Category: Markets
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February food inflation eased, but freight and energy risks persist. ONS data showed annual food and non-alcoholic drink inflation at 3.3%, while manufacturers continued to flag new transport and fuel-related cost pressure.
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Southern Glazer’s is scaling autonomous drone counts across beverage warehouses. A wider Corvus Robotics rollout has lifted inventory validation frequency, improved throughput, and shifted labour away from manual cycle counts inside high-volume distribution operations.
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Domino has launched dedicated coding equipment for high-speed egg lines. Its new Egg Pack Printing Traverser combines TIJ printheads with a traverser platform built for multi-lane graders, aiming to raise print consistency, traceability, and throughput on packed eggs.
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Packaging EPR governance is moving into a more formal phase. PackUK has appointed UK Packaging PRO as the producer responsibility organisation for the UK’s packaging recycling scheme, with the industry-led not-for-profit beginning formal duties on 1 April 2026.
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Clinical data sharpen competition in premium infant formula ingredient markets. Arla Foods Ingredients says a six-month, triple-blind study in China found formula containing Lacprodan IF-3070 delivered growth trajectories comparable with a breastfed reference group and was well tolerated.
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Cellulose absorbent developer Elea & Lili has secured seed funding. The company will use €2.5 million to industrialise a biodegradable alternative to fossil-based absorbents used in hygiene and agricultural water-retention products.
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A cheese-ripening inspection system built around AI, machine vision and mobile robotics is showing how dairies can push defect detection and traceability deeper into long-maturation processes without expanding manual inspection.
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Defra’s Land Use Framework gives food production a firmer place in England’s land policy, but the next test will be how those commitments translate into incentives, planning decisions and protection for productive land.
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Arla Foods Ingredients has extended its control at Felinfach by buying the neighbouring Sensient site, tightening control over industrial space and infrastructure at a Welsh ingredients base earmarked for long-term growth.
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Unilever’s review of its food assets has reopened questions around one of the sector’s biggest manufacturing portfolios, with any split expected to reach deep into plants, procurement, systems and supply arrangements.