Business is looking bleak for Atkins Nutritionals. As the
once-celebrated pioneer of a diet regime that took the world by
storm files for bankruptcy protection, Jess Halliday asks:
What went wrong?
Tate & Lyle has vowed to continue to pursue its ambitious
expansion plans despite warnings that proposed changes to the sugar
regime could begin to affect business as soon as 2007, writes
Anthony Fletcher.
In a move to secure its supplier base for its bakery operations and
expand its business, the UK's Real Good Food Company (RGFC) said
yesterday it would buy Napier Brown Foods, a sugar group, for
£67.7min stock.
Number one food enzyme supplier Novozymes likely to move production
to the US and China as a result of the new EU sugar reform, the
daily Berlingske Tidende reports.
UK functional food company Provexis says a growing pipeline of
functional food products will change its fortunes, as it reports
growing losses from its Altu healthy cereal bar.
Job losses at the sweetener operations of ambitious ingredients
firm Cargill are imminent as the largest private firm in the US
appears to feel the squeeze of "market conditions".
The latest in a series of serious accidents in UK bakeries resulted
in the death of a worker at an Allied Bakeries plant in Glasgow
last week, writes Lorraine Heller.
Private equity moves deeper into food ingredients industry, with
European equity provider ABN AMRO Capital buying up ingredients
distributor IMCD from AlpInvest Partners, reports Lindsey
Partos.
CSM Bakery Supplies North America plans to close three production
sites and to restructure a further two facilities, the Dutch
ingredients firm announced today.
Dutch food and pharma group DSM completes the last step in shedding
its bakery portfolio, selling its stake in the South African yeast
products manufacturer Rymco,writes Lindsey Partos.
Another UK bakery faced a heavy fine this week after neglecting to
ensure a safe working environment, leading to a worker losing his
arm in an accident with a dough milling machine, wrties Lorraine
Heller.
Squeezed by tight margins owing to high raw material costs and a
powerful retail sector reluctant to pass on price increases,
players across the bakery sector are striving to find different
solutions in order to sustain, rebuild and...
Dutch bakery ingredients giant has reduced its long-term debt by
€145m, the company announced today, as part of its strategy to
improve its balance sheet.
Dutch bakery ingredients firm CSM marches forward in its
restructuring programme, announcing today that its next target for
change will be subsidiary Purac Nederland.
A Californian environmental group has threatened to sue food
manufacturers unless they place acrylamide warning labels on
certain products, writes Anthony Fletcher.
Dutch bakery ingredients leader CSM continues to slash
non-profitable activities, announcing yesterday that it will close
its BakeMark sales office in Finland as part of its restructuring
of the Bakery Supplies activities in the Nordic...
Northern Foods, one of the UK's leading suppliers to Marks &
Spencer, yesterday announced a sharp fall in annual profits after a
year of tough restructuring.
Injuries at bakeries will be a major focus for 2005/6, says the
UK's industry inspection body, yet the unions believe there is even
less funding this year to implement health and safety regulations,
writes Lorraine Heller.
A lawsuit has been launched against ingredients giant Corn Products
International, alleging that one or more of its directors violated
federal securities laws by issuing false and misleading statements
to the market.
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's plans to place a tax on fast food
has been dismissed as a cosmetic exercise to help cover the city's
budget deficit, writes Anthony Fletcher.
Functional flavours and ingredients manufacturer Danisco, one of
Europe's largest sugar suppliers, is to cease the processing of
sugar beet at one of its sites in Lithuania, Tom Armitage
reports.
Rising ingredients prices dampened a strong first quarter sales
increase for Domino's Pizza, the world's biggest pizza delivery
firm, yet health may be the industry's biggest challenge in 2005,
reports Chris Mercer.
Tough new labelling regulations concerning allergens may be driving
up the number of product recalls by UK's food producers, warns food
safety consultancy RSSL.
Kraft Foods is helping to finance a seat at the Monell Chemical
Senses Center, which should help scientists - and food companies -
to learn more about the intensity and quality of flavors.
