The European Commission has officially requested France to amend its rules on the production and marketing of certain products obtained by distilling lees and marcs (the by‑products of winemaking). The case concerns the authorisation given by the French authorities to approved distillers to produce, on an experimental basis, wine spirits and wine distillates by distilling the by‑products of winemaking (marcs and lees), with a view to marketing them under the names ‘eaux‑de‑vie de vin’ and ‘distillats de vin’.

The Commission considers that France, by accepting that the products be marketed under a name referring to wine although the raw materials used for their production are by‑products of winemaking, is failing to meet its obligations under EC Regulations on the definition, description, presentation, labelling and the protection of geographical indications of spirit drinks.

After the Commission sent a letter of formal notice, the French authorities undertook to end their practice for products obtained from marcs, but continued it for those obtained from lees. The Commission has therefore decided to send a reasoned opinion (the second stage of infringement proceedings) to the French authorities, requesting amendment of the rules in question. In the event of failure to comply within two months, the Commission may refer the matter to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

The practice targeted by these infringement proceedings, which is in breach of European Union rules, has had an economic impact on other Member States’ producers of wine spirits, wine distillates and wine traditionally intended for these products, who have lost a substantial market share.

Using a raw material obtained at a nominal price (because it is a by‑product) has conferred a competitive advantage in the marketing of the products concerned (wine spirits and wine distillates) compared with other Member States’ distillers which use wine in accordance with the Union rules in force.

Danone is to invest Eur6.2 million to expand capacity at its bottled water production plant at Salvetat in France. Part of the expenditure will be used to drill for new water sources, with Eur1 million a year allocated for this purpose.

Danone also plans to construct a new 5,000 sq m warehouse to store 3 million bottles of water produced by the site each week. Danone had already committed investment of Eur3 million last year to extend the capacity of the packaging line at Salvetat and to carry out other improvements to the operation.

The factory employs about thirty people and volume sales of the Salvetat brand of sparkling mineral water have risen by 28% this year. The brand currently holds15.5% of the French carbonated water market, up from 7.9% last year.

Bakkavor Group, the UK convenience food manufacturer, is selling Bakkavor Traiteur, a non-core, fish spreads business based in France, to Alfesca, a leading European producer and supplier of convenience, fine seafood and premium products to retailers and food-service providers. The sale is for an undisclosed consideration.

Coca-Cola Enterprises has reaffirmed its commitment to the French market by confirming its plans to invest Eur17 million to develop its Les Pennes-Mirabeau factory, which is about to celebrate is 40th anniversary.

However, Hubert Patricot, president of the European Group, Coca-Cola Enterprises, has stressed the company’s opposition to a proposed tax on soft drinks by the French Government. “We remain strongly opposed to a tax that unjustly targets the purchasing power of the French people and one category of beverages under the pretext of addressing public health concerns. Consumer information and education around increased exercise and balanced diets, not discriminatory taxes, must be part of any comprehensive proposal,” he says.

Coca-Cola Enterprises, Western Europe’s biggest bottler of Coca-Cola Company drinks, has five production sites in France, where it employs 3,000 people. The company has invested Eur260 million in its French operations over the last six years.

The Ardo and Bonduelle groups are to set up a joint venture to supply frozen vegetables to the Spanish and Portuguese markets. Ardo and Bonduelle have also signed an exclusive supply agreement with Findus, which is returning to the Spanish and Portuguese frozen foods markets.

The agreement between Bonduelle and Ardo provides for a joint venture to be set up in Spain involving the Benimodo production sites of Bonduelle and Ardo’s packing and storage site at Marcilla. The new entity to be formed will be owned equally by the two groups, and will have a turnover of approximately Eur100m, for volumes of 90,000 tonnes, 30,000 tonnes of which will be produced at Benimodo.

