Dairy giant Arla Foods has posted slightly increased profits of DKK
1,094 million (€147m) for the 2002/03 financial year - but it's not
been all plain sailing. Facilities have been closed and the Swedish
vote against the Euro...
Danone's on-off acquisition of Russian dairy market leader
Wimm-Bill-Dann appears to be off again, at least for the time
being. WBD has today announced that talks have been broken off with
the French group, which was negotiating...
Spanish dairy company Iparlat is set to increase its market
presence in Argentina. A multi-million euro investment will land
the company, in what it sees as a better position in following
years.
The Competition Authority in Denmark is investigating claims by a
smaller dairy group that Arla Foods, the country's biggest milk
group, has offered milk at unreasonably low prices to the Dansk
Supermarked retail chain.
A European Union court ruling has today forced ice cream
manufacturers to allow rival companies access to their freezer
space. The court rejected Unilever's appeal against a Commission
decision banning it from forcing retailers...
Arla Foods and Express Dairies have been given the go ahead to
merge their UK businesses after the Competition Commission found no
evidence that the deal would adversely impact the liquid milk
market.
There is increasing speculation regarding the future of French
dairy-to-biscuits group Danone, good Q3 results expected next week,
will simply fuel the speculation further.
Lactalis, one of the world's largest dairy companies, has
strengthened its position in the health food sector via a stake in
Cema, a French company whose low-fat spread Primavere has been a
great success.
Swedish dairy giant Arla has presented an ambitious strategy for
future growth. This sets out a broad outline of how the business
will be developed over the next decade.
The decision not to join the single European currency will have a
negative effect on one of Sweden's biggest food companies, Arla
Foods, which has operations in the UK, Denmark and Sweden.
A new milk powder drier will begin processing milk today at
Fonterra's Edendale plant. The factory that is now possible of
processing 11 million litres per day will create an extra 62
permanent jobs.
The return of Unilever to the Russian ice cream market after a
two-year absence has helped push up volume sales in the first half
of 2003. Market Advice warn however the future is likely to be
turbulent.
Construction of Arla Foods' new milk powder factory in Vimmerby,
Sweden began yesterday after months of delay. According to the
original timetable, work on the factory should have begun in April.
Dairy giant Fonterra is about to increase premiums to organic milk
suppliers who choose to meet United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA) standards.
Two dairies, Danish-based Birkum Ost and UK-based Oakthorpe, have
been granted ISO 9001:2000 and HACCP accreditation. Both are owned
by dairy giant Arla Foods.
Unilever is to target the chilled dairy market in a number of
European countries from September as it pushes aggressively into
sectors with significant growth potential.
The European Agricultural Ministers' decision to reform the
European milk market last week has caused a degree of concern among
the continent's dairy producers.
Danone has recently increased its stakes in both Yakult and
Wimm-Bill-Dann, but claims it currently has no plans for a complete
takeover of either firm.
Russian dairy Wimm-Bill-Dannhas confirmed that a number of its
shareholders have approached French group Danone in a move which
could lead to a takeover of the company.
The UK competition authorities have asked permission from the
European Commission to rule on the proposed merger of Arla Foods
and Express Dairies in the UK.
Dairy giant Arla Foods is planning to cut 600 jobs over the next
three financial years. The job losses will largely be contained
within the group's administrative departments.
French yoghurt manufacturer Danone has announced that it has raised
its stake in probiotics maker Yakult to 19 per cent, citing strong
performance of the Japanese company as the reason for its long-term
investment.
Express Dairies, the UK's leading liquid milk supplier, and Arla
UK, the British arm of Europe's largest dairy co-op, are merging to
create a stronger position in both the liquid milk and dairy
spreads sectors.
Scandinavian milk-based ingredient supplier Arla Foods announced
recently that it is to tackle the organic market with a new
publicity campaign. The campaign aims to increase the sales of
organic milk in Denmark and represents the...
Claims by Swedish dairy company Arla that its Rosenborg cheese is
the most popular blue cheese in Britain have caused offence to
Stilton producers, who argued successfully that their cheese is by
far the most widely sold UK brand.
Struggling Dutch nutritional supplement company Numico is rumoured
to be the target of a bid by dairy products giant Danone, although
the French company has denied having any interest in the Dutch
firm.
Dutch nutrition company Numico is struggling to stay afloat at the
moment, but rumours in the Dutch press suggest French dairy giant
Danone could be interested in a bid. An odd choice for the French
company which has been streamlining...
Sales at diversified French company Danone dropped by 6 per cent in
2002 reflecting the effect of currency exchange and the company's
ongoing programme of disposal and investments. But underlying sales
growth was good, especially...
Arla sets out its stall as the leading speciality cheese producer
in the UK with the acquisition of HT Webb for an undisclosed sum.
The Scandinavian company said the deal reinforced its commitment to
the UK market where it has already...
French food and drink producer Danone highlights its positive
like-for-like sales growth in the year to date, even though sales
in actual terms were lower than in 2001 as a result of exchange
rate concerns.
Danone might have failed to prevent Leche Pascual calling its
long-life desserts 'yoghurts' but the French group has successfully
prevented the company from registering with the Spanish yoghurt
producers' association...
A spokeswoman for Russian dairy and fruit juice group
Wimm-Bill-Dann reports that France's Danone recently increased its
stake in the company. An indication that WBD's policy of rapid
expansion is the right way to go?
Unilever Bestfoods is to extend its Flora Pro-Activ brand into
yoghurt and milk in an attempt to meet consumers' growing demand
for health-driven food products.
French food giant Danone is believed to be interested in St Ivel,
the yoghurts division of the UK food group Uniq (formerly Unigate),
reports French financial paper Les Echos.
Anglo-Dutch consumer products group Unilever said on Thursday it
plans to open 75 Ben & Jerry's stores in Spain as a first step
to expand the ice cream maker's presence in Europe.
Anglo-Dutch food company Unilever this week reported faster growth
in the leading brands, strong expansion of operating margin and
strong progress for the fourth quarter of 2001.
The Australian Commerce Commission has received an application from
one of Australia's largest food companies, National Foods, to
acquire up to 100 per cent of the issued shares of New Zealand
Dairy Foods (NZDF).
