Speculation mounted this week over who will be the winning bidder for UK frozen food retailer Iceland Foods, meanwhile, M&S revealed plans to revamp their stores and we interviewed the head of McCormick’s subsidiary Schwarz UK. Here’s the best of what was said this week:
“Like buses, opportunities rarely come at the ideal time. Asda probably has greater need than Morrisons to acquire smaller stores with its relative dearth of such outlets and corresponding dependence upon 40,000 sq ft units and above. Therefore, there could be an interesting auction in the offing – Morrisons may have competition,” Shore Capital analyst Clive Black outlines who he believes could be in the race to acquire frozen grocer Iceland Foods.
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“It’s not rocket science” – Marks and Spencer chief executive Marc Bolland on the retailer’s plans to tailor its stores to the demographics of their catchment areas.
“The key is putting consumer insight right at the heart of what you do. Across the board, we’re seeing pressure on the commodity prices of herbs and spices. It’s our job to manage that so that we continue to provide value for the consumer, while at the same time trying to manage the commodity costs within the business. Innovation plays a role in that, absolutely.” – Anthony Palmer, general manager of McCormick subsidiary Schwarz UK, describes what role innovation plays in adding value to the spice maker’s portfolio in a time of volatile commodity prices.
“Under Danish regulations governing the sale of fortified products, retailers must apply for approval to sell particular fortified products. As Marmite falls under this category, it must be approved for sale” – a spokesperson for the Danish Food and Vetrinary Administration on claims that Marmite had been banned in the country.
“We are evolving to a global approach in everything we do… the days of taking a regional supply chain approach has become a thing of the past at Heinz” – supply chain chief Bob Ostryniec on Heinz’s plans to integrate and centralise its global supply chain.
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By GlobalData“I believe we found the perfect company that is ideally positioned in a significant growth category, comes with a strong brand and allows us to effectively leverage our blue-chip customer base by selling more products to them” – Calavo Growers chief executive Lee Cole on the benefits of its acquisition of the Renaissance Food Group.
“The acquisition considerably boosts both Frutarom’s technological capabilities and its product offering to customers worldwide in the field of savoury flavours and functional products, as well as Frutarom’s extensive global customer base” – Frutarom president and CEO Ori Yehudai outlines the benefits of its acquisition of Chr. Hansen’s Italian savoury operations.
“The supermarket adjudicator will just add costs to retailers and push up shop prices for customers” – British Retail Consortium food director Andrew Opie hits back at the government’s plans to establish an ombudsman to oversee the implementation of the Grocery Supply Code of Practice (GSCOP).
“When we evaluated scientific studies on aspartame recently, we didn’t see anything glaring that would lead us to believe people should change their daily intake” – a European Food Safety Authority spokesperson criticised a request from the European Commission to re-evaluate the safety of the sweetener aspartame.
“The FDA is undergoing a far-reaching process of reform. It is a front-line service that protects the safety of American consumers and it is vital that its ability to do so is not inhibited” – a Consumer Federation of America’s Food Policy Institute spokesperson criticises proposed cuts to the Food and Drink Administration’s budget.
