In the case of the contested ownership of the Havana Club brand, the Provincial Court of Madrid has ruled that in Spain the brand belongs to Pernod Ricard, thus refuting Bacardi’s claims.

Rexam, the global consumer packaging company and the world’s leading beverage can maker, announces that it is investing £19.5m to double the capacity of its can making facility in Egypt by adding a new line.

As of February 2007 a new type of Guinness, Guinness Red, will be put on trial at more than 140 Mitchells & Butlers pubs from London to Aberdeen. Nine years after the introduction of Guinness Draught Extra Cold, which was the first entry into the extra cold draught beer category (1998), and 19 years after the invention of the widget, which revolutionised the at-home draught beer drinking experience, Guinness is making its latest innovation available to selected members of the public.

First you eat it, then you drink it – or is it supposed to be the other way round? In any case, Guinness has moved into bread. Its parent Diageo has licensed an Irish baker to produce a Guinness Whole Grain Bread and a U.S. company to launch a Guinness bread mix.

Pernod Ricard’s 2006/2007 interim consolidated net sales (1 July to 31 December 2006) - excluding tax and duties - totalled EUR 3 507 million, an increase of 7.3 percent. This growth resulted from a 9.7 percent organic growth. The spirits segment recorded organic growth of 12.5 percent thanks to good performances in Asia and the Americas, which now represent 56 percent of net sales. Wines were down 1.1 percent, as growth by the original Allied Domecq brands, notably Perrier-Jouët and Montana, was offset by the decline of Australian wine brands. Sales of Jacob’s Creek fell 3 percent on flat volume. The Pernod Ricard group has upgraded its outlook to a 6 percent rise this half, although the outlook for Australian wine sales was weak.

It is hard to understand why it takes the Italian brewers Association, Assobirra, so long to publish its 2006 figures. After all, the association has only seven members: two maltings, Heineken Italia, Peroni (owned by SABMiller), Carlsberg, Theresianer and InBev. It should be pointed out that InBev is an importer in Italy.

The SuperShorty developed by Bericap in 2004 fits on the new short height neck standard PCO 1881 which has been recently agreed on within the International Society of Beverage Technologists (ISBT). Members of the ISBT range from brand owners, preform and closure manufacturers to filling line, capper and blowmoulding machine manufacturers.

Speedy 2002 is an automatic system for Solid Phase Extraction and filtration using either the 96 well format, cartridges or columns.

Availability, resistance to malfunctions and high efficiency are vital considerations for bottle washers. Since bottle washers rank among the most cost-intensive pieces of equipment in a line, Krones AG, Neutraubling, Germany, has developed a new plate heat exchanger system called Variotherm, designed to reduce the heating costs involved.

In a research note, Lehman said that within the overall consumer space, it retained its negative sector views on tobacco and food.