Thomas Kemper Soda Co, a Pacific Northwest classic for more than 25 years, is unveiling a new premium soda collection sweetened with natural cane sugar that delivers the rich, complex flavours long-time fans expect from the brand. Cane sugar is replacing high fructose corn syrup to better deliver on the brand’s commitment to flavor, quality and natural ingredients. Craft brewed in small batches, the new Thomas Kemper Cane Sugar Soda collection debuts this May in five favourite flavours, including the brand’s best selling Root Beer. Unique to Thomas Kemper is the use of pure Northwest honey, which lends a distinct natural sweetness, rich creaminess and smooth finish, complementing other natural ingredients such as Madagascar vanilla and Jamaican ginger. “Our switch to cane sugar was important to delivering the most flavourful, highest quality soda on the market without compromising on ingredients, ” said Bill Germano, President and CEO of Thomas Kemper Soda Co. “Our fans have high expectations, and we wanted to make absolutely sure we didn’t disappoint. ” * New packaging, new products* In addition to freshening up the formula, Thomas Kemper sodas are sporting a new look. Highlighting the classic iconography and using the instantly recognisable colour palate, Thomas Kemper bottle labels, six-packs and 12-pack cartons now have softer hues and simpler graphics. The refreshed packaging is part of an overall effort to update the Thomas Kemper brand, which also includes a redesigned and enhanced website that launched in April 2008. Hot on the heels of the 20 calories or less Thomas Kemper Low Calorie Soda collection introduction earlier this year (and featured in the April issue of beverage innovation magazine), the Cane Sugar Soda collection is part of the company’s larger effort to offer new beverage options with better ingredients for soda consumers.

*Cucina has won the contract to provide catering services for more than 1,100 pupils and more than 100 staff at four primary schools in Cambridgeshire, UK. Cucina will be delivering catering services to Abbey Meadows Primary School, Morley Memorial Primary School, Newnham Croft Primary School and Ridgefield Primary Schools in Cambridgeshire after Easter. * “We were extremely impressed by the quality of Cucina’s food and the professionalism of the service. Cucina has a passion about providing a really good meal for our children at lunch time which is exactly what we want for our school. We particularly like the fact Cucina is going to be working with the curriculum, alongside our staff and children during events such as our international week and parents’ evenings. This is exciting. We wanted a proactive firm working with our parents and this is what we’ve got with Cucina.” Head Teacher of Newnham Croft Primary School Jacky Jones enthused. Cucina has recruited award winning Chef Ian Morgan, who has previously worked with Michelin starred Chef Gary Rhodes, to create fantastic fresh food for all four Primary Schools, which are feeder schools for The Parkside Federation charity in Cambridgeshire. Ian helped open “Rhodes”; the successful Gary Rhodes restaurant in Manchester and has also held the position of Head Chef at the famous Hotel Felix in Cambridge. Innovative menus designed by a top nutritionist will be introduced to ensure that all pupils and staff will benefit from the fresh, great tasting food provided by Cucina restaurants. Commenting on the choice of Cucina Head Teacher of Abbey Meadows Primary School Chris Beddow said: “We chose Cucina because they had a real vision for what they can do for us. This will be so exciting for the school children to experience. I wanted to offer the children a better dining experience. Part of the attraction of Cucina is that everything except frozen peas and sweetcorn is fresh. This freshness is what we want to provide for the children. Since we’ve decided on Cucina, the children, pupils and staff are so excited about trying their lunchtime meals.” Cucina Managing Director Steve Quinn was pleased that the company’s fresh food approach helped the schools make their choice. He was also “over the moon” that Ian Morgan had joined Cucina and suggested that “a chef of Ian’s calibre, who has worked alongside Michelin chefs like Gary Rhodes, to create innovative menus and train existing staff, should help us go from strength to strength and will have real benefits to the pupils and parents at these fantastic schools.”

The new line of Sargento Artisan Blends Cheeses will be sampled at a major food and wine event in Aspen, Colorado in the US. Sargento Foods will be joining forces with Cavit Winery’s award winning red and white wines in the 26th Annual Food & Wine Classic on 13-15 June 2008.in Aspen. At the festival, Sargento will join with Cavit Collection wines to showcase a sampling of its line of Artisan Blends Cheeses, which features a combination of high quality Sargento cheese with flavourful, hand crafted artisan cheeses from several well known artisan cheesemakers. The Artisan Blends line is available in six different varieties: Double Cheddar - made with Sharp Cheddar from Maple Leaf; Mozzarella and Provolone - Burnett Dairy Whole Milk Mozzarella; Parmesan, Parmesan and Romano - made with Zanetti imported Grana Padano from Italy; Swiss - Roth Käse Grand Cru Gruyère; Whole Milk Mozzarella - Burnett Dairy Whole Milk Mozzarella. Considered to be the nation’s premier food festival, in addition to wine tastings and opportunities to enjoy assorted gourmet foods, the festival will feature seminars and demonstrations from a variety of top names in the culinary industry, including Bobby Flay, José Andrés and Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi.

