Ambient foods

Real growth lies in retail, says Lees Foods boss

Real growth lies in retail, says Lees Foods boss

By Ben Bouckley

Despite his firm's successful push to boost foodservice sales over the past year, Lees Foods ceo Clive Miquel believes the retail sector is where the “real growth lies” , as the company looks to extend its brands into complementary product areas.

Greencore cfo insists business is not for sale

Greencore cfo insists business is not for sale

By Ben Bouckley

Greencore cfo Alan Williams has told FoodManufacture.co.uk that he can "categorically confirm the business is not for sale", following a news report that said the €850m turnover convenience foods group had held talks with private equity firms...

Wilkin & Sons to preserve Tiptree base?

Wilkin & Sons to preserve Tiptree base?

By Anne Bruce

Jam producer Wilkin & Sons says its main focus during 2011 is to find new premises, which could possibly involve moving from its iconic site in the village of Tipree, Essex.

Northern Foods proposes Leeds head office closure

Northern Foods proposes Leeds head office closure

By Ben Bouckley

Northern Foods is proposing to close it Leeds office and move the majority of staff to its ‘shared service centre’ in Wakefield, FoodManufacture.co.uk has learnt, as owner Ranjit Boparan starts restructuring his new acquisition.

Zetar counts the cost of snacking...

Zetar counts the cost of snacking...

By Ben Bouckley

Confectionery and snacks group Zetar has described the last year as a ''difficult period'' for its snacks division, as sales flatlined and commodity costs rose.

Daivd Beckham: Pepsi's YouTube video of the football icon is indicative of a growing trend

Large brands boost online advertising spend

By Rick Pendrous

Major brand owners such as Coca-Cola, Mars and Unilever are increasing their marketing spend on social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to interact directly with consumers using smartphones, while small firms are also upping their...

Artist's impression of the new Ruskin Square development

Nestlé UK may be tempted to stay in Croydon

By Graham Holter

Nestlé UK may keep its headquarters in Croydon, despite reissuing a warning that it is "reviewing other options" outside the London borough in a bid to escape its dilapidated site by 2014.

PepsiCo UK, porridge

PepsiCo UK invests £8.5m in porridge site

By Ben Bouckley

PepsiCo UK is pumping £8.5m into its Quaker Oats site in Fife to meet increasing demand for hot cereals, which have grown 13% in the year to March 19 2011, according to Nielsen.

Moving Foods' No Nut Nutty Chocolate spread removes the risk of an anaphylactic shock at 35,000ft

Ready, spready go...

By Ben Bouckley

Peanut butter is now Britain’s fastest growing sweet spread with sales up by over 40% from 2008 to £40m in 2010, according to market intelligence firm Mintel.

Ocado ceo Tim Steiner: Increasing numbers of food firms are entering the online grocery arena

Online sales help brands counter own label threat

By Ben Bouckley

Limited supermarket shelf space and own label competition are reasons why food firms are growing online sales, both directly and through third-party sites, says food and grocery analyst IGD.

IT meltdown: Brakes ceo Stefan Barden wants to

Major IT meltdown puts the skids on Brakes

By Anne Bruce

Foodservice giant Brakes has apologised to customers following a massive IT breakdown last week, which meant staff in warehouses could not pick food and send out orders.

Unifine UK md acclaims Dawn Foods takeover

Unifine UK md acclaims Dawn Foods takeover

By Ben Bouckley

Unifine Food & Bake Ingredients UK md Simon Solway has greeted the news that US firm Dawn Foods wishes to acquire his firm as a “very positive move”.

Former Kellogg's UK md Greg Peterson: pastures new

Kellogg's UK md steps down

By Ben Bouckley

Kellogg's UK md Greg Paterson has stepped down, with the food manufacturer appointing a temporary successor until it finds a suitable long-term replacement.

Wales is a winner on waste

Wales is a winner on waste

Environment minister for Wales, Jane Davidson opened consultation on the ‘Food Manufacture, Service and Retail Sector plan’ for waste last month. She did so during a visit to Wales’s first commercial-scale anaerobic digestion (AD) plant at Premier Foods’s...

Stand-off

Stand-off

By Rod Addy

Geneva has a rich history. The earliest stages of St Peter's Cathedral there date back to 1160. A famous hotbed for Protestant revolutionary zeal in the 16th18th Century and home to church reformer Calvin, the European headquarters of the UN is also...

Full force of the law

Full force of the law

By Lynda Searby

January marked the end of the two-year transition period for flavouring regulation EC 1334/2008, which means firms are expected to have completed any changes necessary to comply with the new law.

