Heinken's Spanish unit has lost its court case against smaller
local brewer Alhambra over the rights to the Aguila Negra brand. On
the surface, Heineken's case was built on the claim that Aguila
Negra was competing unfairly...
Last week we reported on the possible downgrade in share ratings
for Ocean Spray following the resignation of the cranberry
co-operative's CEO. Troubles continue this week with Northland
Cranberries, a fellow cranberry grower...
The Famous Grouse, the favourite blended Scotch whisky among the
ever-demanding Scots, is investing heavily in marketing and
promotions this Christmas in a bid to garner a greater shares of
the market at a time of year when whisky...
Already the world's leading water cooler supplier, France's Danone
has further strengthened its business with the acquistion of the
Canadian firm Sparkling Spring, giving it strong positions in the
UK and the Netherlands...
Cranberry sales for US co-operative Ocean Spray Cranberries may be
booming in Europe but news this week that its CEO of three years,
Robert Hawthorne, has resigned led US ratings agency Moody's to
review a possible downgrade...
A scheme designed to promote ethical labour practices in the Cape
wine industry has been praised by wine retailers in the UK, which
have also pledged substantial financial support.
Year-to-date sales at French soft drinks group Teisseire declined
by 3 per cent, but this is only to be expected as it reorganises
itself as a producer of innovative juice drinks and revamps its
traditional cordial business.
Significant investment by South African packaging group Astrapak
has helped the company's revenue climb a staggering 65 per cent in
the six months to August, CE Ray Crewe-Brown announced yesterday.
Yesterday we reported on a major study to investigate a potential
cancer drug based on red wine compounds. However there is also
evidence to show that wine can have harmful effects. Researchers in
France report that heavy wine drinkers...
Baltic Beverages Holding, the 50-50 joint venture between Hartwall
and Carlsberg, has taken a 76 per cent stake in the Kazakhstan
brewery Irbis - a move which will help improve BBH's already
considerable influence on results...
The acquisition of premium Champagne brand Pommery earlier this
year is already paying off for Vranken Monopole, which saw its
sales rise by more than 50 per cent in the first nine months of the
year.
Hain Europe, a division of the US natural and organic food company
the Hain Celestial group, is set to launch a range of healthy
drinks, made from a mix of fruit juice and soy, on the European
market in coming months.
Despite a decline in consumer spending since 11 September, bottled
water volumes in the mature west European markets continued to grow
last year - and there is no sign of the growth slowing.
The European Commission has been forced to drop its case against
brewers Heineken and Carlsberg after failing to find any recent
evidence that they agreed not to compete in each others' markets.
Both companies have long protested...
Interest in South Africa's trademark grape, Pinotage, is helping to
drive sales of the country's wines outside traditional export
strongholds such as the UK. For example, Norway's state monopoly
has just bought three...
While the major soft drink producers continue to innovate and
launch new products in saturated markets in the west, it is Asia
which is likely to power growth in the global soft drinks market
over the next five years, according to...
Interbrew has acquired a 70 per cent stake in a Chinese brewery
based in Zhejiang province, allowing it to build on its existing
operations in nearby Nanjing.
Five months after its initial launch, and just as the diet version
hits the shelves in the US, Vanilla Coke is to be launched in
Europe. Sweden will be the first country on this side of the
Atlantic to get the drink, followed by the...
The growing trend towards healthy drinks has prompted Finnish
brewer Hartwall to introduce a new variant to its Fenix drink, made
with cranberry juice from Ocean Spray.
Flavour sales continued to decline in Europe for number one
flavours and fragrances company, International Flavors &
Fragrances, but despite this the overall picture for the third
quarter of 2002 is clearly optimistic and the...
Campari is extending the global presence of its premium vodka
brand, SKYY. Australia is the latest country to get the drink
following an agreement with the Fosters unit CUB - and Australia is
also a potential market for Campari's...
There is just one remaining bottle of The Macallan Scotch whisky
distilled in 1841, but after almost a year of work, the company has
released a replica of the whisky offering drinkers the chance to
taste the 160-year-old Scotch.
With the four major international bottled water groups and a
handful of strong local players all keen to grow sales, the bottled
water market in East Europe has grown strongly in spite of economic
troubles in many markets - and is...
It is barely two months since the world's number one spirits and
wine group announced 9 per cent organic sales growth for the first
half, but Diageo is already warning that growth in the second half
will be harder to achieve.
