http://www.foodanddrinkinsight.com Food and Drink Insight RSS Feed from Business Monitor International en Copyright 2013, Business Monitor International Ltd Sat, 14 Sep 2013 06:30 GMT Sat, 14 Sep 2013 06:30 GMT AFP RSS Generator The big news in Slovakia's food and drink industry in late 2006 was the decision by the Slovakian Antimonopoly Office (PMU) to block British retailer Tesco from acquiring four Carrefour hypermarkets, as discussed in BMI's newly published Slovakia Food & Drink Report for Q1 2007. The decision was based on the concern that that this would give Tesco an overly powerful position in the country's mass grocery retail (MGR) sector, a decision Tesco had to wait over a year to receive. As a number of foreign retailers have headed for the exit, the Slovak MGR market has experienced rapid consolidation http://www.foodanddrinkinsight.com/file/162040/BMI-View:-Slovakia-Remains-A-Mixed-Bag-For-Investors.html Fri, 16 Feb 2007 00:00 GMT This year will be key for Romanian retail, following accession to the EU on January 1. As BMI has been reporting, a number of foreign retailers have been announcing expansion sprees - which seem to show no signs of ebbing - spurred by the explosive growth rates experienced by those retailers already present. Romania's mass grocery retail (MGR) and food sectors saw booming sales in 2006 ahead of EU accession. The final green light to entry, given in September by the European Commission, added additional stability to the market, further encouraging investment. In the meantime, Romanians are on something of http://www.foodanddrinkinsight.com/file/162037/Consumer-Spending-Spree-Spurs-Expansions.html Tue, 13 Feb 2007 00:00 GMT No single food issue has a greater impact on CEE trade relations than the meat trade, particularly beef. While the 10 new entrants to EU in 2004, eight of which are in the CEE region - the remaining two, Cyprus and Malta are not significant beef producers - only contributed 8% of EU cattle by slaughter weight (and less in value terms), the accession of significant agricultural producer Romania as well as Bulgaria in 2007 has only intensified the issue as a key trade issue in both intra-EU and external trade http://www.foodanddrinkinsight.com/file/162033/Politics-Continues-To-Play-Major-Role-In-CEE-Beef-Market.html Wed, 28 Feb 2007 00:00 GMT Not surprisingly, dominating the headlines this quarter is Bulgaria's accession to the EU, and the impact this has had on the country's food and drink industry and retail sector. Following months of hesitation and delays, foreign discounters are moving ahead with their Bulgarian entry plans in full force. In January German discounter Tengelmann announced that it will open its Plus chain of stores in Bulgaria in the first quarter of 2008, although the location of the outlets and size of the investment remain unknown. After announcing in mid-2006 that it was putting its expansion plans on ice, compatriot discounter Lidl http://www.foodanddrinkinsight.com/file/162027/BMI-View:-Bulgaria-Experiencing-The-Ups-And-Downs-Of-EU-Membership.html Wed, 07 Feb 2007 00:00 GMT According to a recently produced report by the European Commission, the surging popularity of biofuels represent a 'big opportunity' for Europe's farmers, particular those who have felt the negative impact of the EU's recent sugar reforms. The EU, which is the world's second-largest sugar exporter, implemented a new sugar regime in mid-2006, which reduced the guaranteed price it pays for the commodity by 36%, and substantially reduced production quotas. These reforms put many producers out of business, with the transition most severe for smaller sugar makers in Central and Eastern Europe, who lack the ability of larger Western European companies http://www.foodanddrinkinsight.com/file/162024/Biofuels-Touted-As-Solution-To-EU-Farming-Woes.html Wed, 21 Feb 2007 00:00 GMT The year 2007 could be the year Russia's consumer boom peaks, or more optimistically, reaches a new growth plateau as World Trade Organisation (WTO) accession promises to bring added stability to the marketplace. BMI's updated mass grocery retail (MGR) forecast for the period 2006-2011 sees 155% growth in the sector. But this scenario, as with any forecast attempting to look more than a year or two ahead in the Russian context, comes with a number of conditions. It is also relatively conservative, as in reality, a mix of growth and setbacks for the economy as a whole and the food http://www.foodanddrinkinsight.com/file/162020/BMI-View:-Trade-Disputes-Continue-To-Colour-Relations.html Tue, 27 Feb 2007 00:00 GMT The EU is once again embroiled in a dispute over its appellation laws, this time over the true definition of vodka. Over the last year, Poland, Sweden, Finland and the Baltic states have all been insisting that only those spirits made from cereals, potatoes and sugar-beet molasses should be called vodka, while other member states, such as Hungary, Spain and the UK are arguing that there is no reason to change the current regulations, which allow vodka to be made from any agricultural product. The EU is now trying to reach a compromise deal with clearer ingredients labelling, whereby spirits