foodpro opened by Bronwyn Halfpenny MP

On Monday, 24 July, Bronwyn Halfpenny MP, Parliamentary Secretary for Jobs and Member for Thomastown, officially opened foodpro at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. The show, which is running from 23 July to 26 July, has returned with more than 380 exhibitors after a six-year hiatus.

Before entering parliament, Halfpenny worked as the Assistant Secretary of Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union Food and Confectionary Division and Industrial Officer at Victorian Trades Hall Council. Her vision for Victoria’s future is to advocate for jobs with decent pay and conditions and that residents have access to quality education and health care. She is also passionate about workplace safety.

Other visuals at the show:

Vemag

Vemag will occupy the largest floor space area at foodpro, with numerous machines in operation. One of which is the HPE HP Coex CC215 + LL335, a sausage-making machine which can produce up to 400 sausages a minute using alginate casings — a vegan gel casing obtained from algae. These machines supply to both Woolworths and Coles.

It also has a burger-making machine which can produce up to 200 patties a minute. Both machines will be in action, using a red playdough-type substance instead of actual meat to demonstrate their use.

MHM Automation

MHM will display its MHM Automated Robots (AMRs), autonomous vehicles that can move products on pallets or in crates without conveyors, making them ideal for congested production environments.

The AMRs have integrated navigation and vision technology, enabling them to safely move around people and objects. MHM will also display its H&C Gantry Palletiser and De-Palletiser (SimPal50), which can palletise or de-palletise up to eight boxes or bags per minute.

THE LUME

Sponsored by Contech, the foodpro Celebration at THE LUME will be an evening for all event participants to network and celebrate in an immersive sensory experience. THE LUME is an adventure into art where the walls come alive with light, with curated tastes, aromas and a choreographed soundtrack.

Speakers at the show:

• Driving Sustainability through Digital Transformation for the Food & Beverage Industry: Brad Yager – Schneider Electric
• APCO’s Australasian Recycling Label Program and Sustainable Packaging Guideline: Sarah Sannen – Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation
• Everything you Need to Know about Precision Fermentation: Joe Liu – CSIRO
• Good for Business, People and the Planet — the Triple Benefit of Commercialising Excess Food: Katherine Gokavi-Whaley – Yume
• Early Planning for Successful Projects: Andrew Newby – Wiley
• Intellectual Property Relating to Product Innovation in the Food Sector: Brittany Ashton and Sarah Dixon – FB Rice Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys
• How Ignition SCADA can Improve Food Production Processes: Glen Fry – Icontrols
• Natural Blend Solutions for Food Preservation: John Ho – Connell Bros
• Hygienic Design and Operational Excellence for the Food Industry: Karin Blacow – Commercial Food Sanitation