Weekly Digest: Nestlé Waters and WWE partner on water campaign, Tate & Lyle plant awarded for energy efficiency

01 Jun 2018 --- This week in business, Nestlé Waters North America and WWE announced a joint campaign that encourages consumers to live a healthy lifestyle and “choose water.” In the same week, Nestlé also announced changes that will further strengthen its R&D operations and take Nestlé’s research work to a new level. Meanwhile, SVZ International was named best performer in the food and beverage sector in Ecovadis’s 2018 Sustainability Leadership awards for the second consecutive year. Tate & Lyle announced that its wet corn mill in Lafayette, Indiana, earned an ENERGY STAR certification by the US Environmental Protection Agency in recognition of its superior energy efficiency performance. Also this week, Ajinomoto is set to open a Client Innovation Center in Japan and US Secretary of Agriculture has announced that the Trump Administration has requested that the World Trade Organization establish a dispute settlement panel to examine regulations governing the sale of wine in the Canadian province of British Columbia (BC).

In brief: Business news
Nestlé Waters North America and WWE have announced a joint campaign that encourages consumers to live a healthy lifestyle and “choose water.” The campaign started this week with a sweepstake, which encourages consumers to share the reasons they choose water. It can be entered by following WWE’s Twitter or Instagram accounts and tweeting or posting a message using #ChooseWater and #Sweepstakes. In the same week, Nestlé also announced changes that further strengthen its research and development operations, by bringing together its two scientific discovery units, the Nestlé Research Center and the Nestlé Institute of Health Sciences, to build one impactful organization, Nestlé Research. The combination of two world-renowned research facilities with highly complementary capabilities will take Nestlé’s research work to a new level.

Later in the week, Nestlé reorganized its Sub-Saharan Africa business. The changes are to ensure the Sub-Saharan Africa business continues on a healthy growth path, delivering affordable nutrition to as wide a population as possible. Effective August 1, 2018, the Central West Africa Region (CWAR) will become a key market for the group. Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo, currently part of the Equatorial Africa Region (EAR), will join CWAR.

In brief: Acquisitions
Nestlé Waters has acquired a majority stake in Princes Gate Spring Water Ltd., a bottled water manufacturer based in Wales, UK. The acquisition comes in the context of increasing consumer demand for bottled water in the UK and will provide new opportunities to deliver growth in one of Nestlé’s core categories, according to the company. 

Meanwhile, Univar announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Univar Ltd., has completed the acquisition of Earthoil.  Earthoil was a subsidiary of Treatt plc, the London-listed manufacturer and supplier of innovative ingredient solutions for the flavor, fragrance, beverage, and consumer products industries. In 2017, the company generated approximately US$11 million in annual sales.

In brief: Recognition & awards
SVZ International has been named best performer in the food and beverage sector in Ecovadis’s 2018 Sustainability Leadership awards for the second consecutive year. Spearheading progress in sustainability practices and innovation throughout the food supply chain, SVZ joins an exclusive group of organizations that have not only received EcoVadis’s highest CSR rating but are at the forefront of sustainability efforts within their industries. Announced at the annual Sustain conference in Paris, the award evaluated several criteria including energy consumption, working conditions and sustainable agriculture practices throughout the supply chain. The award win follows SVZ’s pledge to achieve 100 percent sustainable sourcing by 2030.

Sixteen US high school students with interests in science, culinary and marketing participated in the fifth annual Ice Cream University hosted by TIC Gums at the Texture Innovation Center in White Marsh, Maryland, US. The program is modeled after Cornell University’s Food Science 101 course, a requirement for incoming freshman of the College of Food Science. TIC Gums sponsored each student’s US$500 program fee and provided home ice cream makers upon program completion. The winning ice cream flavor, named Farmer’s Fight, was created by Trey Wooten of Patapsco High School; Jonathon Parks of Fallston High School; and Anthony Sulinski of Bel Air High School.

Tate & Lyle has announced that its Lafayette South corn wet mill in Lafayette, Indiana, US, has earned Energy Star certification by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in recognition of its superior energy efficiency performance. This is the third consecutive year the Lafayette South plant, which produces high-quality corn-based sweeteners, has received Energy Star certification. At this plant, in recent years Tate & Lyle has adapted the air emission control technology to include regenerative thermal oxidizers (RTOs), equipment that treats exhaust air before it enters the atmosphere. Although a benefit for the environment and community, operating RTOs increases energy use at the site. 

In brief: Appointments & retirements
The Arla Foods amba Board of Directors has appointed Jan Toft Nørgaard from Skærbæk, Denmark to succeed Åke Hantoft as Chairman of Arla Foods amba, when he steps down on July 2, after seven years in the role. The appointment of Jan Toft Nørgaard was made at the Arla Foods Board of Directors regular board meeting Thursday, May 24, 2018, following Åke Hantoft’s decision to retire from dairy farming and the completion of the sale of his dairy farm in Ösarp, Sweden.

In brief: Other highlights
Ajinomoto is set to open a Client Innovation Center (CIC), its first base for promoting open and linked innovation, on the grounds of its Kawasaki Administration & Coordination Office on June 1, 2018. By utilizing the latest information and communications technology to co-create new value and new businesses with its business partners, Ajinomoto Co. aims to help resolve social issues in the areas of “health and well-being,” “food resources” and “global sustainability.” Ajinomoto has positioned the CIC as a base for promoting open and linked innovation. Together with the facility that will consolidate the R&D bases of the four Ajinomoto companies in the Japan Food Products Business at Ajinomoto’s Kawasaki Administration & Coordination Office, scheduled for completion in fiscal 2020. Ajinomoto Co. will use the CIC to generate innovation by combining and exchanging technologies inside and outside the company in the Kawasaki area as it works to create both social and economic value through the Ajinomoto Group’s businesses.

US Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue and Trade Representative Robert E. Lighthizer announced that the Trump Administration has requested that the World Trade Organization (WTO) establish a dispute settlement panel to examine unfair regulations governing the sale of wine in grocery stores in the Canadian province of British Columbia (BC). The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is challenging BC regulations that discriminate against the US and other imported wine by allowing only BC wine to be sold on regular grocery store shelves.

By Elizabeth Green