http://www.foodanddrinkinsight.com/file/162019/Europes-Vodka-Wars-Coming-To-An-End.html Mon, 12 Feb 2007 00:00 GMT According to figures released by the Bohemian-Moravian Dairies' Association, Czech cheese consumption has been rising in recent years, with Czechs developing a taste for more international products. While domestic production has experienced a slight decrease, imports have risen sharply. As the Czech food and drink market has opened up along with EU membership, consumers have been eager to try new products, but are still often held back by price constraints. Therefore imports from countries such as France and the Netherlands, which produce more premium cheeses, are not as high as imports from countries such as Poland and Germany, which produced http://www.foodanddrinkinsight.com/file/162016/Czech-Cheese-Consumption-Grows-Along-With-Imports.html Tue, 06 Feb 2007 00:00 GMT The Czech Republic's mass grocery retail (MGR) sales continue to exhibit booming growth, with market research data showing that the top 10 retailers have raised their sales by CZK32.9bn (US$1.52bn) year on year (y-o-y), up to CZK261.3bn (US$12.03bn) in 2006. However, the real news for country's major operators was that German group Scharwz, which operates the Kaufland hypermarkets and Lild discount stores, managed to move up from second to first place, with sales of CZK43.5bn (US$2.002bn). Schwarz managed to oust Metro Group, which operates Makro Cash & Carry, out of poll position, as Metro fell to fourth place with sales http://www.foodanddrinkinsight.com/file/162014/BMI-View:-Retail-Shake-Up-Continues.html Fri, 09 Feb 2007 00:00 GMT Inevitably, when looking to join the EU, any potential member state will have to implement a series of reforms that are sometimes painful and often widely unpopular. Nowhere are the difficulties of reforms more visible than in Romania's food and drink industry, which is currently experiencing the growing pains of membership. However, not all companies are suffering, as can be seen by looking at Romanian bakery group Vel Pitar. http://www.foodanddrinkinsight.com/file/162011/Vel-Pitar-Thrives-Despite-Industrys-Growing-Pains.html Fri, 23 Feb 2007 00:00 GMT Developments within the global food and drink industry in the last quarter have continued to support BMI's core industry views. The global economic downturn has had a pronounced impact on consumption habits, with some sectors being negatively impacted and others gaining an advantage in line with BMI's core short-term views. However, while the industry remains immensely challenging, firms continue to invest in emerging markets and innovation, in line with BMI's core view that these areas will provide the strongest growth over the long http://www.foodanddrinkinsight.com/file/162010/Food-Drink-Q109-Roundup.html Thu, 05 Mar 2009 00:00 GMT An ageing population, stagnant wage growth and a forecast economic contraction of 4.9% in 2009 have already heaped domestic pressure on Japan's struggling brewing quadrumvirate. Beer shipment data for February, released by the Brewers Association of Japan in mid-March, has only worsened the hangover; shipments of beer and beer-like beverages slumped 9.2% year-on-year to 31.2mn cases, their lowest ever http://www.foodanddrinkinsight.com/file/162008/Beer-Shipment-Data-Brings-Further-Woe-To-Brewers.html Tue, 17 Mar 2009 00:00 GMT As market leading retailer Seven & I Holdings confirms that the early success of its The Price discount banner means that it will be committing more resources to this format in the short term, convenience rival Lawson Inc has detailed its own plans for achieving success in this currently popular format. A sharp reversal from the days when high price, cutting edge innovation was used as a tool for enticing customers, recent activity in the Japanese mass grocery retail (MGR) sector shows just how much pressure Japan's latest economic downturn is putting on http://www.foodanddrinkinsight.com/file/162006/Discount-Phenomenon-Grows-In-Popularity.html Thu, 19 Mar 2009 00:00 GMT BMI has revised downwards its forecast for Thai food export growth in 2009 on the back of weak data released by the country's National Food Institute (NFI). With weak export demand weighing heavily on the Thai economy, food had been seen as the one great export hope, its essential nature typically making it more resilient to economic downturns. Thailand's hope is this regard has been short-lived, although we would caution that a weak 2009 must be viewed within the context of an extraordinary http://www.foodanddrinkinsight.com/file/162002/Downward-Revision-For-09-Food-Exports.html Fri, 20 Mar 2009 00:00 GMT One of a tiny number of Chinese dairy firms unaffected by late 2008's melamine scandal, Beijing Sanyuan Group has acquired the assets of disgraced former giant Sanlu Dairy at auction for CNY616mn (US$90.1mn). Sanyuan's shares, suspended since late September at the company's request on consideration of the acquisition, soared on news of its auction success and yet major obstacles await Sanyuan if its takeover is to be a productive http://www.foodanddrinkinsight.com/file/162001/Sanyuan-Lands-Sanlu-As-Rebuilding-Starts.html Fri, 13 Mar 2009 00:00 GMT