All articles by Chris Walkland – Page 2

  • News

    Milk co-ops welcome OFT merger approval

    2008-01-07T00:00:00Z

    First Milk and Milk Link have welcomed the Office of Fair Trading's decision not to refer their merger plans to competition authorities - effectively giving it the green light. Having looked at territorial, milk supply, cheese production...

  • News

    Asda farm scheme to cut emissions by 10%

    2007-11-10T00:00:00Z

    Asda is asking its dairy farmers to sign up to a major carbon reduction programme in an effort to make its milk more environmentally friendly. In what is thought to be the first such scheme for farmers, the multiple has drawn up targets...

  • News

    Processors warn of 20% milk price hike

    2007-10-20T00:00:00Z

    Consumers could be facing another big rise in the supermarket price of dairy products, after processors gave the strongest indication yet that a 20% rise in farm gate milk prices is on the cards. Arla Foods Milk Partnership chairman...

  • News

    In the can - 20th October 2007

    2007-10-20T00:00:00Z

    European apple shortfall is 70% Europe's processing apple crop is twice as small as previously predicted, new figures from key producer Poland have revealed. It puts the true scale of Europe's apple shortfall at 70%, far worse than initially feared....

  • News

    Milk shortages set to push up cost of staples

    2007-07-30T00:00:00Z

    Staple dairy lines such as butter, cream and milk will come under renewed price pressure this autumn as milk supplies plummet. Shortages are already beginning to affect manufacturers using dairy products, and industry insiders say this...

  • News

    Noble stands firm to downsizing threat

    2007-01-13T00:00:00Z

    Egg giant Noble Foods has vowed to fight a ruling that could see it split up by the competition watchdog.  Formed in the merger between Stonegate and Deans Foods on 23 June, Noble Foods has been under investigation by the Competition...

  • News

    Asda puts Akkerman back in the running

    2007-01-06T00:00:00Z

    Plans to build a giant commodity cheese plant in Cumbria look to be gaining pace following intervention by Asda. The Partners in Cheese project, lead by Dutch entrepreneur Ronald Akkerman, seemed to be foundering last month because dairy...

  • News

    Partners fail to woo Aspatria's farmers

    2006-12-09T00:00:00Z

    Plans to build the UK's first new commodity cheese plant for more than 40 years look to be crumbling. Partners in Cheese had set its sights on the £50m venture at Workington in Cumbria, but has again failed to raise the support of dairy farming...

  • News

    Low egg prices spark free-range shortages

    2006-12-02T00:00:00Z

    Somerfield's move to source nearly half its free-range eggs from France is a sure sign of a UK supply crisis, producers say. The retailer is not the only one looking at sourcing abroad, but producers here say they warned customers of the...

  • News

    Headline writers fail to dent sales of eggs

    2006-11-25T00:00:00Z

    Egg sales have cruised through a double whammy of bad news. Major retailers said it was business as usual, in spite of last week's negative headlines alleging fraudulent free-range labelling and high salmonella levels in Spanish...

  • News

    Cadbury switches to direct milk contracts

    2006-10-14T00:00:00Z

    Cadbury has made a surprise move to recruit dairy farmers on direct contracts for its chocolate crumb factory in Leominster. A group of 70 producers in Gloucestershire and along the M4 corridor - known as the Selkley Vale Group -...

  • News

    First Milk eyeing up Dairy Crest own label

    2006-09-23T00:00:00Z

    Dairy Crest has confirmed that it is in negotiations with First Milk regarding "the possible sale of part of its retailer brand cheese operations". The discussions are "ongoing", said the company, and "there can be no certainty that this will...

  • News

    'A billion litres? More like four'

    2006-05-06T00:00:00Z

    The debate over whether or not the dairy industry would benefit from farmers quitting continued this week, with one senior figure stating that the industry would need to lose 30% of raw milk production before it became more...

  • News

    Would less really mean more?

    2006-04-29T00:00:00Z

    Farmers' leaders have rejected a suggestion by the boss of the UK's biggest dairy processor that the industry could be better off if it lost a billion litres worth of raw milk production. Arla Foods UK chief executive Tim Smith...