The Romanian chocolate sector looks set to become increasingly
competitive as the third largest player, Kandia, prepares to
finalise a merger with Excelent - a move that will create the
leading producer on the market.
A small Canadian milling company has found a novel way of creating
more value from its by-products - by tapping into the growing craze
for low carbohydrate products made popular by the Atkins Diet.
This year's Foodex Meatex exhibition - which the organisers believe
could be the most successful yet - promises to showcase the latest
innovations in meat processing. A quick look at a couple of planned
product launches suggests...
Plant closures and 'competitive pressures?saw profits slide for US
sugar giant Imperial Sugar despite a rise in operating income for
the first quarter. Global sugar surplus keeps the prices down and
competition up.
Supply chain management is becoming increasingly important in
efficient food production. A pilot project developed by Microsoft
Business Solutions and KiMs, a Danish snack manufacturer, is a good
example of how technology, especially...
German technology group Azo has developed a new automated system called
Dosibox which it claims allows for the cost-effective dosing of
additives and other minor ingredients.
In a move to protect home markets Chinese corn processor Global
Bio-chem will link up with Japan's Mitsui & Co to develop,
manufacture and sell the bulk reduced calorie sweetener sorbitol in
China under a new joint venture...
German sugar giant Suedzucker willl break ground on a new plant to
produce bioethanol fuel from wheat at Zeitz in East Germany.
Earmarked for completion by 2005, the plant will operate in
conjunction with the local sugar factory.
Gostomel Glass Factory, Ukraine's largest glass-bottle producer, is
borrowing €13.3 million from the EBRD to build a new facility that
will enable it to produce 600,000 beer bottles a day.
Health conscious consumers that wish to avoid additives in their
diets are finding it difficult to recognise the ingredients and the
health risks associated with them because of a confusing labelling
system.
One in five Americans are currently following the low carbohydrate
diet as the fad Atkins-style dietary regime continues to take hold
of the weight-conscious consumer. But how long will it last?
Consumers in the UK can eat their porridge safe in the knowledge
that their oat products are free from harmful toxins - mycotoxins -
after an extensive survey in the UK found very low traces, if none
at all, of the contaminant in...
Dutch beer company Bavaria has launched two new containers for its
Premium Pils beer. A 250ml can and a new shaped 660ml bottle will
soon be available in a range of outlets.
Food manufacturers on both sides of the Atlantic will soon be
obliged by law to keep detailed records of the supply chain. As a
result, more and more bottling and packaging lines are adopting IT
technology to meet market - and legislative...
Expro, one of the biggest producers of crackers and sweet biscuits
in the Guatemalan market, has installed two additional production
lines from the UK's APV Baker group to help it double its capacity
and pursue aggressive growth...
Although growth has been rapid for Nestlé in the Russian
confectionery sector, there are a number of challenges to be
tackled in order to ensure future expansion - low per capita
consumption and ingredients supplies being the primary...
Confusing information on the nutrition content of food, along with
misleading health claims, have once again been brought under
scrutiny. Growing pressure in Europe for clearer labelling and
greater honesty about ingredients in products...
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...
Food and drink merger activity has been high this week, with
Richmond foods, Smithfield Foods and Campofrio all muscling in on
the act. But in the confectionery sector, Thorntons has pulled
itself out of the takeover market.
German confectionery company Alfred Ritter has confirmed that it is
to build a €25 million factory in the Moscow region which will be
used to make the company's well known brand of Ritter Sport
chocolate bars.
Braby, the
UK-based designer and manufacturer of silos, has recently supplied
Village Bakery, a Welsh bread and pastry maker, with a silo package
for the storage of savoury flour.
US ingredients companies continue to make moves into the European
marketplace with FiberGel Technologies, a supplier of the fat
replacer Z-Trim, announcing it has linked up with Swiss company
DKSH to target European consumers with...
Dairy innovator Valio has extended its lactose-free milk drink to
Switzerland through its first licensing agreement for the
technology with the Swiss firm Emmi.
