Thailand dines on six-legged delicacies
Yum or yuk?
If the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation has its way, celebrity chefs will soon be whipping up a dish of dried crickets, rather than strawberry fondue.
Insects may not look particularly appetising, but they could provide a solution to the world’s looming food crisis. And the FAO’s shining example? Thailand. Continue reading »
China: Danone tries again
Shares in Mengniu, China’s largest milk seller by volume, soared more than nine per cent on Monday on news that Danone of France was set to invest €325m in two joint ventures with the Chinese company.
Danone will take a four per cent indirect stake in Mengniu through a joint venture with Cofco, a state-owned agricultural company that is Mengniu’s largest shareholder. Danone is also purchasing a 20 per cent stake in Mengniu’s yoghurt businesses, subject to regulatory approvals. Continue reading »
Guatemalan coffee: launched by Starbucks, blighted by fungus
Starbucks is launching its first espresso branded with a place of origin – undeterred by the fact that Guatemala, home of the new “cocoa and baked spices” brew has declared a state of agricultural emergency because of rampant coffee tree fungus.
Guatemala’s blighted crops and 275,000 coffee farmers stand in sharp contrast to the pomp surrounding Monday’s launch of the Guatemala Antigua, the first time Starbuck’s customers anywhere will have a choice of bean for their drink. Continue reading »
Maotai hit by allegations that it’s not as organic as it claims
It’s been a tough year so far for Chinese firewater. Maotai, the favoured tipple of Chinese mandarins, has already been targeted in Beijing’s much-trumpeted austerity campaign.
Officials slashed spending on the stuff during the lunar new year and the current parliament session in Beijing as they obeyed orders to reduce conspicuous consumption, which top leaders believe enflames public resentment against the government.
As if that were not bad enough, Kweichow Moutai, the leading maker of what in the modern era is spelled “maotai”, has just been hit with allegations that it is passing the sorghum-based white spirit off as organic when it is nothing of the sort. Continue reading »
Investors mull SABMiller China deal
SABMiller‘s latest Chinese acquisition has had a decidely mixed reception in the stock market.
The global brewer and its Chinese partner China Resources Enterprise (CRE) announced on Wednesday that they would pay Rmb5.38bn ($846m) for the beer operations of Kingway Brewery Holdings, a regional producer based in wealthy Guangdong province.
This is small beer for SABMiller and its shares barely moved on Thursday. But in Hong Kong, CRE fell 3 per cent while Kingway soared 16 per cent before closing 7 per cent higher. Continue reading »
Russia’s Tariko takes charge at humbled Polish vodka group
Russia has a habit of chewing up invaders – a feat repeated with distiller Central European Distribution Company, whose attempt to become Russia’s dominant vodka producer brought the company to the brink of collapse and put it in the hands of its Russian rescuer.
After a public battle late last year for control of CEDC between Roustam Tariko, a Russian billionaire and founder of Russian Standard and the CEDC board, it now appears that the Russians have taken effective control of CEDC. Continue reading »
Baijiu: China’s latest health scare
Baijiu, the fiery Chinese liquor that has been around for thousands of years and is today a fast-growing multi-billion-dollar industry, has become the focus of China’s latest food and drink health scare. Continue reading »
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Stefan Wagstyl
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