Breaking News on Dairy Processing & Markets

Danone divests to protect nutrition ambitions

02-Nov-2007 - Danone and Numico will be forced to offload some of their European operations to go ahead with their planned merger into one of the world's leading nutrition companies.

Unilever results show sharp recovery

02-Nov-2007 - Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant Unilever has reported a steep increase in its third quarter profits on lower charges and improved sales, thanks to company cost cutting as well as an increase in consumer prices.

Emmi teams ups with Belgian trading firm

29-Oct-2007 - Emmi has said it will acquire Brussels-based Haerten & Interimex in a move designed to strengthen the Switzerland-based firm's European presence.

Willi-Food prepares kosher deals

23-Oct-2007 - Israel-based Willi-Food hopes to step up its presence in Europe and Russia by forming two new joint ventures to meet growing respective demand for kosher and premium cheeses.

Weekly Comment

The weather excuse

22-Oct-2007 - With all the threats facing food and beverage production -- from contamination in the food chain, to rising input prices -- there appears to be one menace that towers above the rest, namely 'The Weather'.

Nestle weathers commodities storm, sales rise 7%

19-Oct-2007 - Nestle yesterday reported organic sales rose by seven per cent in the first nine months of this year, with the company successfully managing to offset rising raw material costs by hiking prices.

EU milk quota levies fall amidst CAP reforms

18-Oct-2007 - Fines imposed on EU member states for exceeding milk production quotas in the latest marketing year are down 38 per cent from last season as the bloc continues to cut its reliance on subsidies.

Danone sells Chinese dairy stake

17-Oct-2007 - Danone is a step nearer to going it alone in the Chinese dairy market after selling its entire 20.01 per cent stake in Shanghai-based Bright Dairy and Food and terminating a distribution agreement for its products.

Wimm-Bill-Dann expands further into growing markets

16-Oct-2007 - Russian healthy food producers Wimm-Bill-Dann has increased its presence by taking over a dairy producer in Georgia, which will help supply markets in Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Arla offloads cheese import arm

16-Oct-2007 - Arla Foods will further reduce its stake in the cheese market with the announcement today of the sale of its Delimo import arm to France-based Lactalis.

Frutarom snaps up Gewurzmuller in expansion drive

15-Oct-2007 - Frutarom today announced it had agreed to acquire German-based Gewurzmuller Group for $67m (€47m), a move to further expand the company's presence in the global market for flavours and functional ingredients.

Chinese dairy demand drives Tetra Pak expansion

11-Oct-2007 - Tetra Pak has expanded its total packaging output in China to 40bn containers following completion of a €100m plant in a bid to meet the huge increases in demand for dairy products.

Beverage and dairy drive Givaudan's Euro sales

09-Oct-2007 - Givaudan has reported sales growth in its flavours division in Q3, particularly in the European beverage and dairy segments, and in developing markets.

UK dairy groups reveal milk merger talks

04-Oct-2007 - Two of the UK's leading farmer-owned dairy businesses have today revealed that they are in advanced discussion over a merger of their operations.

Dairy difficulties hamper Dean Foods' profits

03-Oct-2007 - US group Dean Foods yesterday announced plans for an immediate cut in its workforce, after higher costs for ingredients like milk forced it to lower its full year earnings expectations.

Robert Wiseman Dairies manages to increase margins

27-Sep-2007 - Robert Wiseman Dairies has been able to juggle suppliers, pricing and higher input costs in the first half of this year, while increasing margins, according to a trading statement released today.

Healthy outlook for Dairy Crest's financial ambitions

26-Sep-2007 - Higher pricing and an increasing focus on healthier products continues to ensure that Dairy Crest remains in line to achieve its full year sales targets, the company announced today.

European processors feel raw milk cost pinch

24-Sep-2007 - The average price paid to European farmers for their milk is up 12 per cent on the previous year to €30.66 per 100kg, according to a new market report.

Parmalat continues financial recovery

14-Sep-2007 - Revenues for Italian group Parmalat were up 2.8 per cent to €1.8bn for the first fiscal half, on the back of continued expansion into high value dairy production.

Glanbia edges into omega-3 market, acquires Pizzey's

10-Sep-2007 - International dairy and nutritional ingredients group Glanbia is making its way into the North American omega-3 market with the acquisition of the Canadian nutritionals business, Pizzey's Milling.

Restructuring pays off for Vivartia

06-Sep-2007 - Vivartia posted a 15.6 per cent increase in revenues to €517m, as it continues to restructure its operations in South East Europe, the company reported in on a pro-forma basis.

Exceptional dairy situation drives Friesland profits

06-Sep-2007 - Friesland Foods has reported a strong revenue and profit story for the first half of 2007, largely thanks to higher prices commanded by its milk powder and industrial ingredients in the face of demand in excess of supply.

Dairy continues to drive Wimm-Bill-Dann profits

05-Sep-2007 - Half-year revenues were up by 40 per cent to $1.14bn (€838m) for leading Russian dairy and beverage group Wimm-Bill-Dann as the company continued to profit from its expansion into Eastern European markets.

Glanbia gains fuelled by US and nutritionals

29-Aug-2007 - Glanbia has reported a strong performance for the first half of 2007, largely thanks to its US food ingredients and global nutritionals businesses.