Quote, unquote: just-food's week in words

The Q2 and H1 results kept flooding in last week as Nestle explained how innovation will be key to developed market growth in the near future, and Ralcorp spoke of its challenges with commodity prices. Elsewhere, the UK's public health minister, Anne Milton, has launched a staunch defence of the Government's "responsibility deals" with the food and drink industry.

"We will soon be in a world where people know their gene type like they know their blood group" - president and CEO of Nestle Health Science, Luis Cantarell is confident that efforts to carve a third way between nutrition and pharmaceuticals will pay dividends.

"By no means this is no walk in the park, these are hard fought numbers in the developed markets" - Nestle CFO Wan Ling Martello explains the firm's first-half figures.

"The severe drought conditions have created significant volatility in the grain complex making a longer-term forecast very challenging" - Ralcorp CEO Kevin Hunt said wheat, the second largest commodity Ralcorp purchases, has risen by 17% since early July.

"The answer that's come back from some of the groups is that it isn't always that easy to reconcile those things and so it challenges the premise" - Dr Tom MacMillan, director of innovation at the Soil Association suggests the overall premise of the Green Food Project has been challenged by some of the initial findings.

"Soup remains a vital element within our product portfolio but when one looks at the overall dynamics, the single factor that struck me the most is that canned soup sales across North America market are down and we need to react to those changes" - Treehouse CEO Sam Reed emphasises the importance of its soups business.

"We feel good that we've gone through taking that pain to clean up the business and get this into a more sustainable business" - Premier Foods plc CEO Michael Clarke claims the UK food manufacturer is a more financially sustainable business.

"We're comfortable that we'll work our way through it but it is going to be a hill to climb" - Snyder's-Lance COO Carl Lee says the company expects to face "ongoing pressures" from the economy and consumer sentiment looking ahead.

"Some stand on the sidelines instead of playing on the pitch, claiming that easy regulatory solutions exist when they do not" - UK public health minister, Anne Milton launches a staunch defence of the Government's "responsibility deals" with the food and drink industry.

"Farmers made sure that Farmfoods knows what it feels like not to be able to make money" - Farmers For Action chairman David Handley on blockades at Farmfoods' distribution centres in Scotland, Manchester and Solihull.

"I do think that the business is in need of some serious investment. There needs to be another step-change" - Conlumino analyst Joseph Robinson on the departure of Peter Marks from Co-op.