The films business of the Belgium-based UCB Group is to be bought
for €320 million by a consortium led by the former managing
director of Hays Chemical Distribution and Candover Partners.
Kraft Foods claims to be making significant progress towards its
goal of achieving sustainable growth, but figures suggest that the
company is still reeling from changing consumer consumption trends
and commodity price hikes. Cutbacks...
The GMA has said that while there are legitimate privacy
implications concerning RFID and EPC, the technology stills offers
manufacturers and industry significant benefits.
Competition for European suppliers of honey has ramped up with
Brussels clearing the way to end a two year ban on food imports
from China which should pave the way for cheaper raw materials for
honey formulations.
Long-awaited changes to Europe's heavily subsidised sugar regime
are on the way after the European Commission tabled a new set of
rules that could lead to cheaper sugar ingredients, writes
Lindsey Partos.
Welcomed by sweetener suppliers, scientists at the world's biggest
food ingredients exhibition claim this week that there is no
credible evidence to 'single out' the common sweetener high
fructose corn syrup (HFCS)...
Nabisco, the US biscuit and snack maker, has launched a number of
its most popular product lines in handy 100-calorie packs in a bid
to make it easier for dieters to keep track of their intake.
Researchers at the University of Salford, Manchester, have
discovered a type of mint leaf, long used in traditional Chinese
medicine, that appears to destroy cancer cells.
The sweet biscuits market in Asia is set to grow rapidly in coming
years, due mainly to the continuing strength of the China market.
However launches are coming thick and fast throughout the region,
as this week's product launches...
Hanging as a persistent threat to the chocolate industry witches'
broom disease is capable of wiping out entire cacao crops and
sending the price of chocolate rocketing. Despite ongoing research
into the threat confirmed by the...
The thorny issue of the way in which the food industry promotes its
products to children is to be addressed by the UK's Food Standards
Agency. But will the latest government action plan - which is still
based on voluntary action...
Tough restrictions on the marketing of food products - along the
lines of those in place for many years in the tobacco industry -
are the best solution to the growing problem of obesity, claimed
researchers last week. But the food...
Leading chocolate ingredients supplier Barry Callebaut is targeting
the European chocolate and cappuccino vending mix business with the
acquisition of cappuccino mix company AM Foods from Nordic dairy
firm Arla Foods.
Food giants such as Unilever, Kraft and Campina have put in place
measures to achieve significant reductions in energy consumption,
underlining the trend towards growing corporate environmental
responsibility.
Danish ingredients firm Chr Hansen has benefited from the growing
demand by food makers for natural colours. Higher sales of natural
colours helped to lift profit figures in a third quarter that also
gained from the increasing popularity...
Although the market for honey in China has fluctuated in recent
years the country continues to be by far the leading producer in
the world. And with per capita consumption set to rise, a recent
report from Access Asia indicates that...
Confirmation that food marketers will continue to roll out food
products targeted at children is evident in a new study that
reports British kids aged between 7 to 14 years old receive a
massive £1.5 billion in pocket money and financial...
Pricing pressure on the global market for citric acid has forced
DSM of the Netherlands to lay off staff at its Citrique Belge unit.
And there's no sign of a recovery in the market, says an
independent ingredients consultant,reports...
A new study on artificial sweeteners reported in the news yesterday
has fuelled a rapid response from the soft drinks industry, which
branded the research by US researchers at Purdue University as
'pure speculation'.
Global warming is a real threat and needs to be addressed now,
argues BP group chief executive John Browne. He says that
manufacturers need to start taking steps immediately to reduce
carbon dioxide emissions in order to make a big...
Artificial sweeteners may disrupt the body's natural ability to
'count' calories based on foods' sweetness, claim US researchers,
suggesting mouthfeel plays a crucial role in gauging calories and
casting a potential...
A nasal spray which reduces calorie intake, promotes weight loss
and is safe in obese individuals has successfully completed early
clinical trials, raising hopes of a new treatment for obesity.
US agri-giant Cargill has carved a deeper position in the European
chocolate market after Swiss firm Nestlé sold two cocoa processing
activities to the acquisitive private company.
Cheaper sugar ingredients could be on the way for food makers as
rumours continue to circulate about the proposed new rules to the
EU sugar regime that could open up the protected European market,
prompting Danish sugar giant Danisco...
Kraft Foods has selected Rockwell Automation's Power & Energy
Management Solutions (PEMS) team to develop and execute a sustained
energy reduction initiative across all its manufacturing facilities
in North America.
