Mar 09, 2018  -  The Commerce Commission has cleared US food company Kraft Heinz to buy Cerebos Food & Instant Coffee and Asian Home Gourmet from Japan's Suntory Beverage & Food, subject to the divestment of some sauce brands.

Japan's Suntory put the units on the block in April last year and announced it had reached a deal with Kraft Heinz in October. The Commerce Commission today granted clearance for the New Zealand part of the global deal on the condition that Kraft's local unit Heinz Wattie divest the licences for the Gregg's brand for the New Zealand supply of red sauce (tomato sauce and ketchup), barbeque sauce and steak sauce, and the F. Whitlock & Sons brand for the supply of Worcestershire sauce in New Zealand.

The regulator said its ruling was based on competition issues in the national markets for the manufacture, importation and wholesale supply of a number of table sauces to supermarkets and the food service industry.

“We believe the merger of the number one and two wholesale suppliers to supermarkets of red sauce, barbecue sauce, steak sauce and Worcestershire sauce would be likely to result in a substantial lessening of competition in each of these markets," Commission chair Mark Berry said in a statement. "However, we consider the divestment offered by Heinz Wattie’s is sufficient to remedy the competitive harm the merger would cause and we have given clearance to the merger subject to the divestment undertaking.”

The commission is satisfied there are no competition concerns in the markets for Asian sauces, condiments, chilli sauce, gravies, powdered beverages, and soy sauce due to a range of factors, including low levels of overlap and the presence of competitive constraint from other suppliers.

| A CommerceCommission release  ||  march09, 2018   |||

Labosport to expand its presence in Asia-Pacific with the acquisition of NZSTI.  Aurélien Le Blan, Labosport CEO : "The institute has unparalleled experience and unmatched reputation for scientific excellence. We look forward to further developing its service offering for the benefit of its customers and key business partners.”

Mar 08, 2018  - E tū is extremely concerned to see another local manufacturer shutting up shop and heading overseas.

Mar 08, 2018  - Higher sales volumes for petroleum and coal product manufacturing helped boost manufacturing in the December 2017 quarter, Stats NZ said today.

The total volume of manufacturing sales rose 1.0 percent in the December 2017 quarter compared with the September 2017 quarter, when adjusted for seasonal effects. This follows a 0.4 percent rise in the September 2017 quarter.

Seven of the 13 manufacturing industries saw sales rise in the December 2017 quarter. The largest movements were petroleum and coal product manufacturing, up 17 percent, and meat and dairy product manufacturing, down 2.8 percent.

"The December 2017 quarter's rise in petroleum and coal product manufacturing follows falls in the June and September quarters," manufacturing manager Sue Chapman said. "This is the largest percentage rise since December 2008, and the third-largest since the series began."

Continue to full article here on StatsNZ    ||  March 08, 2018   |||

The Provincial Growth Fund (PGF) has the potential to be a lifeline for struggling provinces and regions.  “But last week’s announcement of initial projects was disappointingly light”, according to BERL deputy chief economist Hillmaré Schulze.

Mar 07, 2018  -  Security printer ABnote is moving ahead with plans to shut down its plastic card manufacturing business based at Christchurch and move the operation to Australia.

“The manufacturing will finish here at the end of March and we’ll all be out by the end of April,” says a staff member at ABnote NZ, based at 25 Halwyn Drive, in Sockburn, Christchurch.

E tū union spokesman Joe Gallagher says the lease on the old factory was due to expire and the company was not prepared to reinvest in equipment or property.

About 50 workers will lose their jobs at the site but some may be offered jobs at other ABnote locations in New Zealand and Australia.

“Most people will have cards in their wallet that were made at this site,” says Gallagher. “They produce bank cards, ID cards, loyalty cards and a lot more. It’s a real shame that these good kiwi-made products are just the next product to have production moved off-shore.”

Gallagher says that while the company may offer employment at other sites, this would be unrealistic for most workers.

“Families can’t just up and move to New South Wales. The company has indicated that they may help people find other jobs – we expect them to take the commitment very seriously.”

ABnote is the longest-established supplier of secure transaction products, services and logistics in Australia and New Zealand, employing around 600 people. The company is a market leader in identity cards, smart card solutions, instant issuance solutions, cheques, financial cards, driver’s licences and high-resolution barcodes.

Source: Print@1 Australia  ||  March 07, 2018   |||

Mar 07, 2018  -  MYOB Group, the Australian tax, accounting and business software company, lifted sales and profit in New Zealand in 2017 while seeking regulatory clearance on both sides of the Tasman to buy accounting software firm Reckon

Mar 07, 2018  -   The government is adding forestry rights to the Overseas Investment Act screening regime ahead of this week's signing of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership in Chile, preserving its right to legislate on the issue

Beijing-based economist Rodney Jones argues in an article on Newsroom today, New Zealand should have a robust debate about its relations with China under President-for-life Xi Jinping, and should be less afraid of any reaction in China to that debate. 

Mar 06, 2018 - The AA has launched a new tradie callout service which will send home help to fix burst pipes, blocked toilets or electrical failures at any hour of the day.