At the same time, Bonduelle will transfer its Frudesa and Salto brands to Findus and Findus will take back the direct responsibility for sales and marketing of its Findus brand in Spain and Portugal, which it had granted under licence to the Ardo group in 2005. This signals the return of Findus in Spain and Portugal with a strong ambition to develop and invest in terms of advertising and innovation behind the Findus, Frudesa and Salto brands.

The objective is to drive category growth in the frozen vegetables market with both the Findus and Frudesa brands as well as relaunching strongly in the ready meals segment with the Salto brand. Findus intends to build on its successes in frozen foods across Europe and aims to become the true frozen category leader in Spain.

The joint venture between Ardo and Bonduelle will supply the Findus, Frudesa and Salto brands under an exclusive agreement to Findus, but will also supply the private label businesses of both Ardo and Gelagri in Spain and Portugal, along with the Bonduelle Food Service brand in the Spanish and Portuguese markets, and Bonduelle branded business in Portugal.

Through this alliance and the synergies released, Bonduelle and Ardo intend to set up a competitive frozen vegetable production structure for the Iberian Peninsula market.

Based at Ardooie in Belgium, Ardo has a turnover of Eur600m, annual production of 600,000 tonnes and is one of Europe’s leading suppliers of frozen vegetables. Bonduelle group is a world leader in prepared vegetables with turnover of Eur1.7b, with 27% of its business coming from frozen vegetables, for which it is the leader in Canada and the number two in Europe. Its head office is at Villeneuve d’Ascq, near Lille in France.

Findus Group is a leading frozen food business in Europe with sales over Eur1.3b and holds market leading positions in frozen foods in France, Sweden, Norway, and Finland and a market leading position in frozen and chilled seafood in the UK. Findus Group operates across many categories from seafood, vegetables, potatoes to ready meals.

The proposed ventures are subject to clearance by the Spanish competition authorities.

Cargill, the US-based food and agriculture group, has made a significant investment in its liquid flavour blending plant at its production facility in Grasse, France. The redevelopment has resulted in increased efficiencies in production flow.

The newly-designed plant, which will be opened officially on 29th April, offers improved flexibility for customers, as well as ensuring consistent, high quality product delivery.

The plant has been redesigned to enable component materials for each bespoke flavour to be collated in ‘one pass’. New technology, including intelligent mobile recipe weighing stations, an automated dosing robot and paternoster system for compounders, means that production is now faster and ensures that repeat flavour specifications are accurate and consistent every time.

“This is a significant redevelopment for Grasse and underlines our commitment to growing our share of the flavours market,” says Leon Berndsen, operations director for Cargill Flavor Systems. “Coinciding with the investment, we have achieved FSSC 22000 certification, assuring customers of our dedication to food safety and quality and our rigorous staff training programme.”

Cargill’s Grasse plant produces flavour chemicals, natural extracts and liquid flavours as well as powder blending. It is best known for production of ‘brown note’ flavours, such as cocoa and vanilla, for a range of applications, particularly in the beverage and dairy sectors.

Cargill Flavor Systems produces flavours, flavour ingredients and fruit-based blends and compounds for the food and beverage industry across a wide range of applications. Its flavour expertise spans the beverage, dairy, savoury and sweet categories.

The business has production facilities in EMEA, North America and Asia. In Europe, Cargill produces flavours in Runcorn in the UK and in Grasse in the south of France. Fruit juice blending and compounding take place in Amsterdam. There are application centres in all areas of the world, including a beverage centre in Amsterdam and a dairy application centre in Baupte, France.

With all of its divisions and regions posting gains, global food and beverages group Danone achieved a 14.2% rise in underlying net income to Eur1.67b on sales ahead by 13.5% to Eur17.01b for 2010. Excluding the impact of changes in exchange rates (+6.0%) and acquisitions, total sales were up 6.9%. This organic growth reflects a 7.6% rise in sales volume and a 0.7% decrease due to price mix.

