Martin White rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: Lamb Weston announces $250m expansion of Oregon facility, Raisio sells its confectionery business to Valeo for 100m euros and Conagra Brands purchases Sandwich Bros. of Wisconsin

Tetra Pak's Intelligent Customisation heating solutions offers tailor-made processing solutions for food and beverage manufacturers.

Helena Arph, a technology specialist at Tetra Pak shared her over 20 years’ experience in the food industry with FoodBev Media's Darren Wood as she explained how the company's Intelligent Customisation meets specific customer needs in prepared food.

Jules Scully rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: Campari buys Bisquit Cognac from Distell for 52.5m euros, GreenSpace purchases Galaxy Nutritional Foods for $17.8m, and GoMkt app links consumers with retailers to tackle food waste.

Arla's Inge Lise Povlsen talked with Alex Clere about the range of products the company have produced to provide healthy nutrition to infants and toddlers, including fruit smoothies, porridge and yoghurts.

Povlsen also discussed studies conducted by Arla which show how the company's proteins can help regulate blood sugar levels.

Martin White rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: Fosun agrees $844m deal to acquire 17.99% of Tsingtao, General Mills posts 2.1% sales rise thanks to its cereal brands, and Cooke Inc acquires Omega Protein in a $500m deal.

Tetra Pak has said that its new Intelligent Customisation heating portfolio solutions can offer flexibility and upgradability and that its solutions can be upgraded to support a customer’s product expansion from milk and cream, to beverages with particles, or from baby food to a wider range of prepared food products.

Tetra Pak's Bengt Eliasson takes a look at specific dairy needs and the company's response through Intelligent Customisation.

Jules Scully rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: Nestlé offloads iced tea brands Sweet Leaf Tea and Tradewinds, Thai Beverage affiliate acquires Vietnam’s Sabeco for $4.84bn, and Cargill, Ecolab and Techstars to launch food innovation scheme

Volac has created two speciality protein products called Volactive Ultra Whey Velicious and Volactive Pro₂O. Ultra Whey Velicious is a versatile whey protein which can be used for a range of applications including ice creams, cookies, smoothies and more.

Volac's Mel Billows and Rebecca Farr talked to Darren Food about the benefits of the innovative products and the positive consumer reception they have received. 

Martin White rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: Campbell’s agrees $4.87bn deal for snack maker Snyder’s-Lance, Hershey finalises $1.6bn deal to acquire Amplify Snack Brands, Unilever offloads its spreads business to KKR for 6.83bn euros

Tetra Pak's new Intelligent Customisation portfolio solutions can offer tailor-made processing solutions for food and beverage manufacturers. These solutions can be upgraded to support a customer’s product expansion from milk and cream, to beverages with particles, or from baby food to a wider range of prepared food products.

Tetra Pak has completed trials of the new modular portfolio with customers in Europe and Russia.

Maria Norlin, sub-category manager of JNSD at Tetra Pak speaks to FoodBev Media's Darren Wood about what the Intelligent Customisation solutions can offer beverage products. 

Tetra Pak has launched Intelligent Customisation, a modular portfolio of heating systems which offers tailor-made processing solutions for food and beverage manufacturers.

The modules, which are based on the company’s technologies in dairy, beverages and prepared food processing, can be combined in a number of configurations, ‘allowing every heating solution to be customised to meet the specific needs of each individual customer’.

Talking to FoodBev Media's Darren Wood, Maria Norlin, sub-category manager of JNSD introduces the new heating portfolio solutions.

Goodmills Innovation has released a new bread for wheat-sensitive consumers called 2ab Wheat. Termed 'The Tummy Friendly Ancient Wheat', Goodmills claims the bread is easier to digest for most people than conventional bread.

Malte Schottmayer, junior product manager at Goodmills Innovation told Darren Wood that the bread contains less FODMAPS – short-chain carbohydrates which can prove hard to digest – than regular bread and spelt.

