The boss of UK starch and sugar group Tate & Lyle, currently
enjoying booming sales for its sweetener 600 times sweeter than
sugar, has hooked the European Businessman of the Year award from
leading US business magazine Forbes.
An improvement in the quality of flour ingredients is the focus of
new research by US government scientists who are taking a closer
look at hundreds of different proteins in the wheat kernels.
Number one dextrose producer Corn Products International will drive
operations forward in Korea, buying up the remaining slice of its
Korean business from Doosan corporation.
The bolt-on acquisition of Rhodia Food Ingredients earlier this
year helps boost sales for Danish ingredients and sugar group
Danisco in an otherwise challenging 2004/05 first half.
Widespread procurement and more than 100 years in business help
French hydrocolloid producer Colloides Naturels International (CNI)
assure supplies for gum arabic amid global shortfalls in stock,
writes Lindsey Partos.
Against the backdrop of soaring prices for locust bean gum, getting
the best price for the customer is a challenge hydrocolloid
producers must meet if they want to ensure ongoing contracts,
reports Lindsey Partos.
Prices for cocoa remain relatively volatile as political unrest in
Ivory Coast, that produces some 40 per cent of global cocoa crops,
keeps the market nervous.
Nearly half of the world's vanillin supplies are sourced from China
but since tighter production rules arrived there a few years ago
there are now only two major Chinese producers left in the country,
reports Lindsey Partos....
China continues to pull on global commodities with demand for US
soybeans rising in 2004/05 by nearly 50 per cent on the previous
year, reports Lindsey Partos. China's total contracts for
soybeans reached 6.6 million tonnes by...
A breakthrough into the US market boosts the bottom line for UK
natural flavours firm Treatt that saw sales for the year across the
Atlantic rising by over 40 per cent to €10 million, parallel to a
sales dip elsewhere, writes Lindsey...
The announcement yesterday that DMV International and Arla Food
Ingredients could merge is a further example of how the rising
power and ongoing growth of the multiple retailers is putting
constant pressure on ingredients companies...
Tate & Lyle, the world's only maker of the increasingly popular
sweetener sucralose, must prioritise needs of existing customers as
demand for the additive 'far exceeds our expectations.'
Japanese aspartame supplier Ajinomoto will ramp up production of
its sweetener on the back of growing demand for low calorie food
and beverages, the Tokyo-based firm announced this week.
Natural honey-bee products such as propolis, royal jelly, caffeic
acid, honey and venom could one day be used to help prevent cancer,
say Croatian researchers.
Looking to new market gains in the UK, US and Australia German
ingredients group Degussa has revamped its line of bakery cream
systems to target food makers with a competitive package, writes
Lindsey Partos.
Maker of the low-cal, low-carb sweetener tagatose teams up with the
number four flavour house Symrise to trial new flavour systems that
could bring cost savings to food manufacturers in their flavour
formulations, writes Lindsey Partos.
Plans for EU sugar reform are unfair and would only benefit the
biggest producers, say 10 member states as new discussions split
opinions across Europe,reports Chris Mercer.
Food makers can expect to see the price of hydrocolloids continue
to move upwards as suppliers, knocked by squeezed commodity
supplies coupled with higher energy and transport costs, pass rises
onto the market.
Danisco Flavours has said that it will double its flavour
production in Asia with the construction of a brand new production
facility at its existing emulsifier and functional systems plant in
Penang, Malaysia.
Increasing competition on the xanthan gum market leads Danish
ingredients firm Danisco to cut jobs at the recently acquired
Rhodia Food activities in France.
Convenience foods eaten on the run continue to experience strong
growth as individuals skip the union meal for a solitary event but
new findings from the US suggest that the security of a family meal
could help steer adolescent girls...
High energy costs bite into margins for the number one pectin
player CP Kelco with the company passing the prices onto the
market, announcing increases for a range of hydrocolloids in its
portfolio.
Cocoa prices have leapt in London, driven by fears that instability
in Ivory Coast, that produces some 40 per cent of global crops,
could impact supplies.
Barry Callebaut, the world's top supplier of industrial chocolate
to the confectionery industry, has delivered strong profit for the
year, boosted by the integration of recently acquired US
confectionery firm Brach's and...
Philadelphia-based FMC BioPolymer, the number one supplier of
food-grade carrageenan, will raise prices for this gum by up to 8
per cent as raw material costs cut into margins, suggesting that
cheaper alternatives, such as the semi-refined...
