Philippe Brunet, the European Commission's deputy head of cabinet,
has been unveiled as the keynote speaker at a pivotal conference on
the future of vending in Europe.
Advertisements for Kellogg's Coco Pops Straws have been referred to
the UK's Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) after a consumer
watchdog claimed they were misleading to children and adults.
Britain's number two supermarket chain has announced plans to spend
£400m on a series of store extensions and new openings, in keeping
with parent company Wal-Mart's vision of continuing global
supremacy.
As Tesco prepares to take its lucrative convenience store blueprint
to the American west coast, it may find stiff competition waiting
from a Japanese retailer busy establishing a similar niche empire.
Declining European food retail performance is set to fall further
in 2006 as retailers get caught between consumer demands for
cheaper prices and manufacturers demands for greater returns.
Following a year of restructuring, the manufacturer famous for
iconic British brands Sarson's Vinegar and Gale's Honey has
announced plans to enter the brown sauce and ketchup sector as a
direct rival to Heinz-HP.
US food safety authorities have re-opened an investigation closed
15 years ago into soft drinks contaminated with cancer-causing
chemical benzene, following evidence the industry has failed to
sort out the problem, BeverageDaily.com...
The re-appearance of a low-calorie tabletop sweetener product
branded as Altern in a small number of Wal-Mart stores in the US
has attracted the attention of Tate & Lyle.
UK food retailers have been split by the All Party Small Shops
Committee report calling for a new retail watchdog and a halt to
further mergers and acquisitions pending government guidelines.
The UK food industry has come out on top in two UK surveys
investigating whether manufacturers are meeting Country of Origin
and Clear Labelling guidance.
As the two retailing giants prepare to battle it out in America,
Tesco and Wal-Mart have both announced plans to expand operations
further in the Czech Republic and Hungary respectively.
Asda Wal-Mart has been fined £850,000 in the UK for offering
employees a pay rise to give up union rights, spelling a PR
disaster for the company already suffering from a scathing US
documentary circuiting Europe.
The introduction of secure chip and pin technology in the British
retail sector has been sporadic and ill-prepared, according to
critics of the new scheme.
DSM Nutritional Products has reported operating profit of $252
million in full year 2005, up 25 per cent on 2004. But with sales
hampered by price pressure on mature vitamins, the company is
looking to reduce its reliance on these...
Raisio has reported results for full year 2005 that are more or
less on a par with the previous year. While Raisio Nutrition was
impacted by one-off costs and write-downs, Life Sciences performed
better as ingredients showed respectable...
Syngenta's announcement of a 9 per cent sales increase last year
comes just days after the WTO ruled that the EU was wrong to bar
entry to GM crops and foods.
Unilever's proposed frozen division sell-off in Europe is part of
the latest in a wave of deals taking place in the food sector, as
some of world's leading producers sell side-line brands to private
equity firms.
Global food giant Unilever is rumoured to have found a buyer for
key brand Captain Bird's Eye, halting speculation of a venture
capital takeover bid for the whole company.
Nestlé, the world's biggest food firm, has taken out adverts in
Saudi Arabia to refute rumours that two of its dairy products are
Danish, as unlucky Arla Foods continues to suffer from 'those
cartoons'.
The last 24 months have seen more of the world's leading food
manufacturers switch to a new type of global supply contract with
international supermarkets, encouraged by clear financial gains.
Northern Irish snack manufacturer Tayto has offered administrators
an attractive bid for the remaining Golden Wonder plant, but will
absorb the business into its own operations rather than take the
old headquarters.
Fonterra, New Zealand's largest dairy co-operative, has formed a
research partnership with the US dairy industry, in an
international approach to promoting and proving health claims for
dairy products.
Following years of poor performance Dutch retailer Laurus has
announced it will sell its two largest supermarket chains,
attracting interest from acquisitive domestic and foreign rivals.
US food manufacturer Heinz has finally found a buyer for its
European seafood business, after announcing plans last August to
sell less profitable divisions and refocus on key brands.
Arla Foods said its future on the key Middle East dairy market was
in jeopardy, after the group stopped production for the area amid a
widescale boycott on Danish products by Muslim consumers.
The world's leading cereal manufacturer Kellogg has announced a 3.2
per cent rise in quarterly net profit as cost-cutting techniques
continue to keep rising fuel and ingredients expenses at bay.
IT training body CompTIA has launched a new entry-level
qualification for staff working with radio frequency classification
(RFID), as looming shortfalls in trained staff look likely to hold
back food industry RFID application.
Südzucker is confident that the revised EU sugar reform offers
efficient producers long-term planning certainty, though it
predicts a fall in next year's income.
Synergy's authorisation to import whole organic vanilla pods
directly from Madagascar should help guarantee supplies and achieve
a degree of price stability.
Little wonder consumers are confused about which foods are good for
them, and which bad, when scientists use methods with almost no
chance of meaningful results.
The Indian government has relaxed outdated foreign direct
investment (FDI) laws to grant limited entry to overseas companies,
but has failed to please domestic policy makers or global
supermarket chains.
European Union scientists have developed new natural enzymes that
claim to improve the texture of high-protein food products,
reducing the need for certain product-enhancing ingredients.
Pursuit Dynamics, the UK-based creators of novel sonic wave food
and drink processing technology, will announce at its AGM today
plans to expand even faster this year after its breakthrough in
2005.