March 2009 Entries
Macedonia has been exporting fruit and vegetables, and importing processed food at the prices up to three times higher than the price of that very same fruit and vegetables, Macedonian media says.According to the latest statistics, the value of exported food comes to USD 250 million.
From that amount, fruit and vegetable account for 56.8 percent, wheat for 12 percent, meat and meat products for 9 percent. On the other hand, Macedonia imported 560-million-dollars worth of food, with meat and meat products accounting for 27 percent, wheat 17.1, and fruit and vegetable 11.2 percent.
Also, sugar and honey accounted for 7.2 percent,...
posted @ Tuesday, March 31, 2009 6:35 PM |
LONDON, March 31 (Reuters) - Chinese beer Snow leapt ahead of Bud Light to become the world's biggest selling beer as China stretches its lead as the largest beer market in the world, according to provisional data from researcher Plato Logic. Snow, which is brewed by SABMiller (SAB.L) and its Chinese partner China Resources Enterprises Ltd (0291.HK), saw its 2008 sales volumes jump 19.1 percent to 61 million hectolitres putting it well ahead of Bud Light and sister brew Budweiser.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Tuesday, March 31, 2009 2:53 PM |
SABMILLER, which is the world’s second-largest brewer, is focusing on Africa in a bid to tap into a market worth $3bn.The brewer will also be opening four new breweries this year as it seeks to benefit from countries economies’ growing at about 4% and 5%. - Nigel Fairbrass, head of media relations, said yesterday that African countries were mainly cash economies, and had not run up exposure to credit in the same fashion as other countries had.
Read full article [businessday.co.za]
posted @ Tuesday, March 31, 2009 2:37 PM |
CANBERRA (Xinhua): Australian commodity forecaster said Tuesday the country's wine grape production is expected to drop 13 percent due to lack of irrigation water, high temperatures and Victoria's bushfires. - The shortage is unlikely to impact on wine grape prices because stocks were likely to outstrip sales growth, impacted by the economic slowdown, the Australian Bureau of Agriculture Resource Economics (ABARE) said in a statement.
Read full article [hindu.com]
posted @ Tuesday, March 31, 2009 12:03 PM |
NEW YORK, March 31 (Reuters) - A California pistachio processor issued a nationwide voluntary recall on Tuesday of pistachios due to potential salmonella contamination.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the California Dept. of Public Health are investigating the matter. Thus far, several illnesses have been reported by consumers that may be associated with the pistachios, the FDA said.
The recalled nuts were shipped on or after Sept. 1, 2008 by Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Tuesday, March 31, 2009 11:04 AM |
SINGAPORE, March 30 (Bernama) - The global recession may have stumped many export-oriented nations, but some like survivalist Singapore, refuse to let the economic turmoil pull it down.Towards this end, the city-state has put on its thinking cap long enough to come out with one practical strategy of exploiting its untapped 'forte' in the local food business by exporting it worldwide.
Read full article [Bernama]
posted @ Monday, March 30, 2009 7:45 PM |
LONDON (Reuters Life!) - British actress Liz Hurley is teaming up with sustainable-living champion Prince Charles to launch a range of organic foods in October, her spokeswoman said on Monday. - The line of meat and grain products, produced at Hurley's 400-acre organic farm in western England, will be sold by Duchy Originals, the heir-to-the-throne's sustainable food company.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Monday, March 30, 2009 7:32 PM |
The British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) is coordinating the move, at Natural and Organic Products Europe, to give international buyers a taste of “the Best of British” including traditional premium ales, bitters and honey beers.
Freeminer Ltd, Fuller Smith & Turner, Marston’s Beer Company, St Peter’s Brewery and Shepherd Neame, will promote seven organic, one organic Fairtrade, and one Fairtrade brand.
Read full article [morningadvertiser.co.uk]
posted @ Monday, March 30, 2009 4:52 PM |
March 30 (FoodBizDaily) U.S. farmers are preparing to plant record amounts of soybeans demand for corn is falling, driving prices to the lowest levels in more than two years. Farmers are planting more soybeans because they cost about 32 percent less to raise than corn. - Cheaper crops may contribute to a drop in U.S. farm income after two years of record profits, threatening to reduce growers’ $367.5 billion in sales last year and curb purchases of Monsanto Co. corn seeds, Agrium Inc. fertilizer and Deere & Co. tractors.
Read full article [FoodBizDaily]
posted @ Monday, March 30, 2009 3:56 PM |
British food retail group Associated British Foods Plc (ABF.L) to acquire Azucarera Ebro SL, the Spanish sugar arm of Ebro Puleva (EVA.MC).
According to Expansion.com the sale will triple Azucarera 's shareholders dividends with two extra payments, one via stock distribution and other via cash payment of 0.36 Euros per share.
posted @ Monday, March 30, 2009 11:34 AM |
China food and beverage company Wahaha Group is in talks to buy a stake in Taiwan's A.G.V. Products (1217.TW), and hopes to tap on the Taiwanese company's R&D capabilities, the ECONOMIC DAILY NEWS from Taiwan cited unnamed sources.
Source [ Reuters]
posted @ Monday, March 30, 2009 11:12 AM |
The American Botanical Council (ABC) has called for the FDA to lift its ban on the importation of stevia for use as a sweetener, in an article by ABC founder and executive director Mark Blumenthal, printed in the organization's publication HerbalGram. -
"The FDA's import alert is an outdated policy, based on the market and regulatory conditions in the late 1980s," Blumenthal writes. "If FDA were to rescind its stevia import alert, importers of stevia would still have the burden of confirming safety for use."
Read full article [naturalnews.com]
posted @ Sunday, March 29, 2009 8:02 PM |
Meenangadi (Wayanad), March 29 Non-availability of land suitable for cultivation of ginger in Kerala has compelled Wayanad-based ginger growers to shift their operations to Shimoga and Hassan in Karnataka where suitable land is available. - The Wayanad district of Kerala, which used to be the main production and trading centre of ginger is now confined to the latter role only, traders here said.
Read full article [thehindubusinessline.com]
posted @ Sunday, March 29, 2009 7:55 PM |
DIAGEO, Scotland's largest Scotch whisky producer, is to shed up to 250 jobs as it continues its purge on costs.
The company, which employs 4,500 across the country, producing more than 50 million cases of Scotch whisky and white spirits, is to lose more than 100 employees from its direct sales force by the end of April. - It is understood that it will also reduce the number of brand ambassadors in Scotland as it looks to implement a restructuring plan aimed at creating full-year savings of £100m.
Read full article [scotsman.com]
posted @ Sunday, March 29, 2009 11:23 AM |
Mexico’s poultry production is forecast to decline slightly in MY 2009 (January-December), due to higher production costs created by the devaluation of the peso, according to the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) in their GAIN report. Consumption, however, is expected to increase slightly in MY 2009 as consumers favor lower priced poultry meat over other high priced meats. MY 2009 imports are also expected to increase, as imported poultry products for further processing are forecast to increase in response to a growing demand for cheaper processed poultry products.
Read full article [farminguk.com]
posted @ Sunday, March 29, 2009 10:46 AM |
Vietnam fetched 785 million USD from exporting 1.74 million tonnes of rice in the first three months of 2009, reported the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD). Both the export turnover and volume saw high increases, 76.2 percent and 71.3 percent respectively, as compared with the corresponding period last year.
According to the Vietnam Food Association, the rice price enjoyed light increases in March. Rice with 5 percent of broken rice fetches a FOB price of between 435-460 USD per tonne, and rice with 25 percent of broken rice at 400-410 USD per tonne.
Read full article [army.qdnd.vn]
posted @ Saturday, March 28, 2009 11:29 AM |
MUMBAI: In a move to strengthen its presence in the Russian beverages market, a consortium led by tea company Tata Tea and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) plan to acquire a controlling 51% stake in Grand — a Russian packaging and distribution company.- Tata Tea would have an effective shareholding of 33.2% in Grand with EBRD holding 17.8%, while the remaining 49% will be held by founding promoters of Grand led by Alexander E Borisov.
Read full article [indiatimes.com]
posted @ Saturday, March 28, 2009 10:46 AM |
Auchan Group and Metro Group joined forces to establish InterCompra, a new buying group in Portugal, aimed at negotiating supply contracts and some purchasing conditions on behalf of the retail and wholesale companies.The initiative is intended to "bring a better efficiency and value added to the whole supply chain for both national suppliers and the two retailers [...]
Read full article [fruttaonline.it]
posted @ Saturday, March 28, 2009 10:27 AM |
Representatives of the European Commission and Russia are to meet in the next days in Prague with the aim to find a solution to the difficulties European exporters meet in selling fresh fruit and vegetables in Russia.
The issue has been raised by Italy during the council of the ministers for Agriculture and Health, held in Brussels on March 23.
Read full article [fruttaonline.it]
posted @ Saturday, March 28, 2009 10:20 AM |
The American soft drink Coca-Cola has become a symbol of Ethiopia's deepening financial troubles. The beverage is flowing again after a brief pause, even though it drains the country's precious foreign exchange reserves. - Truckloads of Coca-Cola began rolling out of the bottling plant in Addis Ababa Friday, ending a nearly two week Coke-drought. The local bottler had to shut down this month when it became impossible to obtain the hard currency needed for imports such as bottle caps.
Read full article [voanews.com]
posted @ Friday, March 27, 2009 4:34 PM |
The popular Chinese beer brand Tsingtao has set up a Bt2-billion joint venture with a group of Thai partners to open a brewery , its first outside China. Tsingtao Beer will retain 40 per cent of Tsingtao Brewery Thailand, with 60 per cent owned by the Thais. Investor Theparak Luengsuwan said Tsingtao planned to make Thailand its export-oriented production hub to penetrate Southeast Asia, Australia and Europe.
Read full article [nationmultimedia.com]
posted @ Friday, March 27, 2009 3:32 PM |
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples, during a tour of Iraq, said Texas agribusiness firms should expand food exports there as well as help rebuild the country's farm economy. - "Iraq and Texas both have oil- and agriculture-based economies," Staples said by phone from Baghdad. "We have a great deal of knowledge and expertise that's being shared. ... And Texas farmers and ranchers can capitalize on friendships for expanded export opportunities."
Read full article [dallasnews.com]
posted @ Friday, March 27, 2009 12:07 PM |
SANTA ROSA, Calif. -- Europeans, who have long chafed at California wineries using geographic terms like Champagne and Chablis to describe their wines, have banned the importation of some U.S. wines using such terms as ''clos'' and ''chateau'' on wine labels. - Those French words, along with other terms like ''classic,'' ''tawny,'' ''noble,'' ''ruby'' and ''vintage,'' are all strictly regulated wine terms in Europe, with specific rules for who gets to use them and when.
Read full article [miamiherald.com]
posted @ Friday, March 27, 2009 11:14 AM |
March 27 (Bloomberg) -- Japan’s consumer prices stalled in February and retail sales tumbled the most in seven years, signaling a return to deflation is likely to deepen the recession. - Prices excluding fresh food were unchanged from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said today in Tokyo. Retail sales declined 5.8 percent, the Trade Ministry said, more than the 3 percent economists predicted.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Friday, March 27, 2009 11:01 AM |
ADDIS ABABA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia said on Thursday it has taken legal measures against six coffee exporters for hoarding. - The legal measures included the suspension of their coffee quality certificates and export licenses, it said, adding that their stores, where export coffee and byproducts are stored, were sealed. - In a press statement, Ethiopia's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said the hoarders denied the country's substantial foreign currency earnings.
Read full article [xinhuanet.com]
posted @ Thursday, March 26, 2009 8:28 PM |
World demand for organic foods is expected to grow by 46pc over the five years endin 2012, despite the world economic crisis.This bullish outlook is contained in a United Nations Trade and Development Agency (UNCTAD) report. - World sales from certified organic products are expected to reach $67 billion in 2012, up from $46 billion in 2007 and about $23 billion in 2002.
Some specialist organic retailers are experiencing consumer resistance to paying more for organics but UNCTAD says many consumers have weighed the higher cost of organic food against its benefits - and they've decided organic foods are worth the...
posted @ Thursday, March 26, 2009 7:42 PM |
BORDEAUX, France - Bordeaux is awash in unsold wine, and merchants are pressuring the top wine producers to drop their prices on the 2008 vintage by 50 percent in order to jumpstart sales. - Sales have skidded to a halt since the economic crisis hit last October. Importers and retailers around the world, suffering from a credit crunch, have frozen new orders and sometimes even cancelled previous orders.
Read full article [AFP]
posted @ Thursday, March 26, 2009 4:52 PM |
The Organic Trade Association (OTA) today expressed support and encouragement for the Canadian and U.S. governments in their efforts to reach an organic equivalency agreement. Progress on the Canadian-U.S. talks was announced yesterday at OTA's Policy Conference in Washington, D.C. - Speaking at the conference, Barbara Robinson, deputy administrator at USDA in charge of the National Organic Program, announced that the two governments had agreed to sign a letter of intent to complete the negotiations and finalize an agreement by this summer, when Canada's new organic regulation comes into effect.
