nosh nook #145 - friday, october 2, 2009

web-emites take snack attack to new level (link)
10.01.09 - the age - by julian lee

wow. as far as snacking goes, australia's had a lot going on lately. just last month, four'n twenty, an australian meat pies company, announced that they were releasing snack-sized meat pies. i haven't had a chance to poll any australians, but i'm assuming the resulting effects on australian society have been nothing short of ace. now, after the introduction of another new snack product, australians, through their outrage, have banded together to enact democratic change.

back in june, kraft released an updated version of vegemite, one of australia's native foods. the update mixed vegemite with cream cheese to produce a milder flavor. when they released it, they announced a contest to name the product & according to melbourne's the age, when they announced the name of the new vegemite five days ago, people went batty. the new name--"isnack 2.0." as a result, kraft is all like, "oh, you don't like it? why don't you come up with a better one then?"

basically, you go to their website & take a survey where a series of questions asks you to pick what the new name should be by ranking "vegemite creamymate," "vegemite vegemild," "vegemite vegemate," "vegemite snackmate," "vegemite cheesybite," "vegemite smooth" & "i wouldn’t choose any of these names." i hope that last one wins. that'd look awesomely meta on a label. julian lee turned to james griffin, a director from SR7 (online risk & reputation consultants) to find out why the events around kraft's new snack product are so historic. griffin said "regardless of whether or not this is a marketing ploy by kraft, this is an example of social media determining the outcome of a marketing campaign." you hear that kraft marketing team? we know you've got aussies doing your job because you dropped the ball the first time. power to the people!

nosh nook #130 - friday, september 11, 2009

four'n twenty fills the snack gap: AUS (link)
09.11.09 - food week

remember crocodile dundee? the crocodile hunter? heath ledger? men at work? all australian, so they all have/had that somewhat britishy accent, but when they're talking, they're using words like "chunder" & "kombi" & "g'day." i can usually figure out what the f those crazy aussies are saying, but some of their slang is just like one big bugaboo to me. it took me twenty-some years to figure out what the hell a vegemite sandwich was. i guess that's just how they roll down under.

there's this australian meat pie company founded back in 1947 called "four'n twenty pies," but "four'n twenty" doesn't mean what you think it might mean, like if you're an australian stoner or something. it's a reference to that old timey song, "sing a song of sixpence," with its line "four'n twenty blackbirds baked in a pie." when i hear that song, i assume that they're talking about pieces of twenty-four different blackbirds, because that pie would have to be HUGE to fit twenty-four whole blackbirds in it. anyway, as food week ("the daily digest of trans-tasman food industry news") reports, four'n twenty pies has just "launched a snack-sized meat pie to satisfy a new trend in consumer demand."

...& what trend might that be? four'n twenty's brand manager explains that "there’s a trend towards eating on-the-go." as such, they've created a "snack meat pie (that) is 31 per cent smaller (120g), making it a convenient size for a morning or afternoon snack." if you ask me, the best part about the four'n twenty snack meatpie is that it "delivers great quality and hits a great price point." what consumer doesn't love a great price point?

don't give a crap about convenience? no worries. they also have a "175g four’n twenty meat pie for meal times, and the 280g hungry man meat pie, for active guys looking to satisfy their hunger!" sorry sister. you have to stay hungry. i know...it's twisted. i wonder if the snack meat pies are made with koala meat since they're so tiny. i've never tried koala, but i bet it tastes cute & sort of like poisonous eucalyptus leaves. crikey that sounds good.

nosh nook #38 - wednesday, may 6, 2009

renewed calls for junk food ad ban on kids’ TV (link)
05.05.09 - australian food news - by daniel palmer

sometimes it seems like the whole world is against you. if you're junk food, that time is now. you're a plague upon our children. you're a pox on our houses. you're a thorn in our side & therefore must be eradicated post haste. won't somebody please think of the children?  if you're junk food, fighting the evil that your tastiness spreads has now become a pet project for politicians from new york to the u.k. to australia. you're bad. you're bad. really really bad.

according to daniel palmer, from the australian food news, down under, the coalition of food advertising to children (CFAC) "believe(s) that children who watch two hours of television per day see 18 hours per year of unhealthy advertisements for food like chips, burgers, confectionery and soft drinks." as a result, they're urging a ban on unhealthy food ads during the hours children watch TV. according to the president of the australian medical association, "(f)ood advertising influences what food children want, ask for, and eat." obviously, the answer is to ban advertising, as their parents are powerless when it comes to steering their children toward healthy diets.

how has the australian food industry reacted? they're playing nice & have even gone as far as to create a "responsible children’s marketing initiative," which says that they'll only advertise healthy food option to kids under twelve. once they're thirteen, they're fair game. last year, the australian green party introduced legislation aimed at curbing junk food advertising, but it didn't get enough support to pass. luckily, this year, they've reintroduced legislation. at the moment, it's poised to fail, but once the preventative health taskforce comes back in june with recommendations for australia's health policy, that could change...& not soon enough, because the little boy pictured in the article appears to be enjoying his donut more than should be allowed by law.