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Food & Drink 1998
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The information below comes from the UK Activity Report.
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The Sea Fish Industry Authority is to increase its annual levy by 10% to £9.24 per tonne from April. 31-Dec-1998 The Northern Chicken Growers trade association for independent poultry producers is closing down after 25 years, as the major packing stations are now taking greater control and providing new services to producers. 28-Dec-1998 Fyffes is acquiring a 50% stake in Capespan International, the South African fruit exporter, for £12m. 24-Dec-1998 Golden Wonder is to create up to 200 jobs in Scunthorpe, following a £14m investment in a snacks factory and distribution centre. 23-Dec-1998 The Monopolies & Mergers Commission is planning another investigation of the ice cream market, partly due to concerns over the way the large manufacturers place freezer cabinets in shops. 23-Dec-1998 Park Group is to close its Spuddles flavoured potato manufacturing business due to continued losses. 23-Dec-1998 Ushers of Trowbridge, the brewing and pubs group, has accepted a £108m bid from a management team under the name of Rhesus. 22-Dec-1998 Compass is linking up with Accor of France to acquire a 50% stake in GR, the Brazilian contract caterer, for £47m. 22-Dec-1998 EU fish ministers have agreed cuts of up to 30% in allowable catches for next year, including a 30% reduction of whiting from the west of Scotland, a 23% cut in North Sea haddock, and a 5% cut in North Sea cod. 19-Dec-1998 The Monopolies & Mergers Commission is to release its report on the milk market by the end of January, which will consider complaints from dairy processors about the way milk is sold by the Milk Marque farmers co-operative. 19-Dec-1998 Unilever has won Dutch regulatory approval for its Flora pro-activ cholesterol-reducing spread, and EU approval should follow after 60 days. 18-Dec-1998 Webbs Country Foods is to cut 180 jobs at its chicken processing plant in Winchester in response to falling sales. 17-Dec-1998 Torridge Vale, a dairy farm collective based in Torrington, is to open a new creamery early next year, in order to produce milk products for markets across Devon. 17-Dec-1998 Allied Domecq has ended talks with Seagram of Canada about an alliance of their wine and spirits operations, and Seagram has also ruled out forming links with other global companies. 17-Dec-1998 Albert Fisher has closed its loss-making operation in Buffalo, US, and is in talks to sell its sauces and dressings business. 17-Dec-1998 Diageo has announced that negotiations to sell its Strathleven bottling plant in Dumbarton to Bacardi have been terminated. 16-Dec-1998 Vaux expects to complete the sale of its brewing operations by February, and the company will then be renamed to Swallow Group at it focuses on its Swallow Hotels chain. 15-Dec-1998 Kerry has opened a new £2m ready meals facility at its Durham factory to supply Somerfield, and an additional 130 jobs could be created over the next two years as further convenience foods are introduced. 11-Dec-1998 Golden Vale is to close a cheese factory in the Netherlands with the loss of 148 jobs, and will reorganise its butter and milk powder operations. 09-Dec-1998 Bass has confirmed that its Cannon Brewery in Sheffield will close in January, with the loss of 57 jobs. 08-Dec-1998 Tomkins has sold its Just Juice drinks brand to Del Monte for £10m, and the Just Juice plant in Ledbury will be closed with the loss of 185 jobs. 08-Dec-1998 Cadbury Schweppes has announced that its US soft drinks business Dr Pepper/Seven Up has agreed a new distribution deal with PepsciCo's bottling division. 08-Dec-1998 Young's is restructuring its Pyewipe chilled fish factory in Grimsby with the loss of more than 100 jobs, due to overcapacity in the market. 07-Dec-1998 Camerons Brewery in Hartlepool is to almost double its output, following an agreement between its parent company Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries and Guinness to extend their licence to brew Harp Irish Lager until 2009. 07-Dec-1998 Carlsberg-Tetley is considering plans to postpone the closure of its Wrexham brewery in order to cater for higher demand during the millennium celebrations. 07-Dec-1998 Dairy Crest is to set up a £33m national cheese maturation and distribution centre in Nuneaton by April 2000. 07-Dec-1998 South African Breweries is planning to move its stock exchange listing from Johannesburg to London in order to support its international expansion plans. 05-Dec-1998 Express Dairies is said to preparing to acquire a 51% stake in the Claymore Creamery in Nairn, and would then double output at the dairy. 04-Dec-1998 Plans are being considered to set up a Scottish meat marketing agency with a budget of at least £4m a year. 03-Dec-1998 Hazlewood Foods is to focus its Warrington and Bristol factories on producing a new range of chilled ready meals for two supermarket groups, and some low-margin products will be dropped. 02-Dec-1998 Foyle Meats is opening a £2m meat processing plant in Londonderry, creating 35 jobs. 01-Dec-1998 Chivers Hartley has cut 20 jobs at its jam factory in Histon, Cambridgeshire, following a review of its operations. 