Job losses at leading lactic acid supplier Purac are on the cards
as the firm's owner, bakery ingredients supplier CSM, continues its
restructuring programme to strengthen core activities.
ScoringSystem has launched an Internet-based record keeping system
and database to allow companies to track their food products
throughout the supply chain using radio frequency identification
(RFID) and a new way of determining the...
A lawsuit targeting Kraft, General Mills and Dannon for dishonest
advertising over weight-loss claims has been attacked as a front
for animal rights extremists, writes Anthony Fletcher.
Despite soaring sales figures for health-positioned products, new
research suggests the health message has yet to reach children,
reports Lindsey Partos.
Ingredients players and food makers could expect some relief in soy
ingredients prices as soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade
fell yesterday, reports Lindsey Partos.
Reflecting ongoing product development for low-fat lines targeting
the health conscious consumer Yoplait Dairy Crest launches a new
line of dessert recipe yoghurts that hinges on a range of fruit
flavours.
Cost pressures on food producers and processors operating in Russia
look likely to increase as prices for sunflower seed oil rise ever
more rapidly, reports Angela Drujinina.
OST Group, one of Russia's biggest drinks producers, will spend ˆ6m
on bottled water production lines in the next six months as new
figures show the market is soaring, writes Angela Drujinina.
Nestlé has launched new sweets and biscuits in Russia as intense
competition has forced the firm to invest heavily in what is now
the world's fourth biggest confectionery market, reports Angela
Drujinina.
Our journalist Angela Drujinina brings you the latest
research on Russia¡¯s chocolate market, including producers¡¯
concerns, the market situation and market leaders.
Soy milk has been Western Europe's fastest growing 'dairy' sector
over the last six years, presenting new challenges to dairy firms
via consumer health trends and new fears over lactose intolerance,
reports Chris Mercer.
Number four flavours and fragrance group Symrise heads into the
second round of bidding for the food chemicals arm of German group
Degussa, reports Lindsey Partos.
Underlining the massive potential that exists for food makers and
ingredients players in China, new data reveals only about 30 per
cent of food in China is processed, compared to 80 per cent in
western nations, reports Lindsey Partos.
Sweeping changes to EU sugar regime would put Europe's cereal
starch sweetener industry at risk, threatening job losses and even
possible business closures, warns the industry this week,
reports Lindsey Partos.
Fat replacers, emulsifiers and antioxidants lead value growth in
the global €18 billion food additives market, while sweeteners and
acidulants are increasingly impacted by competition from Asia.
Post sudan 1 debacle, a UK food manufacturer defends the safety of
food additives used in its curry formulations, but receives a
complaint through the UK's advertising watchdog.
Consolidation in the European fats business likely as Aarhus United
shareholders yesterday clear the way for the merger with number one
Scandinavian fats and oils firms Karlshamns, reports Lindsey
Partos.
Weak figures from the flavour division and a testing European and
North American market knock end of year results for Danish
ingredients and sugar player Danisco, but Rhodia acquisition starts
to pay off, reports Lindsey Partos.
Food seasonings giant Ajinomoto defends its leading amino acid
position, earmarking 15 billion yen over the next five years to
ramp up production capacity of its umami seasonings and feed grade
amino acids, reports Lindsey Partos.
The image of secret radio chips planted inside the home from larder
to bathroom, transmitting data freely to Corporation Inc, is enough
to curl the toes of more than anti-capitalism activists.
Juice maker Witmark-Ukraine has announced it expects to increase
sales by 50 per cent in 2005 as consumer demand for juice in the
CIS continues to soar, yet rivals are looming, reports Angela
Drujinina.
Demand for frozen seafood is growing rapidly in Russia backed by
health claims on packs, but the dominance of selling from loose
remains a big challenge, reports Angela Drujinina.
Stakeholders in the food chain, along with technocrats and
politicians in Brussels, must wait until October this year to get
the final word from the WTO on the GM complaint filed by the US,
Canada and Argentina, reports Lindsey Partos.
Israeli flavours firm Frutarom continues blazing the acquisition
trail with news this week it will buy the flavouring extracts
business of US firm AM Todd Botanical Therapeutics, reports
Lindsey Partos.
Buffer stocks are the cornerstone of a new strategy unveiled to
stabilise price and sustain permanent supplies for gum arabic in
the world's top three producing countries, writes Lindsey
Partos.
Expectations of a fall in global coffee supplies of coffee will
keep up pressure on market prices, as fresh figures indicate world
coffee production will drop in 2005/06.
UK-based Premier Foods will add Quorn, a meat alternative, to its
product lineup with an agreement to acquire Marlow Foods from
Montagu Private Equity for £172m (€258m).
Prices for soybeans, used to make edible oils and meat
alternatives, are still vulnerable with fresh figures showing China
will increase its pull on global stocks.
Cargill has developed an ingredient that enables manufacturers to
add the healthy benefits of whole grain nutrition to foods while
preserving the sensory qualities of foods made from enriched corn
flour, reports Anthony Fletcher.
The increase in ethical consumerism means that food makers should
seriously consider the commercial implications of eco-labels,
though tighter regulation is still needed, writes Anthony
Fletcher.
While William Morrison Supermarkets is reportedly on the hunt for a
new chief executive, it has issued another warning that it is
having a hard time digesting its £3.35bn (€5bn) acquisition of
Safeway last year, reports Ahmed ElAmin.
Japanese food seasonings firm Ajinomoto announced earlier this
month it will invest 5 billion yen (€400,000) in a new R&D
centre at its Kawasaki plant.
Children in the UK spend more than a third of their pocket money on
sweets, snacks, drinks and takeaways, find new statistics from the
country's national number crunching body, reports Lindsey
Partos.
While the European Commission still seems far from producing a
proposal to amend rules on nutrition labelling, a new study
suggests costs of label changes for the food maker could hit €9000
a product, reports Lindsey Partos.
Ingredients companies including Cargill and Chr Hansen are
expanding facilities and picking up acquisitions in order to meet
growing global demand, writes Anthony Fletcher.
Makers of snacks and crisps need new ways to tempt consumers as
competition from alternative healthier snack products start to
erode sales in Europe's biggest market, the UK.
The UK will ask the European Commission to extend a concession on
the implementation next year of a directive banning manufacturers
and retailers from disposing food of animal origin in thecountry's
landfills, reports Ahmed ElAmin.
Spanish biotech firm Natraceutical will seek approval from
shareholders for a capital extension of €40 million to help finance
the acquisition of UK food ingredients business Braes Group.
Australia, the world's second largest wheat exporter, may be facing
up to a 30 per cent fall in its grain production this year, says a
report released yesterday by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural
and Resource Economies...
Asda, the UK subsidiary of Wal-Mart, said yesterday it will buy 12
Safeway stores in Northern Ireland from Wm Morrison for £73.6m
(€109m), giving it a foothold on the island.
Acquisitive US ingredients firm Cargill builds up edible oil stocks
in Eastern Europe, announcing plans to buy a sunflower seed
crushing facility in Ukraine from Ukrainian consumer food company
Chumak, writes Lindsey Partos.
Warehouses supplying supermarkets across the UK must change the way
they use electronic tags to track their employees' movements so as
not to create "battery farm" style workplaces, the GMB workers'
union said...
