Fresh dairy volume fell 3.7% in the quarter to the lowest level in more than a decade as Danone raised prices and introduced more expensive products, partly because of milk inflation in Russia.
The New Zealand-based company plans to lift mozzarella output to 50,000 metric tons a year by September 2015, enough to garnish about 350 million pizzas.
“This is the first market I’ve worked in where food safety is a more important consideration than price.” -- Rob Chester, chief compliance officer at Wal-Mart in China.
USDA is preparing to implement an agriculture law not yet passed in Congress and isn’t planning to adjust for rules that may double milk prices in the absence of a law, Secretary Tom Vilsack said.
Danone, the world’s biggest yogurt maker, canceled its supply contract with New Zealand’s Fonterra and is seeking compensation for last year’s product recall over a contamination scare.
Saputo Inc., Canada’s biggest milk processor, raised its bid for Warrnambool Cheese & Butter Factory Co. to A$537 million ($480 million), after a ruling from Australia’s takeover regulator.
