Kraft Foods announced on 24 April that it has signed agreements to
sell its Artiach biscuits business in Spain to Barcelona-based
bakery Panrico and its Balaton chocolate trademark in Hungary to
Nestle.
A German member of the European Parliament (MEP) has called on the
European Commission (EC) to investigate claims that glass bottle
makers have been fixing prices.
Ingredients firm Cargill yesterday completed the expansion of its
Polish wheat processing facility, designed to meet consumer demand
across the European bloc.
The European Commission opened an in-depth investigation today into
Associated British Foods' plan to buy parts of Dutch yeast producer
GB Ingredients.
The European spirits industry has slammed the Hong Kong
government's decision to omit liquor from a recently announced
exemption of duties on imported alcohol products.
The UK's Food Standards Agency (FSA) has begun consultation with
food and beverage manufacturers over their progress in bringing
plastic packaging contact materials in line with health and safety
rules.
New proposals designed to improve the traceability of consumer
goods like beer have been cautiously welcomed by an association of
European brewers, despite concerns over the exact cost of
the system.
EU member states must recognise erythritol as an approved sweetener
by tomorrow, which is expected to increase its use in low-calorie
products across Europe.
The Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (CCH) has announced plans
to cut its annual carbon dioxide emissions by about 20 per cent by
the end of next year, with a new production strategy.
As the EU debates retaining national bans on genetically modified
(GM) crops, one industry expert believes that failure to adapt
could grant foreign rivals using the technology an upper hand, not
least in terms of brewing a good beer.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) agreed at last week's
management board meeting that next year's budget, set by the
European Union, is sufficient to align to the growing legislative
demands without losing focus...
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has put together a
working group to provide the European Commission and EU member
states with scientific advice on the effects of food additives on
behaviour by the end of February.
EU Agricultural commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel will continue to
work towards driving greater innovation in EU wine production,
though she vowed yesterday to get tough on wine enrichment as part
of industry reform in the bloc.
Effectively educating consumers about alcohol misuse in an
enlarged EU is one of the main issues
facing spirits companies in the year ahead, according
to an industry report.
In a policy document released yesterday, the EU's food and
drink sector called on the European Commission to take account of
economic conditions when setting environmental and production
sustainability targets for industry.
Rémy Cointreau says it is confident of achieving
"significant" improvements in organic profitability during
2008 on the strength of brands sales in emerging markets over the
last half year.
This week's news brief finds Portugal's largest brewer having to
close a plant, Procter and Gamble possibly going off coffee and
another victory in the
battle against forcing metric measurements.
Food safety and animal health top the agenda at
today's meeting of EU's agricultural ministers, with
the future of milk, wine and sugar production also up for
discussion.
Italy is in the bad books, while Slovenia is the teacher's pet,
according to European Commission's latest reports on the state
of EU member states food safety regulations.
Pending EU recognition of the Melton Mowbray pie as a protected
food has led to a relocation of a major UK manufacturing plant to
the designated region.
New scientific studies do not provide enough evidence for the EU to
amend its ban on the use of growth promoting hormones in cattle,
the European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) has concluded.
Milk and cheese products are more than twice as expensive in the
rest of the 27 European countries than in Eastern Europe,
according to a Eurostat report.
In 2006, the price of beverages was on average two and a half
times more in the most expensive EU country than in the
cheapest, according to a Eurostat report.
InBev will sell a majority stake in its pub and bar division to
Belgian real estate group Cofinimmo in a bid to cut costs and focus
on its core beer operations.
The outcome of a decisive EU parliamentary vote yesterday on a
definition of vodka could eventually end the uncertainty in
the beverage sector about a controversial labelling
issue.
Bulgarian group Drujba is expected to undergo major expansion
within its production capabilities over the coming year as part of
moves to consolidate its position within Europe's glass packaging
market, say news reports in the...
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has called on industry
and other groups to submit scientific information as part
of its review on cloned meat.
European wine and spirits firms saw the door to India open a
little wider Tuesday, after the World Trade Organisation
agreed to investigate the country's high import tariffs.
Heineken has landed the seventh largest fine ever handed out by EU
competition authorities, for a beer cartel it operated with other
brewers, including Grolsch and InBev.
EU legislators yesterday voted in favour of proposals to introduce
a controversial five-stage hierarchy of priority for the bloc's
waste management policy.
A controversial report that aims to water down proposals to reform
the EU wine sector will be debated by Members of the European
Parliament in Strasbourg Tuesday night.
France's Danone must pay a €42m fine for its role in a cartel in
Belgium, an EU court has ruled, backing Commission plans to get
tough on repeat offenders.
Current proposals to reform Europe's troubled wine sector are too
radical, an EU Parliament committee has said, tabling amendments
that promise a heated debate over the next few months.
Slow progress of talks to establish a new International Coffee
Agreement means member countries could miss the deadline for a
deal, BeverageDaily.com has learnt.
One in six broiler flocks in Germany is infected with salmonella,
according to a pilot survey bythe country's Federal Institute for
Risk Assessment (BfR).