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Food & Drink 1997
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The information below comes from the UK Activity Report.
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Burger King is planning to open 55 new UK outlets in 1998, creating up to 2,000 jobs. 30-Dec-1997 Allied Domecq is planning to set up a joint venture with Havistra of Finland to introduce its scotch whisky and other drinks into Poland. 30-Dec-1997 Newforge has lost the European licence to produce spam for Hormel Food of the US, and is closing its Liverpool factory. 24-Dec-1997 Birds Eye Wall's, the Unilever ice-cream business, is to face another OFT enquiry into alleged discriminatory practices in the way it deals with wholesalers, following complaints from Mars Confectionery. 23-Dec-1997 Cadbury Schweppes is said to be negotiating the acquisitions of Michigan-based Beverage America and Illinois-based Select Beverages in order to build up a soft drinks bottling operation in the US. 19-Dec-1997 Harrisons & Crosfield is disposing of two flour mills for £12m in order to focus on speciality chemicals. 16-Dec-1997 Grand Metropolitan and Guinness have received US approval for their £24bn merger, provided that they sell the worldwide rights to Dewar's whisky and Bombay gin. 16-Dec-1997 WH Brakspear, the regional brewer, is planning a £30m flotation next year. 15-Dec-1997 Morland, the Thames Valley-based brewer, may have to close its recently-acquired Ruddles brewery near Oakham, unless it can win new brewing contracts. 11-Dec-1997 Philip Morris of the US is planning to restructure its European-focused Kraft Foods International business, which will involve the sale of non-core businesses, the closure of manufacturing plants, the consolidation of administrative functions, and the loss of 2,500 jobs. 10-Dec-1997 M&J Seafoods is to set up five new depots around the country, creating 220 jobs, with £6m of funding being provided by Lloyds Development Capital. 08-Dec-1997 The government is to ban the sale of beef on the bone, due to new evidence about the transmission of BSE. 04-Dec-1997 Guinness and Grand Metropolitan are thought to have reached agreement with the US Federal Trade Commission to sell two spirits brands in order to clear the way for their merger. 04-Dec-1997 Merrydown, the cider company, is in discussions that could lead to an offer being made for the company. 03-Dec-1997 Park Food is considering the possibility of selling its DJ Spuddles potato snacks business following an increase in losses. 29-Nov-1997 The European Commission has published plans that would require genetically modified products to be clearly labelled and to be relicensed for sale every seven years. 27-Nov-1997 Avonmore Waterford is to cut 750 jobs in Ireland and 550 in the UK in response to the problems facing the dairy industry, such as changing consumer demand, retail consolidation, and a proposed reduction in EU market supports. 26-Nov-1997 Glenmorangie, the whisky producer, has begun a cost-cutting campaign aimed at increasing efficiency by 20% over the next five years. 21-Nov-1997 Robert Wiseman Dairies is considering plans to expand its dairy business throughout the country, which could involve acquisitions or the building of new capacity in the south of England. 20-Nov-1997 Milk Marque, the dairy farmers' marketing co-operative, is to start offering long-term index-linked contracts to customers, a move which would soften its milk pricing dispute with the Dairy Industry Federation. 20-Nov-1997 The government is proposing that the meat industry is forced to pay £40m a year for inspections to ensure that slaughterhouses conform with new BSE regulations. 20-Nov-1997 Northern Foods is threatening to undercut the milk prices offered by its competitors in order to maintain market share, raising the prospect of a milk price war. 19-Nov-1997 Associated British Foods is seeking clearance from the Office of Fair Trading for a possible bid for Spillers, the Dalgety-owned flour milling business. 18-Nov-1997 HP Bulmer is recalling 1m bottles of Amstel beer, following the discovery of glass fragments in three bottles. 