Pernod Ricard, the world's third largest wine and spirits group,
has reported a slight dip in sales for the first quarter of 2004.
The group's established brands performed well in the US and Asia
Pacific regions, but its...
Interbrew, the leading global brewer, has posted a sharp increase
in sales for the first quarter of 2004. The performance of its key
global brands, Stella Artois and Beck's, helped the group to
achieve an organic growth of 11...
Last year's stockpiling of bottled water in advance of the Iraq war
had a beneficial effect on first quarter sales at Nestlé Waters,
the Swiss-based bottled water group, but meant that this year's
figures showed a significant...
Cobra Beer is probably the UK's best known Indian beer brand, with
its outsized bottles gracing the menus of Indian restaurants the
length and breadth of the nation. But despite its Indian heritage
and image, the beer is not...
Sunny Delight, the much-maligned soft drink from Procter &
Gamble, is to be sold to a US-based private equity group as part of
P&G's decision to focus on its snacks and coffee units.
In order to ensure sustained improvement, packaging giant Krones
yesterday proposed the conversion of non-voting preference shares
into Krones ordinary shares. The company believes that the
liquidity of the Krones stock will be enormously...
Burgeoning Irish food ingredients group carves deeper into the US
market announcing it will buy into fast growing 'lifestyle'
beverages through the acquisition of two US companies, Oregon Chai
and Extreme Foods.
InterContinental Hotel's is to dispose of its juice drinks company
Britvic. Pepsi who owns a minority stake in the company has vetoed
the disposal in the past - but this time observers estimate that
the company could be sold...
A tight focus on core wine and spirit brands helped French luxury
goods group LVMH combat the persistent effects of adverse currency
exchange rates in 2003.
The biggest South American and European brewing groups have today
announced a merger which will catapult them into the number one
position in the global brewing rankings and further quicken the
pace of industry consolidation.
Beer giant Carlsberg plans to reduce debt before completing further
acquisitions. The company has said that after the debt is better
managed investment in the Balkans and in China may be on the cards.
US federal investigators are investigating Coca-Cola's dealings
with Japanese company Takasago International in connection with
allegations of channel stuffing. It is alleged that the beverage
giant overstated financial results...
Belgium based brewers Interbrew, and Carlton and United Breweries
(CUB), have signed a distribution agreement which enables CUB to
import, distribute and market Interbrew's global specialty brands -
Leffe and Hoegaarden.
Baltic Beverages Holding has revealed its full year 2003 and fourth
quarter results, showing the company has continued to maintain its
growth in the maturing beer market.
Baltic Beverage Holding (BBH), the Russian company that is jointly
owned by S&N and Carlsberg, is planning to invest £34.2 (€50m)
million in the Ukraine in a move that is hoped to improve the
company's market share in the...
AG Barr, the Glasgow-based manufacturer of soft drinks, including
the Irn-Bru, Tizer and Orangina brands, said that it is expecting
to end fiscal 2003 on a high, helped by the hot summer weather.
Asconi, one of
the largest eastern European producers of wines and spirits, is to
buy new grape processing and winemaking equipment for its Puhoi
winery to help it meet growing demand for its products.
eSkye Solutions, the US-based provider of specialised software for
the beverage industry, has this week acquired compatriot Blend
Winery Software (BWS), adding a number of major wine producers to
its growing portfolio of clients.
Competition in European flavours heated up this week as Cargill,
the largest private company in the US, signed on the dotted line
for UK flavours group The Duckworth Group (TDG).
Last year was a tough one for French closures and barrels group
Oeneo, formerly
known as Sabaté Diosos. But the company ended the year with results
in line with expectations as restructuring efforts at both the
closures and...
Azucarera Ebro, the Spanish food group, and its compatriot
Intermalta, a malt producer, have created a new company called
Maltacarrion which will specialise in the production of malt for
the brewing industry.
Coca-Cola and Pepsi's worldwide dominance of the soft drinks
industry relies on an efficient and reliable global supply network.
While Coke has been busy awarding its best suppliers, Pepsi has
been looking at opportunities that...
French beverage group Castel is clearly confident of future growth
in Russia and the CIS. The company recently announced that it is to
invest heavily in BIH Brasseries Internationales Holding (Eastern),
its holding company in Armenia,...
Japanese brewing giant Asahi is the latest foreign company to try
and crack the Chinese beverage market. The firm has teamed up with
Japanese trade firm Itochu and leading Chinese packaged food and
beverage producer Tingyi in a bid...
Norwegian packaging firm Elopak is confident that the recently
completed partnership agreement with Dutch company Variopak will
reinforce the group's position within the European liquid food
packaging market. This sector has...
Seguin Moreau, the cooperage business which belongs to French
closures company Oeneo (formerly known as Sabaté Diosos), has
unveiled a major new strategy to help it cope with the changing
demands of the modern business climate.
Carlsberg Breweries has again increased its shareholding in
thePolish brewer Carlsberg Okocim through the acquisition of a
further 6 per cent of its share capital.
Following its failure to attract investment from French food giant
Danone, Russian dairy and juice producer Wimm-Bill-Dann has had its
Standard & Poor's rating downgraded from stable to negative.
S&P said it had made...
International food processor Cargill is set to construct a $50
million malt plant in Tula Oblast of Russia. Company spokeswoman
Irina Kalygina told the Russian Vedomosti newspaper that the
corporation is looking into the possibility...
UK-based packaging firm Rexam announced today that it is to close
its aluminium can end manufacturing plant in California, USA. The
company claims that the move is designed to bring its beverage can
and end making capacity into line...
The Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company (CCHBC) has finally
announced the completion of its acquisition of the Austrian mineral
water company Römerquelle. The acquisition involves production
facilities at Edelstal and Pöttsching and...
Alcan has announced that the provisional results of its offer for
French packaging group Pechiney, as disclosed by the French stock
market authority AMF, indicate that Alcan has secured 92.21 per
cent of Pechiney's total share...
Italian technology company AVE Industries is set to break into the
US food and drink packaging market following the signing of a
long-term strategic agreement with Evergreen Packaging Equipment, a
business unit of International Paper.
Differing fortunes in the east and west: Follwing disappointing
third quarter results, Carlsberg has rationalised its operations in
Sweden while at the same time increased its influence in the
Bulgarian brewing industry.
Packaging giant Amcor continues to consolidate and diversify its
global business with a recent acquisition in Mexico. As they say,
if you want to stay at the top, you've got to keep on moving.
Graham Packaging Holdings, parent company of Graham Packaging
Company, has reported healthy third quarter results. The group
recorded a 19.8 per cent gain in operating income for the third
quarter of 2003, compared to the third quarter...
Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company has delivered strong financial
results during the first nine months of the year. However, while
most of Europe basked in the warm summer weather, some key
countries within our emerging market segment,...
It's that time of year again. Companies are releasing their third
quarter results amid great fanfare, even if there isn't that much
to cheer about. The bottling industry in particular has had a
fairly difficult year, with...
First half profits for UK sugar and sweeteners group Tate &
Lyle slipped as US figures hit the bottom line but improved results
from European operations helped add sparkle to a generally
lacklustre performance.
Cadbury Schweppes could consider selling off its US soft drinks
business, Dr Pepper/7-Up, if it decides that such a move would
offer greater value to shareholders.
Europeans seeking refreshment from one of the hottest summers on
record have enabled Coca-Cola to celebrate what would have
otherwise been a disappointing set of third quarter results.