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.
Focusing on improving quality rather than lifting sales has paid
off for Dutch dairy group Campina, which has seen a solid
improvement in sales for its core brands despite volatile
international dairy markets.
Dairy Crest, the UK chilled dairy foods company, is on track to
meet its profit targets for 2002 after strong performances from its
leading brands such as Clover, Cathedral City, Frijj and Yoplait.
The Irish Dairy Board, producer of the Kerrygold brand, has
acquired Meadow Cheese, a UK-based company supplying cheese to
producers of processed convenience foods.
The quality of its products - and an ongoing programme of
international expansion - helped French cheese maker Bongrain to
lift its profits last year despite a decline in sales.
A strong performance from key brands, plus the addition of a number
of new products previously owned by Nutricia, helped Dutch dairy
group Friesland Coberco overcome the negative impact of depressed
world dairy prices in 2002.
Swiss cheese company Emmi is to merge three business units from 1
January next year to create a company dedicated to the production
and marketing of processed cheese, in particular fondue.
Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods has installed new production lines at two of
its dairy plants located in the Central Region of Russia, as part
of a continuing modernisation project aimed at further improving
operating efficiencies and maintaining...
Weak international dairy markets took their toll on sales at
Ireland-based food and ingredients group Glanbia in 2002, pushing
down turnover from €2.6 billion to €2.3 billion.
Irish food ingredient and dairy company Kerry continues to move
forward with the group reporting on Tuesday a 22 per cent leap in
2002 profits after tax to €189 million thanks to a strong
perfomance across all businesses.
Dutch dairy group Campina has announced the acquisition of
Germany's Strothmann company, a move which will increase Campina's
presence in one of the most important dairy markets in Europe.
Ebro Puleva has confirmed its position as the leading food group in
Spain with a solid performance in 2002. And it is the company's
dairy division that has reported the strongest results.
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.
Ireland's Glanbia and Uruguay's Conaprole have joined forces to
help develop the market for dairy ingredients in Latin America. A
new joint venture company, Conabia, based in Mexico, will develop
sales throughout Central...
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...
Dutch life science company DSM saw net profit for the fourth
quarter of 2001 rise to €1,031 million from €119 million in the
fourth quarter of 2000, largely due to the sale of the depositary
receipts. Profit on 4Q ordinary activities...
Merger and acquisition activity in the US food industry plunged in
2002 - according to the US Food Institute - and both the
agricultural and dairy sectors have to proved to be no exception
Campina, the international dairy food and ingredients group, is
mulling a formal co-operation with German company Strothmann in a
bid to increase its presence in the dairy dessert sector.
Swiss flavours company Givaudan has signed an agreement to acquire
International Bioflavors - a leading US producer of natural cheese
and dairy flavours.
The cost of the rapid expansion at Russian dairy producer
Wimm-Bill-Dann was reflected by an 84 per cent rise in sales
expenses in the first nine months of the year, but the benefits
still outweigh the cost.
Russia's leading dairy group Wimm-Bill-Dann has acquired a majority
stake in the Ukrainian milk powder producer Burynsky in order to
ensure a steady supply of powder during seasonal declines in milk
production.
Richmond Foods, the UK's leading producer of ice cream brands, has
reported excellent figures for 2002, boosted by the acquisition at
the start of the year of the Nestle business in the UK. Major
investments in production, and...
Robert Wiseman Dairies, the UK milk processor, is on track to
produce one billion litres of milk for the first time in its
history after a 15 per cent rise in first half volumes. And the
company remains confident that Express Dairies'...
A 10-year low in UK commodity cheese prices pushed down first half
profits at the country's largest dairy group, Dairy Crest, but the
firm's continued focus on added value brands - and an upturn in
commodity prices - means...
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...
A lengthy process of restructuring at Express Dairies has helped
the UK company to a slight improvement in underlying pre-tax
profits in the first half. But the situation remains challenging,
and it could be some time before the company...
Ingredients company RFI Ingredients, a supplier of natural
ingredients for the food and functional food industries, has signed
a merger agreement, effective from 1 November, with US nutritional
blends company Nat-Trop. The move looks...
After months of deliberation and cogitation, Orgny-Naples, a
consortium of beet growers' co-operatives, on Friday said it had
finally reached an agreement with Edison to acquire the Italian
energy company's 53.8 per cent...
Spain's Ebro Puleva group has posted a 2.5 per cent rise in net
profits for the first nine months of the year, but has warned that
the impact of its Chilean unit will push down both sales and
profits for the full year.
Italian energy company Edison and the French consortium bidding to
buy its majority stake in sugar maker Beghin-Say said on Wednesday
that the price was likely to be reviewed on the imminent deal.
French cheesemaker Bongrain sees sales drop 4.4 per cent in the
nine months to the end of September, but stresses that cheese sales
began to recover in the third quarter, auguring well for the rest
of the year.
Sweden's Skane Dairy group has reported a steady increase in
profits for the first half of the year, helped by good sales of its
ProViva functional juice drink.
Food ingredients company Opta Food Ingredients this week boasted a
healthy 24 per cent increase in revenue for the third quarter with
the demand for fibre products largely fuelling the growth and
catapulting the company into the black.
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.
Dairy Crest had long been tipped as the leading candidate to
acquire the St Ivel spreads business from Uniq, a rumour which has
now been confirmed by the two UK groups.
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?
A return to stability in Argentina and new acquisitions in Poland,
combined with a general upturn in international markets, should
help French cheese group Bongrain return to growth in the second
half.
A huge debt burden and eroding margins in the Swiss dairy sector
have forced the country's number two dairy group Swiss Dairy Foods
to call in the receivers.
Dutch life science company DSM, together with Agennix, a US
developer of recombinant human lactoferrin, has opened a new
manufacturing facility on DSM's fermentation site in Capua, Italy.
Britain's biggest dairy products firm Dairy Crest group is poised
to buy St Ivel spreads from Uniq for £50-60 million pounds (€79-95
million), to rival UK market leader Unilever, industry sources said
on Thursday.
Britain's Dairy Crest could be on the verge of adding Uniq's St
Ivel spreads business to its portfolio, a move which would allow
the dairy products group to rival Unilever in the spreads market.