30-Nov-1998 Kelvin, the Gardner Merchant subsidiary, is said to be discussing the merger of its North Sea catering operations with those of Universal Services. 30-Nov-1998 Devro, the sausage casings company, is planning to save up to £7m a year by cutting its 3,500-strong worldwide workforce by 5%. 27-Nov-1998 Wolverhampton & Dudley Breweries has announced a £262m takeover offer for Marston, Thompson & Evershed, but Marston has rejected the bid as "inadequate". 27-Nov-1998 Hot Bread Kitchens is creating 60 new jobs in Ellesmere Port having won a DTI Regional Selective Assistance to help finance its £1.2m expansion plans. 25-Nov-1998 Marston Thompson & Evershed is cutting 90 jobs at its brewery in Burton-on-Trent. 25-Nov-1998 Christian Salvesen is to close a frozen food warehouse in Paris and will reduce the number of processing plants in its food services division. 24-Nov-1998 The EU has voted to allow the UK to resume exports of beef from next spring. 24-Nov-1998 Unilever is considering plans to set up an in-house operation to distribute Wall's ice cream, which would put an end to its links with the 27 distributors that are currently used. 23-Nov-1998 Jennings Brothers is to invest more than £1m over the next two years to expand the capacity of its Castle Brewery in Cockermouth. 23-Nov-1998 Scottish & Newcastle is said to be considering plans to acquire Kronenbourg, the French beer, from Danone. 23-Nov-1998 Oriental Eastern Foods has won a contract to produce chilled ready meals for Loughborough-based French food firm Le Sezannais, which could create an extra 50 jobs at its Nottingham factory. 20-Nov-1998 Joseph Johnston & Sons of Montrose is to close its salmon fishing operation in order to focus on fish processing. 20-Nov-1998 Bass is to invest £5m in improving the efficiency of its Cape Hill brewery in Smethwick. 19-Nov-1998 Northern Foods is planning a £47m capital expenditure programme in order to increase the efficiency of a number of production sites. 18-Nov-1998 A consortium of 18 Speyside whisky distilleries are planning to invest over £3m in a waste-water disposal network in order to meet new European regulations. 17-Nov-1998 Britannia Biscuits is planning to build a £4m biscuit factory at South Tees Food Park on Teesside, creating about 180 jobs. 10-Nov-1998 Robert Wiseman Dairies has shortlisted a number of sites in the south of England to build a new dairy, and hopes it will be operational by the middle of 2001. 10-Nov-1998 Whitchurch Group is discussing the sale of its remaining meat and pet food operations to management. 10-Nov-1998 Laurens Patisseries is planning to double the production capacity at its chilled and frozen desserts factory in Newark, creating 50 jobs. 06-Nov-1998 Brooks Meat Wholesalers has closed its abattoir in Foston, Derbyshire, with the loss of 25 jobs. 05-Nov-1998 Diageo's United Distillers & Vintners division is in talks to sell its Strathleven bottling plant. 04-Nov-1998 Hillsdown is negotiating the sale of its Ross Breeders poultry business to BC Partners, the venture capital company, for about £100m. 03-Nov-1998 Associated British Foods is looking to acquire small North American companies in order to use their technologies to expand into new products and markets. 03-Nov-1998 Island Fresh, the Jersey growers' marketing co-operative, has ceased trading. 31-Oct-1998 Ushers of Trowbridge and Alchemy Partners are trying to resurrect an aborted management buy-out for the Wiltshire brewer, and they are seeking funding from a number of international banks. 29-Oct-1998 Redruth Brewery is planning to announce a number of redundancies following a decline in the domestic beer market. 28-Oct-1998 Allied Domecq says it is still looking to form alliances and mergers with other major drinks companies. 28-Oct-1998 BPT Meats of Driffield is cutting 33 jobs at its East Yorkshire pig processing plant. 27-Oct-1998 Cameron Food Safety of Aberdeen is to operate a new Food Resource Centre at Inverurie's Food Park, which will aim to help local companies launch new products. 27-Oct-1998 Whitbread has sold its Castle Eden brewery to a consortium of local businesses called the Castle Eden Brewery Company for an undisclosed sum. 23-Oct-1998 Donside Game and Meat of Inverurie is to set up a new venison processing operation in Grantown, creating 35 jobs. 23-Oct-1998 Matthew Clark, the cider company, is in discussions with at least one potential bidder. 23-Oct-1998 Albert Fisher has put a number of businesses up for sale, including salad dressings, chilled foods and the continental European seafoods operation. 16-Oct-1998 Ushers of Trowbridge, the brewing and pubs group, has announced that a planned £116m management buy-out has been scrapped due to uncertainties in the financial markets. 16-Oct-1998 Scotia is looking for a multinational food group to set up a global distribution deal for its Olibra diet additive. 15-Oct-1998 The Dartington Food Company is looking to double the workforce at its Ivybridge luxury foods plant to over 60 employees. 