Read full article [FoodBizDaily]
posted @ Thursday, March 26, 2009 4:28 PM |
Taipei, March 26 (CNA) The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said Thursday it is pleased to learn that Taiwan has decided to the recognize the U.S.' National Organic Program (NOP) regulations as equivalent to its own organic food standards. - "The recent recognition of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) organic standards will guarantee that Taiwan consumers will continue to have a wide variety of organic food products from which to choose," the AIT said in a press release.
Read full article [etaiwannews.com]
posted @ Thursday, March 26, 2009 2:37 PM |
Northern Foods’ chief executive, Stefan Barden, said “latent demand” for cheap products sold by hard discounters and changing social attitudes would see the value-orientated stores become a permanent fixture of British retailing. - “There is latent demand for discount stores,” Mr Barden said, explaining stores like Aldi and Lidl cannot expand fast enough to meet consumer needs for cheap, basic household products. “I wouldn’t mind one round where I live.”
Read full article [ft.com]
posted @ Thursday, March 26, 2009 2:25 PM |
MANILA, March 26 (Xinhua) -- San Miguel Corp. (SMC), Southeast Asia's biggest food and beverage conglomerate, posted a consolidated net income of 19.3 billion pesos (about 400 million U.S. dollars) in 2008, up 124 percent on year, company officials reported Thursday. The Philippines-based conglomerate posted 168 billion pesos (3.48 billion dollars) in consolidated sales revenues in 2008, 14 percent higher than the previous year's level.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, SMC officials said domestic food and beer operations remain strong despite the economic crisis. SMC international brewing operations also posted a turnaround from the previous year's loss, with...
posted @ Thursday, March 26, 2009 2:05 PM |
CHICAGO, March 26 (Reuters) - ConAgra Foods Inc (CAG.N) posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday as its consumer foods business benefited from price increases and cost cuts. - The company has sold off some units, such as a commodity trading and merchandising business, to focus on areas like consumer foods, which include brands like Healthy Choice frozen meals and Peter Pan peanut butter.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Thursday, March 26, 2009 1:57 PM |
New Delhi (PTI): India is unlikely to provide any worthwhile subsidy on wheat export once the over two-year-old ban is lifted even as speculation is rife that the country may extend dole-outs for offloading its huge reserves to create storage space for fresh crops. - The Centre may instead enhance supply in the domestic market and pass on the benefit of huge stocks to people through its different schemes if it is to offload wheat at a subsidised rate in the international market.
Read full article [hindu.com]
posted @ Thursday, March 26, 2009 1:48 PM |
Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN), the largest US meat producer, could acquire pork and red meat companies in China, India, Brazil and Argentina, a source familiar with the company’s strategy told mergermarket. - Declining US demand, a growing and relatively fragmented international market, and the ability to save on production costs are likely to drive more acquisitions in those regions, said the source.
Read full article [ft.com]
posted @ Thursday, March 26, 2009 12:18 PM |
Sweet Leaf Tea Company, one of the nation’s fastest-growing makers of natural, organic beverages, has fetched a pail of water. - The Austin-based maker of organic, all-natural, home-style iced teas, lemonades and other natural beverages, announced today that Nestlé Waters North America, Inc. has made a $15.6 million investment in Sweet Leaf Tea Company.
Read full article [FoodBizDaily]
posted @ Thursday, March 26, 2009 12:00 PM |
March 26 (Bloomberg) -- Milling wheat purchases by Japan, Asia’s largest importer, slumped 24 percent this fiscal year as food processors delayed buying on expectations prices will drop. - Weekly tender purchases fell to 3.91 million metric tons in the 12 months ending March 31 from 5.13 million tons a year earlier, and below the recent annual average of 4.8 million tons, Shirara Shiokawa, director at the grain trade division of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, said in an interview. No more will be bought this fiscal year, he said.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Thursday, March 26, 2009 11:18 AM |
Consistent with the results of the imminent J.D. Power and Associates Private Label Industry Report(SM) announced at the IRI CPG Summit in Las Vegas, shoppers have changed the way they perceive store-brand organic products due to the high quality those have been lately offering.
Read full article [FoodBizDaily]
posted @ Wednesday, March 25, 2009 9:56 PM |
SHEEP producers are enjoying an unprecedented boom in prices, with the best old-season lambs making as much as £100 per head: even cast ewes of decent quality are worth well over £80 – some £30 per head above the levels of 12 months ago. The trade is to a large extent based on the relatively low value of sterling against the euro and declining production throughout the EU and even in New Zealand.
Read full article [scotsman.com]
posted @ Wednesday, March 25, 2009 9:24 PM |
The Irish drank 8.22 million nine-litre cases of still and sparkling wines in 2007, equivalent to 98.65 million bottles, an increase of 27.56 per cent compared to 2003, according to new IWSR figures from Vinexpo. And Vinexpo predicts that between 2008 and 2012, wine consumption in Ireland will grow a further 17.7 per cent. However Vinexpo’s optimism is not shared by importers and distributors here. The Irish Wine Association has questioned a number of the optimistic predictions made by Vinexpo of the Irish wine market.
Read full article [barkeeper.ie]
posted @ Wednesday, March 25, 2009 9:16 PM |
They say money is the mother’s milk of politics. In marketing, it is new products, meant to pique the interest of consumers and thereby stimulate demand at stores, restaurants and dealer showrooms.
In tough times, it would seem the flow of new products would be slowed by companies fearing that shoppers have too much on their minds to consider still another cereal, soap or soup.
Read full article [nytimes.com]
posted @ Wednesday, March 25, 2009 4:55 PM |
March 25 (Bloomberg) -- J Sainsbury Plc, Britain’s third- largest supermarket chain, reported its strongest quarterly sales growth in two years as inflation unexpectedly accelerated and the retailer added cheaper products under its own brand.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Wednesday, March 25, 2009 4:40 PM |
March 25 (Bloomberg) -- Sanofi-Aventis SA, under pressure to rekindle growth, is considering whether to buy food or nutrition companies to complement its drug business. - Europe’s third-largest drugmaker may seek profit in grocery stores as well as doctors’ offices because “good nutrition can help prevent many diseases,” Chairman Jean-Francois Dehecq said in an interview at Rungis, near Paris, yesterday after speaking on a panel about the links between nutrition and health.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Wednesday, March 25, 2009 4:32 PM |
ZURICH, March 25 (Reuters) - Nestle (NESN.VX), the world's biggest food group, will continue to grow in 2009 although the economic situation will be tough, Chairman Peter Brabeck was quoted as saying on Wednesday. - "Nestle will also grow respectably in 2009. But that doesn't mean that the economic situation won't be difficult," Brabeck told the Weltwoche weekly in an interview issued ahead of publication on Thursday.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Wednesday, March 25, 2009 3:21 PM |
MEDAN, March 25 (Bernama) -- Indonesia's coffee exporters have declared the market in China and the Middle East as their new destinations as the purchasing power of the commodity's traditional buyers the United States and Europe dropped following the global economic crisis, Indonesia's Antara news agency reported.
Read full article [bernama.com]
posted @ Wednesday, March 25, 2009 7:35 AM |
The launch and new distribution partnership is part of Al Islami's 'BIG 5' expansion plan across the Middle East and international markets.The International Agencies Co. Ltd (Intercol) will market and distribute Al Islami Foods' range of premium halal products in Bahrain.
For Bahrain market, Al Islami's product range includes catering chicken, processed foods, frozen and fresh meat, cheese, vegetables, canned food, honey and dates.
Read full article [ameinfo.com]
posted @ Tuesday, March 24, 2009 8:05 PM |
KOCHI: Spices exports from India have recorded an increase of 16% in rupee value and two percent in quantity terms from April 2008 to February 2009 period of the current financial year. The spices export from is estimated as 395,775 tonnes valued Rs.4590.50 crores (US $1020.95 million) as against 386,875 tonnes valued Rs.3950.50 crores (US $980.90 million) in the corresponding period of the last financial year., Spices Board said.
Read full article [commodityonline.com]
posted @ Tuesday, March 24, 2009 7:58 PM |
NEW DELHI, March 24 (Reuters) - India's state-run PEC Ltd will sell 29,000 tonnes of soyoil in the domestic market in April and May to trim imported stocks, a government official said on Tuesday.
PEC would issue tenders for sale of small quantities of soyoil adding up to 29,000 tonnes, the official, who did not wish to be identified, told Reuters.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Tuesday, March 24, 2009 7:52 PM |
PLOVDIV, Bulgaria (AFP) — Bulgarian winemakers are hoping that a move upmarket will win them new customers in Europe and as experts warn that sales to Russia, traditionally their biggest market, are in decline. In communist times, Bulgaria used to export some five million hectolitres of wine each year to the Soviet Union, or nearly all of the wine it produced. - Since then, Bulgaria's wine production has shrunk to 1.38 million hectolitres annually, of which it exports as much as 80 percent.
Read full article [AFP]
posted @ Tuesday, March 24, 2009 5:39 PM |
The Edrington Group, makers of The Famous Grouse and The Macallan, today announced plans to establish the company's first wholly-owned sales and distribution teams in two key export markets in Asia. - The Glasgow-based group will now have direct responsibility for all its sales activity in South Korea and Taiwan, presently the fifth and ninth biggest countries for Scotch whisky by value and both of which have been identified for their long-term growth potential for the company's premium brands.
Read full article [FoodBizDaily]
posted @ Tuesday, March 24, 2009 11:37 AM |
The association of domestic sugar industry has opposed government’s move to allow duty-free imports of white sugar. They argued that it would sternly hit the prices further and industry may face difficulty in making payments to sugarcane growers. -The price of wholesale sugar has for the first time dipped below the cost of production while in retail it reached to 30-50 per cent higher.
Read full article [newstrackindia.com]
posted @ Tuesday, March 24, 2009 11:22 AM |
With free trade talks between Korea and the European Union in their final stages, more EU foodstuffs are expected to appear in Korea due to lower tariffs, likely raising Korea’s food imports from the EU.
Korea's top agricultural import from the EU is frozen pork, with the country buying an average of nearly five billion U.S. dollars annually from the EU. As a major supplier of pork, the EU will likely increase its share in the Korean market once the free trade deal takes effect.
Read full article [donga.com]
posted @ Tuesday, March 24, 2009 7:58 AM |
March 24 (Bloomberg) -- Australia’s A$4.5 billion ($3.2 billion) wheat export industry is losing sales to rival markets because of complaints from Asian customers of delays due to rail and port bottlenecks, the Australian Financial Review said.
The country’s three biggest wheat buyers, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan, have each expressed concern that ships are having to wait for several weeks at four ports in Western Australia to load grain.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Tuesday, March 24, 2009 7:53 AM |
NEW DELHI, March 23 (Reuters) - India's vegetable oil traders have stopped striking deals to import crude soyoil, usually shipped from Brazil and Argentina, because of uncertainty over changes in import tax, traders said on Monday. - India's trade secretary announced a cut in the import tax on crude soyoil last Thursday, but a formal order to change the levy has still not been issued.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Monday, March 23, 2009 5:36 PM |
March 23 (Bloomberg) -- TreeHouse Foods Inc., whose roots trace back to Keebler elves, said the recession hasn’t stalled plans to make “substantial” acquisitions and reach $2 billion in sales in a consolidating private-label food industry. - The recession has spurred growth as buyers turn to private- label goods from name brands to save money, Chief Executive Officer Sam Reed and two other top TreeHouse officers said in an interview.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Monday, March 23, 2009 4:55 PM |
With Fidel Castro increasingly out of the picture, and the Obama administration moving toward warmer relations, business opportunities abound in Cuba. - But, capitalizing those opportunities will take knowledge and patience, according to experts speaking about the future of business in Cuba at a Cuba Trade Expo in Miami March 20.
Read full article [bizjournals.com]
posted @ Monday, March 23, 2009 4:45 PM |
The harvesting of 2008-2009 winter-spring crops in the Mekong Delta will be finished come late April. Although most local farmers are happy with a bumper crop and high prices, they still worry that traders will squeeze them. They are looking forward to the Vietnam Rice Association’s measures to help stabilize rice prices in the region.
Read full article [saigon-gpdaily.com.vn]
posted @ Monday, March 23, 2009 4:38 PM |
Dubai is a land of many surprises and today is a day the business community in the emirate will remember for many years to come; one of its distinguished members, Al Adil Trading Co LLC, celebrated 25 years of doing business in the UAE - quite literally in the skies.
