Broad Street Licensing Group Food News

Archive for the ‘World News’ Category

« Older Entries

World News

Monday, May 14th, 2012

  • Walmex, the Mexican branch of Wal-mart Stores, Inc., is using its acquisition of 500 stores from Walmart Centroamerica in March, 2010, to leverage growth in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. The result has been a 16% increase in fourth quarter 2010 profits. The retailer is facing increased competition from Soriana, Comerci and Chedraui at a time when the recession has affected both Mexico itself and money sent home by Mexicans working in the US. The company cited higher costs for electricity as a drag on profits as well.
  • The Bentonville Behemoth has run afoul of The New York Times, which has reported massive bribery in its Mexican division, along with a an apparent effort to cover it up internally.
  • Don’t plan of switching out maple syrups: Canada will invest more than C$110,000 to implement maple syrup traceability from farm to processing plant through radio frequency identification chips. We don’t make this stuff up. Furthermore, it will invest twice that (C$252,000) to develop traceability for growers and pickers in the Saskatchewan Herb and Spice Association.
  • Canada’s Loblaw Cos. Ltd. focus its marketing over the next decade on ethnic groups, allocating up to 70% of spending.[1] The company has hired Vicente Trius from Carrefourto target Asians and South Asians, the largest immigrant groups coming into Canada.

 

[1] Source: CIBC World Markets.

Posted in Retailing, World News | No Comments »

Marketing Around the World

Wednesday, May 9th, 2012

  • Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. will help launch Facebook Deals, a new competitor to Groupon, that allows consumers to find discounts at neighborhood businesses through Facebook Places. The chain will give a BOGO to consumers who use their smart phones to access the site as their over 1,000 locations. The brand uses its Facebook page to promote “food with integrity,” as well as more mundane things like restaurant openings.
  • Fair Trade Certified products continue to do well at grocery, increasing 24% during 2010.[1] Sales in mainstream channels grew faster (26%) than specialty grocers (22%) and natural grocers (16%), with ready-to-drink tea & coffee leading the way (39% increase and 33% respectively).
  • Kraft’s Cadbury division in India will roll out the Oreo brand. The move is intended to expand the presence of the Oreo brand in international markets, as well as move Cadbury away from its reliance on confections to include prepared foods from the Kraft portfolio.
  • Ajinomoto Co.is best known for its MSG and other seasonings, but it planning to spend $3.7bn over the next three years on acquisitions in territories like Brazil and Southeast Asian, the Middle East and Africa.

[1] Source: Fair Trade USA.

Posted in Marketing Trends, The Restaurant Business, World News | No Comments »

Groupe Danone Doing Well & Planning to Do Better

Friday, April 20th, 2012

French dairy giant Groupe Danone, owner of the Dannon, Activia and Evian brands among others, says it will look to acquire “small companies” in key areas like bottled water & medical nutrition.

Danone’s Evian division recently brought the Bonafont brand from Mexico to Brazil, has launched the Mizone energy rink in the Asian market, and purchased Qua in India, which markets water from the Himalayas. Currently it is testing fresh fruit products in Belgium and Germany as part of a joint venture with Chiquita Brands International.

These aggressive moves have resulted from a very good year, with income up 14% for fiscal year 2010 to €1.67bn ($2.25bn); profits were up 18%. Sales rose 7% to €17bn ($22.9bn). from €14,982 million ($20,210 million) in the previous fiscal year, and were up in all four business divisions: Fresh Dairy (6.5% increase[1]), Waters (5.3%[2]), Baby Nutrition (8.9%[3]) and Medical Nutrition (9%[4]). Water and medical nutrition accounted for 17% and 6% of sales from the two categories respectively.

In other world news, food allergens remain a hotly-debated topic (indeed, whether they even exist), but Canada’s Health Canada and Canadian Food Inspection Agency are promulgating regulations requiring labeling of possible allergens such as sulfites and gluten on prepared foods & beverages. Health Canada estimates approximately 1.75MM Canadians out of a population of 34.4MM have food allergies, celiac disease and sulphite sensitivity.


