Source: United Coffee in Geneva
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – UCC, the leader of Japan’s coffee market, is buying one of Europe’s largest independent coffee suppliers, United Coffee of Geneva. The price of the sale is 50 billion yen ($617 million), reports Bloomberg, which says the move “enables UCC to enter Europe for the first time and will bring the company’s sales from overseas markets to about 20 percent from 3 percent.”
The sale is expected to be finalized in the second half of 2012, says UCC in a mailed press release.The sale is being handled through the CapVest private equity fund.
The new company will be the fifth largest in the world. UCC is a family company, remaining in the hands of the founding family, with 3,700 employees and turnover of euros 2.6 billion. It recently decided to re-centre its activities on the coffee industry to become a world-scale player. It was the first Japanese company to adopt integrated production, from plantation to finished product. It has coffee plantations in Hawaii and Jamaica and is one of the largest suppliers to consumers and the restaurant industry.
United Coffee was founded in 1818 and it describes itself as “one of Europe’s largest coffee roasters, producing and distributing a wide range of coffee, coffee machines and related services through retail and out-of-home distribution channels, which includes hotels, restaurants and cafés.”
United Coffee moved to Geneva in July 2010. It is one of the companies that has taken up the war against food giant Nestle, which is protecting its coffee capsule business with a fleet of patents, backed by lawsuits.
Background: “Unlocking a Captive Market: The Battle to Unseat the Nespresso“, Wharton University, June 2011
Nestle in Vevey
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Nestlé is having a good week: Thursday 19 April its annual general meeting it smoothly re-elected Paul Bulcke chief executive officer for the next five years and there were fewer clashes with protesters, the European Patent Office has handed Nespresso a victory and Friday Q1 figures were released showing 7.2 percent organic growth.
Nespresso’s victory, announced at the annual general meeting, was perhaps the least certain of this week’s successes for the company, although the copyright battle over single pod capsules could have a last stand. The European Patents Office upheld an earlier decision backing Nespresso’s patent on the pods that work with its machines. Three companies, Sara Lee Corp, Ethical Coffee Co. and Vergagno in Italy have been fighting the patent. The EPO’s court of appeals is now the last resort for the three.
The company’s financial results for the first quarter show sales up 5.6 percent to CHF21.4 billion, with acquisitions responsible for 3 percent of the increase. Foreign exchange had a 4.6 percent negative impact, says the food multinational.
Bulcke’s assessment: “In many developed markets where consumer confidence is low, the trading environment is subdued whilst in most emerging markets, conditions remain dynamic and rich in growth opportunities. Our past and present investments, and continuing innovation, have enabled us to deliver good growth in the first quarter.”
Dark Swiss chocolate, not just good but good for getting the stress level down (photo: E Wallace)
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – We’ve all suspected it and now Nestlé researchers tell us it is true: a nibble of dark chocolate a day reduces our stress level. A research team that looked at the biochemical basis for what many of us like to consider comfort food found “strong evidence that a daily consumption of 40 g of dark chocolate during a period of 2 weeks is sufficient to modify the metabolism of free living and healthy human subjects, as per variation of both host and gut microbial metabolism.”
Their findings, presented at a conference in California 28 March, showed “that the chemical compounds contained in dark chocolate may improve the disposition of people who experience higher levels of stress.”
You might have to use more diplomacy now that the word is out when you offer chocolates to your stressed mother or others. Remind them that the group also found that “the level of stress-related hormones reduced in all participants, including those who were not assessed as stressed at the start.”
The test group consumed half the chocolate in the morning and the other half in the afternoon.
In more scientific terms, the group’s abstract reports this:
“A clinical trial was performed on a population of 30 human subjects, who were classified in low and high anxiety traits using validated psychological questionnaires. Biological fluids (urine and blood plasma) were collected during 3 test days at the beginning, midtime and at the end of a 2 week study. NMR and MS-based metabonomics were employed to study global changes in metabolism due to the chocolate consumption. Human subjects with higher anxiety trait showed a distinct metabolic profile indicative of a different energy homeostasis (lactate, citrate, succinate, trans-aconitate, urea, proline), hormonal metabolism (adrenaline, DOPA, 3-methoxy-tyrosine) and gut microbial activity (methylamines, p-cresol sulfate, hippurate). Dark chocolate reduced the urinary excretion of the stress hormone cortisol and catecholamines and partially normalized stress-related differences in energy metabolism (glycine, citrate, trans-aconitate, proline, β-alanine) and gut microbial activities (hippurate and p-cresol sulfate).”
Uh-oh, time to eat this for the morning coffee break: Swiss dark chocolate ice cream in its half-empty carton is forming telltale ice crystals, center top
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – If you’ve never considered the instability of your ice cream beyond the fact that it disappears too quickly, you are clearly not an ice cream manufacturer.
We thought we were finished writing about the work of WSL, the Swiss avalanche and snow research insititute, now that the ski season is ending, but Nestlé has brought them back with news that the food multinational is collaborating with the WSL on ice crystals research, using a one-of-a-kind x-ray machine.
