The widespread restructuring of Ahold's business announced two
years ago looks set to continue to impact results at the Dutch
retail group this year, with first quarter results hit by disposals
and currency exchange rates.
Findings from a new report from the Geneva-based World Trade
Organisation suggest today's highly processed food industry will
continue its thirst for ingredients, writes Lindsey Partos.
In the past two decades international trade...
With a plethora of brands from which to choose and long-established
patterns of consumption, the prospects of significant growth in the
French chocolate market might seem remote. But a new report
suggests that there is plenty of movement...
Shareholders in UK symbol group Londis will vote next week to
decide on whether to accept a £60 million takeover bid from Irish
retailer Musgrave, a bid which has been consistently supported by
the company's board. But this has...
German cheese maker Hochland has opened a new €35 million
production facility in the Moscow area, aimed at capitalising on
rising demand in the Russian market.
The Slovakian soft drinks market has grown by a healthy 31 per cent
since 1998, driven by increasing tourism and the arrival of the
multinationals, says a recent market report.
The demand for ingredients that lift fibre levels and reduce
carbohydrate quantities has been a major boost for textured wheat
protein supplier MGP Ingredients, recently announcing plans to
expand production capacity, writes Lindsey...
Europe's organic food and farming sector got a major boost this
week with the adoption by the European Commission of a new action
plan to promote the sector. The challenge will be to ensure, and
maintain, consumer trust in premium-priced...
British promoters of carbohydrate-rich foods such as bread and
potatoes have repeatedly stressed that the low-carb Atkins diet fad
has had little or no impact on sales of their products. But this
has not stopped them from going to...
Energy and sports drinks continued their rapid rise up the soft
drinks rankings last year, driven by new product launches and an
increasing trend towards convenience and on-the-go consumption. But
while most of the growth has come...
Eastern Europe will prove pivotal to future palm oil demand.
According to the Malaysian Palm Oil Promotion Council both Russia
and Ukraine will be driving demand, which is expected to top growth
of ten per cent in the coming years,...
Japanese sweetener and seasonings giant Ajinomoto plans to ramp up
production of its Masako flavoured seasoning in Indonesia, reported
the Nihon Keizai Shimbun yesterday.
If the biotech industry had first launched foodstuffs bursting with
health benefits for the consumer it is likely that shoppers might
have more readily accepted genetically modified foods, so claims
the former head of the US Food...
As the anti-GM feel gains pace in Europe Britain's third largest
retailer Sainsbury has seized the moment launching onto the
supermarket shelves a milk produced from cows 'guaranteed to have
been fed a GM free diet'....
Following approval in Australia and New Zealand for the
increasingly popular low-cal, prebiotic sweetener tagatose,
licensee Arla Food Ingredients has farmed out the rights for
distribution for the two countries to fellow ingredients...
Kesko Food, part of the Finnish Kesko Group, and ICA Baltic AB, a
company belonging to the Swedish ICA AB Group, have signed an
agreement to set up a 50/50 joint venture for the Baltic food
market.
Sun Interbrew has confirmed that it is preparing to invest
significantly in a number of its production facilities in Russia
and that the programme will focus considerably on its Omsk facility
in Siberia.
Heineken has reached an agreement with its Kazakhstani
co-shareholders to increase its stake in Kazakhstan based Dinal LLP
from 51 per cent to 97 per cent, in a move that aims to capitilise
on a growing market.
According to figures recently released by the Russian Economic
Trade Development and Trade Ministry, food production is expected
to grow by 7.2 per cent in 2004. Simon Pitman spoke to the
Russian Ministry and found out that, although...
Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods, one of Russia's leading dairy and soft
beverage companies, has announced a fall of 25.4 per cent in its
net quarterly income due mainly to the rising price of milk and
depreciation of equipment.
France's finance minister Nicolas Sarkozy has called on the
country's leading food retail groups to cut their prices in return
for a relaxation of some of the more restrictive legislation, in
particular the rules governing...
Consolidation in the European salt industry continues as German
firm K+S mounts discussions with Belgium's Solvay to buy its
minority stake in Europe's largest salt producer, the European Salt
Company (Esco).
Beleaguered British retailer Marks & Spencer has rejected an
initial takeover bid from Philip Green, preferring instead to put
its faith in a new management team. But the retail entrepreneur is
thought unlikely to give up so easily,...
