Coca-Cola has announced that its Honest, GLACÉAU Smartwater and Chaudfontaine brands will all be sold in bottles made from 100% recycled plastic (rPET) across several Western European markets from 2020. According to the company, the adoption of the new bottles will save approximately 9,000 tonnes of virgin plastic per year across Western Europe. Coca-Cola has also announced that it will change the packaging for its Sprite brand from a green PET bottle to a clear PET pack, which it claims is easier to recycle. These packaging revisions form part of Coca-Cola's pledge to ensure that, by 2025, at least half of the plastic used in its PET bottles across Western Europe will come from recycled sources. Bruno van Gompel, technical and supply chain director for Coca-Cola Western Europe said: “This is a significant step for our business. From 2020, wherever you buy these brands in our Western European markets, you will find them in a bottle that is entirely made from recycled plastic. "This is a clear signal of our ambition – we aim to meet and exceed our target of using 50% rPET across our total portfolio by 2025.” “Both Honest and GLACÉAU Smartwater have a huge following in the US, whilst being relatively young brands in Europe. "We have ambitious growth plans for both of these brands, as we continue to broaden our portfolio to offer people different drinks to meet changing tastes and lifestyles – and we want to grow them sustainably.” Ron Lewis, chief supply chain officer at Coca-Cola European Partners said: “We know people have high expectations of companies to make the products that they love in a sustainable way and we’re committed to meeting those expectations. "Ultimately, our goal is to ensure that every bottle or can we sell is collected, recycled and reused. "By moving Sprite from a green bottle to a clear bottle, the material can easily be recycled and used again to make another bottle.”

Mondelēz International is investing £4.7 million into its UK food research and development programme to support the creation of new and improved chocolate, biscuit and candy products for over 150 different countries. The owner of Cadbury, Oreo and Green & Black’s will use the funding to expand its Reading science centre in the UK. The facility is currently home to more than 290 scientists, chemists, food technologists and other specialists. A further 50 food science and engineering jobs will be created during the next five years. “Over the last seven years, we have invested £23 million into our research centres in Reading and Bournville in Birmingham and they play a vital role in developing products for consumers not just in the UK, but across the world,” said Louise Stigant, UK managing director at Mondelēz International. “This extra investment will allow for the creation of 50 highly skilled jobs. It will also accelerate our growth strategy, offering innovative chocolate, biscuit and candy products that meet the changing needs of consumers, while maintaining a competitive edge in the markets of tomorrow.” UK food minister David Rutley added: “I welcome this significant investment from Mondelēz and the exciting work that this leading food manufacturer is doing to research and test new and improved products across its global operations. “Research and development is vital to increasing the productivity, competitiveness and growth of our food and drink manufacturing sector, which contributes £31 billion to the UK economy each year and employs more than 440,000 people.” Mondelēz said the announcement is aligned with its strategy to develop a global network of technical hubs around the world to accelerate its growth and innovation. Last year, the company launched the SnackFutures innovation hub , which aims to capitalise on emerging growth opportunities in the snacking segment. The hub established three targets to capitalise on opportunities in the global snacks market and respond to changing consumer demands: inventing new brands and businesses in key strategic areas, reinventing small-scale Mondelēz brands with large-scale potential, and venturing with start-up entrepreneurs to establish new businesses. Earlier this year, Mondelēz announced a collaboration with Israeli food-tech incubator The Kitchen.

Arla Foods has developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) tool to better predict milk intake from farms, in a move to boost profitability and sustainability. The dairy cooperative has created technology to predict how much milk 1.5 million cows will produce in the future. It said that this kind of forecast previously took days to create and arose manually from piles of Excel sheets. With the new tool, it only takes a few hours and is said to be 1.4% more accurate. Each year, Arla collects around 13 billion kilograms of milk from its 10,300 farmer-owners across northern Europe. To transform as much as possible into more sustainable dairy products, the cooperative said it is keeping a close eye on emerging technologies that can make dairy production more efficient. “The better we are at predicting what our milk intake will be, the better we can plan and optimise our entire value chain, which both improves profitability for our farmer-owners and drives sustainability,” said, Michael Bøgh Linde Vinther, Arla director of global milk planning. “The new AI tool provides us with an insight into our supply of milk that we have never had before.” By using AI technology, Arla said it is able to create the milk intake forecast from a much richer data foundation. It includes seasonal changes, the number of farmers converting to new milk types, the farmers’ geographical characteristics as well as how much milk they produce on a daily basis. “We are now able to make important strategic decisions on a more informed basis,” Michael Bøgh Linde Vinther said. “The data has become more valid as it is now formalised in a bulletproof system rather than based on individual knowledge. It’s amazing to see how this new technology is able to optimise and improve a, up until now, very time-consuming task.” The new milk intake forecasting tool is implemented in all Arla’s markets across Europe, including Denmark, Germany, Sweden, the UK, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

