Dean Best's food industry blog - from just-food.com

Generation gap - July 14, 2008

The news here in the UK this morning that factory-gate prices among food manufacturers continue to rise will come as little surprise. We have, after all, become accustomed to food inflation for months now. However, the fact the rise was the highest jump in food product prices in 22 years only serves to hammer home the message that suppliers are battling with the biggest change to their cost-base for a generation. And, as we argued on our pages last week, the fact that these changes - and the...
http://www.just-food.com/blogdetail.aspx?ID=1492

Why food is centre stage in the French EU presidency - July 11, 2008

France is investing heavily in its EU presidency. Up to EUR190m (US$300.4m) has been earmarked to put a French accent on the rest of the year. The preparations have been detailed: in March, farm minister Michel Barnier moved his entire office staff to Brussels for a week to build better working relationships. Barnier's ministry organised a series of national conferences about food production and consumption earlier this year, which culminated in an international conference on feeding the..
http://www.just-food.com/blogdetail.aspx?ID=1491

Will economic clouds rain on CSR spending - July 9, 2008

With the outlook for business looking bleak, questions are rightly being asked about the continued commitment among companies towards sustainability. Last month, at the CIES World Food Business Summit in Munich, food executives gave little away over whether the gloomy economic climate was testing that commitment. There is, however, the not unreasonable argument that the recent investment in CSR initiatives, including those on sustainability, has come during bumper years economically. And as the.
http://www.just-food.com/blogdetail.aspx?ID=1489

Were you nervous, Sir Stuart - July 9, 2008

There was an awful lot on the agenda at Marks & Spencer's AGM this afternoon, not least the controversial re-election of executive chairman Sir Stuart Rose. The UK retailer has been dogged by a swathe of media reports leading up to the event - primarily sparked by disappointing results and a profit warning this time last week. By 3.45pm GMT the meeting had been running for nearly two hours and a croaky, under-pressure Rose seemed to be losing patience with a seemingly endless.
http://www.just-food.com/blogdetail.aspx?ID=1490

Gordon's clampdown on waste - July 7, 2008

The thought of Gordon Brown, the UK Prime Minister, hectoring the country's population on how to save food has grabbed the headlines here this morning (7 July). However, leave to one side the image of the Iron Chancellor doing a Delia and telling us how to make the best of the leftovers in the back of the fridge. For, as Brown, along with other G8 leaders meet in Japan for their annual summit, the global food crisis and government food policy is taking centre stage - and could have deep...
http://www.just-food.com/blogdetail.aspx?ID=1488

UK opens up for Aldi, Lidl - July 3, 2008

Hard discounters in the UK have had it tougher than in their country of origin - Germany - and many other parts of Europe where the format was quickly received and accepted into mass grocery retail. Now, it seems, the fortunes of the likes of Aldi and Lidl are looking up. Aldi has announced plans to invest GBP1.5bn (US$3bn) in the UK and open a store a week. The company is, alongside Lidl, enjoying double-digit sales growth in the UK. And, all the while, at the premium end, the likes of Marks..
http://www.just-food.com/blogdetail.aspx?ID=1487