15-Nov-1997 Allied Domecq is considering all its options following the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan, and may opt for a demerger or an alliance with another spirits company. 12-Nov-1997 ED&F Man is to merge its Australian sugar refining business with that of CSR, Australia's largest sugar refiner. 11-Nov-1997 Unilever is selling a US bakery business for $100m as part of its recently-announced disposals programme. 11-Nov-1997 Tetley, the tea business sold by Allied Domecq to a management team in 1995, is considering plans for a £350m sale or flotation, but may instead opt for expansion through the acquisition of European and US tea companies. 10-Nov-1997 Unilever is to speed up its pace of change by setting aside £800m to cover the cost of restructuring and the disposal of underperforming brands, with most of the rationalisation expected to be focused on Europe and North America. 08-Nov-1997 Shepherd Neame, the independent brewer, has been granted leave to seek a judicial review in its legal challenge to the government's 1p increase in beer duty, which it claims breaches the Treaty of Rome. 07-Nov-1997 Inchcape is investing £41m in its Coca-Cola bottling plants in Peru, merging its Elsa business with other bottlers to create a company with a 90% share of Coca-Cola's sales in the country. 06-Nov-1997 Kerry Group of Ireland has acquired SDF Foods, the Malaysian food ingredients processing company, for about £6m. 06-Nov-1997 Cadbury Schweppes is to cut 110 jobs in the US, mainly at the Dallas headquarters of its Dr Pepper/7-Up subsidiary, in order to improve the competitiveness of its carbonated soft drinks business. 05-Nov-1997 Bass is planning to acquire Carlsberg-Tetley's brewery in Burton on Trent in order to merge it with its own brewery in the town, creating one of the largest breweries in Europe. 04-Nov-1997 Associated British Foods has expressed an interest in acquiring Dalgety's ingredients and animal feeds businesses. 04-Nov-1997 Guinness and Grand Metropolitan will be known as Diageo after their £24bn merger, having decided against the use of the GMG Brands name. 30-Oct-1997 Cadbury Schweppes has lost a High Court action brought by Swiss chocolate manufacturers that accused it of "passing off" its Swiss Chalet chocolate bar as being of Swiss origin. 30-Oct-1997 Associated British Foods is acquiring a 70% stake in a sugar cane factory in south western China and a 41% stake in the Glinojeck beet factory in Poland. 28-Oct-1997 Dalgety is actively looking to sell its food ingredients and flour milling activities in order to focus on petfoods, pig breeding and agricultural supply. 25-Oct-1997 Compass has won a £25m contract to provide staff restaurants at EuroDisney, covering nine sites. 21-Oct-1997 The government is planning to give the proposed Food Standards Agency additional powers which will enable it to give nutritional guidance as well as having the responsibility for food safety. 20-Oct-1997 Tate & Lyle has acquired 80% of Cukrownia Garbow, the Polish operator of a sugar beet factory with net assets of $3.3m. 18-Oct-1997 IAWS is planning to invest £11m in the expansion of its milling capacity in the UK and Ireland, in order to provide dough for its newly-acquired Cuisine de France bakeries. 17-Oct-1997 Gruma, the holding company for Maseca of Mexico, is to open a tortilla plant in Birmingham in order to supply the European market without having to import from its US plants. 15-Oct-1997 The £24bn merger between Guinness and Grand Metropolitan is now expected to go-ahead early next year, as LVMH has dropped its objection following the offer of a £250m cash sweetener. 14-Oct-1997 Unilever is looking to sell its coffee operations in Australia and New Zealand, but will retain the Bushells tea business as tea is one of its core products. 03-Oct-1997 Carlsberg-Tetley has announced a major cost-cutting campaign, with the loss of 1,500 jobs from the closure of breweries in Alloa, Wrexham and Burton, and some distribution centres. 26-Sep-1997 JLI, the cinema popcorn and frozen herbs company, has attributed a sudden increase in its share price to the fact that it is in takeover talks. 