French retail giant Carrefour has signed an agreement to acquire 51% of Chinese hypermarket operator Baolongcang.The founders of Baolongcang, one of the main hypermarket operators in Hebei, near Beijing, will keep a 49% stake in the 11-store chain. The acquisition has been approved by local competition commission authorities. In 2009, Baolongcang’s stores posted CNY1.06bn (US$156.4m) sales excluding taxes. Carrefour said yesterday (15 July) the acquisition highlights its efforts to “strengthen... ...Read more »

CSR’s newly-sold sugar and renewable energy business, Sucrogen, through its joint venture, Sugar Australia, has signed an Agreement with GLG Life Tech Corporation for the distribution and marketing of its stevia extract products as an ingredient to the food and beverage sector.The distribution agreement covers the food and beverage sectors in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and the Pacific Islands. Sugar Australia is the leading sugar refiner in Australia operating across multiple business... ...Read more »

On Monday, Ajinomoto announced that the two companies were to join forces to develop products that are low in sugar and salt and that meet consumer demand to manage weight. Kellogg has insisted its tie-up with Ajinomoto will give the US cereal giant “some great opportunities” to combine its product portfolio with the Japanese group’s range of ingredients. Kellogg vice-president for research, quality and technology Margaret Bath told just-food yesterday that the company “shared... ...Read more »

New research suggests that cashew extract shows promise as an anti-diabetic, with a new study suggesting that the extract of the seeds, known to many as cashew nuts, may improve the body’s response to insulin. The study, a cooperation between the University of Montreal and the Université de Yaoundé in Cameroon, was designed to investigate the impact of leaves, bark, seeds and apples from cashew trees, native to northeastern Brazil and other countries of the southern hemisphere, on cells that... ...Read more »

New South Wales Premier Kristina Keneally met with the chairman of China’s Bright Food Group this week, to discuss ways to promote the sale and distribution of NSW wines in China’s growing market – now Australia’s fourth-largest wine export destination. The Hunter Valley-based Tyrrell’s Wines and Brokenwood Wines are distributed through the Bright Food Store – the largest food company in China, with 3300 stores and e-commerce networks, worth more than A $16 billion... ...Read more »

Fruit and vegetable supplier Fresh Produce Group has announced the purchase of the Produce One production facility at Arndell Park in Sydney, from FreshExchange (part of CostaExchange Group). The state-of-the-art facility boasts a production area of 6,000 square metres, incorporating coolrooms for all products, ripening rooms, pre-packing equipment and processing capabilities for cutting and wrapping fresh produce. The Arndell Park production facility will complement FPG’s existing domestic service... ...Read more »

The gold medal winners in the 2010 Royal Queensland Food & Wine Show’s Olive Oil Competition were announced this week, with top honours going to products from WA, NSW and Victoria. Table olives were in competition for the first time this year, alongside extra virgin olive oils and flavoured and infused oils. A total of 71 entrants from around Australia – 46 oils and 25 table varieties – yielded three gold medals, plus seven silver and 23 gold. Best Olive Oil of Show went to... ...Read more »

US food giant Heinz is to market and distribute its infant feeding ranges directly to the market, following the termination of an agreement with its sales and marketing agency Ceuta Healthcare. Heinz said yesterday that it ended the agreement with the agency after a strategic review of its infant feeing operation. The move, Heinz said, will create “significant benefits” for both new and existing customers, and comes into effect on the 1 August. “Contacting our customers directly about our infant... ...Read more »

SABMiller, one of the world’s leading brewers, is calling on the brewing industry to improve disclosure on environmental and social impacts.The company is taking a lead by publishing detailed information about the impacts of its own operations around the world, in an online format which allows for greater insight and scrutiny into the country-level performance of its businesses. In just a few clicks, any visitor to www.sabmiller.com can see which businesses are performing well but also where... ...Read more »

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) is granting free and open access to its central data repository, FAOSTAT, the world’s largest and most comprehensive statistical database on food, agriculture, and hunger, the UN agency announced last week.Previously, it was possible to download without charge a limited amount of information from FAOSTAT – which contains over one million data points covering 210 countries and territories — but access to larger batches of statistics... ...Read more »