Ingredia has showcased its new Promilk range which the company says is a 'complete range of solutions' for dairy dessert options.

This range of functional proteins are natural, clean label, and highly functional solutions which enable consumers to  provide or boost functionality, reduce syneresis and decantation and optimise the cost of recipes.

Cécilia Autran product manager at Ingredia spoke with FoodBev Media's Darren Wood about the Promilk range, its benefits and its journey to the marketplace.

Martin White rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: Target acquires US same-day delivery service Shipt for $550m, Campari Canada invests $3.9m in its Ontario Forty Creek distillery, Solo Gelato and Barry Callebaut create ice cream capsule system

Tereos has introduced a plant-based meat alternative called Le Sauté Végétal, which is made using wheat proteins and chickpea flour.

The company has also introduced the Sweet & You service, which helps consumers reformulate food recipes to conform to changing legislation.

Sensient Flavors has released new flavour and colour solutions to rebalance the taste of high-protein foods and drinks and allow greater product appearance customisation.

Darren Wood spoke to Sensient's Barbera Lezzer, European marketing director, and Giovanni Panzeri, beverages senior flavourist, about the range of solutions the company has to offer customers.

Jules Scully rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: Jarlsberg maker Tine plans 77m euro cheese facility in Ireland, GEA and Chr. Hansen open new fermentation site in Denmark, Wessanen launches high-protein range of Kallø lentil rice cakes

Essentia Protein Soultions has revealed a nutritional calculator to allow clients to gauge how much protein is present in their products in an easy manner.

Nutritional information such as carbohydrate, fat and protein levels in products is totalled up to calculate the percentage value of protein content, which in turn allows clients to classify products as a 'source of protein',  'protein-rich' under EU regulations.

Essentia's global marketing director Irene Plats spoke to Darren Wood about the calculator and how it will allow clients to improve their products.

KMC has released a potato starch-based vegan-friendly cheese called Cheesemaker CF 30, which offers a very "cheese-like sensation," despite the fact that there is no milk protein inside it.

Darren Wood spoke to KMC's Hugo Neilsen, CCO business development & Americas, and Neilsen told him about the functionality, texture and taste of the cheese, as well as his views on plant-based protein trends.

Jules Scully rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: Jacobs Douwe Egberts offers $361m for OldTown Berhad, Portuguese wine sector invests 13m euros to increase exports, ADM sells Bolivian oilseed unit as part of transformation strategy. 

Lycored has carried out several studies into colour stability in order to create more authentic looking and tasting products for consumers.

Lycored's head of coloration Tammi Higgins spoke to Alex Clere about the new innovations curated by the company, including yoghurt and fruit preserve applications, as well as a new range of candies which Tammi claims will retain their colour for up to 12 months.

ADM Wild vice president of marketing and product management EMEAI Jochen Heininger talked with Darren Wood about the company's range of ingredients and in particular its focus on functional natural ingredients and plant-based proteins.

Jochen claims that consumers are moving towards non-animal derived protein consumption, and thus the company has developed ingredients with this in mind.

Jules Scully rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: AB InBev opens its largest capacity brewery in Asia, Thai Beverage and AB InBev line up to invest in Sabeco – reports, UK competition watchdog clears Cargill and Faccenda joint venture. 

Guido Rovati, sales and marketing director at Faravelli Group spoke to Darren Wood about the company's new blend of hydrocolloid solutions called FARA Functional Systems.

Guido claims that "tailor-made" hydrocolloid blends offer versatile solutions to customers, so factors such as textures, product stability and shelf-life can be improved.

Guido Rovati, sales and marketing director at Faravelli Group spoke to Darren Wood about the company's new blend of hydrocolloid solutions called FARA Functional Systems.

Guido claims that "tailor-made" hydrocolloid blends offer versatile solutions to customers, so factors such as textures, product stability and shelf-life can be improved.

