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Australian food industry
Research and development
In the core strand, The Australian food industry, you will learn about aspects of the Australian food industry, including research and development (R & D).
Outcomes
This material addresses aspects of the following syllabus outcome:
H3.1 The student investigates operations of one organisation within the Australian food industry
Source: Board of Studies NSW, Stage 6 Food Technology Syllabus, Preliminary and HSC Courses (1999)
Research and development is vital to the Australian food industry. Research and development results in innovation which is regarded as extremely important to a company's continued success. Innovation is valued in technical areas and in business plans.
Large firms generally spend more on research and development (R&D) than smaller firms and most of that research is taking place in-house. More than half of large companies have full R&D facilities in at least one location. External R&D is carried out by CSIRO, Cooperative Research Centres and the Australian Food Foundation. Boulton, H. (1995) The Australian processed food industry - taking stock. Food Australia 47, 1, January. 5-6.
Two articles have been provided for your reference. The first focuses on ingredient research by a large food company and the second on agricultural research by a growers' cooperative. Both innovations have resulted in high quality products that meet consumer demands. The articles highlight the fact that research and development can be applied at the farm and at the factory.
Product innovation through ingredient research
Questions
Answer the following questions after you have read the article.
- Explain the term resistant starch.
- Describe the functional properties of Hi-maize.
- Although research is not yet complete what physiological benefits does Hi-maize appear to have?
Activity
One of the reasons for developing Wonder White bread was to make high fibre bread that would be appealing to children. Conduct your own informal research amongst your class, your friends and family to find out why they think bread consumption has increased in the period since the launch of Wonder White. What criteria will you use to develop the questions you will ask?
Goodman Fielder (1995) Product innovation through ingredient research. Food Australia 47,1, January. 9.
In the last decade it has been recognised that starch contributes in many positive ways to people's health and well-being. One aspect of this contribution was the realisation that some starch when consumed resists enzymatic digestion in the small intestine and acts like dietary fibre. The term "resistant starch" is used to describe this type of starch.
A systematic examination of the dietary fibre content of existing and experimental Australian maize varieties by Starch Australasia Ltd identified the starch of one variety as having a unique combination of dietary fibre content and some properties that contribute to the functional performance of foods. This starch was commercially released in 1993 under the brand name Hi-maizeTM.
Hi-maizeTM is rich in resistant starch and is a natural white source of dietary fibre that can be added to foods such as bread, buns, breakfast cereals, pasta, extruded foods and snacks, biscuits and drinks without adversely affecting their organoleptic properties. Hi-maizeTM is also able to contribute functionally to foods by increasing moisture retention, improving expansion after extrusion and providing a barrier film that retards the uptake of fats in snack foods.
Nutritional scientists are excited about the physiological effects of resistant starch and its positive impact on human health and well being. Trials are being carried out in Australia and overseas to further explore the potential of Hi-maizeTM. Its physiological effects appear to occur in both the small and large bowel with current research investigating the glycemic response of foods containing Hi-maizeTM and the production of short chain fatty acids, particularly propionate and butyrate, which are believed to contribute to bowel health.
The availability of Hi-maizeTM has allowed the development of a number of innovative foods including the high dietary fibre white bread, Wonder WhiteTM, released by Quality Bakers Australia in April 1994. Health authorities in Australia recommend that Australians should consume more dietary fibre and advise that we should increase our intake of bread. However a problem is that some people, particularly children, refrain from consuming the high fibre multi-grain and wholemeal breads because of their preference for white bread. Quality Bakers Australia, by the inclusion of Hi-maizeTM, were able to prepare a white bread acceptable to those people who enjoy white bread but with more dietary fibre than multi-grain breads.
Other types of dietary fibre have always coloured the bread, changed the texture by making it more fibrous and chewy or decreased the softness and volume of the loaf. Hi-maizeTM allowed for the first time a soft high fibre white bread with excellent keeping qualities to be made available for the consumption and enjoyment of consumers.
The acceptance of Wonder WhiteTM in Australia has been remarkable. Twenty weeks after the launch of Wonder WhiteTM it had captured 12% of the Australian white bread market and increased the size of the white bread market by 8%. More importantly, Wonder WhiteTM has encouraged more people to eat bread in accordance with dietary guidelines. For the first time in many years total bread consumption in Australia increased by 1.4% during the period since the launch.
The success of Wonder WhiteTM has already led to the release of a similar high fibre white bread in New Zealand called Nature's Fresh Fibre WhiteTM by Quality Bakers New Zealand and further product launches in other countries are expected in the near future.
Hi-maizeTM and Wonder WhiteTM represent the continuing commitment of Starch Australasia Ltd and Quality Bakers Australia Ltd to ingredient research, product innovation, responding to consumer needs and seeking to improve public health.
