Fonterra has begun construction on a new blending and packing plant in Indonesia. The plant is the company's first manufacturing facility in the country and its largest investment in a new manufacturing facility in the Asia-Pacific region in the last 10 years. [ + ]

The full program for the 2014 Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP) National Conference is now available. The conference, to be held on 17 and 18 June at the Sofitel Wentworth, has the theme of Packaging and Innovation Excellence. [ + ]

Deloitte has identified value-added food processing as one of the 25 growth hotspots to watch in the next 20 years. The firm says food processing offers huge potential for the economy. [ + ]

Bosch Packaging Technology has announced it broke the €1 billion sales mark for the first time. The company increased its sales in fiscal 2013 from €914 million to €1.1 billion, a rise of 22%. [ + ]

While sales of soft drinks like colas and lemonades have taken a nose dive in the last five years, another type of soft drink has quietly been gaining ground, new research from Roy Morgan shows. [ + ]

A number of amendments to the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 came into effect on 28 February 2014. The Therapeutic Goods Administration has issued a summary of the 13 main sets of amendments. [ + ]

The red tape choking Australian business is getting worse, according to the ACCI's 2013 National Red Tape Survey. Around 70% of businesses surveyed said regulatory burdens have increased in the past 12 months. [ + ]

AUSVEG has been called to appear before a Senate Inquiry on Australian Government Procurement. The organisation has been asked to submit a series of recommendations on how to improve the government's procurement practices. [ + ]

A Queensland food importer has been fined for failing to undertake required testing. B&E Packaging imported 1500 kg of cooked and peeled prawns from Vietnam but released the prawns before the correct inspection, testing and authorisation process was conducted. [ + ]

GS1 Australia has entered into a multiyear agreement with 1WorldSync. The agreement will reportedly provide GS1's supplier and data recipient user bases with a 'next generation' platform for the enhanced delivery of the GS1net Australasia data pool. [ + ]

AFGC has welcomed the introduction of the Omnibus Repeal Day (Autumn 2014) Bill into parliament, claiming it marks the start of the government's regulatory reform that will reduce the regulatory burden on businesses. [ + ]

Nuts and seeds accounted for more than 37% of snack food launches in 2013, with savoury or salty snacks taking the remainder, new data from Innova Market Insights shows. However, the popularity of nuts varies markedly from country to country. [ + ]

Tenda Nutritional Foods has become the first company to launch an infant formula bearing the inSight brand in the Chinese market. [ + ]

Australia's new automation, control and instrumentation conference, ACI Connect, to be held on 9 and 10 April, has attracted a high-quality list of speakers and trainers. The 25% early-bird conference discount closes this coming Friday 21 March. [ + ]

A joint initiative of Fonterra and China's National Dairy Industry and Technology System, the China-New Zealand Dairy Exchange Centre aims to support the sustainable development of the dairy industry in both countries. [ + ]