Food

With an investment of approximately $159 million, Pepsico has begun construction work on its third savoury snack production plant in Russia.

Pringles, the well-known potato-based snack brand owned by Kellogg’s, is planning an eco-makeover for its classic tubes. The multinational is experimenting with a new packaging solution that will be much easier to recycle without altering the brand’s traditional design.

Loacker, a historic South Tyrolean brand known worldwide for its famous wafers, posted a turnover of €355 million in 2019, up 14% on 2018, with sales of 957 million packaged specialities (including wafers, pastries and chocolate desserts) in over 118 countries around the world.

Plumrose, filiale statunitense del colosso della carne JBS USA, ha annunciato la costruzione di un nuovo stabilimento del valore di 200 milioni di dollari. 

Following in the footsteps of Unilever, Beyond Meat and Impossible Food, Findus is now also launching its own Green Cuisine line of vegetarian burgers, meatballs and sausages with a similar taste to meat but aimed at more environmentally conscious consumers.

Whether gluten-free, preservative-free, sugar-free or high in fibre, protein or calcium, there’s no stopping the rise of the free-from and rich-in product trends that continue to dominate consumers’ purchasing choices and fuel a steady stream of new offerings from companies.

US agribusiness giant Cargill is partnering with an Indian manufacturer to launch its first chocolate manufacturing operation in Asia aimed at bakery and confectionery customers.

Morato Pane, a Vicenza-based company operating in the packaged bakery goods market, recently completed two acquisitions concurrently.

Dog Heroes is a Lombardy-based startup that was only launched last November but has already raised a €400,000 funding round for the development of its business, which aims to spark a health revolution in the dog food market (a market that in Italy is worth over €1 billion).

Livekindly co., a company spearheading a movement to build a more sustainable future set up in early 2020 with a funding round of $200 million, has acquired the Oumph! brand from Swedish company Food for Progress.

Upfield Group is planning to invest €50 million in a new Food Science Centre in Wageningen, Netherlands.

The Philippine company Liwayway Food, which produces snacks under the Oishi brand, has begun work on a new factory in the Qibray district of Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Sweden’s Lantmännen Unibake, the second largest bakery group in Europe, has taken over the production activities of French Bakery Company located in Drammen, Norway.

The US food & beverage brand Turkey Hill has announced a significant expansion of its ice cream division through the acquisition of the Arkansas production facility of Yarnell Ice Cream, a subsidiary of Schulze & Burch Biscuit Company.

Just Eat Takeaway.com has agreed to acquire American Grubhub for $7.3 billion, creating the largest food delivery service outside of China and connecting partner restaurants with customers in 25 countries.

UK-based dairy group Meadow Foods is investing £4 million in a new facility for the production of plant-based milk alternatives including creams, yoghurts and custard, as well as oat, rice and coconut-based drinks.

Monini, a pioneering Italian extra virgin olive oil producer based in the Umbria region, has announced a sustainability plan that will see it invest €25 million by 2030 in three major areas: “In campo” (“In the field”), “Dentro la bottiglia” (“In the bottle”) and “Sulla tavola” (“On the table”).

Brazilian companies Marfrig and Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) have formed a new joint venture company (owned 70%-30% respectively) which will offer plant-based food products in North and South America under the new PlantPlus Food brand name.

The Switzerland-based international confectionery group Barry Callebaut has signed an agreement to acquire GKC Foods, one of Australia’s largest chocolate producers, with the aim of expanding its presence in Australia and New Zealand.

Orsero, a company listed on the STAR segment of Borsa Italiana’s equity market, has escaped the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and posted 7.9% growth in net revenues in Q1 to €240.9 million.