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.
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...
