June’s top news stories

Bonduelle acquires frozen food factory in Russia

French processed vegetable producer Bonduelle Group acquired the industrial assets of LLC Shock, a Russian frozen vegetable production company located in the Belgorod region.

Financial details of the deal have not been divulged.

With the acquisition of a frozen vegetable plant, Bonduelle intends to continue its development in Russia.

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Ecolab introduces Food Safety Culture Assessment tool

Global food hygiene solutions provider Ecolab launched the Food Safety Culture Assessment tool to measure and advance food handling behaviours and the overall safety culture within retail organisations.

The launch of the tool comes in response to growing consumer demand for fresh food and diverse eating options from grocery stores, restaurants and the foodservice industry, which can lead to greater risks.

In view of this, companies are looking for better ways to ensure customer safety.

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Arla plans to move cheese and cream production to Bahrain facility

Arla Foods announced plans to move some of the processed cheese and sterilised cream production lines from three of its locations to a recently-acquired plant in the Middle East.

According to the dairy cooperative, production from its Bislev and AKAFA sites in Denmark and its Riyadh plant in Saudi Arabia will be moved to Manama, Bahrain.

The Manama location was acquired from Mondelez International as part of its recent acquisition of the Mondelez’s Kraft branded cheese business in the Middle East and Africa.

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Sparks FoodTech consortium to operate Israel’s FoodTech Incubator

Israel Innovation Authority selected Sparks Foodtech Food Technologies, a consortium of food makers and VC funds, to establish and operate the FoodTech incubator.

The consortium, which consists of Tnuva and Tempo, and the investment funds OurCrowd and Finistere Ventures, was selected following an eight-month-long competitive process.

The Sparks FoodTech incubator will be located in Kiryat Shemona in the north of Israel and will focus on investing in advanced technology start-ups that will drive the food industry.

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Givaudan opens global innovation centre in Switzerland

Swiss flavours and fragrances firm Givaudan opened its Innovation Centre in Kemptthal, Switzerland.

The centre will focus on creating differentiated and sustainable flavour, taste and fragrance solutions for the food, beverage, beauty and home care industries.

Built with an investment of Sfr120m ($120.3m), the centre is claimed to be the company’s largest investment in research to date.

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Blocksyte adds blockchain traceability to Caroli’s oil supply chain

Extra virgin olive oil producer Caroli teamed up with Blocksyte, a SaaS-based blockchain supply chain application company, to introduce end-to-end blockchain traceability into the olive oil supply chain.

The olive oil producer stated that its consumers will be able to track olive oil shipments between Italy and the US due to use of Blocksyte’s SaaS-based application.

Consumers can track real-time location, temperature, humidity and light exposure.

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Tyson Foods acquires Thai and European businesses from BRF

US-based meat producer Tyson Foods completed the acquisition of BRF’s Thai and European businesses for $340m.

As part of the deal, Tyson Foods acquired four production facilities in Thailand, as well as one each in the Netherlands and the UK.

Tyson Foods president and CEO Noel White said: “The addition of this experienced and talented team combined with these businesses strengthens our capabilities and increases our reach to new markets. I’m glad to welcome them to the Tyson Foods family.

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Kerry opens production facility in India

Ireland-based taste and nutrition company Kerry opened a €20m production facility in Tumkur, India.

This is Kerry’s fourth significant investment in India.

Located 120km from Bangalore, a city in India’s southern state of Karnataka, the 40,585m² facility will serve KerryTaste & Nutrition’s global and regional customers in the South West Asia region with Kerry Taste and Beverage systems.

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EC study finds similar branding in different food products

The majority of food products sold in the European Union (EU) are said to be identically or similarly branded while having a different composition, according to the results of a pan-European testing campaign that was published by the European Commission (EC).

The testing campaign was part of the EC’s response to concerns about dual quality foods. Products for the testing campaign were selected based on Member States’ suggestions following complaints to consumer protection authorities.

To better understand and address the issue of dual quality of food products in the EU, the EC has taken up initiatives and published a study following tests of food products across the EU using the harmonised methodology.

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UK Government to review food system after 75 years

The UK Government initiated the first major review of the food system in the country after nearly 75 years.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove appointed Henry Dimbleby, the co-founder of restaurant chain Leon and of the Sustainable Restaurant Association, to lead the review of the UK food system.

Gove said: “Leaving the EU is a great opportunity for British farmers and food producers. But with an expanding population, the urgent threat of climate change and rising levels of diet-related disease, we face many challenges too.