Nestlé hopes to uncover the holy grail of ice cream makers: how to keep its texture and structure and therefore quality for longer. Initial research results published 9 March in the journal Soft Matter.
A follow-up study is now underway with the SLF and a research group at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland, the company notes in a press release.
“The study found that as some ice crystals grow in size they fuse together, creating bigger crystals which cause the texture of the ice cream to coarsen,” says Cédric Dubois, a scientist working on the project for the Vevey-based food company.
“We already know the growth of ice crystals in ice cream is triggered by a number of different factors. If we can identify the main mechanism, we can find better ways to slow it down.”
A too-short slippery slope towards hard and icy or chewy ice cream
Closeup: Ice crytals come from the milk itself: not what mother cow intended
If you store ice cream too long in your freezer it develops ice crystals and, often, an inconsistent quality, with some bits going chewy and others hard. The ice crystals are the water that is in the ice cream itself.
“Ice cream is an inherently unstable substance,” says Hans Joerg Limbach, a scientist at the Nestlé Research Center in Switzerland. “As part of its natural aging process, the ice will separate from the original ingredients such as cream and sugar.”
Limbach says that temperature variations, which are clearly not good for ice cream, can occur at different stages of the product’s transportation and storage.
“For example, most home freezers are set at minus 18C, but the temperature doesn’t remain constant. It fluctuates by a couple of degrees in either direction, which causes parts of the ice cream to melt and then freeze again. The ice cream can sometimes become chewy due to loss of water or air, or icier and harder to scoop.”
WSL and the art of staying cool while studying ice crystals
Enter the WSL, which has the world’s only x-ray tomography machine “that allows long-term observation of tiny particles in a substance at temperatures of zero to minus 20 degrees Celsius,” Nestlé notes in its statement about the partnership. They “monitor the evolution of ice crystals in snow and how this affects its properties: key factors for understanding avalanche formation. Ice crystals affect the properties of ice cream in a similar way, altering its texture and structure as they grow and change shape.”
The WSL is one of the world’s top avalanche and snow research centres. The Davos-based institute, which in 2011 celebrated its 75th anniversary, is a well-known name to Swiss back-country and off-piste sports fans, thanks to its excellent snow condition maps and bulletins. GenevaLunch includes the group’s daily bulletins every Friday during the ski season when we issue a Swiss resorts weekend snow and winter sports report.
Ice cream people in Vevey, with its fine view of the snowy Alps, naturally turned to the WSL with their dilemma. The difficulty until now has been finding a way to examine material at -20C without destroying the sample. “This method is non-invasive and does not disturb the product,” says Dubois. “X-ray technology is normally used at room temperature, but this machine works within exactly the right range for frozen food.”
The new work with the Paul Scherrer Institute is giving the researchers “access to technology that should enable them to examine even higher resolution images of the microscopic particles in ice cream.”
World water day is 22 March – whet your appetite for water news
Those of us next to Lake Geneva are among the world's lucky, with easy access to pentiful water supplies
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Today is World Water Day, declared by the United Nations, and we’re taking a moment out to think about what is historically one of humanity’s greatest problems and where we are with solving it.
In a nutshell, here’s what we “drink”, according to the UN: “There are 7 billion people to feed on the planet today and another 2 billion are expected to join by 2050.
“Statistics say that each of us drinks from 2 to 4 litres of water every day, however most of the water we ‘drink’ is embedded in the food we eat: producing 1 kilo of beef for example consumes 15,000 litres of water while 1 kilo of wheat ’drinks up’ 1,500 litres.”
Geneva, International Rainwater Harvesting Alliance: Before reading about the many problems linked to water where solutions are not in place, look at the wonderful collection of photos from the International Rainwater Harvesting Alliance, from its 2011 global photo contest. The Alliance, based in Geneva, brings together the many groups who are working to ease water shortages by harvesting rainwater, as part of sustainability programmes.
Switzerland: Palestinian refugees in seven camps in Lebanon are receving $2.62 million over two years for a remediation and upgrading of camp water supplies project, a cooperative effort between the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). The project began at the end of December 2011.
It is designed to “ensure healthier lives for Palestine refugees by preventing and controlling diseases by providing access to safe drinking water. In addition, SDC will provide UNRWA with three Swiss technical experts for the project,” according to UNRWA.
West Bank:The UN News Centre 19 March published the results of a survey that show significant problems with access to water for West Bank Palestinians, as Israeli settlers move in nearby. “Palestinians have increasingly lost access to water sources in the West Bank as a result of the takeover of springs by Israeli settlers, who have used threats, intimidation and fences to ensure control of water points close to the settlements, according to a new United Nations survey released today.
“Thirty of the springs were found to be under full settler control, with no Palestinian access to the area, according to the survey carried by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) over the course of last year.”