Fresh dairy sales were up 6.5% to Eur9.73b with volume growth of 7.5%. The water business increased volume by 7.8% and sales by 5.3% to Eur2.87b. Baby nutrition sales rose 8.9% to Eur3.36b and volume growth was 7.6%. Danone’s medical nutrition division was the fastest growing with sales up 9.0% to 1.06b and volume growth was 8.7%.

Danone’s trading operating income rose 7.1% to Eur2.58b and the trading operating margin (EBIT) improved by 3 bps to 15.2% in 2010, despite the steep rise in raw material prices, particularly milk. The increase in raw materials was primarily offset by various cost-cutting measures that generated record savings of over Eur500m during the year.

Danone completed a number of major transactions in 2010. In October, Danone sold its 18.4% stake in Wimm Bill Dann Foods, Russia’s leading food and beverage company, for $470m. In November, Danone agreed to acquire YoCream, the leading producer of frozen yogurt in the US, for around $103m.

Also in November, Danone and Unimilk finalised the merger of their fresh dairy product businesses in Russia and other CIS countries, creating the region’s market leader in fresh dairy products. Indeed, Russia is now Danone’s largest single national market, with France.

Outlook

Danone expects the trends which were evident in 2010 to continue in the months ahead. Consumer spending in both the industrialised world and emerging economies shows no sign of either significant improvement or worsening, However, raw material prices remain on a volatile upward path.

Franck Riboud, chairman and chief executive of Danone.

The French group expects total raw material and packaging costs to increase by 6% to 9% on average over the year, with a steeper increase in the first half reflecting the comparison with figures recorded in 2010. Danone plans to manage these increases through consistently high productivity and will also continue to use pricing to maintain a competitive edge.

Another priority for 2011 will be the integration of Unimilk’s operations in Russia and CIS countries, with sales and cost synergies set to boost Unimilk’s operating margin from the second half on.

Danone’s targets for 2011 include a 6% to 8% rise in sales on a like-for-like basis and an increase of around 0.20% in trading operating margin, also on a like-for-like basis. This will be fueled by all the group’s activities, but especially by Unimilk and synergies from its integration. As a result, the rise will only take shape in the second half, with first-half trading operating margin down slightly from the same period of 2010. A rise in free cash flow will be in line with the Eur2b target set for 2012.

“The strength of our group, businesses, brands and teams, and our exposure to regions with robust growth prospects mean that we can look to 2011 with confidence,” says Franck Riboud, chairman and chief executive of Danone. “We will aim to outperform our competitors in organic sales growth, margin, and cash generation.”

Ter Beke, the Belgium-based processed meats and ready meals company, and French pasta manufacturer Stefano Toselli are considering forming a joint venture for supplying pasta and ready meals to Central and Eastern Europe.

The two companies have agreed to investigate the opportunity to develop a chilled lasagne and pasta meals business in Central and Eastern Europe. The business plan may also involve the construction of a local, automated production plant exclusively dedicated to the Central and East European markets.

The agreement anticipates the creation of a 50/50 joint venture between YHS Holdings, the holding company controlling Stefano Toselli, and FreshMeals, Ter Beke’s ready meals division.

Ter Beke currently sells its range of products in ten European countries. It operates nine industrial sites in Belgium, the Netherlands and France and employs approximately 1,800 people. Ter Beke generated a turnover of Eur392m in 2009.

Based in Normandy, Stefano Toselli manufactures pasta-based products on two automated production lines for the retailers across Europe. Stefano Toselli employs 226 people and had a turnover of Eur66m in 2009.

Due to rising export sales of its biscuits and cakes in France, Netherlands, UK, US and Asia, Lotus Bakeries is investing Eur27m to expand production capacity at its Belgian operations over the next three years. The group’s site at Lembeke will be extended and all caramelized biscuit production will be centred there. Lotus will also consolidate all cake production at its plant at Oostakker. Both projects are expected to be operational in 2013. Some 20 jobs will be created in the medium term.

