San Miguel, the biggest food and drink maker in south east Asia,
will close one of its breweries in southern China this year as part
of a cost-cutting drive in the region, according to a report.
Emerging beer markets in Asia and Eastern Europe have continued to
buoy SABMiller over the last year, amid problems in North and
Central America, the firm said in a trading update.
Scottish and Newcastle has taken over the Foster's lager brand in
Europe, Turkey and the Russian Federation, after years of producing
the amber nectar in these regions under licence for the Australian
Foster's Group.
Lawyers in the US announced yesterday they were taking two soft
drinks firms to court, alleging lab tests showed drinks
contaminated with benzene above America's safety limit for tap
water.
Soft drinks firm Britvic has announced a 7.3 per cent drop in
half-year carbonates sales as a slump in the fizzy drinks market
impacts revenue and share price.
The door is open to the biggest consolidation yet on Britain's
private label soft drinks market, after competition authorities
provisionally backed Cott Corporation's takeover of rival Macaw.
The UK government's budget for 2006 was greeted with a mixture of
praise and stern criticism by the drinks industry, as some felt the
Chancellor had ignored important measures.
Pursuit Dynamics, the UK-based creators of a novel sonic wave
processing technology, today announced the purchase of a specialist
food and drink equipment distributor.
SABMiller is in talks to buy Foster's overseas breweries in Asia,
BeverageDaily.com has learnt, as the potential sale offers
brewers a better foothold in one of the world's fastest growing
beer markets.
The Scotch Whisky Association says it will ask the EU to make an
official complaint at the WTO if India does not lift excessive duty
tax on imported spirit drinks.
Greencore, the ingredients and food service group, said EU sugar
reform would force it to pull out of the sugar sector this year,
effectively spelling the end of sugar processing in Ireland.
Europe has no time for national champions if it is to compete in
the world, warned the European Commission president Wednesday, as
French president Jacques Chirac dismissed claims that France was
protectionist.
Coca-Cola said it would fight to put down a lawsuit filed against
it by more than 50 of its own bottlers over the distribution of
sports drink Powerade to Wal-Mart stores.
More than 50 bottlers have now lined up to sue Coca-Cola in the US
in a move to stop the soft drinks group distributing its Powerade
sports drink directly to Wal-Mart supermarkets around the country.
Nestlé's Americas division has established itself as the food
firm's most important business region for the first time following
difficult conditions and subdued sales growth in Europe.
Strong performances in Russia and the UK helped brewer Scottish
& Newcastle to improve sales and profits in 2005, helping to
offset the market slump in mainland Western Europe.
A lawsuit aimed at getting soft drinks out of US schools on obesity
grounds will be filed in Massachusetts, just as lawmakers there
prepare to vote on a school junk food ban.
Emerging markets across Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America came
good for both PepsiCo and Coca-Cola in 2005, increasing their
importance in the two rivals' growth strategies.
SABMiller has moved further into southern China by spending $8.9m
to acquire another brewery, hoping to take advantage of the area's
above average beer consumption.
Coca-Cola saw profits tumble by more than a quarter in the last
three months of 2005, underlining the challenges that still lie
ahead for the soft drinks firm in 2006.
The European Commission on Tuesday cleared the takeover of Cadbury
Schweppes' European drinks arm by private equity consortium Lion
Capital and Blackstone.
Profits tumbled by two thirds last year for the world's largest
supplier of private label soft drinks, Cott Corporation, as the
group struggled to cope with rising input costs and a consumer
shift to non-carbonated drinks.
A lawsuit aimed at getting soft drinks firms out of US schools on
obesity grounds is now ready to go, says one of the leading lawyers
involved to BeverageDaily.com, as new research suggests
obesity litigation will become the next...
PepsiCo's bottling arm has bought up US functional drinks maker
Ardea Beverage, as the iconic soft drinks firm positions itself for
growth on the functional drinks market.
SABMiller has signed a joint venture deal with a top Vietnamese
dairy company, hoping to use the firm's local knowledge and
distribution network to break into Vietnam's emerging beer market.
World wine giant Constellation Brands continued to profit from its
takeover of Robert Mondavi wine in its third quarter as the group
looks to focus more seriously on Europe.
Leading UK-based wine merchant Majestic Wines enjoyed a 10.4 per
cent sales boost this Christmas, citing consumer demand for premium
products as the key to success.
Italian drinks group Campari has been rubbing its hands together
after Pernod Ricard agreed to sell it the world's number two single
malt whisky brand Glen Grant.
Cott Corporation, the private label soft drinks maker, said it
would close its Ohio factory in the US next year as part of its
plan to cut costs and get back on track with consumer trends.
PepsiCo's successful diversity and faster action on health has
taken it ahead of Coca-Cola in the market for the first time in 112
years, but don't be fooled into thinking Coca-Cola is dead wood.
Complex webs of assumptions are spinning a lie about the real value
of today's companies, lulling directors and shareholders alike into
a false sense of value creation.
Citrus fruit production in the US is on a general low, largely as a
result of hurricane damage in Florida, according to the US
Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) December crop production
forecasts.
Constellation Brands has seemingly walked out on Canadian wine firm
Vincor after its takeover offer expired, but the fall-out is
unlikely to hamper drinks industry consolidation trends.
Middle weight brewers Greene King and Worlverhampton & Dudley
continued to show there is life and lucrative deals to be had in
Britain's ale market, despite poor consumer confidence.
Private label soft drinks giant Cott Corporation will have to wait
to get its hands on UK rival Macaw after Britain's competition
watchdog raised monopoly concerns.
It may be the season of Thanksgiving in the US, but that hasn't
stopped wine firms Constellation and Vincor ripping more chunks out
of each other in their hostile takeover battle.
Cadbury Schweppes has announced it plans to sell its European
beverages arm for £1.2bn to a private equity consortium led by Lion
Capital and Blackstone.
Starbucks is fast becoming the new embodiment of the American dream
with a 27 per cent rise in profits on the back of aggressive
expansion that may soon see the group moving into Russia.
French water and dairy firm Danone has signed a deal to get rid of
its troublesome water cooler business in the US, though not without
taking one last hit.
British soft drinks group Britvic, spurred on by strong growth in
its still soft drinks range, has announced plans to float on the
stock market by the end of the year.
More Chinese people are livening up their traditional, green tea by
adding a shot of Scotch Whisky, as Asian markets help the Scots to
break the £1bn export barrier in the first half of 2005.
Anheuser Busch's waste-cutting focus may have got it into the
Environmental Protection Agency's hall of fame but another slip in
beer sales looks like making 2005 a year to forget.
The world's biggest drinks firm has shunned the chance to buy New
Zealand's Montana wines off Pernod Ricard because it will not
generate enough growth.
Arsenic in bottled water and the seizure of fake vodka from an
illegal distillery have put fraud back on the menu in the UK, as
two alcoholic drinks associations pledge to beat the bootlegs.
Sports drinks, juice and bottled water spearheaded a set of
encouraging third quarter results from Coca-Cola as
health-conscious consumers force a realignment at the major soft
drinks players.
Constellation has begun a hostile takeover attempt for Canadian
wine firm Vincor, but its intended prey says it is looking for
other suitors that are willing to pay a 'fair' price.
Nestlé says it will embrace moves by hard discounters to sell more
branded products as part of its plan to recover from difficult
times on Europe's food and drink market.