Greencore has announced the terms of a recommended cash offer for Uniq worth £113m, which values the chilled and convenience food firm at 96p per share.
Chilled and frozen food transporter, BW Refrigerated Couriers has started to switch its panel van fleet to Mercedes Sprinter vans, each with 100% Somers ATP-certified refrigerated panel van conversions.
Premier Foods needs urgently to find a successor to ceo Robert Schofield, say industry sources, as the firm continues to hunt for an heir amidst rumoured pressure from institutional investors.
What role is in-pack industrial microwave processing likely to play in the future chilled ready meals market? Paul Gander talks to experts for and against this technology about the likelihood of its adoption in the UK.
Premier Foods has refused to comment on rumours that it is close to selling its own-label chilled foods and cake business RF Brookes and Avana Bakeries to a major industry rival.
Analysts at Shore Capital have described Premier Foods half yearly trading statement released today as “shocking, even by Premier’s standards”, as the company revealed a significant slump in profits for the first half of 2011.
Premier Foods says it has not received an approach for its Sharwoods brand, after the owner of Veetee Food Group reportedly said he had secured financial backing to support a potential bid for it.
From Dairy Crest to the American Muffin Company, we revisit the factory managers and plant directors who keep operations ticking over, all of whom Food Manufacture has visited within the past 12 months.
A food law expert says he is surprised by a new compromise on the EU Food Information Regulation that removes the need for food firms to provide front-of-pack nutrient data, but warns that enhanced Country of Origin Labelling (COOL) could still raise...
A scientist who chairs the UK's independent Committee on Toxicity (COT) says the European Commission’s (EC’s) move to ban the import of baby bottles using Bisphenol A (BPA) is not based on scientific evidence, and has rejected calls to ban its use...
Aramark UK says that suppliers should view a letter it sent on June 1, demanding price reductions of 12% or more, as an “opportunity not a threat”, but a leading foodservice consultant has described the move as an ''extraordinary step".
Northern Irish meat product supplier Millar Savoury Foods has gone into administration, blaming difficultlies in passing on commodity price increases to supermarket customers.
Manufacturers of lower-profile food brands could fall victim to the retailer-driven trend towards more own-label products over the next 15 years, according to a new report from financial services provider Rabobank.
Getting food and drink packaging right is vital in encouraging consumers to engage with a product or brand and to ensure food safety, but what is the public looking for, and how are trends changing?
Uniq’s troubled desserts division, Minsterley, is likely to derail rumoured bids for the company by either Greencore or possible new suitor Samworth Brothers, say experts.
Swedish ready meals manufacturer Gooh! has implemented a new in-pack microwave cooking and pasteurisation concept into its premium meal production that results in a shelf-life of at least 30 days at 8°C.
The construction of a £4M processing facility for fresh produce and prepared food manufacturer Katsouris Fresh Foods has commenced. Based in Wembley, London, the firm is a subsidiary of Bakkavör.
Northern Foods/2 Sisters Food Group began meeting suppliers yesterday, with the professed aim of shedding around half ‘‘over time’’ in a bid to boost supply chain efficiency and increase turnover to £3bn by 2015.
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...
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.
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.
Uniq ceo Geoff Eaton says retailers cannot continue to demand bespoke desserts for rock-bottom prices, following his firm’s recent review of this arm of its business.
Greencore has refused to comment on rumours that it has appointed bankers to explore a possible £100m takeover of chilled food group Uniq, while Brookes/Avana may also be on the firm's radar after Premier Foods said it is willing to consider offers...
Imagine a superior chilled ready meal that doesn’t require extensive high-risk and low-risk production areas and has a shelf-life of 30 rather than the usual 14 days. Korma in the sky? Absolutely not.
The same benefits of shelf standout, cost efficiency in the supply chain and energy efficiency in processing still apply to retort pouches, says one supplier, but the UK market is showing signs of saturation.
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.
The Findus Group says it may well pursue “selective bolt-on acquisitions”, after it emerged that chilled and frozen foods giant’s owner is trying to renegotiate its banking covenants.
Amazon.co.uk’s grocery launch last July ruffled feathers amongst some suppliers, who complained at the time about low volume sales, the fulfillment model, consumer confusion and limited marketing. So what’s the consensus nine months on?
Food sector M&A experts believe it is more likely that a trade buyer – rather than a private equity player – could bid for convenience food firm Uniq, after its board announced a "number of indications of interest from third parties" in...
Nilojan Food has been fined £55,000 after health inspectors found putrefying fillings at its Luton premises. But the former md has told FoodManufacture.co.uk that he wished the local council had been "a little bit more understanding".
A supply chain expert says he fears that poor attendance by UK food producers at a major Paris trade show for own-label foods shows that firms are sitting back and letting European suppliers grow their market share.
Despite Food Standards Agency (FSA) screening of food imports from Japan, UK sushi producers speaking to FoodManufacture.co.uk off the record say there has been no consumer backlash against ‘nuclear' sushi.
City analysts have hailed Cranswick as a “class act”, but say tough economic times have led them to shave the firm's 2011/12 pre-tax profit estimates by six per-cent to £47m.
Safety expert Arco is now extending into safety management services with the acquisition of ARC Associates UK – one of the UK’s most experienced safety, health and environmental consultancy and training organisations.
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...
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...
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.
Solbar plans to launch naturally fortified soy powders this summer, made using soy protein isolates combined with other ingredients for inclusion in meat analogue products.
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...
Marks & Spencer (M&S) expects its suppliers to meet the high corporate social responsibility standards it is setting for itself as it continues on its journey to become a more sustainable business, according to its Plan A director, Richard Gillies.
