Associated British Foods Finance Director Discusses the UK-based Group's Grocery Business in an Interview With just-food.com
BROMSGROVE, England, Nov. 23, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- In an exclusive interview with just-food.com, Associated British Foods (ABF) finance director, John Bason, discusses the UK-based group's grocery business, which spans markets including the UK, the US and Australia, and the impact that rising commodity prices are having on the company.
After ABF posted a 26% jump in underlying annual pre-tax profits, just-food managing editor Dean Best spoke to Bason about the performance of the company's grocery division over the last 12 months, a business that includes Kingsmill bread, Patak's cooking sauces and Mazola cooking oil.
Food manufacturers are feeling the pressure of rising commodity costs but Bason insisted the impact on ABF had been "a mixed bag". Rising wheat and edible oil prices are affecting margins at the company's UK bread and US grocery operations, although soaring sugar prices in China have helped the group's local sugar business. "We really benefit from these much, much higher prices in China. They went two years ago to a low point more like CNY3,000 a tonne - they are nearly at CNY8,000 a tonne now," Bason said.
Rising commodity costs mean manufacturers are asking for price increases from their retail customers. Bason said ABF is no different. "When wheat prices go up 50%, you have to talk to the retailers in terms of looking for an increase in price."
Premier Foods, a main rival to ABF in the UK bread sector, has recently had a number of its brands delisted by leading supermarket Tesco after the grocer refused the manufacturer's request to increase prices. Bason said talks with UK retailers over price were always "tough" but said ABF's own negotiations were "progressing well".
This exclusive interview forms part of the in-depth insight available from the leading food industry business intelligence resource just-food.com, and is currently available within just-food's Open House.
As part of the open house – which runs until 2nd December - just-food is offering unlimited access to its premium online service, which includes daily breaking news, comment, analysis and research. Over a ten-year history, just-food has built an unrivalled reputation as the premium provider of food industry intelligence. This is a unique opportunity to see why it is an integral tool for over 90,000 business executives in the food manufacturing, retailing and supplier sectors.
"This is an outstanding opportunity for executives within the food industry, from retailing and manufacturing, to get their hands on some of the best insight into the trends and events affecting the sector there is around," said Chris Brook-Carter, Editorial Director, just-food. "just-food has been a subscription service for over eight years now and it is a model that has allowed us to invest heavily in our content. On top of a breaking news service that is accurate, timely and comprehensive, our dedicated in-house team of analysts and reporters provide daily strategic insight into how that news affects the industry.
"By opening our doors for this exclusive two-week period, we want to demonstrate why we are the most trusted source of intelligence to over 90,000 professionals."
About just-food:
just-food.com is the food industry's leading online resource. Under the direction of Managing Editor, Dean Best, our experienced editorial team and network of international analysts provide a unique blend of up-to-the-minute information, insights and intelligence.
As a result, every month we help more than 90,000 executives to keep abreast of the very latest industry developments.
Since 1999, just-food has established a reputation for delivering independent, authoritative and timely business information. Today, our commitment to ground-breaking editorial remains as strong as ever. We report and interpret the food industry's key events and trends publishing up to 20 major stories, comment and analysis articles and interviews each working day.
just-food is also a major publisher of market research. Our range of reports, studies and profiles encompasses more than 40 titles, presenting a one-stop shop for all your research requirements. In addition, our Research Store provides access to portfolios of many other leading publishers including: Leatherhead, Euromonitor, Datamonitor and Mintel.
With discussion forums, blogs, targeted email alerts and exciting career opportunities among our additional interactive features, just-food is widely acknowledged as the essential business tool for food executives around the world.
SOURCE just-food.com
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