Molson Coors Beverage Company has posted a decrease in third-quarter earnings despite higher sales, as it faces increased costs. The owner of Miller Lite and Carling beer recorded net income of $216.4 million for the quarter ended 30 September. This compares with $453 million for the same period last year. On a reported basis, net sales increased 4%, and 7.9% in constant currency, mainly due to positive net pricing and a favourable sales mix. Gavin Hattersley, Molson Coors CEO, said: “We are proud of our top-line performance in the quarter. Our net sales revenue grew for the sixth consecutive quarter, and through the third quarter of this year, our global net sales revenue outpaced 2019 levels in constant currency. What's more, our ability to generate sustained top-line growth translated into strong industry share performance across every one of our major markets globally.” Hattersley added: “Between the strength of our portfolio and the pillars of our 'Revitalization Plan' at work, we have made significant strides in turning around our business and we believe we are well positioned for the road ahead”.

Arla Foods-owned Tre Stelle has expanded its portfolio with the addition of a cream cheese made with four natural ingredients: milk, cream, salt and culture. “This means none of the stabilisers or artificial ingredients typically found in other cream cheese brands are included, making Tre Stelle the cleanest cream cheese choice,” Tre Stelle’s senior brand manager, Brendan McDonough, commented. When a pack is opened, water droplets are visible on top of the cheese, indicative of the natural process and ingredients with the inclusion of no additives. “Our cream cheese is produced in the same dairy where the fresh milk is collected, giving it a smooth, clean and creamy taste that we believe is unrivalled," added McDonough. Tre Stelle Cream Cheese is available in five flavours, original, organic, light, herbs and spices and lactose-free. It is available in grocery stores across Canada for an RRP of CAD 4.50 (approx. $3.31).

NuttZo has launched a new festive flavour, NuttZo Gingerbread Seven Nut and Seed Butter. The Nuttzo Gingerbread Seven Nut and Seed Butter is a seasonal twist on its Power Fuel Crunchy Seven Nut and Seed Butter, featuring cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, allspice and coconut sugar. NuttZo's Gingerbread Seven Nut and Seed Butter is gluten free, non-GMO, kosher, vegan, and contains no palm oil. Each jar provides a source of protein and other nutrients, complete with the rich taste of cashews, almonds, Brazil nuts, flax seeds, chia seeds, hazelnuts, and pumpkin seeds. Danielle Dietz-LiVolsi, founder and CEO of NuttZo said: "We wanted to ensure that we captured the essence of one of the most iconic holiday flavors – Gingerbread - and discovered the gingery, spicy profile really complements our unique creamy yet crunchy Power Fuel blend”. NuttZo's Gingerbread Seven Nut and Seed Butter will be available for purchase at US retailers and online for a MSRP of $15.99.

DSM has unveiled its first portfolio of all-in-one cultures for fermented milk products, which was developed using its new AI-powered ‘Culture Co-Creation Platform’. The new platform provides dairy manufacturers with access to “next-generation” technology and scientific expertise to create holistic solutions that are designed to be used as one combined solution rather than distinct cultures. DSM claims that the platform also “improves accuracy and speed of dairy producers’ new product development by reducing trial complexity during the culture selection process”. The DelvoOne portfolio is made up of five culture blends offering taste, texture and health benefits – all with built in bioprotection. The five culture blends are DelvoOne Alpha and DelvoOne Gamma, offering taste, texture and bioprotective benefits; DelvoOne Alpha-B and DelvoOne Gamma-B, which also contain the probiotic strain Bifidobacterium animalis lactis Bif-6; and DelvoOne Zeta-C, containing the probiotic strain Lacticaseibacillus casei L26. Sarita Bairoliya, global business manager at DSM, said: “We are excited to offer customers a simplified culture selection process with five all-in-one blends to help create market-leading yogurts”. Bairoliya added: “With DSM’s Culture Co-Creation Platform and our new DelvoOne portfolio, we are helping dairy manufacturers gain improved control over the sensory, technical and shelf-life properties of yogurts all at once, saving valuable time and resources. With 100+ years in biotechnology, we have now taken the next step in combining machine learning with DSM's team of experts.”

The new product line from Frito-Lay, Frito-Lay Minis, includes classic flavours of Doritos, Cheetos and SunChips, packaged in convenient canisters. Stacy Taffet, senior vice president of marketing at Frito-Lay North America, said: “They say great things come in small packages and consumers will see how true that statement really is when they try the brand-new Frito-Lay Minis. There aren’t many canister options out there, so we’re bringing more variety and flavour to the snack aisle with this new product line, helping our fans enjoy their favourite snacks in a fun and shareable way.” The new bite-sized snacks are available in Doritos Nacho Cheese and Cool Ranch, Cheetos Cheddar and Flamin Hot and SunChips Harvest Cheddar and Garden Salsa. Frito-Lay Minis is now available at select retailers across the US for an RRP of $2.79.