[1] Total: €9.73bn.

[2] Total: €2.87bn.

[3] Total: €3.36bn.

[4] Total: €1.06bn.

Posted in World News | No Comments »

Cargill on the Move Internationally

Tuesday, April 17th, 2012

Wayzata, Minnesota-based Cargill is continuing a quiet strategy of acquisition internationally.

The $116bn food giant is purchasing Dutch commercial alcohol producer Royal Nedalco from parent company Royal Cosun. The company produces over 37MM gallons of food & industrial grade alcohol for the spirits, food, pharmaceutical, chemical and cosmetics industries. Cargill already sells grain products to Royal Nedalco, so this will vertically integrate its operations. But its spending isn’t stopping at the Netherlands: the company plans a corn processing plant in Brazil to produce starches and sweeteners solutions. The plant will cost 350MM Brazilian reals ($210MM). The company cited the growth of the Brazilian market for the decision.

Posted in World News | No Comments »

Marketing Around the World

Monday, April 16th, 2012

  • Marsh Supermarkets is changing the name of six Ohio stores to Main Street Markets. The chain has 99 locations in Indiana and Ohio, and will introduce a new logo, signs and in-store displays & tags to support the move. Marsh has struggled against competition from Walmart and larger, better-capitalized rivals like Kroger.
  • Mobile marketing continues to spread: Weis Markets’ new mobile website ties in its weekly circulars, online coupons and remote ordering. Users can also register prescription refills and access a section called Healthy Living for recipes and questions for dietitians about healthy eating.
  • While you may not be paying attention to the Ivory Coast’s political turmoil in light of all that’s going on in the Arab world, the 30-day ban imposed on cocoa & coffee exports by President Alassane Ouattara has thrown the commodities markets for these items into disarray.
  • In the “unflattering” category, ASDA was found by the UK’s “pricing police” (The Advertising Standards Authority) to have violated regulations by failing to indicate its price guarantee (ala parent company Walmart) did not apply to all items. The decision followed complaints by rivals Morrisons and Tesco, who maintained the policy is misleading because “it does not cover non-grocery items, those specifically excluded, or that savings claims are about general pricing and not specific items.”

Posted in Marketing Trends, World News | No Comments »

Is “Cooking House” the Future of Food Retailing?

Wednesday, April 11th, 2012

Berlin has always been an incubator for trends in Germany, and Kochhaus (translation: “Cooking House”) may be a barometer for food retailing elsewhere.

Calling itself “the walk-in recipe book in Berlin,” Kochhaus focuses on around 20 meals each day, providing consumers with both the recipes and the right ingredients to complete those meals themselves. The emphasis is on locally-grown and organic ingredients, which dovetails nicely with Berlin’s famous “lefty” demographics. The meals are laid-out for shoppers on tables with the appropriate makings, and include appetizers, salads, soups, entrees and desserts.

Prices are capped at €10 ($13) per serving, with no more than an hour required and no more than 12 steps in any recipe. Kochhaus’s leftist credentials were strengthened by it taking on the job of supplying dry goods to Berlin’s Workshop for the Disabled. Besides the ingredients, it also sells wines, as well as cooking implements. To top it off, home delivery is available.

Posted in Consumer Trends and Habits, World News | No Comments »

Marketing Around the World

Monday, April 9th, 2012

  • Never bet against Bentonville: just when the so-called “dollar stores” look to run away with things, Walmart is asking suppliers for bids on “opening price point” goods to compete against them. At the same time, grocery chains like Shop Rite are offering “club store sizes without the membership fee.”
  • Applebee’s is continuing its partnership with Weight Watchers by adding three new WW items to its menu, including Chipotle Lime Chicken, •Spicy Pineapple Glazed Shrimp & Spinach and Steak & Potato Salad.
  • Japan’s Kirin Holdings Company, Ltd. will join at joint venture with China Resources Enterprise, Ltd. to produce non-alcohol beverages  in China. Kirin’s investment is said to be $400MM, and make up 40% of the JV.
  • Demonstrations have broken out in Germany over the discovery of dioxin in pork products and eggs, apparently from contaminated feed. The government has vowed tougher inspections, and Russia has banned German pork imports. Dioxin is among the most-toxic substances on earth,[1]though traces of it are present in most human fat cells.

