Breaking News on Beverage Technology & Markets

Energy drinks rescue Russia's FAB Boom

Energising ingredients and more spending on research and development has turned around the fortunes of flavoured alcoholic beverages in Russia, bringing better opportunities and growth forecasts, writes Chris Mercer.

Soft drinks industry mulls voluntary school ban

Coca-Cola, Pepsi and the rest of the soft drinks industry are considering a voluntary ban on carbonated soft drinks in elementary and middle schools following heavy lobbying from health campaigners.

A-B slip highlights gloomy US beer market

Hopes of an early recovery on the US beer market have been dashed as Anheuser Busch reports falling domestic sales and warns that it expects full-year profits to drop below 2004 levels, reports Chris Mercer.

Laser system provides covert brand protection

Microtrace has teamed up with a laser technology company to offer customers, including food processors, a covert system for brand protection and for tracking products.

Food scientist sought as journalist

Novis seeks a bright, driven food scientist for a reporter's post in southern France. The main mission is to deepen coverage of scientific breakthroughs in food techniques and nutritional understanding on flagship websites, FoodNavigator.com and NutraIngredients.com.

Tetra Laval's Simonazzi acquisition approved

Further consolidation in the packaging industry will occur after the European Commission approved Tetra Laval's planned acquisition of SIG Simonazzi.

Grape boost to women's heart health

The heart health benefits of grape polyphenols have come under the spotlight again, with a new study indicating that they can reduce certain key risk factors for coronary heart disease in women, writes Jess Halliday.

EU fines French wine sector mis-management

France will have to give back three times the amount of money it is receiving in crisis distillation funding for appellation contrôlée wines as the EU cracks down on wine sector mis-management, reports Chris Mercer.

Europe makes Cadbury Schweppes drinks suffer

Diet trends help Cadbury Schweppes to push forward in the US, yet its European soft drinks arm looks to be a weak link as tough market conditions hamper sales, profits and margins, reports Chris Mercer.

PepsiCo bid for Danone, pure speculation

French food and drink giant, Groupe Danone, has acknowledged US PepsiCo's denial of takeover plans, as the French government threatens to do everything in its power to stop such a bid from ever taking place, writes Claire Johnston.

Weekly Comment

The business of food safety

One cannot envy the chief executive faced with a scientific study that casts doubt over the efficacy or safety of his core product. But avoiding a sales slump, media vilification and even charges of fraud means squaring up to such studies immediately.

Functional water struggles to escape niche sectors

Britain and France are leading launches of functional, bottled water in Europe, yet the trend remains in the grip of niche sectors and still below flavour in the R&D priority list of the big players, reports Chris Mercer.

Let the real race for Taittinger champagne begin

One of France's biggest champagne houses, Taittinger, has sold up to an American hotel firm, but it won't be staying for long as speculation grows amid a climate for drinks industry consolidation, reports Chris Mercer.

New fortification techniques unveiled at IFT

Beverage fortification solutions on display at the IFT show suggest that manufacturers do not need to sacrifice clarity or taste in order to meet growing consumer demand for functional products, writes Anthony Fletcher.

Rigid container boasts tamper-proof seal

A new rigid plastics packaging container features a reclosable watertight seal that prevents tampering with food and drink products, according to the manufacturer.

Water charge batters Danone profits

Another write-down charge hits French firm Danone, taking the gloss off a rise in dairy and beverage sales, as rumours of a take-over bid by PepsiCo subside, reports Chris Mercer.

UK bottled water boom defies cynics

Bottled water sales are booming in Britain thanks to a new generation of consumers who see the sector as more than glorified tap water and better for their health and well-being than fizzy drinks, reports Chris Mercer.

Rumors of PepsiCo's bid for Danone gain substance

US-based PepsiCo has engaged investment banks Morgan Stanley and UBS to advise on a possible takeover of Danone, the French bottled water, yoghurt and biscuits group, according to a report today inthe Financial Times.

Cadbury Schweppes ponders European drinks sale

Cadbury-Schweppes looks set to try and sell its European soft drinks arm, again, but whoever buys it may have a tough time improving the division's rather average performances, reports Chris Mercer.

EU ministers split on sugar reform plan

The first wrangling over EU sugar reform proposals by agriculture ministers saw protests and a passionate debate in Brussels yesterday, but the opposition looks increasingly isolated, reports Chris Mercer.

Weekly Comment

A strategy for beating China

As Chinese producers move in on western markets, the first response by many established players is to protect and defend their previous market positions. It's a doomed strategy.

Superfos takes packaging to Eastern Europe

Danish packaging company Superfos says it is expanding its packaging production in Poland as part of a focused growth strategy that targets all consumer packaging including food and drink products, reports Simon Pitman.

Effects of pub smoking ban exaggerated, says study

The prospect of a UK-wide smoking ban in pubs by the end of 2008 is daunting but new research suggests the threat to trade may be exaggerated, and trade can be maintained if firms adapt, writes Chris Mercer.

Grapefruit seed extract helps stomach ulcers

Grapefruit seed extract appears to help treat stomach ulcers, according to Polish researchers.

French wine come-back fuels market scrap

Crisis in the French wine industry is spurring producers' acceptance of aggressive marketing strategies that, whilst perhaps long-overlooked, could be worrying for foreign producers on an increasingly competitive world market, writes Chris Mercer.

