A poor first half performance from the Iceland fascia pushed down
sales and profits at the Big Food Group in 2002. But it also masked
the improvements made in the second half of the year which gave the
company a solid base on which...
The number of complaints about food and drink adverts in the UK
rocketed by 175 per cent last year, with just two companies alone
accounting for 568 of the 1,222 complaints, according to the
Advertising Standards Authority.
Against the backdrop of imminent European enlargement the Food
Ingredients Central and Eastern Europe (FiCEE) exhibition, which
first took place in Hungary in 1999, will be held in Berlin next
year, organisers CMP Information announced.
Campaigners in the UK have begun a further assault on the
"artificial additives", and their potential effects on child
health, writes Frost & Sullivan. What does this mean for
food additive producers? And how can they...
The seemingly unstoppable expansion of the world's biggest retail
groups has given a major boost to private label manufacturers in
recent years. That growth is reflected in the latest World of
Private Label show, which begins...
Once positioned as a breakfast or after dinner treat, yoghurt is
now widely viewed as an all day snack. Product innovation - both in
packaging and content - have driven dramatic growth in the sector.
The financial scandal at Dutch retail group Ahold has deepened with
the company revealing that its Tops supermarket unit in the US had
also overstated profits in much the same way as the US Foodservice
subsidiary. All of which means...
Who would have thought it? A nice cup of tea to combat those
embarassing bad breath moments. Scientists in the US have found
compounds in tea can stop the growth of bacteria that cause bad
breath.
International Specialty Products (ISP) continues to consolidate its
position on the ingredients market with the news this week that it
has acquired Brazilian ingredient systems company Germinal.
Several major acquisitions and the sale of numerous UK pubs
adversely affected results at Scottish & Newcastle last year.
But this masks the underlying strengths of the group which is
expected to increase its international presence...
North American farmers were shaken this week when the Canadian
government confirmed on Tuesday that a cow slaughtered in January
from an Alberta farm had tested positive for BSE (Bovine Spongiform
Encephalopathy), or Mad Cow disease.
Yesterday we reported on a new production plant by CP Kelco to
ensure its position as a leader in hydrocolloids, today the same
company announced that it plans to increase pectin capacity at its
Skensved, Denmark and Limeira, Brazil...
The latest round-up from Mintel's GNPD reveals that innovation in
the food and drink industry is still going strong. Evidence that
innovation remains a number one priority for food manufacturers is
all apparent in the latest...
Speaking at his company's AGM yesterday, Sir Ken Morrison said he
had been 'surprised and disappointed' by the decision to refer
Morrison's bid for Safeway to the Competition Commission. But he
did not rule out...
The confrontation between Europe and the United States over
genetically modified foods shifted up a gear this week when the US
President George. W. Bush accused Europe of impeding efforts to
fight world famine because of its trade...
Germany's biggest supermarket retailer, Edeka, is to tackle the
threat from discounters such as Aldi with a 500-strong line of
cut-price own label products.
Company results continue today with the Dutch Royal Schouten Group
(RSG) - comprised of the four divisions Acatris, Orffa, Schouten
Products and Nutrilab - reporting a strong financial performance
for 2002, benefiting from the completion...
Competition in the biogum sector is set to hot up with the news
today that US company CP Kelco is looking to boost production
capabilities to reinforce its position in the biogums marketplace.
Despite strong sales in confectionery speciality fats, Danish
Aarhus Oliefabrik on Wednesday reported a drop in post-tax profits
to DK 19.4 million (€2.61m) for the first quarter of 2003, compared
with DK 21.8 million for the same...
Are perceptions of whey products as more than a milk powder
substitute changing? According to a new report from market analysts
Zenith International, yes, as processors increasingly looking for
added value start turning towards...
Parma ham producers yesterday won the right to require that their
products be sliced and packaged, as well as produced, in the region
of origin, putting an end to a six-year legal dispute. But the
European Court of Justice did not...
Good news for manufacturers of meat-free food products with
findings from a recent Food and Drink Federation survey revealing that UK
meat eaters, looking for a meat-free option, are helping to drive
the £582 million (€814m) market.
