cereals market is not only the world's largest by volume, but is set to become the second-most valuable. The market is expected to reach $47 billion by 2018, making it second in value only to the US. [ + ]

The Australian Made Campaign has renewed calls for mandatory country-of-origin labelling (CoOL) on all food products after it was revealed that some unpackaged foods would not be required to carry country-of-origin labelling. [ + ]

The RIC Group has been announced as an Associate Alliance Partner with GS1 Australia. The mobile applications company helps SMEs take advantage of the GS1 system with its warehouse management solutions (WMS). [ + ]

Registrations are now open for the 2014 AIP Ignite Packaging Mentoring Program. Delivered by Emberin, the program gives women in the packaging industry the chance to develop their leadership skills and enhance their careers. [ + ]

Jim van der Poel has announced that he will retire from the Fonterra board in November. He has been a director of Fonterra for the last 12 years. [ + ]

In conjunction with LATMA, the AIP is hosting a joint technical dinner on 3 September at the Box Hill Golf Club. [ + ]

The supermarket milk price wars have forced fresh milk producers to seek new markets and revenue sources, according to IBISWorld. China has been the focus of many producers' efforts. [ + ]

While supermarket house brand margarine has proven popular with consumers, higher-income consumers are steadfastly sticking to their preferred brands, new research from Roy Morgan shows. [ + ]

Five members of the packaging industry who have cumulatively contributed more than 125 years of service to the Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) have been recognised for their work by the AIP. [ + ]

DSM has signed a licensing agreement with Taiyo Kagaku that will transfer the Teavigo brand EGCG business to Taiyo. The deal will see Taiyo become the sole producer of the Teavigo product by the end of this year. [ + ]

The US Army is looking at novel ways to feed its troops - including 3D printing food. Lauren Oleksyk, a food technologist with the NSRDEC, is investigating 3D applications for food processing and product development. [ + ]

Finland's love of milk is not a recent phenomenon as it seems that the ancient Finns were dairy farming at latitudes 60° north of the equator as long as 4500 years ago. [ + ]

SITA Australia has won a 2014 Australian Business Award for Sustainability for its de-packaging unit that recycles both food packaging and its contents into valuable resources. [ + ]

Tannic acid has shown promising results as a scavenger of peanut allergens, meaning that it could be used to reduce or prevent allergic responses when allergic consumers accidentally ingest peanut residues. [ + ]

Steve Yung has been named as the new CEO of Sealord Group. Born in Canada, Yung was most recently managing director of McCain Foods Australia/New Zealand. [ + ]