*Fonterra is one of New Zealand’s few hopes for tapping a rich vein of economic opportunities opening up globally, says company Chairman Henry van der Heyden. * Van der Heyden says major changes in wealth distribution, consumption and the globalisation of food and distribution services are driving consumer demand – particularly for dairy related health and nutritional products. “These mega trends are changing the rules of the game. They are also exposing huge opportunities around the world. I believe Fonterra is one of few companies which has the necessary scale, global footprint, credentials and strength to tap this rich vein for New Zealand.” Speaking at a business breakfast of the Wairarapa Chamber of Commerce, van der Heyden said the potential dividends of success were enormous – for farmers, for rural economies and New Zealand. “Protecting and growing Fonterra’s position as the world’s leading dairy ingredient supplier will create future success on a new scale.” He said Fonterra was a “real backbone of the New Zealand economy”, this year putting more than $9 billion into farmers’ pockets, employing 10,000 local staff and creating many thousands more jobs and economic activity in the regions and urban centres. The Fonterra Chairman said the economic contribution and success of Fonterra today was something to celebrate, with the current record payout from the company injecting around $3.6 billion more into the economy compared with the 2006/07 year. He warned that future success could not be taken for granted in an increasingly competitive global marketplace – where new milk supply is growing at the rate of one New Zealand dairy industry every year. “We need to put aside any perception that we are large in the global dairy space. We will have to earn our place in the market and fight to maintain it.” But, he said Fonterra was capable of tapping the opportunities on offer. Van der Heyden painted a picture of the Fonterra of the future, saying the company would need to grow and build on core strengths using its scale to offer growing customers new levels of service and innovative solutions globally. This would require investment in businesses which allowed New Zealand farmers to share in growth markets like China and increasing the use of milk from overseas, particularly to meet the demand for fresh and liquid formats. He said, in 10 to 15 years time Fonterra could be marketing 3 million tonnes of product sourced from New Zealand and a similar amount or more from a combination of offshore partnerships, investments and alliances. Henry van der Heyden said the company’s current joint venture investments in Chile, Latin America, US, Europe, China and Japan were performing well – with a strong outlook – and gave Fonterra’s farmers a foothold and local capability in these key strategic markets. “Each of our investments are in markets which are key to the future. We have to strengthen and build on these positions. They provide the key to responding to our customers’ needs.” Van der Heyden said Fonterra would have to evolve to “stay in the game”. And it was inevitable that Fonterra’s capital structure would come under pressure with the required capital for growth. “There’s an unfortunate fact of life for a co-operative. Where the capital is linked to milk supply, the faster the pace of growth the more difficult it becomes for suppliers to fund that growth. “One thing’s for certain, we can’t do nothing. If we do nothing, we might as well write off the years of work which went into creating Fonterra and getting us where we are today.” He said most of Fonterra’s farmer shareholders already understand this. “They know the value that they have in Fonterra and we will work together to find the right ways to grow the business for future generations.” “We have built what we have today on a solid co-operative base, with farmers working together. We have evolved and adapted with the times. We have taken some bold steps in the past and we will need to take some more bold steps if we are going to continue our success.” “If we focus on our strengths and build on these, the fruits of dairying will continue to flow for our farmers and New Zealand as a whole.”

UK based clean ingredient developers Ulrick & Short Ltd has launched a clean label alternative to egg and milk based 'ready to use' glazes for use on both sweet and savoury baked products. 'Ready to use' Eziglaze completes Ulrick & Short's existing Eziglaze range, which was originally offered in powder form. The 'ready to use' alternative has been developed together with the micro biology faculty at Leeds Metropolitan University in response to market demands for more natural ingredient replacements and heightened awareness within the food industry of people with allergies. Ulrick & Short said cost savings can be achieved as the glaze does not need to be chilled and has an impressive shelf life of a minimum of three months making it an excellent and practical alternative to egg and milk. Ulrick & Short Director Adrian Short said: "Consumers are becoming more and more conscious of what goes into their food and whilst some companies take out the allergens they are then replaced with artificial additives – Ulrick & Short do not do this. We can provide manufacturers with the opportunity to have total clean labels for their products – something consumers are increasingly demanding."

