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.
Family baker Warburtons has bought up the Rathbones bakery in
Stockton, northern England, as part of the group's plan to dominate
the premium bread sector through local supply networks, reports
Chris Mercer.
Equipment manufacturer TNA has launched a triple jaw version of its
groundbreaking Rotary Jaw bagging system. TNA claims that the
system can achieve speeds in excess of 220 bags per minute (bpm),
which is faster than any other bagger...
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.
A significant drive from Asian rice producers has helped boost
global paddy production in 2004 to an estimated record 611 million
tonnes. But the Food and Agriculture Organisation says that supply
is still not meeting needs, writes...
Number one dextrose producer Corn Products International will drive
operations forward in Korea, buying up the remaining slice of its
Korean business from Doosan corporation.
Frozen and chilled baked goods are the leading lights among US firm
General Mills' bakery and cereal products as the company begins a
tentative recovery against high raw materials costs, writes
Chris Mercer.
One of Sweden's biggest meat and cheese processing companies,
recently under pressure from increased competition, will soon be
supplying sandwiches as well as the fillings by establishing a new
business unit to exploit the growing...
Competition continues to bite for Swedish speciality fats and oils
business Karlshamns with the firm announcing it will pour Euros
6.68 million (SEK60m) into cost-cutting measures.
Prices for cocoa remain relatively volatile as political unrest in
Ivory Coast, that produces some 40 per cent of global cocoa crops,
keeps the market nervous.
PepsiCo is now in a prime position to dominate the blossoming
European snacks market, especially the emerging eastern sector,
after US food maker General Mills pulled out of their 12-year-old
joint venture to pay off mounting debts,...
Irish baker IAWS is taking on France's specialist bakery,
confectionery and foodservice sectors by acquiring leading domestic
distributor Groupe Hubert, and could exploit the declining number
of independent on-site bakers in...
Booming sales for its popular sweetener give UK starch and sugar
business Tate & Lyle the necessary leverage for the firm to
re-enter the FTSE 100 index after a seven-year break.
The rising star of Britain's cake sector, Inter Link Foods, is
buying its way into Poland - hoping to benefit from the growing
dominance of multinational supermarkets across eastern Europe while
also using its new plant to ship...
Two of Britain's biggest agriculture companies, faced with an
increasingly unstable market and rising costs, have announced they
will merge to insulate themselves and compete more effectively
through local grain markets, writes...
Nestlé is to buy almost half of German frozen pizza firm Wagner so
it can tap into the lucrative German market and expand Wagner's
brands abroad, as competition hots up in the European frozen pizza
sector, reports Chris Mercer.
Food and ingredients producer Greencore has warned early that its
Irish sugar business could be seriously damaged when the EU finally
implements its sugar reform, expected next December, writes
Chris Mercer.
Price increases for key raw materials used by the food industry
threaten over the next 12 months as low global stocks remain open
to unexpected disruptions.
Interstate Bakeries, which filed for bankruptcy amid mounting debts
and falling sales less than a month ago, has announced plans to
close another of its US bakeries. But streamlining alone will not
solve the problem, argues Chris...
Food and ingredients giant Unilever has signed a deal to sell its
frozen pizza and baguette business to German firm Dr. Oetker as
part of a five-year strategy to lift profits by focusing on big
brands, reports Chris Mercer.
CSM, the Dutch food ingredients company continues to shed non-core
activities, signing off its stake in natural alcohol supplier
Koninklijke Nedalco in a €24 million deal.
Plans for EU sugar reform are unfair and would only benefit the
biggest producers, say 10 member states as new discussions split
opinions across Europe,reports Chris Mercer.
A major private label supplier, which plans to launch low-fat,
low-carb and gluten-free products to meet growing consumer health
demands, says flexibility in production and a variety of income
sources is vital in the blossoming UK...
Alarm bells are ringing at the Krispy Kreme doughnut company after
it announced a further $3 million loss in its third quarter amid
fears that the company may have been permanently damaged by
consumer health trends and over-expansion,...
US giants PepsiCo and General Mills have bought their way in to the
Romanian snacks market in anticipation of strong growth in the next
few years, though analysts warn that growth is far from that of the
Czech Republic, the regional...
