Ambient foods

Feature

Chasing rainbows: Natural colours and supply chain control

04-Mar-2013 - As demand for natural food colours grows, suppliers and their customers are paying more attention to traceability and supply chain control. Paul Gander reports.

Premier Foods: ‘handle with caution’, says City

22-Feb-2013 - Premier Foods’ full-year results for the year ended December 31 2012 divided City analysts but all agreed its debt mountain continued to give cause for concern.

Premier Foods could be forced to sell power brands: City

18-Feb-2013 - Britain’s biggest food manufacturer Premier Foods could be forced to compromise its recovery plan by selling key power brands to boost its troubled balanced sheet, according to a leading City analyst.

Unions seek British jobs assurances in wake of shock £18bn Heinz takeover

15-Feb-2013 - Union bosses are seeking urgent meetings with the new owners of Heinz after it was snapped up by a consortium led by US investor Warren Buffett in a shock £18bn deal.

Premier Foods’ ‘revolving door’ slammed after another boss leaves

06-Feb-2013 - City analyst Investec has criticised the “revolving door” at Premier Foods, after another key member of its management team left the firm this week.

News in brief

Versatile lid spices up herbs and seasoning products

06-Feb-2013 - Increasing competition from own-label, as well as more attention to consumer preferences, is helping to usher in fresh packaging innovation in herbs and spices.

Feature

The gold crush

04-Feb-2013 - Crushing rapeseed is a booming business, as Gary Scattergood discovers

Premier Foods parts company with Geoff Eaton

04-Feb-2013 - Four months after joining Premier Foods, its chief operating officer Geoff Eaton has left the firm, on the same day (February 4) its new ceo Gavin Darby, joined the debt-laden food manufacturer.

News in brief

Premier Foods completes sale of pickles business

04-Feb-2013 - Britain’s biggest food manufacturer Premier Foods has confirmed the completion of the sale of its sweet pickles and table sauces business to Mizkan for £92.5M in cash.

Premier Foods boss Michael Clarke in shock exit

28-Jan-2013 - The boss of Britain’s biggest food manufacturer, Premier Foods, has quit the debt-laden company today (January 28) after only 18 months, in a move that surprised City analysts.

Premier Foods issues ‘short and sweet’ trading statement

18-Jan-2013 - Premier Foods' "short and sweet" trading statement issued yesterday (January 17) reveals the progress senior management is making in reviving the fortunes of the debt-laden food manufacturer, according to City analysts.

PepsiCo’s machines replace people as 87 jobs come under threat at Walkers

14-Jan-2013 - PepsiCo is considering replacing 87 staff with modern packaging machines at its Walkers crisps factory in Lincoln.

Ambient Manufacturing Company of the Year

04-Dec-2012 - Sponsored by Fowler WelchWinner: Burts Chips

Microsphere technology cuts sodium

04-Dec-2012 - Tate & Lyle says its new salt reduction ingredient, Soda-Lo Salt Microspheres, enables manufacturers to reduce salt levels by up to 50% without sacrificing on a product's taste.

Dragons’ Den sauce sisters on road to Levi Roots fame

28-Nov-2012 - Dragons’ Den’s sauce manufacturing sisters Lisa and Helen Tse are on the road to achieving their dream of making their Chinese sauces as big as Levi Roots’ Reggae Reggae brand.

News in brief

Food manufacturing boss repays £1.7M bonus

23-Nov-2012 - A former boss of Kettle Chips maker Diamond Foods has pledged to repay two years’ bonuses and resigned his position after a financial scandal engulfed the business earlier this year.

Snack food firm faces £40,000 fine after Border Agency Raid

16-Nov-2012 - An Asian snack food supplier in Chadwell Heath, north east London is facing a £40,000 fine after four men were arrested on suspicion of working illegally in Britain during a raid by the UK Border Agency.

Premier plans US invasion of the Power Brands

05-Nov-2012 - Premier Foods has confirmed reports that it is in talks with US supermarket chain Wal-Mart in a bid to launch its Power Brands on the US market.

Feature

Cracking the code

31-Oct-2012 - New British Egg Industry Council chairman Andrew Joret played a pivotal role in restoring trust in British eggs, reports Gary Scattergood

Premier Foods scales debt mountain with £92.5M Mizkan sale

30-Oct-2012 - Food manufacturer Premier Foods moved closer to reducing its debt mountain today (October 30) with the confirmation of a conditional agreement to sell its sweet pickles and table sauces business to Mizkan for £92.5M in cash.

Food firm fined £12k after worker’s 'preventable' fall

26-Oct-2012 - Bedford grain milling firm European Oat Millers has been fined £12,000 after one of its workers fell 3m while working on a night shift.

Premier Food’s Power Brands pull their weight, relief ‘palpable’: City

23-Oct-2012 - Britain’s biggest food manufacturer Premier Foods reported a 2% rise in underlying sales growth in an interim management statement covering the three months to September 30 that drew both praise and relief from City analysts.

Food firm faces £120k fine after UK Border Agency’s illegal worker raid

22-Oct-2012 - A north London food manufacturer faces a £120,000 fine, after a raid from the UK Border Agency in which 12 people were arrested for immigration offences.

News in brief

Co-op recalls pasta sauce over glass fears

19-Oct-2012 - The Co-op has recalled a batch of its own-brand Truly Irresistible Whole Cherry Tomato and Chilli Pasta Sauce because of a manufacturing fault, which could have led to some of the jars containing pieces of glass.