Dispatch from RT10 in Singapore

Ensuring sustainability at the new frontiers of palm oil production

Palm oil producers and traders have been looking for new production areas as expansion in environmentally sensitive regions in Southeast Asia has become increasingly difficult - but Latin American and African production...

Premier Foods ‘most likely’ to sell Hovis to foreign firm

The most likely buyer for Premier Foods’ bread brand Hovis will be a foreign firm, according to an industry expert.

Dispatch from RT10 in Singapore

UK sustainable palm oil statement is ‘not really a commitment’, says RSPO president

A UK government statement drawing together new and existing pledges on sustainable palm oil falls short of a real commitment to sustainable sourcing, according to the president of the Roundtable...

Food manufacturers urged to support British spuds

Potato growers will become “extinct” if manufacturers and processors impose penalties on them for contract shortfalls caused by the poor weather.

Premier agrees sale of pickles and sauces business to Mizkan Group

Premier Foods has announced the £92.5 sale of its sweet pickles and table sauces business to Japanese firm Mizkan Group in a move that puts the firm past its target...

Greenpeace urges food companies to check palm oil suppliers' sustainability score

Greenpeace has published a scorecard rating palm oil producers’ sustainability efforts, in order to provide food and other consumer goods companies with better information about how their palm oil is...

Study claims optimum soya milk chocolate method

Soya milk chocolate can be perfected by increasing the refining time, according to new research.

Greggs staff strip for charity Children in Need

Staff at Britain’s biggest high street baker Greggs have stripped for a charity calendar in support of the BBC appeal Children in Need.

Arla launches “most sophisticated” recovery whey protein

The sports nutrition sector will appreciate a “finely chopped” whey that can deliver better recovery performance, says the ingredients arm of Danish dairy, Arla.

Welsh chewing gum tax doesn’t stick

The Welsh Assembly has rejected plans to introduce a 5p levy on chewing gum.

Mars Food UK wins top FDF Community Partnership Award

Mars Food UK has won the Food and Drink Federation’s (FDF’s) coveted President’s Award in its Community Partnership Awards programme.

Traffic light labels will ‘damage the food industry’

The Department of Health’s (DoH’s) plans to launch a single hybrid front-of-pack labelling system that combines guideline daily amounts (GDAs) and traffic light labelling will damage the food industry, warn...

Premier needs to address ‘sensitive’ distribution issue: Analyst

Premier Foods has split its bread business and upped sales in Hovis over the last quarter, but it has a lot more work to do and distribution is the sensitive...

Premier Food’s Power Brands pull their weight, relief ‘palpable’: City

Britain’s biggest food manufacturer Premier Foods reported a 2% rise in underlying sales growth in an interim management statement covering the three months to September 30 that drew both praise...

What’s driving Europe’s local food movement?

There is big interest in locally produced food in Europe – and interest is growing, according to Sophie de Reynal, marketing manager for Nutrimarketing.

Negative Cochrane cranberry review: Juice makers have themselves to blame

Inappropriate products and trial design caused the Cochrane Collaboration to alter its position about the urinary tract infection (UTI)-reducing benefits of cranberry juice, the owner of a French cranberry supplements...

EFSA backs PET recycling technology

EFSA has concluded a decontamination technology used to obtain recycled post-consumer polyethylene terephthalate (PET) for use in food contact materials poses no safety concerns.

Sanofi-Coke beauty drink JV offers no ‘phood’ signal: Analyst

Sanofi’s new beauty drink joint venture with Coca-Cola is unlikely to precipitate a more serious leap into functional or medical foods for the French pharma titan, an analyst has said....

Special edition: Immune support

Immune sector in rude health despite regulator attacks

Foods, drinks, botanicals and other food supplements that boost the immune system have been one of the best performing functional sectors since, well, the birth of functional foods and supplements.

DISPATCHES FROM INTERBEV 2012, LAS VEGAS

Twenty-twenty vision: Analyst finds 20 words for 20 years of future beverage trends

Speaking from the show floor of InterBev in Las Vegas, Richard Hall, founder and chair of Zenith International reveals 20 words to sum up themes and trends for the next...

British Lion eggs sourcing call after salmonella scare

British Lion Egg Processors (BLEP) are urging manufacturers to buy product derived from British Lion certified eggs after an outbreak of salmonella that hit seven people in the UK.

SymphonyIRI asks: Is there a ceiling to private label growth?

Ongoing economic turbulence in Europe could have a lasting effect on consumer attitudes to brands and private label products, according to new research into the private label sector from SymphonyIRI.

Online food and grocery sales to reach £11bn by 2017: IGD

Internet sales of food and grocery products will reach £11bn within five years, predicts the grocery think-tank IGD.

London Calling: CCH shift reflects international status – Fitch

Coca-Cola Hellenic’s move to list its shares in London rather than Athens reflects a desire to avoid a ‘full blown’ sovereign crisis but also boost its international profile.

Guest article

EU immunity health claims: Reformulate or reposition to win growth

Europe’s new health claim laws are the strictest in the world, with only the most strongly backed nutrient-health associations permitted on-product and whole sectors enraged about stripped comms tools. But...

