Country of Origin Labelling

A year ago we explored the question of what was the most valuable role that governments could play in capitalising on supplying Australian food and fibre products to the booming export markets to our north (read article here).

During the intervening 12-months our opinion that there needs to be increased promotion of Australian product through a dedicated branding initiative has not diminished. In fact, as the economy goes through the transition that we hear so much about, the need for such action is heightened.

Over recent weeks there has been some commentary on virtually the inverse of an export brand in the form of Country of Origin Labeling.

Stimulated by the Hepatitis A berry outbreak of February this year, the Department of Industry and Science has conducted two-months worth of industry consultation, and now has a community survey open (CoOL Community Survey) until 3 July.

Commendable as it is to consult broadly, it is difficult to shake the notion that this exercise is being guided down a certain path. Admittedly, we did not participate in the industry consultations, however a healthy dose of skepticism is always warranted when community views are gathered in a closed format as this one is.

It’s the considered opinion of this business that what is truly required is to burn the Rome of food labeling to the ground and rebuild it in its entirety based on what it is that the consumer wants. Nay, demands.

We are living in a Monty Pythonesque food labeling dystopia when food can be ‘Made in Australia’ without using any Australian ingredients.

It has been made abundantly clear by the Australian public (who coincidentally consume these products, feed them to their children, and actually pay for them) that they simply want to know where their food comes from.

One would think that by starting with such a simple premise it would be near impossible to obfuscate the matter to such an extent that the Department finds that current laws are ‘of little relevance to consumers’ whilst simultaneously being ‘burdensome to business.’

It is our sincere hope the current consultative process yields a clear and concise representation of where the product has come from to permit Australian consumers the ability to make informed purchasing decisions.

Now that is starting to sound a bit like a brand.

Global Learning Support commits $10,000 to support Maddie Riewoldt’s Vision

The poorly understood condition of Bone Marrow Failure Syndrome, one form of which is known as Aplastic Anemia, has received a major boost.

On Wednesday 10 June, St Kilda Football Club Captain, Nick Riewoldt, and his family launched Maddie Riewoldt’s Vision (MRV). The Riewoldt family established MRV after Aplastic Anemia tragically claimed the life of their sister and daughter Maddie, 26, in February this year.

MRV has been launched in memory of Maddie, and embodies the spirit that she showed over the course of her 5-year battle with the illness. Maddie never gave up as illustrated by the extraordinary 227 days she spent in the ICU of the Royal Melbourne Hospital; the longest stay of any patient in the ICU in the Hospital’s history.

Global Learning Support (GLS) has given MRV a kick-start by making a donation of $10,000.

Speaking about why GLS made the donation company co-founder, Jarrod Nation, said.

“Maddie’s serene exterior did not belie the fighter that she was, and we as a company wanted to contribute to MRV in its fight to ultimately find a cure for this condition about which little is known.”

 

“It generally affects young people in their teens and twenties, those who represent the future of this country. We simply felt that we needed to do something about the fact that it is grossly underserviced and researched.”

Maddie Riewoldt’s Vision aims to raise awareness of Aplastic Anemia, how it affects young people, improving knowledge of the illness, providing support into treatment and ultimately finding a cure for it so that others do not suffer what Maddie did.

“I urge every mum and dad who have been blessed with healthy children to get behind MRV to assist those who are not so fortunate” Mr Nation said.

To donate to Maddie Riewoldt’s Vision please visit www.mrv.org.au or SMS ‘Maddie’ to 0437 371 371.

 

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Jarrod Nation, GLS Co-Founder

M: 0418 128 300

 

About Global Learning Support (GLS)

www.globallearningsupport.com

GLS is a leading education services provider. The company partners with education providers and uses its proprietary student support, engagement, and management tools to increase course completion rates.

Currently supporting in excess of 25,000 students, GLS tools have seen online course retention rates as high as 98%.

One of the keys to the success of GLS is maintaining the human touch even while students are completing their courses online.

Australian education services company to reverse online college dropout rates in US

An innovative Australian education services company with expertise in preventing online college drop out rates will be offering its services to the US market.

