Top chefs from four of the world’s top culinary schools recently showed how far ready meals have come by preparing three gourmet dishes that were packaged and heated in Cryovac’s Simple Steps microwaveable packaging.

Risifrutti is a rice pudding that can be eaten directly from the cup either as a dessert or as a snack. While it is simple and convenient to eat, it is not an easy product to make.

Smith’s Snackfoods (a division of PepsiCo) is Australia’s largest potato chip manufacturer.

High-pressure processing offers a non-thermal way to pasteurise a range of food products. Donny Boy Fresh Food has opened a world-first facility in Melbourne using this technology.

Aseptic cold filling offers a solution to meeting consumer demand for minimally processed foods and drinks.

The $2.7 billion Business Tax Break, a key element of the Australian government’s $42 billion Nation Building and Jobs Plan, gives businesses a one-off tax deduction equal to 30% of the capital cost of eligible new equipment.

The electrical drive industry has an important role to play in the course of the developments in energy markets and the increasing awareness for protection of the environment.

The right staff have to exist before you can hire them. There is a lack of superior students choosing to enter the food industry so maybe it is time for the industry to face this issue and try to find some solutions.

To what extent did failings in regulatory oversight contribute to the salmonella outbreak that has led to the largest recall in the US and the deaths of nine people?

As energy costs climb, companies are becoming more and more interested in improving energy productivity and efficiency. Luckily there are many ways this can be cost-effectively achieved.

Good money cannot guarantee top people in the food industry. First, top students need to choose food technology and engineering at the tertiary level — and this is not happening.

There is no standardised definition of how to measure how environmentally friendly a product is. This is making life difficult for companies making decisions about sustainable business practices.

Ten of the major food safety issues facing the food industry in 2009 are nominated by Bill Marler from foodborne illness law firm Marler Clark.

Too much information on the labels of ready meals will make it too difficult for consumers to extract the information they are interested in when making purchasing decisions.

Challenges to brand understanding can lead consumers to doubt their understanding of an established brand, giving marketers the opportunity to reinvent brands.