Food and Beverage

The tax office has asked the High Court to overturn a decision which found that payments made by Asahi Breweries-owned Schweppes to PepsiCo under agreements to sell brands such as Pepsi and Mountain Dew in Australia were not subject to a royalty withholding tax. 

IP Australia has rejected an Italian cheese lobby’s bid to block an American cheese maker from using a trade mark containing the word ‘asiago’, saying there was “very little evidence” Australians were aware of the cheese at all.

Now-defunct sushi chain Sushi Bay has been slapped with penalties totalling more than $15 million, with a court calling its long history of staff underpayments “calculated” and “audacious”.

McDonald’s has raised concerns about a “skewed” sample of employees for the initial trial in a class action alleging the fast food giant denied shift managers compensation for pre- and post-shift work.

The French association representing wine producers from Champagne has discontinued its lawsuit against an Australian retailer after it agreed to only use seed extract from the Champagne region of France. 

Food giant Goodman Fielder has won freezing orders against a former employee who the company suspects of a $10 million fraud and issued a slew of subpoenas to betting firms the employee holds accounts with.

Westpac has won its case against the owner of a fruit stand in Sydney’s Flemington Markets over a fraudulent scheme perpetrated using a $15 million invoice discounting facility provided by the bank.

Aldi has slammed what it says is a novel copyright infringement case alleging the German grocery chain copied the “vibe” of a rival’s snack packaging. 

In a loss for the Australian Taxation Office, the Full Federal Court has found that payments made by Asahi Breweries-owned Schweppes to PepsiCo under agreements to sell brands such as Pepsi and Mountain Dew in Australia were not subject to a royalty withholding tax. 

The federal government has backed suggestions for changes to the Food and Grocery Code that would slap major grocery stores with fines of up to $10 million for violating the code, amid concerns over rising food prices.