Scottish Pride has denied that it is discussing a possible takeover by Robert Wiseman Dairies, but admits that it may sell its fresh milk business to Wiseman. [31-Dec-1996]
Dailycer, the UK breakfast cereal division of Bols Wessanen of the Netherlands, is acquiring Barber Chestergate, the breakfast cereal company, from Hillsdown Holdings for undisclosed terms. [28-Dec-1996]
Robert Wiseman Dairies has won government approval to go-ahead with a bid for Scottish Pride Holdings, its main rival in the Scottish milk market, as long as it agrees to undertakings about prices and acquisitions. [27-Dec-1996]
Unilever has sold Sayama Tea Estates, the holding company for a Malawi tea estate, to Plantation & General Investments for £2.8m. [19-Dec-1996]
The Scotch whisky industry appears to have won a 30-year battle against Japanese import duties, following a ruling by the World Trade Organisation that Japan should halve the tax on Scotch whisky. [18-Dec-1996]
Ross Vegetable Products, the United Biscuits frozen vegetable products business, has undergone a £44m management buy-out. [18-Dec-1996]
British Sugar and Tate & Lyle have undertaken not to collude on the fixing of sugar prices following an investigation which has been in the courts since 1991, although they could still face penalties from a European Commission investigation. [12-Dec-1996]
Food and drink exports from the UK were up 1% in the first 8 months of 1996, despite the beef ban. [12-Dec-1996]
Thorntons, the chocolate company, is selling its 21 French shops to Jeff de Bruges. [12-Dec-1996]
Greene King, the brewer, is to close its Bedfordshire site and three distribution centres following the acquisition of the Magic Pub Company, but will invest in a new kegging line and distribution centre in Bury St Edmunds. [12-Dec-1996]
Bass's £200m bid for Carlsberg-Tetley is being referred to the Monopolies & Mergers Commission on the basis that it will create the largest brewer in the UK with about 38% of the market. [10-Dec-1996]
Bass, the brewer, has announced the £36m renewal of its sponsorship of the FA Premier League, with the four year deal beginning at the start of the next football season. [10-Dec-1996]
Grand Metropolitan is about to announce the trade sale of Shippams Paste savoury spreads for under £20m. [09-Dec-1996]
The Co-op supermarket chain is to start labelling its own-brand alcoholic drinks with health warnings which include information about the government's recommended daily allowances, a move which will conflict with EU regulations. [02-Dec-1996]
The market for take-home alcoholic drinks is expected to reach £8.5bn this year, against £4.7bn in 1988, with supermarkets increasing their share at the expense of off-licences, according to a report from Verdict, the retail consultancy. [29-Nov-1996]
Morland is planning to launch a number of new beers, starting with a premium packaged ale, having recently built a new brewhouse which gives it more flexibility with its range. [29-Nov-1996]
The government's 1996 Budget has reduced the duty on spirits by 4%, cutting the price of a 70cl bottle by 26p. [27-Nov-1996]
JLI Group is to close Tee Gee Snacks, its Leeds nut company, with the loss of about 80 jobs, blaming competition from more fashionable snacks such as tortilla chips. [26-Nov-1996]
The government has asked the European Commission to impose a minimum price on salmon imports from outside the EU, in order to revive the Scottish salmon farming industry which has seen prices suffer from cheap imports from Norway. [23-Nov-1996]
Unigate, the dairy products company, has said it is still looking for food acquisitions, possibly in new areas, but has denied reports that it has considered a link with Northern Foods. [20-Nov-1996]
Geest is acquiring Vaco, the Belgian chilled foods company, from Royal Ahold for £4.9m, and is to supply a new range of products to Albert Heijn, the Dutch supermarket chain owned by Royal Ahold. [19-Nov-1996]
Scottish Pride expects to soon announce the sale of its cheese, butter and UHT milk divisions to Scottish Milk - the two companies used to make up the Scottish Milk Marketing Board. [12-Nov-1996]
Iceland Group, the frozen food retailer, is supporting the campaign against the use of genetically modified soya beans, and plans to exclude them from its products in 1997. [11-Nov-1996]
Associated British Foods is planning further expansion abroad, through start-ups and acquisitions, particularly in the Pacific region. [05-Nov-1996]