New research from Mintel Global Market Navigator (GMN) reveals that Germans are the biggest ice cream lovers in Europe, with Germany spending an average of £19 per head on the treat each year. Mintel’s research on ice cream sales in the five major European markets (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK) shows that the nearest competitor to the German love of ice cream is France with £14 per head, with Italy and UK (£13 per head) reflecting similar tastes. And it seems warm weather does not automatically equate with ice cream purchase, as Spain comes in at fifth place with £10 per head. The research shows combined value of the five markets stood at around £4.6 billion in 2009 – up from £4.1 billion in 2008.

Indeed, it seems perceptions of ice cream as an ‘affordable luxury’ has outweighed thriftiness and health considerations in the recent economic difficulties of the past year. In the UK, premium ice cream has proved hugely successful and now accounts for just under a quarter of value sales. Overall, in the UK, value sales stood at £799 million in 2009 – up from £743 million in 2008 – recovering from a decline heightened by a succession of cool, wet summers. The value of ice cream in the UK is predicted to grow even further by 2012 to a massive £814 million.

“While Germany appears to have the biggest ice cream lovers, the overall European increase in value despite recession highlights consumer demand. The idea of ice cream as a ‘permissible treat’ has been taken on board by manufacturers, who have focused on more premium and ‘indulgent’ lines in the past year, helping drive market value forwards,” explains Ana Lourenco, Global Market Navigator analyst at Mintel. “Because ice cream is regarded as an occasional treat – over half of ice cream eaters indulge at most once a month – it has been relatively unaffected by a marked trend in general towards healthier eating. Low-fat ice cream is almost a contradiction in terms, since a creamy taste is a major reason for eating it. Therefore, the strongest ‘health’ trend in global NPD has been towards ice cream free from additives and preservatives, rather than lower in calories.”

The premuimisation trend for ice cream does not just stop in Europe. Mintel’s Global New Products Database (GNPD) finds that on a global scale, premium lines accounted for 9% of global ice cream product launches in the past six months, compared to economy new product launches which accounted for 4%. Yet while ice cream is increasingly being seen as an affordable indulgence, consumers still express an interest in healthier products. Manufacturers have answered, with 13% of all global product launches in the past six months touting a ‘no additives/preservatives’ claim.

But it seems Europe still leads the way with regional love of ice cream, as Europe remained the most active region with 42% of ice cream launches over the same period, closely followed by North America with 26% and Asia Pacific (22%) accounting for over a fifth of the market.

However, when it comes to flavour, it seems that consumer taste for chocolate transcends nations and cultures. Chocolate was the most popular flavour for ice cream launches in 2009 across the five European countries. Indeed, over a third (32%) of the total ice cream products launched in the UK in 2009 were chocolate flavour, compared with 31% in Spain, 22% in Italy, 17% in Germany and 16% in France.

French milling group Moulins Soufflet has acquired Grands Moulins d’Ozon to strengthen its national coverage. Based at Chatellerault, and with annual sales of over Eur20m, Grands Moulins d’Ozon mills 300 tonnes of wheat a day, with a production capacity of 75,000 tonnes of flour a year. It currently sells its production to mainly local customers, consisting of craft bakers, in-store bakeries and plant bakeries.

“With this acquisition, we are demonstrating our intention to establish and develop new partnership relations with craft and plant bakers in Western France,” says Jean-Michel Soufflet, chairman of the Soufflet Group. In addition, acquiring Grands Moulins d’Ozon enables the Soufflet Group’s milling division to consolidate its position as Europe’s number one miller.

Coca-Cola Enterprises, the world’s largest bottler of Coca-Cola products which will soon be focused purely on some of the largest but also most mature soft drinks markets in Western Europe, is optimistic about the long-term growth prospects for this territory. The group aims to achieve in currency neutral terms: revenue growth of 4% to 6%; operating income growth of 6% to 8%; earnings per share growth in a high single-digit range; and return on invested capital improvement of 20 basis points or more per year.