Read full article [ameinfo.com]
posted @ Monday, March 23, 2009 3:10 PM |
NEW CARLISLE, Ohio (AP) — Greg Kaffenbarger found himself increasingly and heavily dependent on sales to Japan, China and Mexico as he watched his annual herd of hogs grow to 6,500 over the years. - Like many U.S. hog farmers, Kaffenbarger has benefited from a steady increase of pork exports that's given new life to an industry that produces more pork than Americans can eat. Nearly a quarter of the pork produced in the U.S. goes abroad, up from only 3 percent in 1990. Last year, farmers shipped a record 2 million metric tons of pork valued at nearly $4.9...
posted @ Monday, March 23, 2009 12:33 PM |
Peruvian agro-exporters will increase Hass avocado producing areas with the aim of boosting their exports to the U.S. market, Peru's Exporters' Association (Adex) reported today. - Camposol, the leading avocado export company in 2008, will increase the planted hectares from 1,200 ha in December 31, 2008 to 2,100 ha by the end of this year, announced its general manager Juan Jose Gallino.
Read full article [livinginperu.com]
posted @ Monday, March 23, 2009 12:29 PM |
PUTRAJAYA, MALAYSIA: Malaysia hopes to maintain its commodity exports at 16.94% of the total export market although in value term it will be less than the record high achieved last year. "I think RM112 billion export for commodities this year is not achievable anymore but we hope to maintain our export market share with all the programmes that we have," said Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui.
Read full article [mysinchew.com]
posted @ Monday, March 23, 2009 12:23 PM |
LONDON, March 23 (Reuters) - Health bar maker Glisten Plc (GLI.L) said cheap new products would support its business through hard times in 2009, as it reported a sharp fall in first-half pretax profit and scrapped its interim dividend. - Shares in Glisten, down 60 percent since the start of 2009 after a profit warning in January, were up 11.5 percent at 49 pence at 1005 GMT, valuing the company at 7 million pounds.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Monday, March 23, 2009 10:35 AM |
Dhaka (IANS): Bangladesh is to import 60,000 tonnes of wheat from India to meet its domestic demand.It has selected two private firms — India's LMJ and Bangladesh's Anwar Trading —, an Indian and a local, to carry out the task estimated at Taka 863 million ($1.3 million). - Chaired by Finance Minister A.M.A. Muhith, the government's cabinet committee on purchase on Sunday approved the proposal, The Daily Star said on Monday.
Read full article [hindu.com]
posted @ Monday, March 23, 2009 10:26 AM |
Less than a year after South Korea was whipped into a frenzy by online rumor mongering and mob protests against importing U.S. beef, the still-sensitive issue of meat imports is slowly creeping up again. This time, the opponent is Canada. - Canada Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz on Friday issued an ultimatum to South Korea to either agree on a timeline for reopening the domestic market to Canadian beef or face a potential trade action.
Read full article [koreatimes.co.kr]
posted @ Sunday, March 22, 2009 10:36 AM |
March 21 (Bloomberg) -- Perdigao SA, Brazil’s biggest food company, said a fire broke out this morning at a plant in Rio Verde, in Goias state. - Firefighters are still trying to put out the flames, and the extent of the damage won’t be known until the blaze is completely under control, the Sao Paulo-based company said today in a statement posted on the Web site of Brazil’s securities regulator.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Saturday, March 21, 2009 8:29 PM |
Even though Vietnam began to develop its tuna fishing industry more than a decade ago, it has not yet formed a national tuna association or a trademark for its tuna. Without branding, the export value of Vietnamese tuna will never reach its full potential.
Read full article [army.qdnd.vn]
posted @ Saturday, March 21, 2009 12:24 PM |
SASKATOON, Saskatchewan (Reuters) - Canada Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz has given South Korea an ultimatum to agree on a timeline for resuming acceptance of Canadian beef or face a WTO trade challenge. - South Korea is one of two countries, along with mainland China, that has refused to reopen its borders to Canadian beef since the 2003 discovery of a case of mad cow disease in Western Canada.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Saturday, March 21, 2009 11:18 AM |
CHICAGO, March 20, (Reuters) - Russia will suspend imports from three U.S. poultry plants beginning March 27, one of which is owned by Tyson Foods Inc (TSN.N), the largest U.S. chicken producer, USDA said this week. - No reason was given in USDA report for the suspensions and Tyson said on Friday it was looking into the action against its Cumming, Georgia, chicken plant.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Saturday, March 21, 2009 11:14 AM |
Chennai (PTI): The bilateral trade between India and Chile would improve in a few years with the expansion of the existing Preferential Trade Agreement and also by strengthening cooperation in new areas like IT, tourism and food industry, visiting Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said here on Friday.
Read full article [hindu.com]
posted @ Saturday, March 21, 2009 11:08 AM |
March 20 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. today blocked a request by Mexico for the World Trade Organization to decide whether labeling restrictions unfairly close the U.S. market to Mexican tuna in a case that pits environment against trade. - Mexico, which requested WTO consultations with the U.S. in October, says its tuna complies with international standards on reducing the accidental capture of dolphins.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Friday, March 20, 2009 5:01 PM |
A new consumer study by independent research firm Boston Consulting Group has revealed that Italians are more likely to cut down on things such as appliances, cars and clothes than make sacrifices to their food and drink, with 48% of Italians questioned declaring food and drink to be one of the last items they would consider cutting down in their budgets. - Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) have said these findings could be great news for Scottish meat exporters, especially as a favourable exchange rate makes Scotch Beef extremely competitive.
Read full article [meatinfo.co.uk]
posted @ Friday, March 20, 2009 4:54 PM |
The Ukrainian wine market might grow two-three times, says Volodymyr Demchak, President of the Ukrainian Commercial and Industrial Confederation (UCIC). - He specified that today Ukraine's actual wine consumption posts 11-12 liters/person a year (official data - 8 l/p a year). At the same time, in neighboring Belarus this indicator is 15 l/p a year.
Read full article [nrcu.gov.ua]
posted @ Friday, March 20, 2009 4:42 PM |
SABMiller plc today announces that it has signed an agreement with its JV partner, Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company , to acquire Vinamilk's 50% interest in SABMiller Vietnam JV Company Limited . Conditions to the transaction have been fulfilled and SABMiller Asia BV is now the sole shareholder in the Company.
Read full article [FoodBizDaily]
posted @ Friday, March 20, 2009 12:36 PM |
March 20 (Bloomberg) Global demand growth for rice may exceed the expansion in output this year as the recession forces people to eat more grains in place of meat and farmers struggle to secure loans as banks hoard capital, a research official said. - The pressure on supply may drive up prices for rice, a staple for as many as three billion people, Robert Ziegler, director-general of the International Rice Research Institute, said in an interview yesterday in Los Banos, south of Manila.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Friday, March 20, 2009 11:32 AM |
A confrontation between Buenos Aires and farmers intensified yesterday, triggering fears in markets and among importers such as China that Argentina's huge food exports could be disrupted for a second year. - Farmers failed in their first effort to bring a bill to Congress slashing export tariffs on farm goods that they say are strangling production, increasing the possibility of a strike.
Read full article [ft.com]
posted @ Friday, March 20, 2009 10:27 AM |
MUMBAI, March 20 (Reuters) - The growth of India's exports of agricultural and processed food products is seen slowing to 20 percent in 2008/09, from 46 percent last year, due to the global downturn, a director of a government body said on Friday.
The total exports for agricultural and processed foods stood at 360 billion rupees for the year to March 2008, said S. Dave, director at Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Friday, March 20, 2009 8:49 AM |
DUBLIN, March 19 (Reuters) - Kerry Group (KYGa.I) got the go ahead for its acquisition of Breeo Foods for 140 million euros ($189 million) when a court on Thursday overturned the competition watchdog's decision to block the deal, Kerry said.
Ireland's Competition Authority in August blocked the purchase of Breeo, a unit of Reox Holdings, on the grounds it would substantially lessen competition in the Irish markets for bacon rashers, non-poultry cooked meats and processed cheese.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Thursday, March 19, 2009 7:13 PM |
March 19 (Bloomberg) -- Nestle SA, the world’s largest food company, is planning to sell its Italian Gelati Motta ice cream unit, MF reported, without saying where it got the information.
The Swiss company is looking for buyers for Motta, which has a 30 percent share of the Italian market, according to MF. The eventual buyer may be Italian, the newspaper reported, without giving further details.
Source [Bloomberg]
posted @ Thursday, March 19, 2009 7:04 PM |
HANOI, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's Ministry of Finance has decided to increase import tax on fresh and frozen cattle meat in a bid to help local food producers, according to the information center of Ministry of Industry and Trade on Thursday. - According to the new tax rate, which will be effective as of Friday, the import tax on fresh and frozen beef will increase from current 17 percent to 33 percent, while that on fresh and frozen pork will rise from 24 percent to 28 percent.
Source [Xinhua]
posted @ Thursday, March 19, 2009 2:23 PM |
LONDON, March 19 - Dairy prices have been cut by more than half during the last few months to a five-year low and may have struck a trough but any significant rebound is unlikely until global economies start to revive.
"I think there do seem to be some signals that we have reached the bottom but I wouldn't go as far as to say we are going back on an upward trend," Rabobank dairy analyst Mark Voorbergen said.
Read full article [guardian.co.uk]
posted @ Thursday, March 19, 2009 2:06 PM |
Australia’s Clean Seas Tuna has reported that they have produced the first commercially bred Southern Bluefin Tuna in the world. Clean Seas was forced into a trading halt on Monday after a staggering 38% jump in their share price. - “The company reports that its trials are consistently achieving high levels of quality fertilised eggs and larvae for propagation, and that forward planning for commercialisation of Southern Bluefin Tuna has now commenced,” they said in a statement.
Read full article [ausfoodnews.com.au]
posted @ Thursday, March 19, 2009 11:12 AM |
March 19, 2009 (LBO) - Sri Lanka has tightened rules on corn imports to arrest falling domestic farm gate prices with a record area under cultivation this year, a government minister said. - With effect from January 30, 2009 Sri Lanka had imposed a 35 percent cess tax on a kilogram of corn (maize) to discourage imports as international corm prices fell, information minister Anura Yapa told reporters Thursday.
Read full article [lankabusinessonline.com]
posted @ Thursday, March 19, 2009 10:50 AM |
MUMBAI, March 19 (Reuters) - Indian sugar futures dropped on Thursday on renewed market talk the government may allow white sugar imports without duty for domestic use to keep prices down ahead of national elections in April and May. - By 3:16 p.m. (0946 GMT), the March contract NSMH9 on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange was down 1.61 percent at 1,957 rupees ($38.7) per 100 kg, while the April contract NSMJ9 had fallen 2.13 percent to 2,022 rupees.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Thursday, March 19, 2009 10:44 AM |
Deputy Prime Minister for EU Integration Bozidar Djelic yesterday attended the signing of an agreement on cooperation between the municipality of Svilajnac and the Dutch company Tristan Fresh Produce, envisaging the construction of a distribution centre and a factory for fruit and vegetable processing. The centre will be constructed in the Veliko Polje industrial zone and will help Serbian agricultural producers to export their products considerably.
Read full article [emportal.rs]
posted @ Thursday, March 19, 2009 10:37 AM |
(Bloomberg) As cash-strapped consumers trade down to cheaper products, flavor developers such as Symrise AG say orders are rising for exotic vanillas and Brazilian citrus. Some large clients of Symrise, which supplies yogurt maker Groupe Danone SA and Christian Dior SA, are asking for aromas to make low-cost shampoo alluring as buyers switch from luxury items, Chief Executive Officer Gerold Linzbach said.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Thursday, March 19, 2009 9:59 AM |
Delhaize Group the Belgian international food retailer, announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire four stores operated under the banner Prodas Holding Supermarket in Bucharest, through its fully-owned subsidiary Mega Image.
Xavier Piesvaux, General Manager of Mega Image, commented: "This transaction fits perfectly into Mega Image's strategy of growing via well-located stores in urban areas. The four Prodas Holding Supermarket stores will strengthen our store network. We also expect sales opportunities and buying synergies from this acquisition."
Read full article [FoodBizDaily]
posted @ Wednesday, March 18, 2009 8:02 PM |
The Mexican government on Wednesday issued a list of goods imported from the U.S. that will be subject to tariffs ranging mostly from 10% to 20% but up to as high as 45%. The move stems from Mexico's objection to the U.S.' cancellation of a program that had allowed long-haul trucks from Mexico to travel in the U.S. Items on the list include telephones, wines, certain juices and fruits, Christmas trees, pencils, soy sauce, toilet paper, mineral water, and pet food. Key staples such as wheat, corn, rice, and beans are not included. The $2.4 billion worth of tariffs on...
posted @ Wednesday, March 18, 2009 5:20 PM |
NEW DELHI, March 18 (Xinhua) -- India Wednesday extended the import of pulses at zero customs duty and the ban on exports on the products for another fiscal year due to decline of the mass consumption food product in the country. - "The decision today is to extend zero duty on import of pulses for one more year beyond March 31, 2009. Pulses can now be imported at zero duty for one more year till March 31, 2010," Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram told the media.
