Catering Melbourne Blog

Data just released by the Queensland Tertiary Admission Centre shows the top three fields of study for students of the future are health, management and commerce. While reassuring for employers in these industries, the report is bad news for the foodservice industry with the greatest decline in the food and hospitality segment (29.9 per cent) and agriculture and environment programs (10.4 per cent). The QTAC data tells us what courses our young people have ticked for study next year. Of course, come round two the preferences can change, but not to the degree needed to stabilise the foodservice industry. The trend was seen throughout the country with similar figures produced by other state centres.

The 10-to-20 per cent more you spend on organic products are worth it – the biggest study into organic food has found it will make you healthier and may help to increase your lifespan. The $27 million four-year European project found organic fruit and vegetables contained as much as 40 per cent more antioxidants, which scientists believe can cut the risk of cancer and heart disease. They also had higher levels of beneficial minerals like iron and zinc. Co-ordinator of the European-Union funded project, Carlo Liefert, says the differences are so marked that organic product will help to increase the nutrient intake of people not eating the recommended servings of fruit and veggies each week. Throughout the study, researchers reared cattle and grew fruit and veggies on adjacent organic and non-organic sites on a 293ha farm on various sites throughout Europe. They found the levels of antioxidants in milk from dairy cows raised in organic conditions were up to 90 per cent higher than in non-organic or conventional milk.

The report’s key findings included:

Organic milk contains higher amounts of Vitamin E. The antioxidant contributes to a healthy circulatory system;
Potatoes, Kiwi Fruit and carrots were among the organic produce found to be higher in Vitamin C than their chemically farmed counterparts. Vitamin C has been credited with boosting the immune system and helping to keep cancer and heart disease at bay; and
Higher levels of minerals and antioxidants were found in organically farmed lettuce, spinach and cabbage.

Melbourne’s Vue de monde has been awarded the industry’s top accolade,

Restaurant of the Year, at this year’s Savour Australia™ Restaurant & Catering Australia Awards for Excellence. And South Australia’s Epicure Catering @ State Library is officially Australia’s top caterer. The Savour Australia™ awards are the most dependable and authoritative guide to Australia’s best restaurants. The chair of judges for the national awards Matt Preston says arguably no other award scheme in this country can boast such a rigorous review process in which some 500 hand-picked and specially trained judges with a passion for food and wine determine the winners. “When you visit a Savour Australia™ national award-winning restaurant like Vue de monde you know that you are on to a good thing – top restaurants voted by everyday Australians for everyday Australians,” Matt says. “Vue de monde is testament to the best of what Australia has to offer when it comes to eating out. Characterised by fine French food artfully prepared by chef Shannon Bennett and his talented team; Vue de monde offers the full package when it comes to quality food, outstanding service and an extensive wine selection, guaranteeing that you are in for a real treat and a fine dining experience.” Vue de monde is one of 34 national award winners, voted best in their category, and in their region and/or state. Matt says each national award winner embodied the great diversity of the Australian dining experiences, environments, and food styles that many people found appealing irrespective of their age, background or budget.

Hi Bev,

You girls did an amazing job and the reason it was such a great day is because you guys made it a great day.

Cheers and we’ll speak very soon xx

Hi Lauren,

Many thanks for the birthday chocolates and wine!! Yum!!

The event went really well – as always the food was fantastic.

We will contact you shortly to finalise everything.

Kind regards,

Lisa Scott

India is rapidly emerging as a critical market for Australia’s food industry, according to a new Australian Government-funded report launched in New Delhi this month. Minister for Trade, Warren Truss, and Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Peter McGauran, said the report, Strengthening the India-Australia corridor in select food and agribusiness sectors, showed increasing consumer demand among the sub-continent’s burgeoning middle class. Mr Truss said this demand was creating huge opportunities for businesses in the Australian food sector. “Indian food retail is a multi-billion dollar industry, estimated to be worth around $233 billion, with food being the largest category of consumer spending. The sub-continent’s 300-million strong middle class, with its growing affluence and changing lifestyle, is driving growth in organised food retail and food services, with organised retail expected to increase by 30 per cent over the next five years,” Mr Truss said. The size and the rapid growth of India’s food sector were creating enormous potential for Australian food producers and food services suppliers. “Australia’s expertise in food production, combined with high-quality ingredients and cutting-edge technology, places us in an ideal position to make greater inroads into India. The increasing demand for food, including higher value products in countries such as India presents significant opportunities for the Australian food industry to expand its export markets.