25-Sep-1997 Avonmore Waterford is planning a cost-cutting campaign in order to make savings of £20m a year, following its formation from the merger of the two Irish dairy companies. 25-Sep-1997 Geest, the chilled convenience foods company, has begun a £40m capital expenditure programme to open four new factories in Biggleswade, Bourne, Harrow and Milton Keynes, creating 1,000 jobs. 19-Sep-1997 Milk Marque, the dairy farmer's co-operative, is planning to set up a manufacturing subsidiary called Milk Marque Developments, which will use up surplus milk and help to stabilise prices. 17-Sep-1997 Dalgety is planning to sell its food ingredients business and its Martin-Brower division, which is a distributor for McDonald's in the US, in order to focus on petfoods and the Pig Improvement Company. 16-Sep-1997 United Biscuits is to focus its crisps business on supplying own-label products to supermarkets, as its KP brand has been unable to compete with Pepsico's Walker's brand. 12-Sep-1997 The government is planning to publish hygiene scores for individual abattoirs next year, in order to enable consumers and retailers to select the best performers. 11-Sep-1997 Hillsdown is looking to sell its remaining red meat businesses, including Tendercut, Fairfax Meadow and Towers Thompson, in order to focus on chilled foods, ambient foods and poultry. 05-Sep-1997 Perkins Foods is planning to buy back £1m of shares in order to enhance earnings. 02-Sep-1997 Tulip International of Denmark is planning a £12m meat slicing plant in Wellingborough, but will close its two Merseyside plants. 28-Aug-1997 Five alcopop alcoholic soft drinks are being withdrawn from sale, including products from Allied Domecq and Sainsbury's, following criticism from the Portman Group industry watchdog about their effect on under-age drinking. 28-Aug-1997 Bass has sold its 50% share in Carlsberg-Tetley to its joint venture partner, Carlsberg of Denmark, for £110m, following the government's block on Bass's plans to merge with the brewing venture. 23-Aug-1997 Albert Fisher has confirmed plans to look for a buyer for its seafood business in order to focus on fresh produce. 21-Aug-1997 Albert Fisher has announced that takeover talks with an unnamed bidder, thought to be Chiquita Brands of the US, have ended, and it will now devise a new strategy and a share buy-back in order to enhance earnings per share. 15-Aug-1997 Langdons Foods, the tea and coffee merchant, is looking to sell its Importers Limited division following losses. 12-Aug-1997 James Crean has acquired Kralis Bros Food, the US supplier of ready-to-cook fowl, for £4.6m. 12-Aug-1997 JD Wetherspoon and Whitbread have both announced bans on the sale of alcopop alcoholic fruit drinks in their pubs, due to concerns over under-age drinking. 05-Aug-1997 Genus, the cattle-breeding company owned by dairy farmers, is planning to reduce its reliance on dairy and beef by acquiring a farm management company, and discussions have been taking place with Sentry, Velcourt and Broadoak. 05-Aug-1997 The EU is planning to introduce legislation in November which will require food manufacturers to include special labels on food that contains genetically modified soya or maize. 04-Aug-1997 The government is considering plans to give higher payments to farmers that switch to organic production, as about 75% of organic fruit and vegetables sold in the UK are imported. 30-Jul-1997 Grand Metropolitan is to close its 39 Burger King outlets in France due to their small market share, in order to focus on other European countries such as Germany and Spain where growth prospects are higher. 30-Jul-1997 HP Bulmer has bought Harvest Wine Company of New Zealand, which has over half of the New Zealand cider market, for £940,000. 29-Jul-1997 Matthew Clark is planning a £8m marketing campaign for its cider brands, which were hit by a steep fall in sales last year. 24-Jul-1997 Carlsberg-Tetley is said to be planning a major cost-cutting campaign following its blocked plans to merge with Bass Brewers, and it may close breweries in Alloa and Wrexham along with a number of distribution depots. 