IOI Loders Croklaan has unveiled Presdough 270 SB, a shea-based palm oil alternative for bakery products. Renee Boerefijn, director of innovation at IOI Loders Croklaan spoke to Darren Wood to discuss the merits of the new product.

Renee claimed that the product is more affordable than other palm oil alternatives, offers a "huge" saturated fat reduction and is an incredibly workable dough.

Since starting its Origin Green programme, Bord Bia has made a concerted effort to ensure that its initiative becomes known as the standard-bearer of Ireland’s food and drink sustainability approach.

This voluntary programme brings together the country's food industry – from farmers to food producers, retailers to foodservice operators – with the common goal of sustainable food production.

Eimear O’Donnell sector manager of dairy ingredients at Bord Bia spoke exclusively to FoodBev Media's Darren Wood about the programme, how to be involved and what the criteria for entry is.

Ingredia has showcased a new programme called Via Lacta, a new CSR strategy encouraging the 1st eco-friendly milk produced from animals on a GMO-free diet that are guaranteed a minimum area of grassland and given straw bedding.

In order to meet current consumption trends shifting towards healthier products with sustainable development, Ingredia, a dairy cooperative made up of farmers, will see its Via Lacta range of ingredients, come from its own responsible milk collection. 

Thomas Le Vely product manager of food at Ingredia spoke with FoodBev Media's Darren Wood about the Via Lacta initiative, its aims and what being a part of the scheme enables.

Martin White rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: Unilever fined 60m euros over ice cream market abuse in Italy, Musgrave seals deal to acquire La Rousse Foods from Aryzta, Coca-Cola HBC appoints Zoran Bogdanovic as chief executive

Glanbia’s marketing manager Dagmar Ortlepp spoke with FoodBev Media’s Darren Wood at Food Ingredients Europe about the company’s new high-protein vegetarian soup, a tomato soup which contains nine grams of protein.

Dagmar explains that the soup is made using ProTherma and Micelle XL proteins, which when combined act to reduce the bitterness which can be associated with high-protein foods.

Mobile joints, stable bones, smooth skin, glossy hair and healthy fingernails – collagen peptides play a key role in maintaining these fundamental components of the human body.

Gelita's Hans Ulrich-Frech spoke about the company's range of collagen peptide products which aid its consumers to remain healthy, strong and mobile. 

Martin White rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: Nestlé to buy vitamin producer Atrium Innovations for $2.3bn, Coca-Cola opens its 45th bottling plant in China, investing $75.5m, PureCircle partners with former tobacco farmers to grow stevia

Barry Callebaut's Sofia Popova, global marketing manager at Barry Callebaut spoke with FoodBev Media's Darren Wood about the company's range of low sugar chocolates as the chocolatier aims to increase its offering of alternatives to customers who want chocolate yet at the same time want to avoid sugar.

The company is increasing this range by using stevia in its products, which contain around 86% cocoa solids. The pleasant hints of sweetness in taste come from the stevia plant.

Sofia explains how the chocolate has a very pleasant mouth feel thanks to the dietary fibre that replaces the sugar.

Martin White rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: AmBev pays $926.5m for stake in Cervercería Nacional Dominicana, Hain Celestial acquires natural sweetener brand Clarks, Australia’s Burra Foods announces $18.7m investment.

Darren Wood rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: Heineken begins construction of $100m Mozambique brewery, Salt of the Earth appoints A&B Ingredients as US distributor and Tate & Lyle increases capacity and upgrades its Chinese factory

Jules Scully rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: Maple Leaf buys meat alternative brand Field Roast for $120m, Fonterra ordered to pay Danone 105m euros over botulism scare, AB InBev boosts craft portfolio with Pirate Life acquisition.

Jules Scully rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: Mars buys minority stake in Kind, responding to healthier snacking, AB InBev accused of breaking EU competition rules in Belgium, and Kellogg UK to ditch Ricicles and cut sugar in cereals by up to 40%.

