Breaking News on Dairy Processing & Markets

Robert Wiseman Dairies manages to increase margins

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.

Ministers debate milk, wine and sugar reforms

Food safety and animal health top the agenda at today's meeting of EU's agricultural ministers, with the future of milk, wine and sugar production also up for discussion.

Nestle points towards future of cocoa research

The future of research into the potential health benefits of cocoa should focus on the mechanisms and active compounds, with well defined clinical trials key to this burgeoning segment, says a new review by Nestlé.

World School Milk Day

Tetra Pak makes the business case for social responsibility

Tetra Pak's involvement in school feeding programmes shows how companies can leverage their industry knowledge to help the poor, while still being able to justify the effort on the bottom line.

Healthy outlook for Dairy Crest's financial ambitions

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.

Processors cited for reducing greenhouse gas emissions

Diageo, Coca-Cola, Unilever, Cadbury Schweppes, and Tesco are industry leaders in moving to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to an annual report by the Carbon Disclosure Project.

Cargill's glucosamine application Europe-bound

Cargill's plans to market a vegetarian form of glucosamine hydrochloride for use in dairy and beverage products faces further delay, pending a risk review by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).

Weekly comment

Consumers and the confidence crisis

Consumer demand - the holy grail of any industry - is a fragile and easily manipulated treasure. But influencing consumers for anything other than their own benefit will, more often than not, carry unintended consequences.

European processors feel raw milk cost pinch

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.

Palsgaard counters milk costs for ice-cream makers

Palsgaard is the latest company to develop an ingredient solution that reduces the need for expensive commodities, with an emulsifier-stabiliser technology that calls for less milk solids in ice-cream.

Innovative regional cheeses please UK consumers

UK consumers are increasingly patriotic about their cheese, as regional British varieties of the product are beginning to outsell continental rivals in the country, according to new research out today.

Responsibility rules in Heidelberg

It is not so much what is going into products, but the manner in which they are produced that dominated the debate at Wild's industry convention in Heidelberg, Germany.

Dairy sector milking UK consumers, claims regulator

The UK's major supermarkets and dairy processors allegedly cheated consumers out of £270m (€389m) by colluding to increase prices for dairy products, the competition regulator claimed today.

EU may boost milk production say reports

As a dwindling milk supply continues to bite into the profits of European dairy processors, the European Commision hinted this week that it may consider raising quotas on production to relieve the industry's woes.

DSM launches fat texture replacement

Royal DSM and Avebe Food will jointly develop and market a natural ingredient the two companies claim will act as a fat replacer, adding creaminess and other texture qualities to foods.

Major processors sign up to carbon labelling scheme

Four major processors, including Cadbury Schweppes and Coca-Cola, have signed up to a UK scheme to measure the carbon emitted in making some of their key products.

Dairy company tests ozone pasteurisation technique

A cold pasteurisation technique that uses ozone gas allows processors to create food without damaging healthy components, according to its developer.

Foot and mouth spreads in UK

Foot-and-mouth disease has spread to two more farms in the UK, underlying fears that a EU-wide ban on the country's exports will be prolonged.

No danger in New Zealand's milk, says safety authority

The New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) has ruled that milk containing either the A1 and A2 protein does not pose a danger to the public and should remain part of a nutritious diet.

Weekly Comment

Arnie and the clones

Cloned foods have not yet made it to our grocery aisles, but in the advent of such a rollout consumers must have a defined right to decide if they want to swallow the technology or not.

Parmalat continues financial recovery

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.

Arla cuts cheese to ease supply burden

Arla Foods is to cut cheese production by 6,200 tonnes until the new year in a drive to better deal with a dwindling global supply of raw milk.

News briefs: Lactalis, Chinese dairy and flatulence threats

In this week's industry round up, there is acquisition fever afoot as a number of dairy group's aim to expand globally into emerging markets, and the environmental danger of cow flatulence is played down by a US consumer group.

Hard cheese for Biraghi over grana dispute

Italian cheese producer Biraghi's battle to keep a geographically protected trademark for its products has gone sour after the a EU court rejected its claims yesterday.

Foot-and-mouth rears head in UK

The UK's meat and dairy industry is under siege, with a new EU ban in place yesterday on exports as farmers battle to control yet another outbreak of food-and-mouth disease.

Fonterra pares energy bill by 5 per cent

New Zealand-based Fonterra claims to have made further steps towards improved sustainability for dairy production by cutting another 5 per cent off its energy bill.

Danone's joint venture strategy bogged down in strife

There was more trouble for Danone's joint-venture operations this week as the company launched legal action against Colombia-based rival Alpina in a trademark dispute.

Could biofuels do more harm than good? OECD asks

European ministers will today discuss whether propounding use of biofuels is justified given their impact on food prices, and whether first generation technologies are causing more environmental harm than good.

Fonterra considers possible operations split

The shareholders' council of dairy cooperative Fonterra yesterday called for a clearer distinction in the financial reporting on the performances of the company's commodities and processing operations.

Dairy industry braces for future challenges

Health claims, sustainable production, and trade reforms are all vital challenges to be faced by the industry during the second half of 2007, according to the European Dairy Association (EDA).

Weekly comment

Hooked on Es

This comment was amended to correct a statement about bans of additives in other countries. Some of the chemicals were previously banned by Norway, Austria and Australia but those bans have since been removed. Allura red AC, tartrazine and sunset yellow are allowed in the US, while quinoline yellow, carmoisine and ponceau 4R are not. None of the colour additives are currently banned by Australia, which lifted a ban on quinoline yellow in 2003. The country does not permit tartrazine to be used in medicines.

EU legislators approve milk fund shake up

The European Parliament has decided that budget savings worth €117.3m made to its agricultural subsidy programme back into helping the dairy industry adapting to ongoing reforms to the system.

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

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.

Probiotics market set to hit 120m by 2013, report says

The European food and beverage probiotics market is expected to more than double by 2013, according to a market report, with the proposed EU health claims rules presenting "untapped" potential.

Exceptional dairy situation drives Friesland profits

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.

Restructuring pays off for Vivartia

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.

Unilever wields cleaver to Euro workforce

Unilever's European workforce will bear the brunt of the company's proposed 20,000 job cuts over the next four years, a company spokesperson said today.

Dairy continues to drive Wimm-Bill-Dann profits

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.

Chr Hansen probiotics launched in Italian cheese

A cheese containing a Chr Hansen probiotic has been launched in Italy, a move which reinforces the growing trend for companies to use probiotics outside of the traditional yoghurt pot.

Weekly comment

Food prices and the death of the productionist model

Last week saw a string of communications about food price rises: first warnings were aired about wheat, then meat, then dairy. It's a vertiginous view from the heights of the commodity markets, and it's clearer than ever before that we need to re-jig our basic food supply systems if we are to feed the world in the future.

High prices remain after milk production hike

An expected increase in global dairy production is unlikely to alleviate current industry concerns over high milk prices, according to findings by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Health focus drives whey and lactose demand

The global market for whey and lactose ingredients will increase by 20 per cent as the dairy industry focuses more on healthy and nutritional products, a new report forecasts.

Friesland and Nandi make whey for low-fat products

Freisland Foods Domo and Nandi Protiens are introducing a new range of whey protein concentrates for low-fat yoghurt and other food categories - the fruit of a partnership to leverage new protein technology to quickly meet new market demand.

Book details advance in yoghurt production

A revised publication focusing on high quality yoghurt production offers a unique insight into the methods and theory being used by today's dairy industry, its authors claim.