Cott Says Wal-Mart Will End Supply Pact

Store-brand-soda producer Cott Corp. said Wal-Mart Stores Inc. plans to phase out its exclusive supply agreement in the U.S.

Toronto-based Cott said the 10-year-old relationship is being terminated "without cause" but that it will continue as a supplier to Wal-Mart.

Almost a year ago Cott said it had received a notice from Wal-Mart, its biggest customer, concerning a reduction in shelf space and merchandising support for Wal-Mart's private-label carbonated soft drinks in the U.S.

Cott stock sank 29%, or 37 cents, to 92 cents at 4 p.m. Tuesday in composite trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

"While conversations with Wal-Mart are ongoing, and the impact on Cott's business is unclear at this time, the effect of this action is to phase out the exclusive nature of the relationship with Cott as the supplier of retailer brand carbonated soft drinks in the United States," Cott said.

The termination will be effective in late January 2012. In the first year following notification, Wal-Mart will be allowed, if it chooses, to use another beverage maker for as much as one-third of its private-label soft-drink requirements. In the second year, as much as two-thirds of its private-label soft drinks can be manufactured by a company other than Cott.

YSL Beauté reached sales of around 630 million euros in 2006 with its Yves Saint Laurent brand as well as with its Roger&Gallet, Boucheron, Stella McCartney, Oscar de la Renta and Ermenegildo Zegna brands.

"This proposed agreement represents a great opportunity for L'Oréal and its Luxury Products Division. Yves SaintLaurent is a mythical French luxury brand,"  said Jean-Paul Agon, CEO of L'Oréal. "It is admired the world over and is particularly complementary with our current brands. We are convinced that its integration into our Luxury Products Division would speed up its development. This strategic agreement will reinforce our position in the luxury cosmetics market."

Added François-Henri Pinault, PPR Chairman & CEO, "With this strategic agreement with the world leader in cosmetics, Gucci Group gives YSL Beauté the opportunity to take full advantage of its upside potential. It also enables the Yves Saint Laurent brand, in the field of beauty, to fully align its ambition with its worldwide reputation. Yves Saint Laurent would thus boost its position as a great luxury brand. With its expertise and knowledge of international markets, L'Oréal would be able to continue and step up the work already achieved to date. L'Oréal would also offer a unique development platform for the Roger & Gallet, Boucheron, Stella McCartney, Oscar de la Renta and Zegna brands. With this projected agreement, PPR reasserts its ambition to bolster the development of the Gucci Group's brands."

The agreement should be signed in the coming weeks, once the institutions representing PPR's staff have been consulted.
This operation will be submitted for approval by the appropriate authorities.

The acquisition was applauded by industry observers.

Dean Foods announces changes in executive team

Harrald Kroeker has been promoted as president of direct store delivery group. Mr Kroeker joined Dean Foods in 2006 from a senior operating role at Pepsi Bottling Group. Michelle Goolsby has been promoted to the newly created position of executive vice president of development, sustainability and corporate affairs. In this new role, Mr Goolsby is expected to bring company-wide focus to areas that are crucial to the company's long-term success, including its acquisition strategy, its approach to sustainability, its public policy efforts and its legal activities.

Greg McKelvey has been promoted to the newly created position of senior vice president of Dean Foods strategy and marketing services. Mr McKelvey joins Dean Foods executive team from Dean's WhiteWave division, where he was senior vice president of strategy and marketing services. In this new role, he has to develop the company's strategic planning processes and capabilities. He will also be responsible for expanding WhiteWave's marketing services function to service all of Dean Foods.

The other members of the executive team include Joe Scalzo, CEO and president of WhiteWave Foods and Morningstar, Jack Callahan, CFO of the company, Gregg Tanner, chief supply chain officer of the company, Paul Moskowitz, chief human resources officer of the company, Rick Fehr, senior vice president of business optimization and Debbie Carosella, senior vice president of innovation.

Gregg Engles, chairman and CEO, said: "We have assembled an exceptional leadership team at Dean Foods, combining talented and experienced individuals from inside and outside of our company and our industry. With these capabilities we are very well positioned to tackle the challenges before us and capitalize on our strategic advantages."