Jules Scully rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: Nestlé invests $55m in Cuba site with Corporación Alimentaria, Nespresso announces $50m coffee investment in Colombia, and Ontario government invests $18.7m for Feihe formula site.

Jules Scully rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: UK meat substitutes sales to grow by 25% in four years, OMSCo and Wkye Farms create new joint business identity, and Chr. Hansen begins search for new CEO as Cees de Jong resigns.

Jules Scully rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: Grupo Modelo plans $754m Mexican bottling site – reports, Heineken invests 6.4m euros to boost production at Spain site, and Kroger introduces ads to boost awareness of waste initiative.

Jules Scully rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: Unilever starts search to find successor to CEO Paul Polman, Carlsberg opens its first carbon-neutral brewery in Sweden, and Busy lifestyles lead consumers to skip breakfast – research

Darren Wood rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: AB InBev spends $250m in Nigeria and launches Budweiser, Rogers Sugar acquires maple syrup distributor Decacer and Three cups of coffee a day may have health benefits – study

Darren Wood rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: UK government announces freeze on beer, wine and spirits duty, Danone takes part in $5.5m financing round for Kona Deep, Frutarom posts record earnings in third quarter results

Darren Wood rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: Coca-Cola India: Thums Up will be a $1bn brand in two years, Hormel merges its Speciality Foods and Grocery segments and Tyson Foods to build $300m poultry plant in Tennessee

Darren Wood rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: Ornua expands in Asia with South Korea Kerrygold launch, Goya Foods to nearly double the size of its Texas distribution site and Global Dairy Platform appoints Theo Spierings as new chairman

Did you know that every single day in the UK, 4.4 million apples and 1.4 million bananas are thrown out. With that in mind UK-based start-up Snact has started a campaign with the aim of creating snack bars made from unwanted bananas.

To aid them in their quest, the bars have been created as part of Snact’s #deliciousprotest campaign to "create more taste and less waste" and aim to help reduce the number of edible bananas being thrown away in Britain every day, by using fruit that would otherwise have gone to waste.

FoodBev Media's Darren Wood spoke with Snact director Ilana Taub about the idea, why re-using surplus foods is important and what challenges were faced when the bars were created.

Darren Wood rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: 2 Sisters scandal should be a ‘wake-up call’ for food industry, Coca-Cola won’t rule out further acquisitions or move into alcohol and Confectionery companies sign up to deforestation agreement

Blupura has introduced two new innovations designed to be controlled by the use of an app.

The customised top control taps have multi-functions including being able to offer cold, ambient and hot water, being able to see how much water consumption they are using, their impact on the environment plus consumers can save their individual settings for greater ease of use.

Meanwhile, the company has also launched a new machine called Blusoda Hot, which can also be used by the company's app, to programme the specific amount of water delivered. The Blusoda Hot also uses a UV light as a strong steriliser therefore preventing the growth of bacteria

Blupura's Debora Screpanti spoke with FoodBev Media's Darren Wood about these two new innovations and their development.

Darren Wood rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: UK canned craft beer sales increase by 327% – research says, Ocean Spray pays $10m to study health benefits of cranberries and Diageo aims to become best employer for women in the UK

Borg & Overström has unveiled its new B4 water cooler system, which includes a totality hygiene system which incorporates three factors: sterizen – a unique anti-microbial, anti-pathogen procedure that significantly reduces any bacteria build up within the inner systems, viovandt – an ultraviolet sterilising system that works to destroy bacteria within water by the use of ultra violet light and fynil – a double coat resin panel finish which is biofilm, limescale, and impact resistant, ensuring that bacteria cannot build up on the machine's surface intended for increased hygiene and longevity.

Borg & Overström's Richard Gibbon spoke with FoodBev Media's Darren Wood about the new B4 system, how long the design process took for the machine and what challenges the company faced when bringing the product to marketplace.

