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Poor spring weather dents Unilever’s ice cream sales in Europe

26-Apr-2013 - Unilever’s ice cream sales in Europe have been hit by the poor Spring weather, it has emerged as the consumer goods giant announced its first quarter (Q1) results yesterday (April 25).

Tyrells Crisps wins Queen’s Award for Enterprise

26-Apr-2013 - Tyrrells Potato Crisps has been recognised with a prestigious award for outstanding success in exports – not least for its entry into Russia, where it has been able to command a staggering £5 a pack in Moscow’s premium food outlets.

News in brief

GlaxoSmithKline to sell Lucozade and Ribena brands

26-Apr-2013 - GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has announced it is to sell its soft drink brands Lucozade and Ribena, in a bid to improve its strategic focus and enhance its growth profile.

Pret A Manger unveils 500 new jobs and youngsters’ plan

26-Apr-2013 - Work for Pret A Manger and save yourself £27,000 in university fees was the message from ceo Clive Schlee, as the sandwich chain rolls out a school leaver programme and announces 500 new UK jobs.

Premier Foods has too many suppliers: ceo Gavin Darby

24-Apr-2013 - The boss of Britain’s biggest food manufacturer Premier Foods Gavin Darby says the firm has too many suppliers.

News in brief

Coca-Cola plan to axe nearly 300 jobs is ‘devastating blow’

24-Apr-2013 - Unite the union has slammed Coca-Cola Enterprises’ (CCE’s) plan to cut nearly 300 jobs as “a devastating blow”.

Allied Bakeries to commission its largest bread plant

23-Apr-2013 - Allied Bakeries is on target to commission its largest bread plant, with a capacity of 10,000 loaves an hour, at Walthamstow in East London this summer.

Greggs wins approval for £30M savouries factory

22-Apr-2013 - High street baker Greggs has won approval to build a new frozen savouries factory in the Midlands, as the firm pursues its store expansion plan and continues its move into packaged supermarket retail.

Guest article

Going commando would pay off for food manufacturers

19-Apr-2013 - The world of food manufacturing and the soldier may seem very far apart at first glance, but they both operate in uncertain and rapidly changing environments, writes Damian McKinney, former Royal Marine and founder of business execution consultancy McKinney Rogers.

ABP sells Silvercrest plant that made horsemeat burgers

19-Apr-2013 - The Silvercrest factory in the Irish Republic that sold burgers contaminated with horse DNA to Tesco, Burger King and the Co-operative Group, has been sold by its parent company ABP Food Group to Kepak Group.

Tesco profits 51% down and plan to quit US

17-Apr-2013 - Retail giant Tesco has reported pre-tax profits down 51% to £1.96bn – its first profit drop in 20 years – and revealed plans to close its US chain of Fresh & Easy shops in its full-year results for the 52 weeks to February 23.

Burton’s Biscuits invests £13.5M to meet biscuit demand

16-Apr-2013 - Burton’s Biscuit Company is investing £13.5M in its manufacturing operations to enhance production, support new product development, and meet growing demand for its biscuits.

Heinz licensing deal launches pastry line and creates 20 jobs

16-Apr-2013 - Heinz has entered a licensing deal with a Welsh chilled food manufacturer to launch a new range of savoury pastry products, which will create 20 jobs.

Tesco poultry feed decision ‘misleading consumers’, say campaigners

15-Apr-2013 - Tesco is “misleading” consumers over its scrapping of a pledge to only rear poultry on soya feed that’s free of genetic modification (GM), say campaigners.

News in brief

New Essex £25M jam factory plans get go ahead

15-Apr-2013 - Colchester Borough Council’s planning committee has unanimously approved Wilkin & Sons’ application to build a new £25M jam factory in Tiptree, Essex.

Carling workers in ‘high-speed collision’ over ‘severe pay cuts’: Unite

15-Apr-2013 - A representative of the union Unite has warned that Carling management faces an impending “high-speed collision” with brewery workers over the “very severe pay cuts” and “radical changes to shift patterns” it has proposed at its site in Burton-on-Trent.

Groceries Code Adjudicator: like going to Relate – by then it’s too late, says cheese boss

15-Apr-2013 - Having to use the Groceries Code Adjudicator would be like going to the marriage guidance service Relate – by the time you get to that point the relationship has already broken down.

Dragons’ Den sisters open gluten-free food factory

15-Apr-2013 - Dragons’ Den winners Lisa and Helen Tse opened their first food factory last week to meet increasing demand for their gluten-free Chinese sauces.

News in brief

Former Vion plant closes with 310 job losses

12-Apr-2013 - Attempts to find a buyer for Vion’s lamb processing business Welsh Country Foods have failed and the site on the Island of Anglesey will close immediately with the loss of 310 jobs.

Nearly 700 Morrisons jobs at risk from new technology

12-Apr-2013 - Morrisons has revealed plans to cut up to nearly 700 jobs, as part of plans to introduce cash-counting machines across its 490 stores nationwide.

Marks & Spencer benefits from horsemeat crisis

12-Apr-2013 - Upmarket retailer Marks & Spencer’s (M&S’s) “excellent” food sales in the fourth-quarter of 2012/13 could be due to the horsemeat crisis, according to two City analysts.

Premier Foods share value ‘hit by newspaper story’

10-Apr-2013 - The share value of debt-laden food manufacturer Premier Foods has been driven down by one newspaper article, according to City analyst Investec.

130 jobs at risk at distribution centre for Tesco

09-Apr-2013 - A distribution centre for Tesco at Middlewich, Cheshire – operated by CEVA Logistics – faces closure with the potential loss of 130 jobs.

Scottish slaughterhouse fined £9,500 for breaking BSE law

09-Apr-2013 - A Scottish slaughterhouse has been fined £9,500 for breaking a law designed to keep bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) out of the human food chain.

R&R Ice Cream scoops Fredericks Dairies for £49M

09-Apr-2013 - Yorkshire-based R&R Ice Cream has acquired the Lancashire family-owned ice cream maker Fredericks Dairies in a £49M deal.

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