PACKAGING NEWS ON FASTMOVING

East Africa Glassware Mart plans to double its revenue to $34 million (Sh2.9 billion) by opening in 10 new markets within Africa over the next three years. read more

Johannesburg - South African liquor company Distell Group Limited [JSE:DST] has acquired a 60% share in fast-growing liquor distribution company CJ Wines & Spirits‚ expanding its presence in the East. read more

Tokyo - For those who have trouble finding space for a large wine collection, a new apartment block in Japan with an in-house cellar and a visiting sommelier could be the perfect place to live. read more

Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited (GGBL), has appointed Mr Eric Otoo as the 'Route to Consumer' (RtC) Director in line with the company's vision of dominating the beverage industry in the country.  read more

Namibia Breweries Limited (NBL) said earlier in September that it expects basic earnings per share to be materially lower than the prior year by between 66% and 68% in the year ended 30 June. The company said in a trading statement published by the Namibia Stock Exchange that the decline is attributed to the impairment of a deferred tax asset related to DHN Drinks.  read more

Cape Town - The publication of rules governing the use of the name Rooibos is a first step in preventing its misuse and achieving international protection for the iconic South African plant, said the South African Rooibos Council.  read more

Beijing - Foreign companies in China are getting increasingly jumpy about a spate of antitrust and corruption investigations by Chinese authorities and are hiring lawyers to make sure their operations comply with the law. read more

Mealie meal prices have continued to rise in most parts of Western Province with Sikongo having the highest cost of K90 per 25kg bag of breakfast and K85 roller meal.  read more

Johannesburg - Spar Group Ltd., a South African food and liquor retailer, is working with an Angolan partner to open a store in the country’s capital, Luanda, in the next six months, Finance Director Mark Godfrey said. read more

Bloemfontein - The expansion of South Africa’s middle class bodes well for milk producers, SA Milk Producers' Organisation CEO Bertus de Jongh said on Tuesday. read more

Johannesburg - Restricting marketing on liquor will have a negative affect on the industry and the economy, the SA Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) said on Monday.  read more

About 65,000 kg of contaminated Zambeef products that were confiscated from the northern region were disposed of this week in Kitwe by burning them.  read more

Johannesburg - Actis LLP, a London-based private-equity firm, has proposed an offer for Adcock Ingram Holdings Ltd. to rival a bid from Chilean drugmaker CFR Pharmaceuticals SA, two people familiar with the matter said.  read more

Paris - Barring bad weather in the next two months, France's champagne production is forecast to jump by 56% this year, a bright spot in an otherwise rough period for wine growers. read more

Cape Town - The global wine industry is worth $230bn a year and the potential yields for the South African industry have never been as great, nor the pitfalls as plenty, according to Linda Buckley, director of executive education at UCT’s Graduate School of Business (GSB). read more

Rwanda’s leading beer and soft drinks maker, Bralirwa, has launched a 50cl bottle for its Primus beer brand onto the market. read more

Zambeef Products has made a landmark decision to deal exclusively in Zambian beef products, and will no longer sell any imported beef. read more

Johannesburg - The top shareholder in Adcock Ingram said it would prefer a local buyer for the country's second-biggest drug maker over a $1.3bn bid from Chile's CFR Pharmaceutical. read more

The Minister for Agriculture, Food Security and Co-operatives, Eng Christopher Chiza, told ‘Daily News’ that the government would assist coffee farmers by providing them with coffee seedlings at subsidised prices. “In principle we have agreed that we should provide them with input subsidies.  read more

Ghana’s non-traditional exports earnings fell 2.43 per cent to $2.364 billion in 2012 compared with $2.423 billion in 2011.  read more

New research from the International Data Corporation (IDC) shows that PC shipments in Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) continued to contract in the second quarter of 2013 (2Q13). read more

Namibia Breweries Limited (NBL) in conjunction with O&L Energy has announced the official approval of a 1 MW on-grid solar photovoltaic (PV) facility that will be the largest roof-mounted PV plant in Africa to date.  read more

Cape Town - The Western Cape department of agriculture, together with Wines of South Africa, recently hosted the second Beijing Wine Tasting in China.  read more

Stone Strong Lager, one of Accra Brewery’s flagship beer brands, has won a Gold Award for product and quality at the recently held Monde Selection Awards on May 31, in Stockholm, Sweden.  read more

Coca-Cola through Nairobi Bottlers has invested Sh1.2 billion in a new manufacturing plant that produces materials for production of plastic bottles. read more