15-Oct-1998 MD Foods has invested £7m at its dairy in Hatfield Peverel, Essex, to produce what it claims will be the first finely filtered milk in the UK, using a process that filters out more bacteria than pasteurisation alone. 14-Oct-1998 The Duchy Confectionery Company may be acquired by Dartington Food, thereby saving the 20 jobs that were lost when it closed its Callington-based Cornish fudge factory last month. 13-Oct-1998 The former O'Hara's Bakery in West Belfast has been bought by Grange, the local development company, and it will be refurbished and let either as a single manufacturing plant or divided into a number of smaller units. 13-Oct-1998 Wilson's Country is investing £1.5m in new storage, grading and packing facilities at its potato packing plant in Portadown, with the creation of 35 jobs. 13-Oct-1998 Macrae Holdings has acquired Pacitti Foods of Aberdeen and Arbroath for an undisclosed sum. 13-Oct-1998 Cobra Beer is planning to raise up to £1m in a share issue in order to develop its Indian bottled lager into a mainstream brand. 12-Oct-1998 IAWS of Ireland is planning to set up a new manufacturing and distribution centre in the UK next year for its Cuisine de France business. 12-Oct-1998 Allied Distillers is to invest £14m in its Scottish businesses over the next year, including the refurbishment of its Dumbarton and Strathclyde distilleries. 09-Oct-1998 Marine Harvest McConnell, the Scottish salmon farming operation, is considering plans for a management buy-out from its parent company Booker. 08-Oct-1998 Greene King is to close its bottling line and maltings in Mid Anglia, and staff will be transferred to other areas of the brewery. 08-Oct-1998 Guinness is linking up with Castel of France and the Commonwealth Development Corporation to buy the Reunidas brewery in Mozambique for $8m. 06-Oct-1998 Inchcape has sold its Russian soft drinks bottling business to The Coca-Cola Company for $87m, and is now discussing the sale of its Latin American bottling business. 06-Oct-1998 Ebor's small ice-cream factory in York is to close and production transferred to other locations. 06-Oct-1998 Quickfruit is planning to set up a £1m organic farm in Chester to produce and pack organic foods, creating 75 jobs. 06-Oct-1998 WT Foods is planning to acquire Noon, the supplier of chilled and frozen Indian foods, for about £50m. 03-Oct-1998 BGR, the restaurant chain, has bought West Coast Shellfish, the Scottish producer of scallops, for £0.3m. 01-Oct-1998 Kanes Food has won approval from Wychavon District Council to build a vegetable and salad factory at its site in Middle Littleton, with the creation of 70 jobs. 01-Oct-1998 Allan and Dey is to move its fish processing business from Aberdeen to Edinburgh Smoked Salmon's new factory in Dingwall, with the loss of 40 jobs. 01-Oct-1998 Bon Accord Sparkling Drinks, the Aberdeen-based soft drinks company, is up for sale as the directors want to pursue other interests. 01-Oct-1998 Allied Distillers is to close the Imperial Distillery at Carron, Speyside, due to over-capacity in the whisky industry. 30-Sep-1998 Voyager Foods is to expand its sauces factory at the Sunderland Enterprise Park in Castletown, creating 48 new jobs. 29-Sep-1998 Morrells of Oxford has been set up as a new company to acquire Morrells Brewery of Oxford for £48m, and has promised to invest in the 132 pubs although the brewery itself will be shut. 29-Sep-1998 Faccenda Chickens is investing £1m to expand production at its Brierley Hill poultry plant, and 100 jobs will be created. 29-Sep-1998 Tomkins has been ordered by the government to sell four of the six mills it acquired from Kerry Group in March, due to concerns over the impact of the acquisition on flour and bread prices. 25-Sep-1998 AG Barr has set up a soft drinks plant near Moscow, with $7m of funding from Agribusiness Partners International of the US. 25-Sep-1998 Milk Marque is planning to build a £50m butter and milk powder factory near Cullompton, Devon. 24-Sep-1998 Allied Bakeries is to close down production lines producing rolls, butteries and shortbread at its Aberdeen bakery, with the loss of 40 jobs. 23-Sep-1998 S&A Foods is to invest £15m in the expansion of its chilled and frozen foods factory in Derby. 19-Sep-1998 Freshbake Foods has sold its fruit pies factory in Peterlee to Hibernia Foods, leaving it free to focus on frozen foods. 18-Sep-1998 Whitchurch Group is to sell Acacia Horbury Meat Services and Acacia Foodservice to Hambard Two Thousand for £1m. 16-Sep-1998 Vaux is planning to pull out of brewing and wholesaling by selling its two breweries and up to 350 of its 660 tenanted pubs, and the proceeds will be used to expand its hotels, cafe bars and community pubs. 15-Sep-1998 A consortium of North-east businessmen are said to be close to agreeing the acquisition of the Castle Eden brewery near Hartlepool, which Whitbread has scheduled for closure. 15-Sep-1998 Cymru Country Chickens has begun work on a £7m chicken-processing factory in Anglesey, which will create up to 255 jobs. 14-Sep-1998 Highland Distillers is linking up with Remy Cointreau of France to pool their distribution operations in the UK, US and Ireland. 12-Sep-1998 M&W Mack, the fresh produce importer, is to set up a £1m preparation warehouse near Southampton. 