AB Enzymes has developed an enzyme product to reduce or even replace vital wheat gluten in baking formulations in order to meet the challenge of increasing costs of raw materials. The registered product, Vernon HF, can be used to replace 50% of the gluten used in a formulation. Business Unit Baking Enzymes Sales Support Manager Norman Burkardt explained: “In addition to considerable cost savings, bakers will enjoy the product’s distinct stabilising effect on dough systems. Above all the final baked goods have an attractive baking volume with a nice break and shred.” AB Enzymes is a German company that form part of the ABF Ingredients group. It offers enzymes worldwide with products ranging from food enzymes for bakery and beverages to enzymes for animal feed, textile technology and the pulp and paper industry.

**Digital is becoming an increasingly important media for the independent soft drinks company Feel Good Drinks which this year entered the Sunday Times Fast Track 100 List at no 42. ** The new Web 2.0-style site has its users at heart, with rich video and photo content, news blogs, and even an area for consumers to suggest and vote for new flavours. However, to reach consumers outside of the site and in their own digital environments, Feel Good Drinks has developed a Facebook application that it hopes will make people smile, while providing a unique and engaging way for consumers to use and share their photographs. The Feel Good Drinks Super Duper Mosaic Maker enables users to create a mosaic from all of their photographs and profile pictures of their friends. Each friend then receives an email letting them know they’re in the Super Duper Mosaic, creating a powerful word of mouth marketing tool. The mosaic can be used in their Facebook profiles, or sent to friends through the network. Each individual mosaic tile photo can be zoomed into, meaning it not only looks great, but you can discover forgotten photos, too. The Super Duper Mosaic Maker is designed with a handmade look and feel, featuring cardboard cutouts, strings and pulleys reflecting the styling of the company’s new website. Speaking about the Application, Marketing Manager Libby Wybrow said: “When Hyper first suggested this to us, we were blown away with the idea and couldn’t wait to try it out. It’s every bit as clever and fun as it sounds. The Super Duper Mosaic Maker is all about spreading 'feelgoodness' and we can’t wait to see what users think of it”. Concepting and design was through Hyper, Feel Good Drink’s digital agency, with build and technical development through W3Haus, a Brazilian technology specialist

*Lovejuice, the UK’s premier smoothie and juice bar operator backed by Smedvig Capital, has acquired Barefruit Juice, a chain of juice bars in the North of England. * Lovejuice is also pleased to announce the imminent opening of a new flagship outlet in the recently completed Terminal 5 complex at Heathrow airport. Lovejuice fought off tough competition to secure a store in the new Terminal and is delighted to be in such an exciting new development, which will see millions of travellers passing each year. Barefruit Juice is a highly complementary acquisition for Lovejuice – sharing a similar ethos and culture when it comes to product and service. Barefruit is a chain of smoothie and juice bars which like Lovejuice aims to provide alternative nutritious beverages to caffeinated and carbonated drinks sold at the majority of UK fast food outlets. Like Lovejuice, it is committed to choosing the healthiest and best ingredients to ensure the quality of the products they provide. With this parallel commitment to healthy fruit and vegetables being the constituent parts to their offering Barefruit made the perfect partner for Lovejuice. Commenting on the announcement, Lovejuice founder John Heseltine said: “This acquisition marks the next important stage in our growth, as we build scale and a strong presence across the UK. We are growing our portfolio of outlets and remain on the look out for comparable acquisitions as the juice bar sector moves into a period of consolidation. We will also continue to open new stores organically when the right opportunities arise” He added: “Winning a key spot in the new terminal building was quite a triumph for us and a superb endorsement of the quality of the Lovejuice brand. These are exciting times for us and we look forward to making similar announcements in due course as we continue our ongoing growth pattern and dedication to healthier alternatives to traditional fast food on the move.”