Adnams has launched a new carbon neutral beer that uses East Anglian barley and English Boadicea Hops that reduce the need for pesticides. Part of UK company Adnams' environmental agenda has been to invest in an eco-distribution centre, energy efficient brewhouse, using lightweight bottles and supporting the Environmental Action group. In an effort to continue push forward and make the business more sustainable, the company has launched a new beer called East Green, which is the UK's first carbon neutral beer. The company has pledged to make all efforts to reduce the carbon footprint, making practical changes as much as possible and only offsetting as a last resort, using Gold Standard accredited schemes. According to Adnams, the new beer is light, with subtle citrus and grassy hop aromas, dry and refreshing with well-balanced bitterness. It will be available at the end of April in the UK. Adnams worked with several groups on the carbon neutral beer project, including: the Climate Care team which will be offsetting £0.004 for each bottle, University of East Anglia's CRed team has provided insights into how to best reduce the carbon footprint; the Carbon Trust nominated Adnams as the Carbon Innovator of 2007 and for the first time allowed the trust's logo to be placed on a product.

This year's Packaging Summit Europe will take a close look at the issues around sustainability and packaging with presentations from leading companies such as Unilever and Sara Lee among others. Unilever Packaging Sustainability and Functional Capability Director Steph Carter will discuss 'Integrating environmental concerns into the packaging development process – a brand owner's view'. His presentation will include: * Analysing ways to reorganise the design and production processes to achieve sustainable packaging * The importance of considering packaging as part of whole product sustainability, not in isolation * How should new materials and systems be assessed for their relative sustainability contributions? Sara Lee Household Packaging Innovation Manager Anton Vanhoucke will present, "Biodegradable and renewable packaging – what materials work best in an increasingly conscious society?" He will focus on: Reviewing which eco-friendly materials actually work and correctly applying them to packaging Renewable plastics, fibre-based packaging and biopolymers as renewable, recyclable and degradable materials Cost versus return: what materials are worth the investment?

Spanish winery Casa de la Ermita has launched a red wine called Altos de la Ermita, which has only 6.5º gravity. It's the first variety to look, smell and taste like a traditional wine yet with approximately half the alcohol. According to current European legislation, it can't actually be called wine simply because it has less than 9º. However, it has created a new category called "low alcohol content wine" (vino de contenido alcohólico reducido). Altos de la Ermita is the result of almost three years of research carried out by the Casa de la Ermita Group, following the consumer demand for products with less alcohol than usual. The process The elaborate process starts at the vine: First, the cultivation through "hydric stress", helped by watering system, soil and climate in the area, forces the vine to stop producing sugar for several hours a day during the maturation stage, which results in a harvest with fewer sugar levels. Yeast is then selected among some of the vines, because of its poor ability to transform sugar. Finally, a slight adjustment of surplus alcohol through a physical separation system takes place. The low-alcohol product is produced from Monastrell, Tempranillo and Petit Verdot grapes, and rests for six months in oak casks.

*Mattessons is introducing two new meaty flavours to its successful Fridge Raiders range. The new flavours – Sweet Chilli and Southern Fried will appear in stores at the end of April. * The new variants aim to drive purchase by highlighting the unique 'chicken bite' snack format and innovative meaty flavours to new consumers, specifically the 16-34 'young snackers'. In addition, the Fridge Raiders brand has had a makeover, with new packaging which features a new logo.The new packs – designed by JKR – highlight the unique 'chicken bites' product offering and brand name, ensuring greater stand out for the brand. Mattessons Marketing Controller David Warren said: "The phenomenal growth of Fridge Raiders has largely been a result of attracting new people into the meat snacks sector. "Our mouth-watering new flavours and eye catching new packaging should attract both new and existing consumers to the fixture." The Fridge Raiders brand is currently worth £11.3m and attracts over1.5m households. The cooked meat snacks category is currently valued at over £62 million – a growth of nearly 16% since last year – with over 62% of the value added to the category in the last year driven by the Fridge Raiders brand. The Fridge Raiders range of chicken bites comprises Roast, Tikka, Chinese Spare Rib, new Sweet Chilli and new Southern Fried. Priced from 99p, they are high protein, low calorie (only 125 calories per pack), low carb and contain less than 10% fat.

In the first quarter of 2008, the Nestlé group reached consolidated Swiss franc sales of 25.7 billion, up CHF 1.5 billion or 6.0% over the same period last year. Reported sales benefited from a strong organic growth of 9.8%, including 4.5% real internal growth. Food and Beverages also delivered 9.8% organic growth, of which 4.2% consisted of real internal growth. Acquisitions, net of divestitures, added another 3.2% to Group sales, primarily due to the acquisition of Gerber and Novartis Medical Nutrition in 2007. The net currency effect reduced reported group sales by 7% due to the strength of the Swiss franc compared to most other currencies. Paul Bulcke, CEO of Nestlé, said: "The strong start to the year reflects Nestlé's momentum as the world's leading nutrition, health and wellness company. On the basis of this high-quality growth, with a good balance between real internal growth and pricing, I'm confident that we will achieve our 2008 targets: organic growth approaching the 2007 level together with improved EBIT margins in constant currencies."