Africa, Yemen: Africa’s continual problem of water shortages and frequent droughts is hugely compounded by fighting in conflict zones. The International Displacement Monitoring Centre in Geneva 21 March issued a statement about the situation in Yemen: ”
Much loved but more expensive than necessary, to feed, in France
PARIS, FRANCE – Vevey-based Nestlé is one of three dog and cat food manufacturers being fined by France’s competition watchdog, with the Swiss multinational hit by a €19.1 billion fine out of a total of more than €35b in fines imposed.
The decision was made public Tuesday 20 March and involves three companies’ brands: Nestlé Purina Petcare France SAS (Groupe Nestlé SA), Royal Canin SAS (Groupe Mars Incorporated) and Hill’s Pet Nutrition SNC (Groupe Colgate Palmolive Company).
France has 10 million dogs and 8 million cats.
They are accused of imposing restrictions from 2004 to 2008 on wholesalers who then sold high-end dry dog and cat food to the specialty retail market, which includes animal shops, garden centres, farm stores, di-it-yourself stores, pet shops and veterinarians.
The three companies had more than 70 percent of the dry pet food market, which accounts for 70 percent of the overall pet food market.
The companies not only put in place a system that resulted in a form of price fixing, but the wholesaler-distributors were given fixed territories that also reduced competition, leading to higher prices, says the competition commission.
The three companies did not contest the facts, according to the French Autorité de la concurrence.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – A rundown of some of this week’s news highlights:
Nestlé charged with lack of protection, death of former worker
Charges were filed against Vevey-based multinational Nestlé in Zug by a Colombian trade union and a human rights group for not adequately protecting a former employee, Luciano Romero, who was murdered in Colombia by paramilitaries in 2005. The case could have broad implications according to Germany-based human rights group ECCHR (European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights) because it is the first filed against a Swiss company in Switzerland for a crime committed outside the country. ECCHR – Nestle, Newsletter French, pdf (Fr)
The charges come as world media are focused on the safety of foreign multinational workeres in conflict areas, notably in Nigeria, with the deaths Thursday 8 March of two foreigner workers in Nigeria. In separate news, Nestlé announced Friday morning that it is offering scholarships to a number of its trainees in Nigeria, to bring them to Switzerland to see home office operations.
Solar Boat evades pirates, navigates way to world record
PlanetSolar, the world’s only entirely solar-powered boat, whose home is Yverdon, made it through the pirate-infested waters of the Gulf of Aden. The MS Tûranor PlanetSolar is now navigating the waters of the Red Sea and expects to arrive 4 May 2012 in Monaco, at which point it will become the first solar boat to circumnavigate the globe.
Crans-Montana says yes to Women’s World Cup in 2013 in a turn-about (correction)
World Cup in Crans-Montana, 2012
The Valais resort of Crans-Montana said Monday it would not be hosting the 2013 Women’s World Cup in skiing, despite the success and nearly 50,000 visitors to the men’s event in late February.
A turn-around was announced Thursday 8 March after a meeting Wednesday night when the concerns of some players about hosting the event at the height of the ski season, which could mean closing to the public the popular Nationale run for several days.
The group of communities in the region, ACCM, has thrown its support behind not only a bid for the Cup next year, but an investment of CHF400,000 a year to keep Crans-Montana on the World Cup circuit. The funds require final approval, but the signal at the end of the week was clear: the resort is ready to fight to get the events.
Also under discussion are the re-creation of two or three significant runs.
One former Swiss president gets pie in face, another joins Rousseau protesters in NY
Micheline Calmy-Rey, who completed her year as president of Switzerland in December 2011, was shocked, as were many in the political world, by a pie that was shoved in her face earlier this week by a man angry over her role in the losses incurred by bank BCGE several years ago. The incident, outside the human rights film festival in Geneva, appeared to be more a form of aggression than a humorous incident.
Another former Swiss president, Pascal Couchepin, joins a group in New York Friday 9 March, for Occupy Rousseau, to hold up the Geneva philosopher’s example of fighting inequality and social injustice.
Cern technology behind Geneva airport’s solar panels
The airport in Geneva Friday received delivery of the first of some 300 high-temperature solar thermal panels that will cover a surface of 1,200m2 on the roof of the main terminal building. The panels will be used to heat the buildings during winter and cool them in summer. Their vacuum technology was developed at Cern for particle accelerators.
Nuclear power plant told by judge it must close early
Muehleberg, Switzerland’s aging nuclear power plant that has been the focus of protesters’ calls for closure because of the high cost of keeping it safe, was told it must shut down by June 2013. Safety issues were cited as the reason. The decision was made by the Swiss Administrative Court 1 March but announced the 7th, Wednesday. It is one of five nuclear power plants in the country and was scheduled to be phased out as Switzerland gets rid of its nuclear energy programme, but the decision speeds up the process by several years.
