Chilled foods

Uniq: Brands will drive footfall at M&S, but not in the desserts fixture

23-Jul-2010 - Marks & Spencer's decision to introduce branded products into its stores is good news for its own-label suppliers, according to the firm making more than half of its sandwiches and most of its desserts.

Uniq "still viable" despite £436m pension deficit

22-Jul-2010 - Uniq is still a viable business despite the £400m+ hole in its pension fund, and it is “still plausible” that a solution will be found to enable it to trade its way out of trouble, analysts have claimed.

News in brief

Regulator won't give Uniq clearance for pension framework

19-Jul-2010 - The pensions regulator has refused to clear Uniq's proposed plan to pay off its £400m+ pension scheme deficit.

News in brief

Greencore to sell Dutch convenience foods arm

15-Jul-2010 - Greencore has announced plans to sell its Dutch convenience foods business Greencore Continental in a bid to reduce net debt and focus on its core UK and US operations.

GMB to launch strike ballot at Bakkavör Pizza, Harrow

14-Jul-2010 - Industrial action at Bakkavör’s pizza plant in Harrow moved one step closer today as staff voted overwhelmingly in favour of rejecting the firm's latest pay offer and pledged to conduct a strike ballot.

Northern Foods Q1 figures "worryingly poor"

13-Jul-2010 - First quarter sales figures at Northern Foods were "surprisingly, indeed worryingly, poor", according to City analysts.

Bakkavör faces strike threat as pay talks falter

01-Jul-2010 - Chilled food giant Bakkavör has become the latest food manufacturer to become embroiled in a pay dispute that threatens to spill over into industrial action.

Danone: We axed Shape satiety yogurt because of the taste

01-Jul-2010 - Danone finally ditched its Shape Feel Fuller for Longer yogurt because it could not get the taste right, but insists it still believes there is a market for products promoting satiety.

Hain Celestial: Churchill production will move to Luton

30-Jun-2010 - Hain Celestial will switch production from recently-acquired food-to-go firm Churchill Food Products from Nottingham to its larger facility in Luton, but insisted that staff would be “actively encouraged” to move to Luton “if they are able to do so”.

Danone (quietly) ditches Shape 'Feel fuller for longer'

28-Jun-2010 - Danone has quietly dropped its hunger-busting Feel fuller for longer brand and pumped all available resources into promoting its Shape Zer0% fat-free yogurts instead.

Churchill staff face uncertain future as new owner Hain Celestial explores 'synergies'

17-Jun-2010 - Staff at Nottingham-based food-to-go firm Churchill Food Products face an uncertain future following its acquisition by Hain Celestial.

Northern Foods: 'Holland's Pies is not up for sale'

10-Jun-2010 - Northern Foods bosses "have not and are not looking to sell" Holland's Pies, the firm has insisted following its controversial decision to suspend the pie maker's md.

Daniels auctions contents of London soup factory

07-Jun-2010 - An auction to sell off kit from Daniels Chilled Foods' soup factory in Hythe Road, London, kicks off on Wednesday (June 9) following the recent closure of the site with the loss of 40 jobs.

Sandwich firm fined following “uncontrolled mice infestation”

07-Jun-2010 - Southall-based sandwich maker Bream Foods has been fined £20,000 after pleading guilty to a string of offences from failing to tackle an “uncontrolled mice infestation” to washing salads in sinks lined with grease.

Juice under pressure for longer life

04-Jun-2010 - A new fruit juice with an extended shelf-life has been launched in the UK, thanks to a novel processing technique.

Müller dispute with supplier highlights contractual perils

03-Jun-2010 - Müller Dairy UK has vowed to pursue automated solutions provider RTS Flexible Systems for "substantial damages" following the outcome of a UK Supreme Court verdict on a costly legal dispute.

News in brief

Northern Foods: ‘Game-changing’ technologies will deliver USP in ready meals

02-Jun-2010 - Working with academics and other partners to develop “game-changing” technologies could give Northern Foods a real point of difference in the ready meals market, bosses have claimed.

School Food Trust survives bonfire of quangos

26-May-2010 - The School Food Trust (SFT) has emerged relatively unscathed from the coalition government’s bonfire of the quangos.

TSC to create 50 jobs following £2m investment

26-May-2010 - Chilled soups and sauces maker TSC Foods is pumping £2m into new kit to increase production capacity at its plant in Scunthorpe.

Brands boost food like-for-like sales at M&S

25-May-2010 - Branded goods have driven an increase in the average number of items bought during each visit to Marks & Spencer, which is seeing "strong like-for-like growth in the original trial stores", bosses have revealed.

Greencore: Factory closures have tackled overcapacity

25-May-2010 - While margins in chilled ready meals manufacturing remain wafer-thin, factory closures in the sector have gone “some way” to rebalancing supply and demand, Greencore has claimed.

Bolland must take M&S online to compete with Waitrose

24-May-2010 - If Marks & Spencer wants to compete with Waitrose in the long-term it should embark on a radical restructure of its property portfolio, develop a full-range convenience offer at its high street stores and make a serious move into online food shopping, according to City analysts.

Greencore: sandwich market has solid potential

19-May-2010 - Barring another financial crash, the UK sandwich market should continue to see solid growth this year as shoppers tire of making their own packed lunches and look to retailers and caterers to provide an affordable alternative, according to one leading supplier.

Ginsters: play with portion size at your peril

10-May-2010 - Attempts to tackle saturated fat levels by reducing portion sizes could backfire if consumers don’t understand what you are trying to achieve, Ginsters has warned.