WHATEVER NEXT ? RABBIT MILK

Herds of dairy rabbits. Eight-teat milking machines. High tech rabbit farms. Apparently, this is close to becoming a reality.

There are already experiments in the Netherlands. The rabbits are genetically modified with a human gene to create a milk protein that helps prevent tissue damage for victims of car crashes, strokes and heart attacks.

Research has shown that a New Zealand white rabbit can produce 140ml of milk a day. The milk could be launched in Britain some time this year.

For more, see The Sunday Times of 17th January 2010.

MICHELANGELO’S DAVID IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Sometimes you see a picture that just says it all. At one of Zenith’s conferences last autumn, a speaker vividly illustrated the possible toll of obesity on Michelangelo’s stunning sculpture of David.

It needs no further words. Take a look.

Original                                  Today ?

This ingenious transformation was produced by Mark Robinson from Fonterra Ingredients in New Zealand. You can reach him directly at mark.robinson2@fonterra.com

FAMOUSLY WRONG PREDICTIONS

One of the things we do at Zenith is forecasts. We’ve been right about many things from healthy convenience to bottled water. We were most wrong about alcopops.

Fortunately we have not been in the same league of denial as this selection from the latest issue of Director magazine:

Telephones – “An amazing invention, but who would want to use one ?” US President Rutherford Hayes 1876.

Electric lighting – “Good enough for our transatlantic friends … but unworthy of practical or scientific men.” British Parliamentary committee 1878.

Radio – “People who must now subdue themselves to ‘listening in’ will soon find a better pastime for their leisure.” H G Wells 1928.

Computers – “There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home.” DEC President Ken Olson 1977.

For more, go to director.co.uk

WATCHWORDS FOR 2020

What will be the watchwords of the next decade ? In some way, a new decade brings nothing new. We’re on the same journey as before. My two words for the next decade are ‘Trust’ and ‘Transparency’.

Although the last 50 years have seen greater stability and prosperity than any previous period in history, we have lost trust in kings, governments, churches, banks, business and even parents. Success will come to those who rekindle trust.

Technology has helped break down oppressive regimes through armaments and communication. Everyone and everything is now expected to be more accountable. The next decade will reward those who seek to improve their field of production or service and enjoy affording us the transparency to appreciate it.

What words would you choose ? I’d be interested to hear.

THEMES FOR 2010

… and the decade ahead … in food and drink.

Will it be caution ? No, we want to be confident and don’t want to be left behind.

Health ? Definitely, but without sacrificing taste and with the minimum of effort. Functional benefit will be an increasingly important dimension of this.

The environment ? For certain. Recognition of the need for change is gathering momentum and new regulations will be a major feature of the next ten years.

Convenience ? Yes, along with pleasure and choice. But these will be hard fought over. Few of us want to be told, yet most of us could act more intelligently.

Nature will continue to compete with science. We’d like everything to be fresh and local, but are also keen to benefit from technical innovation.

Value will be vital. Premium value. Low cost value. Social values. Value and values make consumers feel good about what they consume and will ensure they keep coming back.

Will supplies suffice ? Sadly, no, not evenly or fairly. Water has to become better priced, used and shared. All markets need to be kept as free and competitive as possible.

49 ACQUISITIONS IN NOVEMBER/DECEMBER

It’s difficult to keep up. The number of food and beverage transactions I’ve recorded in the past two months rose to 49.

13 were in the dairy industry, 12 in soft drinks, 10 in alcohol and 7 in other food sectors.

US companies were involved in 16 and French in 6, followed by Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland and UK on 5 each.

Japanese drinks companies were among the most active buyers, led by Suntory on 3. Switzerland’s Emmi and Nestlé made 5 purchases between them. New Zealand’s Fonterra bought 2 and sold 1. Britain’s Uniq and Holland’s FrieslandCampina sold 2 apiece.

