Innovation key to switch
Givaudan and Diversa reach milestone
Kraft sets up wellness team
Kirin consolidates, boosts R&D

BRIEFLY…

STARPACK AWARDS The closing date for the British Institute of Packaging’s 2004 Starpack packaging awards is 5 December 2003. The awards will be made at the Total packaging and processing exhibition at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham from 29 March to 1 April 2004. Contact Rebecca Clark, T +44(0)1664 500055 or visit www.iop.co.uk for entry forms.

NEW SLOGAN McDonald's unwrapped its first global advertising campaign, 'I'm lovin' it', this month. The five-commercial TV-based campaign is the brainchild of DDB Worldwide’s Heye & Partner, a long-time McDonald's agency in Unterhaching, Germany.

P&G nails Wella Procter & Gamble finally closed the disputed 4.65bn euro deal to acquire German hair care products maker Wella. It now owns 98.1% of Wella voting shares and 79.2% of total company shares. Wella chairman Heiner Gurtler keeps his post and will serve as a president on P&G’s Global Leadership Council. In this role, Gurtler will lead the Clairol and Wella Professional Businesses and Cosmopolitan Cosmetics.

DOUBLE DECKER Godiva Chocolatier has launched a new range of caramel-flavoured chocolates. They blend caramelised cream with butter, vanilla, and salt and add nuts, cocoas, or fruits, and cover them in Godiva’s hallmark dark and milk chocolate.

PERSONALISED FOOD US-based Gourmet Impression has introduced an embossing system that food service companies can use to add personalised or advertising messages to foods such as pizzas and pies.

CLEANSING IRON An ultra-fine, nanoscale powder made from iron has proved remarkably effective for cleaning up contaminated soil and groundwater, say researchers at Lehigh University, reported in the Journal of Nanoparticle Research.

KRAFT GETS BACK TO NATURE Kraft Foods North America has bought the Back to Nature brand business from privately-held cereal and granola products maker Organic Milling for an undisclosed sum. Organic Milling will produce Back to Nature cereals and granola for Kraft under a co-manufacturing agreement.

WOMEN PROP UP BARS Women are driving a doubling of the $3bn market for food and snack bars in the US by 2007, says market researcher Packaged Facts. Women are 12% to 15% more likely to eat food bars than men, regarding them as a healthier option.

TEENAGE SPENDING RISES US children aged 8-21 (Generation Y) spend $172bn/y and save $39bn/y, according to market researcher Harris Interactive. But like their parents, they are spending more and saving less, despite shrinking incomes.

LIME COKE? Expect Coca-Cola to introduce lime-flavoured Diet Coke early next year, reports Beverage Digest.

Innovation key to switch

US electronics retailer Radio Shack is putting innovation at the heart of a search for growth.

Chairman and CEO Leonard Roberts is to lead a new business innovation team to spot growth opportunities in strategic business alliances, licensing opportunities, new markets, and innovative products.

Fort Worth-based RadioShack has more than 7000 shops. It claims 94% of all Americans live or work within five minutes of a RadioShack store or dealer.

"The business innovation team will advance the company's vision and strategy," Roberts says. "It's about identifying new and emerging opportunities, figuring out how to best leverage our assets, and bringing everything to market in a non-capital intensive, yet fresh and exciting way."

The team will have input from top management, the directors and new business development vice president Andrew Berman. Berman’s job is to identify new markets, emerging technologies and business alliances that foster new products, distribution channels and investments.

Givaudan and Diversa reach milestone

Ingredients firm Givaudan Flavors and US genome-based research house Diversa have developed a proprietary biocatalytic process that will replace an existing chemical process and “significantly improve” production of a natural flavour ingredient.

This triggers a milestone payment from Givaudan in terms of their January 2002collaborative agreement to discover and develop novel enzymes and processes for the cost-effective production of new consumer products. Upon commercialisation, Diversa will receive license fees and royalties.

For more than 200 years Givaudan has made flavours for soft drinks, fruit juices, baked goods, chewing gum, chocolate, ice cream, fresh dairy products, desserts, ready meals, snacks, soups and sauces.

Diversa uses proprietary genomic technologies for the rapid discovery and optimisation of novel products from genes and gene pathways to develop commercially valuable molecules with pharmaceutical applications, such as optimised monoclonal antibodies and orally active drugs, as well as enzymes and small molecules with agricultural, chemical, and industrial applications. It has alliances and joint ventures with Dow Chemical, DuPont Bio-Based Materials, Givaudan Flavors, GlaxoSmithKline, Invitrogen Corporation, and affiliates of Syngenta AG.

Kraft sets up wellness team

America’s biggest food firm, Kraft Foods, has made good on a July promise to help address the global rise in obesity by appointing 10 experts to its Worldwide Health & Wellness Advisory Council.

They are David Allison, Chen Chunming, Leonard Epstein, Albert Flynn, James Gavin, Jeanne Goldberg, Michael Lefevre, Russell Pate, Ana Lydia Sawaya, and Ellen Wartella.

Together they are expert in obesity, physical activity, public health, human behaviour, nutrient fortification, lifestyle education and the impact of media on child development.

The council will help Kraft respond to obesity and other health and wellness issues and opportunities, starting with new policies, standards and measures for implementing the specific obesity initiatives Kraft announced in July.

These include capping single-serve portion sizes, nutrient content, locally appropriate foods for in-school vending machines, and nutrition labelling and the use of health claims. 

Kirin consolidates, boosts R&D

Japan’s Kirin Brewery is to centralise all its research and development for food and beverages at its Yokohama brewery by early next year. The move includes milk-based beverages, tomato juice and other products.

Local reports suggest Kirin's R&D budget this year will rise 500m yen (US$4.2m) to 23.5bn yen. The move is to improve R&D efficiency and help it develop new products in new fields such as low-alcohol beverages and fermented food products.