Read full article [xinhuanet.com]
posted @ Wednesday, March 18, 2009 5:06 PM |
HELSINKI, March 18 (Reuters) - New salmonella cases have been found on Finnish pork and poultry farms, as authorities grapple to deal with the country's worst outbreak in 14 years. - Finnish food safety authority Evira said on Wednesday the bacteria has been found on two more poultry farms and a pig farm, bringing to 13 the total number of farms identified since February, when the outbreak began.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Wednesday, March 18, 2009 4:55 PM |
March 18 (Bloomberg) -- Tesco Plc, the U.K.’s largest retailer, said cheaper prices may now be shoppers’ main priority as the economic crisis spreads beyond financial markets. - “People are trading down by making adjustments in their expenditure,” the supermarket chain’s U.K. marketing director Carolyn Bradley said today at the Retail Week conference in London. “Price is where you have to start.”
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Wednesday, March 18, 2009 4:45 PM |
New Delhi, March 18 (IANS) Riding on the success of the Bailey’s cream liqueur, Irish companies have lined up the launch of a wide range of whiskeys, stouts and liquors in the Indian market this year to give discerning consumers a taste of their brewing and distilling expertise that dates back 5,000 years. - Carolans, a relatively new brand of cream liqueur, Tullamore Dew, among the fastest-growing blended whiskey brands in Ireland, Wild Geese, a brand of whiskey named after Irish soldiers, and Connemara, the country’s lone single malt peated pot, are among various brands set to make their way...
posted @ Wednesday, March 18, 2009 12:28 PM |
Agartala (IANS): PRAN Group, a Bangladeshi food processing firm, will set up agro-processing plants in Tripura, Orissa and Tamil Nadu, officials said on Wednesday. - "Setting up of agro-processing plant with an investment of $5 million in Agartala is now in an advanced stage," said Amjad Ali Khan Chowdhury, chief executive officer of the PRAN Group.
Read full article [hindu.com]
posted @ Wednesday, March 18, 2009 12:15 PM |
Waitrose, the upmarket British grocery chain, is launching a range of staple products under the "Essential Waitrose" label, in a bid to stop increasingly cost-conscious shoppers from defecting to rival supermarkets to find cheaper alternatives.
It follows similar moves by US chain Whole Foods and British retailer Marks and Spencer. But do such efforts risk diluting a brand in the long term? And once out of a recession, can such brands ever hope to reposition themselves at a higher price bracket?
Read full article [FT.com]
posted @ Wednesday, March 18, 2009 12:08 PM |
TOKYO, March 18 (Bernama) -- Japanese importers are expected to explore the possibility of tapping halal food industry at the coming sixth Malaysia International Halal Showcase 2009 (Mihas 2009). - "We are now working to get some food importers from Japan to participate in Mihas 2009 and explore the potential industry," Malaysia External Trade Development Corp (Matrade) trade commissioner in Japan, Yuslinawati Mohd Yusof, told Bernama.
Read full article [bernama.com]
posted @ Wednesday, March 18, 2009 11:47 AM |
ZURICH, March 18 (Reuters) - Swiss retail sales rose in January as consumers splashed out on food and drinks, but they are becoming more cautious on discretionary spending as the worst recession in decades takes its toll. - Retail sales rose 1.2 percent from a year-ago when adjusted for price swings after a 3.6 percent increase in December, the Federal Statistics Office said on Wednesday.
Read full article [forbes.com]
posted @ Wednesday, March 18, 2009 8:23 AM |
March 18 (Bloomberg) -- Coca-Cola Co. may scrap its $2.3 billion bid for China Huiyuan Juice Group Ltd., the Financial Times reported, sending shares of the Chinese drinks maker plunging by a record 19 percent.
China’s Ministry of Commerce doesn’t want Coca-Cola to acquire the brand rights of Huiyuan, the report said, citing unidentified people familiar with the situation. The transaction would be the biggest foreign takeover of a Chinese company and is the second-largest scrutinized by the ministry since an anti- monopoly law took effect on Aug. 1.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Wednesday, March 18, 2009 8:01 AM |
LONDON (Reuters) - Champagne is losing its fizz in Britain, by far its most important export market, with the recession, rising unemployment and a weak pound dampening demand for a drink associated with success and excess. - But among the hundreds of champagne houses, buyers and tasters sampling varieties great and good at London's Banqueting House on Tuesday, there was a sense that people's thirst for France's most famous liquid asset would return before long.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Wednesday, March 18, 2009 7:55 AM |
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan, the world's biggest net food importer, should aim to become an exporter of its staple, rice, in the next decade, a member of a key government advisory panel said on Wednesday. - Masayoshi Honma, professor at the University of Tokyo, said Japan had to reform its agricultural policy and aim for global competitiveness in rice exports, a move which could ignite its agricultural sector and make it less import dependent.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Wednesday, March 18, 2009 7:50 AM |
SAGA (Kyodo) The Saga Prefectural Government overlooked notification from the agriculture ministry that high-quality beef it was sending to the United Arab Emirates with a local government official last November needed to be inspected, Animal Quarantine Service officials said Tuesday.
Read full article [japantimes.co.jp]
posted @ Tuesday, March 17, 2009 9:06 PM |
New Delhi, Mar 17 (PTI) The government today extended the ban on the export of edible oils by one year, till mid-March 2010, a move aimed at boosting domestic supply.The one-year-old ban, imposed in March last year, was to expire today.
The ban will be applicable till March 16, 2010, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in a notification.
Read full article [ptinews.com]
posted @ Tuesday, March 17, 2009 9:00 PM |
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Diageo, the world's biggest alcoholic drinks group, expects the U.S. spirits industry to increase sales volumes through the current downturn while the company looks to outperform all its major competitors. - The London-based maker of Johnnie Walker whisky, Smirnoff vodka and Guinness beer said growth of the U.S. industry has slowed, especially toward the end of 2008, but it still expects positive industry growth through 2009.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Tuesday, March 17, 2009 8:51 PM |
Financial research and analysis company Moody’s has sent shockwaves through the fresh produce sector by including two of the industry’s largest operators – Dole Food Company and Chiquita Brands International – in a new monthly report called the Bottom Rung, a list of 283 US-based companies which it says are most likely to default on their debt.
Read full article [fruitnet.com]
posted @ Tuesday, March 17, 2009 3:12 PM |
International rock star Sting is preparing to launch a red wine produced from his Tuscan vineyard. -Around 30,000 bottles of wine will go on sale in September, mainly in Britain and the United States, Paolo Rossi, his estate manager has confirmed.
Read full article [decanter.com]
posted @ Tuesday, March 17, 2009 2:59 PM |
Hungary's canned food maker Globus has embarked on a restructuring programme, under which it will stop producing and marketing meat-based products that contribute 20% of the group's revenues. The decision affects the company's Budapest facility that gives home to a manufacturing plant and the group's headquarters, as well.
Read full article [portfolio.hu]
posted @ Tuesday, March 17, 2009 2:32 PM |
The UK is still the biggest export market for champagne despite a recent fall in sales during the recession.
Last year nearly 36 million bottles of the French sparkling wine were imported into the country. -That is a 7.8% fall on 2007 but compares favourably to the recession of the early 1990s, when shipments fell by 34%.
Read full article [telegraph.co.uk]
posted @ Tuesday, March 17, 2009 2:27 PM |
March 17 (Bloomberg) -- Sadia SA, Brazil’s second-biggest food company, is facing pressure to merge with bigger rival Perdigao SA as debt repayments loom, Credit Suisse Group said. - Sadia has 3.5 billion reais ($1.5 billion) in short-term debt, with “most” due in the third quarter of this year, analyst Marcel Moraes wrote in a note. The Concordia, Brazil- based company may seek financing from Brazil’s national development bank, known as BNDES, which may pressure Sadia to join with Perdigao, he wrote.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Tuesday, March 17, 2009 2:08 PM |
Country of origin labelling laws that came into effect in the United States this week could reduce demand for some of New Zealand's beef exports. - The new regulation requires retailers to display the country of origin for a range of food products, including beef cuts, ground beef, lamb and other meats, fish, fruit and vegetables.
Read full article [radionz.co.nz]
posted @ Tuesday, March 17, 2009 10:56 AM |
Prague, March 16 (CTK) - Czech export prices grew by 3.3 percent in January on the year after December's rise of 1.2 percent and import prices remained flat after a 17-month downward journey, with December seeing a drop of 2.2 percent, the Czech Statistical Office (CSU) said Monday. - In exports, the biggest price increases in January year-on-year were registered in prices of manufactured goods classified chiefly by materials, miscellaneous manufactured articles and machinery and transport equipment. By contrast, more marked price drops were recorded for crude materials, inedible, except fuels (-17.5 pct) and food and live animals (-11.7 pct).
Read...
posted @ Tuesday, March 17, 2009 10:48 AM |
Sirmour (HP), Mar 14 (ANI): Ginger farmers and traders in Himachal Pradesh have sought minimum support price fixed by the Government so as to directly export their produce.Bella valley in Sirmour District of Himachal Pradesh is famous for producing varieties of quality ginger and the people mainly depend on cultivating ginger for their livelihood.
Read full article [newstrackindia.com]
posted @ Tuesday, March 17, 2009 10:38 AM |
OSLO, March 17 (Reuters) - Norway should allow greater concentration in its fish farming industry to allow market leader Marine Harvest to grow domestically, its board member said on Tuesday. - Tor Olav Troim said Marine Harvest, already the world's biggest fish farmer, held 25 percent of Norwegian fish farming concessions and could not invest further in its local market, forcing it to seek for growth abroad.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Tuesday, March 17, 2009 10:28 AM |
March 17 (Bloomberg) -- India, the world’s second-biggest sugar producer, may ask mills to increase domestic sales as it seeks to cool prices that have climbed to a three-year high amid declining production. - Sales in the quarter ending June may exceed the 5 million metric ton quota set for the three months ending March, said a government official, who didn’t want to be identified.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Tuesday, March 17, 2009 10:21 AM |
March 17 (Bloomberg) -- Palm oil futures in Malaysia rallied on speculation demand in China and India, the two largest markets, will underpin exports and prices even amid a global recession. - China’s palm oil imports last month gained 54 percent to 410,000 metric tons from a year earlier, customs data showed yesterday.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Tuesday, March 17, 2009 10:17 AM |
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Consumer goods group Unilever is looking to its key brands such as Hellmann's, Dove and Bertolli to drive growth as it expects no early end to the current downturn.
Anglo-Dutch Unilever, the world's third biggest food and consumer goods group, expects its top 25 brands, which account for 75 percent of the group's turnover (revenues), to push the group's performance despite recession in many markets.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Monday, March 16, 2009 8:02 PM |
The European Union's agriculture minister Mariann Fischer Boel has said that ending the ongoing EU-Latin American banana dispute could be "desirable" for all parties involved, although not at any cost. - EU regulators have been negotiating with Latin American banana-exporting nations on an agreement to reduce current import tariffs – tariffs that these exporters feel currently hands an unfair advantage to African-Caribbean-Pacific (ACP) exporters, many of whom can export the fruit to the EU tariff-free.
Read full article [fruitnet.com]
posted @ Monday, March 16, 2009 5:41 PM |
Winemakers in France are fuming over EU plans to allow producers to make rosé wine by mixing red and white together. - Producers say it is sacrilege to simply blend the two together rather than using the specialist technique of leaving the crushed red grapes to soak with macerating white grapes.
Read full article [decanter.com]
posted @ Monday, March 16, 2009 4:49 PM |
Italian wine exports fell in volume last year due to strong competitive pressure from non-European markets. The country's wine export volumes dropped seven per cent to 17.8 million hectolitres in 2008, according to Unione Italiana Vini (UIV).
Read full article [decanter.com]
posted @ Monday, March 16, 2009 4:43 PM |
DuPont and the Indonesian Center for Rice Research (ICRR) today announced an agreement that grants DuPont business Pioneer Hi-Bred access to test and commercialize ICRR rice hybrids in Asia. - The agreement grants Pioneer access to several ICRR inbreds and hybrids for evaluation and testing, and the exclusive right to commercialize any new selected hybrids. ICRR will be paid a royalty to support their research and development efforts for any hybrids Pioneer commercializes. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Read full article [FoodBizDaily]
posted @ Monday, March 16, 2009 4:19 PM |
March 16 (Bloomberg) -- Sadia SA, the Brazilian poultry exporter struggling with debt from derivatives losses, rose to the highest in two weeks in Sao Paulo trading after Veja magazine said it’s in talks to merge with rival Perdigao SA. - Sadia gained 3.9 percent to 2.90 reais at 10:35 a.m. New York time and earlier rose to 2.97, the highest intraday price since Feb. 26. Perdigao climbed 2.1 percent to 30.43 reais.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Monday, March 16, 2009 1:19 PM |
Wensleydale, the Yorkshire cheese beloved of the animated pair Wallace and Gromit, has helped British food exports enjoy a surge in trade. - UK food and drink exports for the nine-month period to September 2008 were up 15.9 per cent to £9.49 billion, helped by the weak pound and an increasing appreciation for British produce around the world.
Read full article [telegraph.co.uk]
posted @ Monday, March 16, 2009 12:24 PM |
With key global markets experiencing sluggish consumer spending, volatile currencies and persistent economic uncertainty, many analysts have been predicting a downturn for U.S. beef and pork exports.