Making food family fun

Making food family fun

By Mark Rigby

As an industry we spend a great deal of time and money developing ‘healthy’ food solutions and menus for schools and support the ‘food’ education of children in school. However, once a child leaves the school gate there is very little support and, in...

Santa Maria gears up for boom in Mexican food

Santa Maria gears up for boom in Mexican food

By Freddie Dawson

Mexican is becoming a favourite ethnic cuisine in the UK, according to Sweden-based manufacturing group, Santa Maria, which is gearing up to cash in on the trend.

Management buyout of Northumbrian Fine Foods

Management buyout of Northumbrian Fine Foods

By Ben Bouckley

Managers at Northumbrian Fine Foods have bought the company off private equity owners and plan to invest in the business in a bid to push turnover above £12m in 2011.

Unilever says Colman’s investment may cut jobs

Unilever says Colman’s investment may cut jobs

By Ben Bouckley

Unilever says it is spending around £2.6m to upgrade production and expand production at its historic Colman’s mustard factory in Norwich, but admits that it could shed up to 20 jobs as a result.

No can do? Keynote is gloomy about the future of canned foods

The decline and fall of canned foods?

By Graham Holter

Some parts of the canned foods industry are doomed, according to a new report from analysts at research firm Key Note, which predicts that total UK volume sales will continue to fall, despite a predicted rise in sales value.

Ranjit Boparan: Rasing the Northern stakes

Game, set, match Boparan?

By Ben Bouckley

Ranjit Boparan is one step closer to taking over Northern Foods after announcing yesterday that he now controls over 70% of the convenience food group’s shares, although one analyst said the industrial logic of a tie-up with Greencore would have been...

Bee venom honey maker stung by FSA ruling

Bee venom honey maker stung by FSA ruling

By Ben Bouckley

A producer of honey with added bee venom has described the Food Standards Agency (FSA’s) rejection of UK - and by extension EU - licensing for his product under the novel foods regulation as “hard to rationalise”.

Boparan: Sitting pretty in bid for Northern

Greencore calls time on Northern romance

By Ben Bouckley

Greencore said this morning that it does not intend to make a revised offer for Northern Foods to rival Ranjit Boparan’s 73p/share offer, which means the Midlands businessman is one step closer to tying the knot with Northern shareholders by March 16th.

Robert Schofield

Own-label woe puts Premier jobs at risk

By Ben Bouckley, Graham Holter and Anne Bruce

Premier Foods plans to close its distribution centre in Chandler’s Ford, Hampshire as it rationalises its south coast operations, while the firm has also rebuffed rumours of a management change.

Crisp competition drives Kettle expansion

Crisp competition drives Kettle expansion

By Anne Bruce

Kettle Chips will shortly begin work on a £6.8m investment in extra production facilities at its Norwich base, in a move that could create up to 35 new jobs.

Ranjit Boparan: holds pole position for Northern but Greencore still in race

Race for Northern Foods could go to wire

By Ben Bouckley

The battle between food titans Greencore and Ranjit Boparan to take over Northern Foods could still go right to the wire, despite the expiry today of a deadline set by the latter for Northern's shareholders to formally accept his bid.

Use of late customisation is rising

Use of late customisation is rising

By Rick Pendrous

The concept of late customisation looks to be expanding out of the confines of research departments and into mainstream manufacturing operations. It’s a way of cost-effectively making a variety of products that use a common ingredient by adding flavour...

Goldenfry Foods wins trade secrets case

Goldenfry Foods wins trade secrets case

By Ben Bouckley

Goldenfry Foods has a won a legal judgement against three former employees who misused trade secrets to establish a breakaway company and appropriate a £5m supermarket contract for gravy granules.

Sugar beet crop

English weather subdues ABF trading

By Ben Bouckley

Associated British Foods (ABF) has issued what stockbroker Shore Capital describes as a “rather subdued” trading update, following a disastrous UK beet sugar harvest

Hügli Group doubles UK production capacity

Hügli Group doubles UK production capacity

By Graham Holter and Ben Bouckley

Dry blended foods producer the Hügli Group has invested around £2m to double the size of its UK production facility and process more savoury products such as soups and sauces.

Ranjit Boparan: Could his 11.4% stake in Northern Foods prove decisive?

Pressure on Greencore to up stakes in Northern bid

By Ben Bouckley

Greencore is under pressure to table a viable counter-bid by March 2 to beat Ranjit Boparan in the struggle to takeover Northern Foods, but still has advantages on its side if it does do so, says one City analyst.

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