All news articles for January 2015

Left to right: Charles Eid, Aryzta vice-president of finance Neil Woods and William Eid

Signature Flatbreads to create 200 jobs

By Rod Addy

Signature Flatbreads aims to create at least 200 jobs and target £100M in turnover within the next three years, joint md William Eid claimed after the company’s launch.

Individual EU countries will now be allowed to approve or ban the use of GMOs

Scientists welcome EU country ruling on GM

By Michael Stones

The Institute of Food Science & Technology (IFST) has welcomed a new EU law enabling Member States to decide for themselves whether genetically modified organisms (GMOs) can be approved in their countries.

BrucePac makes pre-cooked beef, pork and other protein items for retail and foodservice.

Taking over plant that was closed last summer

Oregon meat processor BrucePac brings jobs to Oklahoma

By Heidi Parsons

Searching for a manufacturing plant to support its growing business led Oregon meat processor BrucePac to Durant, Oklahoma, where it found both a suitable facility and an experienced workforce.

Lay's generated desire among TV viewers with adverts centered around product flavor, including its Do Us A Flavor campaign ads

Frito-Lay wins snack and candy TV ‘brand of the year’

By Kacey Culliney

Frito-Lay’s 2014 TV ads for Lay’s in the US were the most effective across the snack and confectionery category, staving off competition from Hershey and Mars, according to analysis firm Ace Metrix.

Rabobank reports on astounding growth in RTE popcorn

US sales of ready to eat popcorn grew 25% to an estimated $750m in 2014

The 'astounding' reinvention of popcorn as "Millennial friendly, cool and healthy”

By Elaine Watson

“Tired brands and off-trend categories should take inspiration from the astonishing turnaround in the fortunes of popcorn,” according to a new report from Rabobank International, which reveals that US sales of the bagged, pre-popped, ready-to-eat (RTE)...

Peeled Snacks Fancy Food Show selling education session

Peeled Snacks: If you don’t take time to understand retail buyers, why should they take time to understand you?

The natural channel: ‘An utter pain to sell to, but the exposure it can give your brand is huge’

By Elaine Watson

Which retail channel is right for your brand? Natural? Club? Convenience? And once you’ve jumped through all the buyers’ hoops, will you still be able to make any money? It all depends on whether you’ve done your homework, one snacking sales expert told...

Vonco bags for food contact appllications

Management team eyes opportunities in flexible packaging

Vonco Products implements new business strategy, corporate image

By Heidi Parsons

Confident in its capabilities after instilling a lean manufacturing culture and undergoing a strategic business planning process, flexible packaging supplier Vonco Products is reintroducing itself to the food industry.

Wheat cultivars respond differently to drought conditions at different growth stages, find researchers

Milling & Grains bite-size science

Drought damage, dwarf cereals, nitrogen application

By Nicola Cottam

Drought damages wheat in late stages of development, dwarf cereals winning the battle against fusarium crown rot, and nitrogen application lowers phenol concentrations.

FAO senior program officer: 'Countries have to determine or decide that agriculture is a priority'

FAO: Eco-friendly farming can bridge yield gaps

By Nicola Cottam

Smallholder farms can boost yields by as much as 130% with sustainable management techniques around irrigation and fertilizer use, says the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

If Bright Food does acquire Weetabix in full it will inherit a 'stable of established international brands' and branding knowledge, says China Market Research (CMR) analyst

If Bright Food takes over Weetabix...

By Kacey Culliney

Bright Food will need to protect Weetabix’s UK brand heritage should speculation of a full buyout come true, says a China-based analyst.

Picture credit: RPC-Bebo.com

IK top 10 sustainability challenges

By Jenny Eagle

The German Association for Plastics Packagings and Films, IK (Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen) has released its top 10 sustainability challenges for 2015.

Increased snacking reshapes marketing strategies

Increased snacking reshapes marketing strategies

By Elizabeth Crawford

Consumers’ shifting preference for snacks as meals are changing how retailers, restaurants and packaged food manufacturers market food, according to data from Packaged Facts and Dupont Nutrition & Health.

Abraaj withdrew from the bidding process on December 31 - leaving Kellogg to strike the $125m deal

Kellogg trumps Abraaj in $125m Bisco Misr bid

By Eliot Beer

Kellogg has triumphed in its battle to acquire Egyptian snack maker Bisco Misr, following the withdrawal of rival bidder Abraaj Capital at the end of last month.

Metabolix's PHA biopolymer can be used to make packaging films.

Company boosting output at pilot plants

Metabolix scales back biopolymer manufacturing plans

By Heidi Parsons

Metabolix, which develops biopolymers for use in packaging and other applications, recently announced it is revising its manufacturing plans for 2015.

EFSA: “Chicory inulin contributes to maintenance of normal defecation by increasing stool frequency.” Picture credit: South Park

EFSA health claim opinion

Prebiotic inulin wins EFSA bowel health claim

By Shane STARLING

European prebiotic giant Beneo is celebrating today after the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) backed inulin to better bowel function.

Beyond GMOs: Europe needs to update biotech regulation

By Caroline SCOTT-THOMAS

The European Union needs to update the way it regulates biotechnology as advances are made in plant breeding – or risk disrupting trade in commodity crops, according to Professor Huw Jones of Rothamsted Research.

Tyson Any-tizers

Company added one production line, 16 jobs

Tyson beefs up Emporia facility, slims down inefficient capacity

By Heidi Parsons

Tyson Foods has begun the New Year by getting its manufacturing operations in shape. The US’s second-largest food processor recently concluded a line expansion at its prepared foods plant in Emporia, Kansas and put its Buffalo, New York facility up for...

NewPage paper mill in Biron, Wisconsin

Paper mills in Wisconsin and Maine sold to Catalyst

Verso Paper wraps $1.4bn acquisition of NewPage, divests two mills

By Heidi Parsons

Verso Paper Corp., Memphis, Tennessee, has completed its $1.4bn acquisition of Miamisburg, Ohio-based NewPage Holdings, after reaching a settlement with the US Department of Justice (DOJ).

Follow us

Products

View more

Webinars