[1] Better-known as the major ingredient in Agent Orange.

Posted in Marketing Trends, World News | No Comments »

Hamburger University

Thursday, March 29th, 2012

With over 26% China’s 6.3MM college grads without work,[1] it’s no surprise there’s an intense competition to get good jobs with foreign brands like McDonald’s.

Its training center (known as “Hamburger University”) in the company’s 28-story corporate HQ outside Shanghai has an acceptance rate of 1% (lower than Harvard’s 7%). The facility was moved from Hong Kong last year to help the company staff a planned 1,000 new stores by 2013 (it currently operates 1,300 with a workforce of 70,000). Total QSR sales in China rose 12% in 2010 to 60bn yuan.[2] Yum! Brands’ Pizza Hut and KFChave 40% of the market; McDonald’s only 16%.

In other China news, Coca-Cola Co. has reached the $1bn threshold for the first time with a brand developed in China: Minute Maid Pulpy.[3] Thirteen other Coke brands topped $1bn in sales including Coke Zero and Diet Coke, but all were developed elsewhere. Unlike in the West where soft drinks are stagnant, China’s soft drinks industry is growing at 12.8% with juice drinks up 16.2% annually.[4] Its juice drink segment is growing at 16.2 percent annually, one of the fastest growing segments overall.


[1] Source: Ministry of Education.

[2] Source: London-based researcher Euromonitor International.

[3]Source: Reuters. Although developed in China in 2005, Pulpy is now sold in 18 markets.

[4] Source: Euromonitor International.

Posted in World News | No Comments »

Marketing Around the World

Thursday, March 22nd, 2012

  • In app news, the website Chocolate Travel has created “Chocoholic Traveler,” an iPhone app that helps users find chocolatiers, cooking classes, factory tours and anything else chocolate.
  • After getting really innovative with oatmeal, Caribou Coffee is now adding hot breakfast sandwiches. Wow. Such innovative thinking!
  • Proof that India’s consumer market is becoming important to multinationals is news that Groupe Danone, the world’s largest yogurt company and owner of the Dannon yogurt line among others, is looking to acquire food companies there. The likely target is baby food maker Dumex India. Danone already owns the rest of Dumex’s Asian operations from its purchase of the Dutch baby food conglomerate Numico for €12.3bn ($17.18bn) in 2007. Earlier this year it merged with Russia’s Unimilk dairy group, bringing with it 21% of that country’s rapidly-expanding milk products market.
  • With the value proposition still dominating most grocery retailers’ thinking, the news that Roundy’s Supermarkets has hired Revionics to help optimize its prices seems like a logical next step. Consumers often complain about price fluctuations, with the “high/low” rotation of pricing a source of frustration and dissatisfaction.
  • And finally, as testament to our geek side, acreage for Winter wheat planted so far is up 10% from this time a year ago. Bakers of the world rejoice!

Posted in Marketing Trends, World News | No Comments »

The Egg Police in the EU

Wednesday, March 21st, 2012

While Americans must cope with contaminated eggs, and efforts to eliminate caged laying hens are only at the token effort among food manufacturers and restaurants, the European Union’s Welfare of Laying Hens Directive has required egg producers since January 1, 2012 to increase the size of their cages.

This means they can no longer rely on batteries of tiny cages where chickens are condemned to cruel and inhumane conditions. But with up to 30% of its egg production imported from countries like Greece, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain that are resisting the directive, UK food companies are worried they will be forced to use “illegal” eggs.

The British Lion Egg Processors (BLEP) group urged members to settle their supply chain issues in advance of the directive’s start or face uncertain penalties that could be as mild as public censure or as severe as a government ban on products. So far retailers and manufacturers have shown little awareness of the new legislation or any strong interest in pressuring their suppliers.

Posted in Government Regulation, World News | No Comments »

« Older Entries