Bernard Matthews is acquiring Bernhard Bartsch, the German maker of cooked pork and turkey products, for £5m. [04-Nov-1996]
Perkins Foods, the food distributor, is acquiring Disselkoen Group, the Dutch exporter of fresh produce, for £15.6m, which will allow it to sell an entire range of produce throughout Europe. [01-Nov-1996]
Matthew Clark, the cider producer, has announced a new strategy to regain sales that have been lost to the new alcopops, with more emphasis being placed on sales and marketing. [30-Oct-1996]
Tesco has begun selling organic fruit and vegetables at the same price as non-organic produce, in order to test consumer demand. [29-Oct-1996]
S Daniels is acquiring Brash Brothers, the tea and coffee processor, for £1.85m. [23-Oct-1996]
Unilever has decided not to increase its offer for the remaining minority stake in Lyons Irish Holdings, the tea distributor. [23-Oct-1996]
Langdons Foods has acquired Cafe D'Or, the coffee roaster, for £328k. [22-Oct-1996]
Hillsdown Holdings is to acquire the remaining 9.8% of Strong & Fisher, the rendering and tanning business, for about £4m. [22-Oct-1996]
Devro has offered £11m to acquire the remaining 43.5% stake of Cutisin, the Czech maker of food casings. [17-Oct-1996]
Albert Fisher, the fresh foods group, is selling its North American distribution business to a management buy-out for £73m. [11-Oct-1996]
Cross-channel imports now represent 11% of UK spirits consumption and 25% of wine consumption, with wine imports up 67% this year and spirits up 14%, according to the Wine & Spirit Association's annual survey of cross-border shopping. [10-Oct-1996]
Unilever has sold its 25% stake in Kumasi Brewery of Ghana and its 15% stake in Nigerian Breweries to Heineken for undisclosed terms. [05-Oct-1996]
The Scotch whisky industry has won a victory against Japanese import taxes, with the World Trade Organisation upholding a ruling made in July that said that Japan discriminated against imported spirits with the use of duties up to seven times higher than those imposed on domestic shochu. [04-Oct-1996]
Carlsberg-Tetley has decided not to sell its Thickhead alcoholic soft drink in shops and off-licences in response to concerns that it could encourage under-age drinking. [02-Oct-1996]
Unilever is merging its Lipton tea and Van den Bergh food operations in the US, and the combined business will trade under the Lipton name. [01-Oct-1996]
Fyffes has pulled out of the US banana market with the sale of its 50% stake in Banana Trading to Dole for £17m. [27-Sep-1996]
Brake Bros is to set up a £18m national distribution centre to distribute multi-temperature foods, as it is now less reliant on frozen foods following its acquisition of Puritan Maid. [26-Sep-1996]
Merrydown is to cut the alcohol content of its premium ciders due to the imminent 50% increase in excise duty on ciders that are between 7.6 and 8.4% alcohol. [24-Sep-1996]
J Sainsbury is preparing to introduce products that use genetically modified soya imported from the US, but faces protests from environmental groups who claim that the risks of such foods are not known. [21-Sep-1996]
The European Commission is to further investigate the acquisition by Coca-Cola Enterprises of full control of its bottling joint venture with Cadbury Schweppes, a deal which gave Coca-Cola exclusive rights to make and sell Cadbury Schweppes soft drinks in the UK. [14-Sep-1996]
HP Bulmer is expected to start distributing and manufacturing Two Dogs alcoholic lemonade in Australia and New Zealand next month. [14-Sep-1996]
Dalgety Agriculture has predicted a total cereal crop of 24.6m tonnes this year, the highest since the mid-1980s, which could cause a fall in prices and force producers to look for new export markets. [13-Sep-1996]
Grand Metropolitan has ended its relationship with Alko of Finland, which means it will no longer distribute Finlandia vodka in the US and Puerto Rico. [07-Sep-1996]
Marston, Thompson & Evershed is planning to launch Pedigree and four other beers in the US, as it aims for exports to contribute 7% of output within three years. [07-Sep-1996]
Grand Metropolitan is to sell off about two-thirds of its European food business as it aims to focus on just four international brands - Pillsbury, Haagen-Dazs, Green Giant and Old El Paso. [06-Sep-1996]
Carlsberg-Tetley has agreed to change the label on its new Thickhead "alcopop" drink, due to fears that it could encourage under-age drinking. [04-Sep-1996]
