Breaking News on Beverage Technology & Markets

Poor weather contributes to Heineken volume slip in Q3

27-Oct-2010 - Europe’s biggest brewer Heineken has blamed disappointing third quarter sales volumes on bad weather and continued struggles in the Russian market.

Recovery prompts SABMiller to include Zimbabwe in results

19-Oct-2010 - SABMiller has reported a slight rise in half year volumes as it includes its Zimbabwe associate in its latest trading update for the first time in almost five years.

News in brief

Pernod Ricard sells off New Zealand wine brands

19-Oct-2010 - Pernod Ricard New Zealand has sold Lindauer and several other wine brands to a consortium of buyers for NZ $88m (about € 47m).

Saint-Gobain mulls packaging division IPO

14-Oct-2010 - Glass container giant Companie de Saint-Gobain has announced plans to float its packaging division on the stock exchange.

Beverages lead way as Firmenich reports double-digit growth in flavour sales

13-Oct-2010 - Flavour and fragrance manufacturer Firmenich has announced a 12.1 per cent sales increase for 2010 after recording double-digit growth in both flavours and perfumery

Brewers claim beer tax hikes would backfire

07-Oct-2010 - A new study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) suggests that hikes in excise taxes on beer could backfire and ultimately eat into tax revenue.

Coca-Cola completes $12.3bn bottling deal

04-Oct-2010 - The Coca-Cola Company has completed the acquisition of Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) and the sale of its bottling operations in Norway and Sweden.

ProViva nears global launch as Danone closes deal

01-Oct-2010 - French probiotic leader Danone, Swedish dairy firm Skånemejerier and ingredient supplier Probi yesterday closed a three-way probiotic juice deal, bringing the firms one step closer to an international launch of the ProViva brand.

Coca-Cola agrees to Dr Pepper firewall in bottler deal

28-Sep-2010 - The Coca-Cola Company has agreed to set up a firewall to protect the interests of Dr Pepper Snapple as a condition for its $12.3bn acquisition of the North American arm of the bottler Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE).

News in brief

PureCircle announces sugar-stevia deal with Nordzucker

24-Sep-2010 - Stevia producer PureCircle has announced its third new European alliance in a week, teaming up with Nordzucker to develop and market stevia-sugar combos.

News in brief

Analyst questions SAB Miller's new business model

21-Sep-2010 - As SAB Miller launches a new beer brand in the UK, an analyst at Nomura has warned that its embrace of a new business model could lead to some short-term volatility.

British Embassy in Warsaw probes Twinings grant

20-Sep-2010 - The British Embassy in Warsaw is probing the legality of an EU funding award for Twinings’ new Polish factory.

News in brief

Progressive Digital Media acquires Canadean

06-Sep-2010 - International digital media company Progressive Digital Media Group has completed its acquisition of Canadean, a market research firm that specialises in beverages.

News in brief

Heineken to create Global Business Services organisation

02-Sep-2010 - Heineken recently announced it will create a Global Business Services organisation to deliver Purchasing and Business Process & Technology services across the company.

Comment

Don’t worry about wheat prices: Look at grain stocks

30-Aug-2010 - There’s nothing like a shortage of wheat to send some news media searching for superlatives. Talk of “soaring” wheat prices and “rocketing” bread prices were common, in the British press, after Russia decided to temporarily ban grain exports earlier this month. Three weeks later what lessons can we lean?

News in brief

Diageo reports mixed full year results

26-Aug-2010 - Diageo has reported 2 per cent organic net sales growth for the full year as emerging markets compensated for weakness in Europe and North America.

Coca-Cola refiles notice for bottler acquisition again

26-Aug-2010 - The Coca-Cola Company has withdrawn and refiled its notification with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for the second time regarding its proposed acquisition of the North American arm of Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE).

Asahi buys into Australian soft drinks market again

26-Aug-2010 - Asahi Breweries has agreed to acquire P&N Beverages, the third largest soft drinks company in Australia in its latest move towards the goal of joining the ranks of the biggest global food companies.

American Beverage Association spent nearly $4m on anti-tax lobbying in Q2

19-Aug-2010 - The American Beverage Association spent $3.5m lobbying the federal government on beverage taxes this month – and a total of $3.95m during the second quarter, according to a disclosure report.

FTC gives go-ahead to Corn Products-National Starch deal

19-Aug-2010 - Corn Products International has said the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has given initial approval of its $1.3bn acquisition of National Starch, with the deal expected to be finalized by early October.

Natural ingredients and flavours propel Q2 growth for Frutarom

18-Aug-2010 - Frutarom’s double-digit growth in Q2 is due to accelerated growth in specialty fine ingredients and excellent flavours sales, says the firm, which has a rapid growth strategy in place.

Carlsberg ups forecast on better than expected Russian figures

17-Aug-2010 - Carlsberg has upped its outlook for the full financial year as the company performs better than expected in the Russian beer market.

CVC acquires majority stake in major European vending player

10-Aug-2010 - CVC Capital Partners has agreed to acquire a majority stake in the Autobar Group – a leading European vending business with sales of €569m a year.

Order levels back to normal in H1 2010, Symrise

10-Aug-2010 - Symrise has seen its flavour and fragrance orders rebound to pre-economic crisis levels and has expanded its business with some key customers in the first half of this year.