Darren Wood rounds up the day's top stories in the world of foodScottish minimum alcohol pricing ruled legal by UK Supreme Court, Nestlé announces reorganisation of its infant nutrition business and G. H. Mumm and Usain Bolt launch Mumm Grand Cordon

Microfilter, a sister company of MCM Fittings and member of Chungho Nais Group, has introduced a new range of IEN(ion Exchange Resin) filters to the European market.

The Microfilter IEN range of filters have a special blend of resins that combat PH drop in water whilst also removing scale causing calcium. This range of water filters have a built in 30% water bypass for blending of water for taste, creating the perfect water for coffee and tea making in vending machines.

Jim Redford spoke with FoodBev Media's Darren Wood about the problems that can occur with using normal types of Ion Exchange resin filters, this being that feed water can drop in PH value quite significantly.

Darren Wood rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: UK competition watchdog clears Tesco’s £3.7bn Booker purchase, Tyson Foods posts record year thanks to fourth-quarter results and Nestlé Mexico set to double milk capacity in Lagos de Moreno

Darren Wood rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: Nisa members vote to approve Co-op’s £137.5m takeover offer, Huhtamaki invests 11m euros in Finnish manufacturing facility and Food companies back initiative to ban oxo-degradable plastics

After coming away with the Best technology innovation award at the world beverage innovation awards 2017, held at Drinktec, German start-up Mitte has launched a countertop water system that purifies water by distillation and offers cartridges to deliver healthier drinking water.

While some other systems remove minerals in water along with contaminants, the company claims it is able to re-mineralise the purified water with natural ingredients, ‘adding vitality and taste while making water healthy for consumption’. Each cartridge produces 400 litres of mineralised water.

Paula Montaldi, business development manager at Mitte told FoodBev Media about how Mitte allows users to personalise their daily drinking water with three different mineral cartridges containing varying levels of natural minerals and ingredients.

Darren Wood rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: Monster energy sales continue to rise in third quarter results, Chobani invests $20m in Idaho innovation facility expansion and John Lewis unveils Christmas advert featuring Moz the monster

Darren Wood rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: Barry Callebaut sees 1.9% net sales rise in year end results, Stoli Group announces $150m bourbon distillery in Kentucky and China experiencing online shopping shift – Mintel reveals

Dow Water & Process Solutions has introduced its new time saving modeling software called Water Application Value Engine (Wave).

This new system design engine enables modeling, calculation and optimising solutions. Wave works with existing customers production line providing accurate results in a fraction of the time that it takes many existing applications. With Wave, users can combine multiple unit operations using Dow products into a single integrated design model. 

The Wave technology uses a powerful hydraulic modeling calculation engine that improves the accuracy of the model, according to Dow. Wave capabilities help engineers and original equipment manufacturers configure water treatment components by integrating all technologies into one tool. 

FoodBev Media's Darren Wood spoke with Eduard Gasia Bruch to talk about the Wave, its functionalities and challenges the company faced when producing this technology.

Hanovia Limited and Berson Milieutechniek have merged to create a new unified company providing ultraviolet (UV) disinfection systems.

The new combined company aims to increase distribution capability and improve its UVCare support by implementing a larger network of approved centres around the world.

FoodBev Media's Darren Wood spoke with Hanovia's managing director about the merger, and how the combined company's will offer customers a more comprehensive product portfolio.

Darren Wood rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: Coca-Cola India expands in fruit juices with $1.7bn investment, Gruppo Campari’s net sales grow as Aperol brand ‘outperforms’ and Frutarom acquires AB-Fortis product from Spain’s AB-Biotics

Waterways has unveiled its new range of premium water dispensers called the Brook.

This point-of-use cooler showcases a state of the art design including features such as variable hot and cold temperature controls and a large LED display with touch screen controls.

FoodBev Media's Darren Wood spoke with Waterways president Michael Efron about this new range and what it can offer its consumers.