Unilever is said to be planning to dispose of weaker businesses which make up almost 20% of the group's turnover. [02-Sep-1996]
Robert Wiseman Dairies has seen its proposed acquisition of Scottish Pride referred to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission due to concerns over the effect it would have on the supply and processing of milk in Scotland. [31-Aug-1996]
Brake Bros is to acquire DRV, the French supplier of chilled and frozen foods, for undisclosed terms. [31-Aug-1996]
Unigate has sold its remaining US restaurant businesses to CKE Restaurants for $42m. [29-Aug-1996]
Compass, the food services concern, is buying the food operations of Service America for £77m, making it the second largest contract caterer in the US. [27-Aug-1996]
Bass is acquiring Allied Domecq's 50% stake in Carlsberg-Tetley for £200m, and Carlsberg is putting its 50% stake, as well as £20m, into Bass Brewers in exchange for a 20% stake in the enlarged subsidiary. [26-Aug-1996]
Compass, the catering group, is acquiring Service America's dining and vending food service division for $119m. [26-Aug-1996]
Harrisons & Crosfield has completed its withdrawal from tropical plantations with the sale of its 54% stake in New Britain Palm Oil to the government of Papua New Guinea for £42m. [23-Aug-1996]
Dairy Crest has reported that over 90% of the 29,000 farmers who indirectly own the company have decided to take shares rather than cash in the flotation. [23-Aug-1996]
Milk Marque, the farmers co-operative, plans to avoid a referral to the Monopolies & Mergers Commission by adjusting its wholesale milk sales system, but it still faces the threat of legal action from dairy companies. [22-Aug-1996]
Unilever Ireland has decided against increasing its offer for the remaining 25% of Lyons Irish Holdings, the tea and coffee concern. [22-Aug-1996]
The European Commission has given the UK 40 days to change its rules on "guest" beers in pubs, as it believes that brewers in other European countries are being excluded. [06-Aug-1996]
Harrisons & Crosfield is expected to sell-off the palm oil company it owns jointly with the government of Papua New Guinea, a move which will represent the end of its links with the tropical plantation industry. [03-Aug-1996]
Bass has bought a 20% stake in Pivovar Radegast, the Czech brewer. [01-Aug-1996]
Bass has confirmed that it is in discussions with Allied Domecq and Carlsberg to buy their Carlsberg-Tetley brewing operation. [30-Jul-1996]
Unilever is offering to buy the remaining 25% of Lyons Irish Holdings, the tea company. [30-Jul-1996]
Denham Holdings is buying Carter Penguin, the confectionery business, from Armour Trust for about £4.3m. [27-Jul-1996]
HP Bulmer is to launch a lower alcohol version of its recently-acquired White Lightning cider, in order to avoid forthcoming increases in duty. [18-Jul-1996]
Continental Foods, the snacks and drinks business, is undergoing a £16m management buy-out. [13-Jul-1996]
Scottish Pride, the milk processing business previously part of the Scottish Milk Marketing Board, has stated that it wishes to remain independent, despite the recent approach from Robert Wiseman Dairies. [12-Jul-1996]
Unigate is buying Kraft Foods International's UK and Italian margarine business for £77m. [09-Jul-1996]
Greenhills, the restaurant and entertainment concern, is buying Russian Dawn, the distributor of Kremlyovskaya vodka. [09-Jul-1996]
Pillsbury, the Grand Metropolitan subsidiary, is buying Frescarini, the Brazilian maker of dough and fresh pasta, for undisclosed terms. [03-Jul-1996]
Compass is acquiring Professional Food-Service Management, the Florida-based college caterer, for up to $26m. [03-Jul-1996]
Highland Distilleries has made a £180m hostile takeover bid for Macallan-Glenlivet, having pooled its 26% stake with the 25% held by Suntory of Japan. [02-Jul-1996]
Dalgety Produce, the potato business, has been bought from Dalgety by management for £14.3m. [02-Jul-1996]
Booker is acquiring a 40% stake in Sezginler Gida Sanayi ve Ticaret, the Turkish food distributor, and the two companies will jointly set up a network of wholesale outlets in Turkey. [27-Jun-1996]
Unigate is buying H Hargrave, the Lincolnshire-based pork processor, for £18m. [25-Jun-1996]
Albert Fisher Group has acquired frozen vegetable processing plants in King's Lynn and Grimsby from Frigoscandia for £11m. [25-Jun-1996]