Lotus Bakeries, the maker of Biscoff cookies and cookie butter, will release a new line of “super-premium” ice cream in the US. The Belgian company has developed the range by pairing dairy cream with crunchy Biscoff cookies and the original cookie butter. Five flavours will be available in pint formats: original, chocolate brownie, salted caramel, Belgian chocolate chip, and blueberry cheesecake. An ice cream bar will initially come in one flavour, featuring the original cookie butter ice cream dipped in a layer of cookie butter and then enrobed in a layer of Belgian chocolate. “Biscoff is exploding in the US and we can’t be more excited to bring the beloved Biscoff taste to ice cream,” said Michelle Singer, Lotus Bakeries US general manager. Founded in 1932, Lotus Bakeries has production facilities in Belgium, the Netherlands, France, South Africa and Sweden. The firm said that ice cream is “the natural progression” for the Biscoff portfolio as it continues to expand beyond the original cookie. The new ice cream is scheduled to launch in US stores in pints in July 2019 and bars in October 2019.

Tetra Pak has joined forces with analytical solutions provider Foss to launch an advanced version of the Tetra Pak standardisation unit. Featuring accurate measurement and control of protein and fat in dairy products, the new unit has been designed to help customers ensure product quality and strengthen profitability by removing the uncertainty of sampling techniques, the companies said. The new solution uses automation hardware and software algorithms that react and adjust in real time. It delivers key data every seven seconds, enabling quicker reaction times to ensure product quality. According to Tetra Pak and Foss, the solution offers a range of benefits for companies involved cheese and milk powder production, including “uniform and on-specification product quality” as well as the “elimination of uncertainty associated with manual sampling”. Tetra Pak product manager Helen Sellar said: “Integrating our propriety software algorithm and the Foss analyser in the new Tetra Pak standardisation units with continuous protein control results in the industry’s most advanced and optimal solution for in-line measurement and control. With process variation minimised and profitability boosted, the solution is expected to pay for itself in two to four years.” Ib Haunstrup, product manager at Foss, added: “A key benefit of the integration of Foss analytic software within the new Tetra Pak standardisation units with continuous protein control is the ability to test a number of components directly, eliminating the need for manual testing and enabling producers to run at very narrow margins between specified points. “This unique technology supports producers to respond to changing market trends, such as increased demand for protein-enriched products, while also securing efficiency and product quality.” The Tetra Pak standardisation units with continuous protein control are currently being tested by Finnish dairy manufacturer Valio. “The challenge we faced was that the existing line was coming to the end of its life cycle and maintenance costs were high,” said Valio production manager Raimo Vehkoja. “This new investment gave us more accurate fat to protein ratio, giving us better use of raw materials and constant product quality. It also drastically reduces maintenance costs.” The new unit is available in Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada, Germany, Holland, France, the UK, Denmark, Sweden and Poland, and will roll out to more markets in the next year.

AAK has launched AkoPlanet, a new portfolio of solutions for food manufacturers developing plant-based alternatives to products within the meat, dairy and ice cream segments. According to the oils and fats producer, AkoPlanet will enable food manufacturers to meet a variety of industry opportunities, such as health, nutrition and sustainability, but also the fast-growing demand for plant-based products among consumers, particularly millennials. All materials used in the AkoPlanet line are traceable to the growing region. "Vegan, vegetarian and flexitarian diets are rapidly growing, creating new and exciting opportunities for food manufacturers", said Johan Westman, CEO of AAK Group. "This development is, of course, very interesting to AAK as we have been working with plant-based ingredients for more than a century." With the portfolio, AAK aims to use its co-development approach to work together with customers to create tailor-made solutions. "Many of the key characteristics of animal-derived products can be recreated through optimal formulations of oils and fats", says Henning Villadsen, business development director at AAK. "This has positive implications for the flavour, texture and other sensory attributes of plant-based foods, enabling our customers to create great-tasting alternatives to meat, dairy and ice cream products." Last week, AAK launched Akospread, a new line of fats designed for chocolate and nut-based spread applications. The ingredient range is said to guarantee stability, spreadability, visual appeal, texture and flavour. In March, AAK announced an investment of SEK 300 million ($31.9 million) to increase capacity at its facility in Zhangjiagang, China.

