Australia's recently announced free trade agreement with Japan will mean significant gains for processed food exports, the AFGC says. [ + ]

Baked foods could soon be healthier, thanks to research from the United States Department of Agriculture, which has developed an ingredient that could partially replace butter, margarine and shortening in baked goods. [ + ]

Employees at Fonterra's new UHT processing plant in Waitoa have started work, with 80 of the 100 new employees already on deck. The remaining 20 will start work between now and August when all five of the site's milk processing lines will be operational. [ + ]

Fuchs has announced plans to build a manufacturing plant in Beresfield, near Newcastle, to increase its Australian manufacturing capacity. The company will move its existing operations in Wickham to the greenfield site in Beresfield. [ + ]

The ARC Biotechnology and Food Processing Training Centre will be launched with a roundtable conference attended by food industry partners. The centre will train Australia’s next generation of food technology and manufacturing experts. [ + ]

Fonterra Australia is favoured to win a contract to process Woolworths' own brand milk in Victoria for the next 10 years. The contract represents a significant milestone: Woolworths' previous contracts were for a period of one year only. [ + ]

Dreaming of a career in dairy? Five of the world’s brightest and most driven university graduates will be given the chance to specialise in the dairy industry through The Alltech Dairy Career Development Program. [ + ]

With more than half of the Indonesian population under 29, manufacturers should be looking to attract younger consumers, Canadean says. [ + ]

Grant F Reid, the global president of Mars Chocolate, has been chosen to replace Paul S Michaels, the current president of Mars Incorporated, who will retire at the end of the year. Reid will formally take on the role of president of Mars in January 2015. [ + ]

Submissions are now open for the 6th annual APPMA scholarship. Presented by the APPMA and the AIP, the scholarship gives a packaging engineer the opportunity to complete a Diploma in Packaging Technology. The scholarship is valued at more than $9000. [ + ]

Registrations for the ARBS 2014 seminar series are now open. The seminar series will be held alongside the ARBS 2014 event from 20 to 22 May 2014 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. [ + ]

Patties Foods has appointed a new Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. Steven Chaur's appointment was announced by the Patties Board on 28 March; he will take up the position on 15 April. [ + ]

Andrew U'Ren AAIP, 2011 AIP Scholarship recipient, has graduated with a Certificate in Packaging. U’Ren won the AIP scholarship through the Southern Cross Awards Program. [ + ]

A Senate Committee has recommended all bans on imported Fijian ginger, New Zealand potatoes and Malaysian pineapples be upheld. [ + ]

The announcement of a Senate inquiry into country-of-origin labelling for imported foods has been welcomed by the Australian Made Campaign. [ + ]