© OzScientific Pty Ltd
Business & Market Intelligence
Please send your company news toOzScientific Britvic to cut 145 Irish jobsBritvic Plc, UK bottler for PepsiCo and owner of a range of successful brands such as Robinsons andBritvic juices, has released a statement announcing cutting the workforce of its Irish operations by up to145 jobs. "The need for restructuring has been accelerated by exceptionally challenging economic andretail conditions in Ireland," the company said. Britvic also stated that the restructuring isn't expected tobe material in the context of market expectations for its earnings for the current financial year.Redundancies will occur over the next 12 months while the company restructures its business, possiblyconsolidating regional distribution centres to Dublin, which would lead to the closure of the Cork,Donegal and Waterford depots………Read Chr Hansen acquires probiotics company Urex Biotech IncWith the acquisition of Urex Biotech, Chr Hansen is expanding its activities within proven probiotics for dietary supplements. “I'm very pleased with this agreement," said Henrik Dalboege, Executive VicePresident, Health & Nutrition Division, Chr Hansen. "As a division, our strategy is to continue the recentyear’s positive development through organic growth or through relevant acquisitions, and Urex is aperfect strategic fit for us." The Health & Nutrition Division experienced more than 20% organic growthin 2007/08 and has, according to the company, positive prospects for the future. The focus is ondeveloping new products for the dietary supplement industry and the pharmaceutical industry, first andforemost with focus on probiotics……….Read Danone pulls out its beauty yogurt Essensis from French market After little more than two years, Danone has pulled its beauty-from-the-inside spoonable yoghurt,Essensis, from French retail shelves, despite a re-launch in 2008. Danone was unavailable for comment at the time of publication but the French food giant was quoted in the UK Financial Times,citing the impact of the burgeoning economic recession as a major factor in its decision that will takeeffect from March 1. The ‘dermo-nutrition’ product remains on market in Spain, Belgium and Italy. Aspokesperson for Danone in the UK said a trial occurred in the region of East Anglia in 2007 but hadbeen quickly discontinued. “Our focus will be on our blockbuster products,” Danone said whileacknowledging consumers were less willing to shell out for premium products in tight economic times.Danone launched Essensis to much fanfare in February 2007, but a promising start that saw salesquickly broach €40m was quickly followed by plummeting sales as consumers failed to connect with theproduct’s functional promise nor its premium pricing. Danone does not reveal sales figures but it isclear the product never reached the initial €100m forecasts made for it. According to some industrysources, sales never exceeded €50m. New Nutirition Business magazine speculated that itssupermarket positioning may not have been right for a beauty brand……..Read Convicted Sanlu boss blames Fonterrahe chairwoman of the Chinese dairy company that sold fatally contaminated infant milk formula saysshe acted on information supplied by Fonterra. Former Sanlu chairwoman Tian Wenhua, 66, sentencedlast week to life in prison, says a Fonterra-appointed director gave her a document stating theEuropean Union's permitted levels of the industrial chemical melamine. Fonterra chief executive Andrew Ferrier confirmed to the Herald yesterday that Tian had been given a document by a Fonterraboard member. However, he said Fonterra was "vividly clear" to Sanlu that the only acceptable level of melamine was zero………Read Fonterra denies jailed chairwoman's claimsFonterra chairman Henry van der Heyden says he has full confidence in chief executive Andrew Ferrier in the wake of the baby milk formula scandal in China. Fonterra today defended its role in the tainted
Page 2
Leave a Comment