“These metrics reflect the solid growth opportunity that lies ahead in Europe,” says John Brock, chairman and chief executive of Coca-Cola Enterprises. “They exceed our current long-term objectives. We are committed to these financial objectives, and in turn, to creating real value for our shareowners, our customers, and our employees.”

CCE currently sells approximately 80% of The Coca-Cola Company’s bottle and can volume in North America. However, once it has completed the sale of this business to Coca-Cola, CCE will be left as the sole licensed Coca-Cola bottler in Great Britain, Belgium, continental France, Luxembourg, Monaco, and the Netherlands. The disposal of the North American operations is on track for completion in the fourth quarter of 2010.

For its 2010 financial year, CCE expects, on a comparable and currency neutral basis, Europe to achieve high single-digit to low double-digit operating income growth, while operating income in North America is expected to grow at a mid to high single-digit rate. Also, on a comparable and currency neutral basis, the company now expects Europe to achieve mid single-digit revenue growth, while in North America revenue is expected to be approximately flat.

Pernod Ricard, the world’s second largest spirits and wine group, has reported a 1% increase in net profit to Eur951m on net sales down 2% to Eur7.08b for the 2009/10 financial year ended June 30th 2010. Organic sales growth was 2%, including a significant 9% upturn in the second half, but the results reflect negative foreign exchange factors and the disposal of the Wild Turkey, Tia Maria and Bisquit brands and the impact of the termination of Stolichnaya distribution.

The French drinks group noted a contrasting global economic environment, which improved during the second half, featuring strong growth in most emerging economies, and a very gradual recovery of consumer spending in the US against a continuing uncertain backdrop. The picture was mixed in Europe with some signs of a recovery but also the adverse impact of austerity measures.

Pernod Ricard’s top 14 brands, which account for 55% of group sales, grew by 2% in volume and 4% in value. Martell (+12%) and Jameson (+12%) achieved double digit growth and seven others continued to grow, in particular The Glenlivet (+7%), Absolut (+6%), Chivas (+5%) and Havana Club (+5%). Conversely, Mumm (-7%) reported a decline, due to the difficulties in the French champagne market. Within the priority premium wine portfolio, Jacob’s Creek sales declined by 5%, reflecting Pernod Ricard’s premiumisation strategy for the brand.

Group profit from recurring operations rose by 4% to Eur1.79b but the operating margin slipped to 25.4% of sales, compared to 25.6% in the previous financial year. Group debt was reduced by Eur1.09b, excluding translation adjustment, during the year.

Pierre Pringuet, chief executive of Pernod Ricard.

Europe excluding France was the region most affected by the crisis, posting a 3% decline in profit from recurring operations. The situation remained difficult in Western Europe (Spain and the UK) even though a number of countries achieved growth, such as Germany and Sweden, and Duty Free markets noted a recovery. In Eastern Europe, Russia and Ukraine reported a strong upturn in the second half of the year but the situation was more difficult for local vodka brands in Poland. Pernod Ricard saw satisfactory 7% growth in its domestic market of France.

Despite the economic crisis, Pernod Ricard managed to keep growing in new economies, and continued with its premiumisation strategy. “Our performance over the 2009/10 financial year was a strong and sound one. Our priorities for the 2010/11 financial year remain the development of our premium strategic brands, a continuing strong marketing investment level, and the reduction in group debt,” says Pierre Pringuet, chief executive of Pernod Ricard.

An 80% stake in L’Alsacienne de Pates Menageres (APM), the French manufacturer of ready-to-use dough for tarts, pizzas, cakes and cookies, has been sold to investment funds Capzanine and Cerea Capital for an undisclosed price. The Roposte family, who founded APM in 1994 and pioneered ready-to-use dough in France, have retained a 20% shareholding.

APM operates two production sites located in the Strasbourg region and has an annual output of 40,000 tons. APM had been expected to be acquired by Jowa, the Swiss bakery business owned by retailer Migros, late last year but the deal fell flat.

