Bebida Beverage Company is looking to increase the presence of its Piranha spring water brand in the US, which was launched in September 2008. The Las Vegas-based company, which secured a state distribution deal in 21 states for Piranha with the HT Hackney Company in October, stated that its primary focus before the end of the year was to expand Piranha Spring Water into additional retail locations in the country. Bebida also said that it plans to run a national promotional push for Piranha, which will launch in the run-up to the holiday season this year, and will continue into the first quarter of 2009. Specific details behind the campaign, however, were not disclosed. Bebida is projecting sales for Piranha Spring Water to be estimated at $14m for the first year within the retail distribution network. The line is the first product being introduced by the company. In addition to spring water, the company is in the development stage of creating additional beverage offerings to be introduced into the marketplace, such as energy drinks.

*In the last few weeks, reports of the possible sale of the number one European manufacturer of private label soft drink and juice, Refresco, have been surfacing. Now, according to business news service Dow Jones, these rumors have been confirmed by unnamed persons. * The news service states the three Icelandic owners are looking to sell Refresco for as much as €500m ($683.8m). Stodir, formerly FL Group, holds a 40% stake in Refresco after it led a €463m ($592m) buyout of the company in 2006 alongside Kaupthing Capital Partners and Vifilfell Bottling Group. The consortium completed a €523m refinancing of Refresco in March and launched a sale process in September before Stodir and Kaupthing went into administration. Any sale will be complicated by the collapse of Iceland's banking sector, which saw the government nationalise a number of financial institutions, and many companies, including Stodir and Kaupthing, seek bankruptcy protection. At the moment, bankruptcy administrators are holding on to Refresco's equity following the collapse of Iceland's economy. Consolidating and expanding Refresco specialises in private label fruit juices and soft drinks manufacturing for retail clients, as well as production under branded labels and co-packing for a number of A-brand partners. Initially linked to Menken Beverages, the Dutch, Dordrecht-based company, Refresco Holdings was formed in 2000. Since its establishment, the company has grown to 18 production sites across Europe and has more than 2,200 employees. In 2007, Refresco realised a turnover of over €951m ($1.4bn). The expected turnover for 2008 is €1.3bn ($1.9bn). The company recently acquired Bavaria NV soft drinks production site, and only last month Zumos Pasucal and Refresco Iberia signed a letter of intent to closely cooperate in drinks manufacturing and packaging in the Spanish market. In the November issue of Beverage Innovation magazine, CEO Hans Roelofs gave an in-depth interview where he made clear that further consolidation and expansion in Central and Eastern Europe for the private label industry was on the cards.

*Pocket Cocktails is a new iPhone application that offers a fun twist to the traditional cocktail hour. * Unlike other bar tending and cocktail applications that are mostly text-based, Pocket Cocktails uses large, high resolution pictures. It also has a 'shaker' feature that selects cocktails at random. The random mode lets iPhone users shake the phone to get a random drink image, recipe and ingredient list all from an 'e-bartender'. While serving up the drink, the iPhone spits out a colourful collection of shaker noises and catchy phrases, adding a fun spin on the experience. Pocket Cocktails also has special holiday themed cocktails. The application has a retro 1960s theme and incorporates many iPhone features, including the integrated graphics and navigation features. All images, recipes and ingredient lists are stored locally on the iPhone, so there's no need for an internet connection.

Agropur, Canada's largest dairy cooperative, has reached an agreement to acquire Schrœder Milk, a milk processing company located in Minnesota, US. "This most recent acquisition is in line with Agropur's growth strategy and is the first US venture for Agropur Division Natrel, our fluid milk division," said Agropur CEO Pierre Claprood. "We plan to use it to build a strong foundation for continued growth." The operation will continue under the name Schrœder Milk and will be overseen by the current President Bob Kirchoff, who will report to the Vice President, Business Development for Division Natrel, Ken Hume. "Production will continue, brands will be maintained, employees will keep their jobs, and corporate management will maintain its course," said Hume. "We are excited to become part of the Agropur family, which is known as a growth-oriented, industry innovator," said Kirchoff. "This is a win-win for our employees and customers. By merging our resources with Agropur, Schrœder will be able to grow more quickly than we could by remaining independent. We will also benefit from Agropur's extensive product research and development capabilities, which will enhance our ability to bring new products to market for our customers." Schrœder is a 124-year-old provider of dairy products as well as contract and specialty food packaging. It process nearly 151 million litres of milk annually, which translates into $123m in sales. Founded in 1938, the Agropur cooperative is the Canadian dairy industry leader with C$3bn in annualised sales. The new acquisition will give it 27 plants and numerous distribution centres and offices across Canada, the US and Argentina. It processes more than 2.7 billion litres of milk annually and offers an array of products including such brands as Québon, Oka, Sealtest, Natrel, Island Farms, Yoplait, La Lacteo, Trega and now Schrœder.