The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) of Ghana has warned prospective importers of Zambeef Products produced in Zambia to immediately halt any processes to get the beef into Ghana. read more

The retail price of mealie-meal has been increased by about K5 after millers hiked the cost of the staple food by K2 on account of the removal of fuel and maize subsidies.  read more

Aspen Pharmacare’s purchase of a Merck division would probably spur South Africa’s largest drug maker to sell its first bonds to diversify debt, money manager Anchor Capital said on Friday. read more

Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed industrial concern Delta Corporation Limited, an associate of SAB Miller of South Africa, says it is still waiting for a response from government on an indigenisation plan submitted three years ago, the group chief executive has said. read more

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr. Haruna Idrissu, has said government may, in the future, consider taking measures to discourage the importation of flour into the country in order to reinforce local production. read more

Kenya-based private equity firm Catalyst said it had acquired a 50 per cent stake in Ethiopian food and drink maker Yes Brands to tap into the Horn of Africa nation's large population and fast economic growth.  read more

Johannesburg - A complaint was lodged on Wednesday with the Competition Commission against the SA Poultry Association and local frozen chicken producers. read more

Cape Town - China should use the Western Cape as an investment gateway into Africa, the provincial agriculture and rural development department said on Wednesday. read more

Eastern Province has recorded the highest production in maize, groundnuts and sunflower in the 2012/13 farming season. read more

Washington - June 26 - Coca-Cola announced plans on Wednesday to introduce a cola that is sweetened with sugar and the naturally occurring no-calorie sweetener stevia, in Argentina. read more

A South African wine producer Orange River Cellars has signed a distributorship deal with Kenya’s Chareth General Agencies.  read more

Tipplers will have to shell out more to buy liquor in the capital with the Delhi Government approving a hike in alcohol rates as part of new excise policy, late last month.  read more

London - Britain's major food manufacturers and retailers have agreed to follow the same system of nutritional labelling as part of a government initiative to tackle obesity and poor diet and ease the financial burden on health services. read more

n an effort to accelerate understanding of beverage sector impacts on climate change and identify reduction priorities for greenhouse gas emissions, the Beverage Industry Environmental Roundtable (BIER) has published its research on carbon footprints for five beverage categories, including beer, bottled water, carbonated soft drink, spirits and wine.  read more

South African drugmaker Adcock Ingram said on Thursday a rival bid was in the offing to a $675m (R60.7) one made by conglomerate Bidvest [JSE:BVT], raising the stakes for a possible acquisition and pushing its share price up almost 8%. read more

Berghoff Brewing will revive its brands this summer with updated recipes, and a move to contract brewing the beers at Stevens Point Brewery. read more

Fabupharm Products, a wholly-owned Namibian pharmaceutical manufacturer, has doubled in size over the past year. Subsequent to upgrading its manufacturing facility to comply with international standards, Fabupharm announced recently it has received an Official Manufacturing GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) License from the Namibian Medicines Regulatory Council (NMRC). This means that Fabupharm is now licensed to manufacture scheduled medicinal products. read more

Johannesburg - Aspen Pharmacare Holdings [JSE:APN] has plans to buy Nestle's infant nutritional business for $215m, the company said on Thursday.  read more

(Reuters) - Johnson & Johnson beat Wall Street's quarterly profit estimates on sharply lower taxes, strong sales of prescription drugs and a revival of over-the-counter medicines that had been recalled over quality control problems. read more

Paris - French food group Danone said Tuesday the explosion in demand for baby formula in China helped lift sales by 4.3% in the first quarter of the year to €5.3bn ($6.9bn). read more

Johannesburg - Popular supermarkets including Pick n Pay, Shoprite, Woolworths and Spar have responded to a City Press report that identified them as stocking incorrectly labelled meat products. read more

Johannesburg - South Africa has imposed new rules requiring goods imported from occupied Palestinian territories display special labels, a government official said on Thursday.  read more

Windhoek - Kuiseb Traders have shown that they mean business when they recently launched a fully Namibian brand of processed and packaged fish products for the local market. read more

Zurich - Swiss premium chocolate maker Lindt & Spruengli has lost a court battle to protect its gold foil-wrapped Easter bunnies from imitation by a German rival. read more

China is becoming an increasingly important market for New Zealand wine and a group of local firms is hoping to boost sales further by making an appearance this week at one of the Asian superpower's biggest international trade shows, the Chengdu Wine Fair.  read more

(Reuters) - Global wine production fell sharply last year due to bad weather in Europe and a recent policy to drain its "wine lakes", while Chile and United States saw a jump in harvests, according to a recent report. read more

