Several major deals were struck this week including ABF’s buy of Dorset Cereals and Cloetta’s acquisition of Aran. Pilgrim’s Pride upped its bid for Hillshire Brands. Elsewhere Cloetta has been accused of using “sneaky” marketing tactics to sell its sugary Chewits product. Mondelez on the other hand pulled its Bar and a Half product in a bid to reduce per person calorie intake.
“Whether one is looking for high protein products good for a low fat diet, or because they workout a lot and prefer protein for muscle recovery, cottage cheese and other high protein dairy products – things like skyr and quarks- are becoming more and more popular” – Arla has responded to demand for cottage cheese by opening a cottage cheese dairy that will produce and ship 29,000 tonnes of cottage cheese across Europe.
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“The team will be focused on proactive maintenance of the innovative technology at the company, as well as developing standardised proactive processes and practices,” – Burton’s Biscuit Company has established a dedicated team to focus on its engineering strategy to support home and international growth.
“Hillshire Brands does not have the right to terminate the Pinnacle Foods merger agreement on the basis of either of these proposals or enter into an alternative acquisition agreement with either of these parties prior to termination” – sought after Hillshire Brands said it was entering into separate talks with Tyson and Pilgrim’s regarding their acquisition offers.
“We do not believe we have been “sneaky” at any time and we remain committed to transparency to allow consumers to make their own decisions about what products they buy and consume” – Cloetta hits out at allegations it has engaged in sneaky marketing techniques to push high-sugar content products.
“The brand Officer’s Choice is very salient amongst the target group and we intend to strengthen the brand even more going forward” – Indian spirits firm ABD announced its debut into the snacks sector
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By GlobalData“We believe this will help UK consumers reduce their calorie intake through improved portion control,” it said on its website” – Mondelez International pulls its Bar and a Half range in the UK, a move aimed to support the government’s Responsibility Deal on Public Health.
“I think Dorset is a great brand, with good growth potential and will be an excellent fit with ABF’s existing Jordan’s brand. I understand sales are circa GBP40m and as such the rumoured price represents a very good price” – Panmure Gordon analyst Graham Jones believes the Dorset Cereal brand acquisition was a good move for ABF.
“CPG’s do need to be more aggressive in thinking about the channel. Some of the better selling brands understand the specialty nature of the channel” – Neil Stern, senior partner at McMillan Doolittle says CPGs cannot expect to use the same tricks online as they do in traditional retail channels and succeed.
“The company is employing more discerning portfolio management and evaluating better what the consumer values, where we can get margin” – Nestle CEO Paul Bulcke outlines how the firm intends to “fix” lacklustre brands.
“We will certainly see accelerated growth as the brand overlays into the Cloetta structure” – Richard Cullen, Aran co-founder and MD discusses the deal with Cloetta which sees it acquire 75% of the business for US$21.1m until it takes full ownership in 2016.
