Heinz is to enter the soy sauce business in China through the acquisition of local firm Foodstar from private-equity fund Transpac Industrial Holdings.The US food giant is to pay US$165m for the business, with the potential for a further payment in 2014 based on the performance of the Chinese firm.Heinz, which markets Amoy soy sauces in markets around the world, including the UK, said China's retail soy-sauce market was worth $2bn and growing at 7-8% a year.
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Danish brewer Carlsberg is looking for further acquisitions in Asia after raising its stake to nearly 30 percent from from 17.5 percent  in the Chinese brewer Chongqing Brewery Co Ltd , the group's chief financial officer said on Thursday.

Mr.Jensen, the CFO of Carlsberg, said Carlsberg has a strong foothold in western China, and it will be looking eastwards for further acquisitions "though not necessarily all the way to the coast." He added that Carlsberg was not interested in buying brewi...

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Products such as confectionery, biscuits and juice products are experiencing double-digit growth in China and this consumer demand fuels an increase in the country’s sugar imports, according to a US Department of Agriculture (USDA) report. According to this report China's sugar imports, traditionally around the one million tonnes mark, are forecast to rise to 1. 5 million tonnes in 2010-11.

China’s economy has grown fast in the last few decades, and the food and drink sector has seen a b...

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PepsiCo plans to stregnthen its global leadership"in snacks in 2010 through acquisitions and the development of healthier products. The firm reported  yesterday (11 Feb.) a 16% increase in full-year profits, driven by gains in its worldwide snack and international beverage businesses.

CEO and chairman Indra Nooyi said they will continue to grow our current businesses in developed markets and  will extend their reach into new markets with targeted acquisitions,said also they will continue to ...

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Retail sales are continuing to rise in China, in a further sign of the resilience of the country's economy during the recession.

The National Bureau of Statistics has reported that retail revenues in China expanded by 15.8% in November, to 1.13 trillion yuan ($165.5bn; €116.1bn; £103.8bn), although this rate of growth was down by 5% year-on-year.

Urban areas delivered an increase of 16.5%, to 760.6 billion yuan, compared with an improvement of 14.4%, to 373.3 billion yuan, in rural markets.

O...
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Employees from a Chinese dairy company have been taken into police custody on suspicion of selling tonnes of melamine-tainted milk powder.

Three people from the Shaanxi Jinqiao Dairy Co, in northern Shaanxi province, have been detained and accused of producing and selling toxic food, Chinese state media reported yesterday.

The police operation comes just over a year after a nationwide contamination scandal involving the lacing of milk powder with the industrial chemical killed six and s...

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The judgment handed down by a Swedish arbitration tribunal on September 30 was a victory for Danone over Zong Qinghou, the French food group’s  JV partner since 1996 and founder of beverage-maker Wahaha Group. A three-member tribunal convened by the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce’s Arbitration Institute ruled that Mr. Zong had breached confidentiality and non-competition agreements.

The tribunal also ordered that Mr Zong should stop using the Wahaha Trademarks and any other intellectual ...

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