Union members are picketing some 200 or so Migros supermarkets
across Switzerland today to protest against poor working
conditions. Not surprisingly, the co-operative retailer has refuted
the claims.
As the days of blindingly fast growth in the Russian beer industry
begin to ebb away the market is starting to show signs of maturity.
In turn it is the premium and super premium sectors that are
increasingly showing signs of promise...
Speciality ingredients continue to deliver improved results for
wheat-based ingredients supplier MGP Ingredients with the company
this week raising its estimated revenue for the year on the back of
higher than expected sales.
Carlsberg's high profile - and somewhat unexpected - acquisition of
Holsten, unveiled earlier this week, was not the first major
takeover in the German beer market, but it certainly will not be
the last, either.
Tesco, the UK's biggest supermarket group, has decided how to spend
the first £53.7 million of the £810 million cash pile it unveiled
earlier this month. While the group has made clear its intentions
to grow its international...
Last summer's hot weather had a major impact on sales at Thorntons,
the British confectionery retailer and manufacturer, but the
company had a lot more to be happy about when it came to Christmas.
The Supermarket Code of Practice, designed to regulate the way in
which British retailers do business, has been criticised once again
by a number of consumer and producer organisations for failing to
do enough to curb the power of...
Stiff competition amongst western European beer producers is
continuing to drive growth in the Romanian beer market, as all of
the country's major producers reported significantly higher sales
for 2003, culminating in a 12 per...
Danone has announced plans to increase the production capacity of
two of its Russia-based dairies. The move has been influenced by
the company's increase in profits in the country, which is
currently expanding at an estimated...
Major investment is starting to show dividends for the Russian
brewery and restaurant group Tinkoff, after the company announced
that turnover had increased from $8.3 million in 2002 to $33
million in 2003. The ever-increasing wealth...
A US delegation, which is in Japan this week to convince the
country to open the gates to US beef imports, may have its plans
scuppered as the Japanese farm ministry says it is very wary of
more BSE cases in the US.
Investigations by the Spanish competition authority, the SDC, into
the price of fresh fruit and vegetables has confirmed that most
retailers regularly include a substantial mark up on these products
but that this is in line with the...
Somerfield, the UK supermarket group, is continuing on
the road to recovery after several difficult years following its
acquisition of the Kwik Save chain.
Top line growth for suppliers to the food industry will have to be
delivered through innovation and focused branding strategies, finds
a new report, at the same time stressing that emerging markets
could threaten the ingredients industry.
With tough rules on new store development curbing the growth of
hypermarkets in Spain - designed to protect traditional retailers -
most of the dynamism in the market has come from supermarkets,
which have, ironically, been just as...
Buying entry into the nascent European trehalose sweetener market
last year from British Sugar, US company Cargill will welcome
claims from scientists this week that the ingredient could ease
Huntington's disease.
Londis, the
UK-based symbol group which is currently at the centre of a
possible bidding war between a number of rival groups, has reported
Christmas trading figures which show that the uncertainty at
boardroom level had little...
UK government adopts protectionist principles to safeguard
Scotland's salmon industry and calls on Ireland to join forces in
tackling market dilution through cheap imports.
Dutch retail group Ahold is continuing the sale of non-core assets as
part of its restructuring plan - and in a bid to plug the €1
billion gap in its accounts left by a major accounting fraud.
In a bid to win back slashed beef sales, the FDA's head honcho will
travel to Japan today to discuss recent events linked to the first
case of mad cow disease in the US.
Beer sales in most of western Europe rose strongly last year as
consumers across the Continent looked for any means possible to
cool down during the heatwave in July and August.
The Russian government recently lifted import duties on soybeans,
corn and fishmeal for nine months starting 25 January, reports the
American Soybean Association, opening the way for soy movements in
the East.
Russia may be slowly adapting a number of western food and drink
habits - the rise of the country's beer industry is evidence of
that - but there is still plenty of life left in some of the
country's more traditional food...
The Estonian Brewers' Association is concerned that a requirement
to buy back empty beer cans for recycling could get out of hand
once the country joins the EU in May. Trans-border purchases of
beer, already very high, will increase...
While many of the central and eastern European countries due to
join the EU in May have already begun raising concerns about the
likely effect of opening up their borders to companies in the rest
of the bloc, food producers in Hungary,...