12-Sep-1998 Agrexco of Israel has set up a new bonded distribution warehouse and offices in Hayes, Middlesex, in order to expand its fruit and vegetables business. 12-Sep-1998 Allied Domecq is to combine its US spirits operations - Domecq Importers and Hiram Walker - into a single business called Allied Domecq Spirits USA in order to make annual savings of £5m. 11-Sep-1998 Dairy Crest has completed a £5m expansion at its Maelor Creamery in Marchwiel, creating 100 jobs. 10-Sep-1998 Albert Fisher has sold two businesses - the Aqua Star seafood subsidiary in the US to Admiralty Island Fisheries for £16m, and the Jiffy vegetables business in Worcestershire to Grower Marketing Services. 05-Sep-1998 South African Breweries is considering plans to move its primary stock market listing to London as part of a strategic review. 05-Sep-1998 The Stirling Mushrooms farm near Callender in Scotland is planning a £3.2m expansion programme that will create 140 jobs, and it could lead to a further 500 jobs in other agricultural businesses throughout Scotland. 04-Sep-1998 Hydro Seafood, the Highland seafood company, is to cut 150 jobs, mainly in Argyll, due to the effect of Infectious Salmon Anaemia. 02-Sep-1998 Perkins Foods is looking to expand its chilled ready meals business by acquiring family-run companies. 02-Sep-1998 Country Chickens, part of the Grampian Country Food Group, is investing £7.2m at its Anglesey site to expand its chicken processing business. 01-Sep-1998 Hillsdown has confirmed that it is planning to demerge its Fairview Homes housebuilding business and its chilled foods operations, and listing details are being sent out to shareholders. 31-Aug-1998 The Institute of Food Research has developed a high pressure process for extending the life of food products without the use of preservatives, and the first products could be on sale within six months. 29-Aug-1998 SK Chilled Foods of Teesside is planning to create 125 new jobs over the coming year to cope with rising demand for ethnic snacks and meals. 28-Aug-1998 Newboulds, the meat producer, is to create an additional 25 jobs in Middlesbrough to cope with growing demand for its pies and pasties. 28-Aug-1998 Ushers is to close the Burt's micro brewery at Sandown on the Isle of Wight due to "quality and financial considerations". 27-Aug-1998 Cadbury Schweppes has renewed its German soft drinks distribution joint venture with Brau und Brunnen, and the two companies will build up their brands through increased investment. 27-Aug-1998 Farmer Giles is planning to launch a chain of franchised organic food shops in the south-east, including its own cash and carry in Uxbridge and a food delivery service around London. 24-Aug-1998 Keddies Saucemasters is to expand its factory in Abercarn to meet rising demand for its range of oriental cooking sauces. 17-Aug-1998 Banham Poultry's processing plant near Attleborough, Norfolk, has been destroyed by fire and production has been transferred elsewhere. 17-Aug-1998 Treats, the ice-cream and frozen confectionery supplier, is changing its name to Richmond Foods. 13-Aug-1998 Burtonwood Brewery is to take a 40% stake in a new joint venture with Thomas Hardy Holdings in order to expand Burtonwood's brewing and packaging business in Warrington. 12-Aug-1998 Inchcape is to sell its Russian bottling operation to Coca-Cola for $187m, and is now looking to sell other businesses in order to raise up to £600m and focus on global car distribution. 11-Aug-1998 Marshall Food Group is planning 188 job cuts at its chicken processing plant in Coupar Angus, Scotland. 08-Aug-1998 Inter Link Foods is planning to raise £2.1m through a listing on Aim in order to invest in new machinery for its own-label cakes business and to facilitate acquisitions. 07-Aug-1998 Cadbury Schweppes is looking to expand its confectionery and soft drinks businesses through acquisition, aiming to fill gaps in markets where it already has a presence. 06-Aug-1998 Celsis International is planning to launch the world's first disposable hygiene test next year, which will enable food manufacturers and retailers to detect contamination on work surfaces. 01-Aug-1998 The Office of Fair Trading is to investigate the supermarket sector, following criticism that the big four retailers may not be passing on the benefits of their buying power to consumers. 31-Jul-1998 The director-general of Fair Trading is to seek undertakings from Unilever that its Birds Eye Walls division will supply all wholesalers on the same terms as its dedicated ice cream distributors, as a Monopolies & Mergers Commission report has found that its marketing practices are against the public interest. 30-Jul-1998 J Sainsbury has bought a mechanised frozen food facility at Elstree from Christian Salvesen for £15m, but Salvesen will continue to run transport services from the site on behalf of Sainsbury. 28-Jul-1998 Dalgety Group is closing compound feed mills at Avonmouth and Poole with the loss of 120 jobs, as part of an industry-wide rationalisation. 27-Jul-1998 Unilever is acquiring Lao Cai, the Shanghai soy sauce brand, for about $10m, which will help to improve its understanding of Chinese consumers and of marketing and distributing foods in China. 