Sending a ripple of fear through the food industry, in 2002 the
Swedish Food Administration found high levels of the cancer-causing
compound acrylamide in carbohydrate-rich foods heated to high
temperatures. As global efforts in food...
Swiss baked goods group Hiestand has reported strong increases in
both pre-tax and net profits for 2003 on the back of a double-digit
increase in sales, the first results from a new restructuring
programme designed to make the company...
Vilniaus Duona Plius, the leading bakery group in Lithuania, has
been cleared to buy compatriot Panevezio Duona by the country's
competition authorities, giving the Finnish-owned group complete
control of the company. Meanwhile,...
Flavours and extracts firm Frutarom has gained the worldwide
marketing rights to a range of natural antioxidants made by
Israel's RAD Natural Technologies, boosting its offering to health
and functional food makers.
US colours and flavours group Sensient continues to feel the impact
of soft markets in North American food and beverage segments,
particularly synthetic colours, posting a further drop in income
for the first quarter of 2004. Pressure...
Sugar giant British Sugar helped boost six month results for its
parent, food and ingredients firm Associated British Foods, which
this week reported double-digit growth in profits. But
international agency Oxfam has criticised the...
Number one flavours and fragrance firm Givaudan ambles along in the
first quarter with higher sales in flavours offsetting a drop in
the fragrance division, suggesting that strategies to boost profit
announced back in January this...
Intensified competition in the ingredients marketplace and
disappointing orders for Cocoa Butter Equivalents (CBE) following
the new chocolate rules leads to job losses at Danish fats and oils
firm Aarhus United.
After repeated warnings that the spiralling cost of raw materials
would impact profits this year, US-based breakfast cereal producer
Kellogg yesterday said that it had got off to a
better-than-expected start to the year and forecast...
Global chocolate supplier Barry Callebaut said that recent
acquisitions had boosted its six month figures, with net profit
showing double-digit growth. But low cocoa prices affected
activities at the processing arm of the company.
Natural colours UK firm Overseal Foods is set to carve a deeper
position in the US market, signing a new distribution deal with US
company RFI Ingredients and meeting growing demand for natural
colouring foodstuffs, writes Lindsey...
Rathbones Bakeries, one of the leading suppliers of own label bread
and baked goods to the UK retail trade, has been sold by Greencore,
the Irish food group which is keen to focus on building its
convenience food operations.
Mirroring the state of play for ingredients companies operating
into today's climate, price pressures put the squeeze on third
quarter margins for ingredients giant Danisco.
A substantial increase in goodwill amortisation costs pushed down
operating profits at Irish baked goods and agribusiness group IAWS
in the first half. But sales increased during the half, even after
the impact of currency movements,...
Romanian bakery group Vel Pitar looks set for further expansion
after announcing that it intends to become more acquisitive and
that a significant increase in its investment programme is mooted
for the year.
British bakery ingredients supplier Arkady Craigmillar is to be
renamed BakeMark UK, bringing it into line with all the bakery
companies owned by Dutch parent CSM.
Expecting a higher uptake of vegetable fats by European chocolate
manufacturers following the new '5 per cent' chocolate rule, Danish
oils and fats supplier Aarhus United sees a drop in income for
2003, compounded by currency...
Greggs, the specialist baked goods retailer, said last week that
growth in the booming British sandwich market was showing some
signs of slowing down and that it expected to see increasing
competition in this high added value sector.
US starch supplier MGP Ingredients witnesses the benefits of
'adding-value' to ingredients products with strong growth in
low-carb ingredients pushing demand for its resistant wheat starch
FiberStar 70.
The largest sugar producer in Europe Südzucker has divested all
shares in the Spanish food group Ebro Puleva through the group's
subsidiary Saint Louis Sucre, providing it with breathing space to
concentrate on speciality ingredients.
Two west European bakery groups are extending their presence in
eastern Europe in advance of the enlargement of the European Union
later this year. Sweden's Cerealia group is investing heavily in
its Polish business, while Luxembourg's...
Proof that soaring price rises are not only branded in the hard
pushed natural vanilla market with the news this week that
Norwegian ingredients company Borregaard Synthesis has hiked up the
price for its line of synthetic vanillin...
US alginate producer International Specialty Products (ISP) will
take on a new range of cellulose ingredients after shaking hands on
a deal with Tawainese manufacturer Mingtai Chemical.
