The British consumer goods giant Unilever and the Dutch brewer Heineken have both sold their Russian subsidiaries to a company owned by the industrialist and Kremlin ally Alexei Sagal.
In July, Reckitt, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, agreed to sell part of its Russian business to Sagal after being hit by a new round of EU sanctions. Ferrero, on the other hand, has remained in Russia.
An interesting survey of leading brands. And in Spain, the world’s leading producer of olive oil, the Andalusian cooperative Dcoop has exposed widespread fraud in Spain involving refined olive oils. According to the serious allegation, in some cases these are mixed with lower-quality oils such as pomace and sunflower oils
Eataly has yet to work out ‘what it is’: the spaghetti with tomato sauce – despite being pre-cooked and reheated – wasn’t bad. But that’s not enough to make Eataly an efficient ‘Italian-style’ fast-food outlet. It needs better-managed checkouts and after-sales customer service.
What is worrying is not that cereal production is falling (-2 per cent), but rather that – in August – there was a sharp rise in prices: the FAO global food price index rose to 133.3 points, an increase of 1.9 per cent in just one month and 2.5 per cent compared with a year ago
Looking at the long term, there is a clear trend towards the gradual increase in the share of organic produce in Italians’ shopping baskets: in 2016, it accounted for 8.4 per cent of the total volume of fruit and vegetables, whilst by 2025 this share will reach 12.2 per cent – the highest level in the series under consideration
Italian, French and British retailers have drawn inspiration and lessons from their American counterparts. And the chain that opened its first supermarket 96 years ago is still family-owned: in June, King Kullen appointed its first female president, Tracey Cullen, the founder’s great-granddaughter
Diageo and Pernod Ricard together control more than half the market and have the resources needed to weather the crisis. Independent producers are far more vulnerable; indeed, according to Duncan McFadzean of Noble & Co, up to a quarter of Scotland’s approximately 160 distilleries could end up being put up for sale
The real problem is not the frozen food itself – which can be excellent if it is of good quality – but the lack of transparency on the part of restaurants
Some species, such as turbot (Scophthalmus maximus) and bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus), are remarkable. Fortunately, plans to farm octopuses have been averted
The market share of fizzy drinks (sodas) in the US has fallen from 45.6 per cent in 2016 to 33.5 per cent today: Coca-Cola is offsetting these losses in ‘developing’ countries. But for how long can it continue to do so without facing the same loss of consumer loyalty?
Before making an advert about Italian pasta – is it healthier and safer? – we should have tried to protect Italian farmers and consumers
The world’s largest meat producer is called JBS; it is Brazilian and is completely unreliable. The rules governing the import of animal proteins from Brazil should be carefully reassessed
