Norwegian natural glacial mineral water brand, Isklar, has attracted new investment through the sale of a 50% stake to a global conglomerate, the India-based Siva Group, for $22m.

The transaction creates a 50:50 joint venture between Siva Group and founding shareholders, Sabco Group, a Middle Eastern business group with a premier bottled water brand in Oman, and Jova Holdings, whose owners are also involved in a major Norwegian shipping and logistics company.

“We're delighted by this investment which reflects continued success for Isklar on the international stage,” said Isklar CEO, Peter Krogh. “The Siva Group has always believed in spotting business opportunities ahead of time so this is a significant vote of confidence in our growing brand.”

Source: Isklar

Caffrey's Irish Ale has unveiled a new brand campaign and a reduced ABV to help add more value for customers to the on-trade ale category.

Despite declining volumes in recent years, the on-trade ales market is big, accounting for 1 in 3 beers sold, delivering five million barrels a year and is worth £3.5bn to the UK on-trade.

From 15 March 2010, the ABV of Caffrey's Draught will be reduced from 4.2% to 3.8%. The change in ABV will be supported by in-outlet activity to drive incremental sales and repeat visits to pubs with a 'Buy 3 and get a free one next time you're in' mechanic, activated in outlet via a collector card scheme.

In addition, a new visibility kit and point of sale will be available to help communicate the new ABV in-outlet, and help attract more customers to try the Caffrey's brand.

Source: Caffrey's

Through its Swedish division Saba Fresh Cuts AB, Dole Europe has acquired a 25% stake in Green Vision AB.

"Within Dole Europe, Saba Fresh Cuts has experienced a real development in recent years," said Stefan Grahn, MD at Saba Fresh Cuts. "Now through its participation in Green Vision, the division wants to extend its expertise and offer access to a larger range of fresh-cut produce to its retail and foodservice customers."

"This collaboration will develop a new leadership in fresh-cut fruit focused on high-quality services and production all over Europe," said Jean-Christophe Juilliard, Dole Europe president.

Source: Dole Europe

A fortnight ago, I had the privilege of chairing a conference session during Gulfood in Dubai. Four eminent speakers presented their views on the top trends in the industry.

After a lively discussion, I asked the audience to vote on the three most important trends. Three of the speakers highlighted food safety.

Two mentions each were given to convenience, value for money, health, naturalness, innovation, customer service and traceability.

The audience voted most strongly for food safety as the key issue, followed by value for money and health.

If a similar poll had taken place in Europe or North America, I imagine that the environment and product benefit would have been additional contenders.

BevBlog

The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) has filed a lawsuit against Zero Water Technologies LLC, the seller of at-home water filtration devices, for 'repeatedly engaging in false, misleading and unsubstantiated advertising designed to confuse consumers about its products and about how they compare to bottled water products'.

IBWA's complaint, which was filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, notes that Zero Water has improperly disparaged the quality, safety and cost effectiveness of bottled water in comparison with its own products, and has made false and unsubstantiated claims about the capabilities of its products.

Zero Water claims that its products 'remove 100% of detectable dissolved solids' and falsely suggests that the absence of all total dissolved solids (TDS) creates a healthier, cleaner, tastier water.

In its lawsuit, IBWA points out that TDS is not an indicator of water quality or contamination, as Zero Water insinuates. Rather, it is an innocuous collection of minerals commonly found in water.

According to IBWA president, Joe Doss, "Total Dissolved Solids mainly affect the taste of water and have not been shown to produce adverse physical health effects. In fact, the World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that certain concentrations of TDS may even have beneficial health effects."

Read the full IBWA statement here.

Source: International Bottled Water Association

Ric Horobin and Alex Milne from Zenith International talk to Shaun Weston about a series of webinars they're running called 'Water Management Best Practice'.

Click here to listen to the 3-minute interview with Ric Horobin and Alex Milne.

Alternatively, you can subscribe to the FoodBev.com podcast series via iTunes.

You can sign up for the free webinars from this link.

Podcast produced by Shaun Weston for FoodBev.com

Dale Farm has unveiled a £40m+ investment across its UK dairy operations in a move aimed to support its rapidly growing presence in consumer products and specialist ingredients.

A key part of the investment package is over £20m spend on further expanding the company's award-winning Cheddar cheese business.

