News In Brief

Snacks turn sour​

Confectionery and premium snacks maker Zetar posted a £4.2M first half loss amid falling consumer spending and higher input costs. The firm announced plans to sell its loss-making baked snacks business. It had to make an exceptional provision of £0.9M to cover bad debts from the collapse of Woolworths - a key customer.

While the weak pound hit profits from Irish subsidiary Lir, Zetar said it would boost export trade and the competitive price position of its UK manufacturing base.

Premier deal​

Premier Foods has received a £45M firm offer from private equity firms Céréa Capital and Banexi Capital Partenaires to buy its French subsidiary Martine Spécialités in a deal it hopes will reduce debts.

Martine, which supplies retailer branded frozen patisserie products, posted a pre-tax profit of £4.4M on net sales of £34.4M in the nine months to December 31, 2007.

On new turf​

Salmon smokery H Forman & Son has re-opened at Fish Island, London, after being turfed out of its old home 200 yards away to make way for the Olympic stadium.

The smokery, which was engaged in a high-profile battle with the London Development Agency over the relocation, had feared it might be forced to move further away from the capital.

The new facility employs 90 staff and supplies top restaurants and upmarket stores such as Waitrose.

Automation advice​

Food robotics and automation centre CenFRA has set up a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) of industry specialists and academics to give the food sector the latest technical knowledge and support.

The team will give impartial advice on automation to help firms maximise productivity and profits.

CenFRA commercial director, David Cheeseman, commented: "TAG is looking for CenFRA to be a conduit of industry trends and issues by following them up with the group, who can then formulate a strategy on how those problems might be resolved."