Month: July 2021

Ben & Jerry’s Israel boycott row intensifies as Ecuadorian supermarket chain pulls ice creams from shelves

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ECUADOR – Ben & Jerry’s Israel boycott row is getting thicker by the day, threatening the existence of the brand in countries with strong ties with Israel.   In Ecuador for instance, El Rosado Group, which owns one of the largest supermarket chains in the country with more than 180 stores, has taken the decision to withdraw from all its businesses all ice cream manufactured by Unilever.  According to the company, the decision was prompted by Ben & Jerry’s statement that said the company believes it is inconsistent with its values “for Ben…

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2 Sisters Food Group invests US$10.36m into upgrading facilities at UK poultry factory

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UK – 2 Sisters Food Group, one of the largest privately-owned food manufacturing companies in the UK, is investing £7.5m (US$10.36m) into modernizing facilities at its UK poultry processing factory.  The site, based on Sandycroft Industrial Estate in Wales, processes one million birds a week and is a major supplier to the UK’s largest supermarkets, as well as providing wholesale products to KFC.  According to Food Manufacturer, the investment has enabled the installation of new technology including automated packing lines, new packaging machines, and x-ray bone detection machinery for fillet production.  The investment which has also seen upgrading of cutting…

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Woolworths’ 118% rise in online food sales drive overall growth of segment

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SOUTH AFRICA – South African retail giant Woolworths, has reported that its group sales for the 52 weeks ended 27 June 2021, increased by 9.7% compared to a year earlier, and by 5.9% in constant currency terms. According to the upmarket retailer, trading conditions in the second half of the financial year are not directly comparable to the prior year, given the extensive impact of the pandemic. South Africa’s recovery during this phase of the Covid-19 pandemic has been set back by the onset of the third wave of infections…

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Plant-based company NotCo raises US$235 million to bolster expansion into new categories

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CHILE — Latin America’s fastest-growing food company NotCo has raised US$235 million to bolster its expansion into new categories in North America.  The funds were raised in a Series D funding round led by Tiger Global and participated in by DFJ Growth Fund, ZOMA Lab, athletes Lewis Hamilton and Roger Federer, and musician Questlove.  According to a report by FoodBev, the Plant-based food technology company has raised more than US$350 million to date with the recent funding round taking NotCo’s valuation to US$1.5 billion.  Launched five years ago, NotCo uses a proprietary artificial intelligence platform to create new…

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Unga Holdings seeks to offload assets of bakery unit to cold chain logistic firm BigCold

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KENYA – Unga Group, a Kenyan-based holding company with investments in flour milling and manufacturing of human nutrition products and animal feeds has entered into an asset purchase agreement with Bigcold Kenya Limited for its subsidiary Ennsvalley Bakery Limited. The leading milling and baked goods company has indicated that the transaction is subject to meeting certain conditions prior to completion. Unga group first acquired a 52% stake in the baked goods company in 2015 for about Ksh 54O million (US$5 million) from Kenya’s sole inflight caterer NAS Holdings. The transaction…

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Tetra Pak partners with SA food company Synercore to boost innovation along food value chain in Africa

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SOUTH AFRICA – World’s leading food processing and packaging solutions company, Tetra Pak, has entered into a partnership with a South African food research, application and ingredient company, Synercore Food Holdings. The collaboration is aimed to accelerate innovation in health and safety regarding the commercialisation of shelf-stable food products in Africa. According to Tetra Pak, the engagement is a positive move towards a more integrated approach to delivering good quality products in Africa, than either Tetra Pak or Synercore could deliver alone. It has also been built on the back…

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Ghana COCOBOD collaborates with Ghanaian scientist to foster cocoa-based human health research

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GHANA – Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) is seeking to expand the use of cocoa beyond the confectionery and cosmetic industries, into the health sector. The government-controlled institution is collaborating with some fellows of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS) to conduct research into components of cocoa that can aid in the management of some life-threatening infections and metabolic diseases globally. According to healthline, cocoa is rich in polyphenols, naturally occurring antioxidants that aid in reduction of high-blood pressure, lower risk of heart attack and stroke, improve blood flow…

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Brewing group SABC invests in corn processing plant to secure its grits supplies for beer production

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CAMEROON – Cameroonian brewing company, Société Anonyme des Brasseries du Cameroun (SABC), a subsidiary of the French company Castel, is set to launch the operations of Compagnie fermière du Cameroun (CFC), its subsidiary to specialize in grits production. With CFC, SABC intends to produce 30,000 tons of corn grits yearly for beer production with some 60,000 tons of the raw material purchased from local farmers and 10,000 tons of grits sourced from Maïscam, an agro-industrial units in the northern part of Cameroon. The raw materials will feed SABC’s newly built…

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Nestlé invests US$70m to expand US facility as Undercover Snacks secures funds to grow ‘better-for-you’ snack brand

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USA – Swiss-based food manufacturing giant Nestle has unveiled plans to invest US$70 million in expanding its facility in Burlington, Food Business News has reported.   Lauren Rubbo, a spokesperson at Nestle said that the expansion will lead to the addition of four new lines, new technology and infrastructure designed for refrigerated cookie dough.  According to the report, the plant, which for many years produced candy bars such as 100 Grand, Nestle Crunch and Buncha Crunch, will be retooled to begin production of Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough.  The Burlington plant was not included in…

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Swedish food startup Veg of Lund unveils world’s first potato-based dairy alternative

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SWEDEN – Swedish-based food start-up Veg of Lund has unveiled a new dairy alternative made from the humble potato in an effort to minimize the climate impact of the dairy products.   In developing the new alternative touted as the world’s first potato-based dairy alternative, Veg of Lund teamed up with Professor Eva Tornberg of Lund University.  The partners claim the creation, called DUG, tastes delicious, goes perfectly with hot drinks, and is kind to the environment.   Veg of Lund said innovation with the potato allowed it to fulfil its mission to minimise its climate…

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