San Miguel, the biggest food and drink company in the Philippines,
reported a 4 per cent drop in first half profits yesterday, after
higher raw material and packaging costs eroded the benefits of
strong sales growth.
The UK's food and drink exporters are gaining footholds in emerging
markets, while sales of meat and dairy exports are beginning to
pick up, according to market consultancy, Food from Britain (FBB).
Food makers and ingredients firms will benefit from a new European
platform that will prioritise research and development initiatives
to keep the €800 billion food and drink industry
competitive,reports Lindsey Partos.
Nestlé, the world's biggest food and drink manufacturer, has
announced a modest increase in Q1 profits after successfully
offsetting rising raw material costs with price increases across
the UK and Continental Europe, Tom Armitage...
The value of the UK agricultural industry's gross output including
subsidies directly linked to product increased by 2.5 per cent to
£16.9 billion while intermediate consumption rose by 5.4 per cent
due in part to the rise in...
Danone, the French dairy conglomerate, announced today that net
profits had plummeted 62 per cent, following the costly €600
million write down of its water-cooler business last month, Tom
Armitage reports.
Convenience, that dominated growth in global product categories
form 2003 to 2004, will drive new product development in the next
12 months. Drinkable yoghurts, sugar substitutes and pre-prepared
foods all enjoyed year on year double-digit...
The United Nations' food agency has singled out burgeoning demand
in Asia as contributing to the overall international price increase
of dairy products, but remains confident that prices will begin to
stabilise in 2005, Tom Armitage...
Premier Foods has added another popular British food brand to its
diverse portfolio with the acquisition of the Bird's Custard brand
from US-based food giant Kraft. And this continued focus on 'Great
British brands'...
Consumers and producers are united in their desire for lighter,
functional packaging on the Russian food market, driving the
development of plastics and paper in the dairy, bakery and
confectionery sectors and sending traditional...
Russian brewers, facing the impact of a recent ban on advertising
their products, are hoping to keep consumer awareness high through
new product launches, including premium beers, reports Angela
Drujinina.
Nearly 150,000 visitors streamed through the doors of Europe's
major food fair SIAL 2004 in Paris last week that presented more
than 460 product innovations from 40 countries.
French food group Danone has reported steady if unspectacular
growth for the third quarter of the year, with poor weather in much
of northern Europe impacting sales compared to last year's
heatwave-boosted performance.
Sun Interbrew, Russia's second largest brewer, has announced strong
six month and second quarter financial results, reflecting a
continuing rise in beer sales backed up by a strong control over
costs.
Profits continue to fall for Russian dairy giant Wimm-Bill-Dann,
despite recording a healthy jump in sales for the first six months
of the year. The company said that both gross margins and net
income were hit by rising costs attributed...
One of Spain's most traditional Christmas delicacies,
turron, could be in short supply this year after a
disastrous harvest for the key ingredient, almonds.
Cost-cutting measures are paying off for the world's largest
fragrance and flavour company with Givaudan pulling in a
double-digit growth in profit for the first half of 2004.
As popularity soars for the low carbohydrate, high protein Atkins
diet scientists warn this week that even a 'moderately' high
protein diet could reduce a woman's chances of becoming pregnant.
Mounting criticism of...
Pernod Ricard, the world's third largest wine and spirits group,
has reported a slight dip in sales for the first quarter of 2004.
The group's established brands performed well in the US and Asia
Pacific regions, but its...
Nestlé, the world's largest food group, has reported underlying
growth of 5.1 per cent for the first quarter of 2004, helped by a
strong performance from its added value dairy business, where sales
were some 7.6 per cent ahead....
Dairy giant Danone posted a sharp increase in like-for-like
revenues for the first quarter of 2004, boosted in particular by
strong sales of 'healthy' dairy products such as its probiotic
range. Like all European dairy companies...
Morrisons' takeover of Safeway is widely expected to lead to a new
price war in the British supermarket sector, with Tesco and Asda
both seen as likely to respond aggressively to the roll out of
Morrisons' EDLP policy to...
Roasted ground coffee is still by far the biggest category in the
German coffee market, but sales dropped by 2 per cent last year as
consumers switched to more exciting variants such as Cappuccino and
Espresso, writes Chris Jones.
Bongrain, the
French cheese maker best known for brands such as Coeur de Lion and
Tartare, ended 2003 with a slight increase in sales compared to the
previous year, but continued to suffer at the hands of negative
exchange...
Rumours of a possible sale of the Danone's biscuit business
surfaced again this week after the company unveiled full year
figures pegged back by its weak performance. But the core dairy and
beverage businesses continued to go...
The chances of growth returning to the French dairy market in the
medium term are extremely slim, according to a recent report from
French market analysts Xerfi.
Last year was a tough one for French closures and barrels group
Oeneo, formerly
known as Sabaté Diosos. But the company ended the year with results
in line with expectations as restructuring efforts at both the
closures and...
The European Commission has welcomed the agreement reached by the
European Parliament and Council conciliation committee to increase
the minimum recycling targets for packaging waste from 25 to 55 per
cent by 2008. The agreement overcomes...
The continued focus on dairy, rice and sugar products helped
Spain's Ebro Puleva to a 15 per cent increase in profits during the
first nine months of the year. But sales were lower as result of
various disposals over the past...
Nestlé expects to show organic sales growth of around 5-6 per cent
for the year as a whole, twice that of its closest European rival,
Unilever. Nine-month sales were boosted by the hot summer weather,
particularly for ice cream and...
The Italian food group, Parmalat said that its sales in the
Americas were devastated by the appreciation of the euro against
the US and Canadian dollar during the first half.
Russia's leading dairy producer Wimm-Bill-Dann continued with its
solid double-digit sales growth in the first half of 2003, although
the cost of expansion weighed heavily on profits.
The global of Nestlé means that it is particularly susceptible to
currency effects, and first half sales at the food group were down
6.3 per cent as a result.
Krest'yanskoe, a Soviet-era brand produced by a number of different
companies, remains the most popular brand of butter in Russia, but
its popularity is coming under increasing international pressure.
A substantial improvement in the profitability of its core dairy,
rice and sugar unit has helped Spain's Ebro Puleva group to
maintain profit levels in the first quarter despite a decline in
sales.
Although nearly two thirds of the world's beer continues to be
distributed in refillable glass bottles, the real dynamism in the
drinks packaging market as a whole is coming from PET, claims a new
report from beverage analysts...
Despite currency devaluations in both North and South America,
Italian dairy group Parmalat posted only a 2.7 per cent decline in
sales for 2002 as a programme of product roll-outs helped boost
organic volume growth.
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...
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.
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.
Robertet, the French flavours and fragrances group, has seen a
sharp rise in its share price this year helped by renewed interest
in the sector due to a number of high profile transactions. The
company's chairman Philippe Maubert...
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.
