This week, Kellogg announced plans to increase its exposure in Africa through a joint-venture with local player, Tolaram Foods. Elsewhere, Tyson Foods was once again in the spotlight over animal abuse allegations. Nestle lost its battle to trademark its KitKat product in the European Court of Justice and Midamar pleaded guilty to allegations it mislabeled products for export as halal. Here is the week in quotes
"As a region that is experiencing explosive growth, with a population of almost one billion people and an economy that is expected to more than double over the next 10 years, Sub-Saharan Africa provides tremendous opportunity for our company" – John Bryant, chairman and CEO of Kellogg, in the wake of the joint-venture announcement with African food manufacturer Tolaram.
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"There’s an opportunity to do what Kellogg wisely did in Mexico – associate its products with affluence and taking good care of one’s family – and young African people are very optimistic about their children’s future, this has important implications for the kind of product decisions they might make" – Athlos Research analyst Jonathan Feeney comments on why the Kellogg/Tolaram deal is a good one.
"Our social media channels have been inundated with consumer requests for a range of Quorn products to be vegan friendly. With such a strong demand and following we know this launch will be widely celebrated by vegans across the UK" – Julian Cooke, head of category management at Quorn Foods on the company's launch of its first product in the vegan category.
"By combining Annie's commitment to organic, great-tasting products, and General Mills' capabilities and distribution, we are able to make a bigger impact on the organic industry and consumers" – John Foraker, president at Annie's comments on the launch of a line of organic soups – its first launch since being acquired by General Mills last year.
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"Our investigation proves that the cruel treatment of chickens by Tyson Foods are not isolated incidents, but a systematic, companywide problem. Tyson Foods is putting profits over not only ethical standards, but state and federal laws" – Stephen Wells, Animal Legal Defense Fund executive director, comments after the campaign group releases an undercover video exploring standards at a Tyson Foods site in Texas and accuses the poultry giant of "cruel" and "illegal" treatment of the animals.
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By GlobalData"The brand is quickly outgrowing the capacity of its Vancouver, British Columbia facility and it makes sense to add production capability on the east of coast of the US" – a spokesperson for Pinnacle Foods confirms it has selected a plant on the east coast of the US to make products for Gardein which it acquired last November.
"Midamar accepts responsibility for the above charges and strives to continuously improve its processes and communications. This agreement will resolve all matters, set the record straight, and enable the company to focus on delivering quality food products and franchise supply chain solutions for our customers internationally" – US meat processor Midamar pleads guilty to allegations it mislabeled products for export as halal.
"There is a huge opportunity for Richmond to tap into the white space within the gluten-free sausage category. There are no gluten-free branded sausages within the standard sector of the market, despite this being a proposition which resonates with latest consumer trends" – Sarah Davies, senior brand manager for Richmond sausages by Kerry Group, announces the brand's foray into the free-from sector with the launch of gluten-free sausages.
"Nestle is likely to continue fighting this point even if, as now appears likely, the English court decides that the KitKat shape should not be registered as a trade mark. Nestle has a lot of experience with trying to register difficult marks – it took over 40 years to register the slogan "Have a break" as a trademark" – finally succeeding in 2006, having first applied in 1975 – Intellectual property lawyer at Mishcon de Reya, Sally Britton predicts Nestle will press on with trying to get a trademark for its KitKat product after losing an appeal at the European Court of Justice.
"Often, we see large, very resource-rich brands and companies try and apply the same tactics to social media communication without such strong results because they don't necessarily have that ability to communicate in their DNA" – Sir Kensington's co-founder Scott Norton comments on how smaller companies are advantaged over larger ones when it comes to marketing through social media.
