Unilever to buy Finnish ice cream company

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October 12, 2011 News for the food, beverage and consumer packaged goods industry   Company Watch    Dole takes over parent of berry provider SunnyRidge Dole Food purchased the parent company of SunnyRidge Farm, which provides blueberries, blackberries, strawberries and raspberries, grown in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and Mexico. The acquisition will support fresh- and frozen-berry operations that previously focused on strawberries, Dole said. The Wall Street Journal (tiered subscription model)/Dow Jones Newswires (10/11)      Analyst calls for Frito-Lay spinoff PepsiCo would benefit by spinning off its Frito-Lay snack foods so it could focus solely on beverages, according to Carlos Laboy, a Credit Suisse analyst. PepsiCo is expected to post an 11% year-on-year revenue increase, led by sales in emerging markets, but the company is struggling with higher commodity prices, a weak economy and market share lost to Coca-Cola. The Wall Street Journal (tiered subscription model) (10/12)      Unilever to buy Finnish ice cream company Ingman Ice Cream, a Finnish company with units in Sweden, Lithuania and Belarus, is being acquired by Unilever, subject to regulatory approval. Ingman, with brands including Kingis and Jattis, posted sales of about $95 million in 2010. Bloomberg Businessweek (10/11), Reuters (10/11)      Other News Ocean's Flavor floats low-sodium sea salt line Food Business Review (10/11)      The rise of social media has broken the traditional sales and marketing playbooks. Customers are in the driver's seat with more information and buying power than ever, forcing your company to adapt. Has your company made the social leap? Learn how HERE.   Trends    Black Box campaign centers on wine tastings Black Box, which supports its boxed wine with a campaign that uses volunteers to build buzz and word of mouth, plans to use 5,000 BzzAgent volunteers to host wine tastings. "What we're trying to do is get people away from their preconceptions about box wine," said an official with the public relations firm. The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (10/11)      Vending tour takes new technologies to Minneapolis The 2011 Gratitude Tour of the vending machine industry came to downtown Minneapolis, showcasing technological advances in the machines. Most of the vending machines on display show nutrition information and take either cash or credit cards. One makes cotton candy and another lets users give a free Pepsi to a friend. KARE-TV (Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.) (10/11)        Other News Damaged peanut crop prompts candy price hikes WNEP-TV (Moosic, Pa.) (10/10)      Bacon-flavored desserts mix sweet, savory The Salt Lake Tribune (Utah) (10/10)      Food, convenience items boost growth in the pet-product industry WBEZ-FM (Chicago) (10/10)      Mintel finds consumers aren't looking for HFCS. Only 4 percent of consumers are looking to reduce or avoid high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), according to newly released study findings by Mintel Research Consultancy. Over 2,000 consumers were surveyed on sweeteners, with some surprising results. Visit CornNaturally.com/Mintel for details.   Advertising & Marketing  Feds soften proposal for food-marketing guidelines Government officials creating voluntary food-marketing guidelines are backing down from a previous draft, calling for restrictions only for children 11 and under and saying cartoon characters such as Tony the Tiger can remain. GMA's Scott Faber said even the modified proposal would have "far reaching and negative" consequences and said companies want government to show how the guidelines will curb obesity. Star Tribune (Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.)/The Associated Press (10/12), Reuters (10/12)      Other News Gillette gives Ketchum the edge over Porter Novelli Advertising Age (tiered subscription model) (10/11)      Sources: Leo Burnett, OMD win Chobani Advertising Age (tiered subscription model) (10/7)      Introducing The New Business Gold Rewards Card from American Express OPEN. Designed to earn Membership Rewards® points faster: • For a limited time, 50K bonus points when you spend $10K your first 5 months • 3X points on airfare • 2X points on advertising, gasoline, and shipping • 1X points on everything else LEARN MORE & APPLY   Retail Spotlight    Spartan adds Facts up Front labels Spartan Stores said its private label products will carry Facts up Front nutrition labels designed by the Food Marketing Institute and GMA. "This is a tremendous voluntary undertaking, but we believe our customers will appreciate the Facts Up Front labeling as they can help them quickly make healthier decisions on food and beverage choices," said a Spartan executive. Drug Store News (10/11)      ERP solutions are, by nature, large and complex. How do you select the solution best-suited to your firm? In this guide, Focus Experts share their top 6 best practices for selecting ERP software. Learn more by downloading this free white paper now!   Sponsored Content    'Startup Junkie' Melody Biringer Finally Finds Success Jane Applegate The Debt Crisis No One Is Talking About Mike Periu Beware Of Victory By Definition John Mariotti Guru Review: Best Practices Are Stupid Matthew E. May Small Business Snapshot: White House Advisors Push To Help Startups Katie Morell   Health & Wellness    Chocolate cuts risk of stroke in women, researchers find A Swedish study found that women who had the highest chocolate consumption, an average of about 2.3 ounces per week, had a 20% reduced stroke risk. Although the study failed to prove a cause-and-effect link between chocolate and stroke, cardiologist Dr. Nieca Goldberg said, "Cocoa contains flavonoids, which have antioxidant properties." The findings, which were based on the diet and lifestyle of more than 33,000 women ages 49 to 83, appear in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. USA TODAY/HealthDay News (10/10)      Scheduling That Works for Employers and Employees: It's Not a Mirage Download the white paper How Automated Schedule Design and Management Benefits Both Employers and Employees for valuable tips on giving scheduling control and flexibility to employees. The result? Automated scheduling increased employee effectiveness for 84 percent of managers.   GMA News  Latest findings in Times and Trends: CPG private label sales dip in 2011 Private label share of CPG unit sales dipped during the past year, the first decline since the beginning of the economic downturn according to the GMA/IRI Times and Trends monthly report. Within the CPG industry, private label currently accounts for 22.9% of units and 18.5% of dollar sales. To download the full report, click here.      Learn more about GMA -> About GMA  |  Issues and Policy  |  Newsroom  |  Events  |  Research and Tools   Government & Food Safety  Group raises concern over slow pace of biotech crop approvals in EU EuropaBio said in a report that the slow pace of gaining approval for biotech crops in the European Union could increase the risk of import disruptions. The biotech trade group said it expected the number of biotech crops awaiting approval to reach more than 90 by 2015 and urged the European Commission to reduce the backlog of pending applications by setting goals. "The Commission pays particular attention to authorizations which can have a major impact on trade, and looks for efficiency gains whenever they are possible," said Frederic Vincent, the EU health and consumer spokesman. Reuters (10/11)      Report: FDA backs commercial production of biotech salmon A report by TalkingPointsMemo.com says the FDA filed a document stating its support for production of AquaBounty Technologies' biotech fish, AquAdvantage salmon, for human consumption. The White House's Office of Management and Budget has yet to approve the bioengineered salmon. Supermarket News (10/11)      Position Title Company Name Location Chief Marketing Counsel Hill's Pet Nutrition / Colgate-Palmolive Topeka, KS Manager, Nutrition Product Innovation & Development McDonald's Corporation Oak Brook, IL Click here to view more job listings.   SmartQuote  Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." --Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer and scientist          This SmartBrief was created for cpgbrokers@gmail.com   Subscriber Tools       Update account information | Change e-mail address | Unsubscribe | Print friendly format | Web version | Search past news | Archive | Privacy policy Advertise Associate Publisher, Food Service:  Chris Warne (212) 450-7970 Download Media Kit Job Board:  Jackie Basso (202) 407-7871   Read more at SmartBrief.com A powerful website for SmartBrief readers including: Industry Home Readers' Choice Search Archive Who's Hiring? 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