Dutch bakery ingredients firm CSM continues to focus on core
business, clearing the sale of its sugar confectionery unit Malaco
Leaf to investment companies Nordic Capital and CVC Capital
Partners.
Pressure on soy prices likely to continue with a new report
revealing China is expected to reduce its principal soybean
planting area, while increasing corn and rice planting in 2005.
Danish sugar and ingredients group Danisco leaps into the number
two enzyme position as the firm announces control of 98.2 per cent
of the shares in US biotech firm Genencor.
South American and Asian yeast markets bring strong gains in the
first half, offsetting weaker markets in the US and Turkey,
London-based sugar and ingredients group Associated British Foods
reports today, writes Lindsey Partos.
Settling UK wheat prices have helped Carr's Milling Industries to
get its food business back on track in the first of half of 2005,
despite freak floods and fire hitting sales hard, reports Chris
Mercer.
Ambitious US ingredients supplier Cargill boosts its war chest,
announcing a 35 per cent rise in profit for the third quarter of
2005, on gains from commodity trading and its animal feed and steel
businesses.
In a €197.5 million deal food and pharma group DSM sheds low growth
bakery ingredients operations to private equity firm Gilde, freeing
up the Dutch firm to increase its focus, and opportunities, on high
margin, health promoting ingredients,...
Dutch bakery ingredients leader CSM continues to shed activities in
non-core countries, selling off its Swedish subsidiary BakeMark
Sweden to private equity group Accent, Lindsey Partos
reports.
A fresh round of price cuts from the two biggest UK food retailers
increases the pressure on suppliers' margins and intensifies
competition between own-label and branded producers, forcing them
to find new ways to adapt, writes...
The Krispy Kreme doughnut company has pulled itself back from the
abyss by successfully negotiating a new loan deal, yet financial
pressure on the firm remains intense with analysts sceptical about
its future expansion strategy, reports...
British food group RHM has confirmed it is in advanced talks to
sell its Golden West bakery, ending a troublesome supplier
relationship with fast-food giant McDonald's and streamlining the
company's focus in preparation...
An American woman has launched a lawsuit aimed at food companies
including Kraft Foods, General Mills and Kellogg alleging that "low
sugar" breakfast cereals are leading the customer astray.
Tate and Lyle said today that overall trading had continued to be
strong during the last three months boosted by demand for its high
intensity sweetener Splenda.
A dip in profits for US cereal giant General Mills highlights the
rising threat of private label competition on the cereal market,
making branded players work harder to justify higher prices to
consumers, writes Chris Mercer.
UK speciality cake and bread maker Finsbury Foods has recovered
well from a rocky 2003, showing just how quickly a company can
progress by focusing on premium and indulgence trends across both
branded and private label sectors, writes...
The knives are out for the cash-strapped Krispy Kreme doughnut
company as a class action lawsuit looms, threatening to destroy the
firm's attempts to overhaul losses caused by a lack of innovation
and over-expansion, reports...
Compound ingredients for the snack industry, inulin and sugar
activities lift operating profit in 2004 for Dutch ingredients and
foodstuffs group Royal Cosun.
Atkins Nutritionals, the company behind the trendy low-carb diet,
is closing its operations in the UK, in a move that seems to herald
the end of its presence in Europe and signal an upturn for
carbohydrate-rich foods, writes Dominique...
Takeaway sandwich and pastry ranges for on-the-go consumers drove
up profits and sales for UK bakery retailer Greggs, but the company
is working hard to compete in this increasingly crowded sector by
developing both healthier products...
Specialist bakery group IAWS is aiming to benefit from a renewed
focus on supplying in-store bakeries across the UK as the company
announces a strong profit rise, increasingly driven by canny
acquisitions and joint ventures abroad,...
UK sugar and dairy powder firm Napier Brown Foods confirmed rumours
this week that it is in discussions that could lead to a possible
takeover, writes Lindsey Partos.
Sales of the sugar substitute neotame more than quadrupled last
year as food and beverage manufacturers searched for low calorie
alternatives in the face of rising obesity, said its makers,
writes Philippa Nuttall.
