Leading Brands, the Canadian maker of the Trek energy drink, has
reported a revenue increase of 41 per cent for the second quarter
of its 2002 fiscal year ended 28 February 2003. Sales of the new
Trek performance drink have exceeded...
The worst weather for many years in May, June and July kept profit
growth at Scotland's AG Barr to a 'disappointing' minimum in the
first half, but the return of the sunshine in the latter part of
the summer bodes well...
Solid evidence is mounting that drinking tea can prevent cell
damage that leads to cancer, heart disease and perhaps other ills,
scientists said on Tuesday.
A difficult half for beer, spirits and lower-end wine sales was
offset by a good performance from premium wine brands at the
US-based drinks group Constellation Brands, though the UK unit also
showed positive developments.
A steady drop in the company's share price over the last month has
prompted Coca-Cola HBC's main shareholders to withdraw plans for a
secondary listing in New York.
South African wine sales in the UK have been growing rapidly in the
last few years, and four SA brands are now among the top 20
best-sellers there. But more can be done to promote Cape wines in
the UK, such as focusing on recognisable...
After a difficult few years of restructuring and debt reduction,
Brau und Brunnen has decided to combine its beer and soft drink
sales units to offer a broader range of products and to allow it to
react more quickly to consumer demand...
Anheuser-Busch successfully defends its rights to the Budweiser and
Bud names in Italy, forcing Czech rival Budejovicky Budvar to
change the name of its beer sold there. The ruling by the Court of
Cassation comes a mere 17 years after...
CEDC, the Florida-based company which is one of the leading
distributors of alcoholic drinks in Poland, has added another
distributor to its portfolio, plugging a gap where it had
previously been under-represented.
Nescafe is the world's best known coffee brand, yet in the US it
has been limited to a handful of markets on the West Coast. But now
the brand is set to go nationwide with the launch of Nescafe
Frothe, a speciality coffee drink...
United Glass has officially opened its glass recycling centre in
Alloa, Scotland. The £1.3 million (€2m) project was funded by an
investment of Packaging Recovery Note money to construct the
processing plant and a new visitor centre.
The world's largest and most expensive collection of old Scotch
whiskies is embarking on a worldwide tour in a bid to drum up
interest in an eventual auction. All the whisky aficionado needs to
walk away with a bottle of The...
Declining consumption has prompted many observers to pronounce the
premature death of the German beer industry - with investment by
major foreign brewers seen as the only waty of resurrecting the
body. But is this really the case?...
Negotiators in Prague and Brussels are nearing agreement on the
definition and labelling of the traditional plum brandy slivovitz
once the Czech Republic joins the EU.
The different levels of taxation on wine, beer and spirits within
the European Union remains a 'distortion of the single market',
claims taxation Commissioner Fritz Bolkestein who, it seems, has
not abandoned his much-derided...
With the sale of the Agros Fortuna fruit juice and canned food
business, Pernod Ricard's Polish business is now 100 per cent
focused on drinks - which was the reason why Agros was acquired in
the first place.
Artificial sweeteners are less likely to lead to weight gain in
overweight people than consumption of foods containing sucrose,
according to research from the US published this week. With rates
of obesity increasing worldwide, the...
The world's second largest Coca-Cola bottler is to list 5 per cent
of its shares on the New York Stock Exchange, adding to existing
listings in Athens, London and Australia.
The world's greatest secret agent James Bond, whose latest film
premieres in November, is being used to promote sales of both
Finlandia vodka and 7 UP soft drinks - though not necessarily
together.
In a major U-turn, the New Zealand Appeals Court has reversed a
decision allowing Czech firm Budejovicky Budvar to sell its beer
under the Budweiser name - another victory for Anheuser-Busch and
its Budweiser brand.
Red Bull continues to dominate the western European energy drink
market with a 66 per cent share, and it also provides the model for
most of its rival brands. But despite the dominance of one brand,
the market shows no sign of stagnating,...
Italy's ready-to-drink market is still in its infancy, but the
Milan-based Campari group is hoping that it will grow substantially
with the launch of its new Campari Mixx product.
South Africa's Distell group has been pushing its wines into a
number of new markets recently. The latest deal with the Oddbins
wine retailer in the UK comes after other recent agreements in the
US, Canada, Germany and Scandinavia.