Darren Wood rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: Pioneer Foods buys Kraft Heinz’ South African joint venture stake, Cargill invests $250m in its India business, creating 1,300 jobs and Dean Foods continues to struggle with net income plummeting

Watercoolers Europe chairman, Derek Callaghan believes the focus of the cooler industry should be on different ways to deliver water instead of a different water cooler.

Speaking with FoodBev Media, Callaghan believes this attitude is being embraced by the industry and is a 'real welcome opportunity and change'

Darren Wood rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: Fonterra takes stake in US-based whey protein joint venture, targeting £100m growth, Coca-Cola sets out ‘ambitious’ European sustainability strategy and Beam Suntory appoints Albert Baladi as chief operating officer

Jules Scully rounds up the day's biggest news in the world of food and beverages, including: Unilever acquires Starbucks tea brand Tazo in deal worth $384m, Nestle boosts coffee portfolio with Chameleon Cold-Brew buy, Saputo's sales volume in Canada dips with net income down 3.4%. 

Jules Scully rounds up the day's biggest news in the world of food and beverages, including: Suntory Beverage & Food and PepsiCo form Thai joint venture, Carlsberg sees its sales drop 1% due to struggling Russian market, Campbell Soup Company to join Plant Based Foods Association. 

Jules Scully rounds up the day's biggest news in the world of food and beverages, including: Saputo acquires American goat's cheese producer Montchevre, The Coca-Cola Company finalises refranchising of US bottling sites, and Michele Buck says Hershey could turn to M&A to drive growth. 

Jules Scully rounds up the day's biggest news in the world of food and beverages, including: Hormel Foods buys Columbus Manufacturing for $850m, Kellogg records surprise sales rise thanks to its frozen foods unit, and UK wine producers at record high thanks to niche drinks demand. 

Jules Scully rounds up the day's biggest news in the world of food and beverages, including: Constellation Brands eyes future of cannabis drinks in $190m deal, Frutarom acquires full ownership of Enzymotec in $210m deal, and Scotch whisky export value up by 3.4% due to single malt demand. 

Alex Clere rounds up the day's biggest news in the world of food and beverages, including: Saputo pays $1bn for struggling Australian dairy Murray Goulburn, '14% less material' used to make water bottles than in 2007. plus texture and stress relief the next food and drink trends according to Mintel

Alex Clere rounds up the day's biggest news in the world of food and beverages, including: Anheuser-Busch weathers fall in volume as revenue climbs, Danone to invest 'up to $60m' in plant-based beverage factory, and Carbery taps Dairy Farmers of America COO for top job

Alex Clere rounds up the day's biggest news in the world of food and beverages, including: Owens-Illinois extends Constellation Brands joint venture after strong quarter, Palsgaard claims world first with palm-free powdered emulsifier, and Graphic Packaging creates $6bn paper packaging giant in merger

Darren Wood rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: US packaging company Sonoco reports ‘record’ quarterly sales, McCain Foods completes $50m expansion of processing plant and Sandy Douglas to retire as head of Coca-Cola North America

The worldwide hummus market is ever-growing with the sector projected to reach $1.1 billion by 2022, Kasih Food Production Co, based in Jordan, is looking to disrupt the market with the launch of Mézete, which has an extended shelf life of 18 months.

FoodBev Media's Darren Wood spoke with general manager of the company Khaled Kasih about the hummus product, working with Tetra Pak on its aseptic packaging and what the company has planned for the future.

Ian Webb is well known in the UK water industry and his experience began in 1993 before setting up The UK Water Group in 1995. As a pioneer in mains-fed water filtration and purification systems, the business became UK market leader within seven years, across all sectors.

Ian has since worked with a leading Israel-based water equipment manufacturer, bringing the concept to the UK under the Virgin brand and renamed ‘Virgin Pure Water’.

Now with start-up Vitapure Drinks Company he's launching the Vitastream Drink Station into the UK.