**Maximum hygiene levels have always been a prime objective at Zerica and for this reason the Italian company has long abandoned traditional cooling systems such as cooling tanks in all of its POU products. **These cheaper systems are prone to liquid stagnation issues and the formation of sediment and biofilm on the walls in contact with the drink. Zerica systems use an innovative direct chill solution, which cools the drinking liquid inside a tube of maximum diameter 20mm by running it beside a second tube carrying the refrigerant gas, and allows the units to be connected directly to the main drinks supply point. Using this approach, the drink is chilled as it is moves through the system and very little of it actually remains inside the cooler at any point in time: there is no storage tank and the drink is cooled as it is dispensed. Direct chill systems bring advantages in terms of hygiene but have limited supply capacity. In practice, a cooler with direct chill is able to provide only 4-5 glasses of cold water when in continuous use. It then requires a working time of 25-35 minutes before being able to dispense chilled water again. Zerica is the only company to have overcome the supply capacity limitation by perfecting direct chill and producing its own superior version: “High Performance Direct Chill” (HPDC). HPDC optimises efficiency by increasing the contact surface area between the liquid and refrigerant gas from 45% (as found in traditional direct chill systems) to 100%. Zerica's High Performance Direct Chill units are unique in the market in being able to produce chilled water in just 3 minutes. Still with hygiene in mind, Zerica is the only company to use pipes made of the most expensive food contact certified copper available rather than stainless steel. Apart from maximising thermal exchange efficiency, copper also has an antibacterial effect as recently documented by studies and research carried out at top international institutes. This special copper blocks the formation of bacterial colonies and it is actually the most efficient material in restricting the growth of micro-organisms such as Legionella bacteria as well as other dangerous bacteria.

*The introduction of Malmberg to British consumers comes a decade after the brand was first introduced to Swedes. Using mineral water sourced from a spring in Yngsjö, Malmberg is available in still, sparkling and citron variants. The range – solely geared towards horeca channels – is sold in 33cl and 75cl glass or 50cl PET bottles. * Malmberg Sales and Marketing Manager Nicklas Lindblad told water innovation magazine: “Malmberg was first sold in 1994 only to a few prominent restaurants in Southern Sweden and Stockholm. Today, Malmberg is well known throughout Sweden and has its own sales and distribution networks. Moreover, the brand is represented in over half of the country’s 200 top star restaurants. Meanwhile in Denmark, the brand is growing and hopefully it will become just as successful.” Besides Sweden, Denmark and the UK, Malmberg has already made inroads into Holland and Spain. The next target markets for the brand are North America and South Korea. In fact, Lindblad revealed that a United States launch is imminent following the appointment of Fine H2O as a sales partner. Malmberg has ambitions to build its own plant to meet international demand for the brand anticipated in the future. However, the company has a modest 2008 production target of around 1.5 million litres with support from local bottling partner KM Produktion. “The arrangement with KM Produktion allows Malmberg to focus on getting the brand into the market and to achieve higher sales while our partner uses its knowledge and expertise to produce our beverages,” concluded Lindblad. Malmberg Original Water is the smallest subsidiary in the Malmberg Group, a Swedish business with associate companies that also focus in producing water purification and alternative energy systems.

Through the joint venture, Ilko Coffee International, consumers in 10 European countries will be able to purchase three premium ready to drink coffee products. The products are: Caffè: bold, full-bodied character, real Italian ‘chilled caffe.’ The first ready to drink coffee to offer black (no milk) espresso based coffee. Cappuccino: intense uplifting aromas of illy espresso, blended with milk and dark cacao. Latte Macchiato: smooth, fresh illy espresso experience, swirled with milk. The products will be available in premium cans (15cl for Caffè and 20cl for the milk variants). All three offerings will be available in 10 European Coca-Cola Hellenic markets including Austria, Croatia, Greece and the Ukraine. The initial launch is a result of a joint venture between Ilko Coffee International and Coca-Cola Hellenic. Additional countries in Europe, Asia, North America, Eurasia and the Pacific are slated for expansion throughout the remainder of 2008 and into 2009 and will be delivered through the Coca-Cola system. The highly profitable RTD coffee category globally is valued at just under $16 billion and has experienced several years of growth that is expected to continue. Globally (excluding Japan), the ready to drink coffee category has grown at an average rate of 10.1% over the past five years. “When we announced the partnership between The Coca-Cola Company and illy a few months ago, we committed to deliver the perfect ready to drink espresso experience,” said Muhtar Kent, President and Chief Operating Officer, The Coca-Cola Company. “Today, we believe we have delivered on that promise with an authentic Italian coffee experience. I look forward to this partnership delivering these great brands across the globe and enhancing our global leadership in the fast growing RTD coffee category.” “Over the past few months, we put the effort into bringing to life the illy taste in three new ready to drink espresso based products,” said Andrea Illy, illycaffè chairman. “Now, our objective is to give consistency – together with Coca-Cola – to what premium ready to drink coffee is. Coca-Cola in its history has invented entire new product categories. illycaffè is the company that greatly contributed to the definition of the espresso category. Together we will redefine how people engage with a ready to drink coffee in order to experience a true small luxury pleasure.” The companies announced an agreement in October 2007 to focus on premium ready to drink coffee based beverages. Ilko Coffee International is based in Milan and will be led by Vinay Kapoor, a Coca-Cola executive with over 14 years of successful experience across a number of geographies and across multiple functions.