21-Jul-1998 PIC International is planning to relocate its pig breeding business to the US, beginning with a small head office and research centre in California. 21-Jul-1998 Acatos & Hutcheson, the edible oils concern, has sold two former production plants in Bootle and Manchester to Peers Hunt for £5.9m. 21-Jul-1998 Milk Marque has cancelled its July auction, throwing the wholesale milk market into disarray, following a decision by six large dairy companies to only offer token bids in protest at the high prices being asked. 18-Jul-1998 Thorntons has brought forward its plans to set up a chocolate manufacturing and storage site near Alfreton, Derbyshire, to Easter 1999, in order to keep up with sales growth. 17-Jul-1998 Global Group, the meat shipping concern, is buying Pin-It Pastry from Kerry Group for £0.5m. 16-Jul-1998 Albert Fisher, the food company, is planning a fundamental review of its operations in order to prevent further losses, and a break-up of the group is possible. 15-Jul-1998 Bensons Crisps is looking to spend £5m on the acquisition of new lines of snacks that could be put through its existing distribution system. 10-Jul-1998 Morrells Brewery of Oxford has been put up for sale, as it has not been generating sufficient profits to invest in its estate of 132 pubs. 10-Jul-1998 Matthew Clark is to close its cider plant in Taunton and transfer production to Shepton Mallet, thereby saving £3m a year in response to declining sales in the UK cider market. 07-Jul-1998 Diageo could lose the rights to distribute the Jose Cuervo tequila brand in North America, as its Mexican manufacturer believes that the way Grand Metropolitan was merged into Diageo last year gives it the right to renegotiate the contract. 07-Jul-1998 JN Nichols (Vimto) is planning to close its soft drinks factories at Southampton, Haydock and Wythenshawe, and consolidate production at a new site near Wigan. 06-Jul-1998 Milk Marque is increasing the indicative prices for raw milk by 10% for contracts starting in October, prompting the Dairy Industry Federation to accuse it of abusing its monopoly. 03-Jul-1998 Allied Domecq is acquiring the remaining 49.6% stake in Cantrell & Cochrane, the Irish drinks distributor, from Diageo for undisclosed terms, and may now float the business. 03-Jul-1998 HP Bulmer is to close its Inch's cider plant in Devon, putting 47 jobs at risk, in order to save £1m a year. 02-Jul-1998 The London tea auction has closed and will be replaced with dealing by telephone and email. 29-Jun-1998 Marshall Foods is to cut 170 jobs at a chicken processing plant in Tayside, and the plant is being considered for sale to an unnamed buyer. 23-Jun-1998 Diageo is creating 60 jobs at a new supply and distribution operation in Glasgow, but its United Distillers & Vintners division is cutting many more jobs by closing bottling plants in Dumbarton and Essex. 20-Jun-1998 Northumbrian Fine Foods, the Gateshead-based biscuits and cakes manufacturer, is changing its name to NFF in order to reflect its strategy of expanding into other parts of the country. 16-Jun-1998 Tetley, the teabags company, has unexpectedly dropped plans for a £400m flotation due to dissatisfaction over the price the shares were expected to fetch, prompting speculation that a trade buyer may now make an approach for the company. 16-Jun-1998 Milk Marque has identified a possible site in south-west England for a milk processing plant, as part of a strategy to minimise the impact of falling milk prices on its supply business. 11-Jun-1998 Express Dairies hopes to agree a merger with one of its competitors over the next year, in order to prepare for the expected consolidation in the dairy sector. 10-Jun-1998 Unigate says it is still interested in acquiring other food companies despite the collapse of its recent bid for Hillsdown. 09-Jun-1998 Christian Salvesen is considering plans to sell its food services division following a fall in profits. 09-Jun-1998 Park Food is considering plans to sell its loss-making DJ Spuddles snacks business, unless the business can be revived with a new oven-cooked fries product. 06-Jun-1998 Ushers of Trowbridge has received a number of takeover approaches from unnamed companies, which could prompt a spate of similar bids for other local brewers. 06-Jun-1998 Vaux Group, the brewing and hotels company, has received a takeover approach from an unnamed company. 05-Jun-1998 Acatos & Hutcheson is to develop its newly-acquired Leon Frenkel edible oils business in a joint venture with Princes Limited, the marketing and distribution concern. 04-Jun-1998 Ushers of Trowbridge has won a licence to brew and sell Lowenbrau beers in the UK, in competition with Carlsberg-Tetley. 03-Jun-1998 Booker is planning to sell non-core businesses such as fish processing, sugar, seeds, salmon farming, and poultry breeding, in order to focus on its cash and carry and food distribution operations. 03-Jun-1998 More than 2m cans of soft drinks are being withdrawn from sale following the discovery of benzene contamination in the carbon dioxide supply of a factory near Bristol, and affected products include Coca-Cola, 7-Up and Pepsi Max. 02-Jun-1998 Unigate has withdrawn from negotiations to acquire Hillsdown, the food and housebuilding conglomerate, for £1.6bn, apparently due to doubts about Hillsdown's future prospects. 