California-based agribusiness, Limoneira, has closed the $20 million sale of its Oxnard packing facility to Ventura County Railway Company. The citrus fruits company said that the transaction is a continuation of its “asset-light strategic plan to increase stockholder value through selective monetisation of certain assets”. Limoneira plans to use the $20 million proceeds from the sale to reduce the company’s debt. Harold Edwards, president and CEO of Limoneira, stated: “The successful closing of the sale of the Oxnard facility is the second transaction this month that highlights our strategy to monetise over $150 million of certain non-core assets as we streamline operations, expect to improve consistency of earnings and increase EBITDA and dividend per share”. Edwards continued: “Our updated strategic plan also includes expanding 'One World of Citrus' and increasing our avocado plantings. We have over 15,400 acres of rich agricultural lands, real estate properties and water rights in California, Arizona, Chile and Argentina with fair-market values of over $600 million in today’s market, yet a book value on Limoneira’s balance sheet of $220 million. “This is primarily because many of these assets were acquired years ago at a low-cost basis. Selective monetisation of certain assets in Limoneira’s portfolio creates a tremendous value opportunity for our stockholders.”

Barilla has announced that Claudio Colzani will be stepping down as CEO in 2023, after ten years at the helm of the pasta producer. The position will be taken over by Gianluca Di Tondo, former chief marketing officer for the company, in April next year. Guido Barilla, chairman of Barilla, said: “I’d like to thank Claudio for these ten years we’ve spent together. He has provided us with significant growth and has solidified the Barilla Group to a great extent...Claudio has achieved major development in international markets and, at the same time, has invested in a pathway of sustainability. He has also created a more inclusive culture of valuing diversity.” Barilla added: “With his vision and experience, Gianluca Di Tondo will drive the company through the transformation process required to become even more competitive on the international scene”. Soon-to-be CEO Di Tondo commented: “I’m incredibly happy, proud and grateful to the board of directors for this honour”. He continued: “I can definitely see three main priorities at the top of my agenda: to strengthen our brands even further in Italy and make them even better ambassadors of the Italian way of enjoying food around the world; to continue to nurture our values and diversity, to further improve the sense of belonging among our people and attract new talent; for our consumers all over the world to acknowledge us as the most trusted food company”. Di Tondo has over 25 years of experience in the food and beverage industry, from positions in both sales and marketing. In March 2020, he joined Barilla as chief marketing officer.

Shortages have begun to take a toll on food and beverage manufacturers worldwide. Between soaring energy prices, war, shipping and inventory disruptions, agriculture woes and extreme weather, the causes are many. Together, they have had a cascading effect on our food system. Sourcing challenges, particularly with starch, have food company executives even wondering which orders will show up at their factories – and which substitute ingredients are available for recipe revamps. Reformulation is now the focus for many manufacturers trying to get products to store shelves. But in challenging times such as these, is there a reliable ingredient you can count on as an alternative? Nutrava Citrus Fiber from CP Kelco is upcycled from citrus peels, an abundant byproduct of the juice industry that populates the region of Brazil where the production plant is strategically located. A unique food ingredient solution, Nutrava Citrus Fiber supports dietary fibre intake as it helps to solve a number of key challenges. And, with an ample supply of citrus fibre raw materials, CP Kelco is well-positioned to help formulators with a variety of products – from dairy and dairy alternatives to beverages, condiments and sauces, fruit-based applications, meats and plant-based meat alternatives. Nutrava Citrus Fiber can help reduce the use of or act as an alternative to starch, sugar, locust bean gum, methylcellulose, egg, tomato paste and other ingredients that may be difficult to source currently. See why Nutrava Citrus Fiber from CP Kelco is such an a-peeling ingredient alternative to food and beverage product developers. Find out more. #citrus #CPKelco