Breeding rice to fit the market
Questions
- Explain why the rice breeders at Yanco Agricultural Institute were trying to 'develop and adapt a fragrant tropical rice' for the Riverina climate.
- How is this R&D program funded?
- How many years did it take to develop the new rice variety Goolarah?
- Of what significance is the new rice Doongara to the industry?
Activity
The following activity gives you the opportunity to examine the properties of different rice varieties and to apply the information to food preparation.
Conduct a comparative study of rice varieties (long grain, short grain, brown, jasmine) by cooking the rice using both the absorption and rapid boil methods. Establish the criteria you will use to assess differences in your comparative study. Consider: texture, separateness of grains, fragrance, flavour and other attributes.
Ricegrowers' Co-operative (1995) Breeding rice to fit the market. Food Australia 47, 1, January. 15.
Australian rice growers are used to challenges. Through the seventy years of commercial rice production in New South Wales, they have struggled against drought, flood and isolation from markets. In a region once described by Government Surveyor John Oxley as "a country which for bareness and desolation has no equal" they have created the world's most successful and efficient rice industry.
Today, the Riverina region of New South Wales is an irrigation miracle where 2,000 rice growing families produce more than one million tonnes of rice each year. The region has none of the world's rice specific pests and diseases and Australian rice growers are the lowest users of agricultural chemicals and artificial fertilisers Their industry is a model for orderly marketing and vertical integration with growers maintaining control from the soil to the supermarket shelf.
The growers own co-operative, Ricegrowers' Co-operative Ltd, is the largest single non-government owner and operator of rice storage, milling and handling facilities in the world. It markets the annual rice crop in Australia and to forty overseas countries as packaged, branded Australian product, maintaining more than 2,000 brand name and pack size combinations for the purpose.
In Australia, the Co-operative's National Marketing Division, Sunrice Australia, produces the Sunrice range of rices and rice based foods for all market sectors.
The ability of the Australian rice growers to adapt to changing trade conditions, consumer preferences and marketing opportunities has driven the industry's success through time.
Each year at Yanco Agricultural Institute, near the rice industry's headquarters at Leeton, Australian rice breeders grow up to 40,000 varieties and sub-varieties of rice from which they draw genetic material. Through cross-pollination and a meticulous selection process they provide Australian rice growers with high yielding clean seed of necessary varieties to meet the taste requirements of domestic and export markets. This program is jointly funded by the rice growers and the NSW Department of Agriculture.
To develop a rice variety to commercial production may take ten years and one million manual cross-pollinations by rice breeders.
Initially, the region's climate would only permit production of soft cooking rice varieties. However, with the increasing number of Asian born Australian residents and the escalating exposure of Australian people to Asian foods, Asian fragrant rice varieties have become increasingly popular in the Australian market. Previously this type of rice could only be grown in tropical conditions.
The Australian rice breeding program was given a priority to develop and adapt a fragrant tropical rice variety to commercial production in the Riverina region in a bid to displace growing imports.
As long ago as 1976, fragrant rices were introduced from around the world and many crosses were made with Australia's genetically adapted varieties. Inheritance of fragrance is complex and easy to lose. In a test of great skill and patience Australian rice breeders resorted to individually tasting half grains harvested from promising lines. If the necessary fragrance was present, the other half grain would be germinated in the laboratory and planted out in glass houses for further seed increase.
Following 15 years of development, the new variety Goolarah was released for commercial production and made its debut in the national market as Sunlong Jasmine Fragrant Rice. It is packed in 10kg and 25kg bags, and upright 1kg supermarket packs, and has earned strong popularity nationwide, especially among those of Asian descent.
In parallel with the development of Goolarah were breakthroughs in the genetic adaptation of a classic firm cooking Indica variety after 60 years of experimentation. A new pure strain, high amylose long grain rice of a type that could previously only have been produced in tropical climates, was released as the commercial variety Doongara. This variety also displaced imports and was quickly accepted for food service and processing applications. Its firm cooking, separate grains filled the gap that could not previously be satisfied by the softer cooking, existing Australian varieties.
In the area of product development and by-product utilisation the Australian industry is a subject for international focus. Ricegrowers' Co-operative Limited has investigated all known uses for rice by-products and developed many more. Rice bran, broken rice and rice hulls now find their way into retail, food service, food processing, industrial and stock-feed sectors.
These products contribute greatly to Australia. Product diversity creates choice for consumers, better returns for rice growers, employment opportunities throughout Australia and valuable export income. The industry provides the major source of direct income to more than 3,000 shareholders and employees and indirectly creates more than 25,000 jobs, 50% in metropolitan areas.
Amidst annual global rice production of 500 million tonnes, the Australian rice industry appears as just a drop in the ocean. But as a model for orderly marketing, innovation and international performance, it stands tall.