29-May-1998 The EU has formally approved the introduction of measures for the labelling of foods that contain genetically modified soya and maize, but a decision still needs to be made about which products will be exempt because they contain only small amounts. 27-May-1998 Merrydown, the troubled cider maker, is to raise £7m in a share placing and has also announced 50 redundancies and a new board following an increase in losses. 23-May-1998 Paramount Foods, the maker of pizza crusts and sauces, is in discussions about a possible £25m management buy-out. 22-May-1998 Coca-Cola Beverages, the soft drinks bottler operating in eastern Europe, is to undergo a £1.5bn flotation in London and Sydney following its demerger from Australia-based Coca-Cola Amatil. 22-May-1998 Unigate is still interested in acquiring part or all of Hillsdown, the conglomerate that is planning a demerger, despite the rejection of its £1.5bn takeover offer. 19-May-1998 Bernard Matthews is to close a number of farms, shut down its processing plant in Spalding, and pull out of the export commodity market, due to the effect of weak turkey meat prices and the strength of sterling. 19-May-1998 Guinness has awarded Al Ahram Beverages of Egypt a licence to produce both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beers for the Middle East market. 15-May-1998 Tetley, the manufacturer of teabags, is planning a flotation with a valuation of about £400m in order to gain access to additional funding for product development and acquisitions. 14-May-1998 Unilever Mexico has acquired the remaining 50% of Helados Holanda, the Mexican ice cream business, for undisclosed terms. 13-May-1998 Merrydown is considering plans to sell assets and licence its drinks brands to other manufacturers, as part of a rescue package for the struggling drinks company. 11-May-1998 Hillsdown has confirmed plans to restructure the group, which will result in the demerger of its housebuilding and chilled foods businesses, and the sale of a number of other activities such as biscuits, potatoes, chickens, eggs, poultry breeding, wines and spirits, and furniture. 09-May-1998 Cadbury Schweppes, in partnership with Carlyle Group, has acquired two independent bottling companies in the US for £433m, and the new joint venture will be called American Bottling Company. 07-May-1998 The government is to review the liquor licensing laws in England and Wales with a view to relaxing licensing hours and allowing pubs to stay open for longer. 06-May-1998 Allied Domecq has said it is still looking at the possibility of joining forces with other companies in preparation for the anticipated consolidation in the drinks industry. 01-May-1998 Scotia has reached agreement to supply its Olibra diet additive to Unigate, who will use it in a range of yoghurts and desserts that will be on sale within 18 months. 01-May-1998 Yates Wine Lodges is to reduce the price of soft drinks following government criticism that licensed traders are overcharging for them. 30-Apr-1998 United Biscuits is discussing the acquisition of Delacre, Campbell Soup's European biscuits business, in order to build up its operations in France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. 29-Apr-1998 Scottish & Newcastle is restructuring its brewing division into four regional companies in order to help it compete for business with Nomura's pub chain, and 300 jobs are expected to be lost. 29-Apr-1998 Diageo is looking to sell a further six spirits brands from its United Distillers & Vintners operation as they are not making sufficient profits. 24-Apr-1998 Milk Marque is said to be planning to invest £100m in new processing facilities, but the Dairy Industry Federation has criticised the move because of current overcapacity in the sector. 24-Apr-1998 The government is planning a crackdown on publicans and restaurateurs who sell illegally imported drink, and vehicles seized from smugglers will now have a restoration fee of up to 50% of the value of the seized goods. 23-Apr-1998 Tomkins' £92m bid to acquire the Spillers milling business from Kerry has been referred to the Monopolies & Mergers Commission due to concerns over the impact on competition in the flour market. 23-Apr-1998 Golden Wonder is planning to invest £30m in the expansion of its crisps manufacturing facilities in Scunthorpe and Corby, creating 100 new jobs. 22-Apr-1998 Diageo has commissioned an independent valuation of its half share of Cantrell & Cochrane, the Irish drinks distributor, that could result in its sale to its partner Allied Domecq. 18-Apr-1998 Nestle is looking to set up a chain of Nescafe Coffee Houses in retail centres, leisure parks, sports venues and petrol stations, and will also use the opportunity to sell confectionery products. 07-Apr-1998 Morland is to close the Ruddles brewery in Langham, Leicestershire, and production will be switched to Abingdon. 04-Apr-1998 Whitbread is looking to sell its breweries at Cheltenham and Castle Eden and transfer production to other sites, but will close them if no buyer is found before October. 