24-Jul-1997 The Ministry of Agriculture is to start naming foods tested in safety surveys, which up to now have been withheld for confidentiality reasons. 23-Jul-1997 Tesco has suspended meat purchases from the St Merryn Meat plant in Cornwall following a television programme that alleged poor practices. 22-Jul-1997 The National Farmers Union has estimated that this year's harvest of apples and pears will be about a third of last year's due to severe frost in the south east of England. 19-Jul-1997 The government has ordered the shutdown of the Heine meat cutting plant in Hertfordshire and the Safex cold store in Stoke due to allegations that they have been involved in an illegal scam to export British beef. 15-Jul-1997 Greencore of Dublin has increased its stake in Kears, the UK baking company, from 50% to 98.5% at a cost of £25.2m. 15-Jul-1997 Dalgety has issued a profit warning due to poor sales in pet foods and agriculture and changes to its accounting practices concerning the treatment of goodwill. 09-Jul-1997 Milk Marque has agreed to Office of Fair Trading demands to cut milk prices to 19.8p a litre, which is likely to result in lower prices being paid to dairy farmers but will improve margins for milk processors. 05-Jul-1997 International Cuisine, the Singapore Food Industries subsidiary, is setting up a new plant in Consett to make chilled ready meals, creating 130 jobs. 04-Jul-1997 Borthwicks, the natural flavours company, is in takeover discussions with overseas food companies which could lead to its acquisition. 04-Jul-1997 Burger King is to reintroduce British beef into its restaurants, 15 months after the start of the BSE crisis. 02-Jul-1997 Whitbread is taking steps to prevent the sale of alcopops to under-age drinkers at its off-licences, including placing them behind the counter, in an attempt to prevent a possible ban on the drinks by the government. 30-Jun-1997 The planned merger of Bass and Carlsberg-Tetley, which would have created the UK's largest brewer, has been blocked by the government, and Bass is now expected to bid for the William Hill betting group to combine with its Coral chain. 28-Jun-1997 McDonald's has lifted its ban on British beef and will start using it at its UK restaurants again over the next few weeks. 27-Jun-1997 LVMH of France has increased its stake in Grand Metropolitan from 0.3% to 6.29% at a cost of £792m, and as it also owns a 14% stake in Guinness it could lead to a merger of the three companies' drinks interests. 20-Jun-1997 Hazlewood Foods has sold its Dutch potato products subsidiary to Danisco of Denmark for £45m, and plans to switch its focus away from commodity products and towards convenience foods. 18-Jun-1997 Allied Domecq is to set up a £3.5m whisky bottling plant in Rajasthan, India, in a joint venture with Clan Morgan. 18-Jun-1997 Albert Fisher, the food produce group, has received a takeover approach from an unnamed company thought to be a non-UK trading concern. 14-Jun-1997 Robert Wiseman Dairies is to increase capital expenditure to £30m this year in order to develop into a national company. 12-Jun-1997 Northern Foods is to invest £80m a year in prepared foods in order to offset falling margins in the dairy sector, and is looking to acquire European companies involved in biscuits, chilled foods and frozen foods. 11-Jun-1997 Unigate is looking to acquire fresh food and distribution businesses in the UK and abroad, as it changes its focus away from its traditional dairy business where margins are tight. 10-Jun-1997 Unilever has sold Nordsee, the German and Austrian restaurants and fish wholesale business, to the Apax Partners venture capital fund for undisclosed terms, in order to focus on businesses that can be developed worldwide. 10-Jun-1997 The government is planning to lobby the European Commission to extend the labelling of genetically modified food. 08-Jun-1997 Milk Marque is to send surplus milk abroad as it has failed to find UK companies willing to process it into butter and milk powder under contract. 