New food launches Apr-Jun: pasta power

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Kerry: riding the convenience wave

Despite the impact of unfavorable exchange rates and high energy costs, global food producer Kerry Group has announced another profits increase for the first half of 2005, citing the UK's unrelenting appetite for prepared meals as a key driving factor. A continued focus on healthy and convenient products will enable Kerry to prevail over tough operating conditions going forward.

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Forecourt shops are becoming the ideal vehicle for a night in

Consumers are increasingly choosing a night at home with a meal and a good wine over the overpriced and low-quality vino often offered at restaurants. They would rather remain in the comfort of their own living room than deal with the noise and push and shove of a crowded pub. Either way you cut it, consumption of alcohol at home is on the increase - good news for licensed forecourt retailers.

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Continental counterparts catching up with Britain's love of ethnic food

The traditionally British love affair with ethnic food is now spreading across Europe. Sales of packaged ethnic foods are predicted to hit E7 billion in Europe by 2009. In Spain, where gastronomic variety is a source of national pride, the value of packaged ethnic foods is expected to treble. This could mean that curry-loving Britain may soon be knocked off the top spot in the ethnic food stakes.

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Pizza: chilled freezes out frozen in France

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Unilever: stormy waters ahead for Birds Eye

Unilever's Birds Eye frozen food brand, fronted by the eponymous Captain, is celebrating its 50th birthday. The brand brought the fish finger to a mass market and became the staple for a generation of British children. However as the growth of the European frozen foods market slows, Unilever looks ready to offload the business.

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Yum Brands: silencing the fast food critics?

Yum Brands has recorded its largest quarterly profit rise in a year on the back of strong growth in China. Although it plans to strengthen its presence in emerging markets, the increasingly tarnished image of fast food means Yum will have to adopt a careful strategy if it is to continue growing at such a strong pace.

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McDonald's: super-inform me

McDonald's decision to display nutritional information - including calorie and fat content - on its product packaging may well help restore faith in the brand by empowering customers' menu choices. However, the move does not represent a fundamental change to the company's overriding mission - to provide cheap, flavorsome food, served quickly.

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New food launches May-Jul: manufacturers ditch the candies

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UK single-person households: targeting the powerful solo pound

A recent report by the Institute for Public Policy Research and Unilever predicts that more than one-third of the UK's population will live alone by the year 2021. Consumer products manufacturers and retailers should not ignore this trend: by tailoring marketing strategies and new products towards single-person households, they will be able to attract the increasingly powerful 'solo pound'.

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