Unilever will increase its prices at a more “rapid rate” in 2011 as it continues to look to offset rising commodity costs, concerns over which hit the company’s share price yesterday (3 February). The UK group’s stock closed down 1.1% in London this afternoon despite a 26% increase in annual profits and accelerating underlying sales growth in the fourth quarter of 2010. However, rising commodity costs hit Unilever’s margins in the last three months of the year, which... ...Read more »

Australia’s sugarcane crop has suffered devastation as farmers venture out to survey their properties in the wake of category five Cyclone Yasi, whose destructive eye broke land at Mission Beach and passed over Tully, inland bound, last night. Crops have been devastated in Yasi’s wake, the hardest hit being sugarcane – with initial loss estimates at around $500 million for the industry alone. A sugar-growing heartland, sugarcane growers in north Queensland will again bear the brunt of losses,... ...Read more »

The Australian Banana Grower’s Council today warned consumers that the Australian banana industry, which escaped flood damage, had suffered devastation as a result of tropical cyclone Yasi. Banana growers across Far North Queensland, in particular Innisfail and Tully, have been the worst affected by the cyclone, according to ABGC Chairman Cameron MacKay. MacKay said the industry had taken a significant battering with 95% of major production affected in the Tully and Innisfail region, approximately... ...Read more »

Nestlé has closed its three production plants in Egypt – and its local headquarters in Cairo – due to the political unrest in the African country. The world’s largest food manufacturer makes culinary products, beverages and ice cream in Egypt but said its operations in the country had been “temporarily interrupted” amid the crisis. “Nestlé Egypt’s headquarters in Cairo, as well as its three factories, will remain closed until the security situation improves.... ...Read more »

US confectioner Hershey yesterday posted an 18% rise in underlying annual profits as the Reese’s maker finished 2010 with accelerating sales growth.The company said its adjusted net income reached US$587.7m in 2010, up 18.2% on 2009. The adjusted figure stripped out the impact of restructuring costs in both years. Adjusted earnings per share-diluted was $2.55, up 17.5% on the year. Taking into account the restructuring costs, which were linked to Hershey’s supply chain revamp, first launched... ...Read more »

Wesfarmers released its second-quarter figures for Coles yesterday, reporting comparable food and liquor store sales growth of 6.6% in Q2, and food and liquor sales of $7 billion – a 6.7% increase on Q2 last year. The company’s Q2 results for last year included sales figures for the 22 Coles supermarkets which have now been transferred to Foodworks, which the company said will continue to dampen comparisons between year-to-year sales growth until the third quarter of 2011. Total figures... ...Read more »

Food industry players and sustainability experts will come together in April this year at Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium for the National Sustainable Food Summit, a two-day independent forum focusing on food policy developments for Australia. Examining food security and resilience, and how these relate to the National Food Plan, the summit will be held in conjunction with Meat & Livestock Australia, The Australian Food & Grocery Council, WWF, Sustainability Victoria, The Global Foresight... ...Read more »

Marcel Smits, the chief executive of Sara Lee, defended the US food group’s plans to split the business in two, amid questions over whether the move will benefit shareholders. Smits, who also admitted today that Sara Lee had decided against pursuing “unsolicited indications of interest” from unnamed parties to buy the company, said the decision to divide the group was “in the best interests of the business and shareholders”. The Dutchman was addressing Wall Street analysts... ...Read more »

Researchers from the universities of Navarra and Las Palmas de Gran Canaria have demonstrated that the ingestion of trans fatty acids (also known as trans-fats) and saturated fats increase the risk of suffering depression, and that olive oil, on the other hand, may protect against this condition. The study followed 12,059 SUN Project volunteers over the course of six years; the volunteers had their diet, lifestyle and ailments analyzed at the beginning of the project, over its course and at the end... ...Read more »

Research undertaken by the federal Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) is a wake-up call on the issue of Australia’s future food security, according to Rachel Mackenzie, policy spokesperson for the peak horticulture body Growcom today. “Research conducted by the National Institute of Labour Studies (NILS) for DIAC has found that if the Australian population continues to grow at current levels, 430 000 hectares of land surrounding Sydney and Melbourne will be taken up by housing in... ...Read more »