The rolling out of third quarter results today continues with a
slip in earnings for US agri-giant Bunge on the back of weaker
profits sorely felt in the agribusiness division.
Food scientists working in today's food industry are constantly
facing, and resolving, the challenges of a competitive market. One
emerging trend in particular is the blurring of boundaries between
different food application...
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) claims that healthy animal
clones pose no increased risk to consumers. Commercialisation may
be a problem however as the public remain unconvinced.
Stable Micro Systems, the designer and manufacturer of texture
analysis equipment for the food industry, is launching its
new-generation texture analyser at the FIE 2001
Laurus, the Dutch retail group, has made its third set of price
cuts in two weeks, with a further 230 items at the Edah chain
benefiting from the reduction. But the company faces a difficult
few months, trying to find the right balance...
Food and drink producers such as Kristall and Nestlé are suffering
from the ever-rising tide of counterfeit goods in Russia. A recent
survey shows that as much as 90 per cent of the goods bought by
shoppers in Moscow were fake - a...
Metro, the German wholesale and retail group, has scrapped plans to
sell its extensive property portfolio after lengthy negotiations
with the prospective buyer ended in failure. The decision came as
the group announced solid sales...
Pricing pressure hits another ingredients company as leading
Australian yeast supplier Burns Philp sees low margins cutting into
profit for the quarter.
Under a new partnership and license and supply agreement,
BioControl has received the right to specific probe sequences from
Epoch Biosciences for use in the field of food safety testing.
Disappointing figures from flavours company Quest pulled an already
less than dazzling set of third quarter results down further for UK
chemical group ICI hit by a continuing malaise in US and European
sales. National Starch figures...
Former UK minister for the environment, Michael Meacher refuses to
be silenced on the GM debate warning sales of GMO products should
be stalled until more extensive research is carried out.
e-FoodSafety.com announced today that it has acquired a 100 per
cent stake in Food Safe. The former president is to help with the
group's strategic roll-out of company divisions over coming months.
Ireland has the highest per capita expenditure on alcohol in
western Europe, but while the Irish are certainly fond of a drink
or two, the combination of pub culture and some of the highest
alcohol duties in the whole of the EU are...
Philip Green's Trackdean Investments group has today confirmed that
it will not bid for the Safeway chain, leaving the way clear for
Morrisons to complete its takeover. The government's ruling that
only 53 Safeway stores...
The Commission will shave €1 billion off the CAP budget in 2004 as
summer droughts across Europe saw exports wither and refunds
reduced as the impact of reform takes shape.
Legislation in Europe to end 'hidden' allergens on food labels
cleared a crucial hurdle last month when the Council and the
European Parliament put a red pen through the '25 per cent' rule,
ushering in the transparent...
Against a current tough market backdrop for ingredients, Danish
company Chr Hansen is facing up to the challenge, with the dairy
culture specialists this week lifting previous profit forecasts for
the year by €4 million on the back...
In as little as three years' time, older consumers will have become
the mainstream market in the UK, accounting for over half of
expenditure on food, drink and household products - a revelation
that has significant implications...
Dutch ingredients firm DMV International has developed a new
milk-derived peptide aimed at liver health, an area attracting
increasing attention from consumers.
The addition of 13 new denominations of origin helped lift Spanish
sales of DO food products by 8.1 per cent last year. Cheese is the
biggest single category to benefit from the quality mark -
excluding wines and spirits, that is.
The global meat packaging industry is today governed by the
strictest of guidelines. Safety and hygiene issues have forced
themselves to the top of the agenda following a series of health
scares, and companies have had to fight hard...
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) alerted the Cypriot authorities and
European Commission this week after another tahini product was
found to be contaminated with salmonella.
An insidious fuzzy grey mould that often coats refrigerated
strawberries and many other plants during growing and storage could
be prevented by a gene identified at Purdue university in the US.
The protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) is essential
not only for researchers to work willingly together on innovative
research, but also in order to bring the fruits of this
collaboration to the market. IPR is, however,...
Steady growth for the US and European fruit and vegetables extracts
and powders market - currently standing at €819.9 million ($960M) -
is pitched to reach $1,321 million by 2009. But NPD, price and
product awareness will all be necessary...