Great chocolate, but only a 25% chance at Lindt that the palm oil came from certified supplies - a better than average chance, though
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Some of the largest retailers in Britain, Sweden and Switzerland are leading the pack when it comes to saving tropical forests by using sustainable palm oil, according to a new survey by Gland-based environmental organization the WWF.
Migros and Coop in Switzerland scored 9, the highest possible number on the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) scorecard, as did Britain’s Boots, Walmart, Marks & Spencers, the Co-operative Group, the Body Shop and Waitroses, and Sweden’s Axfood, with the UK and Sweden having several companies that scored 8.
Palm oil is an issue because 80 percent of its comes from tropical forests in Indonesia and Malaysia, where huge growth in global demand is causing the destruction of irreplaceable forests as they are replaced by palm plantations, often planted in unsuitable areas, says the WWF. The issue is not palm oil itself, says the WWF, but rather “how and where palm oil is produced”.
“Palm oil is a major global commodity—a highly versatile vegetable oil derived from very productive oil palm trees grown only in the tropics. And it is here to stay—consumption is increasing globally and is set to grow from about 50 million tonnes in 2011 to at least 77 million tonnes in 2050.” It is used in foods such as chocolate, ice cream and margarine as well as in cosmetics. Progress is being made, says WWF Switzerland, but much remains to be done, with certified palm oil accounting for just over 8 percent of world palm oil consumption.
Swiss company Nestlé made a turnaround in the past two years, WWF Switzerland says, reaching 8 points on the scorecard after mediocre results two years ago (see GenevaLunch, May 2010 on protests at the company’s annual general meeting). It has since joined RSPO and its purchases of certified palm oil are now 25 to 50 percent of its total needs, “but much remains yet to be done”, says the Swiss arm of WWF.
Lindt & Sprüngli have also made progress, but reached only 7 points, with certified palm oil only 25 percent of total purchases by the chocolate maker, based near Zurich.
The RSPO has nearly 650 regular and affiliate members, with another 77 “supply chain associates”.
Companies were assessed for only the second time (first: 2009) by WWF for the scorecard based on “their commitments to, and use of sustainable palm oil. As with the 2009 Scorecard, we evaluated company performance based on publicly available data (including websites and corporate sustainability reports, as well as the annual reports required by the RSPO from its members) in relation to the following four questions:
- Is the company a member of the RSPO and is annual reporting up to date?
- Does the company have a policy on sustainable palm oil—specifically a commitment to source 100 per cent RSPO-certified palm oil by 2015 or earlier?
- Is the company disclosing total volumes of palm oil used/bought?
- Is the company using any certified sustainable palm oil or buying any Book and Claim certificates? What proportion of the company’s total palm oil use/sales are RSPO-certified palm oil in 2010-2011 (irrespective of which supply chain option the company is using), and is the company disclosing volumes used?
Lidl and Aldi, the large discounters, did not supply information, the WWF notes.
The Palm oil scorecard 2011, with details about companies’ commitments and progress, is available in pdf format.
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Nestlé says it is one of just a few brands to offer ice cream snacks for dogs in the US and it claims to be gathering new fans rapidly for its new Frosty Paws Bites frozen ice cream snacks for dogs.
The bites are specially formulated for dogs who are lactose intolerant and cannot digest dairy products such as regular ice cream properly, says the Vevey-based Swiss multinational.
The product contains protein, vitamins and minerals, but no milk, comes in vanilla and peanut butter flavours with a vanilla yogurt coating. The Frosty Paws brand already offers larger ice cream cups for dogs.
As the leading ice cream snacks range for dogs, Frosty Paws is one of the only brands in the United States to offer frozen products for people’s canine companions.
Nestle in Vevey says still competitive in spite of a strong Swiss franc
VEVEY, SWITZERLAND – Swiss-based, food and drink giant Nestlé SA says it has performed well in spite of a strong Swiss franc.
“Nestlé continued to make good progress in a period characterised by political and economic instability, natural disasters, rising raw material prices and, yes, a strong Swiss franc.”
Sales reached CHF40.9 billion, down from CHF47.1 billion the previous year, again reflecting the strength of the franc.
The announcement came during its mid-year Revenue and Operating Profit report.
Bloomberg news says today’s results “beat analyst expectations,” which sent Nestle shares up 1.3% to CHF47.31 on the Zurich exchange.
The maker of Nescafe, Jenny Craig and Haagen-Dazs said sales during the first six months grew 7.5% in constant currencies, excluding the impact of its sale of eye-care company Alcon.
The world’s biggest food company, says it foresees a difficult second half of the year.
“We expect continued challenging conditions including political and economic instability, volatile raw material prices and subdued consumer confidence in the developed world.”
The Swiss franc is at an all-time high affecting Swiss-based companies.
The Swiss Federal Council says it is closely watching the situation, studying options and is ready to act if necessary, but it cautions against knee-jerk reactions that provide only short-term solutions. Last week the franc rose despite the Swiss National Bank chairman attempting to talk down the “absurd overvaluation” of the Swiss franc.
