Europe's retailers are among the most international in the world,
but one market where they are still under-represented is Latin
America. Yet as the region's economies begin to strengthen after
several difficult years, the...
Dutch retail group Ahold has finally negotiated the sale of its
Argentine unit Disco - to Cencosud, the Chilean retailer which had
originally agreed to buy the company back in November. After
withdrawing entirely from the Asian market...
In a move that could turn the Russian market for soy beans on its
head, Yug Rusi, a major agri-business group there, has confirmed it
is considering plans to start growing soy beans in Brazil.
Dutch retail group Ahold has confirmed that its Brazilian unit
Bompreco has been bought by giant US retailer Wal-Mart, bringing to
an end several months of negotiations and clearing the way for the
sale of its other Brazilian unit,...
Ahold's plans to dispose of its entire Latin American store network
have been stalled for some time by delays in the core markets of
Brazil and Argentina - but this could soon be about to change.
Europe's largest food retailer Carrefour has followed its decision to withdraw
from the race to acquire Ahold's Brazilian assets with a further
reduction in its presence in Latin America.
Ahold's worries
have hit the headlines throughout 2003, and while it now appears to
be on the road to recovery after revelations of fraud and losses of
€1 billion, it is still not all plain sailing for the Dutch
retailer.
Scientists warn this week that our traditional christmas snack of
brazil nuts might not be for much longer if intensive harvesting
practices continue in 'persistently exploited' areas.
Farmers in southern Brazil are urging the government to pass an
emergency to allow use of GMO soybeans in the coming 2003-04 season
(October-September), reports the American Soybean Association this
week.
Both Brazil and Argentina continue to increase their production and
export figures this year, reports the American Soybean Association,
news which falls in line with forecasts that South America will
become the world's main soybean...
With virtually all of the world's new soybean production expected
to come from increased plantings in South America over the next
five to ten years, organisers of an international conference on
soyfoods have chosen Brazil...
Wal-Mart could be lining up a bid for Ahold's operations in Brazil,
Argentina and Peru as it seeks to push into markets with greater
growth potential than the US.
Europe has introduced additional measures to prevent Brazil nuts
contaminated with unnacceptable levels of aflatoxins - a potential
carcinogen - from entering the union.
International Specialty Products (ISP) continues to consolidate its
position on the ingredients market with the news this week that it
has acquired Brazilian ingredient systems company Germinal.
European companies continue to make inroads into South America as
German-based GeneScan Europe announced this week that it has opened
a new laboratory in Brazil to test for the presence of genetically
modified organisms in food products...
Japanese seasoning producer Ajinomoto said on Monday that it is to
double its Brazilian unit's annual production of amino acid-based
Lysine for animal feed products by the end of 2004.
Brazilian imports of Argentine wheat have ground to a halt but
millers have sufficient stocks until the end of January, grain
analysts and industry sources said Thursday.
Kerry, the Irish ingredients group, this week pushed its
development strategy further forward with the acquisition of two
flavour businesses in the UK and Brazilian food ingredients
markets.
AmBev, the Brazilian drinks group, launched its Guarana Antarctica
soft drink in Portugal on July 12 in what it said was a cautious
first step toward its ambition to make the brand a global player.
The American agribusiness multinational Cargill is constructing a
soybean export terminal in Santarém, Brazil, near the local port.
The complex will...
Molson, Canada's largest brewery, is to buy the Bavaria beer brand
and 5 bottling plants from Brazil's Companhia de Bebidas das
Americas (Ambev) for as...