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Gerold Linzbach has announced that he will not renew his contract as CEO of Symrise AG in October 2009. The CEO of Symrise, Dr Gerold Linzbach, has informed the Supervisory Board of Symrise AG that, for personal reasons, he doesn't intend to extend his contract beyond the end of October 2009. Reinforcing his commitment to Symrise until the end of his contract, Dr Linzbach said: “My decision to leave Symrise at the end of my contract has been made for personal reasons. The business remains strong and stable and is performing in line with market expectations. I have given the Board my personal commitment to work with my colleagues to continue to develop the business in the meantime, and to ensure an orderly handover to my successor.” Commenting on Dr Linzbach’s resignation, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Andreas Schmid, said: “The Board has reluctantly accepted Dr Linzbach’s resignation. He has played a key role in the development of Symrise over the past years and can be proud of his achievements. The entire Board welcomes his commitment to stay in his post until the end of October 2009. I will immediately initiate and lead a process to find Gerold’s successor.”

Polymer Solutions has recently introduced a metric, four-pocket Prostack modular bottled water rack system for Home and Office Delivery (HOD) bottlers. The one-piece, all-plastic Prostack includes a first ever pallet-free option for customers that would like all the benefits of the Prostack at a lower cost and reduced weight and height. The height reduction alone allows a 17% payload improvement per rack, while giving drivers the benefit of a much shorter reach height. Dan Kelly, President of Polymer Solutions, said: “We introduced the New Metric Prostack to give bottlers more options to help substantially reduce their transportation costs. “The new options will increase the bottler’s payload and versatility when loading transport trailers, delivery vans and small route trucks, and greatly improve the working conditions of drivers. It will also increase warehouse storage capacity over alternative systems by 17%. "As the global economy becomes more competitive, we need to continue following our path to regularly offer new product improvements that provide long-term, sustainable cost reductions to our customers in as many areas of their operations as possible.” He continued that the combination of reusable water bottles and reusable modular plastic racks is one of the greatest untold environmental stories of today. “Our products are designed to last a lifetime and have greatly extended the life of reusable bottles. As a company, we have always been involved in reusable packaging. The extended life for bottles provided by the use of the highly durable Prostack and Tierstack products increase plant efficiency, reducing downtime and saving costs and energy. “We greatly reduce the negative impact on the environment by continuous efforts to reduce our products' weight along with the use of recycled resins. These improvements have the additional benefits of enhancing operational production efficiency and lowering transportation costs. “Our company has been committed to designing and manufacturing the highest quality products which optimise bottle protection, rack life and durability, safe and stable handling in warehouses and on routes, while exploring new ways to protect the environment,” said Kelly. Like the rest of the Prostack products, the four-pocket Prostack rack allows for additional layers of HOD bottles per stack as compared to other taller systems plastic rack systems. This lower module height will accommodate seven layers (56 HOD bottles), or in the nine-leg option, eight layers (64 HOD bottles), to be placed in standard transport trailers. The lower module height and rack strength will also allow HOD operations to stack three full racks, (16 filled layers) while others systems are rated at only 12 layers. The reduced rack height provides a 25% reduction in necessary warehouse space. The four-pocket Prostac modular rack system, like all of Polymer Solution’s product lines, can be made from recycled resins and has a flat-top surface to allow for stacking of case goods, coolers and cups.

Romanian beer and water producer Romaqua predicts it will increase turnover by 15% next year compared to 2008. Officials believe Romaqua is better positioned for growth after making significant investments in plant expansion and the launch of products into new market segments. The company, which expects to achieve a turnover of €150m in 2008, spent €8m this year on the expansion of its bottling facility producing mineral waters Borsec and Stanceni, as well as the acquisition of two modern production lines, which cost €5.2m.