In a close vote cranberry co-operative Ocean Spray on Tuesday
snubbed a joint venture proposal from soft drinks giant PepsiCo,
instead opting to continue as a farmer-owned co-op.
Number one global xanthan gum supplier CP Kelco is on the auction
block as majority stakeholder merchant bank Lehman Brothers opts to
sell its slice in the leading hydrocolloid company, reports
Lindsey Partos.
Stora Enso's Russian subsidiary Stora Enso Packaging VR has
inaugurated its second Russian corrugated packaging mill at Arzamas
in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, situated some 400 kilometres east
from Moscow. The mill has been built...
Long term investments in added-value products contributed to
British starch group Tate & Lyle's end of year results with
strong US performance offsetting squeezed margins due to surging
raw material prices. A lift in demand...
China will continue to pull on tightening world oilseed and grain
supplies as the country's highly stretched agriculture sector
struggles to keep up with surging domestic demand.
French starch supplier Cerestar, a subsidiary of US agri-giant
Cargill, will tackle the stagnant European bakery market rolling
out a new generation of cold water swelling starches targeted at
bakery products with fruit, cream or...
Bread may be the most traditional of staple foods, but there is
still plenty of life in the international baked goods market,
driven by growing convenience trends and a proliferation of new
products, claims a recent report.
Shopping for food while using your mobile phone might be one way of
defeating the obesity problem - or at least of getting the healthy
eating message through to a wider audience - claims a UK analyst
this week.
Researchers in the US are to investigate the link between livestock
wellbeing and the risk of foodborne disease, a move which could
have widespread implications for animal husbandry and food safety.
Fast food producers are frequently criticised for promoting
unhealthy eating habits and contributing to the growing obesity
problem, but a company in Sweden has recently created a new fast
food concept which shows that convenience...
The UK's number one supermarket is introducing new food labels that
rank a product according to its position on the glycaemic index, a
system that measures the effects of food on blood sugar levels. The
move comes just a few...
Tough new EU labelling and traceability rules for GM products
should make it easier for food ingredients which are guaranteed
GM-free to grow sales - at least according to the only US
manufacturer of non-GM dextrose.
Tate & Lyle, the British sugar and starches group, is to expand
production of the sweetener sucralose at its plant in the US to
meet increased demand for its Splenda brand.
A China-based manufacturer of freeze dried foods says that he is
planning to enter eastern Europe before he even considers the
domestic market because the ingredients market there is so much
more developed.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has confirmed
that it is awaiting the final review of a financing package that
will provide Russian retailer Lenta with €30 million to construct
four new hypermarket outlets in...
Sun Interbrew has confirmed quarterly production volume growth of
nearly 50 per cent, but has conceded that it has been hit by the
effects of a weakened euro.
The World Bank's Board of executive directors has negotiated a new
Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) for the Slovak Republic covering
the period 2005-07, a move that is expected to bring further
funding to SME food and beverage...
Givaudan, the Swiss flavour and fragrance producer, is to
consolidate its European flavour production business, moving
production from its Dutch site to two other facilities in Germany
and Switzerland.
Fruit and vegetables confirmed their position as the most readily
available products in UK supermarkets in the second quarter of the
year - although just six of 200 product lines were found to have
100 per cent availability during...
Water coolers are becoming an increasingly important part of office
life in the UK, fuelled by growing consumer awareness of the health
benefits of good hydration and - last year at least - by hot summer
weather. And while the British...
Orafti, the chicory and rice ingredients producer, has been given
the green light by the Chilean authorities to begin work on a
second chicory extraction plant there - a move which the company
claims will bring industrial-scale chicory...
Giant US retail group Wal-Mart maintained its already undisputed
lead in the global retail market in 2003, posting a 5 per cent
increase in sales. But despite the gulf separating Wal-Mart from
the rest, European leviathans Carrefour,...
Champagne is arguably France's greatest wine - at least in terms of
image if nothing else - the de rigeur celebration drink for
partygoers the world over. But in its home market, the sparkling
wine continues to dwindle in popularity...
Nestle Cesko has announced a small profit for 2003, following a
loss in 2002 which was caused by a summer of heavy flooding that
led to extensive damage to the company's operations.
Orkla Foods has signed a deal to acquire Spilva, one of Latvia's
leading food companies and a key supplier of processed vegetables
to the Baltic region.