The owners of Britain's RHM, Doughty Hanson, have begun preparing
the food group for a stock market flotation later this year after
implementing pension reforms and cutting away dead wood, says a
report in the UK's Financial...
Kellogg has increased sales and profits in its first quarter
through clever pricing and strong marketing investment, helping the
firm to forge ahead in healthy snacks and beat off private label
competition in cereals, reports Chris...
Food enzymes contribute a quarter of sales revenue to the overall
enzyme business in the first quarter, says Danish firm Novozymes,
marking a one per cent rise in contribution on the previous year,
writes Lindsey Partos.
Dutch bakery ingredients firm CSM continues to focus on core
business, clearing the sale of its sugar confectionery unit Malaco
Leaf to investment companies Nordic Capital and CVC Capital
Partners.
Pressure on soy prices likely to continue with a new report
revealing China is expected to reduce its principal soybean
planting area, while increasing corn and rice planting in 2005.
Danish sugar and ingredients group Danisco leaps into the number
two enzyme position as the firm announces control of 98.2 per cent
of the shares in US biotech firm Genencor.
South American and Asian yeast markets bring strong gains in the
first half, offsetting weaker markets in the US and Turkey,
London-based sugar and ingredients group Associated British Foods
reports today, writes Lindsey Partos.
Settling UK wheat prices have helped Carr's Milling Industries to
get its food business back on track in the first of half of 2005,
despite freak floods and fire hitting sales hard, reports Chris
Mercer.
Ambitious US ingredients supplier Cargill boosts its war chest,
announcing a 35 per cent rise in profit for the third quarter of
2005, on gains from commodity trading and its animal feed and steel
businesses.
In a €197.5 million deal food and pharma group DSM sheds low growth
bakery ingredients operations to private equity firm Gilde, freeing
up the Dutch firm to increase its focus, and opportunities, on high
margin, health promoting ingredients,...
Dutch bakery ingredients leader CSM continues to shed activities in
non-core countries, selling off its Swedish subsidiary BakeMark
Sweden to private equity group Accent, Lindsey Partos
reports.
A fresh round of price cuts from the two biggest UK food retailers
increases the pressure on suppliers' margins and intensifies
competition between own-label and branded producers, forcing them
to find new ways to adapt, writes...
The Krispy Kreme doughnut company has pulled itself back from the
abyss by successfully negotiating a new loan deal, yet financial
pressure on the firm remains intense with analysts sceptical about
its future expansion strategy, reports...
British food group RHM has confirmed it is in advanced talks to
sell its Golden West bakery, ending a troublesome supplier
relationship with fast-food giant McDonald's and streamlining the
company's focus in preparation...
An American woman has launched a lawsuit aimed at food companies
including Kraft Foods, General Mills and Kellogg alleging that "low
sugar" breakfast cereals are leading the customer astray.
Tate and Lyle said today that overall trading had continued to be
strong during the last three months boosted by demand for its high
intensity sweetener Splenda.
A dip in profits for US cereal giant General Mills highlights the
rising threat of private label competition on the cereal market,
making branded players work harder to justify higher prices to
consumers, writes Chris Mercer.
UK speciality cake and bread maker Finsbury Foods has recovered
well from a rocky 2003, showing just how quickly a company can
progress by focusing on premium and indulgence trends across both
branded and private label sectors, writes...
The knives are out for the cash-strapped Krispy Kreme doughnut
company as a class action lawsuit looms, threatening to destroy the
firm's attempts to overhaul losses caused by a lack of innovation
and over-expansion, reports...
Compound ingredients for the snack industry, inulin and sugar
activities lift operating profit in 2004 for Dutch ingredients and
foodstuffs group Royal Cosun.
Atkins Nutritionals, the company behind the trendy low-carb diet,
is closing its operations in the UK, in a move that seems to herald
the end of its presence in Europe and signal an upturn for
carbohydrate-rich foods, writes Dominique...
Takeaway sandwich and pastry ranges for on-the-go consumers drove
up profits and sales for UK bakery retailer Greggs, but the company
is working hard to compete in this increasingly crowded sector by
developing both healthier products...