EFSA scientists to review aspartame study

Reports from a fresh Italian study alleging aspartame could pose a cancer risk are not in harmony with the extensive research that exist on aspartame, say suppliers of this popular sweetener.

Vegetable juice firms target booming Chinese market

Grasping the booming opportunities in the Chinese food and beverage market, Japanese food conglomerate Kagome has linked up with Chinese firm to bring vegetable and fruit juices to the market.

Obesity crisis spurs sugar warning proposal for soft drinks

Proposals to put cigarette-style health warnings on soft drinks to highlight the harmful effects of too many sugary beverages has been called patronizing by the American Beverage Association, writes Anthony Fletcher.

Researchers target barley genes for product development

Whiskey and beer producers across the UK may benefit from a £1.8m research project aiming to identify, and improve, the genetic make-up of barley, one of their most commonly used raw materials, reports Chris Mercer.

OJ contamination sparks industry fears

The discovery of potential Salmonella Typhimurium contamination in an orange juice product has compounded worries over falling juice sales in the US.

Sucralose dominates food and drink product launches

Food makers opt for the latest darling of the sweetener industry, sucralose, for their new products with fresh data showing this sweetener gained ground over aspartame and Acesulfame K in new launches using sweeteners, for the first six months of the year,reports Lindsey Partos.

Alcan flogs plastic bottle business

Customers of Alcan's plastic bottle business have been put on notice that the company plans to sell the unit as part of an ongoing restructuring of its food packaging operations.

Weekly comment

Let food be thy medicine

A society that views food as taste-bud entertainment rather than a basic of well-being was always bound to run into health problems. But with obesity now afflicting 300m people, and diabetes set to reach similar numbers within two decades, the problems borne of food abuse are emerging as more than a glitch. They amount to a profound loss of direction in our understanding of both food and medicine.

Russia sees surge in foreign wine demand

Russian firm Sanserite will import new, Spanish wines aimed solely at Russia as demand for foreign wine increases thanks to rising consumption, higher disposable incomes and a declining domestic wine industry, reports Angela Drujinina.

Sweetener label ruling hits soft drink makers

The FDA has urged the soft drink industry to review the ingredient statements on their soft drink labels following the withdrawal of a proposed "and/or" ruling on sweeteners.

Greene King heralds UK real ale resurgence

UK brewer Greene King has shown how the right mix of a few flagship brands and ownership of various pub chains can make real ale a good money spinner in Britain, despite diehard opposition, writes Chris Mercer.

Consolidation shows drinks industry on the defensive

Drinks industry consolidation aptly took on greater importance this week as Diageo announced tough trading conditions in a sign that cost-savings and pricing will be crucial, reports Chris Mercer.

Scientists boost instant coffee supplies?

As coffee prices start to creep up, scientists claim to have developed a method that will overcome the problem of growing instant coffee supplies.

Food scientist shortage damaging UK's R&D future

The lack of food science recruits in the UK is unsustainable if the country wants to remain a centre for innovation and avoid becoming the food industry's global admin office, says the head of Britain's most prestigious food science course to Chris Mercer.

Budweiser caffeine beer faces consumer scepticism in UK

Never mind the pressure group fury, Anheuser Busch's caffeine beer faces UK consumers who are sceptical about flavoured beer and a tough advert code that will stop the product displaying its 'best' assets, writes Chris Mercer.

Aspartame sweetener dominates new product launches in sweetener category

Weight and health concerns continue to propel the market for low-calorie sweeteners, with a host of recent global product launches showing the popularity of sugar replacer aspartame in new sugar and sweetener formulations, reports Lindsey Partos.

EU food platform pumps funding into R&D for food industry

Food makers and ingredients firms will benefit from a new European platform that will prioritise research and development initiatives to keep the €800 billion food and drink industry competitive,reports Lindsey Partos.

Pepsi rolls out Ting grapefruit drink in UK

Soft drinks giant Pepsi will roll out its carbonated grapefruit drink Ting to UK consumers this week.

Tester detects heat exchanger cracks in minutes

A tester being marketed by a UK company can detect cracks within five minutes in heat exchangers used to pasteurise products such as milk and juice, according to a spokesman.

Weekly Comment

Food intolerance: a scientific void

It is time to draw on science to establish once and for all whether food intolerance is just a source of succour for hypochondriacs, or whether it is genuinely a modern scourge.

Constellation and Pernod march on

Constellation is planning to launch newly acquired Robert Mondavi wines across Europe after it helps sales soar in the US, and Pernod Ricard finally has Allied Domecq in its sights, reports Chris Mercer.

Gasket chemical declared 'safe' by food agency

Semicarbazide is not a threat to human health says the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) but the food industry still faces an August deadline for its elimination from packaging.

Green tea's anti-cancer effects 'highly unlikely', says FDA

Drinking green tea is highly unlikely to help prevent breast, prostate or any other type of cancer, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said last week, after reviewing the evidence to support a health claim, reports Dominique Patton.

Colours and flavour focus for food scientist meeting

At this year's annual IFT meeting later this month flavour and colour firms will be dishing up their latest ingredients for food and beverage makers. Here we dip into a few examples.

Failing Australian wineries face ruin, study says

Militant French vintners may be grabbing the headlines, yet new research claims small-to-medium wineries in Australia are also on the track to financial ruin, as the big boys march calmly on, reports Chris Mercer.