Chocolate processing giants Cargill and Barry Callebaut have suggested that any consolidation between the sector’s leading brand-owners could lead to more M&A activity among the industry’s suppliers. The speculation over Cadbury’s future has prompted some of the world’s largest business-to-business chocolate makers to ponder future changes to the competitive landscape of their part of the supply chain. Speaking to just-food, Cargill Chocolate managing director Filip Buggenhout... ...Read more »

Market research firm Mintel has announced their predictions for the leading flavour trends of 2010, with more experimental consumers to drive the introduction of new flavours. “As the economy recovers, we expect people to continue the trend of eating at home,” Lynn Dornblaser, Mintel’s leading new products expert, advised. “The home cook is becoming more advanced with his or her cooking skills by trying new spices and flavours, as well as preparing everyday items in new ways.” Flavour... ...Read more »

Fonterra-owned Mainland Cheese has insured the tastebuds of their leading cheese taster for $10 million.The Chief-of-Cheese at Mainland, Peter Sinclair, has been tasting cheese for a quarter of a century and the company believes his abilities are one of the major factors behind their success. ”I really took a passion to it and I’ve been doing it for 25 years and I wouldn’t be doing anything else,” Mr Sinclair said, according to the ABC. The policy is provided by Lloyd’s... ...Read more »

Dairy group Danone has informed investors this week that they are very confident in the strength of their business model but have tempered expectations of high single-digit sales growth in the medium-term. Emmanuel Faber, co-COO of Danone, reaffirmed that the French firm expected like-for-like sales growth of four per cent in the second half of 2009 but reduced medium-term expectations by cutting the sales growth target to ‘at least 5%’ from the previous 8-10% guidance. “The world... ...Read more »

Australia’s food and grocery industry has urged the Senate to pass a Bill to establish a new National Preventative Health Agency, the Australian Food and Grocery Council has advised. Introduced into the Senate yesterday, the National Preventative Health Agency Bill is designed to spearhead public health campaigns against obesity, alcohol abuse and smoking. The agency was a key recommendation of the Government’s National Preventive Health Taskforce strategy released in September. AFGC... ...Read more »

The owners of Australia’s two largest supermarkets are among the most respected by their peers, according to new research. Woolworths and Wesfarmers, the owner of Coles, placed second and third respectively on the BRW Most Respected Companies list. They were edged out by BHP Billiton, however, whose succession planning and sound fiscal management were lauded. The list is unlike many others as it is chosen by senior management of large companies rather than consumers. “They have won admiration... ...Read more »

The three-day World Summit on Food Security ended on Wednesday after the international community committed to invest more in agriculture. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director-General Jacques Diouf, who hosted the event, said the Summit marked “an important step towards the achievement of our common objective – a world free from hunger”. However, he declared “to my regret the official Declaration adopted by the Summit this past Monday contains neither measurable... ...Read more »

Goodman Fielder, Australia’s largest publicly listed food manufacturer, has told shareholders at their Annual General Meeting that the outlook for the coming year is “encouraging” and believes that the major headwinds of the past two years are behind them. “The Board is of the view that Goodman Fielder has now successfully managed its way through the two most formidable challenges which the company has faced in its recent history – the effects of the global financial crisis,... ...Read more »

The Federal Government has been told to learn from an “episode of waste and mismanagement” in reference to the GroceryChoice debacle, while the role of the ACCC has come under fire. A leading retail representative has also been criticised in a Senate Inquiry report, with calls for an investigation into a possible breach of the Trade Practices Act. The Inquiry had been launched to look at the handling of the price monitoring website GroceryChoice, an election promise of the Rudd Government. The... ...Read more »

The latest release the Westpac-NFF Commodity Index has shown that commodity prices remain 16.2 per cent below last year’s data, despite a 2.5 per cent rise in October. Commodity prices that lifted during October, according to the Index, included wool (4.6%), cotton (3.0%), wheat (3.3%), barley (12.5%), dairy (7.6%), and beef (0.3%). International commodity prices easing during the month were canola (-4.6%) and sugar (-6.5%) – although sugar’s fall follows a strong run-up on the... ...Read more »