US maintains strong Jan beef and pork exports. - The January export results, however, defied those expectations as beef muscle cut exports jumped 13 percent in volume (43,949 metric tons or 96.9 million pounds) and 15 percent in value (to $186.5 million) compared to January 2008.
Read full article [meatinternational.com]
posted @ Monday, March 16, 2009 11:50 AM |
A Supreme Court justice faces disciplinary action at an ethics committee for his attempt to influence the trials of anti-U.S. beef import protesters, after an internal investigative panel concluded that his actions could have put pressure on junior judges. - Shin Young-chul will become the first justice to face disciplinary action in the country's history.
Read full article [koreatimes.co.kr]
posted @ Monday, March 16, 2009 11:41 AM |
Indonesia is preparing massive financial and technical support for meat and tropical fruit businesses in a bid to cash in on ASEAN’s free trade deals with Australia and New Zealand. - The Agriculture Ministry’s director general of husbandry, Tjeppy D. Soedjana, said Saturday the ministry had proposed Rp 145 billion (US$12.18 million) this year from the stimulus package to boost competitiveness of the country’s meat, milk and dairy businesses against foreign competitors.
Read full article [thejakartapost.com]
posted @ Monday, March 16, 2009 11:33 AM |
MUMBAI, March 16 (Reuters) - Gujarat Ambuja Exports Ltd a trading firm with presence in oilseed and edible oil sector, is negotiating to import about 200,000 tonnes of raw sugar, its chairman and managing director said on Monday. - "We are negotiating for imports of about 200,000 tonnes of raw sugar for shipment before September," Vijay Gupta, said.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Monday, March 16, 2009 11:24 AM |
SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's beef exports are forecast to rise 3.4 percent in 2009 to a new record, boosted by a sharply depreciated Australian dollar and persistent robust demand in some markets, Meat & Livestock Australia's chief analyst Peter Weeks said on Monday. - "Exports have got off to a pretty good start for the year, helped by the fall in the Australian dollar," Weeks said in an interview in Sydney as part of the Reuters Food and Agriculture Summit.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Monday, March 16, 2009 11:13 AM |
March 16 (Bloomberg) -- With the world’s wineries full to the brim and prices dropping for even the most illustrious labels, the idea of introducing a new California cabernet sauvignon at the cult-wine price of $200 a bottle seems like either sheer folly or canny marketing.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Monday, March 16, 2009 11:03 AM |
The Coca-Cola Company announced today that it has committed US $30MM over the next six years to provide access to safe drinking water to communities throughout Africa through its Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN). Implemented by The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation, RAIN will provide at least 2 million Africans with clean water and sanitation by 2015.
Read full article [FoodBizDaily]
posted @ Monday, March 16, 2009 7:23 AM |
THE Philippines will allow up to 294,141 metric tons (MT) of various farm products to be imported under the minimum access volume (MAV) scheme for 2009. - In a notice published in a newspaper by the Department of Agriculture’s MAV Management Committee, various organizations and businesses will be allowed to import 54,210 MT of pork, 23,490 MT of chicken and 216,940 MT of corn.
Read full article [businessmirror.com.ph]
posted @ Sunday, March 15, 2009 9:27 PM |
(SINGAPORE)The Agri—Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) said essence of chicken products in Singapore are safe for consumption.It said it conducts routine checks on imports of these products, which come mainly from Thailand and Malaysia.
AVA was responding to queries from Channel NewsAsia after news reports of a recall in the US.
Read full article [news.yahoo.com]
posted @ Sunday, March 15, 2009 11:38 AM |
The Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture is forecasting a 93% increase in beef exports during the next ten years (to 2018-19), totalling 4.63 million tonnes cwt (accounting for 61% of total world beef trade from the current 31%), with a 49% increase in production to 15.5 million tonnes cwt. - Brazilian beef exports to nearly double by 2018-19. In the domestic market, beef is projected to be the second fastest growing meat consumed with a 2.2% annual growth in total consumption after chicken’s 2.6%.
Read full article [meatinternational.com]
posted @ Saturday, March 14, 2009 8:54 PM |
The Coca-Cola Company has decided against pursuing a counter offer for Schweppes, paving the way for Cadbury’s A$1.185 billion deal with Asahi Breweries to proceed. Cadbury announced last night that they had entered into a definitive sale and purchase agreement for the Schweppes Beverages business in Australia.
Read full article [ausfoodnews.com.au]
posted @ Saturday, March 14, 2009 3:20 PM |
Ahmedabad (PTI): State government has proposed to set up an irradiation plant in South Gujarat region to facilitate mango exports from the state, principal secretary agriculture and co-operation department, P N Roy Choudhary said on Friday. "Currently only Nashik in Maharashtra has the approved irradiation plant facility," he said on sidelines of a seminar at GCCI.
The export of mangoes to US is subject to irradiation treatment.
Read full article [hindu.com]
posted @ Saturday, March 14, 2009 3:05 PM |
Strict hygiene criteria in importing countries and the high cost food producers have to shoulder to meet such requirements are limiting the export of Japanese food, experts said at a recent symposium set up by the Organization to Promote Japanese Restaurants Abroad, or JRO. - "Our biggest concern is that our exports are not being accepted by target countries," said Yuji Kudo, a deputy general manager at the National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations, which exports Japanese beef.
Read full article [japantimes.co.jp]
posted @ Saturday, March 14, 2009 2:26 PM |
Some 60 Vietnamese companies have met Brazilian requirements to export seafood, excluding hard-shelled products like shrimps and crabs, the ministry said in a statement posted on its website Thursday, citing a document from Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply. - The decision would allow Vietnamese companies to make more profit as they have been exporting their products to Brazil via companies in a third country, the ministry said.
Read full article [thanhniennews.com]
posted @ Saturday, March 14, 2009 2:19 PM |
On the eve of the annual International Boston Seafood Show, the Honourable Gail Shea, Minister of Fisheries and Oceans, today announced preliminary international trade figures showing that Canada's exports of fish and seafood products reached $3.9 billion in 2008. - "Canada's fishing and aquaculture industry demonstrated a strong, stable performance in international trade markets in 2008," said Minister Shea. "Our fish and seafood exports continue to provide a significant contribution to Canada's economic prosperity- both nationally and regionally."
Read full article [FoodBizDaily]
posted @ Friday, March 13, 2009 8:28 PM |
March 13 (Bloomberg) -- India’s soybean meal exports, the largest in Asia, may drop 20 percent from a previous forecast as farmers hold back supplies on expectations domestic prices will rise as local production of the oilseed declines. - Shipments may total 4 million metric tons in the year to Sept. 30, less than the 5 million tons forecast in October, Rajesh Agrawal, a spokesman for the Soybean Processors Association of India, said in a phone interview today. Soybean meal exports were 4.9 million tons in the year ended Sept. 30, 2008.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Friday, March 13, 2009 3:34 PM |
BEIJING, March 13 (Xinhua) -- China's exports of high-end farm products declined in 2008, as more people cut down on costly food items due to the global financial crisis, China Daily reports Friday. - Fruit juice exports fell 7.4 percent last year, the first ever decline, while exports of other farm products saw slower growth. - Weak exports and strong imports deepened China's trade deficit in farm products last year to 8.16 billion U.S. dollars, the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) said in statement on its website.
Read full article [Xinhua]
posted @ Friday, March 13, 2009 3:26 PM |
CHANDIGARH, INDIA -- Punjab, called India's bread basket for being the country's biggest foodgrains producer, is facing the risk of spoiling a crop slated to be harvested soon because its state-run granaries are overflowing with last year's record output, and the federal government's ban on exports isn't helping.
Read full article [online.wsj.com]
posted @ Friday, March 13, 2009 2:51 PM |
PARIS - Bordeaux winemakers saw their sales stagnate last year as the global economic slowdown caused a drop in demand late in the year, but drinkers paid more for the wine they did buy. - Figures released Thursday by the Bordeaux winemakers association showed sales of Saint-Emilion, Medoc and other Bordeaux wines last year were 750 million bottles, flat on a year earlier.
Read full article [msnbc.msn.com]
posted @ Friday, March 13, 2009 2:36 PM |
In 2008, Belarus exported food commodities at the sum of 2.2 bln USD, an increase of over 24% compared to 2007, declared the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Belarus.The Russian Federation received almost 83.5% of the supplies from Belarus, according to the Ministry.
The enterprises of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food formed nearly two thirds of the general export volumes of food commodities, added the department. In 2008, the organizations exported the commodities at the sum of 1.46 bln USD, up 1.3 times compared to 2007. Flour exports totaled 57.000 tons.
Source [agrimarket.info]
posted @ Friday, March 13, 2009 11:10 AM |
March 13 (Reuters) - Sara Lee Corp (SLE.N), which is focusing on its core food and beverage business, is examining a sale of its European household and personal-care business, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.
The company has hired Goldman Sachs to sound out possible bidders for the business, which could fetch more than $2 billion, the people told the paper.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Friday, March 13, 2009 9:02 AM |
Kochi, March 12 The preliminary findings of the Third Administrative Review on anti-dumping duty for Indian shrimp exports to the US have slashed the rates sharply to 0.79 per cent. - Earlier, the second review conducted by the US Department of Commerce had brought down the anti-dumping duty on Indian shrimp exports to the US to 1.69 per cent.
“This sharp reduction in anti-dumping duty for shrimp exports to the US by close to one percentage point is a great achievement,” sources in the Seafood Exporters Association of India (SEAI) said.
Read full article [thehindubusinessline.com]
posted @ Thursday, March 12, 2009 9:28 PM |
The United States will delay by a month introducing additional taxes on a number of European products, including a crippling 300-percent import duty on France's Roquefort cheese, officials said Thursday. - The measure was imposed in the final days of George W. Bush's presidency, as part of a package of duties in retaliation for a European ban on US beef containing hormones.
Read full article [AFP]
posted @ Thursday, March 12, 2009 9:09 PM |
March 12 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. may import 44 percent more sugar from Mexico in the year that began Oct. 1 to offset a drop in domestic production, said Imperial Sugar Co. Chief Executive Officer John Charles Sheptor. - Imports may rise to as much as 1 million short tons from 694,000 tons a year earlier, Sheptor said yesterday in a telephone interview. U.S. buyers may turn to their southern neighbor as the peso’s 8.5 percent plunge against the dollar this year makes it cheaper than buying domestic supplies, he said.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Thursday, March 12, 2009 9:05 PM |
March 12 (Bloomberg) -- Sugar refiners in India, the world’s biggest consumer, have slowed imports of the raw sweetener after a government move to impose stockpile limits halted a local price rally and a falling rupee raised the cost of overseas purchases. - Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd., India’s biggest refiner, hasn’t contracted to import any “significant” quantity of sugar in the past 20 days to 25 days, Managing Director Narendra Murkumbi said today in a phone interview.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Thursday, March 12, 2009 12:33 PM |
As the Black Sea grain-belt countries increase their productivity, Kazakhstan is looking outside the CIS markets to Iran and Afghanistan. But to sell large volumes of grain to the fast-growing populations to its south, Kazakhstan needs to invest further in transport and storage infrastructure.
Read full article [businessneweurope.eu]
posted @ Thursday, March 12, 2009 12:19 PM |
CANBERRA (AFP) — Iraq wants a huge increase in Australian wheat imports previously slashed after a scandal over bribes paid to the regime of former president Saddam Hussein, officials said Thursday.Iraq is interested in buying around one million tonnes of Australian wheat a year -- almost triple the amount it imported in 2008 and up from zero in 2007, Trade Minister Simon Crean said.
Read full article [AFP]
posted @ Thursday, March 12, 2009 11:56 AM |
The Hong Kong government's Centre for Food Safety has resumed processing applications for imports of bone-in beef from Canada, effective Monday. - The centre said in a statement Monday that it will "partially" lift its suspension of Canadian bone-in beef imports, which dates back to the discovery of Canada's first case of BSE in an Alberta cow in 2003.
Read full article [canadiancattlemen.ca]
posted @ Thursday, March 12, 2009 11:50 AM |
PARIS, March 12 (Reuters) - France's Carrefour plans to cut costs and increase price promotions to bolster sales this year as trading remains challenging after it posted a slight rise in 2008 operating profit. - The world's second-biggest retailer said it would spend 600 million euros ($766 million) to make it more competitive and make cost savings of 500 million, as well as limiting capital expenditure to 2.5 billion, down from 2.9 billion in 2008.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Thursday, March 12, 2009 11:41 AM |
March 12 (Bloomberg) -- Shineway Industry Group Co., China’s biggest meat processor, said it will invest almost 3 billion yuan ($439 million) on acquisitions and expansion this year as the financial crisis crimps operations of smaller rivals. - The investment, 50 percent up from last year, will be used to build or acquire slaughtering plants and factories that make cooked meats, said Chairman Wan Long in an interview yesterday. “The financial crisis is a great opportunity.”