Nestle in Chinese sweets deal, Lonza goes for American biochem
Update 15:25 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Vevey-based Nestlé has entered into an agreement with the founding family of Hsu Fu Chi, one of China’s main snack and sweets manufacturers, with four large plants and 16,000 employees. In the deal worth CHF1.4 billion, the Swiss company will ultimately control 40 percent of the company, which is listed in Singapore.
The deal will need government approval.
Nestlé intends to acquire 60 percent of Hsu Fu Chi while the Hsu family will own the remaining 40 percent, the Vevey multinational said in a press release Monday 11 July. Hsu Fu Chi’s chairman and chief executive officer, Hsu Chen, will continue to lead the company in the new partnership.
The Swiss company says of the deal that Hsu Fu Chi has a large range of “affordable products”, with a portfolio that “includes sugar confectionery, cereal-based snacks, packaged cakes and the traditional Chinese snack sachima. Hsu Fu Chi’s products are tailored to Chinese consumers’ needs and habits, and complement Nestlé’s existing product portfolio in China, which includes culinary products, soluble coffee, bottled water, milk powder and products for the foodservice industry.”
Bloomberg points out that the Chinese company’s growth rate in 2010 was three times that of Nestle’s worldwide, noting that “Nestle’s Bulcke, 56, has set a goal of getting 45 percent of revenue from developing countries by 2020, compared with about a third now.”
Basel company takeover of US firm to create world’s largest microbial control firm
Basel-based Lonza will become the world’s largest microbial control company in terms of sales, which are estimated at CHF1.6 billion, once its agreement to buy Arch Chemicals, a Connecticut-based US company, goes through. The deal to take over Arch’s outstanding shares of common stock at a price of $47.20 per share in cash will give Arch Chemicals an enterprise value of $1.4 billion (approximately CHF 1.25 billion), the two companies said in a statement released Monday 11 July.
Lonza Group Ltd is one of the world’s largest suppliers to the pharmaceutical, healthcare and life science industries. Arch Chemicals, Inc. is a global biocides company that provides “innovative solutions to destroy or to selectively inhibit the growth of harmful microorganisms”.
Microbial control is the process of inhibiting or preventing the growth of microorganisms, generally by using agents that either kill them or inhibit their growth. Agents that kill or called “cidals” and those that inhibit are “static agents”.
“Currency factors will help Lonza in the case of Arch,” reports the Financial Times. “The group will borrow to finance the deal, benefiting both from ultra low US interest rates and the strength of the franc.”
One of the breakfast cereals Nestle will produce in Malaysia
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Two multinationals with strong ties to the Lake Geneva region, P&G and Nestlé, are investing heavily, the first in a major new product and sugarcane packaging, the other in new Asian markets, they announced 26 April.
P&G’s mother company in Ohio, USA, says it is about to launch a new product, and Ad Age, hyping the marketing push it will receive, writes, “Procter & Gamble Co. is preparing to launch what it describes as its biggest laundry innovation in more than a quarter century with Tide Pods: a line of highly concentrated liquid detergent tablets, backed by a massive $150 million marketing budget.”
The news site Cincinnati describes the new product as “a tablet of highly concentrated liquid Tide. Each tablet will contain three chambers of liquid detergent surrounded by a film designed to dissolve in any temperature water. The detergent in the tablets will be twice as concentrated as liquid Tide, P&G says.”
Expect to hear more about the product, lots more, says Ad Age.
Before it shows up in Europe, another P&G innovation will arrive. Ecouterre, an environmental products-watcher site, says the company has just come out with its first sugarcane-based packaging for hair care products. “Pantene, the brand of haircare products run by Proctor and Gamble, will be shipping its first plant-based plastic containers to stores in Western Europe this month. Sourced mainly from sugarcane, the new packaging is expected not only to slash P&G’s fossil-fuel consumption by 70 percent but also to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions by 170 percent, according to Len Sauers, the company’s vice president of sustainability.
Joint venture for breakfast foods will get 80% of raw materials locally, in Malaysia
Ann Veneman (photo, Unicef ©2011, Toutounji)
Update 14 April Vevey, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Ann Veneman, the former executive director of Unicef, the UN Children’s Fund, was elected Thursday 14 April to the board of Nestlé, one of 14 directors and four women on the board of directors.
Her bid for the board seat has provoked outcries from nutrition campaign groups, Reuters reports Wednesday evening in a lengthy background story filed by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva.
The news agency notes that Unicef is distancing itself from its former boss because of the company’s failure to fully respect the 1981 UN International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes to encourage breastfeeding.
Nestlé’s compliance with code: views differ
Nestlé’s spokesperson Robin Tickle told Reuters that Veneman’s presence on the board would help ensure the company’s full compliance with the code. But Unicef spokesperson Marixie Mercado told the news agency that “I can confirm that UNICEF does not take funding from Nestle. I can also confirm that Nestle violates the code.”
