Thai Beverage in May announced that it is bringing its signature Mekhong spirits drink to the US, where exclusive taste events in New York and Los Angeles look set to position the brand in its new market. Through its subsidiary International Beverage Holdings, Thai Beverage hopes to gain a strong foothold in the US market with extensive campaigns to promote the drink as 'The Spirit of Thailand'. The company has also introduced 13 new cocktail recipes, including ‘Sabai Sabai’, a traditional welcome drink in Thailand.
Unilever has announced it intends to appoint Paul Polman, 52, as group chief executive. He will succeed Patrick Cescau, who retires at the end of the year.
Germany's METRO Group is making plans to open its first Metro Cash & Carry wholesale store in Kazakhstan in the summer of 2009. The Group officially agreed to the investment with the Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Wednesday, a move which will extend METRO's activities to 33 countries.
Trent Ltd, the retail arm of the Tata group in India, is likely to invest around Rs 20billion ( €0.3 billion ) over the next five years in the roll out of 50 Star Bazaar hypermarket stores, according to Indian press reports.
The recent credit crunch has led all the major supermarket chains in the UK to increase promotions of cheap, unhealthy food, according to the country's National Consuner Council (NCC).
Auchan has published half year results for the first time as a result of new European regulations governing transparency. Although there has been a slow-down in mature markets, emerging markets remained buoyant for the French company and as a result sales for the first six months of 2008 were 9.4% higher than in 2007 reaching EUR18.7 billion.
Price promotions and the decision to only partially pass on food price inflation to customers have led to a downturn in second quarter margins for Ahold. Net sales for second quarter 2008 were EUR 5.8 billion, down 0.8% from the same period last year. At constant exchange rates, net sales increased by 7.3%.