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Thursday, March 12, 2009 11:34 AM |
March 12 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Tsusho Corp. plans to import milling wheat from Kazakhstan to Japan for the first time to diversify its supply sources as food demand increases in Asia. - The trading company affiliated with Toyota Motor Corp., Japan’s largest carmaker, is studying routes from Kazakhstan after a trial delivery of 3,600 metric tons of feed barley from the central Asian nation in October, said Shigemasa Miki, wheat and rice group leader at Toyota Tsusho.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Thursday, March 12, 2009 11:23 AM |
The private sector anticipates food exports will drop this year by 15% from last year's 778 billion baht. The National Food Institute (NFI), the Thai Chamber of Commerce and Federation of Thai Industries project Thai food shipments of 661.2 billion baht this year due to the global crisis. - Average capacity utilisation in the industry in January was only 50.2%, down 12.2 percentage points from a year ago.
Read full article [bangkokpost.com]
posted @ Wednesday, March 11, 2009 9:32 PM |
(Bloomberg) CJ CheilJedang Corp., Korea’s biggest sugar supplier, may cut raw sugar imports by almost 10 percent as people dine out less because of the economic slump, an industry executive said. - Imports by the nation’s biggest food processor are likely to drop to about 500,000 metric tons this year, said the executive with knowledge of the trade, who declined to be identified because he is not authorized to talk to the media.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Wednesday, March 11, 2009 7:15 PM |
Indian coffee exports have taken a beating from global financial crisis and low domestic output. Coffee exports from India fell by 14.5 per cent in January-February 2009, as compared to the year-ago period. Total exports were 33,120 tonnes from January up to March 5 of the present calendar year compared with 38,766 tonnes in the year-ago period, according to the provisional data released by the Coffee Board.
Read full article [business-standard.com]
posted @ Wednesday, March 11, 2009 6:56 PM |
March 11 (Bloomberg) -- China, which posted a record drop in exports last month, will file a World Trade Organization complaint against U.S. measures that it says have effectively banned chicken imported from the Asian nation. - The U.S. rules on chicken imports are “unfair and malicious,” China’s Ministry of Commerce said today in a statement posted on its Web site. The Asian nation will file a WTO complaint against the U.S. and “retains the right to take further measures,” it said.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Wednesday, March 11, 2009 6:48 PM |
MILAN (Reuters Life!) - Export of wine from Italy, a major producer in Europe, fell in volume last year under strong competitive pressure with traditional European markets taking the biggest hits, the industry body said this week. - Wine export volumes dropped 7 percent to 17.8 million hectoliters in 2008, but its value edged up 2 percent to 3.6 billion euros ($4.57 billion), Unione Italiana Vini (UIV) said in a statement.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Wednesday, March 11, 2009 5:39 PM |
TOULON, France (AFP) — Winegrowers in France's picturesque Provence region are pink-faced with fury over EU plans to let producers make rose wine by mixing red and white, saying this risks destroying a local tradition. - Growers across France produce a third of the world's rose but on the Mediterranean coast in particular a glass of dry wine on a hot summer's afternoon, with a dish of olives or grilled fish, is as much a part of local culture as the game of boules.
Read full article [AFP]
posted @ Wednesday, March 11, 2009 5:31 PM |
SANTIAGO, March 11 (Reuters) - Chile's Multiexport Foods (MUL.SN), a leading local salmon producer, reported an algae bloom in southern Chile that can kill fish via asphyxia, sending its shares down nearly 7 percent. - The company sent a statement to the market regulator on Wednesday advising about the algae bloom at production centers run by its Salmones Multiexport SA subsidiary.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Wednesday, March 11, 2009 3:22 PM |
California Olive Ranch North America’s largest olive oil producer, received three medals from The California Olive Oil Council for their 2008 harvest extra virgin olive oils: Both the single varieties Arbequina and Arbosana earned gold and COR’s single variety estate Koroneiki received a silver medal.
Read full article [FoodBizDaily]
posted @ Wednesday, March 11, 2009 12:47 PM |
Barry Callebaut, manufacturer of high-quality cocoa and chocolate products, sold 100% of its consumer company in Asia, Van Houten Singapore, to The Hershey Company effective February 28, 2009. While retaining ownership of the traditional Van Houten Brand, Barry Callebaut will grant to The Hershey Company a perpetual, exclusive license of the Van Houten brand name and related trademarks in Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Australia/New Zealand for consumer products.
Read full article [FoodBizDaily]
posted @ Wednesday, March 11, 2009 10:33 AM |
March 11 (Bloomberg) -- Savola Al Azizia United Co., Saudi Arabia’s largest food producer, plans to expand abroad through acquisitions as the Middle East’s largest economy seeks to diversity its food production supplies from Africa and Asia. - “We are looking to buy strategic food producing assets abroad,” the Jeddah-based company’s Managing Director Sami Baroum said during a conference in Dubai today. “The Saudi government has been very supportive of the expansion of businesses abroad.”
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Wednesday, March 11, 2009 10:14 AM |
Arla Foods amba and Royal FrieslandCampina N.V. have reached agreement in principle about the sale and purchase of all the shares in Friesland Foods Fresh Nijkerk by Arla Foods. The transaction includes the Friesland Foods Fresh Nijkerk fresh dairy business, its assets and the brands Breaker, Milk&Fruit and Kwarkyoghurt.
Read full article [FoodBizDaily]
posted @ Wednesday, March 11, 2009 9:56 AM |
SABMiller RUS started production of Amsterdam Navigator at Kaluga brewery, thus extending its portfolio with a new brand in "strong beer" category.According to the company "strong beer" category is one of the most stable.
Amsterdam Navigator has an ABV of 8,2% which is achieved by a prolonged fermentation process.
Read full article [FoodBizDaily]
posted @ Tuesday, March 10, 2009 5:38 PM |
All Sport, Inc. and Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc. presented today the first zero-calorie sports drink sweetened with rebiana, an all-natural sweetener from stevia - All Sport Naturally Zero. - Rebiana is an all-natural zero calorie sweetener derived from the stevia plant. Stevia has been used as a sweetener for centuries and rebiana was recently approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for use in a variety of foods and beverages.
Read full article [FoodBizDaily]
posted @ Tuesday, March 10, 2009 4:19 PM |
After the unprecedented boom of the last two years, the global dairy trade has entered a slump phase amidst weakening market conditions. - Especially affected are Australia and New Zealand, which, unlike India, have small populations and limited domestic markets for dairy products. Given the extent of dependence on exports — 60 per cent of manufactured products in the case of Australia and 95 per cent for New Zealand — the sharp decline in product prices have hit their dairies the hardest.
Read full article [thehindubusinessline.com]
posted @ Tuesday, March 10, 2009 3:35 PM |
SINGAPORE, Mar 10, 2009 (Dow Jones Commodities News via Comtex) -- Indonesia probably won't import more sugar from Thailand in the coming years just because of a sugar tariff cut agreement signed between the two countries recently, industry executives said Tuesday. - The memorandum of understanding "will bring down the prices Indonesian buyers have to pay, holding other factors constant, but I don't think it will have much impact on how much sugar Indonesia is going to buy from Thailand," said an official with Thai sugar producer Mitr Phol Group.
Read full article [marketwatch.com]
posted @ Tuesday, March 10, 2009 2:47 PM |
A total of 81,000 tonnes of beef left the UK with an increased demand from the Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium and Italy in 2008. This represented a 36 per cent rise on 2007 figures. - Last year the figure for sheepmeat was 86,000 tonnes and this was up a quarter on the previous year.
Read full article [farmersguardian.com]
posted @ Tuesday, March 10, 2009 1:55 PM |
Concerned over its low share in India’s farm sector imports, the US has initiated an investigation into protectionist measures undertaken by New Delhi and their bearing on American exports. - “The US International Trade Commission (ITC) has launched an investigation into the effects of tariff and non-tariff measures on US agricultural exports to India,” ITC said on its website.
Read full article [business-standard.com]
posted @ Tuesday, March 10, 2009 12:14 PM |
During March 3-5, Russia purchased 204.700 tons of grains to the intervention fund, including 16.100 tons in the regions with fixed advanced prices. The share of food grain totals 55.8% from the general volume of exchange contracts, declared the media-department of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation.
Read full article [agrimarket.info]
posted @ Tuesday, March 10, 2009 12:07 PM |
BEIJING (Reuters) - China is reviewing Coca-Cola Co's (KO.N) $2.5 billion bid to acquire China Huiyuan Juice Group (1886.HK) under the anti-monopoly law, Commerce Minister Chen Deming said on Tuesday.
[...] If the deal is approved, it would clear the way for the largest acquisition of a Chinese firm by a foreign rival.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Tuesday, March 10, 2009 11:45 AM |
TOKYO, March 10 (Reuters) - Japanese publisher Nikkei said on Tuesday it will add seafood processor Maruha Nichiro (1334.T) to the Tokyo stock market's benchmark Nikkei share average .N225. - Index complier the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, publisher of the Nikkei business daily, said the change would take effect on March 26.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Tuesday, March 10, 2009 11:33 AM |
Constar International Inc. a Philadelphia based producer and supplier of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic containers for food and beverages announced that the Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP) has recognized a PET bottle with the company's MonOxbar™ barrier technology as a top Beverage Package of 2008 with an Ameristar Award.
Read full article [FoodBizDaily]
posted @ Tuesday, March 10, 2009 10:46 AM |
Imperial Sugar Company today announced that its Mexican joint venture, Comercializadora Santos Imperial, S. De R.L. de C.V. (CSI), has entered into a sales and marketing agreement with Grupo La Margarita, a division of Empresas Machado. Headquartered in Mexico City, Machado owns and operates four sugar mills located throughout Mexico.- Under the terms of the agreement, CSI will market up to 130,000 tons of sugar this year throughout Mexico and the U.S. on behalf of Machado’s mills.
Read full article [FoodBizDaily]
posted @ Monday, March 09, 2009 7:37 PM |
With the launch of an own brand label, supermarket chain wants to retain recession poor customers.
The new brand is aimed at value and quality for customers.- This is in order to stop customers from choosing of cheaper stores, which is why the retailer has introduced a new ‘essential Waitrose’ range comprising of 1,400 staple grocery products including meat, fish and poultry.
Read full article [meatinternational.com]
posted @ Monday, March 09, 2009 5:10 PM |
South Africa could be set to export 94.6m cartons of citrus fruit this year, according to a forecast released by citrus grower body CGA. - The largest increase will come in the grapefruit segment, with orange and soft citrus exports set to remain stable compared with last season and lemon volumes set to fall slightly, according to the CGA's Justin Chadwick.
Read full article [fruitnet.com]
posted @ Monday, March 09, 2009 4:49 PM |
Gennaro Pelliccia, Costa Coffee’s chief taster, has had his tongue insured for 10 million pounds by a syndicate with Lloyd’s of London as the chain looks to protect one of its most valuable assets.
Read full article [telegraph.co.uk]
posted @ Monday, March 09, 2009 4:41 PM |
Milk Link, UK’s integrated dairy business, has partnered with The Clever Little Drinks Company under a new licensing agreement which will see them produce and market Mini Moo milk drinks. Produced in a 250ml carton, Mini Moos come in strawberry, chocolate and banana flavours. There is also a semi skimmed variety. With this move Milk Link expects to increase its share of the vending machine and lunchbox markets.
Read full article [FoodBizDaily]
posted @ Monday, March 09, 2009 3:50 PM |
MUMBAI (Reuters) - Four global spirits makers, including Diageo (DGE.L), have shown interest in acquiring stake in India's United Spirits, the world's third-largest spirits maker, the Times of India said on Monday, quoting agencies. - "United Spirits (UNSP.BO) has received expressions of interest from four parties," the newspaper quoted United Spirits Chairman Vijay Mallya as saying.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Monday, March 09, 2009 11:52 AM |
Japan's current account recorded its largest deficit on record in January, reaching 172.8bn yen ($1.8bn; £1.2bn). It was its first deficit in 13 years. - Government figures show that exports nearly halved in January, while imports fell by a third.
Read full article [bbc.co.uk]
posted @ Monday, March 09, 2009 9:18 AM |
RED meat exports from Wales are now worth almost £108 million a year to the Welsh economy, according to new figures from Hybu Cig Cymru, the Wales-based meat promotion body. - HCC chairman, Rees Roberts, revealed the latest figures today (Monday, March 9), during a speech to an audience of French meat importers and retailers at the Paris Press Club.
Read full article [farmersguardian.com]
posted @ Monday, March 09, 2009 7:14 AM |
HCM CITY — Viet Nam is likely to reach a trade surplus of US$390 million in the first two months of the year as exports increase and imports drop due to a sharp fall in consumption at home, according to trade officials. - Export activities in February picked up markedly over last month and is estimated at $4.3 billion, an increase of 15.6 per cent over January and 25.1 per cent over February 2008.
Read full article [vnagency.com.vn]
posted @ Sunday, March 08, 2009 7:59 PM |
Kochi (PTI): With global downturn causing a slump in seafood exports from the country, Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) will be embarking on a campaign to promote Indian marine products in markets abroad, especially in US, Europe, South Africa and South America. - MPEDA Chairman, G Mohan Kumar, has left for promoting Indian seafood products in South African and South American markets and will also attend the International Boston Sea Food Show, MPEDA sources told PTI.