Europe and the US will hammer out the contentious issue of obesity
and the role food policy can play in getting to grips with this
major health problem at a Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue (TACD) meeting in Brussels
today.
Although hit by the uncertainty of big contract renewal, the
UK-based Tate & Lyle Group has said that it expects profit
before tax in the third quarter of the year to 31 March 2004 to be
in line with expectations.
Probiotics, the bacteria thought to help gut health disorders,
allergies and even some forms of cancer, contain immune
system-stimulating DNA, which makes them just as effective when
inactivated as when consumed as live microorganisms...
A brewer in Sweden is facing the GM debate head on. The company
claims to have launched the first food product to use genetic
modification as a marketing tool.
Continued growth has meant the redevelopment of Guinness' Waterford
site in Ireland. Amongst the renovations has been a change to a
single tank yeast system to optimise quality.
Wagner, a Germany-based producer of frozen foods, has seen
demand for its pizza snack brand Piccolinis rocket over the last
few years, a welcome development but one which has left it with a
major problem: how to step up its packaging...
Despite higher raw material prices Corn Products International, a
US maker of corn syrups sweeteners, saw profits and sales rise for
the year, citing sales in North America and a better price-product
mix as key factors responsible...
Kraft Foods has said that it will close down its only production
facility in Hungary and move production elsewhere. The company has
hinted that production of confectionery and coffee could shift to
Slovakia and Austria.
There was a time when a widespread wheat shortage spelt inflation,
and a global shortage meant global inflation. This year, with
stocks at a 30-year low and wheat prices soaring, it is possible
consumers may never even notice. All...
Wheat has always been an integral part of Russian agriculture and
its food industry. However, a limited domestic market, reduction in
Russian livestock and a slow down in the consumption of bakery
products is forcing the industry...
Surging wheat prices are leading to some hard bargaining along the
supply chain over where the extra costs can and should be taken,
according to millers and bakers.
Higher world populations and changes in dietary patterns - notably
in emerging economies - are leading to a steady increase in food
demand which will have a positive impact on world grain prices,
says a grains analyst this week.
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.
The Russian dairy market has seen phenomenal growth in recent
years, driven largely by the development of Wimm-Bill-Dann and
other western dairy companies. France-based dairy equpment supplier
Erca-Formseal shares its experiences...
Leading Czech dairy producer Madeta, has announced that it will
invest CK150 million (€4.6 million) to expand production and
modernise its existing plant in Cesky Krumlov, southern Bohemia.
A new metal detector capable of picking up ferrous and
stainless-steel contamination within aluminium foil-wrapped
products has been developed. Manufactured by German technology firm
Sartorius, the product, called the Observer, could...
Last year was not one of the best for sales of chocolate, with
political instability in the Middle East, a weak global economy,
lower tourist numbers in the Far East as a result of SARS and the
hottest European summer in decades all...
A large proportion of Russian sugar processors have experienced
recession over the last year - so says a survey of leading industry
figures. However, the abolition of import taxes on imported raw
sugar might make things easier in...
Millions of dollars in investment poured into a new technology may
pay off for US food manufacturer Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream Holdings.
Targeting the low-fat market, the company said that it has
developed a revolutionary "slow...
Haribo Dunhills, part of Europe's leading confectionery group,
German-based Haribo, is aiming to boost countline sales of bagged
confectionery in the UK with the launch of four new lines which for
the start of the new year.
With the failure of WTO talks in Cancun last year, pressure has
intensified on Europe's heavily subsidied sugar regime - trading at
three times the world price- to change. While critics want to see a
fairer regime with Europe...
With demand outstripping global wheat stocks, currently at a 30
year low, wheat prices are in for a volatile ride in 2004.
Strategies to minimise the impact of price rises for food
processors could be rooted in risk management and...
Cloetta Fazer has reported signing a new long-term distribution
agreement with Brynild Salg for the continued sale of Cloetta
Fazer's products in Norway and the Nordic region as a whole.