04-Apr-1998 Dalgety is to return £675m to shareholders following European approval for the sale of its petfoods business, while its remaining pig breeding business will be taken over by a new holding company called PIC International Group. 04-Apr-1998 Tate & Lyle has won US FDA approval to use its sucralose low-calorie sweetener in 15 categories of food and drink, but European approval is not expected for another year. 02-Apr-1998 Diageo has confirmed the sale of its Dewar's Scotch whisky and Bombay gin brands to Bacardi-Martini for £1.15bn, and Bacardi will acquire four distilleries in the deal. 31-Mar-1998 Diageo is expected to soon announce the sale of its Dewar's Scotch whisky and Bombay gin brands to Bacardi-Martini for £800m. 28-Mar-1998 Bernard Matthews is to move further into branded, premium products, following a fall in profits caused by price pressures in the turkey products market. 26-Mar-1998 Ushers of Trowbridge, the regional brewer, is raising £48m in a private placement in the US in order to refinance debt and provide additional funding for pub acquisitions. 23-Mar-1998 Devro, the maker of sausage casings, is planning to invest £25m this year to expand capacity and upgrade technology at its plants. 19-Mar-1998 Diageo has outlined its strategy for merging the former Grand Metropolitan and Guinness businesses as it aims to raise shareholder returns to levels set by the world's leading consumer groups over the next five years. 18-Mar-1998 Dalgety has won shareholder approval for the £335m sale of its food ingredients business to Kerry and the £715m sale of its pet foods business to Nestle. 17-Mar-1998 Unilever's Van den Bergh division has confirmed that it is developing a vegetable oil spread that can cut cholesterol levels in the body by up to 10%. 17-Mar-1998 MD Foods of Denmark is regaining control of MD Foods International from banks and investors in order to demonstrate its commitment to the UK milk market following a period of declining returns. 14-Mar-1998 United Biscuits is planning to buy back £150m of shares in November, and has now completed the second phase of its recovery plan. 13-Mar-1998 Unilever is to lodge an appeal against a European Commission ruling that prevents it from providing freezer cabinets to Irish shops, a move that could have widespread implications for the way ice cream products are sold across Europe. 12-Mar-1998 Enterprise Inns is to sell the drinks wholesaling business that it acquired with Gibbs Mew to the Beer Seller for £6.6m, and will use some of the proceeds to buy a stake in Dawes Group, the parent company of the Beer Seller. 06-Mar-1998 Hillsdown, the food, furniture and housebuilding group, is to undergo a review to determine how to improve shareholder value, which could result in the disposal of non-food businesses. 06-Mar-1998 Cadbury Schweppes is planning to propose a share buy-back at its annual meeting in May in order to strengthen its balance sheet, and is keen to make acquisitions in the confectionery sector. 05-Mar-1998 Dalgety is in discussions to sell its agricultural supplies business to management, which would leave the company with just one activity - pig breeding. 05-Mar-1998 Compass has won a contract to supply catering facilities to cover all 265,000 worldwide employees of Philips Electronics. 04-Mar-1998 The Institute of Grocery Distribution has devised new voluntary guidelines for food and drink nutritional labelling, which will give consumers clear details of the fat and calorie content per serving. 28-Feb-1998 Diageo is to close the former Guinness offices in Perth with the loss of 158 jobs. 27-Feb-1998 Butchers shops will have to buy a £100 a year licence from mid-1999, and they will also be required to implement the "hazard analysis" system of food safety and undergo hygiene training. 25-Feb-1998 Cadbury Schweppes has announced a £183m joint venture with the Carlyle Group to buy two independent soft drinks bottlers in the US mid-west, thereby improving the distribution of its Dr Pepper and Seven Up brands. 24-Feb-1998 Cadbury Schweppes is close to announcing the creation of a new US bottling company through the acquisition of Beverage America and Select Beverages, in an attempt to set up a distribution network for its Dr Pepper-Seven Up business. 21-Feb-1998 Albert Fisher has failed in its efforts to sell its European seafood operations, and will now try to develop the business instead. 21-Feb-1998 Milk Marque has been forced to reduce milk prices further, and has opened a fourth auction with the base price set at 19.01p a litre. 20-Feb-1998 Roach Foods is expanding its meat production facilities in Cornwall with the creation of 300 jobs. 14-Feb-1998 Merrydown, the cider manufacturer, has said that talks with a potential bidder have collapsed. 14-Feb-1998 Kerry of Ireland is to sell six of its recently-acquired Spillers milling plants to Tomkins for £92m, including sites in Birkenhead, Cambridge, Liverpool, Tilbury, Newcastle and Avonmouth. 13-Feb-1998 Virgin Group has bought out Cott's 50% stake in their cola soft drinks joint venture to enable it to take full control of marketing and reverse a decline in market share. 