index

Wîll Danone acquire Dean Foods?

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:31:31 +0100

If rumors are correct yes!

Shares of Dean Foods Co, the largest U.S. milk producer, jumped as much as 8.3 percent, fueled by talk that France's Danone could acquire the company. "There is a rumor circulating that Groupe Danone is interested in acquiring Dean Foods. That possibility has spurred call option buying today in the stock," said Jud Pyle, chief investment strategist at Options News Network, a division of option market making firm PEAK6 Investments.

A spokesman for Danone declined to comment on the chatter. A spokeswoman for Dean did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Analysts questioned whether Dean would be a target for Danone, which has been focusing on growing health oriented businesses like Activia yogurt in the U.S. While Dean does sell Silk soymilk, its dairy milk business is seen as a commodity operation with little pricing power.

"They (Danone) have growth opportunities in health and wellness. I would much rather they focus on that," Morningstar analyst Phil Gorham said.

source: flex-food-news.com

Kraft handed over Europe to Cadbury's UK Managing Director

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:04:39 +0100

Mr.Trevor Bond, Cadbury’s UK managing director, has been handed a new role overseeing Kraft Foods’ European businesses.

Mr.Bond is promoted to president (markets) of Kraft Europe, giving him responsibility for the group’s individual national business units.Kraft’s UK and Ireland MD, Mr.Nick Bunker, takes over the combined UK business of Kraft and Cadbury. They will both report to Kraft European president Mr.Mike Clarke.

Mr.Clarke said retaining Bond reflected the “‘best of both’ approach” Kraft would adopt following its controversial takeover.

“Trevor Bond has done a terrific job in building the Cadbury business in Britain and Ireland and we are fortunate to be able to take advantage of his experience to help accelerate growth across all of our European markets,” Clarke said.

He added: “Nick Bunker will be inheriting a very special asset in Cadbury and I know he has the experience to build an even stronger company that will be a major force in the food industry.”

Bond is the highest-profile figure at Cadbury to survive the takeover. Chief executive Todd Stitzer and finance head Andrew Bonfield both resigned in the wake of the deal, along with chairman Roger Carr.

Source: thegrocer.co.uk

"Investment funds push cocoa prices up" complains BDSI of Germany

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 10:30:05 +0100

Investment funds buying of cocoa futures are forcing cocoa prices up and damaging chocolate makers, the association of German confectionery producers BDSI said on Thursday. "The BDSI condemns the speculative investment by banks and funds in agricultural commodities which the food industry needs for its production," the association said in a statement. "While this commodity is currently at its most expensive level in 30 years, the price competition in German retailing makes it difficult to pass on this cost rise in an industry characterised by mid-sized companies," the BDSI said.

London cocoa futures hit 32-year-highs hit in January but have since fallen by about 20 percent.

The BDSI said it believed cocoa prices were likely to continue their fall as the global cocoa crop remains constant while chocolate consumption is falling. All fundamental data indicate that the cocoa commodity bubble will soon burst.

Selgros Cash&Carry grows in Russia

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 10:24:26 +0100

With the opening of the third SELGROS cash-and-carry store, transGourmet - a joint venture of REWE Group and Coop Switzerland - continues its expansion in Russia.

The first SELGROS outlet was opened in Kotelniki near Moscow in 2008; the second one opened in the city of Rjasan in March 2009.

SELGROS cash-and-carry outlets are one of the leading international operators working with a "customer card system" and has around 4 million customers throughout Europe The FEGROS/SELGROS Group currently operates a total of 76 outlets, with 44 in Germany, 18 in Romania, 12 in Poland and 2 in Russia. More than 14,500 employees generate an annual turnover of approximately three billion euros. The company belongs to the transGourmet S.E., a joint venture of the German REWE Group and the Swiss Coop. With a turnover of about 6 billion euros transGourmet S.E. is the second-largest European company in wholesale and the wholesale customer service business.

