Food

Dairy company FrieslandCampina has sold its fruit juice division, which also contained the Appelsientje brand to Dutch investment firm Standard Investment.

In the first half of the year, Danish beer brewer Carlsberg’s turnover grew 2 % to 31.8 billion krona (4.3 billion euro). The improves sales for its more expensive beers, like Grimbergen, contributed to this turnover increase.

In the first half of 2017, meal box delivery service HelloFresh has seen both its turnover and its losses grow significantly. This gives mixed messages in the preparation of its IPO, which is planned this fall to create room for more investments.

Italian cuisine is revered all across the globe, with people often thinking of pizza and pasta. However, Italians also have an ironclad reputation when it comes to ice cream. This is also reflected in sales, as Italians are the European market leader.

American tv star Oprah Winfrey has joined forces with Kraft Heinz to develop a range of “healthy and nutritious soups and side dishes”. The range, currently only available in the United States, should help Kraft Heinz generate turnover growth once more.

Belgian-Dutch supermarket group Ahold Delhaize has had a very good second quarter, with the company thinking last year's merger could result in lower costs than previously anticipated. On the other hand, Belgium's performance is still weak.

Sainsbury’s, the second largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom, is allegedly planning to cut 1,000 office jobs in order to save up to 500 million pounds (550 million euro).

Food company Kraft Heinz’ second quarter like-for-like turnover dropped slightly, but the American company did manage to seriously enhance its profitability.

Max Koeune will become potato processing company McCain Foods’ new CEO. The Canadian family business revealed the news after its current CEO, Belgian Dirk Van de Put, moved to the world’s largest snack manufacturer, Mondelez.

To say that British supermarket chain Asda suffered a weak year would be an understatement: 2016 was its worst year since Walmart acquired the chain in 1999.

Food company Mondelez has appointed Belgian Dirk Van de Put as its new CEO, succeeding Irene Rosenfeld who has decided to retire. Van de Put will join the company from McCain Foods, a company that grew more than 50  % during his six-year stint.

Meal delivery service Takeaway.com achieved a 53 % growth in the first half of 2017, compared to 2016. The number of orders also grew 43 %, but the company is still onerous.

Blackstone and CVC Capital Partners plan to launch a joint bid for Unilever’s margarine division, which includes brands like Blue Band and Becel. The fee is allegedly 6 billion pounds (6.7 billion euro).

Other interested parties

Former Marks & Spencer CEO, Marc Bolland, and former Unilever director, Harish Manwani, currently both work for Blackstone and are apparently driving forces behind the Blackstone and CVC bid. 

Dutch brewery group Heineken managed to sell more beer in the first half of 2017. It even managed to sell more in regions that previously struggled with sales volumes, namely Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe.

Starbucks-owned tea chain Teavana will shut down every single store, which will put 3,300 people out of a job. It currently has nearly 380 stores.

It may have taken some time and effort, but Aldi Nord’s major remodeling plan has been approved. It will invest 5.2 billion euro to remodel every single store.

Nestlé achieved growth in the first half of the year, but is not entirely satisfied. Profit did grow almost 20 %, but it did face a huge one-off tax burden in 2016.

French dairy company Danone’s second quarter profit grew a lot, mainly thanks to its Whitewave Foods acquisition, which also owns Belgian Alpro.