Davigel Davifrais, Nestle’s French frozen and fresh food products distribution company, is reported to be planning to invest Eur6m to construct a new 7,000 sq m warehouse at its site in Metz. Employing 1,500 people and with annual sales of Eur438m, Davigel Davifrais is part of Nestle Professional and specialises in the serving the food service market.

Belgium-based biscuits and cakes manufacturer Lotus Bakeries increased current operating profit by 8.8% to Eur17.5m in the first half of 2010 as consolidated turnover edged up 1% to Eur127.2m. On a like-for-like basis, taking into account the termination of the Jaffa Cake bars contract with McVities, turnover for the first half of 2010 was up 2% over the same period in 2009, and slightly more for the branded products.

However, net profit for the first half of 2010 was Eur9.5m against Eur12.2m in the corresponding period in 2009. The first half of 2010 was adversely impacted by write-downs of US dollar hedging instruments while the first half of 2009 figure was boosted by an exceptional gain from a disposal.

Employing 1,220 people, Lotus Bakeries operates production facilities in Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Sweden and Canada, along with its own sales organisations in nine European countries and in North America.

Findus Group, one of Europe’s largest frozen food and seafood companies, has appointed Jari Latvanen, formerly with Nestle, to head its new, dedicated business unit covering the Nordic region. The Nordic business employs 800 people in Denmark, Finland and Sweden.

“Jari’s appointment will enable us to drive growth in the region, predominantly from share gains in our key categories, as well as exploring options to enter new categories and consider geographical white-space opportunities,” explains Chris Britton, chief executive of Findus.

The Findus Group has a total of 6000 employees and a turnover of over £1.1b. It is the parent company of Young’s, Findus and The Seafood Company.

In the UK, Young’s is the leading branded producer and distributor of seafood, selling a wide range of seafood products – both chilled and frozen – in retail and food service channels.

Findus is the leading branded frozen food manufacturer in the Nordic region, with market leadership in Sweden, Norway and Finland in each of the frozen ready meals, fish and vegetables segments in which it operates. Findus has a strong presence in France, where it has the strongest brand recognition of any frozen food brand. In the UK, the Findus brand was brought back under direct control of the Findus Group in April 2009.

The Seafood Company is the UK’s leading producer of chilled, private-label seafood products, selling to all of the major UK multiples. It is Europe’s biggest processor of farmed Atlantic salmon. Findus Group was acquired by private equity firm Lion Capital in July 2008.

EU-27 demand for organic products continues to grow. The European organic consumer market is the biggest in the world, and was worth about $26b in 2008. The largest markets are in descending order Germany, France, the UK and Italy as they represent 72% of European organic sales. The highest market share and sales per person of organic food products are in Denmark, Austria and Switzerland.

In the EU, around 4% of the agriculture land is under organic production methods. Reasons triggering the demand for organic food in the EU are the series of food scandals, as well as the increasing interest in health, environment issues, and animal welfare.

Despite the current economic situation, the demand for organic products in the EU continues to grow as organics have gone mainstream. The most important driver is considered to be the predominance of large supermarket chains, which has resulted in a greater availability of organic products. Not only have supermarkets embraced organic products, increasingly they have placed organic products on the shelves next to non-organic products. As a result they have become available for a larger audience. Specialty stores of organic products still play an important role as they are also becoming more professional and offer a wider assortment than regular supermarkets.

Consumers of organic products in Europe can roughly be divided in two groups – regular buyers and light buyers. Regular buyers represent a rather small group that has been buying organic products for decades. This group includes environmentalists, lovers of nature, and socially conscious people. Although this group is small, they are responsible for almost half of European organic sales. Regular buyers tend to buy at organic specialty shops or farmers’ markets. For them price is not an important purchasing decision factor.