Anheuser-Busch has announced that its entire portfolio of domestic beer brands in the US will be brewed with 100% renewable electricity from solar and wind power by 2021. Through a solar power purchase agreement with Recurrent Energy, the AB InBev subsidiary will purchase the renewable electricity credits from the energy delivered to the grid by a new solar energy facility being built in Pecos County, Texas. According to the brewer, the solar project marks the largest of its kind for any US beverage company and sees it reach its 100% renewable electricity target in the US four years ahead of its 2025 goal. The new solar energy facility will be fully operational by 2021 and is expected to generate 650-gigawatt hours of energy annually, allowing for the brewing of brands such as Bud Light, Michelob Ultra and Busch by 100% renewable electricity. Last year, Anheuser-Busch launched its US 2025 Sustainability Goals, focused on four key areas: renewable electricity and carbon reduction, water stewardship, smart agriculture, and circular packaging. “At Anheuser-Busch, sustainability isn’t part of our business, it is our business,” said Ingrid De Ryck, VP, procurement and sustainability at Anheuser-Busch. “This is about category leadership and making a positive contribution in the communities we live and work. “This expansion and investment in our renewable electricity commitment not only brings us closer to realising our dream of a better world, it also moves our business and operations forward.” Anheuser-Busch CEO Michel Doukeris said: “From our 18,000 colleagues to our wholesaler partners, our teams across the country will continue to find innovative ways to create a world that is cleaner and more sustainable for future generations.” This announcement follows on the heels of Budweiser becoming the first Anheuser-Busch brand to be brewed with 100% renewable electricity from wind power in 2018, which the brand showcased in a commercial during this year’s Super Bowl. Last year, Anheuser-Busch took another step towards its 2025 sustainability targets by ordering 800 hydrogen-powered semi-trucks from Nikola Motor Company, enabling the reduction of emissions produced by its dedicated distribution fleet. The company said the trucks will be integrated into its fleet from 2020 and will reduce emissions produced from its logistics operations by 18% once all 800 trucks are operational.

At this year's Global Dairy Congress, Tetra Pak’s new executive vice president, Ola Elmqvist, will share insights into future thinking from a preference for healthy choices to demands for “clean label” ingredients, fast evolving consumer trends, and the high expectations to deliver against them. These are setting the benchmark for food and drink producers - and that’s before one gets to the area receiving the most attention: impact on the environment. As consumers become increasingly aware of the need to preserve and protect the world’s resources, producers are expected to embed sustainability objectives and use future-friendly solutions, which produce more but consume less. Founded on the tenet that a package should save more than it costs, Tetra Pak is committed to developing packaging and processing solutions which help reduce food waste, increase food availability and improve resource efficiency without impact to food safety. Today’s challenges in terms of efficiency and use of resources such as energy and water, will not go away. It is of vital importance therefore to use resources in the right way, from initial processing to the final product. At this year’s Global Dairy Congress, Ola will provide a thorough overview of how Tetra Pak: Contributes to the sustainable factory of the future by developing solutions that reduce energy usage, water usage and deliver CO 2 reduction Delivers operational cost reduction for dairy producers Provides higher modularity and tailor-made solutions The most efficient dairy processing solutions and newest releases – as well as the trends that drive them and the customer benefits they offer – will also be addressed.

