Breaking News on Dairy Processing & Markets

Weekly comment

No quick fix to the food price crisis

28-Apr-2008 - The food crisis is neither new nor sudden. The several underlying causes have been independently, steadily gathering speed and have collided in a perfect storm not seen for generations. It is going to take a coordinated, long-term effort to untangle them.

News briefs: Nestle results, Bel Group buy

23-Apr-2008 - This week, Nestle continues to profit from its nutrition focus and the Bel Group looks to expand into Czech cheese production.

Stork, Marel merger gets EU green light

22-Apr-2008 - The European Commission (EC) has given the go ahead to the acquisition of Stork Food Systems (SFS) by Marel after an investigation by the European competition authorities.

News briefs: Danone results and Tai Chi dairy

18-Apr-2008 - This week, Danone says it is on track for full year profitability and organic farmers get the Tai Chi bug.

Irish dairy board seeking higher sales to China

16-Apr-2008 - The Irish Dairy Board is eyeing China's foodservice market as an opportunity to add volumes to its growing retail business.

Irish dairy facing innovation challenges, says industry

16-Apr-2008 - The Irish dairy industry must step up innovation if it is to remain competitive in a changing European market place, according to one of the country's leading processors and ingredient suppliers.

Dutch dairy giants agree on merger plan

11-Apr-2008 - Netherlands-based dairy rivals, Friesland Foods and Campina, have yesterday reached an agreement to combine their operations in a bid to maximize returns from their milk supply.

Dairy commodity prices climb sharply

02-Apr-2008 - Dairy commodity costs have surged in the space of just one month to cap off huge rises in the prices being paid out by processors over the last year, according to recently published data by DIN Consultancy.

Non-dairy products boost Bel profits

26-Mar-2008 - France-based dairy group Bel this week posted strong results for the year 2007, although the firm said profits were dampened by weaker growth in cheese sales.

Wimm-Bill-Dann looks to functional future in Siberia

26-Mar-2008 - Wimm-Bill-Dann yesterday kicked off production at a new site its hopes will allow it to tap into growing demand in Siberia and other far-east regions of Russia for functional and infant nutrition products.

Campina to step up focus on low fat dairy

20-Mar-2008 - Dairy company Campina said it will increase investments into products geared towards the growing health and wellbeing trend on the back of significant success of its low fat products in 2007.

News briefs: Nestle, Danone and Kerry Foods

14-Mar-2008 - This week, Nestle lifts its 2008 profit expectations on an expected fall in commodities costs, Danone denies it has an interest in purchasing Dean Foods, and Kerry Foods makes an Irish dairy acquisition.

Danone coy on Wahaha merger talks

07-Mar-2008 - Danone remains tight-lipped over reports that it hopes to merge a number of rival companies run by the founder of its Chinese joint venture partner Wahaha into its own operations in the country.

China driving European raw materials innovation

07-Mar-2008 - The improved quality of the Chinese ingredients supply chain is forcing European operators to lift their game, according to one leading UK-based supplier.

EDA not supporting UK farmers' 'fair trade' calls

05-Mar-2008 - Calls by a UK-based dairy cooperative for the implementation of a "fair trade" style price system for the country's milk farmers to avoid a potential supply crisis, have not been backed by the European Dairy Association (EDA).

Arla counts the kroner after exceptional year for milk

25-Feb-2008 - Arla Foods has reported a sustained level of profit despite a turbulent year in the milk markets after treading a fine line between paying its members more for their milk and pricing their products competitively.

Innovation raises Nestle above raw material impact

21-Feb-2008 - Repositioning on a healthy food platform and investing in research of value-added ingredients has lifted Nestle out of the reach of raw material prices and other economic encumbrances.

Dairy and water key to Danone profit growth

14-Feb-2008 - Group Danone posted a 7.2 per cent increase in sales during the full 2007 fiscal year amounting to €14.5bn, on the back of a strong performance in its dairy and bottled water businesses.

Unilever braced for restructuring benefits

08-Feb-2008 - Unilever posted a 5 per cent improvement in sales during the full fiscal year, on the back of its increased focus on products with vitality benefits, emerging markets and personal care.

News briefs: Parmalat, Saputo and Fonterra

08-Feb-2008 - This week, Fonterra reveals its milk supply concerns, Saputo posts profit growth from its North American focus, and Parmalat says it is meeting its financial expectations for the year.

Unilever targets Russia for ice cream expansion

06-Feb-2008 - Unilever is to extend its presence within ice cream manufacture after announcing this week that it has agreed to acquire Russian ice cream company Inmarko.

Fonterra expands to meet dairy ingredient demand

06-Feb-2008 - Dairy co-op Fonterra will expand its presence in its native New Zealand with the construction of a new NZ$212m (€113m) milk powder plant to capitalise on growth within the ingredients market.

News briefs: Arla, Global Dairy Conference and Danone

01-Feb-2008 - This week, Arla Foods increases payouts to its UK dairy farmers, Athens is picked to host the second Global Dairy Conference in March and Danone may have further expanded its presence in Asia.

Fonterra expects full year growth ahead

30-Jan-2008 - New Zealand-based dairy cooperative Fonterra says it has benefited from both its raw dairy and processing businesses as revenues rose NZ$853m (€449m) to NZ$7.3bn (€3.8bn) over the first half of the year.