Waterlicious has followed the launch of its eponymous brand at the end of last year with the introduction of Agualicious which the company claims is the first bottled water for kids aimed solely at Hispanic consumers in the United States. The beverage is a vitamin and fibre enhanced flavoured water low in calories designed to be part of the solution to the growing problem of poor nutrition and obesity among Latino children. Besides adopting the Spanish word for water in the brand name, the fun label carries the phrase ‘Agua Soludable Para los Ninos’ (which in Spanish means ‘healthy water for children’) to convey more of the nutritional aspects of the drink. Besides containing electrolytes, the beverage is fortified with vitamins, calcium, magnesium, potassium and trace amounts of sodium, with no high-fructose sugar.

*By Magdalena Kogutowska Castel group President Pierre Castel has sold 60% of his shares held in Alma, the holding company of Castel, to long term business partner Pierre Papillaud.** The Castel group owns the successful French bottled water brand Cristaline which has overtaken Evian, Vittel and Volvic in volume sales. The new owners have yet to disclose full details of the financial agreement but the transaction is rumoured to be worth over €600 million. Alma, with a sales turnover of around €900 million, was too large for Papillaud alone to buy. Papillaud, the owner of Roxane, will become the majority shareholder of Neptune and Cristaline and will arrange 51% of the finance for the deal, while the remaining 49% will be financed by a Japanese-American partnership, Otsuka Beverage Co, also responsible for marketing the Neptune brand in Japan. Previously, Roxane worked together with Otsuka to create the Crystal Geyser brand in the United States. At the age of 81 years old, Pierre Castel told French journalists that he was not planning retirement, but that he would focus his efforts on wine, a beer venture in Africa and carbonated beverages. The Castel group also has plans to set up an olive tree plantation in Morocco that will have its first harvest next year. At the beginning of the 1990s, the French bottled water market was still essentially dominated by single-source mineral waters produced by three owners - Nestlé, Danone and Neptune. Neptune owners, Castel and Papillaud, decided to create a value business model based on sourcing the water from 22 different springs to compete in the domestic market. Soon, Cristaline became the best selling volume brand in France.

Rexam has created a unique can for Finnish brewery Olvi using a 360º embossing technique that gives the can and the brand a completely new look and feel and great shelf stand out. * Rexam has created a unique can for Finnish brewery Olvi using a 360º embossing technique that gives the can and the brand a completely new look and feel and great shelf stand out. * Olvi’s cider brand Fizz Cooler has just been launched in an embossed can and has become the first brand to use Rexam’s revolutionary 360º embossing technique in the cider category. 360º embossing was launched by Rexam in Europe in 2007 and has been popular with drinks companies across a variety of categories. Customers can choose from a wide range of different patterns to suit their brand. Olvi chose a golf ball design which gives the can a textured appearance. Not only does the can look different, but it has improved grip, encouraging consumers to drink straight from the can. The Fizz Cooler cans also use Illustration Impact, Rexam’s printing technique with enhanced colour definition that allows photo like images to be printed on cans. Fizz Cooler is available across Finland and is aimed at women aged 25 to 40. An outdoor and print campaign is supporting the launch as well as online advertising. " FIZZ Cooler is positioned as a refreshing and cool drink brand, and we believe that the golf ball embossing design reflects the image well, said Juha Wathen, Product Group Manager. Whilst a number of beer brands have chosen the embossing technique, the cider industry has seen very little in can shaping.” “Rexam’s leading global position enables the company to deliver a broader range of value added products” said Tomas Sjölin, Sector Director of Rexam Beverage Can. “This is another example of how we are listening to our customers and responding with packaging solutions that help them build their brands and bottom lines.” Ann Bonner, Marketing Manager from Rexam Beverage Can praised Rexam’s partnership with FIZZ Cooler, she said; “The enhanced visual and tactile elements offered by the 360º embossing gives an improved drinking experience. The success of this can shows the high standard of innovative techniques that Rexam has to offer to those who want to make a difference with their product.”

UK specialist soft drinks company, Metro Drinks, relaunched Qu4ttro Stagioni, its best selling premium adult soft drink range at Caffè Culture 2008. The company has also added a new flavour to the range – lemon and ginger –representing winter in the range of four seasons. In addition, the range has been repackaged with bright new labelling which keeps the original imagery but in more contemporary format. Launched originally in 2002 the range is sold throughout coffee outlets such as Caffé Nero, Ponti's Café and West Cornwall Pasty Company. The brand has also been well established in France, Ireland, Poland, Spain and Holland. Metro Drinks Founder Paul Bendit said: "Qu4ttro Stagioni's success seems to be at odds with the uber trendy movements within the industry. It's a great tasting drink which is beautifully packaged and utterly gimmick free. Which must be what the consumer seems to want time and time again. We're delighted with the success with this range over the last few years and hope that the new flavour and new packaging will bring more consumers to the brand".