According to published reports, Maple Leaf invited journalists on Monday to tour the Bartor Road facility, which was the source of the contaminated product, and see renovations there as well as new food safety protocols. The company has also broadcasted TV ads in which President and CEO Michael McCain attempts to reassure consumers: "I promised you that Maple Leaf will always put food safety first, and we have," he said in one TV spot (see below). "The recall is over, and the problems that led to it have been fixed." A Maple Leaf spokeswoman said the ad campaign stems from a recent poll commissioned by the company. It showed that, although confidence in the brand had risen, many consumers still didn't know the recall was over. Source: Meatingplace.com

Capri-Sun is now worth £78m in retail sales, having grown +14% in the last year, and is the number one ambient juice and juice drink brand by volume. Kenny Chisholm, trade communications manager at CCE, said: "Capri-Sun has had a fantastic year, and is now growing ahead of the juice and juice drinks sector at a rate of 30%. "We're confident that this is a great time to launch Capri-Sun back on to televisions to help increase brand awareness in January, a key back-to-school time of year, and in turn to further increase sales of the brand for retailers." Claire Phoenix, editor of Beverage Innovation magazine, recently interview Carsten Kaisig, CEO of Capri-Sonne. Click here to listen to the interview.

*Innocent Drinks has appointed Thomas Delabriere, currently Marketing Director of Doritos, Sensations and Sunbites brands at Walkers Snacks, as its new Marketing Chief. * Delabriere, who has been with the PepsiCo-owned company for 13 months, replaces Gareth Helm, who left at the start of the year. The appointment follows news that Innocent MD Jamie Mitchell, who had been Marketing Director prior to Helm, is leaving the company to pursue other opportunities. He is planning to work with private equity investors looking to buy struggling brands. His departure has led to a major restructure of its management team, including the scrapping of the managing director role. Commercial Director Giles Brooks has been promoted to the board, as will Delabriere when he steps into his new role. However, a statement from PepsiCo says that Delabriere remains in discussions with the company, though it says he has "indicated that he is interested in pursuing career options outside of PepsiCo". Delabriere left Danone last year to take up his role with PepsiCo's Walkers business in October. At Danone, he was Marketing Manager for probiotic drink, Actimel. He had spent six years with the company in various roles in the UK and France. He has previously worked on Unilver's Cif and Persil brands in France. * *

*The UK's Milk Link has completed a £1.5m investment programme at its Crediton long-life milk processing facility with the installation of an advanced A3i Line Tetra Square high speed filler. * Milk Link is the first business in the UK to have this new generation filling machine and is currently the only business in the world to use this technology in the dairy industry. The new A3i Line fills at a rate of 15,000 litres per hour, more than double the rate of older filling machines, enabling Milk Link to significantly improve efficiencies at Crediton. The new filler will deliver the new square pack format which, since its introduction by Milk Link, has played an important role in reinvigorating the long-life milk category. The square pack has now been extended to cover long-life milks being produced by Milk Link for customers such as Sainsbury’s and Morrisons as well as its growing moo brand. Brian Kerr, Head of Operations at Crediton, said: “The installation of the A3i filler is a further demonstration of our commitment to be at the forefront of cutting-edge dairy technology. It will allow us to be more efficient and deliver the next generation of products and packaging for our customers."