Darren Wood rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: Arla launches new UK foodservice division, targeting £100m growth, PureCircle makes ‘breakthrough’ in sequencing genome of stevia and Mondelēz moves Cadbury production from New Zealand

Darren Wood rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: Kraft Heinz acquires Cerebos assets for $228.2m from Suntory, Ferrero expands in US with deal for gummy candy maker Ferrara and Danone combines chairman and CEO functions as part of reshuffle

Micarna presented its innovative pop bugs for the first time at Anuga 2017, the pop bugs are small balls, which are made from cricket flour as a protein source. They are similar to breaded meatballs, except in pop bugs cricket flour is used instead of meat.

"As a Swiss meat producer, we were thinking for the future what kind of alternative protein could we use," says Micarna product manager, Ralph Langholz. "That's when we came to the topic of insects and there was a lot of discussion about sustainability as insects don't need a lot of space for rearing, they have a better CO2 footprint than other animals.

"These are some of the reasons why we decided to launch this product with cricket flour."

Darren Wood rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: China Foods sells its wine and non-beverage unit for $649.3m, DS Smith buys Romanian Ecopack and Ecopaper for 208m euros and Leonardo DiCaprio invests in plant-based brand Beyond Meat

The chief operating officer of Koelnmesse, Katharina C. Hamma said that 'protein is the buzz word' when asked about the trends witnessed at Anuga 2017.

Speaking exclusively with FoodBev Media's Darren Wood, Hamma explained that how the show has been growing in attendance year-on-year, what the main items of discussion have been at the event and which direction she sees the food sector moving in the future.

Darren Wood rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: Danone’s third-quarter sales boosted by Chinese demand, Rabobank launches $1bn plan to boost sustainable food supply and Lamb Weston creates 150 jobs with $200m US site expansion

Global food ingredients manufacturer Valio has introduced ValSa onto the marketplace to reduce salt intake in dairy products.

The company says ValSa will reduce salt by up to 50% without altering the taste and Valio has used ValSa in many of its current products including Oltermanni cheese, which now has 35% less salt than ordinary cheeses and its The newest Oivariini butter spread, which now has 30% less salt than fat on average. 

Paavo Salminen spoke with FoodBev Media's Darren Wood about the concept, how long it's been in production and what this innovation can do for its customers.

Darren Wood rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: Fonterra’s foodservice business Anchor tops $1.44bn in revenue, Hershey may bid for Nestlé’s US confectionery business – reports and Chilean fruit company Hortifrut buys $160m blueberry business

Hanovia's UVEO (Ultra-Violet Energy Optimised) system uses a single UV lamp in a chamber to treat high volumes of water. The company says this sets it apart from other companies who use other types of UV systems which need multiple lamps to treat the same flow of beverages.

Hanovia's Tim McDougle told FoodBev Media's Darren Wood about the new UVEO system and UV care which the company offers for support. 

Austria Juice has presented its new sophinade beverage products, a range of sophisticated lemonade flavours targeted at adult consumers. The concepts on offer included a purely vegetable-based tomato rhubarb plus a yuzu and sage combination.

Cornelia Kerschbaumer, director of marketing and communication at Austria Juice, explains: "These are unconventional flavour options that we're showcasing, we're seeing more interest in vegetable and botanical flavours. These unconventional taste combinations is a trend which we're seeing in more adult consumers. It's a change and variety which we're finding this demographic asking for."

Jules Scully rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: Asahi considering selling its 20% stake in China’s Tsingtao Brewery, Coca-Cola Amatil expands in beer with Feral Brewing acquisition, Chicago county repeals soda tax two months after its introduction.

Evonik has launched a high concentration omega-3 product called AvailOm.

This new powder formulation has a high load (more than 45%) of omega-3 and is said by the company to exhibit bioavailability and stability. As the highest load with a minimum of 45 percent EPA and DHA by weight, it is designed to reduce the number of daily dosage forms.