HJ Heinz today (27 May) announced that it plans to reduce its greenhous gas emissions by 20% by 2015. The goal is part of the company’s sustainability vision: “To be a trusted leader in nutrition and wellness, dedicated to the sustainable health of people, the planet and the Company.” Heinz also plans to use the peel from Ore-Ida potatoes to generate enough energy to power 4,000 Oregon homes and reduce the amount of water used to grow tomatoes for Heinz Ketchup by 15% over the next ten years. "From using potato peels to generate energy, to reducing the amount and size of our packaging, every day we're finding new ways to reduce our environmental footprint and improve the efficiency of our company," said Heinz CEO Bill Johnson. "Everyone in the Heinz community is involved in this sustainability effort - from our employees to many of our largest customers and suppliers." The project to convert potato peels to biofuel is currently in the developmental stages at the company’s facility in Ontario, Oregon. Heinz plans to distribute the energy to central natural gas pipeline for sale and distribution. The same project in Ontario is slated to treat and recycle 90% of the water used for daily potato production and is expected to save one billion gallons of water per year, or enough to supply 11,000 Oregon homes with water for a year. Heinz is focusing on eight specific areas to achieve its goal by 2015: 1. Energy consumption - 20% reduction through improved operational efficiency 2. Packaging - 15% reduction by the introduction of alternative packaging materials and reduction of existing packaging use 3. Transportation - 10% reduction through improved efficiency of distribution network 4. Renewable energy - 15% to come from renewable sources, including solar, biomass and bio-gas 5. Agriculture - 15% reduction of carbon footprint, 15% reduction of water usage, improvement of yields by 5% through use of hybrid tomato seeds that require less water, fertilizer, pesticides and fuel to harvest 6. Water - 20% reduction through reuse and improved sanitation techniques 7. olid Waste - 20% reduction through increased recycling and reuse of waste 8. Employees - Increase employee engagement through a voluntary personal sustainability campaign

**Catalonian mineral water distributor Blue Planet has reached a merger agreement with Irish company Aquadirect. **The new group, Aquadirect Blue Planet, now aims to strengthen its position in the Catalonian market in Spain. This latest move is Blue Planet's fourth expansion since it began operation in 1997. In 2004 the company acquired Aquanova and in 2005 and 2006, Blue Planet took over the water cooler divisions of Vila Vending and El Cafetó respectively. In 2008 the Catalan company has also reached a strategic agreement with water cooler distributor Todagua Almacenaje y Distribución, which operates in the Madrid area. The recent merger will allow Aquadirect Blue Planet to distribute 6.5 million litres of water for coolers only in Catalonia. Aquadirect was created in 2001 and is a subsidiary of the Queally Group. Ireland's largest privately owned agri-business. Aquadirect Blue Planet General Manager Lluis Parera stated: "This merger benefits all of us. Blue Planet and Aquadirect share the same distribution area of Catalonia, and this operation will allow the new group to take advantage of the synergies between both firms. The agreement will help to consolidate us as one of the top Catalan companies in this sector."

Sip, the pioneering flavoured water with beauty benefits, has extended its brand with a range of all-natural, antioxidant-rich iced lollies. LicketySip iced lollies are 100% natural, containing no preservatives, artificial flavours, sweeteners or colours. Flavoured and sweetened only with fruit extracts, LicketySips evoke traditional lollies and are available in three flavours: Mango, Lemon and Blackcurrant. In keeping with the Sip brand’s holistic beauty ethos, LicketySip iced lollies also contain skin-friendly ingredients soothing rose petal extract – sourced via an organic farm in Herefordshire, UK – and antioxidants vitamin C and selenium. Each flavour will be available in a four-pack, priced around £3.99. LicketySip is produced by Inside Out Beauty Ltd.