South Africa is anticipating a grape crop of more than 1.3-million tons for 2013 – a record in the wine industry’s history – which could, depending on market demand, potentially aid wine exports. The country’s wine exports reached a record of 417-million litres in 2012, up 17% from 2011. read more

Bangalore: While Americans and Europeans prefer their beer to be light on alcohol content, Indians have traditionally been partial to a stronger brew, a preference that’s become further accentuated of late along with an improvement in the image associated with such beverages. read more

AFP - German antitrust authorities said on Monday that they had opened an investigation against several brewers over the suspected price fixing of beer. read more

South Africa, the eighth-biggest wine producer, is seeking to regain a foothold in the US market lost to imports from Australia to Argentina by promoting brands at Walmart Stores and Whole Foods Market, a diplomat said last week.  read more

Lonrho’s Oceanfresh Seafoods, local purveyor of fresh and frozen seafood, has recently been listed in Sam’s Club stores in the US.  read more

Dairy producer Clover is investigating the possibility of moving its cheese facility closer to milk sources at the coast. This would save on transport and distribution costs, the firm said this week. read more

New York -- Walgreens reported a better-than-expected profit on flat sales for its second quarter Tuesday morning and unveiled an expanded partnership with AmerisourceBergen that could give the pharmacy operator an equity position and seat on the drug wholesaler’s board. read more

Johannesburg - The Consumer Goods Council of SA (CGCSA) expressed disappointment on Tuesday at the publication of regulations to reduce salt content in foodstuffs. read more

Bucharest - French food industry group Danone said Monday it had withdrawn some of its dairy products from sale in Romania after a potentially carcinogenic substance was found in milk from one of its suppliers.  read more

The South African sugar industry is pushing for the introduction of import tariffs aimed at reducing the amount of sugar imported into the country, as well as for trade agreements to be extended to European markets to increase its sugar exports, which would hopefully add R1 billion to the industry’s inconsistent and struggling revenue growth.  read more

Zurich - Swiss luxury chocolate maker Lindt & Spruengli said it was confident people would keep buying its sweet treats this year despite weak consumer sentiment in its key market, Europe.  read more

Oslo - The Norwegian Food Safety Authority said on Friday it would file a police complaint against a food company after finding large quantities of pork in its halaal-labelled products. read more

Johannesburg - The South African economy needs a larger manufacturing sector in order to improve employment, Economic Development Minister Ebrahim Patel said on Thursday.  read more

Cape Town - A steadfast commitment to exceptional quality, service and big dreams has allowed a startup company to turn their dreams into reality by manufacturing and supplying luxury paper bags for Country Road and Trenery - brands owned by Woolworths Holdings [JSE:WHL].  read more

Johannesburg - Manufacturing production increased by 3.9% year-on-year (y/y) in January after an unrevised 2.0% (y/y) rise in December‚ data released by Statistics SA on Thursday showed. read more

Johannesburg - Meat inspectors are on a legal strike over a pay dispute, International Meat Quality Assurance Services (IMQAS) said on Tuesday. read more

New York - Hostess is moving ahead with plans to sell its Twinkies and other snack cakes to two investment firms after no other competitive offers were made. read more

Brussels - The European Union is banning the sale of new cosmetic products containing ingredients tested on animals. read more

South Africa’s wine exports to Sweden, one of the local industry’s biggest markets, are listed as “at risk” following the recent unrest that took place mainly in the Hex River Valley, although the farms there produce table grapes and not wine. read more

Johannesburg – International brewing giant SABMiller [JSE:SAB] is planning to break ground in April this year with the construction of its planned 260 000 hectolitre brewery in Namibia. read more

A wine company bearing the name of the former president Nelson Mandela has been established in the United States, the Sunday Sun reported. read more

Johannesburg - Clover Industries [JSE:CLR] and Nestlé SA on Friday announced the formation of the new entity‚ called Clover Waters.  read more

Cape Town - Despite consumers baying for blood, the food researcher who exposed the meat scandal refuses to name and shame the suppliers, retailers and butchers whose products were tested.  read more

Johannesburg - Litha Healthcare, a South African drugmaker, rose the most in almost ten months after saying its considering buying shares back and going private.  read more

Mumbai - Indian drugmaker Cipla on Thursday sweetened its offer by 17% to take over South Africa's third-largest drugmaker, Cipla Medpro South Africa [JSE:CMP], ending the uncertainty of an earlier offer that had been put on hold by the Indian company. read more