The company announced its investment plans at the official opening of the first phase of its investment programme – a 50,000 tonne per annum Alfomatic Cheddar cheese plant and a whey ultra-filtration plant in Dunmanbridge, Cookstown Northern Ireland.

The company has also commenced work on a new chilled products distribution centre at Kendal in Cumbria, and a major upgrade and milk bottle blowing plant with Nampak at its fresh milk facility in Pennybridge, Ballymena, Northern Ireland. The company also announced plans for additional cheese packing facilities in Great Britain, possibly at Kendal.

Speaking at the opening of the new cheese plant, Dale Farm's Group chief executive, David Dobbin, said: "This major investment programme will enable us to further develop our added value sales in the UK and Ireland as well as into key export markets."

Source: Dale Farm Group

Molson Coors is to set up its own direct sales and marketing operations in Northern Ireland, creating up to 14 new jobs.

In a multi-million pound investment, the company will operate from new offices at Adelaide Business Park on the Boucher Road.

The opening of the Belfast office comes three months after the opening of a dedicated office in Dublin, as Molson Coors expands its operations in Ireland. From 15 March, the sales and distribution of Molson Coors' key brands will be handled directly by the company.

Source: Molson Coors

The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) recently commissioned a Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) study to determine the environmental footprint of the US bottled water industry. The results indicate that bottled water has a very small environmental footprint.

The study found:

• Measurement based on British Thermal Units (BTUs) indicates that the energy consumed to produce small-pack bottled water containers (from 8oz to 2.5 gallons) amounted to only 0.067% of the total energy use in the US in 2007. Home and Office Delivery (HOD) bottled water (reusable bottles from 2.5 to 5 gallons) energy consumption only amounted to 0.003% of the total energy used in the US in 2007.
• The small-pack and HOD bottled water industries' combined greenhouse gas/CO2 emissions amounted to only 0.08% of total US greenhouse gas emissions.
• Bottled water packaging discards accounted for only 0.64% of the 169m tonnes of total US Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) discards in 2007.
• The process and transportation BTU energy use for the bottled water industry was only 0.07% of total US BTU primary energy consumption.
• Greenhouse gas emissions per half-gallon of single-serve bottled water came to 426.4g CO2 equivalent, which is 75% less CO2 eq per half-gallon than orange juice.
• Small-pack bottled water generates 46% less CO2 eq when compared to soft drinks also packaged in PET plastic.

Franklin Associates, a division of ERG, produced the LCI and prepared a report that quantified the energy requirements, solid waste generation and greenhouse gas emissions for the production, packaging, transport and end-of-life management for bottled water consumed in the US in 2007.

According to a 2008 Beverage Marketing Corporation report, total consumption of bottled water in the US in 2007 was 8.8bn gallons.

The environmentally aware actions of many bottled water companies – such as the use of more recycled PET (rPET) in their bottle production, increasing recycling rates, and enhanced lightweighting – have positively impacted the environmental footprint of the industry.

Another recent study confirms the bottled water industry's very small environmental footprint. On 2 March 2010, Nestlé Waters North America, an IBWA member, released peer-reviewed findings on its environmental footprint in a study conducted by Quantis International.

Key findings from the study include:

• Water is the least environmentally 'impactful' beverage option.
• Tap water has lightest footprint, followed by tap water consumed in reusable bottles (if used more than 10 times), and then by bottled water.
• Bottled water is the most environmentally responsible packaged drink choice.
• Sports drinks, enhanced waters and soda produce nearly 50% more carbon dioxide emissions per serving than bottled water.
• Juice, beer and milk produce nearly three times as many carbon dioxide emissions per serving than bottled water.
• Milk, coffee, beer, wine and juice together comprise 28% of a consumer's total beverage consumption, but represent 58% of climate change impact.

Source: International Bottled Water Association

Chocolatier Bruyerre has enjoyed success in the confectionery business since 1909, and probably celebrated its centenary last year with a bouquet of its very own chocolate roses.

Shaun Weston caught up with Nicolas Khedir and Bruno Lescut at Gulfood 2010 in Dubai, and somehow managed to fire off a few questions in between sampling the chocolate.

You're certainly not a new company, as you've been around since 1909, but what steps is the business taking to ensure its success in the 21st century?

