Dairy alternatives have continued to soar this year thanks to
private label and consumer health trends, but their market share is
not yet a huge cause for concern in the dairy industry.
Ahold's acquisition of 56 stores in the Czech Republic is part of
the company's plans to expand its position in central Europe
following its complete withdrawal from the Spanish and Asian
markets.
By creating a new online supply chain system for its suppliers,
Germany's Metro Group hopes to push them toward using radio
frequency identification (RFID) in tracking products.
A new centre-right government in Poland is unlikely to curb the
country's strong opposition to EU sugar reforms as Commission
representatives look for common ground to break the 'no' camp.
Targeting growing demand for fat-reduced food formulations, Danish
emulsifier firm Palsgaard launches a new emulsifier-stabiliser
system for chilled, quark based aerated desserts.
Australian ingredients and food group Burns Philp cashes in on
value creation to fund future investments, spinning off its baking,
spreads and oils divisions into a separate firm.
Sucralose supplier Tate and Lyle warns profits at its European
sugar refining business have been "substantially reduced"
due to higher costs and oversupplies.
Europe's opposition to genetically modified ingredients will
significantly increase producers' costs over the next three years
as it becomes ever harder to secure GM-free supplies, says a new
report.
CSM's sugar beet processing plant in Hoogkerk, the Netherlands is
now fully online following the closure of the firm's Breda factory
earlier this year.
The UK government will announce plans to ban junk food in the
nation's schools, bringing an end to the sale of crisps, chocolate
and fizzy drinks in school vending machines.
Coping with reforms to the EU's Common Agricultural Policy has
taken centre-stage for dairy firms across the bloc as Dutch group
Campina outlines a plan to swallow more than €80m of losses in aid
since 2003.
The trial of Calisto Tanzi, founder of scandal-hit Italian dairy
giant Parmalat, commences today amid charges of false accounting
and share price manipulation.
DSM Nutritional Products has announced a 15 per cent price increase
for all its citric acid products, reflecting industry-wide concern
about increasing energy, raw material and freight costs.
There is nothing so redolent of a corporate mid-life crisis as the
strategic equivalent of a new car, new girl and new image, set
firmly on the shoulders of the same old idea. McDonald's, it seems,
is firmly in the throes of...
A UK lobby group is targeting the Malaysian and Indonesian palm oil
industries, claiming that intense farming of plantations is
threatening the orang-utan with extinction.
Danisco has announced the next phase in its global cultures
expansion programme, investing €3 million in ramping up production
capacity of freeze-dried cultures at its plant in Sassenge.
Canterbury Foods' management is hoping the relaxation of the UK's
bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) rules will ease the troubles
its meat processing division is facing in a declining market with
increasing input prices.
Danone's chairman appeared to defend French government proposals
for more transparency from firms during takeover rumours, in an
internal interview concerning the recent PepsiCo gossip.
Heinz is pulling out of its frozen food business in Europe, will
boost its presence in China and Russia, and spend more on
developing new processing and packaging methods targeted at growing
marketcategories such as "natural"...
EU farm ministers met with African and Caribbean counterparts on
Monday to discuss the sweeping EU sugar reform that will bring
cheaper sugar ingredients into the bloc.
Tate & Lyle's new Global Food Ingredients Group, which will be
responsible for global food ingredients marketing and growth
opportunities, reflects the acceleration of the group's growth
strategy.
Gains for food makers laid out as Eastern Europe's food retail
sector continues to hot up and more international chains look to
increase their market shares by expanding beyond the major cities,
says a new report.
Consumer confidence in food additives takes a blow after the Sudan
1 scare in the UK with one in four shoppers claiming food is more
risky today than twelve months ago, finds a new survey that claims
food firms must ease these fears...
Ongoing price competition among European retailers has squeezed
prices for international branded foods in recent years, finds new
research from ACNielsen that confirms the pressure will
continue into the near future.
In the wake of Unilever's announcement that it has decided to look
into "strategic options" for its frozen food operations in Europe,
many analysts are speculating about who might have thecash to grab
the whole or parts...
The UK dairy industry is losing ground to other European countries
in crucial added value markets, jeopardising future prosperity
because it has failed to innovate at a fast enough rate, says a new
report.
Intense price competition from Asia for the common food additive
citric acid bites into European suppliers, with producer ADM
announcing plans to close its Irish plant.
Confectionery companies could always count on consumers to boost
sales at Christmas and other holiday seasons, but a report
published by Mintel adds more support to the notion that consumer
trends are changing.
Novis, the publisher of FoodNavigator.com, 22 other business news
websites and more than 50 specialist e-newsletters, is today
changing its name to Decision News Media, to convey theeditorial
ethos that has made the group's news...
Supplies to meet demand of raw materials for trans fat alternatives
multiply as the first crude palm oil tanker arrives at Loders
Croklaan new refinery in Rotterdam, billed as the largest in
Europe.
Pork remains the mainstay of the UK sausage, but processors are
using other combinations of meat and flavours such as duck, orange,
lemongrass to tweak the humble banger for more upmarket tastes --
and pockets.
Danish ingredients firms Danisco and Novozymes boast growing appeal
to investors as the two ingredients companies clinch top slots in
this year's Dow Jones World Indexes.
The EU today submitted a new lower tariff of €187 per tonne for
bananaimports, after its previous proposals on opening up the
bloc's market wererejected by the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
Oversupply of sugar in the EU and higher energy costs combine to
knock profits for the year at British Sugar, its owner Associated
British Foods warned today.
Coffee futures are subdued after post-Hurricane Katrina price
spikes, with ongoing stability probable after reports that 700,000
bags of coffee stored in New Orleans warehouses were left undamaged
by the hurricane.
Cheese and low-lactose are where it's at in dairy enzyme
development, says a new report, with Chr Hansen and DSM stealing an
early lead in the race to add value to the sector.
Food makers must leap into ethnic food development to ensure they
cash in on the burgeoning European market for packaged ethnic foods
predicted to hit €7 billion in Europe by 2009 on double digit
growth.