Read full article [hindu.com]
posted @ Sunday, March 08, 2009 9:08 AM |
The General Director of the Woolworths Australia Supermarket Group, Mark John, is scheduled to visit Vietnam from March 11-20 to study the market and negotiate with 33 local businesses over the purchase of Vietnamese-branded products. - Nguyen Huu Chi, Vietnamese Commercial Counsellor in Sydney, says that the negotiations will allow Woolworths to purchase Vietnamese products directly from the producers and distribute them at its chain of supermarkets across Australia.
Read full article [vovnews.vn]
posted @ Saturday, March 07, 2009 4:25 PM |
The Brazilian beef industry looks to be focusing its exports on the EU and Chile. The move comes as some of Brazil’s main export markets, such as the Middle East and Russia, increase their sales of cheaper protein sources like pork and poultry. - The Brazilian Beef Exporters Association (ABIEC) estimates that beef exports to Chile could reach 100,000 tonnes a year, after seven Brazilian states were recognised last week as foot and mouth disease (FMD) free by the Chilean government...
Read full article [farminguk.com]
posted @ Saturday, March 07, 2009 4:18 PM |
March 7 (Bloomberg) -- Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming is leading representatives from Bank of China Ltd., China Shipping (Group) Co. and more than 20 of the country’s companies to Europe to expand business amid worldwide recession. - The group, including CNFC Overseas Fishery Co., Suzhou New District High-Tech Industrial Co. and representatives from Chinese automakers will visit Germany, Switzerland, Spain and the U.K., the ministry said on its Web site today.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Saturday, March 07, 2009 7:01 AM |
March 6 (Bloomberg) -- Whole Foods Market Inc., the largest natural-food grocer, agreed to sell 32 natural and organic supermarkets to settle a fight with U.S. antitrust enforcers over its 2007 takeover of Wild Oats Markets Inc. - The Federal Trade Commission announced the settlement in a statement, saying the sale will “substantially restore competition that was eliminated” by Whole Foods’ $565 million acquisition of Wild Oats.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Friday, March 06, 2009 5:43 PM |
March 6 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez set his sights this week on Lorenzo Mendoza, the Caracas-based billionaire food and beer magnate, as he pushes his socialist revolution to new a level of threats against private enterprise. - National Guard troops occupied a rice mill owned by Mendoza’s company, Empresas Polar SA, last week, and Chavez directly warned Mendoza, 43, whose family has a net worth of $5 billion according to Forbes magazine, that he is now in the government’s crosshairs.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Friday, March 06, 2009 5:32 PM |
Apple production in Korea is this year forecast to fall to 450,000 tonnes, down from last year's bumper 479,000 tonne crop which was boosted by favourable weather conditions, according to a new report by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Read full article [fruitnet.com]
posted @ Friday, March 06, 2009 4:14 PM |
The boards of CIES–The Food Business Forum, the Global Commerce Initiative (GCI) and the participants of the Global CEO Forum agreed in February to combine their assets and found a single global consumer goods industry association. The goal is to improve the way the consumer goods industry meets the needs of the world’s ever more knowledgeable and demanding consumers.
Read full article [foodprocessing.com]
posted @ Friday, March 06, 2009 4:03 PM |
Despite today's overarching trend towards new and exotic flavours, when it comes to crisps, traditional flavours like cheese & onion and ready salted are best, generating strong sales and bolstering growth for snack makers despite the challenging economic climate, finds new research from trend trackers Mintel.
Read full article [bakeryandsnacks.com]
posted @ Friday, March 06, 2009 3:24 PM |
New Delhi, Mar 6 The government is believed to have allowed the export of two million tonnes of non-basmati rice and increased the allocation of rice and wheat to states for supply through ration shops. - An empowered group of ministers (eGoM) on food, which met yesterday, had decided to allow the shipment of non-basmati rice through diplomatic channels, official sources said.
Read full article [chennaionline.com]
posted @ Friday, March 06, 2009 3:11 PM |
For the fourth year in a row, Italian chocolatier Amedei dominated the gold medals awarded at the 2009 world chocolate awards conducted by the London-based Academy of Chocolate, including winning again the very highest award, the Golden Bean, for the best bean-to-bar chocolate, Amedei '9'. Amedei took 8 medals overall.
Read full article [FoodBizDaily]
posted @ Friday, March 06, 2009 12:45 PM |
BRASILIA - Brazil, the world's second-largest wheat importer last year, will seek to buy about 3 million metric tons of the grain from producers other than Argentina this year. - Argentina, which usually provides most of Brazil's imported wheat, can ship just 2 million tons to its larger neighbor this year, forcing the search for other suppliers, Brazilian Agriculture Minister Reinhold Stephanes said Thursday.
Read full article [miamiherald.com]
posted @ Friday, March 06, 2009 10:48 AM |
Neither economic crisis nor continuous snowfall could keep the international organic experts away: 46,771 trade visitors attended the exhibition in Nürnberg between February 19 and 22. - The international share of visitors was 38 % and the buyers came from 129 countries: after Germany, mainly from Austria, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Denmark.
Read full article [FoodBizDaily]
posted @ Friday, March 06, 2009 10:14 AM |
MANILA, March 6 (Reuters) - The Philippines' San Miguel Corp bought 40,000 tonnes of corn from Argentina for April or May delivery, a source familiar with the transaction said on Friday. - "San Miguel bought it from a long-term supplier who is normally willing to let San Miguel move the shipment period around," the source said, declining to provide the purchase price.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Friday, March 06, 2009 7:59 AM |
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Coca-Cola Co, the world's largest soft drinks maker, said on Friday it will invest $2 billion in new plant and distribution infrastructure in the next three years in China. - The company would also speed up development to ensure products suit local taste, it said in a statement.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Friday, March 06, 2009 7:53 AM |
The first container of Italian kiwifruit to be shipped directly to China has been dispatched by leading export group Compagnia Italiana della Frutta (CIF). - The company, which is a commercial partnership between Apofruit Italia, Alegra, Mazzoni and a number of other private companies, sent the consignment to Shanghai under the Made in Blu brand.
Read full article [fruitnet.com]
posted @ Thursday, March 05, 2009 9:42 PM |
GURGAON: PepsiCo chairperson and chief executive Indra Nooyi announced on Sunday an investment of $500 mn in India over the next three years to triple revenues by 2014. - The investment would be spread over manufacturing, market infrastructure, environment sustainability initiatives, research, new products and agriculture, Chennai-born Nooyi said.
Read full article [indiatimes.com]
posted @ Thursday, March 05, 2009 9:30 PM |
The Australia-Chile Free Trade Agreement will come into force tomorrow 6 March, 2009, opening up greater opportunities to meat, wine and dairy exporters.This was the first Free Trade Agreement to be concluded by the Rudd Government and comes into force a week after Minister for Trade, Simon Crean, signed the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand FTA.
Read full article [ausfoodnews.com.au]
posted @ Thursday, March 05, 2009 9:07 PM |
Anheuser-Busch InBev , the world’s biggest brewer, might eventually sell its Russian beer business as it raises cash to pay down debt and focuses on its more profitable American beer brands, some analysts believe. - The brewer, created last year following InBev’s $52bn acquisition of Anheuser, on Thursday announced a 41 per cent drop in net profit in its first full-year results as a combined company. It is the second-biggest brewer in Russia after Baltika, which is owned by Denmark’s Carlsberg.
Read full article [FT.com]
posted @ Thursday, March 05, 2009 2:59 PM |
Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. has bought 53 acres in Victorville, where it will build a large-scale bottling plant and distribution center, the company said Wednesday.- The Texas-based soft-drink maker will start work shortly on a $120-million facility to produce such beverages as 7UP, A&W root beer, Sunkist orange soda and Hawaiian Punch for customers in the Southwest. After the plant opens in spring 2010, it is expected to pump out as many as 40 million cases of drinks a year.
Read full aricle [latimes.com]
posted @ Thursday, March 05, 2009 2:52 PM |
HANOI — Vietnam’s top rice exporters have sought government approval to build a bonded warehouse for rice in the Philippines, a state-run newspaper said yesterday, in a move to raise exports and expand trade ties between the nations. - Vinafood 1 and Vinafood 2, which account for a combined 61% of Vietnam’s rice exports, plan a storage facility in the Philippines to hold 1.7 million tons, the Liberation Saigon daily said.
Read full article [bworldonline.com]
posted @ Thursday, March 05, 2009 12:54 PM |
March 5 (Bloomberg) -- China’s top soybean-producing province, which is stockpiling about 4 million metric tons of the oilseed to help boost farm incomes, may begin selling some of the reserves within six months, a provincial official said.
[...] China in October ordered state reserves to boost purchases of soybeans at above-market prices to boost farm incomes. Local buyers switched to cheaper imports, helping U.S. farmers sell more beans to China even as demand for animal feed slowed. Release of the reserves will further increase supplies and may force traders to cut orders for overseas shipments.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Thursday, March 05, 2009 12:09 PM |
March 5 (Bloomberg) -- India, the world’s second-biggest wheat producer, may fail to reach its output target this year unless some of the growing regions receive rain in the next two weeks, a government researcher said. - “The weather is going to be very critical in the next 15 days,” Jag Shoran, director at the state-owned Directorate of Wheat Research said in a telephone interview. “We could produce about 78 million tons if the weather stays favorable, otherwise it could be down to 75 million tons.”
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Thursday, March 05, 2009 11:56 AM |
MOSCOW, March 5 (Reuters) - Food and household products maker Unilever sees significant sales growth in Russia in 2009, in spite of the financial crisis, the company's local head said on Thursday. - "There may be a slight slowdown in the third and fourth quarters but for the year as a whole we expect significant growth in all categories," Sanjiv Kakkar, chairman of Unilever Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, told reporters.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Thursday, March 05, 2009 11:41 AM |
CARACAS (Reuters) - President Hugo Chavez seized a local unit of American food giant Cargill on Wednesday and threatened Venezuela's largest private company, renewing a nationalization drive as the OPEC nation's oil income plunges. - The clash with food companies, demanding they produce cheaper rice, came less than three weeks after he won a referendum allowing him to run for reelection.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Thursday, March 05, 2009 11:29 AM |
Following the expansion of their relationship in Europe and the launch of packaged Starbucks® coffee in Switzerland in September 2008, Starbucks Corporation and Kraft Foods today announced they will launch packaged Starbucks® coffee in select supermarkets in France and Germany.
Read full article [FoodBizDaily]
posted @ Thursday, March 05, 2009 9:25 AM |
New Delhi (PTI): With the onset of summer, trees of strawberry are fast turning into proverbial money-tree in the UK and other countries, where the prices of the delicate fruit have started soaring. - It is learnt that at least three firms had applied for permission to import nearly 1,300,000 plants of strawberry from Europe and the US for growing in India.
Read full article [hindu.com]
posted @ Wednesday, March 04, 2009 7:40 PM |
March 4 (Bloomberg) -- Parmalat SpA, Italy’s biggest food company, reported 2008 profit that beat analyst estimates after collecting settlements from former lenders and said earnings should be maintained this year on lower costs and milk prices.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Wednesday, March 04, 2009 7:23 PM |
March 4 (Bloomberg) -- Soybeans rose the most in more than three weeks and corn gained on speculation that demand for food and livestock feed will improve as China boosts government spending in a bid to spur economic growth. - Premier Wen Jiabao will announce a new stimulus package tomorrow, said Li Deshui, a former central bank policy maker. China’s manufacturing index rose for a third month in February, adding to evidence that spending is reviving growth. The country is the world’s biggest consumer of grain and oilseeds.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Wednesday, March 04, 2009 7:16 PM |
WARSAW, March 4 (Reuters) - Nestle, the world's biggest food maker, is seeking acquisition targets in Poland to boost production in the European Union's largest ex-communist economy, the head of its Polish operations said on Wednesday.
The Switzerland-based company expects more manufacturing capacity in Poland, where its 2008 sales reached 3.1 billion zlotys ($830 million), would help reduce the effect of the weaker local currency that boosts costs of imports.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Wednesday, March 04, 2009 7:10 PM |
NESTEA is the first national ready-to-drink (“RTD”) tea brand to bring to consumers a red tea combined with pomegranate and passion fruit. With over 50 years of iced tea heritage, NESTEA has added Red Tea Pomegranate Passion Fruit -- recently selected by retailers as one of the “Top 12 Cool New Products”1 -- to its line of RTD teas.
Read full article [FoodBizDaily]
posted @ Wednesday, March 04, 2009 12:29 PM |
Admiral Imports has announced that it has been named the exclusive importer of "Green Fairy," "Djabel," and "Koruna" Absinths from the Czech Republic. The new acquisitions position Admiral Imports to be the leading U.S. importer of Absinth.