Nestle consolidates Russian chocolate business

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 10:15:55 +0100

Nestle consolidates its Russian chocolate operations. The company will transfer production of its Komilfo and Ruzanna brands, which are currently manufactured in the Ruza district of the Moscow region, to the company’s Perm and Samara chocolate factories. Upon the completion of this project, the Samara’s factory will become one of Nestle's largest chocolate factories. .

Nestle acquired the Komilfo and Ruzanna brands and Ruza confectionery factory in November 2007.

Source: just-food.com

Nestle buys Mivina of Ukraine

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 10:12:26 +0100

Nestle has bought OOO Technocom, Ukraine's biggest producer of convenience foods and condiments, and owner of the Mivina brand.

The financial details of the deal have not been disclosed but, according to Nestle, the acquisition of will strengthen the company's presence in one of the fastest-growing segments of the Ukrainian food market.Technocom will allow Nestle to expand its convenience portfolio at the value end of the market, Nestle also intends to actively promote products under the Mivina brand in Eastern and Central Europe.

In addition to the Ukrainian market, Technocom’s products are exported to more than 20 other European countries.

Source: just-food.com, company webpages

PepsiCo will build a "chinese wall" to prevent access to Dr. Pepper Snapple information

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 09:44:32 +0100

PepsiCo has agreed to set up a ‘Chinese wall’ to ensure that the acquisition of its two largest bottlers does not jeopardise competition with rival Dr Pepper Snapple.

To close its $7.8bn acquisition of Pepsi Bottling Group and PepsiAmericas, PepsiCo agreed to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) requirement that it prevent sensitive information being accessed by any of its employees who are in a position to use that information against Dr Pepper Snapple. Pepsi Bottling Group and PepsiAmericas were bottling drinks for Dr Pepper Snapple before PepsiCo announced its decision to acquire the bottlers in August last year. In December, PepsiCo then agreed to continue bottling and distributing Dr Pepper, Crush, and Schweppes for Dr Pepper Snapple in a $900m deal.The FTC expressed concern that this arrangement could harm competition in the highly concentrated and difficult to enter market for branded soft drinks. The cause of this complaint is that Dr Pepper Snapple provides commercially sensitive plans about its marketing plans to its bottling partner. If that bottler happens to be its direct competitor PepsiCo, that could create a conflict of interest. The FTC feared that this: “Could hurt Dr Pepper Snapple’s ability to compete, and ultimately could harm consumers by eliminating competition between PepsiCo and Dr Pepper Snapple and/or facilitating coordinated interaction in the industry.”

PepsiCo has therefore agreed to set up a ‘Chinese wall’ that prevents certain PepsiCo employees gaining access to commercially sensitive information about marketing and branding at Dr Pepper Snapple. This has enabled PepsiCo to complete the acquisition of its two main bottlers on 26th February.

Coca-Cola has now followed in the footsteps of PepsiCo, announcing last week its intention to buy the North American operations of its bottler Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) in a deal worth more than $10bn. Both soft drinks companies are looking to cut out unnecessary layers of management and become more flexible and responsive to market trends.

Source: foodproductiondaily.com

FDA warns 16 manufacturers for mislabelling...read this in the context of my previous post!

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 07:34:52 +0100

US food safety officials have written warning letters to 16 manufacturers that claim the companies have broken labelling laws.

Two Nestle divisions, snack group Diamond Foods and pie maker Schwan's Consumer Brands are among those to have received the letters in the last ten days, according to the FDA website.

The FDA letters issue a series of warnings to the companies on the health claims made on product labels and on brand websites.

Nestle divisions Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream and Gerber Products Co. are among the companies accused of misleading labelling.

In one example, the FDA said Gerber had made "unauthorised" claims over the nutritional content of its Gerber Graduates Fruit Puffs line on the product's labels. The foods make claims that they are "Healthy as Fresh," an "Excellent Source ... of Vitamin A" and "No Added Sugar," according to the agency letter. "These regulations do not allow the claim for products specifically intended for children under two years of age," the FDA wrote

The FDA ordered Gerber to take "complete corrective action" with 15 days to avoid further action, a timetable issued to a number of the companies.

