U K
B U S I N E S S
P A R K
home page


Food & Drink 1996
2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996

The information below comes from the UK Activity Report.
Click here for further details

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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 Greenhills, the restaurant and entertainment concern, is buying Russian Dawn, the distributor of Kremlyovskaya vodka. 09-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 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 Albert Fisher Group has acquired frozen vegetable processing plants in King's Lynn and Grimsby from Frigoscandia for £11m. 25-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 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 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 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 AG Barr has bought a 40% stake in Findlays, the East Lothian-based bottled water company, for £100k. 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 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 The European Parliament has approved a six-year grace period for a new pricing system in shops, which involves products being priced per unit of volume or weight. 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 Macdonald Martin Distilleries is changing its name to Glenmorangie. 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 Nurdin & Peacock has bought Thompson Wholesale Foods, the Lancashire food wholesaler, for £400k. 12-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 Cadbury Schweppes is to sponsor Coronation Street, the TV soap opera, in a £10m deal. 27-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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 Patak Spices is to sell its Indian food ingredients to the US through Hormel Foods of Minnesota. 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 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 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 Bass is still considering delivering its beers direct to homes despite protests from shops and warehouses. 15-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 Kays Food Group has sold a Birmingham meat factory to a Dutch company for £784k. 04-Jan-1996 The information below comes from the UK Activity Report. Click here for further details Copyright UK Business Park 1995-2007