Nov 09	Bottled water	US Crystal Springs buys Cohutta Water
	Bottled water	Spain’s Importaco increases stake from 31% to 62% in Agua de Cortes	$213m
	Packaging	Ball Corporation from US to buy $90m outstanding 65% of Sansui beverage can joint venture from Guangdong Jianlibao of China	$90m
	Ingredients	Danisco from Denmark to buy Sorbial agricultural biotechnology business from Valleé of France	€1m sales
	Food	IFR Capital buys German and Polish businesses from Uniq of United Kingdom	£25.7m
	Soft drinks	Suntory from Japan completes purchase drinks of Orangina Schweppes based in France from Blackstone and Lion investment groups	€2.6 bn est
	Fruit juice	China’s Yantai North Andre Juice Co to increase stake from 30% to 40% in Andre Pectin	$3.6m
	Food	Gilde Equity Management of Benelux buys Netherlands businesses from Uniq of United Kingdom	€20m
	Beverage	US Nestlé Professional to buy Vitality Foodservice from Goldner Hawn Private Equity
	Bottled water	UK Highland Spring to buy Greencore Water from Greencore of Ireland	£17.5m
	Dairy	Nestlé of Switzerland to buy Parmalat Brasil from Laep Investments	$59m
	Ingredients	Symrise from Germany to buy Futura Labs of Egypt and UAE	$15m sales
	Dairy	Arla from Sweden buys outstanding 25% of Arla Foods Fonterra UK joint venture from Fonterra of New Zealand
	Food	US World Finer Foods buys Liberty Richter from Royal Wessanen of Netherlands	$31m sales
	Beverage	Font Salem, part of Damm in Spain, to buy Santarem plant from Drink In of Portugal	€15.5m
	Food	Taiwan’s Sinkung buys certain activities from McCain
	Spirits	India’s United Spirits buys Tern Distilleries
	POU coolers	Brita from Germany buys Waterhouse brands	$111m
	Fruit juice	China’s SkyPeople Fruit Juice buys juice Yingkou Trusty Fruits	$3.3m
	Dairy	Productos Lacteos Centroamericanos buys 51% of Parmalat Centroamerica from Parmalat of Italy	€25m sales
	Food	Philippines’ Top Frontier Investment Holdings buys 28% of San Miguel	$1.36bn
	Cider	C & C from Ireland to buy Gaymer United Kingdom from Constellation Brands of United States	£45m
	Food	US Brynwood Partners buys Balance Bar energy bar brand from Kraft Foods
	Cider	UK Aston Manor Brewery buys Devon Cider
	Dairy	France’s Alsace Lait buys Savoie Yaourt from Fruité	€15m sales
Dec 09	Coffee	US Green Mountain buys Timothy’s Coffee	$157m
	Dairy	DeltaMilk from United States completes purchase of Bleskensgraaf cheese plant from FrieslandCampina of Netherlands	€140m sales
	Fruit	Eckes-Granini from Germany to buy
	Juice	Remaining 49% of joint venture with Damm in Spain
	Wine	France’s Vranken Pommery buys outstanding 45% of Listel
	Beer	CVC Capital Partners from United Kingdom completes purchase of central Europe operations from Anheuser-Busch InBev of Belgium	$2.2 - 3.0 bn
	Dairy	Agropur from Canada to buy Green Meadow Foods of United States
	Soft drinks	Suntory from Japan to buy Pepsi bottler Conway-Myrtle Beach of United States	$113m
	Beer	Heineken from Netherlands to buy Asia Pacific Breweries of India	€25m
	Dairy	Switzerland’s Emmi buys customer base of Kellenberger Frisch Service
	Coffee	US Green Mountain to buy Diedrich Coffee	$200m +
	Drinks	H Pixel International Trade from Israel to buy brands from Drinks Americas of United States	$0.15m
	Soft drinks	Kirin from Japan to buy extra 35% of Shanghai Jinjiang Kirin joint venture from Jinjiang International of China	$18m
	Dairy	Fonterra from New Zealand to buy remaining 51% of Saudi New Zealand Dairy Products Co joint venure from Saudi Dairy & Foodstuff Co	NZ$45m
	Beer	Sapporo from Japan to buy 65% of Vietnam National Tobacco joint venture from Carlsberg of Denmark and Vietnam National Tobacco	$25m
	Dairy	Danone from France to buy remaining 45% of Danone Clover joint venture from Clover of South Africa	$143m
	Wine	Suntory from Japan to buy 70% of importer ASC Fine Wines of China from Wine Holding of Austria	$88m sales
	Cheese	Emmi from Switzerland to buy 25% of packaging specialist Diprola in France
	Cheese	Emmi from Switzerland to take minority Stake in Venchiaredo of Italy
	Bottled water	US DS Waters buys OWaters
	Beer	Philippine’s San Miguel Brewery to buy international beer business from parent San Miguel Corp	$300m
	Food	Heinz from US buys remaining 49% of Cairo Food from Egypt
	Soft drinks	US Treehouse Foods to buy Sturm Foods Foods from HM Capital private equity firm	$660m
	Dairy	International Dairy and Juice joint venture between PepsiCo of US and Almarai of Saudi Arabia buys Beyti of Egypt from Almarai
	Dairy	DMV-Fonterra Excipients joint venture between Fonterra of New Zealand and Royal FrieslandCampina of Netherlands to buy FrieslandCampina Domo-Pharma from Royal FrieslandCampina	NZ$106m