Consumer watchdog the Center for Science in the Public Interest labelled the FDA's effort a "crackdown" on "deceptive labelling practices".

Obesity concerns may bring new restrictions over the industry...

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 07:24:28 +0100

According to a study published in the US journal Health Affairs, some 16.4% of kids aged 10-17 were obese in 2007, the study claimed - up from 14.8% in 2003 and equating to almost 10.6m obese children. Two of the researchers behind the study claimed US children were "snacking more than ever" on "junk" foods. "Our findings suggest that the obesity epidemic among children may not yet have reached its plateau for some groups of children," the authors claimed. They added that those most likely to be overweight or obese were among the poorest, publicly insured, black and Hispanic children.

The Health Affairs study also called on Congress to bring in new taxes to "discourage [the] consumption of high-calorie foods and beverages" and force restaurants by law to list calories on menus. "More experts no longer see obesity as a matter determined solely by personal responsibility; they believe that there needs to be collective responsibility for taking on the problem along the lines of the movement to fight smoking and tobacco," the researchers said.

The above news is not a unique case! Obesity in general, child obesity in particular keeps being an important agenda for goverment health policies today, even more than before. This issue brings a major threat to the food industry.. I believe obesity concern (not in public but more in regulatory powers) should be considered seriously and industry should start to regulate itself befor receiving harsh measures. By redesigning the formulations, by preparing more sensible and socially correct advertising campaigns and by investing more in innovations for obesity-free products, the industry may take the control of this problem. We are not an industry like tobacco or alcohcolic beverages which is dangerous by definition, that's why we should not let the control out of our hand.

Bringing bottlers in-house will help both Pepsi and Coke

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 12:44:28 +0100

The world's No. 2 soft-drink maker, which on Friday closed its $7.8 billion purchase of Pepsi Bottling Group and PepsiAmericas, also said it still expected earnings to grow 11 percent to 13 percent on a constant-currency basis in 2010 from $3.71 per share last year.

Pepsi archrival Coca-Cola Co surprised Wall Street last week with a similar move to buy the North American operations of bottler Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc.

Bringing the bottlers in-house will speed up distribution to major retailers and cut costs. It will also give both Pepsi and Coke more flexibility and allow them to streamline decision-making when it comes to introducing new drinks in an increasingly segmented market.

The old "franchise" model of having U.S. bottlers separate from the main concentrate company is "a relic of the past," PepsiCo Chief Executive Officer Indra Nooyi told the CNBC business channel on Monday. Combining bottlers with the main company will help them compete better in a U.S. beverage market where "the profit pool is not growing enough to feed the companies," Nooyi said.

Coke CEO Muhtar Kent has affirmed his belief in the franchise model "in its broadest sense."

Both Pepsi and Coke still have independent bottlers in other countries.

Former Pepsi Bottling CEO Eric Foss, who will continue to run PepsiCo's bottling operations, told reporters that Coke's move "confirms that this is the right move, the right strategy, the right model for North America."The reality is that we are ready to go," Foss said, while Coke, which expects to close its acquisition in October, is "just getting started."

Nooyi noted that the new model eliminates time-wasting negotiations between the concentrate company and the bottler, which often have competing interests.On a conference call with reporters, Nooyi gave an example of how a few weeks ago "a major retailer" told PepsiCo -- which also makes Frito-Lay snacks and Gatorade sports drink -- that it wanted certain snacks and beverages on its floor in preparation for the Super Bowl surge, and that it wanted them in 24 hours. "Normally, this would have taken us four to six or eight weeks to work out," Nooyi said, but in this case, the company did it in 24 hours.

Nooyi said she was optimistic about Pepsi's prospects following completion of the bottler deals, but added that she was worried about the next 12 to 18 months, considering weak U.S. consumer confidence levels and high jobless rates.

Source: Reuters and flex-food-news.com