Cape Town - There’s a fair share of fraudulent meat products on the South African market, according to a new study by meat scientists from Stellenbosch University.  read more

Avery Island - Paul C.P. McIlhenny, chief executive and chairman of the board of the McIlhenny Company that makes the trademarked line of Tabasco hot pepper sauces sold the world over, has died. He was 68. read more

Johannesburg - South African Paper maker Mondi [JSE:MND] said on Thursday it expects to reap the benefit of recent acquisitions after reporting a slight drop in full-year earnings on lower prices. read more

SABMiller Plc’s joint venture in China agreed to pay HK$6.6 billion ($851 million) for beermaking assets from Kingway Brewery Holdings Ltd. to boost its share of the world’s biggest market for the beverage.  read more

London - GlaxoSmithKline, Britain's biggest drugmaker, renewed its promise to return to growth this year, after failing to deliver a hoped-for sales and margin recovery in 2012. read more

Infant milk formula manufacturers and distributors Nestlé and Pfizer will learn today whether the Competition Tribunal will approve, with conditions, the former’s planned takeover of the latter’s baby nutrition division, a deal that could increase the prices of the products. read more

Coopers will soon ramp up the marketing activity behind its new international beer brands, Carlsberg and Kronenbourg, having recently announced a $20 million capital expansion programme to accommodate its continued sales growth. read more

SABMiller’s joint venture in China agreed to buy HK$6.6 billion (R7.5bn) worth of brewery assets from Kingway Brewery Holdings to boost its share of the nation’s beer market. read more

New York - The world's biggest pharmaceutical company, Pfizer, reported Tuesday a big jump in fourth-quarter earnings as cost-cutting efforts plus a gain from an asset sale helped offset the loss of exclusivity of a blockbuster cholesterol drug.  read more

Choppies, the BSE-listed supermarket chain, seems to be paying the price for fast expansion across the country and its vigorous entry into the South African market. read more

VION N.V. announced that it has entered into an agreement for the intended sale of its company Oerlemans Foods to Baltussen Holding B.V.  read more

Guinness Ghana Breweries Ltd (GGBL), Ghana’s only total beverage business, has launched a new home-grown beer called Ruut Extra Premium Beer.  read more

People were not afraid to spend money this past holiday season, and Swakopmund businesses say their turnover was better than in previous years. read more

A push to tighten beer regulation is underway in a proposed law currently before Parliament. If passed into law, the Alcoholic Drinks Control (amendment) Bill, 2012 will see the introduction of new regulations and institutions not contained in the current Alcoholic Drinks Control Act, 2010. read more

The Lusaka High Court has reserved judgment in a matter in which 15 liquor companies have challenged the Government’s decision to ban them from manufacturing and supplying alcoholic drinks, popularly known as ‘Tujilijili’. read more

The packaging of Tesco’s ‘Everyday Value’ alcohol range does not breach alcohol responsibility rules, the Portman Group's Independent Complaints Panel (ICP) has ruled. .  read more

Whiskey lovers who are drawn to the golden brown tones of their favourite tipple might need a little time to savour the new offering from Jack Daniel's. read more

East African Breweries Limited (EABL) will invest Sh4.3 billion in expanding capacity at its Ruaraka-based plant as it seeks to increase efficiency.  read more

A brewer plans to cut by half the price of its products in the increasingly tough industry characterised by beer wars.  read more

GlaxoSmithKline Plc plans to spend more than $1 billion to raise stakes in its Indian and Nigerian consumer healthcare arms, as Britain's biggest drugmaker deepens its emerging markets and non-prescription consumer health footprint.  read more

Johannesburg - Chris Aucamp has resigned as Chief Financial Officer and executive director of Cipla Medpro with immediate effect‚ the company said Monday. read more

Nampak yesterday released its results for the year ended 30 September 2012. Trading profit from the rest of Africa increased by 159% following good contributions from Angola and Zambia. Group trading profit increased by 16% to almost R1.8 billion, with improved results from most operations. The trading margin improved to 10.2%. read more

Cape Town - Wine farmers may have to label their products to indicate they were produced under fair labour conditions, Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies has said, Beeld reported on Thursday.  read more

Budweiser was introduced in 1876 when company founder Adolphus Busch set out to create the United States' first truly national beer brand – brewed to be universally popular and transcend regional tastes — so it's no doubt still smarting from Bloomberg Businessweek's cover story on "The Plot to Destroy America's Beer" (sample quote: "Many people in the U.S. aren’t thrilled that a foreign company now owns Budweiser, America’s beer"). read more