Prices for the omnipresent beverage and confectionery ingredient
coffee leapt this week after flooding caused by Hurricane Katrina
put inventories of beans in New Orleans at risk.
The rise in trademarking food products in the UK serves as
indication the industry remains on top of the game, as processors
and retailers attempt to meet consumers' demands.
Untreated juices are still causing serious outbreaks of foodborne
illness across America, according to the US Food and Drug
Administration, warning consumers to be extra careful.
Praise where praise is due. And it is certainly due for one
small-time drinks firm in southern Britain, which is spear-heading
answers to global water shortages that threaten to wreak havoc on
food producers everywhere.
Soft drinks, particularly fruit juices, are set to make a greater
contribution to Britons' heart health, as both innovative small
businesses and major players roll out new, heart healthy drinks.
Pomegranate juice is set to become one of Britain's most popular
fruit juices after recent coverage of the fruit's health benefits
prompt consumers to seek out the product.
Nestlé's bottled water sales are rising again in Europe but
competition from both private labels and brands, as well as soaring
plastics costs, are increasing pressure in the sector.
Consumer health trends and political pressure have pushed America's
soft drinks industry to ban fizzy sodas from elementary schools,
and radically reduce their presence in others, in favour of juice,
water and energy products.
A link between consumption of coffee and caffeine and a risk of
type-2 diabetes has been bandied about for some time, but a new
research suggests that the relationship may be age- and weight-loss
related.
The death of France's Galland law has been highlighted as a new
opportunity for branded brewers to fight back against private
labels and poor growth through better deals with retailers.
Cott Corporation, the world's biggest supplier of private label
soft drinks, will join the growing club of aseptic producers after
buying Britain's Macaw group - offering new opportunities for
health products and better...
Energy drinks will account for £1 of every £5 spent by Britons on
soft drinks this year, according to a new survey by Mintel that
reveals the phenomenal growth of this sector.
Leading kefir company Lifeway Foods has announced that its entire
range of low fat kefir flavors will be sweetened with organic cane
juice as a healthier alternative to high fructose corn syrup
(HFCS).
Longer opening hours or not, the latest evidence shows success on
the UK beer market requires a slim-line approach from big brewers,
using strong core brands and counting every penny.
Under-pressure vintners in southern France have handed out 50,000
free bottles of wine to tourists to publicise their plight as
prices continue to crumble amid a huge bottleneck in supply.
Drinking large amounts of beverages containing fructose adds body
fat, and might explain why sweetening with fructose could be even
worse than using other sweeteners, according to a new report.
Energising ingredients and more spending on research and
development has turned around the fortunes of flavoured alcoholic
beverages in Russia, bringing better opportunities and growth
forecasts, writes Chris Mercer.
Coca-Cola, Pepsi and the rest of the soft drinks industry are
considering a voluntary ban on carbonated soft drinks in elementary
and middle schools following heavy lobbying from health
campaigners.
Hopes of an early recovery on the US beer market have been dashed
as Anheuser Busch reports falling domestic sales and warns that it
expects full-year profits to drop below 2004 levels, reports
Chris Mercer.
France will have to give back three times the amount of money it is
receiving in crisis distillation funding for appellation contrôlée
wines as the EU cracks down on wine sector mis-management,
reports Chris Mercer.
Britain and France are leading launches of functional, bottled
water in Europe, yet the trend remains in the grip of niche sectors
and still below flavour in the R&D priority list of the big
players, reports Chris Mercer.
Another write-down charge hits French firm Danone, taking the gloss
off a rise in dairy and beverage sales, as rumours of a take-over
bid by PepsiCo subside, reports Chris Mercer.
Bottled water sales are booming in Britain thanks to a new
generation of consumers who see the sector as more than glorified
tap water and better for their health and well-being than fizzy
drinks, reports Chris Mercer.
Crisis in the French wine industry is spurring producers'
acceptance of aggressive marketing strategies that, whilst perhaps
long-overlooked, could be worrying for foreign producers on an
increasingly competitive world market,...
Grasping the booming opportunities in the Chinese food and beverage
market, Japanese food conglomerate Kagome has linked up with
Chinese firm to bring vegetable and fruit juices to the market.
Proposals to put cigarette-style health warnings on soft drinks to
highlight the harmful effects of too many sugary beverages has been
called patronizing by the American Beverage Association, writes
Anthony Fletcher.
With its eye on a market where shelf life and food safety is
becoming a major selling point, the National Food Laboratory (NFL)
said yesterday it has received regulatory approval for a rotary
filler that aseptically packages low-acid...
Russian firm Sanserite will import new, Spanish wines aimed solely
at Russia as demand for foreign wine increases thanks to rising
consumption, higher disposable incomes and a declining domestic
wine industry, reports Angela Drujinina.
Never mind the pressure group fury, Anheuser Busch's caffeine beer
faces UK consumers who are sceptical about flavoured beer and a
tough advert code that will stop the product displaying its 'best'
assets, writes Chris...
Drinking green tea is highly unlikely to help prevent breast,
prostate or any other type of cancer, the US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) said last week, after reviewing the evidence
to support a health claim, reports Dominique...
Militant French vintners may be grabbing the headlines, yet new
research claims small-to-medium wineries in Australia are also on
the track to financial ruin, as the big boys march calmly on,
reports Chris Mercer.
Consumers are rapidly falling in love with bona fide, 100 per cent
juice across developed markets, yet it is private labels that are
reaping the benefits in Western Europe, says new research,
writes Chris Mercer.
Soft drinks makers looking to replace sugar with sweeteners to
reach health-conscious consumers could save time and money with an
award-winning new technology from UK supplier Pursuit Dynamics,
reports Chris Mercer.
Animosity is hotting up on America's stagnant beer market as
SABMiller lowers prices and attacks Anheuser-Busch in adverts, yet
productive responses to market pressures are still needed,
reports Chris Mercer.
Bordeaux - VinExpo, described as the largest gathering of wine and
spirits buyers and sellers in the world, is this year also a
showcase of the industry's response to a rapidly changing consumer
market, reports Ahmed ElAmin in...
Certain polyphenols abundant in fruit and vegetable juices may play
an important role in delaying the onset of Alzheimer's disease,
reports Dominique Patton.
Juice maker Witmark-Ukraine has announced it expects to increase
sales by 50 per cent in 2005 as consumer demand for juice in the
CIS continues to soar, yet rivals are looming, reports Angela
Drujinina.
Fuelling the debate on coffee consumption, a new study suggests
caffeine could increase aortic stiffness and wave reflections, risk
factors in cardiovascular disease.
Expectations of a fall in global coffee supplies of coffee will
keep up pressure on market prices, as fresh figures indicate world
coffee production will drop in 2005/06.
Dairies not manufacturing premium-range yoghurt are missing out,
with new products hitting this lucrative market every month,
reports Angela Drujinina.
The putative ability of polyphenols from green tea to help prevent
cancer has been the subject of much scientific enquiry in recent
years. But researchers in India now say that drinking black tea
could help prevent the development...
Women who eat cauliflower regularly could provide the body with
powerful tools to help fight breast cancer, as a new Italian study
reveals the chemopreventive compounds of this popular vegetable,
reports Lindsey Partos.
Spanish researchers show for the first time that bacteria, in
addition to yeast, are involved in the secondary fermentation of
the sparkling wine Cava.
Cranberry juice, already well-known as a remedy for urinary tract
infections, may help protect against common infections caused by
gastrointestinal viruses, reports Dominique Patton.
