*The Global Probiotics Council (GPC), a committee established in 2004 by Groupe Danone and Yakult Honsha Co, has announced the Young Investigator Grant for probiotics research programme (YIGPRO). * The annual grants are designed to stimulate innovative research and to support young investigators while attracting new researchers in the United States into the field of probiotics and gut microbiota. “Our two companies have demonstrated their long standing commitment to advancing research in probiotics. “This field continues to be one of the most promising for more discoveries that will benefit human health, which is why Danone and Yakult decided in 2004 to join forces and further encourage more research in a larger number of countries,” said Sven Thormahlen, Executive Vice President R&D, Danone Research. “With this new initiative, we will continue to contribute to bridging gaps in the field of probiotics and the gut,” said Gerard Denariaz, Director of Danone’s Probiotic Research. * Yakult Honsha* “Emerging science on the regular consumption of probiotic containing products shows how these products can help to regulate the intestinal ecosystem and benefit health. These grants will enable young investigators who are senior fellows, or junior faculty to further explore the health benefits of probiotics. These grants will also further advance understanding about the relationship between probiotics and the intestinal flora and are anticipated to expand the already stable research platform,” said Yakult Honsha Co Senior Managing Director Ryuji Chino. Each Young Investigator Grant for Probiotic Research will provide $50,000 over one year. Research applications should contribute to knowledge about gut microbiota or the role of intestinal flora in health and disease. The grants will provide opportunity for researchers in the fields of gastroenterology, immunology, genetics, molecular biology, cell biology, microbiology, and infectious disease to foster innovative ideas, sustain independence, and advance science. Probiotics are live cultures that, when consumed in sufficient quantities, can provide health benefits to an individual. Probiotics can help maintain the digestive system by providing a regular source of “friendly” bacteria to the intestinal tract, helping to improve the functioning of the intestinal microflora. Application procedures and additional details on the Young Investigator Grant for Probiotics Research programme can be found at <<1>">www.probioticsresearch.com]<1> <1>: http://www.probioticsresearch.com

*Tetra Pak – the world leader in food processing and packaging solutions – has unveiled plans to revitalise its brand in order to strengthen its global identity. * The brand revitalisation will help strengthen awareness of what the company does and what it stands for – bringing to life Tetra Pak’s existing motto 'Protects what's good'. This motto can be found on more than 100 billion Tetra Pak packages around the world. In January, Tetra Pak launched its new graphic identity, which puts the 'Protects what's good' promise at the heart of the brand, with a bolder, fresher, more colourful look. “Tetra Pak is a brand with a rich heritage and an exciting future,” said Tetra Pak CEO, Dennis Jönsson. “Our motto ‘Protects what's good’ extends far beyond protecting the contents in a package. We are protecting what is good in order to shape a better future for our customers, the company, our employees, our suppliers and the communities in which we operate.” For example, the company is constantly innovating new products and services to make food safe and available everywhere. Tetra Pak is also committed to sustainable forestry, recycling and a low carbon footprint within its value chain. The new brand identity is designed to help differentiate the company and support its leading position in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Tetra Pak will roll out its new visual identity in phases during 2008. The brand work was developed with Ogilvy Group UK, which conducted an extensive strategic review of the Tetra Pak brand identity on a global basis.

Tailored to specific energy requirements, novel product samples for various applications clearly demonstrate how manufacturers can create innovative and healthy energy products. The concept is based on sophisticated combinations of Frutarom's natural herbal extracts and other functional ingredients that offer various approaches to energy plus authentic flavours. Energy has many facets. That’s why Frutarom’s latest concept not only targets physical endurance, but also brain power, mental alertness, and the need for a quick recovery after exercise. The 'claim to fame' is the unique combination of energy enhancing natural herbal extracts with a perfectly matching blend of flavours – both special subjects to Frutarom. Green tea, guarana, schisandra, ginseng and green maté are just a few of the main players in Frutarom’s range of herbal 'energy' extracts. Health, indulgence and convenience Whereas ginseng and schisandra provide vitality characteristics, it's the caffeine content in guarana, green tea and maté which makes them perfectly suitable for natural energy products. In combination with creative and energy supplying flavour compositions, these combinations result in indulgent products that offer consumers an extra 'boost'. The product samples include beverages and nutrition bars, as well as dairy products and even confectionery, meeting consumer´s three main demands: Health, indulgence and convenience. For health-conscious but sweet-toothed consumers who want to have a handy energy kick, the natural energy concept candies 'Paso Doble', 'Spice’n’bong' and 'Energesso' again combine natural caffeine containing extracts with best suitable flavourings. * Market overview* 'Energy' products can expect further growth. According to Mintel, the energy drinks market witnessed an increase of 11% in 2006, with even stronger growth during 2007. Already buoyant, the energy drinks market has been further fuelled by lifestyle-oriented consumers’ interest in 'energy' diets. The new energy concept shows how manufacturers can boost their energy too – by simply using Frutarom’s creativity and expertise to develop energy products with a special edge and in specific cases with a 'clean label'.