Marriott International of the US has bought Russell & Brand, the UK contract caterer, for a price thought to be around £15m. [18-Jun-1996]
Unigate is looking to expand into continental Europe by acquiring companies involved in foods and distribution, and aims to double the size of its Wincanton logistics business. [11-Jun-1996]
Albert Fisher has sold its 50% stake in its Spanish joint venture, Albert Fisher Larios, to its partner Larios for £6.6m. [11-Jun-1996]
Christian Salvesen is said to be looking to sell its food services business, but would retain the cold storage and distribution activities of the division. [11-Jun-1996]
Dairy Crest, the milk processor, is to raise £90m in a syndicated loan in order to refinance borrowings and fund capital expenditure after its flotation. [07-Jun-1996]
Cadbury Schweppes has sold its 51% stake in Coca-Cola & Schweppes Beverages, its soft drinks production joint venture, to Coca-Cola Enterprises for about £700m. [05-Jun-1996]
Thorntons, the chocolate maker and retailer, is closing its Flixborough factory and transferring production to Belper, while at the same time it has sold Gartner Pralines, its Belgian subsidiary, to Pauwels. [05-Jun-1996]
Unigate is selling its Black-eye Pea restaurant business in the US to DenAmerica for $65m. [04-Jun-1996]
Belhaven Brewery, the East Lothian brewer, plans to raise £18m in a stock market placing in order to develop its business and reduce borrowings. [30-May-1996]
Up to 75% of Dairy Crest's shares will be offered to the 28,000 dairy farmers who indirectly own the company when it floats in the summer, with the remaining 25% going to institutions. [30-May-1996]
Cadbury Schweppes is to invest £18m in doubling chocolate production at its Beijing, China, joint venture factory. [28-May-1996]
The government has announced that leading brands of baby milk contain phthalates, potentially harmful chemicals linked to infertility, although the amounts are within safety limits. [28-May-1996]
Albert Fisher is in discussions to buy Frigoscandia's frozen vegetable processing plants in King's Lynn and Grimsby. [25-May-1996]
Moorland, the brewer, is planning to expand exports, particularly sales of Old Speckled Hen pale ale in the US. [24-May-1996]
Sims Food Group, the meat processor, has decided to stop discussions on selling its retail business, due to the BSE crisis. [23-May-1996]
Bass Brewers and Asahi Breweries of Japan have announced a marketing agreement which will see each company market the other's beers in their respective domestic markets. [23-May-1996]
Hillsdown Holdings is buying Continental Bakeries, the European biscuit maker, from Allied Domecq for £49m. [22-May-1996]
Shortages of UK-produced fruit and vegetables are forecast this summer following a drought and cold weather, and prices are likely to rise again. [21-May-1996]
Whitbread has bought the UK licence for Labatt's, the Canadian lager, from Interbrew of Belgium. [15-May-1996]
WT Foods, the ethnic foods concern, is raising £2.75m in a share placing to spend on new plant and marketing activities. [15-May-1996]
Allied Domecq is undergoing a restructuring programme following a fall in profits, which will result in the closure of its Warrington brewery in October. [15-May-1996]
Warburtons, the bakery group, is selling its retail and pie manufacturing businesses to Lyndale Foods, a management buy-in, for undisclosed terms. [14-May-1996]
Compass Group is buying Roberts Catering and Payne & Gunter, the sports catering businesses, for £6.5m. [10-May-1996]
Geest has sold its Necta prepared pineapple operation, which has a factory in Costa Rica, to Pacific Asia Technologies, for up to $6.7m. [04-May-1996]
AG Barr has bought a 40% stake in Findlays, the East Lothian-based bottled water company, for £100k. [04-May-1996]
CL Marsden Wafers of Wigan has been bought by a management buy-in team and will be renamed Rivington Foods. [04-May-1996]
Virgin Cola is to be launched in the US, with test marketing to start in a state later this year. [03-May-1996]
Unilever has made a £15m stock write off in its UK frozen beef operation due to consumer concern over BSE. [03-May-1996]
Wimpy, the hamburger restaurant chain, has lifted its ban on British beef as it believes that consumer confidence is returning following the BSE scare. [03-May-1996]
Allied Domecq has lost the rights to distribute Lanson Champagne around the world, and is suing Marne et Champagne, the owner of 75% of Lanson, for compensation. [01-May-1996]
