Monday, 27th April 2009

• Fresh Harvest hires independent asset valuation company to value assets of Organic Chef
  Company expects to complete the acquisition before the tentative closing date as scheduled
• Fresh Harvest Products to acquire assets of Organic Chef
  To base the purchase price on the value of Organic Chef's assets
• Sun-Rype Products Q4 net sales up 23%
  Expects to realize certain costs savings under management services agreement
• Fresh Del Monte Produce Q4 net income down to $22.9m
  Net sales decrease to $831m
• Jamba Juice opens new airport location in Houston
  Fifty new Jamba franchise locations planned for 2009
• Chiquita Brands Q4 net loss widens to $411.9m
  Net sales of $839.3m
• China Nutrifruit's Q3 net income down to $3.3m
  Net income for the first nine months of fiscal 2009 up 14.4%
• Asda: smart price credentials
  UK grocer Asda has achieved higher sales growth in each quarter of its fiscal year 2008-2009, recording a growth of 7.2% in the most recent period (excluding fuel), and an admirable figure of 6.5% growth over the whole year. The grocer is now keen to ramp up its expansion and truly maximize the opportunities provided by its value proposition in the deepening recession.
• Grocers: food providing fuel for growth
  Asda has become the latest grocer to announce ambitious expansion plans, in the latest indication that food and grocery is proving much more resilient to the recession than other retail sectors. Indeed, the robustness of the sector is set to provide grocery retailers with the opportunities to buck the trend of the deteriorating wider market.
• Johnson & Johnson's 2008 earnings increase
  Johnson & Johnson announced sales for fiscal 2008 of $63.7 billion, an increase of 4.3% over 2007
• Vion to cut 820 jobs
  Dutch-owned food firm Vion will eliminate 470 jobs at its Haverhill site in Suffolk, 200 at Malton in North Yorkshire, and 150 at Cambuslang in Scotland.
• Large Russian grocery retailers continue to outperform in the crisis
  Despite the deteriorating macroeconomic and financial situation in Russia, some of the country's leading grocery chains have reported significant sales uplifts in 2008. Moreover, Russia's largest retailer, X5, expects many small grocers to drop out of the market in 2009, representing a significant opportunity for larger players to consolidate their positions through mergers and acquisitions.
• Morrisons: food focus pays off
  Morrisons has announced that, for the six weeks to January 4, total sales were up 9.4%, with like-for-likes sales increasing 8.2%. These results reflect an impressive Christmas trading performance from the grocer and compare positively with Tesco, which delivered a like-for-like increase of 2.5%, and Sainsbury, which delivered a like-for-like increase of 4.5%.