Australia’s largest food manufacturer, Goodman Fielder, has announced today that it would be recording a one-off write down of the company’s Fresh Dairy division in New Zealand. The company indicated that high costs and worsening conditions were to blame for the write down. “…in view of the deteriorating economic conditions in New Zealand and current high dairy commodity prices, Goodman Fielder had taken the prudent step of writing down the goodwill of its Fresh... ...Read more »
UK retailer, ASDA, has launched an innovative recycled cardboard milk container: the first milk bottle in the UK to be 91 per cent recycled (from waste office paper) and 99 per cent recyclable. The two litre milk bottle, created by GreenBottle, has a carbon footprint that is 48 per cent lower than plastic. GreenBottles have an outer shell which is made from recycled paper, which can then be further recycled. The low density inner liner, which takes up less than 0.5 per cent of the space of a traditional... ...Read more »
Parmalat has failed to reach an appropriate agreement with their proposed joint venture partner, Murray-Goulburn, as they seek to acquire Dairy Farmers. The two companies withdrew their application for ACCC clearance on Friday, with the Italian dairy giant citing an inability to come to a suitable arrangement as the reason for the decision. “Parmalat SpA communicates that no mutually satisfactory resolution on terms and conditions has been reached and consequently Parmalat has withdrawn from... ...Read more »
The second trading event for Fonterra’s new internet-based sales platform, globalDairyTrade, concluded at 2am this morning (NZT).The clearing price for regular whole milk powder for shipment in October was US$3,705 MT FAS New Zealand Port. Managing Director Fonterra Global Trade, Kelvin Wickham, said the Company was pleased with globalDairyTrade’s second trading event. Overall the prices ranged from US$3705 MT FAS to more than US$4000 MT FAS for product to be shipped from October 2008... ...Read more »
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) today invited individuals and organisations with an interest in food regulation to comment on a number of possible changes to the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code.This Code contains food standards (regulations) that set out requirements for food businesses that wish to sell food in Australia and New Zealand, covering the content, labelling and handling of food products. FSANZ is looking at a number of changes to these requirements, including regulatory... ...Read more »
Taking the private label concept a step further, UK retailer Waitrose is to launch the first line of milk to be produced exclusively from the supermarket’s own herd of cows at its working farm in Hampshire.The 4,000-acre farm has been in operation for over 80 years and, as of this week, Waitrose Traditional Milk produced on the Leckford Estate in Hampshire will be available on the shelves of the supermarket’s 190 outlets. Leckford is part of the Waitrose Select Farm Milk Scheme, an industry-leading... ...Read more »
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has approved the proposed bid for Dairy Farmers by National Foods and Warrnambool Cheese and Butter, but raised concerns regarding the Parmalat SpA and Murray-Goulburn joint bid. The clearance of National Foods followed their recent submission to the ACCC, which highlighted that they would be willing to licence brands and sell processing plants in order to decrease the impact a takeover would have on competition. This appeased the concerns of the... ...Read more »
The battle for ownership of Dairy Farmers is now between three contenders, according to reports. The Australian Financial Review believes that Canadian firm Saputo has entered the fray and will now compete with Parmalat and National Foods to purchase the Australian co-operative. The three companies are believed to have submitted formal bids on Friday for the company valued at up to $1b. For months, Saputo, Canada’s largest cheese maker and the world’s 15th largest dairy processor, had... ...Read more »
The valuable contribution the dairy industry makes to the New Zealand economy has been highlighted in a report prepared by Statistics NZ for Fonterra, which shows that over a quarter of the country’s export earnings is now accounted for by the dairy industry.Fonterra Chairman Henry van der Heyden said the figures for the year to May 2008 confirmed “dairying and our dairy farmers as a true cornerstone of our economy”. “While there’s an obvious contribution to our export... ...Read more »
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has initiated legal proceedings against Australian Co-operative Foods Limited in the Federal Court. The ACCC allege that Australian Co-operative Foods, which trades as Dairy Farmers, engaged in false, misleading and deceptive conduct in the packaging of certain cheese products in contravention of the Trade Practices Act 1974. The ACCC claim that between 6 February 2008 and 19 March 2008 ACF supplied to wholesalers and retailers Romano style cheese... ...Read more »