UK drinks maker Britvic has announced encouraging interim results for the 28 weeks to 13 April with its still drinks portfolio delivering the lions share of success. The group, whose portfolio includes Pepsi, 7 UP, Tango, J20 juice and water brand Pennine Spring, encouraged investors by reporting improving growth trends in the early weeks of its second half which started in mid-April. Pre-tax profits in the six months to 13 April rose to £17.2 million from £15.2 million a year earlier, while revenues rose 28.6% to £454.7 million, including the first full 28 week contribution from Britvic Ireland, created through last year’s acquisition of the Ballygowan soft drinks business of Irish cider maker C&C. Last year's poor summer and a lack of momentum into the autumn period impacted on the still drinks market. Many operators were also hit by the smoking ban faced by pubs and licensed premises. But Britvic said it had out-performed its rivals with volumes up 5.9% to 232 million litres in the period. A big marketing push for Robinsons, the extension of the Drench water brand and a strong performance from Fruit Shoot saw revenues from still drinks up 2.8% to £161.8 million. Meanwhile, carbonated brands saw volumes rise 0.2% – an under-performance blamed on Christmas promotions by competitors. Britvic Chief Executive Paul Moody said the company delivered a "resilient performance" in the first half, with market share gains across most of its brands. He added: "The first half of our year has been a period of modest growth for the soft drinks market overall, with improving growth trends evident in the early weeks of the second half.”

*The London International Wine Fair (LIWF) has added a whole new dimension this year as top beverage logistics and drinks business executives are actively pursuing new, cooperative, measures to address climate change. * At yesterday’s 'Confronting Climate Change' seminar, arranged by the drinksbusiness and leading logistics provider JF Hillebrand, key speakers and panellists from JF Hillebrand, Tesco, Waitrose and Adnams gathered to openly discuss how their companies and others should continue to progress with keeping ecological issues at the forefront of the industry’s agenda. JF Hillebrand Managing Director David Mawer opened the seminar by going directly to the heart of the issue: ”Collectively, we are here because we know that the drinks industry needs to demand that there be a global environmental standard and profiling behaviour for carbon emissions. As fair warning to us all … disorganised, substandard or unregulated initiatives within the industry could be extremely detrimental to what we wish to accomplish.” In his speech, Mawer added that in order to minimise confusion and misdirected ecological efforts within the industry: “There is an urgent need to establish a common methodology for calculating carbon emissions. This is the first major challenge … If, like me, you believe that destiny is a matter of choice – then let’s take action together for the better.” At the end of the seminar, JF Hillebrand and the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA), in a joint partnership to effectively address Mawer’s industry call to action, announced that they have recently joined forces to create a <1> that works out CO2 emission results by incorporating all aspects of a bulk wine shipment. According to WSTA, the Transport Carbon Calculator addresses the UK trade’s concerns about carbon emissions, by providing the user with an accurate guide to the CO2 emissions. Sticking firmly with the theme of cooperative efforts, Dan Jago, Tesco’s Director of Bulk Wine Shipments (BWS), said that it is necessary for the industry to act with “consistency and continuity” in order to best confront today’s environmental issues. Jago, and other panelists, emphasised product packaging as one area that the industry should place effort on improving. Dr Andy Wood, speaking on behalf of the brewer Adnams, offered a case study where his company worked to decrease the actual glass weight of their beer bottles by 34%. He noted that reduction in packaging weight results in lowered carbon emissions throughout production and shipping. Dr Wood reminded all those in the room of the primary reason his brewery believes in cooperative efforts throughout the industry to confront climate change and put environmental issues at the very top of the wine and drinks business list: “If there’s no planet … then there’s no beer.” <1>: http://www2.jfhillebrand.com/ToolsandResources/CarbonCalculatorTool/tabid/452/Default.aspx

The agreement gives Syngenta enhanced flexibility in serving its customers and will expand the technology choices available to growers. Terms of the agreement include: Monsanto receives a royalty bearing license to Syngenta’s enabling technology for dicamba herbicide tolerance. Syngenta receives more favourable marketing conditions relating to its Bt11 trait for European corn borer control. Monsanto and Syngenta agree to settle all patent, antitrust and commercial litigation between the companies and their subsidiaries. These disputes include: Syngenta’s antitrust action against Monsanto, all infringement cases on herbicide-tolerant and insect-protected corn technologies, and a dispute between the parties on herbicide-tolerant soya bean technology. Syngenta receives a royalty bearing license to Monsanto’s trademarked Roundup Ready 2 Yield soya bean technology.li>Monsanto and Syngenta agree to cross-enable each other to develop and deliver innovative new herbicide-tolerant and Bt insect-protection products in corn, cotton and soybeans to compete for the business of farmers around the world. Syngenta Seeds chief operating officer Davor Pisk said: “The need to increase agricultural productivity has never been greater than it is today. We are therefore very pleased to have reached an agreement which expands the choices available across the US corn and soybean markets.” See also Syngenta and DuPont launch new fungicide solutions.