06-Jun-1997 Sidney C Banks is acquiring Micronised Food Products and Charles E Ford from Tate & Lyle for £1.6m. 06-Jun-1997 Guinness Ireland has acquired a 27.8% stake in United Beverages Holdings from James Crean for £11.8m. 06-Jun-1997 Cadbury Schweppes may be forced to stop selling its soft drinks through McDonald's outlets in the US, as Coca-Cola is trying to become an exclusive supplier to the fast food outlets. 04-Jun-1997 Dairy Crest has accused the Milk Marque sellers co-operative of being anti-competitive for trying to process its surplus milk into butter and skimmed milk powder, and says it should instead reduce prices to clear the surplus. 04-Jun-1997 Compass is to acquire Daka International, the US foodservice company, for £120m. 29-May-1997 Granada has acquired Baxter and Platts, the contract catering company, for about £15m. 20-May-1997 Food and drink exports from the UK rose by 1% to £10.1bn in 1996, despite a fall in beef sales estimated at £453m caused by the worldwide ban on British beef, according to figures from Food from Britain. 12-May-1997 United Distillers, the spirits division of Guinness, is setting up a joint venture company in Poland with Alko of Finland, called United Distillers Finlandia Group. 09-May-1997 Cadbury is facing the prospect of a strike by production workers at its Bournville chocolate plant, following changes to shift patterns. 08-May-1997 Avonmore Foods has acquired a 10% stake in Beni Foods, the Milton Keynes-based cooked meats company, for £5m, and has an option the buy the remainder. 08-May-1997 Tate & Lyle is investing £4m in a new sugar plant in India in a joint venture with Simbhaoli Sugar Mills. 30-Apr-1997 Tesco has announced plans to review its 16,000 own-label products and has promised to scrap "copycat" brands which imitate other brands. 26-Apr-1997 Grand Metropolitan has sold Aunt Nellie's Farm Kitchens, its US fruit and vegetable business, to Seneca Foods for £15m. 22-Apr-1997 Sidney C Banks has acquired Usborne Grain, the agricultural merchant, from Usborne for £4m. 19-Apr-1997 British Airways is looking to sell its in-flight catering operation at Heathrow airport. 18-Apr-1997 Adas Bridgets, the Hampshire-based research consultancy, has developed a spreadable butter made from the milk of cows fed on an oil-rich diet, and the product could be in the shops soon. 16-Apr-1997 Saltire is selling Joseph Mitchell and Highland Venison, its game and poultry distribution businesses, to management for £5.5m. 15-Apr-1997 Avonmore has made a takeover approach for Waterford Foods, which could lead to the formation of the largest milk group in the UK and Ireland. 12-Apr-1997 Eldridge Pope is to withdraw from brewing by selling its interest in Thomas Hardy Brewery to management for £2.4m. 03-Apr-1997 Dalgety Food Ingredients is linking up with Seton Healthcare to build a £500k pilot plant to make complex sugars in Cambridge. 01-Apr-1997 James Crean of Dublin is planning to sell an Irish drinks distribution business and pull out of its paper, print and packaging businesses, while aiming to expand its US poultry products business. 26-Mar-1997 Robert Wiseman Dairies has acquired Scottish Pride assets for £4.8m thus giving it 75% of the Scottish milk market. 18-Mar-1997 Sims Food has discovered a big shortfall in stocks at its meat processing plant in Carnaby, Humberside, which has resulted in management accounts being overstated by up to £1.7m. 12-Mar-1997 Brake Bros has acquired Dairyfresh Desserts, the Torquay-based supplier of sponges and puddings, for undisclosed terms. 10-Mar-1997 Compass is planning to acquire a stake of at least 20% in Selecta, Europe's largest vending machine operator owned by Valora of Switzerland, in order to improve its vending service. 08-Mar-1997 WT Foods is to acquire Chadha International Foods, the importer of oriental foods, for £6.7m. 08-Mar-1997 John Lusty is to acquire Majorthatch, the holding company of Ryne Quality Confectionery, for £3m. 08-Mar-1997 Cadbury Schweppes is prepared to spend up to £1bn on acquisitions, and believes there is more potential in confectionery than in soft drinks. 06-Mar-1997 Unigate is to close its St Ivel factory in Devon in a rationalisation of its margarines and spreads production, but has not yet decided whether to transfer production to the former Kraft plant near Liverpool. 