All articles by Hannah Stodell – Page 19
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News
Cardboard price rises driving up food costs
The rocketing price of cardboard is the latest commodity increase threatening to send the cost of food through the roof. The cost of cardboard has already soared 30% over the past year, but cardboard millers this week confirmed it will...
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News
Heinz Baked Beanz at risk as union discontent grows
Heinz is the latest fmcg supplier to face union action – but it won’t be the last given the growing level of unrest across the sector, says Hannah Stodell. As the nights draw in, many people like to turn to their favourite comfort foods such as baked beans. This winter, ...
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News
Tesco in £40k poppy play after Hovis spat
Tesco is donating £40,000 to The Poppy Appeal after an investigation by The Grocer revealed the Royal British Legion had become the unwitting victim of a pricing spat.
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Profiles
Ex-Hollands Pies chief lands MD role at Peter’s
Neil Court-Johnston has returned to the pie industry less than six months after being suspended from Hollands by parent company Northern Foods over a management buyout dispute. The former Hollands MD started this week at rival...
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News
Birds Eye adds zip locks to Field Fresh pea lines
Birds Eye hopes to stop frozen peas spilling out from split bags by introducing zip locks to some of its bigger packs. The frozen giant is adding zip locks to its 1.52kg pack of Field Fresh Garden Peas (rsp: £2.99) and 1.2kg pack of Field...
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News
Young’s in loss as NPD fails to hook shoppers
Young’s Seafood has blamed hefty internal investment for an alarming slump in profits but admitted it hasn’t secured wide enough distribution for some of its new lines.
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News
Premier may have to sell Hovis, say experts
Premier Foods could be forced to sell its marquee brand Hovis to climb out of its current debt problems, City experts have claimed.
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News
DoH gaffe puts Nestlé in spotlight over sugar
The Department of Health is reviewing Nestlé's use of its Change4Life logo online after the company came under attack by health campaigners for promoting high sugar products alongside the branding. It admitted it should not have allowed...
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News
P&G’s Lee slaps down the prophets of doom
Procter & Gamble UK vice president Irwin Lee came out all guns blazing this week with an upbeat forecast for the future of the grocery trade. Speaking exclusively to The Grocer ahead of his speech at next week's annual IGD Convention,...
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News
Northern shakes up divisional structure in drive for growth
Northern Foods is streamlining its management structure from six divisions to two in a move likely to result in job losses. In a bid to improve growth and cut costs, it is creating a branded division, headed by former Fox's MD Graham...
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News
New Findus boss vows to reignite frozen food
The newly appointed Findus UK MD Leendert den Hollander has set out his stall to turn Findus into the nation's number one frozen brand within five years and to "reignite growth" in the sector. The group's former chief marketing officer...
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News
Finsbury Food looks to spread free-from appeal with Genius
Finsbury Food is hoping to broaden the appeal of its Genius gluten-free bread beyond coeliac sufferers and ramp up its category share through a £3m marketing campaign. The multimedia push will run later this year in a bid to increase...
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News
Fast-rising Kolak seeks partner for expansion
Ethnic supplier Kolak Snack Foods is looking for a "strategic" investor to help it expand into Europe and India.Exports account for 8% of Kolak's sales and the company is after a trade partner to help set up manufacturing units abroad on...
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News
The Fast 50: Grow it alone
The food and drink industry is a real breeding ground for fast-growth private companies. Will the latest list provide rich pickings for trade buyers and private equity groups? Or, asks Hannah Stodell, will they continue to go it alone?
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News
Delays dog more than 50% of all transactions
If the fragile economic recovery weren't hard enough to contend with, half of all business transactions are now dogged by credit issues, according to a survey by trade credit insurer Atradius. Atradius's global barometer of payment...
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News
Mars makes genome progress in hunt for ‘DNA of chocolate’
Mars has started to unwrap the DNA of chocolate, a scientific milestone it claims will improve cocoa quality for 6.5 million farmers who depend on the crop. The preliminary cacao genome sequence was unveiled three years ahead of target...
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News
Supplier borrowing up as mults extend terms
Suppliers are coming under mounting pressure to increase their debt levels in order to meet renewed demands from retailers for extended payment terms. Investec Growth & Acquisition Finance has noted a surge in demand from suppliers...
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News
Francis set to ‘lead UK frozen category agenda’ at Findus
Findus Group has poached Heinz's Leala Francis as director of UK category management. Francis joins the frozen giant's UK leadership team on 4 October after five years with Heinz UK, most recently as national account controller for...
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News
Innocent is Europe’s top smoothie player
Innocent Drinks has become Europe's number one smoothie brand after doubling its market share in the past 12 months.
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News
Birds Eye’s bear builds shopper trust in frozen
Birds Eye claims its laconic polar bear has boosted consumer awareness of the quality of its frozen food and driven a sharp increase in sales. Before the Willem Dafoe-voiced polar bear hit our screens, only 48% of the 2,000 frozen...