Asconi, one of
the largest eastern European producers of wines and spirits, is to
buy new grape processing and winemaking equipment for its Puhoi
winery to help it meet growing demand for its products.
With 10 new Member States set to join the European Union on 1 May,
2004 is likely to be an extremely challenging year for the bloc's
food and drink producers, to say the least.
As the Commission this week earmarked a €6 million rural support
package for accession states, Europe's food industry body has
warned the Irish presidency that the legal and economic climate
must be right to encourage the burgeoning...
As the United States deals with the fallout from the first case of
mad cow disease to hit the country, an international organisation
warns countries to stay on the alert and buck up controls.
Delhaize, the Belgian retail group, yesterday reported
sales of €18.8 billion for 2003, a 2.4 per cent increase on a
like-for-like basis but 9.1 per cent lower than in 2002 in actual
terms as a result of a sharp decline in the strength...
Sluggish market conditions in France were weathered well by
Hyparlo, the Carrefour franchise operator, in 2003. And a strong
progression in Romania, helped by store openings there, gave an
extra boost to results.
The chances of growth returning to the French dairy market in the
medium term are extremely slim, according to a recent report from
French market analysts Xerfi.
Competition in European flavours heated up this week as Cargill,
the largest private company in the US, signed on the dotted line
for UK flavours group The Duckworth Group (TDG).
As 10 countries prepare themselves for accession to the European
Union in April, a new report reveals food manufacturers entering,
and already present in, these countries might want to start pushing
high value dairy products.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has granted a
€35 million loan to the Lithuanian retailer VP Market, one of the
leading food retailers in the Baltic region with turnover of €650
million in 2002.
The collapse of Italian dairy giant Parmalat -and revelations of
massive and widespread fraud - has been felt throughout the world,
not least because the Parma-based group was such an international
player. In central and eastern Europe,...
The need for consolidation in the dairy market in central and
eastern Europe is clear, especially when faced with the increased
competition likely to be brought by accession to the European Union
in May. But companies looking to increase...
Russia increased imports of alcoholic drinks by around 30 per cent
in 2003 and is likely to lift imports by a further 20 per cent in
2004, according to the latest information from the National Alcohol
Association.
Dutch ingredients producer Sensus has significantly expanded its
presence in the South American market through new agreements with
distributors in Argentina and Chile.
Until recently, consumers with a sweet tooth have had little in the
way of choice when it came to reconciling their desire for sweets
and chocolate with the need to remain healthy.
Faced with a new shareholder revolt over the exact role the
previous management team played in the widespread fraud at the
company last year, Dutch retail group Ahold yesterday pledged
that it would reclaim part of the bonuses paid...
Agri-giant and leading beef processor Cargill sees profits soar in
the first half of fiscal 2004. But as the fallout from the first
mad cow case in the US begins, pressure on current quarter figures
steps up with jobs already lost....
With Hungary's entry into the EU in May, producers of one of the
country's main food specialities will face a particular challenge.
Moves by the Union to phase out the force feeding of geese over the
next 15 years are likely...
Hypermarkets may be the domain of foreign rather than domestic
retailers in the Czech Republic but this does not appear to concern
most consumers there when it comes to their weekly shop.
With barely four months to go until the 10 accession countries
become fully-fledged members of the European Union, many food
companies still have a long way to go before they meet the Union's
stringent requirements on food safety...
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has invested
in a number of food and drink business in central and eastern
Europe in recent weeks, but its latest move there is in fact a
disposal rather than an investment.
Throwing the cat among the pigeons, UK government advisors
confirmed yesterday that GM herbicide tolerant (HT) crops could
harm wildlife, including farmland birds.
Most of Europe's leading supermarket groups have published trading
figures in the last few weeks, covering both the key Christmas
period and the whole of 2003. Today we look at three more groups,
based in the UK, Finland and...
There is a defining issue for dairy giant Parmalat that has
virtually nothing to do with fraud. If it lives to trade another
day, it will be because it hung on to its suppliers.
If 2003 was all about Safeway, and in the end Morrison's, in 2004
the UK grocery market agenda will be dominated by price. That is
the key finding of a new report from retail market analysts
Verdict published this week.