The second and much bigger group is quite different. Double-Income-No-kids households, older consumers (aged 50-75) and New-Trends seekers will fall in this group. They buy organic products for various reasons, including healthy lifestyle, food safety concerns, animal welfare, sustainability, quality and taste of food, price, innovative packaging. This light buyers group purchase organic products mainly at hyper/supermarkets. This is the group that the organic industry should focus on to generate further growth in the near future.

At the retail level, the distribution of organic products is different in each Member State. In the UK and Nordic countries for instance most organic food sales are generated in supermarkets. In the Netherlands the market for supermarkets and organic specialty shops is more evenly divided. In neighbouring Germany, discounters and supermarkets dominate the distribution market for organic food, predominantly under their private labels. In Spain and Italy most organic sales are generated in organic specialty shops.

Danone has acquired Immedia, the third largest smoothie manufacturer in France, for an undisclosed sum. Immedia generated sales of Eur4m last year.

Swiss and international consumer food group Hero is selling its French fruit dessert business to Charles Faraud, which is majority owned by CIC-Banque de Vizille. The transaction will be completed at the beginning of September. Charles Faraud is a specialist in fruit desserts and is especially strong in the food service channel in France. Acquiring Hero’s French compote business will provide it with better access to the French retail market.

Employing over 4,000 people in more than 30 countries, Hero specialises in infant nutrition and fruit. Its operations are based predominantly in Europe, North America and Middle East & Africa, and the group generated revenue in excess of SFr1.785b (Eur1.28b) in 2009.

Yoplait Group of France has granted exclusive franchise rights for the manufacture and distribution of Yoplait branded fresh dairy products, starting in UAE and later expanding in the rest of the GCC, to Arabian food producer Agthia Group.

The partnership with Yoplait is in line with Agthia’s business diversification strategy and marks Agthia’s entry into the dairy segment. Agthia will commence manufacturing and distribution of Yoplait branded products by the end of 2011, joining Yoplait’s network of franchised partners like General Mills in the US, National Foods in Australia, Ultima Foods in Canada, and Bing Grae in Korea.

Yoplait is the number two brand worldwide in the fresh dairy product category, with a number one position in key markets like the US and Australia, and a number two position in France, Canada, Korea, and Ireland. Through its franchise system, over the past 40 years, Yoplait has developed the brand globally with well established local partners. Yoplait branded products are currently marketed in over 75 countries.

“Yoplait is the number two brand in fresh dairy product market worldwide. International development is strategic for us, therefore we chose Agthia as a partner in the GCC,” explains Lucien Fa, chief executive of Yoplait. “We have no doubt this new relationship will be efficient to develop the presence of our brand in the GCC region.”

Private equity firms Blackstone Group and PAI Partners are reported to be seeking to sell British and international biscuits and snacks manufacturer United Biscuits for £2b or more. In 2009, United Biscuits increased EBITDA by 13.7% to £223.4m on turnover up 5% to £1.26b.

United Biscuits is one of the world’s leading branded biscuits and snacks businesses. The group’s products range from biscuits and crackers to cakes and savoury snacks and its portfolio of brands includes McVitie’s, Jacob’s, Carr’s, McCoy’s, Hula Hoops, McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes, KP, Mini Cheddars, go ahead!, Verkade, Sultana, BN, and Delacre.

United Biscuits holds leading or strong number two positions in its core markets of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, Belgium and Ireland. Moreover its brands and products have global appeal, and the group’s rapidly growing international business unit serves consumers from North America to the Middle East, Africa, and Australia.

The sale process is due to begin in the autumn and to be concluded early next year. Blackstone Group and PAI Partners acquired United Biscuits for £1.6b four years ago.

French scallops producer Youinou is investing Eur3.5m to more than double production capacity and to upgrade its plant at Saint-Hernin in Brittany. The expansion programme will extend annual capacity from 14 million scallops to 35 million by 2011. Established in 1976, Youinou’s portfolio includes the Kercelt, Pecheur de Saveurs and Duocean brands.