Cloetta Fazer Group, the Stockholm-listed Swedish-Finnish
confectionery group, says it is planning to tap into the huge
potential of the Poland market. According to CEO Karsten Slotte,
the company is set to play a role in the consolidation...
UK scientists are warning that world chocolate production could
fall dramatically if diseases, which have devastated South American
cultivation of cacao (the raw material used for producing
chocolate) over the past 15 years, were...
Cheaper sugar ingredients could be on the way for food makers in
Europe as draft plans for tough changes to the much criticised
sugar regime come to light.
UK ingredients maker Tate & Lyle faces paying out a hefty sum
as the sweetener firm seeks to settle a US lawsuit alleging that
its US unit AE Staley played a role in fixing the price of high
fructose corn syrup, a sweetener used...
Leading Australian biscuit manufacturer Arnott's Biscuits, part of
the global food giant Campbell Soup, says it wants to expands it
presence throughout the Asian region.
Despite cheaper alternatives to cocoa butter on the market and new
European rules allowing vegetable fats in chocolate formulations,
uptake for the replacers has been slower than expected as reticent
food makers and marketers stick...
Mars has been told to remove the main claims from its advertising
for the new AquaDrops range after they were rejected today by the
Advertising Standards Authority as misleading.
A new report on optimising food texture and rheology has been
published to help food manufacturers achieve the specific qualities
consumers are looking for, reports Anthony Fletcher.
The less than sparkling, but stable, full year results for Danish
ingredients giant Danisco mirror the current state of play for
ingredients companies in today's market marked by squeezed margins,
higher raw material prices and...
Ingredients supplier Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) said on Thursday
that it had reached a $400 million (€333m) settlement in an
anti-trust case that claimed the US firm conspired to fix the price
of the food sweetener high fructose...
AMR Research says that after years of caution, attitudes towards
supply chain objectives are changing. This in turn has led to a run
on investments in the sector, which the company predicts will lead
to a 5 per cent jump in the multi...
Keeping French consumers interested in chocolate has been the
driving force behind brand owners' investment in innovation in
recent years, and the latest product launches highlighted by the
Global New Products Database (GNPD)...
As French supermarkets embark upon the second ethical trading
promotion of the year this week, the latest survey of consumer
preferences carried out by the Casino group suggests that
increasing numbers of shoppers are prepared to...
Nestlé Romania has confirmed that it is to invest a further €3.5
million in its factory in Timisoara, as the company reaffirms its
ambitions to dominate the all-important wafer market in the region.
Leading China biscuit manufacturing Fujian Dali Food says that
construction of its new €19 million biscuit factory in Changchun,
Jilin Province, is now well underway, moving it closer towards its
goal of dominating the biscuit market...
Huhtamaki's Chinet range of moulded fibre foodservice plates has
just been certified for biodegradability - the latest step in an
industry-wide trend towards greener packaging.
With a plethora of brands from which to choose and long-established
patterns of consumption, the prospects of significant growth in the
French chocolate market might seem remote. But a new report
suggests that there is plenty of movement...
Zebra Technologies has launched the R110Xi RFID printer/encoder,
which it claims is the first printer available with fully
integrated support for Class 0 (read only) and Matrics Class 0+
(read/write) smart labels.
Three companies have announced a technology that allows the deposit
gum bases and incorporate gums into candies and lollipops, which is
said to provide new opportunities for the confectionery industry.
The demand for ingredients that lift fibre levels and reduce
carbohydrate quantities has been a major boost for textured wheat
protein supplier MGP Ingredients, recently announcing plans to
expand production capacity, writes Lindsey...
As the decision to purchase a product is frequently made on the
appeal and attractiveness of its packaging, more and more firms are
choosing to process packaging twice to achieve the best results,
says French foil group Kurz.
Following approval in Australia and New Zealand for the
increasingly popular low-cal, prebiotic sweetener tagatose,
licensee Arla Food Ingredients has farmed out the rights for
distribution for the two countries to fellow ingredients...
Technology firm Lantech is launching two new continuous-motion
shrink-wrap machines designed to cut processing time and limit the
need for line stoppage.
Number one global xanthan gum supplier CP Kelco is on the auction
block as majority stakeholder merchant bank Lehman Brothers opts to
sell its slice in the leading hydrocolloid company, reports
Lindsey Partos.
Long term investments in added-value products contributed to
British starch group Tate & Lyle's end of year results with
strong US performance offsetting squeezed margins due to surging
raw material prices. A lift in demand...
