All news articles for July 2010

John Duffy

Finsbury: Shoppers are "bored” with cake fixture

By Elaine Watson

Shoppers are "becoming bored" with the cake fixtures in supermarkets, but rising input costs and weak retail pricing are making it difficult for firms to add excitement and value back into the category, according to the boss of Finsbury Food...

Tropicana

Wrigley, Tropicana, Kraft, sign up to new food safety scheme

By Elaine Watson

More than 70 food factories including the Wrigley plant in Tennessee, Tropicana factories in Fort Pierce and Bradenton, Kraft’s biscuit factory in Granollers, Spain, and DSM’s vitamins factory in Ayrshire, Scotland, have now gained certification under...

Peppersmith co-founders Mike Stevens and Dan Shrimpton

By gum, I think they've got it!

Ben & Jerry, Green & Black, and, er, Mike & Dan? If Peppersmith gum co-founders Mike Stevens and Dan Shrimpton are not quite household names just yet, give it a few years and they might just turn out to be one of grocery’s more interesting...

Amazon.co.uk

“Teething problems” won’t scupper Amazon launch

By Elaine Watson

Significant “teething problems” notwithstanding, Amazon.co.uk’s online grocery store has a good chance of success in the long-term, according to food manufacturers taking part in the launch.

Ageing food factories suffer electrical problems

Ageing food factories suffer electrical problems

By Ben Bouckley

Electrical problems at ageing food factories are a principal cause of almost 20% of industry property losses, according to insurance broker Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT).

sweetcorn

FDF: Resolve legal limbo on 'no added salt' claims

By Elaine Watson

A clutch of widely-used nutrition claims from ‘no added salt’ and ‘low-Gi’ to ‘10% less fat’ remain in a state of legal limbo as discussions over whether to allow them under the health claims Regulation drag on.

Retail food price inflation to hover around 2% for next two years

Retail food price inflation to hover around 2% for next two years

By Elaine Watson

Food manufacturers will be under pressure to absorb higher raw material and energy costs this year to ensure their products remain affordable as household budgets are squeezed, English Food and Farming Partnerships (EFFP) has warned.

Uniq

Uniq "still viable" despite £436m pension deficit

By Elaine Watson

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.

Zetar

Zetar posts 40% leap in profits on sales up 11%

By Elaine Watson

“Extreme” cost increases have hit demand for nuts and seeds, but strong growth in chocolate, dried fruit and snacks has helped Zetar notch up double-digit rises in sales and profits this year.

Food Standards Agency

Government confirms retention of slimline FSA

By Ben Bouckley

The government has confirmed that a slimmed-down Food Standards Agency (FSA) will survive with a renewed focus on food safety, but will lose its English responsibility for country of origin labelling and policy relating to food composition and nutrition.

Twinings Tea Bags

Deadline for Twinings job losses pushed back

By Ben Bouckley

The first round of redundancies at Twinings’ North Shields factory has been delayed until February 2011, having originally been due to start this September.

EC quizzes Polish authorities on Twinings factory fund

EC quizzes Polish authorities on Twinings factory fund

By Ben Bouckley

The EU Commission is seeking “formal guarantees” from the Polish authorities that Twinings is not using an EU funding award to invest in a multi-million euro factory that will see the relocation of UK production facilities abroad.

Caroline Spelman: FSA should remain independent

Caroline Spelman: FSA should remain independent

By Elaine Watson

Breaking up the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and shifting those parts responsible for food safety into the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) would be a mistake, according to DEFRA secretary of state Caroline Spelman.

DEFRA: China and India must buy into sustainable palm

DEFRA: China and India must buy into sustainable palm

By Elaine Watson

China, India and the US must make firm commitments to sourcing sustainable palm oil if any meaningful progress is to be made on tackling deforestation, according to one UK government minister.

Flour prices up 15-20% as harvest approaches, says Premier Foods

Flour prices up 15-20% as harvest approaches, says Premier Foods

By Elaine Watson

Flour prices could head further north this summer, driven by a combination of lower-than-anticipated corn planting in the US, reduced wheat production forecasts in Russia and Canada and lower yields in Europe, Premier Foods is predicting.

Greencore to sell Dutch convenience foods arm

Greencore to sell Dutch convenience foods arm

By Elaine Watson

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.

Moy Park Chicken Kiev

Moy Park to expand capacity at Derbyshire site by 25%

By Elaine Watson and Ben Bouckley

A £10m extension to increase production capacity at Moy Park’s Ashbourne poultry processing site by 25% is due for completion this autumn, FoodManufacture.co.uk understands.

pizza

GMB to launch strike ballot at Bakkavör Pizza, Harrow

By Elaine Watson

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.

IFST: Dismantling FSA would be

IFST: Dismantling FSA would be "huge loss" to industry

By Elaine Watson

Press reports suggesting that breaking up the Food Standards Agency (FSA) would constitute a ‘victory’ for the food industry are misleading and “very annoying”, according to the boss of the Institute of Food Science & Technology (IFST).

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