Palatinose - Soft Drinks International

8 INDUSTRY NEWS
Soft Drinks International – February 2011
Africa
Listing, delisting
CLOVER Group, South Africa’s big dairy and
juice producer, is now trading on the Johannesburg
Stock Exchange. Johann Vorster, its
Chief Executive, described the listing as the
most significant event in Clover’s history.
The group’s origins are as a dairy co-operative
formed in 1898 in the Natal Midlands.
Now it is South Africa’s largest chilled distributor
and one of the largest distribution companies
overall.
Stock exchange listing was mooted as long
ago as 1996.
In Nigeria, the Nigerian Bottling Company
is negotiating a scheme of arrangement with
minority shareholders, which would see it
withdraw from the Nigerian stock exchange
and become fully owned by Coca-Cola Hellenic
Bottling Company. Coca-Cola Hellenic
has a 66.4% stake in NBC which has long
operated effectively as a group subsidiary,
albeit under local management control.
The move makes a lot of sense and the
price offered minority shareholders is widely
regarded as fair, offering a solid premium on
trading prices, but the delisting has been portrayed
by some commentators as a show of
dissatisfaction with the stock exchange.
Rwanda’s listing of Bralirwa, which as we
reported became a major topic of national
interest, has been judged an immense success
both in its own right and as setting a precedent
for further IPOs, as well as furthering
the development of capital markets.
Building capital markets and interesting the
population in investment were key reasons
behind the government’s decision to put 25%
of the company into a pioneering IPO; the
government’s remaining 5% was sold to
Heineken International, the majority owner.
The IPO was over-subscribed by 174%,
including a strong showing by individuals.
International investors, fund managers,
Bralirwa staff and distributors all applied heavily
for shares. Shares were offered in pools
and only Rwandan retail investors were allocated
their shares in full.
The company listed on the Rwanda stock
exchange at the end of January.
new Sudan food
concept
JUICES and other soft drinks are to feature
prominently in a food and beverage complex
under development on a prime riverside site in
Khartoum, Sudan, only about 200 metres from
the confluence of the White and Blue Nile.
Under the direction of Thomas Klein International,
the Dubai-based food consultants,
red Bull
nightshift 2011
NIGHT surfing on a beautiful summer
evening in Cape Town, with the board riders
given extra power thanks to tow-assists
from jet skis – that’s Red Bull Nightshift,
Sunset at Red Bull Nightshift 2011, Cape Town. Photo: Kolesky/Nikon/Red Bull.
the El Seref complex will be a dynamic food
hall and market, rich in sights and sounds,
with a core theme of celebrating the native
cooking of Sudan.
“We had to learn a lot about Sudanese
cooking and, after many excursions to back
streets, rural and urban settings, we found a
truly wonderful and ‘undiscovered’ cuisine
coupled with ingenious cooking methods that
people had passed down for millennia,” said
Daniel During, Managing Partner for TKI.
“There is a lot of emphasis on rich smoky
charcoal flavours and fresh herbs, and we
really wanted to showcase Sudanese traditions
in a way that would make the Sudanese
proud of what their land has to offer.”
During said the project was aimed at
Sudanese and foreign visitors alike. The history-rich
area around El Seref is to be
enhanced by the centre’s owners, El Seref
Tourism and Hospitality, with a small museum,
theatre and restoration of sites and historic
ships.
enjoyed by a large crowd at Camps Bay, one
of the world’s best known beaches. The jet
skis flung surfers into the waves, allowing
them to project way into the night sky for
some big aerial surfing moves.
Star attraction was Jordy Smith, the
world’s number two-rated surfer, who was
having some fun after the fast-paced competitive
action of the World Tour.
SAAFI workshop
THE annual seminar and workshop ‘combo’
arranged by the South African Association of
the Flavour and Fragrance Industry will be
held at the Bytes Conference Centre in
Midrand, Gauteng, on 10th March.
The theme this year is ‘bridging the gap’.
Speakers will deal with subjects such as the
handling of new product development and
innovation at laboratory level, how to handle
a flavouring or fragrance brief and emotional
evaluation.
Shaun Smith of The Fusion Cooking
School will encourage participants to experiment
in fusing what were traditionally two
completely separate fields: flavours/food and
fragrances/perfumes. During the workshop
session, all participants, working in 40 teams,
will be given the task of creating a flavouring
or a perfume compound according to a
brief.