Under fire Premier Foods has backtracked on its controversial ‘pay-and-stay’ programme, after a storm of criticism about its demands for suppliers to invest in the business or lose their listing with the firm.
Half of food firms’ financial difficulties have been linked to companies demanding one-off payments from their suppliers in a similar way to Premier Foods, according to one industry expert.
Premier Foods’s demands that its suppliers invest in its business or face de-listing have unleashed a storm of protest on the social media networking site Twitter. Here we capture, in tweets, a flavour of the row.
The chancellor’s Autumn Statement should deliver more incentives to encourage innovation and research and development, according to the boss of meat alternatives business Quorn Foods.
Irish meat firm Dawn Meats was the big winner at the 2014 Food manufacturing excellence awards, earlier this month, picking up the Environmental initiative of the year and the overall Company of the year.
Hundreds of food and drink industry professionals gathered at the Park Lane Hilton Hotel to celebrate the very best in UK food and drink manufacturing, last month (Thursday November 20).
DNA sequencing and biofortification of food will create the biggest opportunities for food businesses to respond to pressure to operate more sustainably in 2015, according to the UK’s innovation agency Innovate UK.
Up to 87 jobs could go as Mizkan restructures its European operations, 66 of which are under threat at its Bury St Edmunds Branston pickle factory, formerly owned by Premier Foods.
Final preparations are underway for our James Bond-themed Food and Drink Manufacturing Excellence Awards (FMEAs), which will take place this Thursday with TV star Mark Durden-Smith at the Park Lane Hilton Hotel in London.
The performance of Associated British Foods’s (ABF’s) sugar division was worse than expected in preliminary full-year results to September 13, according to City analyst Shore Capital.
Food recycler Nutrafeed Ltd was dragged into administration after a contract with Weetabix to handle waste cereal led it into severe financial difficulties, according to an administrators’ report from Duff & Phelps.
Community Foods plans to launch its healthy snacks brand Jumble Bee into Morrisons after its debut in 480 Tesco stores in August and is exploring ways to broaden its reach further.
C-stores and online retailers offer Premier Foods considerable growth potential and the maker of Mr Kipling cakes is working on bespoke products for those channels, according to ceo Gavin Darby.
The influence of technology and social media on the nation’s diet is the top of seven key food and drink trends, identified by posh retailer Waitrose this year, based on millions of purchases in shops and online.
Premier Foods saw branded value sales fall in its third financial quarter (Q3) as the maker of Mr Kipling cakes and Ambrosia desserts was stung by supermarkets losing share to discounters.
Food prices would rocket if pesticides were banned or their use severely restricted, according to the National Farmers Union (NFU); a claim hotly disputed by environmental pressure group Friends of the Earth (FoE).
Premier Foods has delivered “a truly awful 2014 stock performance”, despite making solid restructuring progress, said City analyst Shore Capital, ahead of the firm’s third-quarter trading results, due for release later this week.
Seabrook Crisps has invested £32,730 in new machinery and the creation of at least four jobs as part of wider plans to boost innovation, improve production flexibility and boost sales.
Premier Foods is targeting eating occasions and changing shopper habits in order to boost sales of brands such as Mr Kipling cakes and Ambrosia desserts, according to its boss Gavin Darby.
Supermarkets must work on lowering prices instead of relying on promotions, if they are to boost their declining sales, delegates at IGD’s annual Convention were told yesterday (October 7).
Freedom Food will tap into the foodservice sector for business in the next 12 months to increase funds and to boost its overall consumer presence, the organisation’s new ceo has said.
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the food and drink manufacturing sector will be stung by the worsening supermarket price wars, a leading analyst has warned.
Discount retailers, such as Aldi and Lidl, are less likely to breach the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP) than the big four, the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) Christine Tacon has claimed.
The upsurge of the discounters may finally be over as the “imploding” big four take decisive action to tackle them, leading city analysts have claimed.
Fines of hundreds of millions of pounds could be imposed on retailers if they are found to be in breach of the Groceries Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP).
Graze, the online retailer of healthy, portion-controlled snacks, which are sold direct to the consumer, continues it meteoric rise as it today reports a 31% increase in sales to £52.7M for the year ended February 28.
Aldi will attack the premium end of the food market by targeting wealthy consumers this Christmas, bosses have said, after announcing a 65% increase in its UK profits to £260.9M.
A trade buyer looks set to acquire United Biscuits (UB) if a sale is decided upon, with Kellogg a strong contender among three core bidders, according to an industry expert.
British Sugar has temporarily avoided a costly and time-consuming investigation into its market practices, with the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) confirming it will not pursue the probe for now.
Universal Flexible Packaging (UFP) is investing £11M in a new snack factory in Lewisher Road, Leicester, which will create 56 jobs as it shifts production from its Lunsford Road facility.
Ready meal industry mavericks Jonny Bingham and David Jones have claimed they can save one retailer up to £10M in food waste with a new chilled ready meal format.
Premier Foods’s creation of three strategic business units (SBUs) may change little, as the company still faces major challenges if it is to progress, according to one industry expert.
Mary Berry, star of BBC One’s The Great British Bake Off, has sold her dressings, sauces and chutney business Mary Berry & Daughter to fine foods distributor RH Amar.
Aberdeen-based soups and condiments manufacturer Baxters has bolstered its commitment to developing skills in Scotland’s food and drink industry through its Supervisors for the Future programme.
David and Bill Jordan, the brothers who launched the Jordans cereals brand, have taken over ownership of European Oat Millers (EOM), a major supplier of breakfast cereal ingredients and own-label breakfast cereals.
KP Snacks’s plans to close factories at Consett in County Durham and Corby in Northamptonshire, threatening up to 186 jobs, have ‘devastated’ longstanding workers there, according to trades union GMB.
Nearly 40,000 new food and drink manufacturing jobs could be created within the next year, as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) prepare to spend more money on staff.
More than 40% of consumers are worried about the quality and safety of ingredients in prepared food from supermarkets, according to independent research firm RPA.
Heinz’s recall of some infant cereal products in China after excessive quantities of lead were detected in ingredient samples has prompted calls for tough global food standards.
UK mustard production could be at severe risk, causing problems for manufacturers of brands such as Unilever’s Colman’s mustard, if a ban on neonicotinoid pesticides is enforced in the UK, a leading seed geneticist has warned.
Kellogg buying United Biscuits would make sense, according to an expert with prior senior history at UB, as media speculation over the possibility of such a deal intensified.
Retired football star Fabrice Muamba has launched a range of Caribbean cooking sauces along with his wife Shauna to help raise money for the charity that saved his life when he suffered a sudden cardiac arrest in 2012.
Morrisons is trying to turnaround poor sales and boost its slow-starting online business by giving cash to customers in conjunction with third-party rewards platform Quidco.
