UK: Ocado quashes sale reports (MEM)

UK online retailer Ocado has denied reports the company is touting itself for sale.

US: Kraft "plans to cut hundreds of jobs" 

Kraft Foods is preparing to announce “several hundred” job cuts across its North American operations in an effort to cut costs, according to reports.

AUS: Heinz launches Golden Circle bid (REG)

HJ Heinz has announced plans to acquire Australian fruit juice and canned food maker Golden Circle in a deal worth around A$288m (US$214m).

• CANADA: Loblaw faces strike in Alberta (REG)
  A tentative agreement has averted the strike of Loblaw workers in Saskatchewan but employees in Alberta are still planning to launch industrial action this morning (6 October).
• US: Mars unveils new product line-up (REG)
  Mars Snackfood has unveiled a raft of new products for the US market at the National Association of Convenience Stores Show in Chicago.
• UK: Young’s gives brand "Love Fish" revamp (REG)
  Young’s Seafood has unveiled a brand and packaging revamp for its range, as well as a GBP5m (US$8.7m) marketing push.
• just the answer – Jørgen Schlundt, WHO (MEM)
  It could be seen as both ironic and tragically timely that Beijing was the setting for an international food safety conference recently last month. Attending the China International Food Safety & Quality Conference was Jørgen Schlundt, director of the department of Food Safety, Zoonoses and Foodborne Diseases at the World Health Organization (WHO). Dominique Patton spoke with him about the recent crisis and moves within and without China to improve its food safety systems.
• SWEDEN: Scan buys stake in convenience food firm (MEM)
  Scan has acquired a 15% minority holding in Swedish convenience food firm Matfabriken i Skandinavien.
• RUSSIA: Seventh Continent books mixed H1 (REG)
  Russian retailer Seventh Continent has seen first half net sales rise 33% to US$791.4m.
• US: RAB changes name to Manischewitz
  Kosher food manufacturer RAB Food Group has announced plans to change its name to The Manischewitz Company.

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• CHINA: Cadbury recalls products in melamine scandal
• US: Food crisis down to “poor judgement” - Nestle chairman
• TAIWAN: Nestle forced to delist products over melamine fears
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Food pays the price for credit crisis
6th October 2008 15:19

"Everyone is leveraged - companies are leveraged, governments are leveraged and individuals are leveraged." These were the words of one US analyst to just-food last Thursday evening as we d...

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• China Fast Food Analysis
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WTO Doha Round’s near-deal conclusion

The World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) Doha Development Round is now at a crossroads. After coming to a hair’s breadth of striking a deal at a ministerial summit in July, there is now a serious risk that agreements wrung from these seven years of discussions could now unravel. If trade ministers are prepared to return to Geneva to solve the limited range of issues over which they were unable to reach agreement, a Doha deal could be secured this year. But, this seems unlikely, with the US presidential election looming. In this month's briefing, we assess the prospects of the WTO recovering from this latest setback and consider what is at stake.

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