Milling & Baking News - October 29, 2013 - 1

THE NEWS WEEKLY OF GRAIN-BASED FOODS
OCTOBER 29, 2013

bakingbusiness.com / foodbusinessnews.net

FEATURE

FOOD INGREDIENT SOLUTIONS®

Shhh! Sodium reduction
efforts in progress

Pushing the
buttons on pasta
Companies turn to
gluten-free for spark
Story on Page 24

LATE NEWS

Sugar struggles weigh
on Bunge results
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - Weak results in the company's sugar business
have Bunge Ltd. considering "all alternatives" for the unit, including a
potential sale. Softness in sugar was a
primary factor cited by the company
in announcing a loss of $137 million
in the third quarter ended Sept. 30.
The loss compared with net income
of $289 million, equal to $1.91 per
share, in the same period a year ago.
Net sales during the third quarter
of fiscal 2013 were $14,701 million,
down 11% from $16,543 million in
the third quarter of fiscal 2012. "Given the challenges facing the Brazilian (sugarcane milling) industry, we
Continued on Page 8

ompanies are experimenting
with ways to reduce sodium
in their products. Some even
have set goals to
reach by 2015. Muffled, however, may
describe how some
companies are trumpeting accomplishments.
Concerned
that
consumers might associate reduced sodium with reduced
taste, companies in
many instances are
taking a stealth approach, or keeping
the sodium reduction information off
the front of packaging.
The practice may explain a Mintel report released in August 2012. It

showed global launches of foods with
low/no/reduced sodium claims declined 5% from 2010-11.
"I have not seen the
data for 2012," said
Barbara Bufe Heidolph, principal, food
phosphates, at ICL
Food Specialties, St.
Louis. "However, in
general, most companies that have made
pledges to reduce sodium (which is not
all of them) have met
their sodium targets
and are not launching new products with claims. Many are using
covert or stealth approaches and
relying on the consumer to review
Continued on Page 19

Maple Leaf looks to sell 90%
Canada Bread stake
TORONTO - After steadily raising its
stake in the company over the past 15
years, Maple Leaf Foods on Oct. 21 said
it has begun to explore strategic alternatives that may lead to the sale of its 90%
holding in Canada Bread Company Ltd.
Maple Leaf said the decision to explore options for its Bakery segment
comes as the company reaches the "final
phase" of a seven-year project to enhance its protein business by increasing

its scale and improving its productivity
and profitability. As it nears completion,
Maple Leaf said the effort to improve
the meat business is "expected to deliver
significant returns to shareholders."
Michael H. McCain, president and
chief executive officer of Maple Leaf,
also offered an optimistic outlook for the
baking business.
"We are confident that our Bakery
business can deliver significantly higher levels of profitable growth; the only
question is how best to realize the future
value of this business," he said. "The
recently completed Bakery strategy will
require organizational focus and resources to implement. This process gives
us the opportunity to determine the
best path forward for Maple Leaf, our
Continued on Page 9

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Milling & Baking News - October 29, 2013

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