Month-on-month growth for Tate & Lyle's zero calorie sweetener
combined with a faster than expected decline in European cereal
prices helped the UK firm post a high single-digit rise in profit
for the first half of the year,...
Danish colours firm Chr Hansen has launched its first natural blue
food colour onto the market, targeted at food makers looking for
alternatives to the synthetic blues currently used in their food
designs, reports Lindsey Partos.
As governments challenge the high consumption of salt in their
citizens' diets, US researchers shed light on a controversial
30-year-old theory that the high rate of hypertension in certain
ethnic groups is caused, in part, by...
Food manufacturers using pecan nuts in their food products can
expect a hike in price as recent hurricanes in the US destroy
nearly half the crops in major producing states.
Evidence backing the health promoting benefits of chocolate
continues to mount, bringing dynamism to slacking sales, reports
Lindsey Partos. Researchers from Spain have discovered that
polyphenols found in cocoa extract influence...
The world's number one caramel colour supplier DD Williamson is
driving deeper into the Nordic countries, signing a deal with
Swedish food distibutor Norfoods to build growth in the
increasingly mature caramel colour market.
Bolt-on acquisitions move ambitious Israeli flavours firm Frutarom
a step closer to its ambitions to reach the top ten flavour club
with the firm closing down on the purchase of IFF's fruit
preparations business in Europe.
After a slightly slow start to the year, the confectionery group
Hershey Foods, saw sales rise and the gross margin expand in the
third quarter, despite rising commodity costs.
Health-promoting compounds found in honey could make this
ingredient a more attractive option for food makers currently using
bulk sweeteners such as high-fructose corn syrup and looking to
jump on board the growing health foods trend,...
European bakery ingredients leader CSM will chip away at its German
subsidiary as the firm announces job cuts and restructuring efforts
to bring about savings and underline its focus on becoming an
international bakery supplies player.
Chr Hansen breaks into the lucrative Chinese market constructing
its first production facilities to provide more flexibility to
serve the burgeoning local food industry, reports Lindsey
Partos.
Brussels will fight to appeal against a new decision by the World
Trade Organisation that rules the EU illegally subsidises exports
of sugar, ruling in favour of a legal challenge by Australia,
Thailand and Brazil, the world's...
Risk assessment and market predictions translate into new pectin
opportunities for Danisco that will break ground on a new pectin
plant in Brazil, to be up and running by 2007, reports Lindsey
Partos.
Prices remain steady for cocoa, despite news that the start of the
new cocoa harvesting season from the world's biggest producer,
Ivory Coast, has been delayed due to a dispute.
Damage from Hurricane Ivan that struck the US last week could send
prices for peanuts, a common confectionery ingredient, rising as
reports suggest that virtually all of the nation's 2004 peanut crop
could be at risk.
Chocolate makers could see savings from new research that sets out
to tackle the common problem of fat bloom, an unsightly white
powdery film that forms on the outside of chocolate, writes
Lindsey Partos.
In a move to focus on its retail business, Swiss baking aid firm
Hero has sold UK bakery ingredients division Renshaw Scott to UK
sugar ingredients company Napier Brown Foods.
Swedish oils and fats firm Karlshamns, which saw its profits slip
at the end of 2003, has acquired UK flaked fats company Kelanco,
and with it a drive into value-added speciality fats for the
booming UK convenience food market.
More research has underlined the heart health benefits of dark
chocolate, shown in a Greek study to improve healthy blood flow and
prevent clots forming.
Food makers will be encouraged to use a low-calorie sweetener
supplied by Danish ingredients firm Arla Food Ingredients with a
new study showing a chocolate bar made with the prebiotic
ingredient is very low in glycaemic load (GL)...
Despite a squeeze on ingredients prices and global volatility in
key commodities, adept risk management tools help agri-giant
Cargill deliver a strong performance for the year, with sales in
the last quarter rising by a considerable...
UK confectionery firm Glisten Confectionery has gained a stronger
foothold at the higher end of the confectionery market after food
ingredients business Kiril Mischeff sold its House of York toffee
brand to the Blackburn-based firm.
Marketing and sales strategy pays off for UK-based firm Muntons
Malted Ingredients (MMI) with turnover increasing more than three
times in as many years.