Walkers Snack Foods has sold Planters Nuts to a management buy-in team, as Walkers wants to concentrate on core brands. [30-Apr-1996]
Treats, the independent maker of lollipops and ice cream, is planning a flotation over the next few months, expected to value the company at £20m. [29-Apr-1996]
Unilever is to merge its two main Indian subsidiaries - Hindustan Lever and Brooke Bond Lipton India, creating India's biggest private sector company. [23-Apr-1996]
Unilever has announced that it is to stop using North Sea fish for industrial purposes, a move intended to promote the reform of European fisheries policy and halt the decline in fish stocks. [22-Apr-1996]
Albert Fisher, the food company, has withdrawn from wholesaling in Germany at a cost of £43m, and is preparing to sell a majority stake in its US distribution business. [19-Apr-1996]
Scotch whisky exports increased by 4% last year to a record £2.28bn, with EU sales up 2% but sales to the US down 9%. [18-Apr-1996]
ED&F Man Group has bought a majority of the assets of Ravioli, the Polish processor of edible nuts and cocoa beans, for £3.7m. [18-Apr-1996]
Macdonald Martin Distilleries is changing its name to Glenmorangie. [18-Apr-1996]
Compass has won shareholder support to acquire a controlling stake in Eurest France, the French contract caterer. [18-Apr-1996]
The Portman Group, the alcohol policy institute supported by drinks companies, has drawn up a code of conduct on alcoholic soft drinks giving guidelines on packaging and merchandising to prevent them being attractive to children, but the OFT has prevented them from banning the use of names like lemonade and cola as it may be anti-competitive. [17-Apr-1996]
Sainsbury is the leading retailer of alcoholic drinks, with 9.8% of the market, while Thresher has 9.6%, Tesco 9.5% and Victoria Wine 8.3%, according to a report from Datamonitor. [13-Apr-1996]
Parkland Foods, the supplier of foods to convenience stores, has bought Dutch Oven, the baker based in Rowley Regis. [13-Apr-1996]
Nurdin & Peacock has bought Thompson Wholesale Foods, the Lancashire food wholesaler, for £400k. [12-Apr-1996]
Devro International, the maker of sausage casings, is selling its Devro America business to Nitta Gelatin of Japan for $26m. [10-Apr-1996]
Cadbury Schweppes' Trebor Bassett subsidiary is acquiring Craven Keiller, the boiled sweets and popcorn company, from Portfolio Foods. [05-Apr-1996]
Associated British Foods is forming a joint venture with the Sungai Budi Group to build a glucose and fructose syrup plant in Indonesia. [04-Apr-1996]
Bass is in discussions to acquire the whole of Carlsberg-Tetley in a move that would give Carlsberg a minority stake in Bass's brewing business. [03-Apr-1996]
S Daniels, the food ingredients concern, is acquiring Johnsons Fresh Products, the orange juice distributor, for £6.6m, and may follow it up with further acquisitions. [29-Mar-1996]
Cadbury Schweppes is to sponsor Coronation Street, the TV soap opera, in a £10m deal. [27-Mar-1996]
HP Bulmer is buying Inch's, the privately-owned third biggest cider maker in the UK, for £23m. [26-Mar-1996]
The decision by the European Commission to ban sales of products containing UK beef has serious implications across the food industry as foods ranging from soups to biscuits can contain beef by-products. [26-Mar-1996]
The UK grocery retailing market rose 30% to £75.8bn between 1990 and mid 1995 according to the Institute of Grocery Distribution. [23-Mar-1996]
Guinness has bought back about 5% of its shares for £460m but has denied this will affect its ability to make acquisitions. [23-Mar-1996]
Yorkshire Food is looking to sell its UK beverages operation this year. [23-Mar-1996]
Global Group is buying Express Caterers for an initial £850k. [23-Mar-1996]
The proportion of 11-15 year olds who say they drink alcohol every week has risen from 13% in 1990 to 17%, according to The Office of Population, Censuses and Surveys. [22-Mar-1996]
Louis Dreyfus, the French commodities concern, has bought Anderson Clayton, the Brazilian oil miller, from Unilever for undisclosed terms. [22-Mar-1996]
The UK beef industry faces an uncertain future following the government revelation that BSE in cows has a likely link to the human equivalent of the disease. [21-Mar-1996]
Harrisons & Crosfield is looking at the possibility of floating its palm oil plantation operation in Papua New Guinea to raise up to £30m. [21-Mar-1996]