Veneman was Bush appointment as Agriculture Secretary
Veneman, a 61-year-old American lawyer, led Unicef from 2005 to 2010, and for four years before that she was the Secretary for the US Department of Agriculture, appointed by George W Bush. She already serves as a member of the Nestle Creating Shared Value Advisory Board.
When she left Unicef last year she was overseeing a budget of $4 billion and an organization that had seen strong growth since 1965, when its budget was $35 million.
Nestlé has been a target of protesters since the 1970s over its infant formula products and several organizations continue to encourage a boycott of the company’s products. The World Public Health Nutrition Association, WPHNA, noted in March when the announcement about her likely role on Nestlé’s board was made that “This news has shocked some in our profession, and has confirmed the cynical opinion of others.”
Boycott groups send Veneman open letter urging her to say no
Officials from BabyMilkAction and Geneva-based Ibfan, two of the main organizations behind Nestlé boycotts over infant formula, will attend the company’s annual general meeting in Lausanne Thursday. They have published an open letter to Ann Veneman, asking her not to take the board position “or at the very least to make it conditional on Nestlé agreeing to the Four Point Plan which was drawn up by the International Nestlé Boycott Committee and aims to save infant lives and lead ultimately to the end of the 20-country Nestlé boycott.
The four-point plan requires Nestlé to bring its marketing policies and practice into line with the international standards that UNICEF and WHO have championed for decades.”
History of the Nestlé boycott, wikipedia page and Nestlé page
Swedish home furnishings giant Ikea is continuing its June 2009 decision to put a freeze on opening new stores in Russia, outside Moscow, reports the Moscow Times. The newspaper argues that the company’s firm and very public anti-corruption policy is causing headaches for President Dmitry Medvedev’s push to abolish corruption.
Ikea has been waiting for permits for its Samara and Ufa stores. “‘The reason the stores aren’t opening is that Ikea is refusing to pay bribes to safety inspectors,’ said Kirill Kabanov, head of the nongovernmental National Anti-Corruption Committee.”
Medvedev is keen to reduce the foreign perception that Russia has too much corruption, says the Moscow newspaper, in order to increase foreign investment. “At stake is President Dmitry Medvedev’s goal to match the economic growth rates of other Bric nations. With barely more than one-tenth the population of China and India, Russia needs to attract non-energy investors to grow and diversify. Corruption has ‘penetrated all branches of power,’ Medvedev said in a recent interview.”
Among a number of companies threatened, says the Moscow Times, is Swiss-based Nestlé, which was told in 2010 and again this year that it is not meeting Russia’s safety standards.
Meanwhile, peelable ice cream ready for market
Peelable ice cream, inspired by bananas, expected to boost 2011 Nestlé sales
Vevey, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Food multinational Nestlé saw its profits jump to CHF34.2 billion in 2010, thanks to continuing strong growth boosted by exceptional revenues from the sale of Alcon, an eyecare company. Profits in 2009 were CHF10.2b.
The Vevey firm had sales in 2010 of CHF109.7b, up from CHF108b in 2009.
“We are starting 2011 with continued momentum, well placed to face uncertainties ahead, including volatile raw material prices,” says chief executive Paul Bulcke.
In separate news, the company says it is now ready to market peelable ice cream, which you eat like a banana, with a jelly outer skin and ice cream inside. Test marketing in Thailand was successful, Nestlé says, and the product will now be rolled out in other markets.
“Hundreds of millions” to be invested in new research venture that will be housed at EPFL in Lausanne
Luis Cantarell, president and CEO of new Nestlé Health Science SA
Vevey, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Multinational Nestlé announced Monday morning 27 September that it is creating “Nestlé Health Science SA and the Nestlé Institute of Health Sciences to pioneer a new industry between food and pharma.”
The two separate units will focus on prevention and treatment of health conditions, including diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer’s disease, says the company. It has not said how many jobs will be created by the new businesses, one of which will be in or near Vevey, it appears, with the other in Lausanne at EPFL.
The move is a significant step beyond the company’s core food business. Nestlé entered the healthcare nutrition business in 1986. In recent years it has made a number of acquisitions in the field, notably in buying Novartis Medical Nutrition.
The Financial Times writes that “many analysts expect Nestlé to make significant further takeovers, with Abbott Laboratories, a leading US health nutrition group, widely tipped as a target.”
Nestlé Chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathes says that “the combination of health economics, changing demographics and advances in health science show that our existing healthcare systems, which focus on treating sick people, are not sustainable and need redesigning. Nestlé has the expertise, the science, the resources and the organization to play a major role in seeking alternative solutions. Personalized health science nutrition is about finding efficient and cost effective ways to prevent and treat acute and chronic diseases in the 21st century.”
Luis Cantarell, currently chief executive office of the Americas division of Nestlé, its largest region, will be president and CEO of the new wholly owned subsidiary, Nestlé Health Science SA. It becomes operational 1 January 2011 and will incorporate the existing Nestlé HealthCare Nutrition business, with a 2009 turnover of CHF1.6 billion. It will have access to “a number of venture capital funds” in which the parent has an interest. Peter Brabeck-Letmathe will chair the new company’s board.