Kenzai has created an organic ready-to-drink iced version of the traditional blend: Kenzai Green Tea – the UK’s first organic ready-to-drink iced green tea. The tea is made using real tea leaves and contains no additives, preservatives or colourings. Served in a classic glass bottle, Kenzai’s traditional blend is infused with vitamin C to kickstart the immune system and metabolism. Kenzai also produces a white tea. White tea is a lesser known traditional tea, known for having amazing health benefits and a smooth and delicate flavour. Kenzai White and Green teas are available in recyclable 330ml glass bottles from all good specialist food shops (and online at www.kenzai-tea.com), priced £1.75 per bottle.

Cargill launches a novel water ice experience using Lygomme functional system. The international provider of food, agricultural and risk management products and services, Cargill, has introduced a new 'jelly ice on a stick' concept designed to surprise and delight both children and the young at heart. The unusual texture of this water ice owes its 'chewy creamy' appeal and confection like mouthfeel to Cargill's trademarked Lygomme FZ 615 functional system. This stabilizer system, from Cargill Texturizing Solutions, allows a water ice mixture to be combined with the texture and flavours of a jelly candy. The new system allows processors to make a wide variety of iced treats, from water ices on a stick to sorbet cones, tub sorbets in individual or family sized packs and is able to foam water ice at high overrun levels.

This year's Alimentaria trade show received 158,000 individual visitors and 5000 companies,an increase of 4% over the previous year. The event, based in Spain, Barcelona, had a significant presence of professionals from abroad - around 33,000 from 155 countries, 21% of total visitors. The EU contributed the majority of international exhibitors. Italy, with 296 firms; Germany, with 50; Belgium, with 59; France, with 131; the Netherlands, with 31; Portugal, with 40; Greece, with 72; and the United Kingdom, with more than 35, were the companies with the largest number of representatives. In terms of participants from outside the European Community, China sent 40 companies; Egypt, close to 20; Argentina, 20; the United States, 20; and Turkey, 15. There was significant participation from Latin America and a marked increase in the presence of new EU member countries, as well as those from the Asian continent. Bulgaria, Hungary, Panama, Cyprus and Egypt made their first appearance. 7,800 business meetings Among the most successful activities, one which will have some of the greatest impact on the future in the form of new business, were the international projects involving business owners from Latin America, Asia, the countries of the Central and Eastern EU, the United States and Canada. Participants included close to 200 Spanish companies, 500 foreign buyers and 150 foreign manufacturers. Close to 7,800 business meetings were held. At Innoval, one of the two innovation showcasing areas there was a stream of exciting new products. Here only a few are mentioned, for instance: the company Connein presented a new pizza in the shape of a cone; Avoro Foods revealed extra virgin avocado oil; Krups and Heineken, a beer tap for the home; Nesquik, a relaxing cocoa powder for children; The company Casanovas presented liquid salt and salt in gel form; H.Mallafré, olive oil with passion fruit; Alinaco, pizza with a Spanish potato omelette base; Inodducky-Mas Parés; while Marqués de Vizhoja, single-serving size shots of eau-de-vie for coffee. Other discoveries at Alimentaria were olives stuffed with fruit, tea just for men, tinned clams marnière, bottled edible seaweed, beer with cola and the first cured salmon ham, ‘jalmón’. Noteworthy new products included a novel liquid smoke which gives meat the true flavour of an open-air barbecue; a gum which speeds up and extends suntans; café latte in a Tetra Brik; pre-cooked and peeled eggs; vodka in a toothpaste tube and an anti-ageing drink. A Royal opening Josep Lluís Bonet, President of Alimentaria and Fira de Barcelona, stated: "I am highly satisfied with how the show went. " He also gave thanks for the "support" of the Royal Family who inaugurated the show on 10 March. Also in attendance were acting Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Elena Espinosa, Generalitat of Catalonia President José Montilla, and Catalonia’s Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Action, Joaquim Llena, among other authorities.