Nicolas Khedir and Bruno Lescut: Nowadays, the common trend among chocolate companies is to set off on the export business. This is all the more true since the Belgian chocolate market is glutted and competition cut-throat. Bruyerre currently exports to more than 30 countries, yet our vision hasn't changed: to keep spreading Belgian chocolate culture to other continents by proposing high-quality and traditional products.

What's competition like in the 'quality chocolate' industry in various parts of the world, and what do you do to stay ahead?

Khedir & Lescut: Quality chocolate becomes more and more popular in various parts of the world among communities who had not been familiar with this commodity before. In the Middle East for instance, chocolate is literally booming and so is the competition.

To stay ahead, Bruyerre constantly develops innovative products and puts the stress on flexibility. As we don't manufacture industrial products but artisanal ones, we're able to quickly respond to our customers' specific demands – chocolates with dates for the Middle East, colourful items for Japan, chocolate with goose liver for VIP clients, etc.

Flexibility and innovation are definitely the key words.

Your packaging is beautiful. Is it difficult to find a balance between marketing a high-quality, well-packaged product and encouraging a sustainable approach to business?

Khedir & Lescut: In fact, the only sustainable approach to business is to propose both high-quality and well-packaged products. One without the other would just be nonsense. This is something Bruyerre carefully bears in mind.

In practice, it materialises in setting up quality controls in every step of the production, from the moulding to the packing. The packaging also receives our full attention. Our professional graphics and designers make sure the packaging not only appeals to clients by their originality, but also resists to transportation and climate conditions. And each situation requires one particular packaging – a two-chocolate box personalised for hotels, chocolate roses for Valentine's Day or weddings, destination packs for the tourism sector, etc.

The trend towards Fairtrade chocolate is hard to resist. What's your view on the chocolate industry falling under the spell of Fairtrade?

Khedir & Lescut: Farm workers deserve to be properly paid. Bruyerre is aware of this and therefore strives to select suppliers who respect Fairtrade. Besides, as the demand for more Fairtrade products is manifest and ever-growing, it is of utmost importance to take this parameter into account, especially since it helps contribute to develop small farmers' wellness.

What's your most successful product?

Khedir & Lescut: Our most successful product might be the chocolate roses. They come in four different flavours: white ganache, gianduja with dark chocolate cover, gianduja with milk chocolate cover and praline with red fruit.

Basically, it's a unique concept. We have developed this product to bring something new into the market. The chocolate roses can be used for all purposes. Event planners love the idea of making a splendid bouquet of decoration, Romeos can flatter their Juliets by offering them a delicious red rose, and hoteliers know their establishments will gain in prestige if their guests can find a nice box of two chocolate roses on the suite bed.

The success of our bouquet of chocolate roses at Gulfood, displayed for this special occasion, was simply amazing.

Do you still produce new products as much as you used to, before the recession kicked in?

Khedir & Lescut: In this sector, it's a necessity to approach every season with new products, recession or not. As a matter of fact, one needs to be even more imaginative in terms of product research and development when facing less thriving times. However, you cannot really talk about recession when it comes to chocolate, for the simple reason that people usually choose not to overlook this fantastic commodity reputed for fighting depression!

What's the most challenging aspect of global chocolate distribution, and how are you managing to overcome it?

Khedir & Lescut: Like wine, chocolate can be easily damaged by heat and humidity. The former can melt it while the latter whitens it. In addition, too much light oxidises the product, and it turns rancid. As you can imagine, it's not an easy business to ship chocolates to the UAE, for example, where the temperature reaches 50°C.

You must be certain that in every step of the whole process, the chocolates will be maintained at 15-18°C and in a dry place. That's the challenge about chocolate: it's a precious material that must be handled accordingly.

What's next for Bruyerre?

Khedir & Lescut: For one century on, Bruyerre's main objective has remained unchanged: to satisfy chocolate connoisseurs by proposing exquisite products, attractive packaging and unequalled service. Yet, because sometimes it's the chocolate that has to go to the mouth and not the other way around, Bruyerre will expand its activity to new markets ... for the pleasure of new chocolate lovers, we hope.

Nicolas Khedir is Middle East export manager for Bruyerre, and Bruno Lescut is export sales manager.