Heinken has announced its third acqusition in almost as many days.
The Dutch firm will extend its presence in Africa with the
acqusition of a 69 per cent stake in Lebanon's only brewer, Almaza.
US cranberry ingredients company Ocean Spray ITG has appointed Jim
Lesser as group marketing manager of ITG & Foods Team. The move
is part of an internal restructure which sees the Ingredient
Technology Group and Foods team merging...
Starch ingredients company Cerestar formally launched a bio-organic
sweetener at Health Ingredients Europe in Paris this week.
CBio-Sweet is derived from bio-organic wheat and hydrolysed with
non-GMO enzymes.
Schweppes France is to take over many of the administrative duties
of Orangina-Pampryl, entailing the loss of 110 jobs. Some 48 posts
have already gone following the closure of a production facility.
A year after the formation of the Glenaird joint venture,
Glenmorangie's Broxburn plant is to begin bottling Drambuie Cream,
a new brand which has seen substantial growth since its UK launch.
The first five months of the current fiscal year have been good for
the world's second largest brewer, SABMiller, despite the
devaluation of currencies in South Africa.
Growing demand for Guinness Stout on export markets has prompted
Guinness UDV to invest €38m in expanding production of the brand's
secret ingredient at its Waterford brewery.
The sale of the cider unit CSR - announced last week by Pernod
Ricard - will see the disposal of the last remaining non-core
business, allowing the French group to finally devote all its
efforts to building its wine and spirits empire.
Good weather in California throughout the summer has led to another
bumper year for the state's wine grape producers. The UK's Allied
Domecq is predicting that this year's wines will be of excellent
quality to boot.
Angostura, the company famous for its bitter cocktail ingredient,
is expected to make a takeover bid for Scotch whisky maker Burn
Stewart within the next few weeks.
The sale of Novartis's health food and drink brands could finally
be completed soon, with trade buyers apparently lined up for
Isostar and Ovaltine, and Nestle thought to be interested in the
health food brands.
Belgian speciality beer maker Duvel Moortgat shrugged off declining
volumes in France and the Netherlands to post a 9 per cent rise in
first half turnover, helped by strong performances in the UK and
US.
Al Ahram Beverage Company (ABC) is to become the latest addition to
the Heineken portfolio, a deal which might go some way towards
appeasing analysts who were hoping for more news of growth as the
company announced its first half...
The floods in the south of France will mean a significant reduction
in the level of wine produced there this year, with as many as
30,000 hectares of vineyards damaged in the Gard alone.
United Glass has confirmed that it is making a €1.9 million
investment in what will be the first phase of a major upgrade of
its glass recycling and processing plant at Alloa, Scotland.
Luxury goods group LVMH showed a steady improvement in operating
profits in the first half, helped by good performances from
Champagne and Cognac in difficult market conditions.
Laurent-Perrier Champagne has released a new version of its Grand
Siecle La Cuvee wine in the US, at the same time reducing the price
to around €80 a bottle in a bid to attract greater numbers of
consumers to high quality wines.
Dark Dog, the European energy drink brand with a growing following,
has been snapped up by the US group XStream, a new entrant into the
beverage market but with big plans for the future.
Danone and its Japanese distributor Mitsubishi join forces with
Kirin to boost sales of the Evian mineral water brand, a deal which
should also boost sales Kirin's Alkali Ion brand.
Pilsner Urquell, the flagship Czech beer of the SABMiller group, is
to be produced in Poland under licence - a clever move to ensure
greater penetration for the brand or the first step on the slippery
slope to turning it into a bland,...
Alcan, the Canadian-based beverage packaging provider, has signed a
letter of intent to sell its moulded glass operations in the US and
China to the US-based Glass Group.
The rapid growth of Belgian beer giant Interbrew has prompted the
company to assess how best to optimise its capacity. As a result,
the group is closing one Dutch brewery and significantly reducing
production at one of its UK plants,...
As if declining profits and poor summer weather were not bad
enough, Britain's leading cider maker HP Bulmer has now revealed
previously unnoticed costs in its UK takehome division - costs
which will either push 2001/2002 profits...
Hayman, Barwell Jones, the UK-based wine agent, has added three
estate wines from the Stellenbosch vineyards in South Africa to its
portfolio of upmarket brands.