Germany's Voeslauer is launching two forerunners of its improved Near Water line. Bitter Orange and Limette-Kolanuss will be available from 1 April 2008. “No artificial additives and sweeteners are used, as the need for authentic products is needed more and more due to increased customer awareness," said Birgit Aichinger, Marketing and PR Manager at Voeslauer. "The new Voeslauer Balance is the ideal refreshment for people who would like to have a healthy diet and who would like to enjoy a drink that's unspoiled and very much organic.” The two new products will complement the other six flavours, which include Pineapple-Grapefruit, Strawberry-Pepper, Pear-Cactus-Fig, Red Currant & Raspberry, Red Grape and Apel-Cranberry. Voeslauer has given the Near Water range a complete makeover, which reflects the health awareness of today’s customer. No preservatives are used, and the 100% natural ingredients provide the unique taste. The innovation is that Voeslauer no longer uses non-organic sweeteners – only fructose is used to give the new products their unique and healthy sweetness.

The finalisation of the sale of Dutch Rademaker Den Boer BV to Oven Products Holland BV means that there will now be two companies Den Boer Baking Systems BV and Rademaker BV. The strategy of both Rademaker BV and Den Boer Baking Systems BV is to act as independent players in the market. The two companies are keeping the possibilities open for cooperation on projects in the future. The management from Den Boer Baking Systems BV consists of the Van Heukelum family. In 1995 they sold the then company Den Boer to Rademaker BV.

According to BENEO-Orafti the health aspects of new dairy drink products are more important than 'convenience' which used to be the main promotion driver. Dairy drinks that promote health have been bucking the global trend in new product development decline over the past three years. Since dairy drink new product launches reached their peak in 2005 with 2,329 brought to market globally, the number launched has been dropping year on year. However, the number of dairy drinks created that promote health benefits has been on the increase. BENEO-Orafti Marketing & Communication Manager Tim Van der Schraelen, explained further: “We have seen a growing emphasis on health in society as obesity becomes a global problem and although ‘convenience’ is still a big driver in the promotion of dairy drinks (34% of new products launched use it to sell the product), ‘health’ has overtaken it as the primary claim used to encourage sales (with 42% of producers using it to sell the product). With this in mind, we have seen a ten-fold increase in the number of dairy drink products brought to market that contain inulin and oligofructose over the last five years. From small beginnings back in 2002 when only 15 dairy drinks contained this active food ingredient, 2007 saw 164 products brought to market globally that contained inulin and oligofructose.” With the largest proportion of dairy drink innovations being carried out in Western Europe and Asia, followed by North America, it is interesting to note that North America leads the field with dairy drinks that contain inulin and oligofructose (10% of dairy drinks on the market in North America contain this active food ingredient, as opposed to 7.4% in Western Europe and 4.8% in Asia). With growing concerns over health issues and the increasing education of consumers on the subject of well-being, it is interesting to note that gut health is a significant driver used to position dairy drinks. With almost 17% of the products containing inulin and oligofructose launched over the last five years using ‘low fat’ as a driver for positioning and 13% using ‘gut health’, it is interesting to note that only 3% opted to use ‘low sugar’ as a key driver.