Rival soft drinks firms Britvic and AG Barr have finally agreed a merger to create a £1.5bn business, which will trade under the name Barr Britvic Soft Drinks.
Operating profits dropped in two of the Real Good Food Company’s (RGFC) bakery businesses – Haydens and R&W Scott – but analysts say the group is on track entering the critical Christmas period.
Parmalat has reported double-digit revenue and profit growth for the first nine months of 2012, driven by strong performances by its US, Canadian, Australian and Russian segments.
Reuters reports that Japanese drink maker Yakult Honsha has confirmed it has agreed with Danone SA to continue talks on the possibility of the French food company to take a bigger stake in Yakult.
Rampant nutrition business acquirer, Royal DSM, has splashed the cash for the ninth time in two years – this time to the tune of €495m ($634m) on US-based multinational nutrient blending giant, Fortitech (€212m/$270m annual turnover).
Ingredients group Tate & Lyle have made solid progress in the first half of this year despite the ‘headwinds’ of softer market conditions in Europe, says the firm.
Kraft Foods have reported strong third quarter 2012 results with growth fuelled by new products and gains in productivity, says the newly independent business.
Mondelēz International was weighed down by operational issues in Brazil and Russia in the third quarter (Q3) which harmed overall performance in its first results since it split from Kraft Foods in October.
Tate & Lyle will pump up to £30m ($48m/€36.5m) over eight-years in a new venture capital fund that will invest in start-ups and expansion-stage companies in food sciences and enabling technologies.
Only an extraordinary pension return of Y27.7bn (€268m) dragged Japanese food, ingredients and pharma player Ajinomoto into the black for the March-September period as ordinary income slid 11% to Y39.2bn (€379m).
Irish dairy giant Glanbia is “confident” of delivering its full year profits target, despite reporting marginal growth for the first nine months of 2012.
A bumper performance in the sugar market has helped Associated British Foods balance sharply declining profits in its ingredients and grocery businesses.
Royal DSM saw Q3 sales slip 7% to €2.3bn across all divisions with polymer intermediates performing worst, but as has been the case in recent quarters, the Dutch firm’s nutrition cluster held firm with 1% organic growth in difficult economic times.
Nestlé's $11.85bn (€9bn) acquisition of Pfizer Nutrition has been given the go-ahead by anti-trust authorities in China – taking the “strategic” takeover a step closer to completion.
Glanbia has unveiled a €21m whey protein isolate (WPI) investment at its Dairy Ingredients Ireland (DII) Ballyragget facility – the Irish dairy giant’s latest expansion effort driven by the up-coming milk quota abolition.
Shares jumped more than 3% to just over €24.05 this morning in Danish enzymes, colours and cultures company Chr Hansen as its yearly revenue hit €699m. Profits improved 10.7% to €131.3m for the 12 month period ended August 31.
Premier Foods has announced the £92.5 sale of its sweet pickles and table sauces business to Japanese firm Mizkan Group in a move that puts the firm past its target for disposals.
BASF’s nutrition and health unit (N&H) earned €492m in Q3 – 4% more for the quarter than in 2011 when it had sales of €471m – despite falling prices for most vitamins.
CSM’s soon-to-be axed bakery supplies business shined in the third quarter alongside a ‘satisfactory’ performance of the future bio-based business, its CEO said.
Unilever reported a 1.4% drop in its food sales volumes in the third quarter, as its spreads business suffered from high pricing relative to competitors – but overall revenue at the company was up 10.3%.
Belgian frozen vegetable firm PinguinLutosa has signed an agreement to sell its potato division to McCain Foods in a deal based on an enterprise value of the division of €225m.
Premier Foods has split its bread business and upped sales in Hovis over the last quarter, but it has a lot more work to do and distribution is the sensitive issue that needs to be addressed, says an analyst.
Spanish chocolate and cocoa processor Natra has more than doubled its operating profit in its ninth-month results helped by relaxing cocoa prices, North American expansion and a shift to value added products.
Firmenich has opened a new Culinary Centre of Excellence in Vienna, Austria focused on savoury flavours, responding to continuing high demand from customers in the region, the company has said.
Danone must cut the prices of its branded dairy products significantly in parts of Europe to compete with lower-price private label brands, French banking giant Societe Generale has claimed.
Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) and Wilmar International Limited have launched Olenex, a joint venture for the sale and marketing of refined vegetable oils and fats in Europe.
Food and nutrition giant Nestlé has reported improved sales in its 9-month results driven by growth in emerging markets, but Q3 was a little slower than last year.
DuPont Nutrition & Health has said it would increase prices globally across its DuPont Danisco hydrocolloids range by an average of 10 to 15%, citing increases in raw material, energy and fuel costs.
Danone has reconfirmed its full year targets after recording “solid growth” in its Baby Nutrition and Waters business segments in the third quarter of 2012.
International Flavors and Fragrances (IFF) has said it will invest $50m in its existing Turkish facility over the next three years, in order to support the company’s development in emerging markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
Greek dairy giant FAGE has announced that it is transferring its headquarters from Athens to Luxembourg – a move that some consider an attempt to reduce its exposure to the Greek financial crisis.
French botanicals and ingredients supplier, Nexira, has made good its promise to expand its portfolio and operations by acquiring fellow French firm, Tournay Biotechnologies, for an undisclosed cash sum.
Unilever has added new ‘challenges and wants’ to its open innovation platform, this time seeking help with a stable natural red colour for fruit and dairy, and technologies to reduce sugar in ready to drink teas.
One of the UK’s largest manufacturers of chilled and frozen pizzas, Paramount Foods, has made 118 workers − more than 25% of its workforce − redundant after losing a key contract to supply Morrisons.
Strong growth in emerging markets was a major driver of increased sales in the first nine months of 2012, according to Switzerland-based flavour and fragrance firm Givaudan.
Irish food ingredients company Kerry Group has said it will invest €100m in a new global technology and innovation centre in Ireland, due to open in 2016 to serve its global and regional EMEA customers.
Pasta maker Barilla has opened a new €40m pasta sauce facility near its headquarters in Parma, Italy, with most of the products destined for overseas markets, the company has said.
Chemical distributor Univar has entered into an agreement with Tate & Lyle Sugars to distribute its range of sugar-based sweeteners and texture modifiers across Europe, the company has said.
Givaudan has opened a new €130m production facility in Makó, Hungary dedicated to savoury flavours, which the company says reflects growing demand for savoury flavours in emerging markets.