Constellation Brands to sell Almaden and Inglenook for $134M

Constellation Brands Inc.,the nation's largest wine producer and a major force in the Bay Area wine industry, said Wednesday will sell its Almaden and Inglenook wine brands, along with the Paul Masson Winery, to the Wine Group LLCfor $134 million.

The goal for Fairport, N.Y.-based Constellation (NYSE: STZ) is to focus more intensely on premium wine brands, company officials said Jan. 23. The deal is expected to close by the end of February, which is also the end of Constellation's fiscal year.

The San Francisco-based Wine Group is a privately held conglomerate that produces more than 24 million cases annually. It focuses on bargain brands such as Franzia, Corbett Canyon and Glen Ellen, as well as wines like Pinot Evil, Herding Cats and Cardinal Zin aimed at younger wine drinkers.

Almaden and Inglenook are low-end table wines that typically retail for less than $3.00 per bottle, according to Constellation, which said Wednesday it would retain its Madera-based Mission Bell Winery to help it boost premium wine production in the San Joaquin Valley region. The Mission Bell winery will also provide production services to the Wine Group "for a period of time on a contract basis," company officials said.

"This transaction, when coupled with the recent acquisition of Clos du Bois, the No. 1 super-premium U.S. wine brand, will allow our wine sales forces to focus on selling higher-growth, higher-margin premium wines," Rob Sands, Constellation Brands' president and CEO, said in the statement. "This change also demonstrates our commitment to improve return on invested capital."

In mid-December, Constellation Wines U.S., a unit of Constellation Brands Inc., completed an $885 million acquisition of Beam Wine Estates from Fortune Brands(NYSE: FO), including well-known Bay Area wines such as Clos du Bois, Gary Farrell and Geyser Peak.

Constellation said Wednesday's transaction is expected to result in a pre-tax loss of $27 million or an after-tax loss of 13 cents a share, and will be excluded from the company's comparable earnings per share. Proceeds will be used to reduce debt.

Constellation said the Almaden and Inglenook brands are expected to generate $130 million of net sales for fiscal 2008, and represent 10 million 9-liter cases of the company's U.S. wine volume.

Constellation earlier said the Beam Wine Estates brands sold 2.6 million cases in 2006, generating sales of $214 million. The new Constellation Wines structure features three distinct business units, the company said Jan. 9. They include:

§                Vintas, a new unit focused on premium and super premium wines.

§                Icon Estates, which will continue to focus on ultra-premium and luxury wine brands.

§                Centerra Wine Co.,which includes a diverse portfolio of imports, "value" and specialty wines.

Constellation confirmed last week that it plans to cut approximately 93 jobs at Beam Wine Estates and close Beam's Healdsburg headquarters within a year. The staff reductions, effective March 1, will cut roughly 18 percent of the 520 jobs at Beam Wine Estates' local headquarters and operations, according to Nora Feeley, a Constellation spokeswoman.

Overall, Constellation Brands has more than 250 brands in its international portfolio, and operates about 60 wineries, distilleries and distribution facilities. Major brands include Corona Extra, Black Velvet Canadian Whisky, the Svedka vodka line, Robert Mondavi wines, Ravenswood, Blackstone, Hardys, Banrock Station, Nobilo, Kim Crawford, Inniskillin, Jackson-Triggs and Arbor Mist, among others.

Coca-Cola aims to expand tea, looking at acquisitions

Coca-Cola Co the world's largest soft drink company, is keen to expand its tea business and will look at acquisitions to improve its position.

"Tea is a priority area," Chief Executive Neville Isdell told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum. "Tea is one area where we've seen our performance has not been as good as we would like it to be."

He declined to confirm or deny recent reports that Coca-Cola might buy or make an investment in Honest Beverages, a privately-held maker of Honest Tea. "The honest answer is we look at everything and when we decide that we are going to do something we will let you know," Isdell said.

Coca-Cola, like arch-rival PepsiCo Inc, has suffered a domestic slowdown in sales of its traditional soft drinks as health-conscious consumers opt for bottled water or tea, which they view as healthier.

The U.S. group already has a strong position in water, where it ranks third in the world, helped by last year's acquisition of vitamin-water maker Glaceau.

Isdell, who will hand over the CEO job to Chief Operating Officer Muhtar Kent in July, said Coca-Cola was not interested in large-scale M&A deals. "We will be acquiring bolt-on but no major acquisitions," he said.