Dr Ludger Eilers told FoodBev Media's Darren Wood that the company has “mastered the challenge of bringing free fatty acids into a solid form.”

Jules Scully rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: Kroger says it may sell its $4bn convenience store business, UK Scotch sales plummet by 1m bottles ‘due to tax increase’, Nestlé begins work on $30.8m Russia infant formula facility.

Glanbia Nutritionals have released a new pea protein product called BevEdge in the US. Aiming to use its dairy protein expertise in the pea protein market, BevEdge, mixes with water with what the company are calling ‘unprecedented dispersibility’.

Glanbia's senior product manager of proteins, Danielle Black spoke with FoodBev Media's Darren Wood about the pea protein range and what sets it apart from other protein products on the market.

Almatec, a premier manufacturer of sanitary air-operated double-diaphragm (AODD) pumps, has unveiled its new Biocor series pumps.

Peter Schütten, product manager at Almatec spoke with FoodBev Media's Darren Wood about this new series of pumps, what makes them unique and how the series is flexible for customers.

Jules Scully rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: Sugary soft drinks tax to be introduced in Ireland next April, Kerry Group buys US ingredients manufacturer Ganeden, European wine production hit by climate change and drought. 

US-based TIC Gums has released Ticaloid ultra smooth CL, a hydrocolloid system that enhances texture in beverage applications. This cold water soluble system dissolves easily into a solution, allowing consumers to experience the textural benefits.

Applications manager, Dan Grazaitis and senior market development manager Kara Belgrade spoke with FoodBev Media's Darren Wood about the range and its benefits.

ATG, UV technology experts will place more emphasis on the beverage sector moving forward says International sales manager, Duncan Ockendon.

Speaking with FoodBev Media's Darren Wood, he revealed that a major international soft drinks bottler has announced new specifications for UV equipment, which are quire stringent. However, Ockendon explains how ATG have met the challenges that have been set.

Jules Scully rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: UK online grocery market to grow by 53.8% in five years – study, Aldi plans £75m UK distribution centre, to create 400 jobs, UK convenience chain Nisa recommends £137.5m Co-op deal. 

Corrie Drellack, communications and marketing manager at Agropur spoke with FoodBev Media’s Darren Wood about the difficulties in working with protein in bakery applications and how the company is tackling these challenges.

As part of tackling this, Agropur has launched a line of Bakigen Protein Ingredients and Protein Pods, which provide a crunchy texture to nutrition snacks and bars.

Tate & Lyle's senior vice president and interim general manager of Stevia James Blunt has said that the company 'not in favour' of the impending sugar taxes. Instead the company would like to provide choice to consumers and customers with nutritionally balanced foods and will help customers to come up with those answers.

It was also explained that Tate & Lyle has a focus on optimised stevia solutions with Sweet Green Fields, which help customers replace part of sugar in their beverages with stevia sweeteners with a clean label solution.

Jules Scully rounds up the day's top stories in the world of food and beverages, including: Diageo invests £35m to reopen two ‘iconic’ Scotch distilleries, ÅR Packaging to close two carton plants, affecting 150 jobs, Coca-Cola European Partners trails new drink dispensers.

Glanbia has released BevWise A-100W, a whey protein isolate for use in high acid beverage applications.

Glanbia's senior product manager Paul O’Mahony spoke with FoodBev Media’s Darren Wood about the BevWise isolate and how it is low foaming, has a clean flavour, and its nutritive value. It was also mentioned how it can be used in a variety of beverage applications.

Starch-potato growers, Avebe has launched a potato protein formulation and at SupplySide West 2017, business development manager Mike Finfrock explained that its potato protein product falls under clean label, is sustainable and can be used across a wide variety of food and beverage applications.

Finfrock also says that potato protein is a ‘complete’ protein and is superior to most plant-based proteins, going on to say that some of the plant-based proteins on the market lack some of the amino acids and therefore can’t be called a complete protein.