Pure1 Systems has announced the release of the Absolute1 – a unique combination of prefilter with the tightest absolute rated depth filter available to the point-of-use market. The Absolute1 high-efficiency depth filter cartridge is constructed using an advanced microprocessor-controlled production process that permits the creation of multiple filtration zones within a single filter cartridge. The four-zone design produces a gradient pore structure which effectively captures larger particles in the outer sections of the filter cartridge, while providing highly efficient and consistent removal of small particles in the inner sections, eliminating the need for an additional prefilter. Manufactured from FDA-listed materials in polypropylene, the filters offer performance of greater than 99.9% of materials 0.5 µm or greater, as determined by the ASTM F-795 Test. The filter is free of adhesives, binders, resins and silicone. “This unique product offers our customers the versatility of open prefiltration with a tight final filter in a single, disposable filter element," said Stephen Messinger, Director of Sales and Marketing for Pure1 Systems. "Replacing our existing PF-5 and PF-1 filters, the new filter will be less expensive than the two previous units, while offering greater removal of sediment and bacteria. The unit is available in a new Pure1-designed permanent housing and will be offered as the standard prefiltration in all SemperFresh filtration systems.” * About Pure1 Systems* Pure1 was started in 1988 to develop an answer to the problems with five-gallon bottles of water: lifting, spilling, storage, reservoir contamination and expense. Pure1 has headquarters in Lawrence, Massachusetts.

*Healthy Food Brands LLC has purchased the exclusive licensing rights to market Sweet'N Low brand sugar-free candy and Sunkist candy from Simply Lite Foods. * The agreement permits Healthy Food to market Sweet ‘N Low products globally and Sunkist products in the US. The company says it plans to develop new items in both lines. “The sugar-free product attributes of Sweet'N Low and the fact that Sunkist confections have 35% less sugar than other leading brands, fits well within our company portfolio of having ‘better for you’ brands,” said JoAnn DeTurris, vice-president of Healthy Food Brands. “We're pleased to work with two such world-renowned brands and look to acquire others in the near future.”

*Laiterie Lamothe will join the Agropur Division Natrel, a Canadian leader in fluid milk and value added dairy products. * "What's special about Laiterie Lamothe is that it caters to market segments in which we're not active, such as organic milk. This acquisition will allow us to expand our line of products and to be more active in a region where our presence is less felt," said Agropur's Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Pierre Claprood. "The Laiterie Lamothe has been part of the Centre-du-Québec landscape for nearly 100 years and the whole region is very proud of it. The Agropur family is happy to be able to rely on the reputation of Lamothe products and know-how of its employees," he added. "I thank clients and consumers for their loyalty toward Lamothe products over all these years. I hope they will continue to buy them while now giving their support to Natrel. I am happy that Agropur is continuing its plant operations and proud that the company has expansion projects for organic milk," said Mr. Jean-Claude Lamothe, the dairy's President. Established in 1913, Laiterie Lamothe & Frères Ltée produces a range of quality fresh dairy products, including fluid milk, flavoured milk, Omega-3 enriched milk and organic milk. Since its foundation, it has been working with local dairy farmers to make its products, which are available in many stores throughout Quebec. Founded in 1938, Agropur cooperative is a leader in the Canadian dairy industry, with sales of $2.45 billion. It has 3,783 members, nearly 4,800 employees and 25 plants in Canada, the U.S. and Argentina, as well as numerous distribution centres across the country. It processes more than nearly two and a half billion litres of milk per year and offers an impressive line of products, which includes such famous brands as Québon, Oka, Sealtest and Natrel and Yoplait.