The Institute of Health Sciences, to be based at the Swiss federal polytechnic institute, EPFL, in Lausanne, will receive investments of “hundreds of millions of Swiss francs over the next decade to build a world-class Institute of Health Sciences, which will conduct research in relevant areas of biomedical science to translate this knowledge into nutritional strategies to improve health and longevity,” Nestlé says. It will be led by Emmanuel Baetge, former chief scientific officer of ViaCyte, a biotech company based in San Diego, California in the US, who will report to Nestlé chief technology officer Werner Bauer and a steering committee composed of Nestlé people and other members from outside the company.
Nestle goes full speed in 2010
Vevey, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Net profit at multinational Nestle saw a 7.5% increase and a sales increase of 6.1% during the first half of 2010.
The Vevey-based company – the world’s biggest food and beverage group, is set to eclipse rivals Unilever and Kraft.
Organic growth for all Food and Beverages operations was 5.3% in the Americas, 3.6% in Europe and 10.4% in Asia, Oceania and Africa.
The Group’s emerging markets continued to achieve over 10% organic growth.
Full report: Nestle.
Vevey, Switzerland (GenevaLunch.com) - Swiss food multinational Nestlé’s research arm is joining forces with a major US hospital research centre to study the the effects of a diet rich in whole grains on body composition and energy metabolism.
A $500,000 gift by Nestlé to the Lerner Research Institute at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, USA, will fund the largest-ever such controlled study.
The Nestlé Research Center near Lausanne will work closely with the Cleveland Clinic centre, with the latter using its MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) experience and the Swiss centre running metabolic analyses on the 40 to 50 people who will participate in the 26-week study.
They will be given meals from the Nestlé Prepared Food Company in Ohio.
In related food news, Migros, Switzerland’s largest supermarket, announced 23 July that it will increase by one-third its purchase of Integrated Production (IP) near-organic grains in 2011.
The IP grains bear the TerreSuisse label used by growers whose farming methods include efforts to aid biodiversity. Details, GenevaLunch food blog, Savouring Switzerland
Links to other sites: Nestlé Research, Nestle announcement of joint study
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Nestlé is recalling its Nescafé Espresso 100g jars of due to the possibility they were damaged during transport and there might be broken glass that is difficult to see.
The company has not received any complaints but has voluntarily recalled the product over safety concerns. Consumers should check the product’s bar code then either call the hotline, 0800 860 080 in Switzerland, or fill out a form to receive their money back.
Greenpeace protesters dressed as orangutans swing into action for Nestle annual meeting
Vevey, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Food giant Nestlé has become the first global consumer goods company to become a partner of TFT, The Forest Trust, “to build responsible supply chains”, starting with palm oil.
The company’s sourcing policy for palm oil came under attack at its April 2010 annual general meeting, when Greenpeace protesters arrived dressed as orangutans to draw attention to the problem of deforestation from palm oil suppliers.
The Vevey group says it is also studying pulp and paper sourcing.
Greenpeace credits its campaign to get KitKat fans to pressure the manufacturer, as does TFT, with Greenpeace noting that the decision will affect another multinational, Cargill.
Greenpeace protesters dressed as orangutans swing into action for Nestle annual meeting (photo: ©2010 Herbi Ditl on flick: http://www.flickr.com/photos/herbivore/)
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The Nestlé annual general meeting held at the Palais Beaulieu in Lausanne promised to be a relatively dull business session, compared to the UBS one the previous day. But that was before Greenpeace protesters dressed as orangutangs crowded the area outside the meeting and two of them were spotted by an AFP reporter abseiling into it and dangling above the discussions.
Greenpeace and the company have been at odds over the Vevey group’s use of palm oil, which the environmental group says is playing a significant role in destroying forests and the habitat for orangutans.
Vevey, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Nestlé’s financial results for 2009 were broadly positive in a difficult year, prompting its CEO, Paul Bulcke, to say “we were able to grow substantially faster than our industry.” The giant food company increased profit margins, reduced costs, and invested more in marketing and research & development in 2009. Group sales reached CHF107.6 billion, while net profit profit was CHF10.4bn. Bulcke warned that net profits could not be directly compared to 2008 because of the one-off sale of almost one quarter of Alcon to Novartis, which netted an exceptional CHF9.2bn in 2008.
Earnings per share were CHF2.92 this past year, and the company proposes a dividend of CHF1.60 per share, up 14.3 percent. The company also announced that Jean-Pierre Roth, formerly chairman of the Swiss National Bank, would join the board of directors.
Links to other sites: Nestlé press release, NZZ, Le Temps
Vevey, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Food multinational Nestlé says its profits fell by more than 40 percent in 2009 compared to the previous year largely because of a hefty profit in 2008 from the sale of Alcon eye-care company. Net profit in 2009 was CHF10.4 billion, down from CHF18b in 2008.
