UK processor Dairy Crest has been fined £17,000 after food hygiene
authorities found mouse droppings on bottles of milk and packs of
cheese at one of its distribution depots.
Workers at UK dairy giant Dairy Crest may strike over the group's
plans to reform its debt-laden pension scheme, threatening to
disrupt supplies to retailers and processors.
Britain's blended cheese sector has seen a flutter of activity from
big dairy processors this January as they attempt to lure consumers
increasingly willing to trade up for their dairy.
Lactalis, France's largest dairy processor, has carried its
wheeling and dealing on into 2006 after signing a deal to buy
Italian cheese producer Galbani.
Dairy Crest, Britain's biggest dairy processor, has denied holding
takeover talks with French dairy giant Lactalis, despite the
emergence of Lactalis documents weighing up the pros and cons of a
deal.
Britain's Office of Fair Trading is investigating allegations of
price-fixing by top dairy processors as the government agency draws
increasing criticism from the industry.
Dairy Crest saw its profits slashed by half in its first six months
of this year, capping a difficult week for the British dairy
industry and underlining the pressing need for more strategies to
raise earnings.
Functional spreads are increasingly holding up value on the UK
margarine sector, says new research, as Dairy Crest plans to launch
a new range containing omega-3.
The threat of a Competition Commission inquiry has made Robert
Wiseman pull out of a deal to buy Scottish Milk Dairies, as the
dairy consolidation trend puts competition in the spotlight.
As the UK's top three dairy processors cut profit forecasts for
2005, analysts say new added value product innovation is keeping
the future alive with Dairy Crest pulling ahead of the pack.
Uncertainty hangs over the UK dairy industry as Dairy Crest says
recent gains will not be enough to stop profits slipping, and rival
Wiseman warns rising costs will be hard to recover.
New milk drinks fortified with vitamins are to be sold by Britain's
third biggest supermarket, Sainsbury's, as functional dairy
continues to break into the UK's mainstream food sector, writes
Chris Mercer.
UK milk processor Dairy Crest announces a small slip in full year
profits and makes its first foray into the burgeoning functional
foods market - something which should provide its liquid milk
division with greater long-term stability,...
UK milk processors Arla Foods and Dairy Crest have had their
lucrative contracts to supply fresh milk to UK multiple retailer
Morrisons extended - at the expense of rival dairy company Robert
Wiseman, Tom Armitage reports.
Dairy Crest, one of the UK's leading dairy processors, has
confirmed that it is in "advanced discussions" to acquire
one of the UK's largest regional dairy co-operatives, Tom
Armitage reports.
UK milk processor Dairy Crest has dismissed escalating reports that
it is about to lose out on another contract to supply liquid milk
to one of the country's leading multiple retailers, Tom Armitage
reports.
Dairy Crest, the UK's second largest milk supplier, has pledged
that its end of year results will be in line with expectations,
despite turbulent times for its liquid milk division, Tom
Armitage reports.
Both the Danish-Swedish dairy co-operative Arla Foods and the UK's
largest dairy company, Dairy Crest, are closing operations in order
to cut margins and concentrate on key brands.
Dairy Crest, the UK's biggest dairy company, has announced the
closure of its Yeovil factory - a move which the company claims
will allow it to pursue its ongoing strategy of building the
profile of its branded products, Tom...
Dairy Crest, the British milk supplier which lost out to rivals
Arla and Wiseman in the recent rejig of supermarket supply
contracts, remains confident of a "satisfactory" full-year
performance after a first half of solid...
Dairy Crest announced last week that it is to reorganise its
management structure as part of a drive to increase efficiency at
the UK chilled-food company. Tom Armitage reports.
Dairy Crest, the UK's biggest dairy company, reported a solid first
half trading performance this week, but conceded that its second
half results could be adversely affected following the loss of a
fresh milk supply contract...
Robert Wiseman Dairies' new £66 million supply contract to
Sainsbury represents yet another shift in power within the UK's
highly competitive milk supply sector.
Tesco, Britain's number one food retailer, and J Sainsbury, the
third largest supermarket operator, have streamlined their milk
supply operations, reducing the number of suppliers from three to
two. The moves echo a similar streamlining...
Dairy Crest has today announced its unaudited results for the six
months ended 30 September 2003. The results have revealed that the
spreads business has become the company's most profitable sector.
The company says that this...
Dairy Crest, the UK dairy products group, has reported a 3 per cent
drop in sales for the year to March 2003 but stressed that its
branded business continued to grow strongly.
The steep decline in world prices for dairy commodities such as
skimmed milk powder has forced UK group Dairy Crest to close one of
its main production facilities as part of an effort to refocus its
core 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.
Following successful field trials, Dairy Crest and First Milk have
startedjoint milk collections across wide areas of England and
Wales in a bid to save the once proudly held British tradition of
door-step milk delivery.
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...
Prescient, the supply chain planning solutions provider, has
supplied UK company Dairy Crest with planning and scheduling
software at its Severnside and London dairies to improve
scheduling, processing and packing efficiencies.
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.
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.