Trigo has raised $100 million in an equity financing round led by Singaporean investment firm Temasek and 83North. The round included participation from new and existing investors, such as SAP, Hetz Ventures, Red Dot Capital Partners, Vertex Ventures, Viola and supermarket giant Rewe Group. Based in Israel, Trigo uses artificial intelligence to build the infrastructure for autonomous grocery stores. The company works with retailers to convert their existing stores into frictionless shopping experiences. Employing technologies such as ceiling-mounted cameras and shelf sensors, Trigo's retail automation platform identifies picked-up shopping items with very high levels of accuracy, enabling a seamless checkout process. In addition, the company says that its StoreOS store operating system can track inventory in real-time, minimise out-of-stock and expired items, and manage store and supply chain operations predictively. Trigo solutions are employed by leading grocery retailers around the world, including Tesco in the UK, Aldi Nord in the Netherlands, Rewe, Netto, Israel’s Shufersal and Wakefern Food. The company will use the new capital to scale the deployment of its cashier-free technology across the US and Europe, expand into new geographies and further develop its StoreOS store and inventory management software application suite. Michael Gabay, Trigo co-founder and CEO, said: “By opening multiple autonomous stores with five of the world’s leading grocery retailers, we have proven that we can deploy computer vision and AI to empower physical stores with the same kinds of insights and capabilities that e-commerce stores have. This investment allows Trigo to build on this success and focus on three core initiatives: expanding our autonomous retail platform, building increasingly larger stores and executing a pipeline of contracted stores around the world.” Joern Keller, EVP at SAP, added: “Trigo’s superior computer vision technology built the infrastructure for grab-and-go shopping and laid the foundation for additional in-store scenarios of the future. As a leading provider of enterprise software for the retail industry, SAP is delighted to join as a strategic investor to Trigo to support the development of the StoreOS autonomous supermarket operating system. Their solutions will complement SAP’s cloud solutions for retail, integrating seamlessly with SAP S/4HANA and pave the way towards building an intelligent store.”

HIG Capital has completed the sale of speciality food distributor, Lipari Foods, to an investor group led by Littlejohn & Co. The Lipari family, management, HIG Capital and Sterling Investment Partners remain minority investors in the company. Headquartered in Warren, Michigan, Lipari is a food distributor, importer and manufacturer supplying independent and speciality grocers, as well as national chains and convenience stores. CEO Thom Lipari said: “HIG has been an outstanding partner to Lipari Foods since their initial investment in 2019. As a result of our work together with HIG, Lipari Foods is larger, stronger and more diversified today than it was four years ago.” He added: “We are excited to partner with Littlejohn to support Lipari Foods’ next phase of growth, and are thrilled HIG will remain a minority investor, highlighting their conviction in our long-term growth opportunities”. Steven Kalter, managing director of Littlejohn, commented: “Under Thom’s leadership, Lipari has executed a number of strategic acquisitions that have positioned the company as a preeminent pure-play speciality food distribution platform in a highly fragmented sector. We look forward to building on Lipari’s strong market position and accelerating its acquisition programme as it seeks to become the partner of choice to food retailers nationwide.” The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Arla Foods Ingredients has unveiled a whey-based solution that enables the creation of clear and protein-enriched fermented drinks. Due to the high demand for ready-to-drink beverages, Arla's new ingredient is said to offer new ways to give fermented beverages a twist. The solution uses 100% whey-based hydrolysates Lacprodan Hydro.365 and Nutrilac FO-8571. And because it significantly minimises cloudiness and sedimentation, the formulation "can be used to create high-protein fermented beverages that are just as clear as alternatives without protein," said Arla. According to the company, beverage manufacturers can also use the formula with thermophilic cultures for fermented drinks or mesophilic cultures for kombucha-style beverages, both of which contain a high level of probiotics and are lactose-free. The solution can also be produced on a yogurt processing line. Barbara Jensen, sales development manager at Arla, said: “The market for healthy beverages is incredibly dynamic, with categories like kombucha enjoying phenomenal success. Our goal is always to help our customers lead innovation, and now we’re giving them opportunities to offer consumers a new twist on fermented protein beverages – a category that’s already very exciting. With this new solution, they can create on-trend beverages that are not only high in both protein and probiotics but also stand out from the pack because of their clear, refreshing appearance.”

The European Union has urged Russia to reverse its decision to withdraw from a UN-brokered deal that allowed Ukraine, one of the world's major grain producers, to export the commodity via the Black Sea. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Twitter: "Russia’s decision to suspend participation in the Black Sea deal puts at risk the main export route of much-needed grain and fertilisers to address the global food crisis caused by its war against Ukraine. The EU urges Russia to revert its decision." UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said yesterday that he was "deeply concerned about the ongoing situation regarding the Black Sea Grain Initiative". He added that he would delay his departure for the Arab League Summit in Algiers by one day to focus on keeping the grain deal alive. On Saturday, Moscow announced it was suspending participation in the agreement in response to what it said was a major Ukrainian drone attack on its fleet in Crimea. The US Department of State said in a statement: "The United States regrets Russia’s suspension of its participation in the operations of the UN-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative. We urge all parties to keep this essential, life-saving Initiative functioning. "The Black Sea Grain Initiative has already moved more than 9 million metric tons of food and brought prices down around the world, which has been critically important for low- and middle-income countries. It has been a success and must continue. "Any act by Russia to disrupt these critical grain exports is essentially a statement that people and families around the world should pay more for food or go hungry. In suspending this arrangement, Russia is again weaponising food in the war it started, directly impacting low- and middle-income countries and global food prices and exacerbating already dire humanitarian crises and food insecurity. "We urge the government of Russia to resume its participation in the Initiative, fully comply with the arrangement, and work to ensure that people around the world continue to be able to receive the benefits facilitated by the Initiative."