Tesco recalls ice cream product
Tesco has recalled own-label ice cream product Tesco Chocolate and Nut Ice cream, after two individual cones were found to contain a pain relief tablet.
Customers were advised not to eat the products but to return them to Tesco stores for a full refund.
The ice cream cones were supplied by EU’s largest own-label ice cream maker R&R Ice Cream, based in Yorkshire.
Tesco has started an investigation with their supplier to find out how the tablets got into the cones.
Meanwhile, Tesco has denied putting its suppliers under unfair pressure, after retail analyst Cantor Fitzgerald accused them of practises that risked breaching the Groceries Supply Code of Practise.
Milk production
UK milk production is up by 10% for the month of October to 3.1 million litres perday and by 1.6% for the quota year to date from April.
Like Ireland, the UK milk production starting levels were at a five-year low but the improvement in both weather and milk price has driven milk production there to new five-year highs.
US milk production for October was reported by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) at 16.4 billion lbs (7.45 million tonnes). This was an increase of 1% for October from October 2012.
The increase was attributed to higher cow numbers as well as higher milk yield per cow from the previous year. The US cow herd now stands at 9.2 million head, which is up by 0.1% (13,000 head) from last year but down by 3,000 cows from September this year.
New Zealand is running 4.7% higher than this time last year. Milk volumes have reached a new record of 87 million litres for the peak production day for Fonterra on 23 October. Volumes in Australia are down by 4.9% in October and 4.1% for this season to date.
Arla’s new plant starts production
Arla Foods UK, the British arm of European dairy co-operative Arla Foods, announced that processing and packing operations has started at their new £180m plant in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.
The facility, when fully operational, will be the largest plant of its kind in the world. It will have the capacity to process and pack one billion litres of milk per year.
The company announced its intention to construct a new fresh milk processing plant in November 2009. Construction began in February 2012 following the purchase of a 70-acre site in Aylesbury.
Arla Foods UK has claimed that the facility is the world’s largest fresh milk processing plant with the most technologically advanced and efficient processing, and an ambition to be zero carbon when it reaches full capacity.
Milk source warning for NI
Dairy farmers in Northern Ireland are being warned by the UK Food Standards Agency (FSA) not to add milk to their tanks from other sources.
The warning comes on the back of an ongoing investigation into illegal smuggling of milk into Northern Ireland from Ireland.
The FSA said that the practice is illegal and could introduce contaminants which could ultimately compromise the integrity of milk supply.
US exports
According to figures released by the US Dairy Export Council, exports in the month of September 2013 were slightly lower on a month-to-month basis, but are still higher than September 2012.
The US exported 157,267 tonnes of milk powder, cheese, butterfat, whey and lactose in the month of September. This was an increase of 22% from the previous year and was valued at $593m.
CWT accepts 36 bids for exports
Co-operatives Working Together (CWT) has accepted 36 requests for export assistance to customers in Asia, Central America, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. These products will be delivered between now and May 2014.
Year to date, CWT has assisted member co-operatives in selling 121.8 million lbs (55,363.6 tonnes) of cheese, 87.9 million lbs (3,995.45 tonnes) of butter, 44,092 lbs (20 tonnes) of AMF (butteroil) and 218,258 lbs (99.2 tonnes) of whole milk powder (WMP).
These sales are the equivalent of 3.1 billion pounds (1.448 billion litres) of milk on a milk fat basis.
Valio’s lactose-free policy
The dairy industry is finally opening its arms to lactose-free products as consumer awareness grows, according to Laura Enbom, export manager for value added ingredients at the Finnish lactose-free pioneer Valio.
Valio, Finland’s largest milk processor, has been involved in processing lactose-free milk since 2001 when many players in the dairy industry were thinking that low lactose was the wrong way to go because it may give a message to people that there is something wrong with milk.
But Valio saw it the other way and now over 10% of the company’s turnover comes from lactose-free milk.
The company first started in low lactose dairy products as far back as the 1970s and claims to be the first company worldwide to launch a lactose-free milk product with the real taste of milk.
Enbom also pointed out emerging markets, particularly in Asia, as significant growth areas for lactose-free dairy products, as a much higher percentage of people in Asia are lactose intolerant.
Fonterra finalises purchase of Tamar Valley Dairy
Fonterra has bought all of the assets including intellectual properties and trademark for the Tasmanian yogurt maker Tamar Valley Dairy brand through the administrators Deloitte Restructuring Services.
The acquisition strengthens Fonterra’s position as a leader in the Australian dairy industry, and compliments their existing yogurt portfolio, which includes Nestlé Ski, one of Australia’s market leading yogurts.
Tamar Valley Dairy has a yogurt portfolio including classic, lite, Greek style and no fat variations of its Tamar Valley Dairy brand.
Fonterra already operates two other dairy facilities in Tasmania and is responsible for processing half of Tasmania’s milk, collecting over 500 million litres of milk from almost 260 dairy farms each year.
Fonterra launches EU-sourced whey protein ingredient
Fonterra Europe, the regional arm of the world’s largest dairy co-op, has launched NZMP europro, a whey protein ingredient.
Fonterra began to source EU whey protein in 2011 through a partnership with First Milk in the UK.
It has since partnered with Rokiskio in Lithuania and A-Ware in Amsterdam. Fonterra expects production at a new plant in Heerenveen in Holland to begin in December 2014.
Whey used to be just a by-product of cheese production, now demand for whey protein is booming.
China relaxes one child policy
The partial relaxation of China’s one child policy was approved by the Chinese government earlier this month.
This allows married couples to have two children if one of the parents is an only child.
Experts predict an annual population growth rate of between 9% and 19% over the next few years or about two million additional new babies in both 2015 and 2016.
Industry insiders expect to see a 20% growth in the infant formula market there as a result of the increased number of births.
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