UK-based food grade gas supplier BOC are claiming to provide
innovative solutions for the meat industrie's processing and food
safety concerns tomorrow at AMI/Worldwide Food Exposition.
Undecided limits on the amount of genetically modified organisms in
cereal and vegetable seeds have thrown the GMO debate into further
disarray, as EU setbacks delay voting until Spring next year.
Dutch industrial chemicals maker DSM said on Monday its profit in
the second quarter had fallen 75 per cent lower than in the same
period in 2002, as lower sales volumes and falling prices hit the
chemicals market.
Private label products are taking an ever larger share of retail
sales, according to a recent survey by ACNielsen, with the drive
towards more premium products opening the door to a number of
non-traditional private label categories...
Reaping the growing virtues of resveratrol British scientists find
that this powerful component of red wine could not only damp down
the inflammatory process in the progressive lung disease COPD, but
eventually lead to a treatment.
Ahold's financial fortunes are going from bad to worse. Already
facing losses of €1bn for 2002, the current year is unlikely to
shape up any better, at least if today's third quarter figures are
to be believed.
Government plans to change stamp duty regulations in the UK could
have a devastating effect on the retail trade there, industry
associations have warned. Small stores in particular could be badly
hit, with a potential eight-fold increase...
Commercially savvy and biotech rich company Monsanto is waging a
war on the waist, with impeccable timing. Following hot on the
heels of new FDA rules requiring food manufacturers to imminently
reveal the amount of trans-fat on food...
The government's list of producer and retailer prices for a variety
of foodstuffs does not tell the real story, claims Spanish retail
association Asedas. Most stores do not use farm-gate prices as
their reference, the organsiation...
Can the trend for foods with added health benefits turn the tide of
consumer cynicism towards genetically modified foodstuffs? US
researchers hypothesise that shoppers might just pay a premium for
GMOs if they are told of the potential...
Contamination warnings from the UK food agency highlights yet another food product containing the illegal dye Sudan 1 and issues a follow-up warning about eating venison products containing meat contaminated with the drugs immobilon and revivon.
Spain's ministry of agriculture has begun publishing both producer
and retailer prices in a bid to bring more transparency to the food
industry - but farmers' associations are calling for even tougher
measures to curb retail...
The market for sugar-free confectionery can only gain pace, keeping
in step with an increased consumer demand for 'guilt-free' products
spurred on by burgeoning rates of obesity and diabetes across the
globe. Suppliers of...
ADM takes on the contract services of a fermentation improvement
technology company - particularly present in nutraceuticals - to
work on 'opportunities and efficiencies' in the food ingredients
arena.
Safeway, the UK food retail chain, has put 53 stores up for sale in
advance of the expected takeover of the chain by Wm Morrison. As
well as Tesco, Sainsbury and Asda, all of which lost out in their
bids to buy Safeway, offers have...
During a visit to the Teagasc National Food Centre last week EU
Commissioner for research, Philippe Busquin - holding the purse
strings to a €700m food quality research budget - witnessed new
technology on food product development...
The quickening of genetic mutation rates in bacteria may not only
happen when the microorganisms find themselves in strange and
stressful circumstances. A new study shows that E. coli,
ratchets up its 'adaptive mutation'...
French meat processor Duc saw turnover slump by nearly 12 per cent in the first half of the year, as it felt the impact of competition from both cheaper and more expensive products.
Spanish supermarkets are to play a more active role in promoting
and protecting the country's food industry following a joint
agreement with the ministry of agriculture there. Food safety, food
quality and support for SMEs are...
Swedish oils and fats company sees profit slip as the weight of
tighter margins, increased competition and a strong Swedish kroner
bears down.The Karlshamns of 2003 has quite evidently been marked
by the loss of one of its largest...
New flavour wins in Latin America went some way to offsetting
weaker customer demand acutely felt in the US, but top line
performance for the third quarter was largely disappointing and the
outlook remains bearish.
US court dismisses claims by Muscle Marketing USA that all forms of
creatine powder, including the product made by Degussa Food
Ingredients, are ineffective.