Devro International plans to spend up to £10m in the rationalisation of Teepak International, its recently-acquired US sausage casings maker. [21-Mar-1996]
Bernard Matthews, the poultry producer, is opening two factories in Norfolk and Hungary to supply the Continent, but expects start-up costs to hamper this year's results. [21-Mar-1996]
Hillsdown Holdings' HL Foods subsidiary is to buy the UK canning operations of Groupe Danone's HP Foods, including the North Walsham factory but not the HP Sauce brand. [21-Mar-1996]
ED&F Man has decided against completing the acquisition of Vitafoods, the acid oils trader owned by Acatos & Hutcheson. [19-Mar-1996]
Grand Metropolitan is to distribute the Southern Comfort and Jack Daniel's whisky brands in the UK for a further eight years, but looks set to lose the contract for Finlandia vodka in the US. [16-Mar-1996]
The European Commission is planning legislation on the marketing of foods produced by genetic engineering and radiation, but the European Parliament's Environment Committee has failed in a bid to increase consumer protection and manufacturing controls. [16-Mar-1996]
United Biscuits is now on phase 2 of its reconstruction, involving the consolidation of its business in Europe and the Far East, having suffered in 1995 from the costly withdrawal from the US and Spain. [15-Mar-1996]
Yorkshire Food is to sell Scotia Group, its home baking business, to Hallco 63, part of a venture capital group, leaving it to focus on its Californian produce operations. [15-Mar-1996]
Grand Metropolitan is expanding its Burger King chain in Japan, with Japan Tobacco converting 40-50 outlets to the format over the next 18 months. [15-Mar-1996]
Unilever has reorganised its senior management structure, with 14 business groups reporting to a seven-man executive committee, in order to separate business execution from strategic leadership. [14-Mar-1996]
Hillsdown is discussing the acquisition of Continental Bakeries, Allied Domecq's European biscuit business, for about £50m. [14-Mar-1996]
The government has published a white paper that sets out a strategy to develop the Welsh food industry, with money being made available for job creation in rural areas. [14-Mar-1996]
Inchcape has bought a 25% stake in Embotelladora Latinoamericana, Peru's largest bottler of Coca Cola, for £22m. [13-Mar-1996]
SeaPerfect, the scallop and clam farmer, is expected to be sold to its largest shareholder, Mr Carlos Celle, to avoid liquidation. [12-Mar-1996]
Hillsdown has denied it is interested in bidding for Geest. [08-Mar-1996]
The European Commission has offered protection to 318 European delicacies to protect them from imitations, including Newcastle Brown Ale, Orkney beef and West Country Farmhouse Cheddar cheese. [07-Mar-1996]
Grand Metropolitan could be about to lose the US distribution rights for Finlandia vodka, which could have major implications for its US business. [07-Mar-1996]
Cadbury Schweppes is planning a joint venture in France with San Benedetto, the Italian water and soft drinks concern. [07-Mar-1996]
Kerry Group's managing director is to seek board approval to change the share structure to reduce the stake held by Irish dairy farmers from 52% to 20%, thus allowing the farmers to realise some of their investment. [06-Mar-1996]
The price of food in supermarkets is forecast to increase 4% this year following a 13% fall in average net margins at the leading store groups over the last three years, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research. [04-Mar-1996]
Great Harwood Food Products is to mount a High Court challenge against a government ban on the use of mechanically recovered meat in sausages, burgers and pies, introduced because of BSE. [02-Mar-1996]
Whitbread is taking over the marketing of 6X, one of the best-selling real ales, from Wadworth for a 20 year period in order to develop it into a national brand and allow Wadworth to concentrate on production and its pub estate. [01-Mar-1996]
Guinness is in discussions with the Yibin Wuliangye Distillery in China over the setting up of a whisky-making venture in China. [01-Mar-1996]
Treatt, the maker of essential and aromatic food oils, aims to increase production and cut borrowings by raising £1.4m from a share placing. [28-Feb-1996]
Booker Farming has been bought from Booker by a management buy-out for £7m. [28-Feb-1996]
