News

Soft drink bottler Coca-Cola HBC is to buy Serbian biscuit and confectionery maker Bambi for an enterprise value of EUR 260 m from private equity investor Mid Europa Partners. SG SP

Cargill is investing EUR 20 m in its starch production plant in Sas Van Gent/The Netherlands to expand the instant starch capacity. SP

At this year’s Vitafoods Europe trade fair in Geneva/Switzerland (7 to 9 May, booth L60), SternLife will present a new generation of protein bars. SP

Many consumers want to eat healthy food products with less fat and without chemical additives. So-called light food products are available, but they are thought of dubiously because the reduction in fat is often offset by the use of additives and thickening agents. SP

Nestlé SA has reported full-year results for 2018. Total reported sales increased by 2.1% to CHF 91.4 bn (2017: CHF 89.6 bn). Net acquisitions had a positive impact of 0.7% and foreign exchange reduced sales by 1.6%. SG

Nestlé today announced that it proposes Dick Boer, former President and CEO of Ahold Delhaize N.V., and Dinesh Paliwal, President and CEO of Harman International Industries Inc., a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., for election to its Board of Directors. SG

Vitafoods Europe 2019 (7 to 9 May, Geneva/Switzerland) will explore the collaboration required to shape a more sustainable future for the nutraceutical industry. SP

Confectionery providers in German retail faced declines in both sales and volume in 2018. The Nielsen market research institute reported that proceeds from confectionery sales for the entire year were down by - 1.2% at € 14.295 bn. SG

With top exhibitors like Bosch, Chr. Hansen, GEA or Mettler-Toledo leading a Who’s Who of the industry, ProFood Tech 2019 (26 to 28 March, Chicago) is set to convene 7,000 processing professionals over 125,000 net square feet of exhibit floor. SP

Givaudan, the world’s leading flavour and fragrance company, officially inaugurated a new flavours manufacturing facility in Pune/India. SP

The Bühler Group, Uzwil/Switzerland, has continued its positive development in 2018. All business units achieved organic growth. Group turnover increased by 22 % to CHF 3.3 bn. SP

Confectionery sales in German retail had not recovered from the heat spell in July and August by the end of the 2018 fiscal year. IRI’s confectionery monitor showed a revenue decline of 1.3% to € 12.819 bn for all of 2018. SG

Nestlé is accelerating its journey towards reaching full supply chain transparency by disclosing the list of its suppliers alongside a variety of data on its 15 priority commodities. SG SP

The Barry Callebaut Group announced that it has successfully closed the acquisition of Inforum, a leading Russian B2B producer of chocolate, compound coatings and fillings. SG SP

Flavour and fragrance giant Givaudan has posted its full-year results with sales of CHF 5.5 bn, up 5.6 % on the previous year. SP