More evidence to suggest that fortified drinks could contribute to
aiding dietary deficiencies in developing countries emerged this
week when a US scientist reported that a cheap, fortified,
orange-flavoured drink could reduce deficiencies...
Significant investment in core spirits and wine brands, plus the
addition of a number of major products such as Malibu and Mumm
Cuvee Napa, helped the world's number two spirit and wine maker to
a 16 per cent rise in sales in...
Just a few months after the launch of its distilled water brand
BonAqua in Spain, Coca-Cola has signed a bottling agreement with
Italian water group San Benedetto which will step up the pace of
the brand's introduction there.
The effects of a downturn in German imports and the events of 11
September took their toll on Bordeaux wine exports in 2001/02,
according to the latest CIVB data.
Although the future of the EC Merger Regulations Committee might
have been thrown into doubt, the recent overruling that allows
Tetra Laval to go ahead with its plans to acquire Sidel paves the
way for an increased presence in the...
At a time when Europe's leading brewers are growing bigger and more
international on almost a weekly basis, smaller companies are
finding it increasingly hard to expand their own businesses. We
spoke to Michael Hoffmann of the...
With per capita consumption of wine of less than one litre a year
in China, but with a market set to grow by 10-15 per cent in the
next three years, there is major potential for Spanish wines in
China, especially in the bottled wine...
Nine month results at Belgian brewer Interbrew were helped by a
16.8 per cent rise in volume sales, but like-for-like results were
impacted by the sale of the Carling business in February.
Ball, the US-based global food packaging provider, has reported
third quarter earnings of $50 million (€51.2m) on sales of $1.039
billion, compared to $35.7 million on sales of $1 billion in the
same period a year ago.
An investment approaching €1.6 million has just been completed at
Berryman's glass treatment plant in West Yorkshire, UK, which the
company claims has created the largest colour enhancement facility
in the country.
Siku, which means 'ice' in Greenlandic, is the brand name of a
range of drinks - a beer, a vodka and a bottled water - made using
water from the Qualerit glacial ice field in Greenland.
Ocean Spray, the US co-operative group best known for its cranberry
juices, has launched a new grapefruit juice which it claims can
give drinkers an energy boost and meet all their vitamin C
requirements.
The success of J&B Twist and Smirnoff Ice in Spain has
convinced Diageo that RTD products are the way forward in a market
where it has been steadily losing sales in recent years.
Vin & Sprit, the Swedish producer of Absolut vodka, is to buy
the Polish distillery Polmos Zielona Gora, maker of the Luksusowa
brand, as the sell-off of the former state-run spirits business
continues.
Higher volume food and beverage flavour product sales to existing
customers contributed to a net increase for the third quarter for
flavours company Technology Flavors & Fragrances.
Poland has agreed to reduce the import duties levied on spirits
imported from the EU - but only up to a limit of 3,000 tons, a mere
fraction of the 20,000 tons exported there each year. The decision
is puzzling, to say the least,...
New report reveals that growth in value-added products designed for
specific applications is set to drive the food additives market in
the US. Flavours will gain nearly fifty per cent of the market,
with alternative sweetners revealing...
A new study by Organic Monitor finds that the European organic
juices market has been expanding at over 20 per cent a year since
1998 and by the end of the year, sales of organic juices in Europe
are projected to reach €90 million.
US maker of herbal and medicinal teas Flora is introducing Bija
Healing Teas to the American market. The teas, which come in nine
different formulas, will create a new category, according to the
company - functional teas.
In Zone Brands is one of the many companies from the US attending
this week's SIAL show in Paris in a bid to garner interest for its
products from buyers on this side of the Atlantic - which should
not be difficult for its striking...
With increasing numbers of thefts each year from Spanish stores,
retailers are turning to modern technology to help to solve the
problem, and are asking the wine sector to play its part as well.
Philippines group San Miguel Corp plans to invest $140 million
(€144m) to build two glass plants in Australia, according to a
report in the Australian Financial Review.
The Brussels authorities has ruled that the acquisition of French
Champagne house by Frere's CNP company will not lead to any
dilution of competition in either the wine or the perfume sectors.
France has one of the worst drink driving records in Europe, and
the government has recently redoubled its efforts to get the
'designated driver' message across to consumers. Now the country's
leading wine and spirits...
Speakers at a recent conference on the draft wine law currently
going through the Spanish parliament have stressed the beneficial
effects the law is likely to have on improving quality and reducing
over-production.