Unigate is in discussions to buy Hillsdown's Harris pig meat operation for £11m. [28-Feb-1996]
Charles Wells, the brewer, is to stop using widgets in its beer cans as it believes they impair the flavour. [28-Feb-1996]
Fresh milk prices are going up by 11% in supermarkets, the first rise since the market was deregulated in November 1994. [27-Feb-1996]
The Food from Britain campaign is launching a drive in France to persuade French supermarkets to stock more UK-produced products, especially own label products. [26-Feb-1996]
Avonmore Foods is spending $20m on expanding production at its two Idaho plants from 60,000 tonnes of whey protein products to 80,000 tonnes. [24-Feb-1996]
Albert Fisher Group has set up a joint venture with Pinguin of Belgium and Legumland of France to build a £10m frozen corn and carrots factory at Ychoux, France. [24-Feb-1996]
Unilever is forming a partnership with the World Wide Fund for Nature to develop a new standard for fish products from sustainable sources, in order to discourage fishing fleets from indiscriminate fishing. [22-Feb-1996]
Grand Metropolitan has admitted that it frequently considers demerging its food business from its drinks business. [21-Feb-1996]
The catering division of Sims Food Group has been bought by a management buy-in buy-out team. [21-Feb-1996]
Pride Valley Foods, the ethnic bread company, has announced £4m of funding to open a new factory in April following a fire at its last factory in December. [20-Feb-1996]
Albert Fisher, the food distribution and processing concern, is to withdraw from growing iceberg lettuce in the US. [16-Feb-1996]
Unilever is acquiring Consorcio Agro Industrial de Malloa, the Chilean food manufacturing group that is the leading tomato paste producer, for £66m. [15-Feb-1996]
Fyffes has bought a 50% stake in Peviani, the Italian fresh produce group, as another step in its European expansion. [13-Feb-1996]
Unilever is planning a £225m restructuring in Europe and North America which could lead to job cuts at its margarine operations in Purfleet and Crawley. [13-Feb-1996]
Retail sales of real coffee have more than doubled in the last fifteen years to 10,000 tonnes in 1995 according to the 1996 Real Coffee Report. [10-Feb-1996]
The Meat & Livestock Commission wants to reduce capacity in the abattoir sector by 25% in order to return it to profitability. [08-Feb-1996]
Bass and Merrydown are to stop using the term "alcoholic lemonade" to describe Hooper's Hooch and Two Dogs, following concerns that it may encourage under age drinkers. [08-Feb-1996]
Three German states have moved to stop imports of UK beef due to fears over BSE. [07-Feb-1996]
Safeway and Sainsbury are both launching the UK's first genetically engineered food - a tomato puree. [03-Feb-1996]
Rose's Fruit Juice Company of Australia is opening a UK office, in Cambridge, to introduce a range of 40 alcoholic and soft drinks. [03-Feb-1996]
Danish Bacon Co expects savings of £2.5m a year from a rationalisation programme involving staff cuts, the lease-back of its lorries, and the reorganisation of its brands. [03-Feb-1996]
Unigate is said to be discussing the purchase of the Harris Pork and Bacon Group from Hillsdown. [03-Feb-1996]
Fellside Frozen Foods and Rowleys Frozen Foods, both owned by Perkins Foods, are to integrate their sales, transport and distribution activities. [03-Feb-1996]
Kraft Jacobs Suchard has merged its Maxpax operation with its foodservice division, in order to expand the Kenco brand. [03-Feb-1996]
Two Dogs Holdings of Australia is to follow up its alcoholic lemonade with a new product called Rhubarb Rhubarb, which will use a champagne yeast to give up to 8% alcohol. [02-Feb-1996]
Unilever has bought a 75% stake in Lyons Irish Holdings, the tea company, from Allied Domecq for £74m. [02-Feb-1996]
Patak Spices is to sell its Indian food ingredients to the US through Hormel Foods of Minnesota. [02-Feb-1996]
Allied Domecq is to sell Chacalli de Decker, the duty-free operation based in Antwerp, to Seabourne World Express. [02-Feb-1996]
There was a 17% fall in retail sales of beef in the month to January 20th due to the scare over BSE, according to the Meat and Livestock Commission. [31-Jan-1996]
Buchan Meat Producers of Banffshire, Scotland, has gone into liquidation, blaming the BSE scare. [30-Jan-1996]
Kerry Group has bought Ciprial, the French maker of fruit-based food ingredients, for £52m. [27-Jan-1996]