05-Mar-1997 SA Brain is acquiring Crown Buckley, the Welsh brewer, for undisclosed terms, thus creating a tied estate of 165 pubs. 05-Mar-1997 Glenmorangie has acquired the Ardberg, Islay distillery, from Allied Domecq for £7m. 28-Feb-1997 JLI, the snack foods concern, has received preliminary approaches from an unnamed company which could result in a takeover. 27-Feb-1997 Cadbury Schweppes has received European Commission approval for its exclusive licensing arrangements with Coca-Cola Enterprises, but will examine the issue again after seven years. 26-Feb-1997 Grand Metropolitan is selling its Suzy, Desobry and Driehoek bakery businesses in the Benelux region to Compagnie Nationale a Portfeuille of Belgium for £8.5m. 20-Feb-1997 Milk Marque is planning to strengthen its capital base by issuing preference shares to producer members in exchange for existing certificates of entitlement. 20-Feb-1997 The agriculture department in Northern Ireland is planning a mass vaccination of the province's 12m poultry population following a major outbreak of fowl pest. 18-Feb-1997 Cadbury Schweppes has acquired Bim Bim, the Egypt-based chocolate and sugar confectionery business, for undisclosed terms. 13-Feb-1997 Ushers, the brewing and pubs concern, is planning to raise up to £40m from a flotation next month in order to reduce debt. 13-Feb-1997 Cod stocks in the North Sea are in danger of collapsing due to over-fishing according to fisheries scientists from Scotland, Iceland and Canada. 06-Feb-1997 Bass has merged its three Czech brewing businesses - Prague Breweries, Vratislavice and Ostravar - into one new company with a 14% share of the beer market. 05-Feb-1997 The government is setting up a new food safety council in response to public concern about the issue. 30-Jan-1997 Booker has won a £400m contract to supply food to the armed forces, thus ending the long-term contract with the Naafi. 29-Jan-1997 Fyffes, the fresh produce company, is looking to increase its presence in France and Germany and would want to take a 50% stake with a local partner. 28-Jan-1997 Milk Marque has offered to cut milk prices for the first time since the Milk Marketing Board was broken up in 1994. 24-Jan-1997 St Merryn Meat is to set up a £21m abattoir and meat processing plant at Merthyr Tydfil, creating 660 jobs. 21-Jan-1997 Ushers, the regional brewer, is planning a stock market flotation which will value it at up to £145m. 20-Jan-1997 The European Parliament has approved new rules concerning the labelling of genetically modified foods, but environmentalists are protesting that the rules exempt ingredients that are "chemically identical" or "substantially equivalent" to conventional foods. 17-Jan-1997 The UK cereals harvest in 1996 is now estimated at a record 24.5m tonnes, up 12% on 1995, according to government figures. 17-Jan-1997 Fyffes is acquiring the remaining 49.9% of Sunpak & Mayfield Fresh Produce for £1.55m. 16-Jan-1997 Matthew Clark has announced plans to revive its flagging cider brands by increasing advertising expenditure and raising prices. 15-Jan-1997 Marshall Food Group is to close a chicken processing plant in Coatbridge with the loss of about 500 jobs, due to increased competition from imports. 11-Jan-1997 The privatisation of the Agricultural Development and Advisory Service now has three bidders on the shortlist - a management team, a consortium headed by a former executive, and the farm consultancy Genus. 11-Jan-1997 United Biscuits has sold its 60% stake in the Italian snacks producer ICA, its 84% stake in the Portuguese snacks company S&A, and is withdrawing from savoury snacks in Hungary. 09-Jan-1997 Bass has increased its stake in Radegast, the Czech brewer, to 33%, and is now trying to acquire a further 30% from a Czech investor. 09-Jan-1997 Compass Group is acquiring an 11.2% stake in Generale de Restauration, the French food service company, for £28m, and is considering the acquisition of the entire company. 08-Jan-1997 The information below comes from the UK Activity Report. 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