American Italian Pasta names new CEO

American Italian Pasta Co. has named Jack Kelly as president and CEO.

Kelly had been COO of the Kansas City-based company (OTC: AITP) since November. He succeeds Jim Fogarty, a managing director at Alvarez & Marsal LLC who has been American Italian Pasta's president and CEO since September 2005.

The company also said it has named Paul Geist as executive vice president and CFO. Geist was vice president and corporate controller.

"Jack has hit the ground running in the two months since he arrived," Chairman Bill Patterson said in a release Wednesday. "The planned leadership transition not only has been seamless, but even faster than originally anticipated."

Before joining American Italian Pasta, Kelly led several private companies, including San Antonio Farms and Fiorucci Foods and held senior positions at Haagen-Dazs and Kraft Foods. He has more than 30 years of experience as a food industry executive.

Geist, who joined American Italian Pasta in October 2004, most recently was vice president/controller for Potbelly Sandwich Works, a privately owned restaurant company. He also has held several senior management positions, including CFO of Houlihan's Restaurant Group Inc. and Westar Energy Inc.

Kelly also was appointed to the company's board, and Robert Niehaus will resign from the board Jan. 31. With these changes, the company's board will comprise Kelly and nine independent directors, three of whom were added in the past two years.

The company said Dec. 14 that it is late in filing its annual report with the Securities and Exchange Commission for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 28 because it is waiting for its public accounting firm, Ernst & Young, to complete a review and audit of the company's restated financial statements for various periods.

American Italian Pasta also must file reports with the SEC for the following periods:

§                The quarter that ended July 1, 2005

§                The year that ended Sept. 30, 2005

§                The quarter that ended Dec. 30, 2005

§                The quarter that ended March 31, 2006

§                The quarter that ended June 30, 2006

§                The year that ended Sept. 29, 2006

§                The quarter that ended Dec. 29, 2006

§                The quarter that ended March 30, 2007

§                The quarter that ended June 29, 2007

American Italian Pasta was founded in 1988 and is the largest producer of dry pasta in North America. The company has about 600 employees and plants in Excelsior Springs; Columbia, S.C.; Tolleson, Ariz.; and Verolanuova, Italy.

Unilever to combine U.S. foods businesses

Consumer products company Unilever said on Tuesday it is combining its U.S. food businesses under one organization, and named Amanda Sourry to lead it.

Sourry is currently vice president and general manager of the meal solutions and new vitality unit, which includes the Slim-Fast brand.

The company is combining Sourry's current unit with the spreads, dressings and beverage groups to form a single unit called the U.S. foods business team.

The new team will manage all of Unilever's U.S. food brands -- such as Lipton, Bertolli, and Hellmann's -- but will not be responsible for its ice cream business, which includes Ben & Jerry's.

Kellogg buys Russian food company

Kellogg Co., the world's leading maker of breakfast cereals, said Thursday that it has bought the United Bakers Group, a leading Russian maker of crackers, biscuits and breakfast cereals.

The price of the deal was not disclosed.

United Bakers Group sells primarily under the Yantar and Lyubyatovo brands and had sales of about $100 million in 2007, Kellogg said in a news release.

"Consistent with our strategy, we continue to pursue the right kind of opportunities to grow our business," said David Mackay, Kellogg's president and chief executive.

United Bakers has about 4,000 employees and six manufacturing plants, Kellogg said. It is headquartered in Voronezh, Russia.

Battle Creek-based Kellogg had sales of $10.91 billion in 2006, the last full year for which financial results have been released. It makes breakfast cereals and convenience foods. It employs about 26,000 people and produces in 17 countries.

Minute Maid moving headquarters to Sugar Land

Minute Maid is moving its Galleria-area headquarters to Sugar Land.

The juice maker, a unit of Coca-Cola North America, will occupy 115,000 square feet of a 200,000-square-foot building under construction at 2150 Town Square Place across from Sugar Land City Hall.

The company was able to squeeze some economic incentives from the city, including a direct cash incentive of $240,000 per year for 10 years from the Sugar Land Development Corp.

The perks "were a key factor in our decision to select this site," Michael Saint John, senior vice president of Coca-Cola North America and general manager of the Minute Maid business unit, said in a statement today.

Located in Sugar Land Town Square, the new building is being developed by Planned Community Developers.