Associated British Foods (ABF) yesterday blamed a 21 per cent drop
in operating profit on European sugar industry reform and
significantly higher energy costs.
Singapore-based cocoa bean supplier Olam has jointly acquired the
Cameroon cocoa processor Usicam with ADM, the world's largest cocoa
processor, giving both firms greater economy of scale in the
African market.
Ingredients giant Tate and Lyle could be set to cease its sugar
processing operations in Central Europe, as producers look to lower
quotas in light of new EU sugar reforms.
Tate & Lyle has formed a joint enterprise to build and operate
a sugar plant in Israel, a move that will partially replace
traditional sugar imports from the European Union.
The UK's food and farming minister has revealed how almost £500
million of additional support for sugar reform will be incorporated
within the Single Payment Scheme (SPS) over the next seven years.
Diabetics and weight watchers are set to benefit from the release
of a new natural alternative to sugar going on sale in leading UK
retailer Tesco this week.
US scientists think they may have found a natural alternative to
pesticides used by sugar beet growers to fend off their biggest
enemy - the sugar beet root maggot.
Despite extensive company restructuring and the imminent sale of
its sugar division, Netherlands-based ingredients group CSM today
announced strong profits in the first half and is optimistic the
upward trend will continue.
Singapore-based coffee, nuts and cocoa group Olam reported much
improved profits for 2006, thanks to significantly higher volumes
across all its segments as well as better product pricing.
British sugar growers can breathe a sigh of relief after learning
that one of the country's foremost beet producers will not be
closing facilities as originally thought.
European sugar giant Suedzucker expects a revenue increase of 5 per
cent in 2006 / 07, underlining the group's confidence in the future
of the EU sugar sector.
The chairman of Kraft Foods, the world's second biggest food
company, Roger Deromedi, has launched an attack on EU and US trade
barriers that are driving up the price of commodity ingredients
such as sugar and coffee.
Sugar prices on China's futures market fell sharply this week as
the government announced that it would auction 552,000 tons, mostly
from its reserve stocks, to stabilise prices.
Agrana, which claims to be the leading sugar and starch producer in
Central and Eastern Europe, plans to expand its activities towards
the Western Balkans.
Japanese scientists have reported that monoacyl sugar alcohols
could be 'very promising emulsifiers' and could offer an
alternative to the widely used monoacyl glycerols.
ABF's offer to acquire 51 per cent of Illovo, Africa's largest
sugar producer, underlines how the new EU sugar regime has forced
European sugar producers to think truly globally.
A federal court has dismissed a lawsuit brought by McNeil
Nutritionals, the marketer of Splenda, against the Sugar
Association, accusing it of false advertising.
Food and beverage firms making premium products will cope best with
the current surge in price of both Chinese and imported sugar, with
higher margins to cover the rise in costs.
Greencore, the ingredients and food service group, said EU sugar
reform would force it to pull out of the sugar sector this year,
effectively spelling the end of sugar processing in Ireland.
Danisco says that the finalisation of the new EU sugar regime and
the recently announced transitional measures will not affect the
firm's planned efficiency drive.
Thousands of confectionery industry jobs have been lost as a result
of manufacturers relocating due to high sugar prices, according to
the US Department of Commerce.
Soaring sugar prices are set to continue with supplies remaining
tight, despite increased production, according to the US Department
of Agriculture (USDA).
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced it will allow
extra sugar imports into the country in an effort to prevent market
shortages after hurricane damage to sugarcane crops, delayed sugar
beet harvests, disruptions...
The EU is confident that the sugar reforms announced last week give
producers a long-term competitive future, though firms such as Tate
& Lyle remain cautious.
Four key factors will determine whether this week's EU discussions
regarding the sugar regime have been a success or a failure, says a
key industry body.
The UK department for environment, food and rural affairs (Defra)
claims that there is strong support for EU sugar reform, though
opinion across Europe remains divided.
Ferro introduced its new high-purity, low-endotoxin sucrose,
maltose and trehalose sugars at the recent CPhI in Madrid, designed
to improve product quality and broaden the market for injectable
protein-based APIs.
A low-calorie sweetener that tastes exactly like sugar and could
help control diseases like diabetes and obesity could be just round
the corner, according to a new study.
The USDA has increased the levels of sugar that producers are
allocated to supply in a bid to avert total disaster following
hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Sugar reform may yet hijack December's WTO talks as Australia,
Brazil and Thailand again accuse the EU of shirking its obligations
by planning to increase sugar exports by two million tonnes.
A new centre-right government in Poland is unlikely to curb the
country's strong opposition to EU sugar reforms as Commission
representatives look for common ground to break the 'no' camp.