Number one natural colours firm Chr Hansen makes inroads into the
lucrative Chinese market, this week unveiling a new food colour
factory to meet a rise in local demand, and marking the first step
in a raft of investments in the region.
Japanese sweetener and seasonings giant Ajinomoto will drive funds
into South and Central America to strengthen its presence in the
developing markets there, announcing a raft of different investment
programmes for 2005.
Growing consumer spending levels in China have helped boost sales
at two of the world's leading drinks groups. South Africa's
SABMiller and France's Rémy Cointreau both benefited from the
increasing interest in premium...
Number six global flavours player Takasago International has
established a new division in Shanghai aimed at expanding its
manufacturing and retail presence in China as well cutting costs.
Russia must loosen limitations on ownership of the companies by
foreign citizens and must improve transparency in order to attract
more foreign investments, says a new report of the Organization on
Economic Cooperation and Development...
Auchan is rumoured to be a prospective tenant at a huge 118,000
square-metre mall to be built near Moscow's third transport ring,
writes Angela Drujinina.
Britain's biggest supermarket group Tesco continued to out-perform
its peers over the Christmas period, bucking the general trend of
flat or declining sales with an impressive 7.6 per cent rise in
like-for-like sales. And with...
Wheat prices are still open to risk as low global stocks provide
little buffer to surprise supply shocks but soybean prices should
remain low on record high global inventories, writes Lindsey
Partos.
Israeli flavour firm Frutarom, with clear ambitions to become one
of the top ten flavour players, is seeking a listing on the London
Stock Exchange to raise funds for imminent acquisitions.
Barry Callebaut, the world's leading supplier of chocolate to the
confectionery industry, has reported a 6 per cent fall in first
quarter sales revenues to CHF1.15bn (€0.79bn) as squeezed margins
bit into its bottom line. The...
Novoye Sodruzhestvo, a Moscow-based holding company, intends to
build Russia's largest soybean processing plant, according to the
news provider Interfax.
InBev, the company formed last year by the merger of Belgium's
Interbrew and the Brazilian giant AmBev, says it is on track for
solid profit growth in 2004 despite missing its full-year volume
growth target, writes Chris Jones.
Nine food industry employees in the US have been indicted with
aiding and abetting the massive financial fraud at US Foodservice,
a division of Dutch retail group Ahold. The nine all worked for
food companies supplying food to the...
Moldovan wine producer Asconi Corporation has announced that its
2004 case sales increased by 20 per cent on 2003 to almost 2
million cases. The news comes at the same time as the inclusion of
10 of the company's wine in a list...
Cacanska Banka in Serbia is the first bank to receive a loan under
the EBRD's latest facility supporting small and medium-sized
enterprises (SMEs) across western Balkan countries.
Dutch producer of oils and fats Loders Croklaan has changed its
company logo in an effort to underline the connection with its
Malaysian parent company IOI Group and emphasize their joint palm
oil strategy.
A technique for changing the water repellency of plastic films
usingcoatings of steam-jet-cooked starch has been developed by
AgriculturalResearch Service (ARS) scientists.
German firm Palatinit has applied for regulatory approval to launch
its slow energy release carbohydrate, isomaltulose, on the European
market, writes Lindsey Partos.
Food companies are expecting a tough year in 2005 with competition
and price pressures in the food chain rising to the surface as the
key issues, reports Lindsey Partos.
Bulgaria's Supreme administrative court upheld today a lower court
ruling to fine the local branch of Coca-Cola leva 20, 000 ($13,400)
for using illicit promotional methods.
Britons spends four times as much on snacks as their Spanish
counterparts, eating their way through €17.3 billion a year, finds
a new report highlighting the ongoing opportunities for players in
the snack industry.
Retailer-supplier relations is the biggest concern for European
food manufacturers, according to a recently published survey from
food business forum CIES.