Read full article [FoodBizDaily]
posted @ Wednesday, March 04, 2009 11:10 AM |
Cadbury plc, a leading global confectionery company, today announced that its Cadbury Dairy Milk® will receive Fairtrade certification with the FAIRTRADE Mark appearing on UK and Irish Cadbury Dairy Milk products by the end of summer 2009. This significant announcement on Cadbury Dairy Milk will result in the tripling of sales of cocoa under Fairtrade terms for cocoa farmers in Ghana.
Read full article [FoodBizDaily]
posted @ Wednesday, March 04, 2009 10:43 AM |
The Brazilian Export and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brazil), promoter of the 'Flavours from Brasil' exhibition that was held recently in Dubai's Intercontinental Hotel - Festival City, has announced that more than $42m worth deals were finalised during the event, confirming the phenomenal success of the inaugural edition of the exhibition.
Read full article [ameinfo.com]
posted @ Wednesday, March 04, 2009 7:15 AM |
BEIJING, March 4 (Reuters) - Assets of the bankrupt dairy company at the centre of China's melamine-tainted milk scandal sold for 617 million yuan ($90 million) on Wednesday, state media said. - Beijing Sanyuan Group Co Ltd won the bidding for all valid assets and stake ownership of Sanlu Dairy Group, Xinhua news agency said.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Wednesday, March 04, 2009 7:05 AM |
New Zealand and South Korea announced on Tuesday they had entered into discussions for a new bilateral free trade agreement (FTA), following talks between New Zealand Prime Minister John Key and South Korea’s President Lee Myung-bak in Auckland. - The two leaders said in a joint statement South Korea and New Zealand had “complementary economic structures”. Trade between the two is worth over NZ$2.4bn (US$1.2bn) a year.
Read full article [fruitnet.com]
posted @ Tuesday, March 03, 2009 8:48 PM |
Del Monte and two European companies said to be among the interested parties keen to take over Coosemupar.
The board of directors of the Panamanian Cooperative Institute (IPACOOP) began yesterday (Monday 2 March) to carefully evaluate takeover proposals ahead of a decision on the future of Coosemupar (the Panamanian Cooperative of banana producers in Puerto Armuelles), according to a report by local newspaper La Estrella.
Read full article [fruitnet.com]
posted @ Tuesday, March 03, 2009 8:44 PM |
The US has announced that it is stopping the import of dragon fruits from Vietnam as the product does not meet irradiation standards.
The first shipment of Vietnamese dragon fruits to the US market in 2008 was a positive sign for Vietnam’s agricultural sector as the price ranging between VND15,000-VND20,000/kilo offered farmers a promising income. However, the US enterprises recently stopped importing the fruit from Vietnam.
Read full article [vovnews.vn]
posted @ Tuesday, March 03, 2009 7:46 PM |
AUSTIN, Minn. (FoodBizDaily) Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE:HRL), one of the nation’s largest manufacturers and marketers of consumer-branded meat and food products, today announced that the company’s common stock was added to the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index after the market closed.
"We are honored to be aligned with this distinguished list of America’s leading companies,” said Jeffrey M. Ettinger, chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer at Hormel Foods. “This is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the more than 19,000 employees around the world.”
Hormel Foods was added to the S&P 500 GICS (Global Industry...
posted @ Tuesday, March 03, 2009 6:45 PM |
March 3 (Bloomberg) -- Danisco A/S, the Nordic region’s biggest food-ingredient maker, fell the most in at least 19 years in Copenhagen trading after forecasting its first year without a profit in at least two decades. - Danisco plunged 18 percent, wiping 1.74 billion kroner ($293 million) off its market value. After Danish stock trading ended yesterday, the Copenhagen-based company said it will “break even” in the fiscal year through April, scrapping its prediction for net income of 950 million kroner.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Tuesday, March 03, 2009 5:28 PM |
March 3 (Bloomberg) -- Demand for meat and animal feed in China, the world’s biggest pork producer and consumer, has been cut by the financial crisis as rural residents reduce protein consumption to save money, said Sichuan New Hope Group. - “We thought agriculture products would be spared from the financial crisis: we were wrong,” said Liu Yonghao, chairman of Sichuan New Hope, China’s biggest integrated livestock producer.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Tuesday, March 03, 2009 5:21 PM |
March 3 (Bloomberg) -- Perdigao SA, Brazil’s biggest food company, fell to the lowest in almost five months after Latin poultry export volumes and prices dropped in February. - Perdigao slid 3.6 percent to 26.70 reais at 2:01 p.m. New York time in Sao Paulo trading. Perdigao, which depended on poultry exports for 23 percent of third-quarter revenue, earlier dropped to 26.23 reais, the lowest intraday price since Oct. 8.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Tuesday, March 03, 2009 5:12 PM |
DUBLIN, March 3 (Reuters) - Irish drinks group C&C is writing down assets worth 141 million euros ($178 million) to streamline the business as a deep recession adds to years of declining sales, it said on Tuesday. - C&C helped to make cider fashionable in Britain, but its marketing of its Magners brand as a premium, hot-weather drink misfired in a string of wet summers, the economic downturn and under pressure from bigger rivals.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Tuesday, March 03, 2009 12:42 PM |
The two companies have signed a memorandum of understanding whereby Barry Callebaut would transfer its consumer chocolate division, Stollwerck, to Natra - Natra, as a result of the transaction, would become a significant private label chocolate maker in Europe with 2008 pro forma sales of around €850 million/CHF 1,270 million
Read full article [FoodBizDaily]
posted @ Tuesday, March 03, 2009 10:12 AM |
March 2 (Bloomberg) -- Egypt, the Middle East’s biggest sugar importer, expects to buy about 60 percent less by 2012 as it swells state spending on production, said Ahmed El-Rakaybi, chairman of the state-run Food Industries Holding Co. - Egypt imports 900,000 metric tons of sugar a year and wants that to drop to 350,000 tons by 2012, he told an International Sugar Organization conference in Luxor, Egypt, today.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Monday, March 02, 2009 7:48 PM |
ISLAMABAD, March 2 (Reuters) - Pakistan has bought 25,000 tonnes of white/refined sugar at $451.45 per tonne, cost and freight and free out (CFFO), in a tender for 50,000 tonnes that was closed on Feb. 28, a government official and a trader said on Monday. - "The contract for 25,000 tonnes has been awarded to Bunge at their quoted price of $451.45 CFFO," said an official of the state-owned Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP), which had issued the tender.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Monday, March 02, 2009 7:14 PM |
March 3 (Bloomberg) -- Wheat exports from Australia, the world’s fourth-largest shipper, may jump 44 percent in fiscal 2010 because of increased local supplies, the nation’s key commodity forecaster said. - Shipments may rise to 14.7 million metric tons in the 12 months ending June 30, 2010, the Canberra-based Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics said today in a report. That compares with 10.2 million tons a year earlier. Production may gain 3.3 percent, it said.
Read full artcle [Bloomberg]
posted @ Monday, March 02, 2009 7:02 PM |
March 2 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. beef sales to Japan, the third- largest importer, may increase 35 percent this year as the stronger yen reduces prices and boosts demand. - Exports, including meat from internal organs, may rise to about 100,000 metric tons from 74,000 tons last year, Philip Seng, president and chief executive officer of the U.S. Meat Export Federation, said in Tokyo today. The yen jumped 23 percent against the dollar in 2008.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Monday, March 02, 2009 5:34 PM |
SABMiller announces the launch, in Australia, of Peroni Leggera (Italian for ‘Light'), the lighter version of Peroni Nastro Azzurro, a jewel in the leading brewer's premium brand portfolio. - Peroni Leggera will launch initially in Australia, after which it will evaluated for its potential in other Peroni Nastro Azzurro markets. Peroni Nastro Azzurro is available in Australia, India, Russia, South Africa, the UK, the US, Colombia, Canary Islands, Canada, France, Peru, Poland, Romania, Puerto Rico, Japan and of course its birthplace in Italy.
Read full article [FoodBizDaily]
posted @ Monday, March 02, 2009 3:40 PM |
The volume of Argentine fish and shellfish exports last year rose just 3.2 per cent. In terms of value, however, the same posted a significant 17.6 per cent increase over 2007. - According to the Subsecretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture, Argentina shipped a combined total of 561,601 tonnes of fresh, frozen, fishmeal, and canned seafood worth USD 1.3 billion between January and December 2008.
Read full article [fis.com]
posted @ Monday, March 02, 2009 12:01 PM |
Pernod Ricard (Paris:RI) announces that it has signed an agreement to sell its cognac brand Bisquit and associated inventories to Distell Group Limited for 31 million euros. The transaction also includes a distribution agreement covering France, Belgium, Switzerland and Luxembourg. Current distribution arrangements in the other countries will remain in place for a transition period.
Read full article [FoodBizDaily]
posted @ Monday, March 02, 2009 8:39 AM |
BEIJING (Reuters) - China said on Monday food security remains "grim" after a series of health scandals, the most recent being last year's tainted milk formula which killed at least six toddlers and made almost 300,000 sick. - A new food-safety law, approved on Saturday in an accelerated process since the milk scandal came to light in September, attempts to fix a fragmentary regulatory system which officials blame for recurring problems.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Monday, March 02, 2009 8:26 AM |
Maple syrup is to Quebec what oil is to Saudi Arabia. The province provides three-quarters of world's supply, and even maintains its own "strategic reserves" of the celebrated sweet. - But those reserves have dried up in recent weeks, and maple syrup prices have increased accordingly. The price of a standard 540-millilitre can has hit $10 in Greater Montreal, compared with $6.50 for most of this decade.
Read full article [montrealgazette.com]
posted @ Sunday, March 01, 2009 5:24 PM |
KUNMING, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- China will export coffee directly to the United States in April, according to a deal signed between the ECUM Coffee Group and Yunnan Hogood Co. Ltd.. - In a statement Saturday, Hogood said it will export 240 tonnes of coffee beans per month to Atlantic (USA) Inc., a member of the Denmark-based ECUM Coffee Group.
Read full article [eviewweek.com]
posted @ Sunday, March 01, 2009 4:58 PM |
Local fresh produce exporters are vying for a bigger slice of the American market share this year even as the world’s only superpower drifts towards protectionism. - Industry players say the decision by the department of agriculture to re-introduce stricter traceability guidelines for fresh produce and meat entering the country comes with a silver lining that they intend exploit in a push to expand exports beyond the traditional 1 per cent level.
Read full article [bdafrica.com]
posted @ Sunday, March 01, 2009 4:44 PM |
ZAMBOANGA CITY — Sardine maker Mega Fishing Corp. is building a P400-million manufacturing plant in this city that will allow it to double its daily production capacity to 1.2 million cans of sardines. - Company President William Tiu Lim said the new plant seeks to meet the growing demand for canned sardines both from the domestic and export markets.
Read full article [bworldonline.com]
posted @ Sunday, March 01, 2009 4:35 PM |
PUNE: The suicide ridden Vidarbha region may soon emerge as the chief supplier of orange juice and concentrate. A Swiss company, Citrus International, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state’s marketing department to set up an orange processing plant with the capacity to crush 400,000 tonnes annually. The plant at Amravati will be set up with an investment of about US 34 million.
Read full article [indiatimes.com]
posted @ Sunday, March 01, 2009 11:43 AM |
New Delhi (PTI): Sugar output in India may slump 39 per cent to 16 million tonnes this season, prompting the largest consuming nation in the world to import a projected 1.5 million tonnes, according to an industry estimate.
"According to the latest estimate, sugar production is pegged at 16 million tonnes," Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) Director General SL Jain told PTI.
Read full article [hindu.com]
posted @ Sunday, March 01, 2009 11:24 AM |
The Integradora Comercial de Ejutla (the Ejutla Commercial Integrated Company), representing over 15 commercial brands, signed an export contract with the company MEX-CAL Inc., a California USA based company dedicated to importing spirits. Two hundred mezcal producing families with the brands Forever Oaxaca, Felino, Real de Jalpa and Guerrero, will benefit from said contract. Soon contracts by the same brands will be signed with the Chinese market.
Read full article [pvmirror.com]
posted @ Sunday, March 01, 2009 11:15 AM |
March 1 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez sought to tighten his grip on South America’s third-largest economy as he ordered National Guard troops to seize control of rice-processing mills for allegedly failing to observe government price controls.
Read full article [Bloomberg]
posted @ Sunday, March 01, 2009 11:02 AM |
MADRID, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Spanish food company SOS Cuetara reported a 62.5 percent fall in core earnings on Friday, hurt by a Spanish sunflower oil scare in April. - All sunflower oil was withdrawn from the market in the scare after the discovery of a contaminated batch from Ukraine -- Spain's main supplier.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Sunday, March 01, 2009 10:57 AM |
LONDON, March 1 (Reuters) - Premier Foods , Britain's biggest food maker, is expected to raise 400 million pounds ($567.8 million) this week through a rights issue and share placing to reduce its debt pile, said a report in the Sunday Times.
Read full article [Reuters]
posted @ Sunday, March 01, 2009 10:52 AM |
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