Procter & Gamble has received FDA approval for olestra, the zero-calorie synthetic fat substitute, for use in savoury snacks. [26-Jan-1996]
The government has reformed food industry regulations, admitting it was wrong when it imposed a maximum temperature of 5 degrees on chilled foods in 1990. [26-Jan-1996]
SeaPerfect, the shellfish concern, has had its shares suspended because of failure to gain funding in Chile to support its working capital requirements. [24-Jan-1996]
Highland Distilleries has acquired a 26% stake in Macallan-Glenlivet from Remy Cointreau for £47m. [23-Jan-1996]
Tesco says it may appeal to the OFT about the fact that some petfood makers are refusing to supply the supermarket chain as they prefer to supply only specialist stores. [22-Jan-1996]
United Biscuits has restructured the Ross Young's frozen foods business into three divisions - McVitie's Prepared Foods, Young's and Ross Vegetable Products. [20-Jan-1996]
MD Foods, the Danish-owned dairy concern, is planning a 25% capacity increase in the UK over the next five years. [18-Jan-1996]
Scottish & Newcastle is restructuring its beer division with the closure of breweries in Nottingham and Halifax and 13 depots, and the loss of 1,600 jobs. [17-Jan-1996]
Bass is removing posters for its Hooper's Hooch alcoholic lemonade as the Advertising Standards Authority said they were appealing to under 18s. [17-Jan-1996]
Matthew Clark has bought Dunn & Moore, the Scottish delivered wholesale concern, for an initial £3.7m. [17-Jan-1996]
Northern Foods is to provide marketing and processing consultancy to Scottish Pride. [17-Jan-1996]
Milk Marque has announced a 3% price increase for milk from April, prompting criticism from the dairy industry. [16-Jan-1996]
Hillsdown has bought Nager Holdings, which gives it 91% of Hobson, the food and drink concern. [16-Jan-1996]
Bass is still considering delivering its beers direct to homes despite protests from shops and warehouses. [15-Jan-1996]
Heinz has acquired Britwest, the Telford-based maker of single-serve condiments and drinks. [13-Jan-1996]
Stateside Foods has acquired St Christopher Foods pizza business, and will transfer production from Skipton to Bolton. [13-Jan-1996]
Global Group is buying Mawbeef Manufacturing, the Birmingham meat products company, and Ravencrown, the frozen food distributor. [13-Jan-1996]
The EC has backed down on plans to increase import tariffs on orange imports from non-EU countries, which is seen as a victory for UK juice companies. [12-Jan-1996]
Channels Farm, the family dairy in Hampshire, has had to close because of European laws stopping foil tops being put on bottles by hand. [12-Jan-1996]
Matthew Clark is cutting 190 jobs from its recently-acquired Taunton cider business. [12-Jan-1996]
The OFT has confirmed it is investigating a complaint by Mars that Unilever is using unfair practices in the relationships between Wall's and ice cream distributors. [12-Jan-1996]
The Portman Group has announced a code of conduct to prevent the new alcoholic soft drinks from being made attractive to children. [11-Jan-1996]
Northern Foods has asked for a MMC investigation into the supply and price policies of Milk Marque, the farmers co-operative. [11-Jan-1996]
The Meat and Livestock Commission has been warned by the Advertising Standards Authority to stop claiming that vegetarianism has been linked to anaemia in children. [10-Jan-1996]
Fyffes is considering merging its banana shipping operations with Geest's, and co-operating on packaging and sourcing. [09-Jan-1996]
Grocery retailing in the UK is seeing a long-term decline in profit margins due to price competition according to a report from Verdict. [08-Jan-1996]
The DTI may prosecute Birds Eye Wall's following an OFT investigation that found that the company may have given misleading information during a MMC investigation into the ice cream market. [05-Jan-1996]
Merrydown may undergo a share swap with the Australian maker of the Two Dogs alcoholic lemonade. [05-Jan-1996]
Fresh orange juice prices are expected to rise by over 20% next month, due to the introduction of EC tariffs on non-EU imports to protect Mediterranean orange growers. [04-Jan-1996]
BOCM Pauls plans to buy Usborne's pig production operation for £7.4m. [04-Jan-1996]
Kays Food Group has sold a Birmingham meat factory to a Dutch company for £784k. [04-Jan-1996]
Unigate has acquired the Lovell bacon business from Booker for £20.2m. [03-Jan-1996]