The pros and cons of the European Union’s steps towards finalising significant new regulations will be on debate at next month’s Vitafoods International Discussion Forum in Geneva. Senior industry representatives will discuss and address how the future regulatory framework will shape the market for fortified foods and supplements; whether or not European legislation is making it easier for companies to be globally competitive, and the way in which individual companies are responding to the drive by European and global authorities for healthier foods to be made more available to consumers. This year’s panellists will include Bas van Buijtenen, Vice President Europe, Middle East, Africa Human Nutrition and Health at DSM Nutritional Products Europe Ltd; Hartwig Sievers from the management board of Phytolab, the research centre for German plant extracts group Martin Bauer; Gert Krabichler, Chairman of European trade organisation, the European Responsible Nutrition Alliance (ERNA) ; and Simon Pettman, Director of international food and nutrition policy consultancy EAS. Members of the audience will also be given the opportunity to address questions to the panel. Mr Pettman said: “The Vitafoods discussion forum is a once a year chance to address the big challenges that are being faced by the sector. There have been many regulatory developments in the European Union to date, and this will translate into fundamental change over the next couple of years. It will have a huge impact on the industry.” The forum, which is organised by EAS and Vitafoods International, draws together more than 200 manufacturers and distributors each year to voice their concerns and get clarification on regulatory requirements for key issues in the sector, such as issues relating to novel foods, maximum levels, and the use of other ingredients in food supplements and fortified foods. The Vitafoods Discussion Forum will take place from 09.00-10.30 on Thursday 8 May at the Geneva Palexpo building.

Leading experts in the field of science, food production and retail met recently at a food shortage crisis meeting organised by UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. According to the 10 Downing Street website, the meeting "addressed the short and longer-term factors causing increased food prices at home and abroad, and possible policy solutions". PM Gordon Brown said: "We need to look closely at the impact of biofuels on food prices and the environment." However, biofuels still have strong political support in many countries. Angela Merkel, Germany's chancellor, said recently: "Those rising global food prices have nothing to do biofuels." Environmental and social groups have intensified their campaigns against biofuels as food prices have risen, arguing that they are diverting production away from food and animal feed. Until now the government's policy has been to support the increased use of biofuels. Rioting The doubling in price of rice and wheat has sparked riots in Egypt and Haiti, and led to a World Bank warning that 100 million people could be pushed deeper into poverty. And it emerged yesterday that price surges have seen grocery bills in the UK rise by around £15 a week in a year. Since 15 April, 2.5% of the petrol and diesel sold at the pumps in Britain has been bioethanol or biodiesel. Under European Union targets, this is due to increase to 5% by 2010, and 10% by 2020. The UK's 5% target is only half that on the Continent – and now Mr Brown has bowed to new scientific fears that biofuels may be doing more harm than good. Attendees of the meeting at Downing Street included representatives of Oxfam, Sainsbury's, Oxford University and Cargill. A full list of attendees is available <1>. <1>: http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page15332.asp

Musician Willie Nelson has launched a new business venture as partner in Willie Nelson's Water From Air, the Gulf Coast distributor of Wataire International atmospheric water generator units. Nelson joined the distributorship after owning a Wataire unit and finding the technology "environmentally sound", according to Ed Russell, Nelson's business partner and longtime friend who founded the Gulf Coast distributorship six months ago. According to Russell, Nelson plans to partner with musician Merle Haggard to open a California-based Wataire distributorship. Russell will then be Wataire's sole Gulf Coast distributor. According to Russell, Nelson's interest in the Wataire units is because "he's totally green". Russell added: "He just feels that the world needs a renewable source of drinking water, seeing how all of it's disappearing or being contaminated." The Wataire units generate water from the atmosphere, pulling moist air through a HEPA filter. They work in a similar way to a typical dehumidifying unit, except that the newly generated water is pushed through a sediment filter, pre- and post-carbon filters, an ultrafine filter, and finally ultraviolet (UV) light before it's stored. Stored water is recirculated in the UV chamber to retain its potability and cooler units retail for $1,499.

Kellogg’s has escaped a double blow after the UK's Advertising Standards Authority cleared two ads that, between them, received almost 70 complaints from the public. The ads, both devised by US agency Leo Burnett, were created to promote Kellogg’s Coco Pops and Nutrigrain cereal products and amassed 26 and 42 complaints respectively from members of the public. The Nutrigrain ad featured a baker posing as a doctor to prescribe Nutrigrains as a remedy for mid-morning hunger. The ad ended with the baker telling the patient to remove his trousers. Complainants felt that the ad was suggestive of sexual abuse by older authority figures. The ASA conceded that the ad was bordering on distasteful but ruled that since the patient was clearly an adult and the baker was presented as a surreal and eccentric character, viewers would understand that it was intended to be humorous. The other ad showed a mother giving her children Coco Pops as an after-school snack and was challenged by parents who felt it was high in sugar and inappropriate as an afternoon snack. The ASA acknowledged that the product was high in sugar but noted that a small serving was advised.