News for the baking industry
St. Louis / MO. (pbc) Panera Bread Company said at a presentation in New York City and Chicago, the bakery cafe chain may be well-positioned to make acquisitions, but it has no interest in mergers. «Our board looks at our cash position at the end of every quarter. We think the best use of our money is to open more bakery cafes», Co-COO William Moreton said.
Jokioinen / FI. (mtt) Healthy dark rye bread is a staple of the Finnish diet, but nowadays most of the rye used by bakeries is imported from other countries. Rye is less widely cultivated in Finland than other crops because the subsidies are low and the plant is sensitive to weather conditions, meaning that the crop yield is often small.
Minneapolis / MN. (gm) General Mills Inc. reported results for the third quarter of fiscal 2009. Net sales for the 13 weeks ended February 22, 2009, grew four percent to 3,54 billion USD. Foreign currency translation reduced sales growth by three percentage points. Pound volume was one percent below prior-year levels that grew six percent.
Chicago / IL. (sbc) Schulze + Burch Biscuit Co., a leading supplier for private label and industrial baked goods in the U.S., announced it is locating a new production facility in Searcy (Arkansas), said CEO Kevin M. Boyle.
Chicago / IL. (npd) Rising unemployment, eroding consumer confidence, market volatility, and other economic concerns will take a toll on the restaurant industry in 2009, according to The NPD Group, a leading market research company.
Hayes / UK. (prn) Unite, the largest union in the United Kingdom, this week reacted angrily to the growing threat to jobs at United Biscuits´ Liverpool site (Jacob´s) posed by a restructuring programme which could see 125 jobs offshored to India. United Biscuits is a leading manufacturer of biscuits and snacks, based in Hayes, UK.
Brussels / BE. (eu) The European Commission made an important step forward in its efforts to ensure improved protection of human health and the environment, as it completed the review of existing pesticides that were on the market before 1993.
Barcelona / ES. (epsa) Europastry S.A. has invested 18 million EUR to increase its production capacity in doughnuts. By starting up a new production plant and a freezing warehouse with a capacity for 10’000 pallets, the company has become the largest European manufacturer in this product category.
Itasca / IL. (fsb) Pennant Foods, a leading provider of specialty bakery products and solutions to the foodservice and retail industry, announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase a portion of the General Mills Inc. Bakeries and Food Service frozen bread dough business (Pillsbury).
Zurich / CH. (bc) Barry Callebaut AG sold 100 percent of its consumer company in Asia, Van Houten Singapore, to The Hershey Company. While retaining ownership of the traditional Van Houten Brand, Barry Callebaut will grant to Hershey a perpetual, exclusive license of the Van Houten brand name and related trademarks in for consumer products.
