UK: Sainsbury’s announces 16.3% rise in annual pre-tax profit
UK retailer Sainsbury’s has reported a rise in annual its pre-tax profit to £898 million ($1.524 billion) for the year ending 15th March, more than 16% higher than its previous annual profit of £772 million ($1.310 billion). Like-for-like sales, however, which excludes trading at new stores & fuel, rose by just 0.2% against the backdrop […]
Netherlands: Mondelez International & D.E Master Blenders 1753 form new coffee business
Mondelez International has announced that it has reached an agreement with D.E Master Blenders 1753 B.V. to combine their respective coffee businesses to create a new “pure-play” company to be known as Jacobs Douwe Egberts. The new company, which will have annual revenues of more than $7 billion, will be based in the Netherlands and […]
France: Poult to be sold to the Qualium fund
The Poult biscuit brand is to change hands, LSA reports, following an agreement reached between a private equity firm and an investment fund. LBO France, which has owned Poult since late 2006, has signed an agreement to sell the company to Qualium Investment (a subsidiary of Caisse des Depots) by July 2014. It is reported […]
Denmark / Netherlands: Twinpack and Hedegaard Foods explore egg packaging innovation
Twinpack B.V., a Dutch packaging company, has joined forces with food manufacturer Hedegaard Foods A/S to set up the packaging company Eggs-Posure, with the vision of providing creative packaging concepts for the global egg industry. The new company wants to “generate added value for the global egg industry” and has already launched eggyplay®, a patented […]
UK: Drinks industry on course to remove 1 billion units of alcohol from the market
According to the latest figures release by the Department of Health, UK drinks manufacturers and retailers are on target to achieve their agreement of removing 1 billion units of alcohol from the UK market by the end of next year. The Department of Health report showed that the reduction in strength of some alcoholic drinks […]
UK: Three times as many electronic cigarette consumers as two years ago, report finds
The latest figures release from Ash (Action on Smoking and Health), a health charity, has shown that in the past two years the number of electronic cigarette users has tripled in the UK. Their research revealed an estimated increase from 700,000 to 2.1 million users in the period between 2012 and 2014. The report also […]
Russia: Mondelez to build a new factory near Novosibirsk
Mondelez has recently announced its plans to invest US$110 million to build a new multi-category factory and logistics park in the Novosibirsk region. According to press releases, the plant will comprise 36.9 hectares and will be the company’s most modern manufacturing facility in Russia, with a capacity of 50,000 tonness per year. The investment will […]
Germany: Schwarz Gruppe reports double-digit sales growth
Schwarz Gruppe, which operates the supermarket chains Lidl and Kaufland, has finished the financial year with double-digit sales growth, Handelsblatt reports. Total income for the year ending February 2014 was €74 billion ($103 billion), an increase of 10% on FY 2013. A company spokesperson is reported as attributing the increase to growth in same-store store […]
France: Diana Group to be acquired by Symrise
According to reports, Diana Group of France is to be acquired for €1.3 billion (US$1.8 billion) by the German scents and flavours group Symrise. Diana is active in the food, pet food, nutraceuticals, aquaculture and cosmetics space and has become one of the leading suppliers of organoleptic solutions based on natural ingredients, Symrise said in […]
UK: Mars adds Snickers & Skittles shakes to its range
Mars has announced it has added two new products to its Mars drinks range – Skittles and Snickers milkshakes. The milk drink range, which comes in a 350ml bottle, now encompasses a wide range of shakes, such as Bounty, Galaxy, Mars, Mars Caramel, Milky Way and Starburst, as well as the new Skittles and Snickers […]