*SSI, a Chelford Group company and provider of specialist ERP and supply chain solutions for key industries, has announced a major £200,000 order from Bruichladdich Distillery Company, the leading independent south Hebridian distiller. * The implementation of TROPOS, SSI's fully integrated ERP system, will provide Bruichladdich with the supply-chain control necessary to support the company's continued expansion – which saw it increase sales turnover by 40% last year – and allow it to continue the impressive growth it has enjoyed since being founded in 2001. It will help to eliminate inefficient and time consuming paper-based processes and create a single source of information that will provide everyone in the business with instant visibility of information through a common system. The logistics Bruichladdich has a complex supply chain: it distils, matures, bottles, warehouses and distributes 45 different types of whisky at its Islay site – across multiple brands – to around 25 countries worldwide. Every whisky stock movement has to be accounted for through the manufacturing process and reported monthly to HM Revenue and Customs. Special documentation has to be generated for distribution and additionally excise payments made when the destination of the goods are to a UK duty paid location. The recording of this information will now be done automatically by TROPOS, leaving staff to concentrate on other tasks. "We've experienced very quick growth since we started from scratch in 2001, and we now need to implement a greater degree of centralised automation into our business to help us continue in that form," said Mark Reynier, Managing Director, Bruichladdich. "We grew at almost 40% in 2007, ahead of an industry average of 10%, and there are still plenty of growth opportunities out there. We needed a system that was proven in our industry, and that would work in the way we needed it to, and not the other way around. "TROPOS represents an ideal implementation because it simplifies the control of what is a fairly complex supply chain. We now have the security of knowing that we're able to continue expanding into new markets, such as organic whisky, as well as new countries. More than that, though, our business processes won't be affected and we can easily up our output without significant new staffing costs." "We bring considerable experience and expertise in implementing ERP systems in the distilling industry, and have undertaken five similar implementations in recent years for UK distillers," commented Neville Merritt, Marketing Director, Chelford Group. "Bruichladdich is a progressive company and the Directors and Senior Management recognised the distinct benefits that TROPOS will provide for them not only as a distillery, but also for the overall business." Bruichladdich is based in a distillery which was originally built as state-of-the-art in 1881. It has now fully modernised the whole operation, but kept the impressive original features of the building. Bruichladdich sources eight varieties of barley, from ten different farms, which makes it unique in the distilling world by offering such tremendous variety across its different malts.

**Chancellor Alistair Darling announced a new target to reduce UK carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. His budget outlined incentives for businesses to select the least polluting vehicles and a target to make new non-domestic buildings carbon zero by 2019. **Bracknell-based Tana Water UK Ltd has already begun its carbon reduction programme by changing its company vehicles for a model with lower environmental impact, and reducing heating in its Bracknell warehouse. The company has also used Priority CRM software to reduce the mileage required to service its mains-fed water machines. Using Priority CRM in combination with tracker devices in the vans, Tana Water UK is able to match up the most efficient route for engineers to follow so that they can service as many customers as possible in one round trip. This avoids the situation where two or three vans are being driven to different companies within the same engineer’s territory and reduces fuel consumption and carbon emissions. Tana Water machines use a combination of carbon filtration, to remove impurities such as sand, lead, rust, limescale and chlorine from tap water, and ultraviolet light to kill germs at the point of use. To ensure that drinking water is kept safe, the carbon filter has to be changed every six months by a Water Regulations Advisory Scheme (WRAS) approved engineer. As the only WRAS-approved manufacturer in the UK that sells and maintains its own machines, Tana Water UK was able to introduce logistical efficiencies to reduce the carbon emissions involved in the servicing of its own water machines, rather than passing this on to a third party. “Before we installed the tracker devices and Priority CRM software, engineers were literally passing each other en route to customers," said Nick Heane, Managing Director, Tana Water UK. "Now, each WRAS-approved Tana engineer does all of the servicing of the carbon and UV filters and undertakes any repairs, rather than the same customer being visited by three different engineers. We're absolutely committed to reducing our carbon emissions as a company, and this new system not only achieves that, but with Mr Darling announcing an additional 2p on a litre of fuel from October 2008, it makes good business sense, too." Last year, Tana Water (UK) Ltd announced that it had initiated a carbon rating programme with co2balance.com to help the company to reduce its overall environmental impact. Recommendations from co2balance.com included: advising Tana Water UK to change one of its company vehicles for a model with lower environmental impact; reducing heating in the Bracknell warehouse; and continuing with its import policy, which has a 68% lower carbon footprint than water dispenser companies shipping in products from farther afield.

Loseley has introduced its new Naturally Softer Butter. Packed in a 250g tub, this 100% natural product spreads like a dream, giving you all the flavour of dairy-fresh butter with nothing added and nothing taken away. The secret to Loseley Naturally Softer Butter's success is down to its specially selected cows and their extra-special diet. Loseley cows are fed a unique, natural diet, and when their cream is churned it never becomes as hard as traditional butter. This means that Loseley doesn't have to add vegetable oil to the butter (as is the case with many other spreadable brands) and so what you get is a pure, quality product with no added ingredients. The only thing Loseley does add is a touch of salt to enhance flavour. Loseley Naturally Softer Butter joins its award-winning yogurts and cottage cheeses in providing consumers with a product that's full of the natural goodness of the countryside without any unknown or unwanted additives.

