UK: Asda suppliers under pressure

Asda is putting the squeeze on suppliers by demanding lower prices to boost its fire power in an intensifying price war with rivals such as Tesco, writes The Observer.

The supermarket has embarked on a round of "tough" negotiations with all major suppliers, including multinationals such as Unilever. The pricing terms of nearly all 30,000 products in its stores are under scrutiny with suppliers asked to offer better terms.


Source: thegrocer.co.uk


Publication date: 3/24/2009

Russia: custom reform leads to deficiency of fruit and vegetable produce

Custom reform that was brought by the Government of Russia in Moscow leaded to price increase for imported fruit and vegetable produce and deficiency of this produce on the domestic market. The leading specialists report that reduction of custom terminals will lead to decrease of high quality produce presented on the market, trade deficiency and further increase of inflation.

Should be noted that during February of the current year, imports of fruits and vegetables to Russia decreased by 8 %, compared to the last year.


Source: lol.org.ua

Publication date: 3/12/2009

UK: Fruit firm hit by rising costs

Tropical fruits firm Fyffes has reported a drop in profits after suffering "unprecedented" increases in the costs of its produce, shipping and fuel.

The Dublin-based distributor said favourable exchange rates and increases in the price at which fruit was sold went some way to mitigate rising costs, but could not fully offset their impact.

Adjusted pre-tax profits for 2008 were 15.9 million euros (£14.7 million), down from 18.4 million euro (£17 million) the previous year. Chairman David McCann said the results were slightly ahead of target and market expectations.

The pineapple business delivered a "small" profit after weather conditions caused a glut in the market place during the first half and falling supply in the second, which hit selling prices and costs over the year. Meanwhile higher costs meant underlying earnings from bananas declined.

Group revenues rose 9.6% year-on-year to 606.7 million euros (£559 million), reflecting the contribution of recent acquisitions such as Sol Marketing Group, which imports melons into the US, as well as higher selling prices for bananas.

But pre-tax profits dropped to just 128,000 euros (£118,000) from 13.2 million euros (£12.2 million), when exceptional items and Fyffes' 40% share of its property vehicle Blackrock International Land's losses were taken into account.

Fyffes' share amounted to a 28.6 million euros (£26.4 million) loss after Blackrock wrote down the value of its property portfolio.

Although the new year had a slow start, prices improved in recent weeks and the group said its target for the year of underlying profits of 14 to 18 million euro (£12.9 to £16.6 million) remained in place.

Mr McCann said: "In this difficult economic environment, Fyffes' products represent excellent value for money and we believe consumption will remain strong."

The group is the world's oldest fruit brand, having started trading in the 1880s. The first commercial delivery of bananas was made from the Canary Islands to the then E.W Fyffe Son & Co in London.


Source: google.com

Publication date: 3/12/2009

EU environment ministers vote to uphold ban on biotech crops

European Union governments delivered a blow Monday to the biotechnology industry, allowing Austria and Hungary to maintain national bans on growing genetically modified crops from Monsanto.

The vote, taken by European environment ministers, could irritate the U.S. government, which has in the past complained to the World Trade Organization about obstacles to planting bioengineered crops.

The vote also was a blow to the European Commission, the EU executive arm. The commission has sought in recent years to ease the restrictions in Europe on gene-altered crops, in part to keep down the cost of animal feed.

Member states were "firm" and the "commission should take a close reading of the result," the French environment minister, Jean-Louis Borloo, said after the announcement in Brussels, according to Bloomberg News.

The market for genetically engineered crops is worth several billion dollars worldwide. Only one genetically altered crop is currently grown in Europe: a form of corn, called MON 810, produced by Monsanto and other companies.

In 2003, the United States, Argentina and Canada brought complaints about the EU's biotechnology policies at the WTO, which ruled in 2006 that a de facto ban on imports of genetically modified foods between 1984 and 2004 violated trade rules.

Since that ruling, the commission has required Austria to drop its ban on imports of genetically modified foods. But some other countries have maintained bans on imports and cultivation of such crops, and the United States still could impose punitive duties on the Europeans for continuing to block trade.

"The risk has increased this morning that attention now will be thrown back to the WTO," Willy De Greef, the secretary general of Europabio, a biotechnology industry organization in Brussels, said after the EU announcement.

The U.S. Mission to the European Union had no immediate comment. Officials at offices of the U.S. Trade Representative in Geneva and Washington could not be reached.

"We are looking very carefully at the implications of this decision for the WTO case," said Amadeu Altafaj, a spokesman for the European Commission.

Barbara Helfferich, a spokesperson for EU environment commissioner, Stavros Dimas, said the commission would take some time to formulate its next move.

Groups opposed to biotechnology said the vote was a signal to the commission to stop trying to win permission for the crops until it used more rigorous methods to prove that they are safe.

"The commission must now abandon its unpopular proposals once and for all and get down to the real work of making risk assessments that we can believe in," said Helen Holder, the coordinator for genetically modified organisms at Friends of the Earth Europe.


Source: iht.com

Publication date: 3/4/2009

Europe’s shoppers turn to discount food store

Not only are the German discounters benefiting from Europe’s economic woes but recent results from other stores show rapid growth in the discount sector. Carrefour revealed that sales at Dia, its discount business in Spain, rose 11.9 per cent to €4.53bn (£3.97bn) last year, while German retailer Rewe unveiled sales at its Czech discount operation Billa, were up a massive Czk18bn (£551m) – a year-on-year increase of almost 40 per cent.

Rewe also has plans to expand Billa into the Ukraine, where it has 10 store openings planned a year, in towns with populations exceeding 1 million. Billa launched in the Ukraine in 2000, but to date its activities in the country have been on a modest scale and it has only 10 stores there at present.

One analyst commented that "Across both mature and emerging markets, discounters continue to enjoy extremely favourable market conditions on the back of clearly adverse economic developments."


Source: internationalsupermarketnews.com

Publication date: 3/3/2009

EU upholds Austria, Hungary right to ban GM crops

EU environment ministers gave a stinging rebuff to the European Commission on Monday and upheld the sovereign right of Austria and Hungary to ban growing of genetically modified (GM) maize, the EU presidency said.

The Commission, the EU's executive arm, had wanted the ministers to order both countries to lift the bans within 20 days. EU law provides for national GMO bans under certain circumstances if the government can justify the prohibition. It was the third time the Commission had tried to get Austria's bans lifted and the second for Hungary. All the attempts have been rejected by ministers in the past.

Hungary's ban relates to MON 810 maize, developed and marketed by U.S. biotech company Monsanto and the only GM crop that may be commercially grown in the EU. Austria has also banned cultivation of MON 810 maize, as well as that of T25 maize, made by German drugs and chemicals group Bayer .


Source: uk.reuters.com

Publication date: 3/3/2009

EU: Farmers anger at cheap Moroccan imports

Violent scuffles broke out between demonstrators and police

A thousand or so farmers protested on Saturday in Almería against the agreement between the EU and Morocco to allow cheap Moroccan imports of tomatoes into Spain.

The regions of Murcia, Canaries, Valencia and Andalucía met on Sunday in a summit to discuss the problem which they say makes growing many fruit and vegetables in Spain unviable.

The demonstration in Almería city saw farmers from Málaga, Granada and Murcia, and attracted 5,000 according to the organizers, unions COAG, ASAJA and UPA, but just 1,000 according to the police. Violent scuffles broke out and the National Police charged against the demonstrators on one occasion.


Source: typicallyspanish.com

Publication date: 3/2/2009