Low-carb specialist Sunset Brands has become the second company in
a week to move in to America's rapidly growing organic food sector
after signing a deal for organic snack and cereal producer US
Mills, reports Chris Mercer.
DSM, the largest food fermentation company in the world (in value
terms) sees its combined food units beating industry growth for the
year, but bakery still under pressure, reports Lindsey
Partos.
Prices for key raw materials used by the food industry are lighter
this month on gains in wheat, corn and soybean inventories, but
analysts suggests wheat prices are open to upside risk.
Increasing affluence and changes in diet in China to open up new
opportunites for European yeast extract suppliers, but the threat
from Chinese suppliers has kicked off, writes Lindsey
Partos.
Tate & Lyle's Splenda brand in the news again this week as
McNeil Nutritionals, the table-top supplier of this increasingly
popular sweetener, takes the US sugar industry to court.
The cash-stricken Krispy Kreme doughnut company is to shed a
quarter of its workforce in an attempt to overhaul losses as
over-expansion and a lack of new products to appease
health-conscious consumers threaten to send the firm under,...
Edible oils market in the UK undergoes change as Anglo-Dutch
conglomerate Unilever announces plans to divest its seed oils and
cooking fats business to canned fish and meat firm Princes.
One of Britain's biggest trade unions has asked workers at food
producer RHM if they wish to vote on strike action after the
company became the latest in the UK to announce an overhaul of its
pension scheme due to funding problems,...
The growth of PepsiCo's savoury snacks business helped the firm to
a solid earnings rise in 2004 and also raises new questions about
the damage healthy eating trends will inflict on the food
industry's snack giants, argues...
Martek Biosciences has signed a non-exclusive license agreement
with Kellogg, under which it will supply the consumer foods giant
with the omega-3 fatty acid DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) for use in a
new line of fortified foods.
The Competition Commission (CC) today announced it has
provisionally cleared the completed acquisition by Napier Brown
Foods (NBF) of James Budgett Sugars (JBS), but voiced concerns
about the lack of competition in the UK sugar...
Imperial Sugar yesterday (Thursday) announced a higher
first-quarter profit, but predicted that operating income would
fall significantly in 2005 as the sugar industry remains
challenging, reports Philippa Nuttall.
Sales for food enzymes crept up by a slight 2 per cent in 2004 for
number one enzymes player Novozymes, but a boost in low carb
beverages continues to lift profit.
Stricken Italian firm Parmalat, still being investigated for fraud,
has sold its loss-making North American Bakery Group to private
equity firm Catterton Partners, reports Chris Mercer.
British cake maker Inter Link Foods has again taken advantage of
the country's piecemeal cake sector by making its biggest
acquisition to date. Meanwhile, UK bakery retailer Greggs, buoyed
by a recent sales rise, is to celebrate...
Strong year-on-year sales growth and a major new plant expansion at
premix leader Fortitech's Europe base demonstrates the insatiable
appetite for fortified foods in the region, writes Dominique
Patton.
Lower cost baking equipment suppliers could lose out after the UK's
APV Baker announced its intention to implement price reductions and
a new marketing strategy, reports Chris Mercer.
Pricing rounds in the tough sweeteners market draw to a close with
UK starch and sweetener supplier Tate & Lyle expecting a slight
fall in margins for Europe.
UK speciality cake and bread producer Finsbury Foods is expecting
healthy profits in 2005 and claims to have reversed last year's
nightmare Christmas period, despite mixed reports from many
multiple retailers, reports Chris Mercer.
TNA, a leading provider of packaging and distribution systems, is
readying to demonstrate its latest integrated packaging lines at
the forthcoming Interpack show.
Canny acquisitions have led Britain's cake sector whiz kid, Inter
Link Foods, to report another strong profit rise, but the company
should tread carefully amid rising debts and a sluggish home market
that prizes quality over...
US-based investment group New Century Holdings intends to
consolidatemarket leader Vel Pitar's position as Romania's
topbakery, writes Bogdan Tudorache in Bucharest.
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.
Leading American food producer J. M. Smucker has agreed a deal to
sell its US Multifoods foodservice and bakery businesses in order
to concentrate on well-known consumer brands, reports Chris
Mercer.