12-Feb-1998 Sims Food is to close its 50% owned Premier Meat Packers in March, thereby ending its interest in the fresh red meat sector. 11-Feb-1998 Unilever is looking to sell off businesses with annual sales of up to £2bn this year, as part of its programme to dispose of poorly performing operations. 11-Feb-1998 United Biscuits has announced a worldwide restructuring plan that will involve the creation of two divisions - McVitie's Group for the international biscuits business and UK Foods for the snacks and prepared foods. 11-Feb-1998 Foster's Brewing Group has made a £11m profit on the sale of rights to Scottish & Newcastle shares, thereby ending its interest in the UK brewing sector. 10-Feb-1998 Milk Marque has now reduced milk prices to a level that is 1p a litre below what was originally offered last month, as processing companies have not bid for sufficient quantities to "clear the market". 06-Feb-1998 Tate & Lyle has issued a profits warning due to disease in the sugar beet fields of Nebraska, the strength of sterling, and higher-than-expected commissioning costs for a starch plant in France. 04-Feb-1998 The government has published hygiene scores for all abattoirs in an attempt to raise standards in the meat sector. 30-Jan-1998 Bensons Crisps has received a £40m takeover approach from Knox D'Arcy, the investment trust, but is unlikely to recommend it to shareholders. 29-Jan-1998 The OFT is referring the raw milk market to the Monopolies & Mergers Commission, following complaints by the Dairy Industry Federation about the dominant role of Milk Marque. 28-Jan-1998 The European Commission is to stop ice cream manufacturers from banning shops from storing rival brands in their freezer cabinets, following complaints made by Mars against Unilever. 27-Jan-1998 Northern Foods is planning to demerge its dairy business which could be worth up to £450m, and a flotation is said to be more likely than a trade sale. 24-Jan-1998 Diageo is closing the headquarters of its Heublein distiller in Hartford, Connecticut, as part of the restructuring programme following its creation from the merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan. 24-Jan-1998 Milk Marque has been unable to raise milk prices as insufficient bids have been received for the milk it will have available from April 1. 23-Jan-1998 Shephard Neame, the Kent-based brewer, has failed in its High Court attempt to have the government's 3% increase in excise duty declared illegal, but it now plans to go to the Court of Appeal. 22-Jan-1998 United Distillers is to close its Japanese spirits subsidiary and transfer the business to Jardine Wines and Spirits, a joint venture of United Distillers, Moet Hennessy and Jardine Matheson. 21-Jan-1998 Ushers of Trowbridge, the brewing and pubs concern, is planning to buy back up to 15% of its shares, following a fall in its share price of about a third since its flotation last March. 21-Jan-1998 Allied Domecq has been in tentative discussions with Seagram about a possible merger of their spirit businesses, in response to the recent merger of Guinness and Grand Metropolitan. 19-Jan-1998 Tomkins has expressed interest in acquiring the Spillers milling operations from Dalgety, and its main bidding rival is likely to be Associated British Foods. 17-Jan-1998 Cadbury Schweppes has secured a five-year extension to its contract with Coca-Cola Enterprises which will mean that its Dr Pepper-Seven Up soft drinks will continue to be bottled and distributed in the US by Coca-Cola until 2005. 15-Jan-1998 The government is planning to require the food industry to pay part of the costs of the new Food Standards Agency, which could involve manufacturers, shops and restaurants being subject to a flat-rate licence fee. 15-Jan-1998 Grand Pub Company, owned by Nomura, has reached agreement with 15 brewers for the supply of drinks to its Inntrepreneur and Spring Inn pub chains over the next five years, a contract that was previously exclusive to Scottish & Newcastle. 10-Jan-1998 Scotia has launched a weight-loss yoghurt in Sweden which includes an appetite suppressant called Olibra, and plans to roll it out across Europe during this year. 09-Jan-1998 Guinness Brewing is planning a £350m redevelopment of its Park Royal Estate site in north-west London, which will involve the construction of a new headquarters and the creation of a business park. 08-Jan-1998 Whitbread is to close two breweries in Cheltenham and Castle Eden, leaving it with just the three larger sites in Manchester, Gwent and Preston. 08-Jan-1998 AG Barr, the soft drinks company, is said to be in danger of losing the right to produce Orangina when its contract expires in 2002, following the sale of the brand by Pernod Ricard to Coca-Cola. 08-Jan-1998 Birds Eye Wall's is to set up major new coldstore at Hams Hill near Birmingham next year, creating 80 jobs. 08-Jan-1998 Milk Marque has set the price for the opening negotiations with milk buyers from April 1 at 23.1p per litre of ex-farm milk, an increase of 0.6p. 06-Jan-1998 Paramount Foods is to set up a pizza factory in Deeside, North Wales, creating 85 jobs over the next two years. 03-Jan-1998 The information below comes from the UK Activity Report. 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