Snacking company Pladis has expanded its McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes portfolio in the UK with limited-edition pineapple cake bars. The new product is available now in Tesco and Asda stores with a recommended retail price of £1 and will be rolling out across all major grocery and convenience channels in the UK later this month. The pack includes five individually wrapped bars and Pladis said the cakes are “perfect for adult lunchboxes or for on the go”. Each bar contains 97 calories. “We’re thrilled to launch our limited-edition McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes pineapple cake bars, offering consumers a new taste adventure for a product they already know and love,” said David Carey, senior brand manager for McVitie’s Cake at Pladis UK&I. “Our McVitie’s Jaffa Cake bars range has become one of the fastest growing products in the cake category over the last few years. He added: “We’re excited to build on this momentum with a new zesty, potentially controversial flavour which we’re sure will spark debate with consumers around one of the country’s most loved brands.” The introduction follows on from the launch of Jaffa Cakes Nibbles and a limited-edition lemon and lime Jaffa Cakes flavour last year.  In December, Pladis UK & Ireland announced plans to make all its plastic packaging recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025. The firm is improving labelling and joining the On-Pack Recycling Label scheme to ensure consumers are clear on how and where to recycle their packaging.

Ben & Jerry's has announced that it plans to release a cannabidiol (CBD)- infused ice cream in the US, as soon as the ingredient is legalised by the US federal government. At the moment, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) prohibits adding CBD to food and drinks on a federal level, but the regulator has today launched a public hearing on the legalisation of CBD-infused foods and beverages. Ben & Jerry’s, which has submitted comment on the issue, is encouraging consumers to contact the FDA during a public consultation period on the use of CBD in food, which will take place throughout July. The regulator plans to use comments from the public and companies to inform a working group, which will "explore potential pathways for dietary supplements and/or conventional foods containing CBD to be lawfully marketed". Ben & Jerry’s CEO Matthew McCarthy said: “We’re doing this for our fans. We’ve listened and brought them everything from Non-Dairy indulgences to on-the-go portions with our Pint Slices. "We aspire to love our fans more than they love us and we want to give them what they’re looking for in a fun, Ben & Jerry’s way.” Ben & Jerry's has also stated that it intends to use sustainably-sourced CBD from its home state of Vermont in any future CBD-infused ice cream products.

Unilever-owned Ben & Jerry's has launched a limited-edition raspberry sorbet ahead of summer in the US. Called Pucker Upper, the product features a tart lemonade swirl that has sour sugar bits – a new ingredient designed for the flavour. The sugar bits have a dairy coating, which prevents them from dissolving in the sorbet. Ben & Jerry's said that with half a gram of fat and 110 calories per serving, the frozen dessert “fills a niche in the sorbet category”.  "After 13 years with the company, I don't think I've ever seen a flavour quite like this," said Laura Essaid, Ben & Jerry's associate brand manager, who helped with the flavour creation process. "It's a perfect flavour for summer with a balance of sweet and sour, while light, fruity, and refreshing… plus, there's no grill required." Pucker Upper sorbet is available in pints with a suggested retail price of $4.89. Earlier this month, Ben & Jerry's formed a new dairy advisory council to provide guidance on sustainable agriculture and product manufacturing. The ice cream business has convened experts in areas such as environmental health, animal protection, water quality and organic farming. In January, the business expanded its lower-calorie Moo-phoria ice creams with the addition of two new flavours in the UK: salted caramel brownie and chocolate cookies with cream.

Ferrero has announced a definitive agreement to acquire a controlling stake in Ice Cream Factory Comaker (ICFC), a Spanish ice cream manufacturer. Headquartered in Valencia, ICFC makes a range of ice cream cones, sticks, tubs, cakes and lollies. The firm is present in more than 15 countries and has more than 700 employees at its two production facilities – in Alzira, Spain, and Castel d’Ario, Italy. The transaction is expected to be completed in July 2019. The Lamsfus family will remain a shareholder of ICFC and Guillermo Lamsfus Bravo will continue to lead the business as managing director. Ferrero said as part of its commitment to satisfying consumer needs, it is constantly evaluating new opportunities in different product categories. The Italy-headquartered firm – owner of brands such as Nutella, Kinder Chocolate and Tic Tac – last month acquired a range of businesses from Kellogg in a deal worth $1.3 billion. Included in the transaction were Kellogg’s cookie, fruit and fruit-flavoured snack, ice cream cone and pie crust businesses. Last year, Ferrero became the third largest confectioner in the US after acquiring Nestlé’s US confectionery unit for $2.8 billion. In its financial year ended August 2018, Ferrero posted consolidated turnover of €10.7 billion, up 2.1% on the previous year.