Sidel Group, liquid food packaging equipment supplier, has opened its new plant in Beijing Economic Technological Development Area (BDA) in Beijing's e-Town (Yizhuang) area. Mart Tiismann, Sidel Global Executive President, together with Sidel's major clients, suppliers, partners, and BDA officials, attended the opening ceremony. The new plant, covering an area of 40,000 sq m, involves an investment of more than €350m. The design of the new plant also benefits from Sidel's concept of sustainable development. With rainwater-harvesting and solar energy technologies adopted, the plant is set to operate greenly. Sidel's new plant in BDA is expected to provide its local customers with a wider range of products and more efficient services, as China is among the most active beverage markets in the world, according to Tiismann. * *

Melbourne-based company Modern Media Concepts (MMC) has signed a global agreement with packaging giant Tetra Pak to offer Labelzine, a magazine on-product technology, to its aseptic carton customers. Labelzine technology allows an 8-32 page removable, full-colour mini-magazine to be applied to the packaging of consumer goods. Tetra Pak has successfully trialled the use of Labelzine for its own marketing in Switzerland and plans to begin using the product for marketing and co-marketing with major publishing companies. According to MMC, consumers have responded positively to Labelzine because of the novelty of having a removable magazine on each pack that provides them with relevant content on promotions, vouchers and entertainment. "Labelzine presents a fantastic new marketing vehicle for our customers, which will help make milk, juice and other dairy products more exciting and engaging for the consumer," said Tetra Pak Marketing and Product Management Vice President, Michael Zacka. "It's another example of how Tetra Pak is constantly innovating to provide cost-effective packaging solutions that will help customers compete in an increasingly crowded marketplace."

**The European Commission has approved the merger of Friesland Foods and Campina, subject to divestment of some parts of the new business. **A General Meeting of Friesland Foods and the Members’ Council of Campina has also taken place and backed the merger, which will go ahead on 30 December 2008. To meet the objections of the European Commission, the activities of Friesland Foods Fresh (fresh dairy) in Nijkerk, the cheese production plant of Campina Holland Cheese (naturally matured cheese) in Bleskensgraaf, and the Yogho Yogho and Choco Choco brands (long-life dairy drinks) in the Netherlands and Belgium will have to be sold. These business units jointly account for revenue of about €367m, representing some 4% of the new company’s total revenue of €9.1bn. To guarantee the availability of Dutch raw milk for third parties in the Netherlands, FrieslandCampina is required to make available annually a maximum of 1.2 billion kilos of Dutch raw milk to new or existing producers of fresh dairy products or naturally matured cheese in the Netherlands, provided they are interested in buying this milk. Cees ’t Hart, the proposed CEO of the new company, is delighted that the European Commission has approved the merger: “The preparations for the merger have taken more than a year. During that period, we've become even more convinced that the merger is coming at the right time. Now we can actually start doing business together based on our combined innovative strength and the milk expertise of our employees. We expect to be able to grow more strongly in brands and new concepts. This not only applies to consumer products, but also to dairy ingredients.”

The National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) has announced that Dana L Brooks, a veteran government relations professional with experience at state and federal levels, has been hired to serve as its new Senior Director of Government Relations, according to the World Dairy Diary. “We're excited that Dana is joining NMPF," said Jerry Kozak, President and CEO of NMPF. "She will bolster NMPF’s presence on Capitol Hill and will make a great addition to our team." Brooks will report to Jaime Castaneda, Senior Vice President of Government Relations and Trade Policy. “Dana’s bi-partisan experience in Congress, and deep knowledge of agricultural issues, will enhance our capabilities to deal with the numerous challenges facing our cooperatives and dairy producers,” said Castaneda. Brooks previously worked in Washington as a legislative assistant for two members of Congress. After her legislative positions on Capitol Hill, Brooks served as Director of Congressional Relations for the American Farm Bureau Federation in Washington, DC. Brooks most recently worked on national policy issues at Florida Farm Bureau in Gainesville, FL. Throughout her career, including work on two Farm Bills, she has developed a thorough understanding of a variety of farm-related legislative issues, Castaneda said. Brooks will start at NMPF on 1 January 2009.

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.