Global Learning Support (GLS) will be attending the Learning Solutions Expo in Lake Buena Vista in Florida today to share its success story.

A pioneering innovator in the e-learning sector, GLS is working with leading education providers to significantly reduce drop out rates, which is the biggest challenge to the online education sector globally.

According to Bloomberg, MIT and Harvard reported only a 5 per cent completion rate of their online courses in 2012-13. [1]

Research shows while cost, lack of resources, and convenience are driving an ever-increasing number of students to online study; this trend is seeing a snowballing dropout rate.

GLS co-founder, Jarrod Nation, said the online drop out phenomenon was proving a huge cost to the sector with up to 92 per cent of students abandoning their courses in some cases.

“We are able to achieve a turn around for e-learning providers by creating a unique environment for students that facilitates, guides and encourages progression and clears the pathway to completion,” Mr. Nation said.

“Students need and want quality support, ongoing motivation, discipline and accountability during their studies to keep them on track. This is what GLS delivers.”

The Learning Solutions Expo will be held until March 27 at the Hilton Orlando Lake Buena Vista / 1751 Hotel Plaza Blvd. / Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830

 

[1] Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2014-02-11/behold-a-virtual-course-without-online-eds-huge-dropout-rate

 

For more information contact:

Mr. Jarrod Nation / Co-founder and Director of Sales and Marketing / +61 418 128 300

Mr. Jeremy Sparkes / Co-founder and Account Director / +61 409 974 775

 

About Global Learning Support (GLS)

www.globallearningsupport.com

GLS is a leading education services provider. The company partners with education providers and uses its proprietary student support, engagement, and management tools to increase course completion rates.

Currently supporting in excess of 25,000 students, GLS tools have seen online course retention rates as high as 98%.

One of the keys to the success of GLS is maintaining the human touch even while students are completing their courses online.

 

Danger Zone in Food Crisis Management

By Rob Masters

In an ironic twist, the theme of Australian Food Safety Week of late last year – The Danger Zone – could not have been more applicable in the last three months throughout Australia.

To name but a few, there have been –

  • salmonella outbreaks in Brisbane affecting more than 200 people;
  • a $25 million settlement offer by soy milk company Bonsoy to 500 victims food poisoning (perhaps the largest settlement for a food poisoning case in Australian legal history);
  • Woolworths supermarket on the Gold Coast being named as the source of a dead mouse in a rice paper roll;
  • approximately 200 Australian cruise ship passengers bound for New Zealand restricted to their cabins after exhibiting severe food poisoning symptoms; and
  • the recall on of Nanna’s frozen mixed berries and Creative Gourmet mixed berries from the supermarket shelves following notification of Hepatitis A cases in Victoria and New South Wales.

Each year an estimated 5.4 million Australians are affected by food poisoning.

Preparedness for the management of such crises should be a high priority for anyone in the food industry. The visibility an issue can give to a company often leads to its future viability and credibility.

Unfortunately, the investment in preparedness is still neglected today. The adage “fail to prepare, prepare to fail” is typical of many companies. They pay lip service to having a crisis plan, having it tested and having it maintained for currency.

Yet in today’s multi-mediia environment, a single tweet can turn an issue into a full-blown crisis of global proportions.

The Nanna case is a typical example. It has brought into focus the quality standards of the berry industry of China and Chile (the source of Nanna’s products) along with that of the packaging processes of China.

The Australian Made campaign called for the purchase of “genuinely Aussie products”, and sectors of the horticultural industry called for greater quality controls on imported foods.

The issue also put further focus on “quality control testing” and the timeliness of activating recalls for “public safety and confidence”.

The issue here has its foundations with leading Melbourne radio commentator Neil Mitchell with his often asked question: “How long did you know about the issue before you activated the recall?”

This is a tipping point for all food related industries in a crisis.

The testing for contamination can take days or weeks, which makes the decision to recall very difficult.

Do you sit and wait for verifiable evidence, or do you do ‘the right thing’ by the community and recall; hoping you have enough crisis management skills and plans in place and ‘reputation goodwill in the bank’ to see you through.

No mater what, you are in ‘the danger zone’. (And the actual ‘danger zone’ for food where bacteria thrives is between 5C and 60C).