Driving hard into value added ingredients has paid off for Irish
food group Kerry as the company faces off tougher currency exposure
in 2003 to see a steady rise in sales and operating profit.
European bottom line benefits from greater...
Britain's Tate & Lyle group and the US-based McNeil
Nutritionals are to change the way they handle production, sales
and marketing of sucralose, the sweetener developed jointly by the
two companies, following the recent opening...
Dutch food group Wessanen is already seen the benefits of its
far-reaching restructuring programme Operation Phoenix with a
significant recovery in profits at its cereal products division,
Dailycer.
French yeast giant Lesaffre is driving deeper into the US market,
announcing a link up this week with crop processing titan Archer
Daniels Midland to break ground on a new yeast plant in the US.
Athens Re-packing, a unit of US-based snack food manufacturer
Keebler, has been sold to a company called Total Logistic Control
(TLC), itself a unit of the C2 group, for an undisclosed sum.
Frito-Lay, the snack food arm of giant US food and drink group
PepsiCo, was one of the main drivers of growth for the company last
year, not least as a result of various new product launches
designed to tap growing demand for low...
Higher margin ingredients continue to offer financial gains for
textured wheat protein supplier MGP Ingredients. Driving deeper
into the market in 2004 the company will pour millions of dollars
into doubling production of this speciality...
Fazer Maiznica Druva, the second largest bread maker in Latvia, has
refitted one of its production facilities in the city of Ogre, some
40 kilometres outside the capital Riga.
Hiestand, the Swiss baked goods producer partly owned by Ireland's
IAWS group, has become the biggest producer of deep frozen baked
goods in Germany with the acquisition this week of the Back &
Friends company.
Japanese consumers are among the most demanding in the world when
it comes to food safety and quality, and so it is no surprise that
they are also among the most vociferous opponents of genetic
modification of food.
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.
Wessanen, the Dutch wellness foods group, is to close one of its
British breakfast cereal production units as part of its cost
cutting programme, Operation Phoenix.
Speciality cakes is one of the fastest-moving sectors in the UK
baked goods market, and producers are continually looking for new
products to extend their presence in this sector.
Pinpointing growth areas in the food industry, leading US flavours
company International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) is to break
ground on a new facility in the bakery and savoury application
areas.
Sales of pastries and baked goods suffered last summer because of
the exceptionally hot weather, but an excellent performance during
the colder winter months helped UK baked goods and sandwich
retailer Greggs to end the year on a...
Kalev, Estonia's leading confectionery producers, has acquired 99.1
per cent of compatriot Jarle, a producer of sweet and savoury baked
goods, according to the Baltic News Service.
Yu-Point, the largest grain trading company in Serbia and
Montenegro, is about to expand further with the help of a €12
million loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development and Fortis Bank, a leading Dutch-Belgian...
Bunge, the world's top oilseed processor, last week said it was
looking to cream off a gain of about $2 million, or 2 cents per
share, on the sale of its US bakery business to privately-held Dawn
Food Products.
Set against the backdrop of difficult trading conditions for
branded food manufacturers, raw material prices and a negative
currency impact played down first half figures for ingredients
giant Danisco.
Demand for functional ingredients in Europe is far from slackening
with European buyers set to reach 5 million by 2007. Ingredients
companies, such as J. Rettenmaier & Sons (JRS), are aiming to
keep pace with the demand, focusing...
As if the major droughts in Europe, low world wheat stocks and
further speculation that China is importing large amounts of raw
materials wasn't enough to fuel further debate over rising flour
prices, Defra have reported a mistake...
Moving deeper into speciality ingredients US company MGP
Ingredients has earmarked $1.7 million to expand its line of
textured wheat proteins and wheat protein- and starch-based resins.
The investment comes on the back of strong first...
Hot on the heels of weak third quarter results, US agri-giant Bunge
said on Tuesday that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell
its bakery business to US company Dawn Food Products for $76
million in a bid to focus on the core...
Omni Foods, the Israeli franchise holder of Domino's Pizza,
yesterday issued a trading statement to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange
announcing that the company is ceasing operations in the area, due
to a breakdown in negotiations...
Danish oils and fats company Aarhus United saw third quarter profit
falling by over 50 per cent as reduced margins, lower exchange
rates, a decline in bulk oil sales and heightened competition, ate
into the bottom line.