Wal-Mart has consolidated its unassailable lead in the global
retail rankings, according to the latest report from M+M Planet
retail. But while there has been no change to the companies making
up the top 30 global players, several...
Britain's number two grocery retailer J Sainsbury has reported
full-year figures which show that it is steadily gaining ground on
arch rival Tesco. Store expansion and cost cutting programmes
helped lift pre-tax profits by 16.8...
Despite a year of protracted low prices together with high stocks
and poor demand the Irish Dairy Board (IDB) reported satisfactory
financial results for 2002 with a turnover from continuing
operations increasing by 1.4 per cent to...
Despite an increase in sales UK flavour and fragrance company
Treatt described trading for the six months to 31 March 2003 as
'challenging' this week, with profit before tax falling by
24 per cent to £955,000 (€1.3m) compared...
Auchan, the French food retailer, has reported sales for 2002 only
marginally affected by exchange rate concerns due mainly to its
growing focus on core eurozone markets.
Irish consumers concerned about the presence of GM ingredients will
be assured by the results of a recent survey commissioned by Food
Safety Authority of Ireland that set out to identify foods
containing GM maize and/or soya ingredients...
In a market valued at €140 billion, the consumption of food and
drink in the European workplace provides manufacturers with the
potential to create products that meet three key criteria -
quality, convenience and health.
After years of restrictions related to BSE and FMD, as well as
unfavourable economic conditions caused by the strength of
sterling, British food and drink exports rose for the first time
since 1998 last year. A continued focus on...
The British Retail Consortium has reacted strongly to the latest
moves by food producers to reduce salt in food, calling for less
rhetoric and more action. The BRC has called on the UK government
to set achievable targets for sodium...
Ahold's troubles continued in the first quarter of the current year
with sales dropping 11 per cent compared to 2002, mainly due to
exchange rate declines. But organic growth at most units was solid,
a small ray of hope for the...
With impeccable timing in light of the US move earlier this week to
file a case with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over the EU ban
on biotech foods, a recent report from Washington, DC, based
International Food Information Council...
In response to increasing demands from the consumer and health
bodies to reduce salt consumption in the diet, the UK Food and
Drink Federation (FDF), has launched an action plan to cut salt in
breakfast cereals, soups and sauces....
There are numerous potential candidates to acquire the South
American operations of the troubled Ahold group, but as market
analysts Euromonitor point out, such an acquisition would not be
without considerable risks. The debate is...
The latest full year results for Safeway - probably the last before
the company is bought out by one of its rivals - were solid if
hardly spectacular, as the uncertainty over the future ownership of
the group took its toll on store...
Where would we be without bread? Believed to have first been
enjoyed by our palates over 8,000 years ago, this simple product
with its roots in the land has far from lost its star appeal.
Dr Franz Fischler, the leading light behind reform proposals to the
Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), continued on his crusade to
guarantee the quality of food in Europe with a persuasive speech at
an informal meeting of EU Ministers...
So, they went ahead and did it anyway. Despite imminent changes to
the European legislation on genetically modified organisms (GMOs),
re-iterated by EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy just this week,
the US has gone ahead and filed...
Jim Miller, the head of Ahold's US Foodservice arm, has finally
stood down from the post he has held since 1997 after coming under
increasing pressure to carry the can for the accounting scandal
which has rocked the unit in recent...
RhodiaFood, part of French speciality chemicals company Rhodia,
recently announced that it would hike up the price of its Rhodigel
food grade xanthan gum by 10 per cent.
Spanish consumers appear to have shrugged off the concerns about
the safety of meat related to the BSE scandal. The meat sector
posted the biggest increase in per capita consumption last year,
according to a recent survey.
Tesco is now one of the world's top 10 grocery retailers, and is by
far the fastest growing company in the field. And, according to a
new report by M+M Planet Retail, the British number one has the
right growth strategy to see...
The World Health Organisation, the body that recently tasted the
wrath of the US sugar industry when it published a report into diet
and health that set a ceiling of 10 per cent for sugar consumption
in an overall diet, welcomed the...
Courts in Portugal and Lithuania have ruled in favour of Czech
brewer Budweiser Budvar in its ongoing battle with the world's
largest brewer Anheuser-Busch, respecting Budvar's geographical
claims to the Budweiser name.