Many consumers find traffic lights confusing, survey finds

Nearly a fifth of UK consumers find traffic light nutrition labelling too difficult to understand, according to a new survey from market research organisation Canadean.

Nestlé breakfast cereal reformulation needs tact, warns specialist

Cereal Partners Worldwide’s reformulation plan for 20 of its Nestlé breakfast cereal brands must happen gradually and unobtrusively to succeed, warns a nutrition policy specialist.

Waste reduction strategy targets supply chain efficiency

Supply chain efficiency and lean manufacturing will be integral to slashing UK food and drink refuse, according to Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), the organisation spearheading the cause.

News in brief

'Bathtub Gin' makes splash with rare infusing method

UK whisky and spirit retailer Master of Malt is tapping the navy strength gin trend with a new high quality Bathtub Gin bottled at 57%, made from pot-still spirit with...

Super-strength lager is global brewing’s ‘dirty secret’: charity

A UK charity backing a local campaign to stop sales of super-strength beer and cider believes leading firms such as Carlsberg and AB InBev benefit from a ‘dirty secret’ that...

Big confectioners and greenhouse gas emissions

ConfectioneryNews.com has scoured reports from the top five confectioners to unearth efforts being made to slash CO2 emissions.

IGD offers co-operation after Sainsbury boss urges universal food labelling

The grocery think tank IGD has pledged to work with government and industry to reach agreement on labelling, after Sainsbury boss Justin King urged the food industry to adopt universal...

IGD conference: big food retail and manufacturing themes – in Tweets

Hundreds of food and drink industry leaders packed The Lancaster Hotel in London this week for the grocery think-tank IGD annual convention. Thronging the conference hall were some prolific tweeters....

Big Interview

Seasonal focus for commercial revamp, says Thorntons CEO

UK chocolatier Thorntons will look to restore profitability by concentrating on Easter and Christmas products in commercial channels as it shifts its strategy away from own-store sales, according to the...

Kerry Group to invest €100m in new innovation centre in Ireland

Irish food ingredients company Kerry Group has said it will invest €100m in a new global technology and innovation centre in Ireland, due to open in 2016 to serve its...

EFSA advisory forum: “European food safety has made resounding progress”

EFSA’s Advisory Forum (AF) has backed the agency’s work in a formal statement, with the head of one of the member agencies saying the statement was a reaction to waves...

Comment

Smell a rat? Flawed GM cancer study highlights flawed media approach

A French study on the effects of Monsanto’s genetically modified (GM) maize in rats has said little about the safety or otherwise of GM crops – but it has said...

Premier Foods' bread split is logical: Analyst

Debt-ridden Premier Foods has made a 'logical' decision to split its struggling bread arm from grocery in a bid to drive business forward, an analyst says.

Mondelez acquires Italian biscuit maker from Danone

Kraft Foods’ global snacks spin-off Mondelez has acquired Italian biscuit business Vitasnella from Danone.

Walking the 2012 high wire: The world’s top 5 non-alcoholic drinks brands

Here we round-up the world’s top 5 non-alcoholic beverage brands, according to Interbrand. Our gallery shows that Coca-Cola excels in reinvention, but is Nescafé running too far too fast with...

Coca-Cola in €6.5m French recycling venture

Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) has invested €6.5m in a joint venture with APPE, France's leader in recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET), to increase the rate of recycling plastic bottles in France.

Barr Barr Britvic, have you no new name?

AG Barr and Britvic have confirmed that they are extending the offer deadline regarding their potential merger to October 3, as reports suggest deadlock in talks to agree a new...

Food manufacturing: who pays for sustainability?

As sustainability continues to rise up the corporate agenda, Ireland has ambitious plans to become a world-leader in the production of sustainable food through its Origin Green initiative.

Unilever UK cleared over 'misleading' ice cream website info

The UK Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has dismissed a complaint that the website for Unilever-owned Walls Ice Cream gave a misleading nutritional “impression” of its ice cream products.

News in brief

Sainsbury outperforms rival Tesco

Britain’s third-largest supermarket Sainsbury reported total sales for second quarter up 4.3% and like-for-like sales up 1.9 %.

Tesco reports first profits fall in 18 years ‘after running too hot’

Supermarket giant Tesco has reported its first profit fall in 18 years, as its chief executive Philip Clarke said the UK business had been “running too hot”.

Cadbury claims purple reign in Nestlé color mark dispute

Kraft-owned Cadbury has obtained its UK trademark for a shade of the color purple following a UK High Court case, although for a narrower range of goods than for which...

Sensory cues could alter satiating power of foods and drinks: Study

Altering the sensory characteristics of high energy foods could help industry to produce more effective weight control foods, according to new research.

Four million unique Absolut vodka bottles see Ardagh claim ‘packaging history’

Ardagh Group is claiming packaging history after modifying bottle decorating machinery to produce 4m different bottles for Pernod Ricard's Swedish brand Absolut Vodka.

Fairtrade in Spain hits €26m but still lags behind Europe

Fairtrade sales in Spain hit €26m for 2011 but wider Europe is significantly ahead in both sales and awareness, according to a report.