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.
German-based ingredients firm Nutrinova has announced a
double-digit price hike for its sorbate range of additives, used
increasingly by global food developers to preserve food products
such as confectionery and baked goods.
Despite a warning in April that raw materials and currency would
have an impact on second half earnings, the UK ingredients firm
Associated British Foods, which in July laid down €1 billion for
leading yeast supplier Burns Philp,...
The meteoric rise of Inter Link Foods continues as the company
confirmed its status as Britain's thrid biggest cake-maker by
announcing another sales increase since April.
In a move to focus on its retail business, Swiss baking aid firm
Hero has sold UK bakery ingredients division Renshaw Scott to UK
sugar ingredients company Napier Brown Foods.
Swedish oils and fats firm Karlshamns, which saw its profits slip
at the end of 2003, has acquired UK flaked fats company Kelanco,
and with it a drive into value-added speciality fats for the
booming UK convenience food market.
First half sales at Aarhus United fell 3 per cent, eroded by price
competition in bulk oils, but improved volumes, particularly in
Mexico, and reduced costs helped it generate solid operating
profits.
Krispy Kreme is fast becoming the lame duck of the New York Stock
Exchange as investors desert the US maker of doughnuts amid
concerns over the rising levels of obesity, writes Sibonelo
Radebe. And the company appears to have little...
Ongoing demand for healthy products helped Irish food and
ingredients firm Kerry to a strong first half performance. And with
recent acquisitions pushing it into other high growth sectors,
there is little to stop the group from making...
CSM, the Dutch food ingredients company, is considering the sale of
its sugar confectionery unit in order to concentrate on its core
bakery supplies and sugar operations - despite a very poor
performance from the bakery unit in the...
Interstate Bakeries Corporation (IBC) has continued its
cost-cutting programme with the closure of yet another bakery, in
Buffalo, New York. The closure, which will take place in October,
will see the loss of 200 jobs but will help...
Another $100 million has been thrown into the beleaguered US bakery
wholesaler, Interstate Bakery Corporation (IBC) in what appears to
be a final desperate move to keep the group afloat, writes
Sibonelo Radebe.
Cirio, the Italian food group which went bankrupt in 2002, has
reached an agreement to sell its industrial bakery unit to a
family-owned group, a further step on the road to recovery.
US cereals and snacks group Kellogg is to centralise its European
operations in a new office in Ireland, giving it a major presence
in the market with the world's highest per capita consumption of
ready-to-eat cereals, writes...
Faced with capacity problems due to growing business over recent
years Danish emulsifier supplier Palsgaard has poured €10 million
into expanding its emulsifier facilities in Denmark.
Cost-cutting measures are paying off for the world's largest
fragrance and flavour company with Givaudan pulling in a
double-digit growth in profit for the first half of 2004.
Enodis, the world's largest manufacturer of commercial foodservice
equipment such as ovens and mixers, reported better profits but
slightly worse sales due to the weak dollar, increased steel prices
and difficult UK and continental...
Despite a squeeze on ingredients prices and global volatility in
key commodities, adept risk management tools help agri-giant
Cargill deliver a strong performance for the year, with sales in
the last quarter rising by a considerable...
With all the new health consciousness and fast lifestyles, a
significant portion of UK consumers still find a slot for a good
sandwich bite or cake indulgence to the satisfaction of high street
bakery chain, Greggs.
UK group Bakery Services is being increasingly hamstrung by a
business model which means that more than 80 per cent of its
revenue is exposed to the changing strategy of a single chain store
group hosting its bakery operations, writes...
