Farmers groups have said they are disappointed plans for a giant dairy in Lincolnshire have been withdrawn. Nocton Dairies Ltd wanted to house 3,770 cows near Lincoln but faced widespread opposition. Concerns were raised about animal welfare but environmental objections were blamed for the withdrawal. The National Farmers’ Union and the Royal Association of British Dairy Farmers warned British farming had to develop if it was to feed the nation. Nocton... read more →
PLANS to build a food factory creating 500 jobs in Spalding have fallen through after the company decided not to expand into South Holland. Irish meat firm Dunbia was interested in setting up a factory on part of the former Bernard Matthews site, but has now decided against the plans. However, Holbeach-based Ashley King Developments, which owns the site, says other parties are interested in the land and director Ashley King has high hopes that another... read more →
PREMIER Foods’ Long Sutton site is set to be snapped up by food giant Princes – which promises to keep the factory’s 600 workers on. Princes has entered into a conditional agreement with Premier over a £182million purchase of its canning operations in both Long Sutton and Wisbech. Princes, which has nine other large food and drink production sites across the country, says the purchase will be to expand its business and it has no plans to reduce... read more →
UK to back imports of animal feed with traces of GM crops in move to benefit US exporters. Genetically modified crops will be allowed to enter the UK food chain without the need for regulatory clearance for the first time under controversial plans expected to be approved this week. The Observer understands that the UK intends to back EU plans permitting the importing of animal feed containing traces of unauthorised GM crops in a move that has alarmed environmental... read more →
The UK is the ‘lazy man of Europe’, and should follow example of other countries, according to the Soil Association. Successive British governments have failed to support and promote the organic food and farming sector, according to a damning report. Their failures have left the UK an isolated “lazy man of Europe”. Research from the UK’s biggest organic body highlights the low priority given to the sector by “diffident”... read more →
Household brands Crosse & Blackwell and Fray Bentos have been taken over by food and drinks group Princes. The £182m acquisition comes after Premier Foods decided to sell off its tinned food operation. Premier’s factories include plants at Long Sutton in Lincolnshire and Wisbech in Cambridgeshire. Liverpool-based Princes also has a long-term licence to make baked beans and pasta under the Branston and Batchelors brands. The sale, which is subject... read more →
Premier Foods has sold its canned food business for £182 million. The sale of the home of Fray Bentos and Crosse & Blackwell, only a month after the company had disposed of Quorn for £205 million, is part of its strategy of slashing debt from £1.7 billion to £1 billion. Premier has spent the past 18 months restructuring its balance sheet having been forced to ask investors for an emergency £400 million cash injection in 2009. The sale of the canned... read more →
Effort to reduce household costs revives the ‘Aldi effect’ giving boost to discounters. (Zoe Wood – guardian.co.uk – Tuesday 1 February 2011 20.53 GMT) It was the shopping trend that defined the recession – a mass exodus from supermarket giants such as Tesco and Asda to obscure German rivals Aldi and Lidl in an attempt to save money. While the so-called “Aldi effect” had appeared to be shortlived, the discounters are... read more →