Recovery at Dutch retailer Ahold is still well on track, but the
impact of disposals, and the continuing decline of the US dollar
against the euro, pushed down the headline sales figure in 2004.
But with just a few more planned disposals...
German retail group Metro has posted full-year sales growth of 5.3
per cent for 2004, in line with analysts' expectations. But with
the figures boosted by positive exchange rates, the underlying
sales performance reflects ongoing...
Ireland's lone sugar processor Greencore Sugar is to cease
operating at its Carlow production facility in anticipation of the
pending EU reform of the sugar industry, Tom Armitage
reports.
Aluminium packaging giant Alcan is investing $55 million to build
and equip two new Russian plants - a clear indication that foreign
firms are beginning to take notice of the Russian packaging market,
writes Anthony Fletcher.
Better-than-expected sales at Carrefour's domestic hypermarket
business have left France's leading food retailer optimistic of an
upturn in 2005 - although further price cuts are likely to make an
impact in the short term,...
British snack makers will face the most testing period in their
recent history over the next few years as the war on obesity
gathers momentum, threatening to stall growth and devour smaller
manufacturers, reports Chris Mercer.
As food ingredients suppliers take a stake in the burgeoning
Chinese market new figures released by the United Nations confirm
foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to Asia and the Pacific
rose by a massive 55 per cent in 2004 on...
US sweetener company zuChem will launch its initial mannitol
product in the first quarter of 2005 on the back of the FDA's
recent amendment to its legislation governing the sweetener,
reports Philippa Nuttall.
Superquinn, the family-owned Irish supermarket group, has been
bought by an investment group called Select Retail Holdings for
around €450 million, a move designed to secure the long-term future
of the business in an increasingly...
For Britain's retailers, 2004 was a mixed bag, with the resolution
of the Safeway takeover ending with victory for Morrisons, a
startling decline in fortunes for Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury
and the continuing domination...
Two of Europe's top brewers have continued their investments in the
international brewing sector. But while Heineken continues to
invest in some of the world's less established beer markets, InBev
has strengthened its position...
The world price for coffee reached a four-year high last Friday in
New York, after prices increased by 40 per cent over the last two
months. Angela Drujinina examines the future for Russian
coffee lovers.
Russian alcoholic beverage giant Regatta is concentrating on
marketing a number of key vodka brands in a bid to exploit what it
sees as sector of the beverage market that remains underdeveloped,
writes Angela Drujinina.
Russian TV viewers watching the Brand of the Year / EFFIE ceremony
for the first time were able to glimpse a snapshot of the state of
Russia's food and drink industry, writes Angela Drujinina.
New food ingredients group SFINC launched in Belgium as investment
firm and food consultant combine two current ingredients firms,
Rejo and Pellicula, in a management buy-in.
The licence to the trademarks 'Supplier' and Official Supplier to
the Moscow Kremlin', which are owned by the KGB, can be bought
easily and simply by food manufacturers wishing to use the
trademark in their logos. But...
A Russian New Year favourite, Abkhazian mandarins, have finally
returned to shop shelves, but they cost twice as much as they used
to, writes Angela Drujinina.
Two of Europe's top brewers have continued their investments in the
international brewing sector. But while Heineken continues to
invest in some of the world's less established beer markets, InBev
has strengthened its position...
Despite an upturn in global wheat, corn and soy production in 2004,
prices for food ingredients sourced from cereal raw materials are
likely to remain under pressure, writes Lindsey Partos.
Opportunities for flavours in new product design could, among
others, see growth in exotic fruit beverages along with an
innovative palette for low-calorie foodstuffs.
Vietnamese rice exports have earned the country nearly $10 billion
in the past sixteen years, but despite this, the Vietnamese
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development says that there is
still plenty of room to further enhance...
The boss of UK starch and sugar group Tate & Lyle, currently
enjoying booming sales for its sweetener 600 times sweeter than
sugar, has hooked the European Businessman of the Year award from
leading US business magazine Forbes.