Food makers can expect to see the price of hydrocolloids continue
to move upwards as suppliers, knocked by squeezed commodity
supplies coupled with higher energy and transport costs, pass rises
onto the market.
UK food producer Cranswick has blamed its stuttering sandwich
business and high costs for a drop in first half profits, but says
it is quietly confident of further growth after securing an
exclusive deal to import specialist meat...
The British government has released its long-awaited policy paper
on public health today with plans to tackle obesity, curb public
smoking and address the way food companies target children through
advertising.
Crumbling pasta sales and failed low-carb product launches have
plunged America's leading dried pasta maker into the red for its
fourth quarter and left the company barely breaking even for the
year, writes Chris Mercer .
Norwegian firm Orkla has closed in on a takeover deal for Finnish
snack firm Chips with a view to dominating established snack
industries in Scandinavia and rising markets in Russia, writes
Chris Mercer.
UK food and ingredients firm Associated British Foods has beaten
full year profit expectations after posting double-digit growth
against a backdrop of firmer commodity pricing and adverse currency
movements. The performance underlines...
Huge increases in wheat prices have more than halved annual milling
profits at top UK firm Carr's Milling Industries - yet the company
is confident of getting back on track in 2005 despite warnings that
prices will remain volatile,...
A golden opportunity in the UK cake market has led one of the
country's top cake makers to try and raise a speedy £8.5 million in
cash so it can expand production and take advantage before its
rivals, reports Chris Mercer.
Month-on-month growth for Tate & Lyle's zero calorie sweetener
combined with a faster than expected decline in European cereal
prices helped the UK firm post a high single-digit rise in profit
for the first half of the year,...
A major UK milling company is set to double the size of its flour
business by acquiring two new flour mills, giving the company a
good footing in new regional markets and helping it to keep up with
ever increasing customer demand,...
A fall in bread consumption in the US impacts sales for food enzyme
leader Novozymes in the third quarter with the Danish firm
reporting a 7 per cent fall in sales for this segment to DKK373
million (€50 million) this year from DKK399...
New products, a promising joint venture and rapid distribution have
put Swiss baker Hiestand in a commanding position at the end of the
year, and the good times are set to continue, according to market
analysts.
Kellogg reported a solid 7 percent increase in its earnings for the
third quarter with the North America region also putting up a
strong performance thanks to the successful introduction of new
product lines.
US-based food producer Sara Lee has announced a solid 4 per cent
sales rise for the first quarter of fiscal 2005 and highlighted its
bakery business as a strong contributor to company growth. But the
praise hides a relatively average...
An upmarket cafe chain devised by UK company Bakery Services to
haul the firm out of the red and take the pressure off another key
business has been scrapped after less than three months.
European bakery ingredients leader CSM will chip away at its German
subsidiary as the firm announces job cuts and restructuring efforts
to bring about savings and underline its focus on becoming an
international bakery supplies player.
Despite attempts by Kraft Foods to give the company a healthier
image, earnings fell for the fifth straight quarter as higher
commodity costs and retail price pressures took their toll.
The UK's leading retailer of bakery-related products, Greggs, has
announced better-than-expected sales for the 18 weeks to 16
October, helping the company to hold off rising costs.
The need of ingredients and equipment suppliers to reach Russian
food manufacturers is becoming increasingly urgent, but in the
absence of established B2B advertising channels, few avenues have
been open. Now a new alliance between...
Cunning investment, joint ventures and an expanding foods division
have helped Irish baked goods and agribusiness group IAWS to
increase pre-tax profits by 19 per cent for the year to July. But
conditions in the agricultural sector...
Month-on-month growth for Tate & Lyle's zero calorie sweetener
will offset a dip in figures at the firm's European starch
operations as long term investment in added-value ingredients
starts to pay off.
The largest wholesale bakery in the United States, Interstate
Bakeries, has filed for bankruptcy amid a tide of mounting debts,
rising costs and falling sales, but the company's new fix-it
specialists have vowed that the show...
General Mills is the latest food manufacturer to report a decline
in net profit this year, and again the blame goes on raw material
price hikes and fierce competition in the retail sector writes
Anthony Fletcher.
The majority shareholder in Danish vegetable oil firm Aarhus United
could soon place its considerable stake on the market, citing a
potential difference in long-term investment interests.