Today (October 25), leading online auction house GraysOnline (www.graysonline.com.au) will launch the second sale of over 107,000 quality Australian wines from collapsed wine investment company Heritage Fine Wines. The receiver and manager, Nicholas Crouch of Crouch Insolvency values the cache at $5 million though through GraysOnline, every single bottle will be offered unreserved with a starting price of $9. Following the outstanding success of the first Heritage Fine Wine Sale in June 2007, GraysOnline is thrilled to be hosting the second and final sale. Mark Kehoe, Director of GraysOnline says this is an incredible opportunity for anyone with a penchant for fine wine. Anyone looking to invest in premium wines for the cellar will be in their element when the sale goes live at 7am.” The GraysOnline sale includes multiple vintages of Penfolds Grange, such as the superb ‘Bin 95’ vintage from 1996 and 1998; and wines from collectable wineries such as Wirra Wirra, Kilikanoon, Mount Langi and many other Australian icons. All items offered are unreserved with a start price of only $9 a case.

Brisbane’s iconic Story Bridge Hotel has been awarded the ultimate title – Hotel of the Year. The ‘Bridge’ faced off against some of the best pubs in the country and came out on top. The three other finalists included the famed The Golden Sheaf in Sydney; The Lion in Adelaide; and The Shore Club in Sydney. In 1886, the Story Bridge Hotel was born. Known originally as the Kangaroo Point Hotel it underwent a name change in 1940 to The Story Bridge Hotel to coincide with the actual opening of The Story Bridge. In 1967, the Deery Family, headed by Barrie Deery bought the hotel and it remains in the hands of the family, under the helm of Richard and Jane Deery, Barrie’s son and daughter. The Story Bridge is one of the last remaining family owned and operated hotels in Brisbane.

Over the past six months, the continuing global grain shortage has led to unprecedented prices for feed grains. Until now, the Australian chicken meat industry has strongly resisted the imperative to raise prices of chicken meat despite the substantial increase in production costs. Unfortunately, a price increase for chicken meat has now become inevitable. Chicken is a nutritious and staple element of the Australian family diet and has enjoyed low prices for many years, despite the rising cost of major inputs such as feed grains (due to the drought), petrol prices for transport and deliveries and electricity prices which have been worn by the industry. This situation is no longer sustainable. The price of chicken meat will have to rise from mid November. The price of a tonne of wheat, the industry’s single biggest input cost, has more than doubled in a year and hit a new high this month of $492. Grain represents the major part of chicken feed, for which there is no substitute. Feed in turn makes up more than 60 per cent of the cost of producing a meat chicken and the recent increase in feed costs alone translates into cost increases in excess of 20-30 per cent. Coupled with this, fuel costs have continued to rise from an average 115c a litre in November 2006 to 125c a litre in July 2007 and electricity costs have almost doubled. Consumers are likely to be paying an average of 20-30 per cent more for chicken meat, from whole chickens right through to further processed products.

A current case doing battle in Queensland’s District Court could see Queensland’s licensed venues liable for assaults on patrons in designated smoking areas, car parks and other areas outside pubs and clubs following an incident in June. Lawyers and the Australian Hotels Association agree a statement of claim issued on a Brisbane hotel after an alleged assault will be a test case in setting a boundary for duty of care. The battle concerns 25-year-old Michael John O’Shannessy who could lose the sight in one of his eyes following after an alleged attack on a ramp leading to a designated smoking area in the car park of the Normanby Hotel in the inner city. The case continues.