Heineken has played down a 4.7% slump in global sales of its eponymous brand versus Q4 2012, blaming bad weather in Europe and retailer destocking in France and the US.
European consumers prefer bread with soft and springy qualities that deliver consistent quality, according to a study commissioned by bakery ingredients firm Novozymes.
European Union proposals for a €150m-compensation package for farmers wer rejected by Spain and France yesterday as pressure intensified for Germany to identify the source of the E.coli outbreak that has now killed 23 and sickened 2,429.
Eight of the top 12 soy drink consuming countries are Asian with Hong Kong residents consuming the most at 17 litres per year each, according to TetraPak data.
Leading Spanish food company Grupo Siro has opened a €6m research and development facility in El Espinar, northern Spain to develop a range of new products including ones suitable for consumers who are intolerant to gluten and for children.
UK-based Alexander Foods has entered into an agreement with Exquim S.A. to distribute its salt replacement product in Spain in what it says is its first step into the wider European market.
Associated British Foods (ABF) has announced that it has reached an agreement with Ebro Puleva for the acquisition of its Spanish sugar business, Azucarera Ebro, for €385 million.
French manufacturer of ingredients for flour, bread and cereals
Eurogerm has acquired Spanish counterpart LEAG with the intention
of increasing its presence in Spain and Latin America.
Spain's soft drinks market is expected to grow by around 7 per cent
this year, a slight slowdown compared to 2003's heatwave-boosted
performance but nonetheless healthy growth driven by premium and
functional products.
The European Commission has requested Belgium and Spain to comply
with 2003 rulings of the European Court of Justice concerning their
failure to adopt and notify national legislation implementing an EU
law on the contained use of...
Spain might well have a culinary heritage to rival that of France,
but like it trans-Pyrenean neighbour, consumption patterns have
been changing over the last few years, with more hectic lifestyles
(even in the land of the siesta)...
Rodrigo Rato, Spain's finance minister, has added his voice to the
debate over food prices which has pitched retailers against
suppliers. He said that Spain's various regional governments should
do more to present a united...
Sharp increases in the prices of many fresh fruit and vegetables in
Spain last month are to be investigated by the country's
competition authorities. Prices have risen across Europe as the hot
weather reduced harvests, but the...
Hypermarkets and supermarkets dominate food sales in Spain, a new
report has confirmed. But the complaints of traditional retailers
there are nothing compared to their counterparts in Germany, France
and the UK, where the major retailers...
Carrefour's stores in nine of Spain's autonomous regions have been
accused of selling a range of wine, beer and spirits at less than
cost price, a practice which is illegal under Spanish competition
rules.
Research by University of Plymouth experts into the detection of
harmful species of algae has helped develop a unique microscope
which could dramatically decrease cases of poisoning from
contaminated shellfish.
Europe's sheep population fell by four per cent last year, according to figures released from the EU's December sheep census. Within the major sheep-rearing countries however, the rate of decline varied greatly.
Spanish consumers appear to have shrugged off the concerns about
the safety of meat related to the BSE scandal. The meat sector
posted the biggest increase in per capita consumption last year,
according to a recent survey.
A specially developed scanning technology for olive producers has
helped to improve harvest quality and predictability, claims Danish
safety systems provider Foss.
Two years after its launch, the 'virtual' Spanish supermarket
capraboacasa.com, is going from strength to strength. Sales through
the online business now account for 1 per cent of the chain's total
turnover, and grew...
German supermarket group Tengelmann has taken 100 per cent control
of its Iberian subsidiaries Supermercados Plus after finally buying
out its long term partner, businessman Juan Abello.
Spain and Italy have acted disproportionately in obliging products
made with vegetable fats other than cocoa butter to be labelled as
'chocolate substitutes', the European Court of Justice has ruled. A
simple mention on...
The thorny issue of chocolate labelling in the EU continues with a
judgement this week that finds both Spain and Italy acted against
the backbone of the EC treaty - the spirit of the free movement of
goods - by prohibiting the marketing...
The EU remains by far the biggest market for Spanish olive oil
exports, but there is also growing interest from the US, several
countries in South America, and Russia, according to the latest
official figures.
The French retail giant Carrefour has opened a new logistics
platform in Spain which will serve its 30 hypermarkets in Spain,
plus four others in Portugal. The new facility will hold 14,000
different products.
Allowing Spanish stores to open every day of the week will lead to
massive job losses and higher prices, supermarkets and small store
operators have warned. And the only people to benefit will be the
French hypermarket groups Carrefour...
Caprabo, the Catalan retailer, has become the leading supermarket
group in Navarra following the opening of 22 Caprabo-branded stores
there this week. The stores were all converted from the Super Mabo
fascia in just three days.
More than 50 hypermarket developments are stuck in planning hell in
Spain as a result of excessive legislation requirements - prompting
the major retailers to focus on supermarket growth instead.
Spain's food and drink exports continue to grow steadily each year,
but the economic difficulties expected in many of its core overseas
markets will force the industry to concentrate on more product
promotions.
Speakers at a recent conference on the draft wine law currently
going through the Spanish parliament have stressed the beneficial
effects the law is likely to have on improving quality and reducing
over-production.
Exchange rate declines, in particualr from Brazil and Argentina,
led to a 1.5 drop in third quarter sales at Carrefour, but sales at
constant currency rates were up 5.6 per cent, a figure the French
group preferred to highlight.
Producers in the US passing off their fortified wines as sherry or
other Spanish products are affecting sales of the authentic
products there, prompting two denominations in Andalusia to
petition the EU authorities.
Spain's OCU consumer protection organisation has accused the Koipe
company of fixing the price of its Carbonell and Koipe Sol brands,
and has denounced it to the competition authorities.
The Spanish may not have managed to persuade the British to leave
Gibraltar but UK retailer Marks & Spencer Plc finally pulled
out of Madrid on Saturday.
Italy and Spain have infringed an EC Treaty by prohibiting
chocolate products from being marketed under the name 'chocolate'
where, in addition to cocoa butter, they also contain other
vegetable fats.
Spanish food group Sos Cuetara said on Wednesday it would consider
a merger with Koipe after it completes its 414.7 million-euro
($364.7 million) takeover of the edible oils company.
Allied Domecq PLC filed with the Spanish Stock Exchange Commission,
a recommended conditional cash offer for the entire issued share
capital of Bodegas y Bebidas S.A.
On July 5, the Spanish government urged consumers to continue using
olive oil after a low-grade oil derived from olives was removed
from store shelves...
