All articles by Michael Barker – Page 12
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Call for more products to use British Lion eggs
British egg producers are being urged to step up production of eggs for use as an ingredient in processed foods in an attempt to counter soaring imports. Britain imported products containing the equivalent of more than 120 million eggs this May, up...
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Apple and pear prices predicted to rise 15%
The price of apples and pears could rise by as much as 15% over the coming year as increased production costs combine with a strong euro and dollar. Growers, processors, graders and packers around the world were struggling to absorb massive...
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Shoppers show how game they really are
Game sales are soaring on the back of celebrity chef endorsements, the meats’ health credentials and renewed consumer interest in classic British cuisine. The game market rose 64% to £64m between 2002 and 2007 [Mintel] and sales growth is predicted...
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Tesco’s low-cost milk sparks price war fears
Tesco has risked the wrath of dairy farmers by launching a new range of low-priced semi-skimmed milk. Fresh’n’Lo, which was the UK’s first branded semi-skimmed milk and has been a fixture in Scottish supermarkets for 30 years, was rolled out into...
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Growers call for flower price hikes as costs hit
Flower prices may rise and bouquet sizes get smaller as suppliers try desperately to mitigate soaring costs, growers have warned. Rocketing fuel costs have made the cost of heating glasshouses unsustainable, claimed a leading UK flower grower, who...
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EU import plans cheese off UK dairy producers
EU import plans cheese off UK dairy producers: Fears are growing in the dairy industry that a proposed EU trade deal could lead to an influx of cheaper Cheddar to the UK market. EU representatives at the Doha round of global trade talks, led by commissioner Peter Mandelson, have proposed ...
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A fresh ‘earthier’ logo for Bernard Matthews
Bernard Matthews has unveiled a new look logo as part of a major overhaul of its brand and range. The turkey producer has replaced the old red-ribbon swirl with a more earthy logo in a bid to reflect its roots as a farming entity. Product packaging...
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Whole Foods inthe red
Whole Foods Market CEO John Mackey insists the UK operations will break even by 2011 – despite reporting pre-tax operating losses of $18.4m (£9.4m) on its London-based stores and a 31% reduction in its global third-quarter profits amid the...
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New drink claims to be as healthy as fruit
Fayrefield Foods is introducing a range of fruit drinks to the UK next month that contains exactly the same levels of nutrients as the equivalent fresh fruit, according to its makers. Essential, which is manufactured by Portuguese company Compal and...
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DFB business plan ‘on target’ despite losses
Dairy Farmers of Britain insists it is on track to turn a profit by 2009 to 2010, despite recording a £3.55m loss in its latest results. Turnover in the year to 31 March was up 1% to £562m, as a result of higher milk prices. Though operating profit...
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Brits lose appetite for ‘unhealthy’ pork pies
The humble pork pie could be the latest victim of health-conscious consumers’ changing habits. Value sales slumped 5.6% to £132m in the 12 months to 13 July [Bpex] and volume sales fell 4.7%. The main reason for the decline was the pork pie’s...
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Sales up as public gets taste for long-life milk
Sales up as public gets taste for long-life milk: Sales of long-life milk are staging a dramatic recovery on the back of improved branding and packaging. UHT milk sales have risen steadily this year, and are currently at their highest point since December 2006, according to DairyCo. In the 52 ...
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Covent Garden Market targets major revamp
New Covent Garden Market has unveiled further details of the redevelopment project that aims to tap into consumer interest in food security, provenance and traceability. Covent Garden Market Authority is currently overseeing major redevelopment...
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Dairy bodies link up to boost profile of cheese
Dairy bodies link up to boost profile of cheese: Dairy UK and the British Cheese Board are to pool resources in a bid to unify and strengthen the voice of UK cheese suppliers. The decision to work more closely together, announced at the Nantwich Cheese Show this week, will allow ...
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Family affair: Maunder buys up butchers chain
Family affair: Maunder buys up butchers chain: Andrew Maunder is promising a ‘butchers revival’ after buying out the Lloyd Maunder butchers chain. Maunder acquired the 13 shops, located in Devon and Cornwall, from the family’s company Lloyd Maunder Holdings last week, having been in charge of…
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Lion gets its teeth into frozen with Foodvest
The Foodvest Group is now “a scale player with a scale private equity house behind it”, according to Young’s Seafood MD Jim Cane. Lion Capital, which acquired Foodvest, the owner of Young’s Seafood and Findus, for £1.1bn on Tuesday, would use the...
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Promotion of berries ‘must focus on taste’
Blackberries and blueberries must be promoted on taste rather than purely on health grounds if the category is to continue its growth, one of the UK’s largest berry marketers has said.
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Bad weather blamed as asparagus slumps
British asparagus sales slumped almost 7% this season as a result of bad weather and issues over availability. In the 12 weeks ending 15 June, sales were down 6.9% to £16.5m, according to TNS, with market penetration static at 12.4%. Poor growing...
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School Milk Scheme to include more products
The EU has extended the Continent-wide School Milk Scheme to include a wider range of dairy products and a wider age group. Cheese and yoghurt will now be part of the scheme, as will buttermilk and other fermented milk products. Previously only milk...
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On-pack footprints ‘would be damaging’
Carbon labels and traffic lights are a “meaningless” and even damaging way of communicating carbon footprinting information to consumers, the lead researcher of a major new carbon project has astonishingly claimed. “If you start putting individual...