Day: August 12, 2021

Meal-kit firm HelloFresh eyes Japanese, Italian markets as Deliveroo heats up food delivery competition in Germany

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GERMANY – HelloFresh, a German multinational meal kit company, is planning to enter Japan and Italy by the end of the year, as it looks to tap into robust demand across regions.  The Berlin-based company, which delivers pre-portioned meal ingredients with recipes to subscribers, said it planned to bulk up its warehouse network, while exploring the idea of bringing its brands, such as U.S. specialist diet meal kit brand Green Chef, to Germany and other international markets.  HelloFresh, which like its U.S.-based peer Blue Apron and takeaway food groups Delivery…

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Coca-Cola HBC eyes entry into Africa’s second largest non-alcoholic ready to drink market Egypt

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EGYPT – Coca-Cola HBC, the world’s third-largest Coca-Cola anchor bottler is seeking to acquire a majority stake in Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Egypt (CCBCE) through its subsidiary Coca-Cola HBC Holdings. Under the agreement, Coca-Cola HBC will acquire 94.7% stake in the Egyptian unit from its majority shareholders for an agreed combined purchase price of US$427 million. CCBCE was founded in 1994 as a joint venture company between The Coca-Cola Company through the TCCC Seller and MAC Beverages Limited (MBL) together with certain of its affiliated entities. MBL, a privately owned…

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Independent alcohol company DGB takes over ownership of South African century old wine business Backsberg

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SOUTH AFRICA – DGB, one of South Africa’s largest independent wine and spirit producer, has expanded its portfolio with acquisition of majority stake in Backsberg, an iconic winery in the country. Under the deal, Backsberg’s cellar equipment nestled on the slopes of the Simonsberg Mountain, will be relocated to Franschhoek, where the wines will now be produced under newly formed entity Backsberg Family Wines. The new Backsberg winery will be housed in a property adjacent to DGB’s Franschhoek Cellars winery.  Following the transaction, the Kosher wines under the “Unorthodox” trademark,…

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Zomato’s quarterly losses widen despite 22% jump in operational revenue

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INDIA – Indian multination food delivery company Zomato has seen its net losses jump 168% from the previous quarter to Rs 360 crore (US$48m) despite the company recording a 22% rise in revenues.  According to a statement from the company, the triple-digit rise in losses was attributed to non-cash Esop (employee stock ownership plan) expenses, which increased in Q1 of FY22 due to significant Esop grants made.  India, the company’s largest market delivered a significant chunk of the revenues as Rs806 crore (US$108m) while revenue of Rs 31 crore (US$4.17m) was logged from the UAE, and the balance from…

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French retailer Carrefour to sell Taiwanese business valued at US$1.19B

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CHINA – French retailer Carrefour is planning to launch a sale of its Taiwan business, which is valued at around 1.6 billion euros (US$1.9 billion) in the coming weeks, according to a Reuters report.  Sources privy to the matter told Reuters that the supermarket chain operator has hired Morgan Stanley to run the sale, which is expected to kick off after the summer.  Carrefour, which has so far not released an official statement on the matter is further said to have approached a number of potential buyers, including private equity firms, to gauge their interest.  The retailer which…

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Shoprite builds skills of its butchers with launch of internationally-endorsed Master Meat Artisan Programme

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SOUTH AFRICA – The Shoprite group, Africa’s leading retailer is seeking to develop a scarce and sought-after skill in the meat market with launch of the Master Meat Artisan Programme, endorsed by United Kingdom’s Institute of Meat. The programme is targeting its qualifying butchery managers, and will train the initial intake of 52 people to join the exclusive global club of Master Butchers. According to the supermarket chain owner, globally there are only 55 Master Butchers in the world. Of the only 55 Institute of Meat accredited Master Butchers globally,…

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Swiss-based Coca-Cola bottler HBC records 88% jump in half year profits buoyed by recovery in out of home consumption

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SWITZERLAND – Hellenic Bottling Company, the world’s third-largest Coca-Cola anchor bottler in terms of volume, has reported a 88% surge in net profit to 233.1 million euros (US$273.54 million) for the six months ended July 2.  The company’s impressive half-year profits were realized from sales of 1.126-billion-unit cases for total net revenue of 3.247 billion euro (US$3.8 billion).  According to the Zug, Switzerland-based company, ongoing recovery and effective execution drove additional momentum and share gains in Q2.  “We are very pleased with the first half in which we increased value share gains, revenues and profitability as well as making…

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E-commerce startup Omnibiz raises US$3m seed round to expand into other markets

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NIGERIA – Omnibiz, an e-commerce startup based in Nigeria, has raised US$3 million in a seed round to expand into other markets. V&R Africa, Timon Capital, and Tangerine Insurance led the seed round. Lofty Inc., Musha Ventures, Sunu Capital, Launch Africa, and Rising Tide Africa were also part of the round. Omnibiz will utilize the funds to expand in additional West African cities outside of Nigeria, including Abidjan, Takoradi, Kumasi, and Accra, over the next few months. The main categories on its platform include food, non-alcoholic beverages, personal care, and…

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South African e-tailer Takealot appoints Mamongae Mahlare as new Group CEO, KFC launches whatsapp ordering system

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SOUTH AFRICA – South Africa’s e-Commerce retailer Takealot Group has appointed Mamongae Mahlare as its new Group Chief Executive Officer, effective 1 October 2021. Mahlare joins the Takealot Group from Illovo Sugar South Africa where she was Managing director. As a seasoned business leader, Mahlare brings with her a strong balance between operational experience, strategy, innovation, engineering, and brand, having previously worked at organisations such as SABMiller, Unilever and Coca-Cola. “The opportunity to lead a technology-centric, innovative, South African champion that has created thousands of jobs and enabled so many…

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Cameroon attains rise in cocoa production while Uganda continues growth trend in coffee export volumes

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CAMEROON/UGANDA – Cameroon has registered a 12% rise in cocoa production in the 2020/2021 season to 292,471 tons. The 35,319 tons increase in produced volumes is the highest attained in the country over the past six production seasons, further propelling the attainment of the 300,000 tons production mark set in the country. According to reports by Business in Cameroon, local grinders processed 62,341 tons of cocoa, slightly up by 3.3% compared with the volume of cocoa processed during the 2019-2020 season. The upward performance is attributed to the commissioning of…

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