Sales slipped from CHF109.9b to CHF107.6b but the company says that new markets, particularly in Africa and Asia, are growing well. CEO Paul Bulcke, Nestlé chief executive struck a positive note: “With organic growth of 4.1 percent achieved in last year’s challenging environment, we were able to grow substantially faster than our industry.”
Nestlé's varied products. © 2010 Nestlé
Vevey, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Swiss food giant Nestlé has identified the nutritional deficits of older people as a potential source of concern, and proposes a newly developed food supplement to combat the problem. The company will roll out Resource® SeniorActiv in Switzerland in the summer of 2010 and follow it up later in other European countries.
Some older people have serious protein and vitamin deficiencies that can lead to weight loss and fatigue, which reduce their independence. The new product is designed to combat these deficiencies by supplementing older adults’ intake of calcium, vitamin D and protein. Nestlé has also developed a new nutritional assessment form to help determine the nutritional requirements of the elderly.
Update 6 January 09:40 Vevey, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Swiss food multinational Nestlé’s Zimbabwe operations have begun to process milk again, two weeks after suspending production because of government pressure. Government-run newspaper The Herald says workers were back in place and milk was being processed normally after a “misunderstanding” that closed the plant 23 December. The Nestlé operation is one of Zimbabwe’s largest suppliers of milk and has been running for more than 50 years.
Nestlé’s Swiss head office provided GenevaLunch with the following statement Tuesday 6 January, confirming that processing has begun again: “On 19 December 2009, Nestlé suspended the activities at its Harare factory (Zimbabwe) as normal business was no longer possible and the safety of its employees could not be guaranteed. Since then, the local Nestlé management has been in regular contact with the Zimbabwean authorities to find a solution.
Vevey, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The ongoing guessing game about who will own Cadbury is expected to end Wednesday 6 January when Kraft unveils shareholder response to its hostile takeover bid for Cadbury, but Nestlé won’t be one of the owners. The Swiss-based Nestlé says it is not bidding on Cadbury, ending speculation that it would fight Kraft for the UK-based Cadbury sweets company. Nestlé has instead offered to buy Kraft’s pizza division, the leader in the US and Canada in the frozen pizza market.
Nestlé’s $3.7 billion offer for the pizza business is allowing Kraft to increase its cash offer for Cadbury.
The pizza deal covers a number of brands, including DiGiorno, Tombstone, California Pizza Kitchen, Jack’s and Delissio.
Basel, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Basel-based healthcare products Novartis has agreed to buy out the majority shareholding in Alcon, eyecare specialists, from Vevey-based Nestlé, for CHF28.1 billion. Novartis paid $10.4 in 2008 for a 25 percent share and it has offered to buy the remaining 23 percent share for an additional $11.2b, bringing the total price for the company to CHF49.7b. The news was greeted with enthusiasm by markets, reports the Financial Times, with a 0.4 percent jump in the FTSE at opening Monday, normally a dismal post-holiday trading session.
Business Week reports that the sale leaves Nestlé in good shape for a major acquisition.
Vevey, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Food multinational Nestlé says it has closed its milk production plant in Zimbabwe after the government pressured it to take milk from a non-contracted supplier 19 December during a surprise visit from government officials. Two days later, Monday, two of the plant’s managers were called into the Harare police station for questioning, then released. President Robert Mugabe and his unity government partner Morgan Tsvangirai have both reacted with dismay to the closing, and observers in southern Africa are calling it a setback for the unity government, which has been working to convince foreign investors and aid groups to return to the country.
Barry Callebaut supplies chocolate-makers: Salon du Chocolat, Paris, October 2009
Barry Callebaut's chocolate supply samples, Paris Salon du Chocolat, 2009
Zurich / Vevey, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The global economic crisis may have served up stress and more stress to many people, but the Swiss chocolate industry appears to be sailing happily through it: Barry Callebaut sales in 2008-2009 rose 4.1 percent in a world market that contracted by 2 percent last year. The Zurich-based company is the world’s largest supplier of top-quality cocoa and chocolate products. Profits also rose, 18.5 percent for net profits in local currencies, but the strong Swiss franc had a negative impact.The company reported 11 November on its fiscal year, which closed 31 August 2009.
Nestle at the same time has offered chocolate lovers good news from its research laboratory near Vevey: 40 grams of dark chocolate a day, one small square, has been shown in tests to reduce stress levels. The research is published in the Journal of Proteome Research.
Harare, Zimbabwe / Vevey, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The government in Zimbabwe Sunday 11 October announced that it may have found two “irregular” transactions in the accounts of Nestlé, which has a Zimbabwe subsidiary. The company’s five bank accounts were blocked Sunday, Zimbabwe’s finance minister told the Associated Press. The Zimbabwe Independent reports that the accounts have since been unfrozen.
A week early, 4 October, the company stopped buying milk from a farm owned by Grace Mugabe, the wife of President Robert Mugabe.
