Mondelez close to buying snacks maker Hu; Aryzta to sell remaining Picard stake

TOP NEWS IN FOOD, BEVERAGE AND TOBACCO

* Mondelez International Inc. is close to striking a deal to fully acquire paleo chocolate-bar maker HU Master Holdings LLC in a $340 million deal, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources. The Oreo cookies-maker acquired a minority stake in Hu in 2019.

* Aryzta AG said it agreed to sell its remaining 4.64% stake in its French specialty food unit Picard Groupe SAS to Lion Capital LLP and Invest Group Zouari for approximately €24 million. The transaction, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021, forms part of the Swiss baked goods company's ongoing restructuring process.

➤ What lies beneath – Nine issues in the EU-UK trade deal

The EU-U.K. Trade & Cooperation Agreement provides a framework for ongoing trade and customs relations and may mitigate short-term supply chain risks. Considerable uncertainties remain for long-term planning.

➤ Asia preps for mass COVID-19 vaccinations even as doubts on cold chain persist

Four Western biotechnology companies — Pfizer, BioNTech, Moderna and AstraZeneca, and two Chinese drugmakers, Sinovac and China National Biotec Group — are leading the race to provide vaccine supplies to Asia.

➤ Seasonal produce review widens, potentially testing USMCA dispute system

The volume of petitions made to the U.S. government to investigate trade policy infractions remains low. One notable recent case regarding seasonal fruit imports could yield a test for the USMCA dispute system.

FOOD RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION

* British grocer Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC said group like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, grew 9.3% over the Christmas and New Year period, while for the 22 weeks to Jan. 3, like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, were up 8.1%. The company maintained its fiscal 2020/21 pretax profit outlook but now expects total direct COVID-19 costs of about £280 million, up from £155 million.

* Discount retailer Aldi Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG's U.K. arm said its sales rose by 10.6% year over year in the four weeks to Dec. 24, 2020, driven by a rise in demand for premium products.

* Meal-kits provider Blue Apron Holdings Inc. appointed Randy Greben CFO and treasurer, effective Jan. 6.

PACKAGED FOODS

* SunOpta Inc. said it completed its previously announced €330 million sale of global ingredients business and related assets to Dutch commodities trader Amsterdam Commodities NV on Dec. 30, 2020.

* Japan's Nissin Foods Holdings Co. Ltd. raised its fiscal 2021 outlook to reflect the impact of acquiring a 10.57% stake in snacks maker Koike-Ya Inc. The ramen maker now expects full-year profit attributable to owners of the parent to be ¥37.5 billion versus its earlier expectation of ¥30.5 billion. Separately, the company's Hong Kong unit Nissin Foods Co. Ltd. said it invested in production and storage facilities for frozen noodles at its Shunde Plant in China.

* Mitsubishi Corp. has partnered with Israeli startup Aleph Farms Ltd. to scale up production and distribution of Aleph's lab-grown beef as per the needs of Japanese consumers and regulatory bodies, Bloomberg News reported, citing Aleph's CEO Didier Toubia. Aleph, whose investors include Cargill Inc., reportedly plans to sell an initial batch of cultured meat in Asia in 2022, with Japan being high on its list of target countries.

* Nomad Foods Ltd. said it completed the acquisition of frozen food brand Findus Switzerland from Froneri International Ltd. and certain intellectual property from an affiliate of Nestlé SA for approximately €110 million.

RESTAURANTS

* McDonald's Corp. said it will launch three new chicken sandwiches across select U.S. locations on Feb. 24, after it began testing the sandwich variants in January 2020. For the new sandwiches, McDonald's is using ingredients and recipes similar to those used by Chick-fil-A Inc., according to Business Insider.

* Dunkin' Brands Group Inc. is expanding its plant-based menu with the addition of a breakfast sandwich, which will feature Kellogg Co.'s MorningStar Farms' vegetarian patty.

* Yum China Holdings Inc. launched a series of plastic reduction and eco-friendly packaging initiatives across its KFC and Pizza Hut fast-food chains in China. As a result, Yum China expects to eliminate about 8,000 tons of non-degradable plastics annually starting from 2021.

MARKETS

Click here to read about today's financial markets, setting out the factors driving stocks, bonds and currencies around the world ahead of the New York open. Click here for a summary of indexes on the MI platform.

The Daily Dose is updated as of 8 a.m. ET. Some external links may require a subscription. Links are current as of publication time, and we are not responsible if those links are unavailable later.