It is a clear, bright October morning and Bosko Bosanac is delivering Nectar fruit juices to a mini-supermarket on the outskirts of Belgrade, the Serbian capital. By the end of the day, he will have driven his distinctive green and red Nectar van to 40 different shops, as he does every day (except on Sundays). Bosko, 30, is just one of Nectar’s growing team of delivery workers who regularly visit more than 10,000 stores throughout Serbia. The company’s products are also delivered to thousands of retailers across the border in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, FYR Macedonia and Montenegro. The scale of Nectar’s distribution exercise is testimony to how fast the company has developed in the last 10 years. From a modest start-up in the northern Serbian town of Backa-Palanka, the fruit juice maker has become the domestic industry leader. At the same time, it has established a strong presence in neighbouring countries where, until a few years ago, many shops were reluctant to even stock Serbian-made goods. And now, with the help of the EBRD, Nectar is planning to expand even further. “The Serbian market is small, so we have to expand abroad,” says Nectar’s MD, Bojan Radun. “We already have 50% of the market in juices and nectars in Serbia, and it is very expensive to grow market share more than this, so it's much more profitable to develop market share externally.” In 2007, the EBRD agreed to lend Nectar €10m as part of a €50m investment project aimed at further developing the company’s direct distribution network, strengthening its brand identity in Serbia and abroad and solidifying the business’s financial structure. The loan was disbursed in 2008. “The EBRD loan will strengthen areas where we are leaders: our distribution in Serbia and our marketing and branding in Serbia and in neighbouring countries,” says Radun, whose father Slobodan founded the company in 1998. “We also hope to use the EBRD finance to enter the Romanian market, and our ambition is to pursue an acquisition in Bulgaria.” As well as being good news for consumers, Nectar’s expansion plans will provide a boost to the local economy. Nectar sources 90% of its raw materials from local suppliers and only relies on imports for tropical fruits. With more than 100 collection stations, the juice maker provides Serbian farmers with a stable source of income which is likely to increase as sales at home and abroad rise. Nectar’s direct distribution network in Serbia, meanwhile, ensures that even the smallest village shops are able to stock Nectar’s high-quality juices, squashes, energy drinks and other fruit products. And supplying more of these retailers means the company will need to employ more delivery staff like Bosko, as well as other workers. Buying locally and distributing directly also make good business sense, said Miljan Zdrale, a principal banker in the EBRD’s Agribusiness team who is the operation leader for the Nectar deal. “Nectar’s long-term relations with farming cooperatives in Serbia – and increasingly in Montenegro and FYR Macedonia – enable the company to control costs and prices. This is especially important with the current financial crisis, as consumers are more likely to go for less expensive products,” Zdrale says. “Meanwhile, having its own distribution network in Serbia gives Nectar much more control over the way its products are sold in-store and over how the Nectar brand is promoted.” Nectar’s success also has other, less tangible benefits. “In Bosnia and Herzegovina, you have people of various backgrounds working for Nectar, which 10 years ago was unthinkable,” says Zdrale. “And I’m happy when I go to Skopje in FYR Macedonia and I can order Nectar juice. “The region shares the same language, the same mentality and used to be part of the same country, so it's natural for Nectar to establish a presence in these markets. These business links create far more inter-regional connection and have an influence on the political sphere, as leaders are keen to promote their mutual economic interests.” For a company that began life making apple vinegar on the site of a former swamp, Nectar has come a long way. It produces more than 110 million litres of fruit juice and other goods every year and boasts an annual turnover of €75m. It already ranks as the sector’s leading player in several countries in the Western Balkans – including Serbia – and has ambitions to start operations beyond south-eastern Europe. “Our success comes from the fact that we have a stronger commitment and a better focus than our competitors,” says Bojan Radun. “We try to strike a balance between branding, marketing, costs and vertical integration and our results come from that. “As we look to expand further afield, a loan from the EBRD is very good for the company’s image," he adds. "It's proof of Nectar’s stability in the eyes of the business community and of officials. You have more credibility if you're working with the EBRD.”

* Nestlé Waters has acquired São Paulo-based Santa Bárbara Mineral Springs, and reportedly plans to invest $42m (€32m) over the next five years on the business. This will include the value of the purchase, expansion and improvement of the production and packaging lines. * The move confirms that Brazil is one of Nestlé’s priority markets, and the belief from the company that it can reap swift rewards from such an investment. With this new business acquisition, Nestlé Waters will gain significant production capability in São Paulo, Brazil’s most populous state. With nearly 10% market share in the southeast, Nestlé Waters Brazil believes that it can significantly develop market penetration further in this densely populated area, which represents close to 60% of the total domestic market for bottled water. The Santa Bárbara brand has a strong presence in the state of São Paulo and is distributed in more than 180 Brazilian cities in plastic cups, small bottles and 20-litre bottles. Across Brazil, Nestlé Waters markets the brands Nestlé Aquarel, Petrópolis, São Lourenço, Perrier, S Pellegrino and Acqua Panna, with the first three produced locally and the latter three imported.

*Ingredients company DSM has announced plans to reduce its workforce "by about 5% or 1,000 positions" in addition to further measures to cut costs and stabilise its financial position in the face of the challenging world economy. * Steps include a reduction in hiring temporary contract workers, project postponement, and stronger focus on purchasing prices. In a statement, DSM noted its Life Sciences businesses, especially Nutrition, have been unaffected by the current economic situation. However, end markets for DSM’s Materials Sciences businesses, such as automotive, construction and electronics, are seeing steep drops in sales. “It's clear that the turmoil which began in the financial sector is seriously eroding business and consumer confidence in the wider economy," said Feike Sijbesma, Chairman of the DSM Managing Board. "Although our Life Sciences businesses are continuing to perform well, most of our Materials Sciences businesses have increasingly been affected by the economic downturn. We are swiftly taking the necessary actions to maximise our cash flow and preserve profitability by reducing working capital and costs, while at the same time further strengthening our competitive position.”

**Associated British Foods plc (ABF), the international food, ingredients and retail group, has reached an agreement with Ebro Puleva SA to acquire its Spanish sugar business, Azucarera Ebro SL, for a value of €385m. **Completion of the transaction is subject to regulatory approval and is likely to occur in early 2009. Azucarera Ebro had revenue of €586m and operating profit of €44m for the year ended 31 December 2007. It is the leading sugar producer in Iberia, supplying 50% of the 1.6 million tons of sugar consumed. British Sugar is the second largest sugar producer in the world, with production last year of 3.9 million tons. It has extensive operations in the UK, Poland, China and Southern Africa. It also has proven expertise in improving agricultural productivity and processing efficiencies, and in the development of sugar products for the industrial and retail sectors, and valuable co-products. It is expected that Azucarera Ebro will benefit from British Sugar’s expertise in improving processing efficiencies and the development of co-products.