US based DC Brands, an energy drink company that makes both Dickens Cider Energy and Turn Left, has launched Hard Nutrition Functional Water Systems – a range of enhanced vitamin enhanced waters containing added fitness and bodybuilding supplements. DC Brands, which acquired the Hard Nutrition brand at the end of last year, has introduced its low sugar drinks range in fitness stores and gyms in February 2008. The company also relies substantially on online orders. Hard Nutrition Functional Water Systems is currently available in seven variants. Consumers can choose from Breakfast (orange); Lunch (pineapple/raspberry); Dinner (blackberry lemonade); Bedtime (green tea with honey); Whacked Energy (grape); Wide Awake Energy (white tea with blueberry); and Fat Fighter (white tea with plum). At least another seven additional products in the range set for release in 2008 although the flavours have not been disclosed. The future variants include Get Over It – hangover relief, All Woman, Gut Check System Cleanser, Muscle Up-size and strength, Muscle Up – rebuild and recover, Endurance Athlete and Focus. Jim Randall, Vice President of Sales at DC Brands, commented: “All of the products have specifically designed supplements sealed within our proprietary caps and a light, clean, crisp, refreshing beverage as the catalyst."

A new English natural mineral water, drawn from a chalk aquifer that lies deep beneath the South Cambridgeshire countryside, is set to offer English consumers a real alternative to the major Scottish and overseas bottled water brands when it launches in March 2008. Iceni Water, named after the famous East Anglian tribe ruled by Boudicca in 60AD, will be supported by a £650,000 launch campaign which includes extensive in-store activity, consumer sampling, advertising, sports sponsorship and consumer and trade PR. Available in 33cl, 50cl, 75cl and 1.5 litre 100% recyclable plastic bottles, Iceni will be available nationally in UK supermarkets and retailers from mid March. Iceni Water, naturally high in calcium and low in sodium, is bottled at source in Duxford, Cambridgeshire at a purpose-built £11 million bottling plant – the most technically advanced plant of its kind in Europe. The brand offers a real alternative to imported water that incurs substantial food miles during distribution. Iceni Waters Ltd Brett Fleming-Jones, Managing Director said: “Given the UK consumer's growing awareness of and insistence on good food provenance and low food miles, there is a clear gap in the market for a truly English brand, particularly one that can serve London and the South East where bottled water consumption is highest.” In 2008 more than 25 million litres of Iceni Water will be bottled, placing it within the top 10 bottled water brands in the UK, and it is anticipated that production will double within two years.

The first year’s success of new ethical water brand Thirsty Planet has led to three quarters of a million people in some of the poorest parts of Africa being given access to clean water for life. Launched on World Water Day last year, Thirsty Planet’s aim is to bring clean water to 10 million people in sub-Saharan Africa by the year 2015. As World Water Day 2008 approaches (22 March), Thirsty Planet – produced by Harrogate based Waterbrands – has secured a 65% share of the ethical water sector in its first year, generating over £370,000 to help more than 750,000 people. For every multipack of 8x500ml or 6x1.5ltr bottles of Thirsty Planet sold, 50p is given to the charity Pump Aid which helps villagers to dig wells and install cheap and easy-to-operate ‘elephant’ pumps. Contributions from every individual bottle sold also funds the pumps, which do not need any specialist knowledge to maintain and can be repaired with easily available materials, such as plant fibres. Speaking in the run-up to World Water Day, Waterbrands Managing Director Paul Martin said: “The success of this first year is fantastic, and a great start towards reaching our goal. While our business has obviously had a terrific 12 months, the fact that we’ve gone on to help three quarters of a million people makes the achievement that much more enjoyable.” The success of Thirsty Planet is also helping to drive value growth in the otherwise stagnant bottled water market. “The recent outcry over PET bottles and food miles has led to a backlash in the media against all bottled water,” said Paul. “It seems to be singled out for criticism, but it is not the only product packaged in plastic or transported in bulk.” “What is rarely mentioned is the fact that 85% of bottled water drunk in the UK comes from sustainable, natural sources and that 75 per cent is sourced here in Britain. Thirsty Planet certainly falls into both categories. “What we offer with Thirsty Planet is a healthy and convenient way of getting refreshment in addition to making a real difference to the lives of people who are in desperate need. “It’s easy to forget that water remains an incredibly precious resource for millions of people across the globe, yet one we largely take for granted on these shores,” he said. “It's scandalous that in the 21st century there are a billion people on the earth who are still having to rely on dirty, contaminated water, when it costs only £250 to install a well and a pump that will serve a community of 500. This work will ensure a clean water source and prevent thousands of under-5s from dying.” Paul explained that having a source of clean water means so much more than people not falling ill as often. “What we take for granted is a constant worry for the villagers – especially women - whose daily routine is dominated by the never-ending trudge to and from the water hole with heavy buckets,” he said. “By choosing Thirsty Planet, consumers know they are giving someone renewed hope and the chance of a better life."