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January 26, 2005

Kraft earnings drop 28% in fourth quarter...Kemps launches Pillsbury premium ice cream line...Hispanic cheeses highlighted by news service...Good Humor-Breyers to launch light, low-carb ice cream...Overtime pay violations...Global Marketwatch... Odds-and-Ends...Stock Market Ticker...More news at www.idfa.org.

DAIRY BUSINESS BRIEFS

Northfield, Ill.-based Kraft Foods Inc. reported a nearly 28% drop in fourth quarter 2004 net earnings Tuesday, with net income of $628 million (37 cents per share) for the quarter, down from $869 million (50 cents per share) in the fourth quarter of 2003. Kraft cited higher commodity costs on goods, including cheese, a drop in operating income caused by restructuring, and increased marketing spending for the decline. Revenues rose 6.5% to $8.78 billion from $8.21 billion in fourth quarter 2004 compared to fourth quarter 2003. (Associated Press)

With help from Minneapolis-based Kemps, the Pillsbury brand is branching into premium ice cream for the first time in its 135-year history. Packaging graphics include the Pillsbury Doughboy; the suggested retail price per 56-oz. container is $4.99. The national rollout of seven flavors includes Pillsbury Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream (chunks of real chocolate chip cookie dough and rich chocolate in vanilla flavored ice cream), Cake & Ice Cream and Homemade Vanilla. Other inclusion-laden flavors are Turtle Fudge Brownie (chocolate ice cream with brownies, caramel and pecans), Peanut Butter Fudge Chunk (peanut butter and chocolate hearts, and fudge variegate in vanilla), Lovin' Caramel Swirl (caramel-filled chocolate hearts and a caramel ribbon in caramel ice cream) and Brownies 'N Cream (vanilla base with brownies and a fudge swirl). Initial rollout support includes the release of the 2005 "Pillsbury Ice Cream Lover's Survey." Highlights of the phone survey of 1,000 American consumers include: Women are nearly three times more likely than men to use a bowl of ice cream to console themselves after a breakup or disappointment (50% said it cheered them up); half of those surveyed (whether male or female) confess to "bonding" with their significant other over ice cream; and one in six people admit to having their dog or cat lick the last bit of ice cream out of their bowl. (Company reports)

Cheese brands Cacique and Marquez Brothers International were mentioned in an extensive food section article on Hispanic cheeses provided to numerous newspapers in the Knight Ridder News Service system. The article encourages consumers to experiment with Hispanic cheeses and offers a primer on the numerous types of Hispanic cheeses widely available at Latin food markets as well as large supermarkets. Each cheese description includes the cheese making method, a comparison to more mainstream cheeses and suggestion uses. (Knight Ridder News Service)

Green Bay, Wis.-based Good Humor-Breyers Ice Cream will introduce what it dubs "the first light ice cream line in the low-carb segment." The new light flavors join the Breyers line of CarbSmart ice cream products. Breyers CarbSmart Light Vanilla Fudge Sundae and Breyers CarbSmart Light Chocolate Peanut Butter have half the fat and 40% fewer calories than regular ice cream, and 4g net carbohydrates. (Company report)

GLOBAL MARKETWATCH

The World Trade Organization (WTO) criticized Japan's farm policy for distorting competition and pressed the country to open its market further. Issued on Tuesday, the WTO trade policy report noted that Japan keeps high import tariffs on agriculture products including dairy, rice and wheat. The report also noted that the average tariff rates for agriculture imports declined to 17.7% from 20% one year ago. (Jiji Press Ticker Service)

An Italian judge has ruled against Bank of America Corp. in its quest to collect damages arising from criminal prosecutions in the Parmalat case. Bank of America had sought to be included as a civil party in the criminal case against Parmalat, but a judge in Milan excluded the U.S. bank. In fact, Milan magistrates are filing charges against the bank for the work it performed for Parmalat. (AFX European Focus)

CUSTOMER CLIPS

A deal between 30,000 grocery workers and leading grocery chains Safeway, Albertsons and Kroger-owned Ralphs in California's Bay Area has been tentatively reached, which would avoid a strike like the one that occurred in Southern California. The agreement is similar to the deal reached in Sacramento in December. The vote for grocery workers to ratify the new agreement will be held by mail, with results in February. (San Jose Mercury News, California)

Piggly Wiggly Carolina Co. has launched a new advertising campaign that taps into the company's Southern roots. Ads tout the chain's "hometown advantage," with a message that when people think of the South, they think of Piggly Wiggly. (Post and Courier, Charleston, S.C.)

IDFA NEWS

SmartMarketing 2005 to Focus on Grocery Channel, Weight Loss and Consumer Thinking
Register now for IDFA's SmartMarketing 2005 conference, which will be held March 15-17, at the Westin Buckhead in Atlanta. This year's sessions will focus on three major marketing areas: examining competitive pressures in the grocery channel, understanding consumers, and expanding milk and weight-loss marketing opportunities. The program will also feature Hall of Innovation exhibitions and the announcement of the winners of the prestigious 2005 Achieving Excellence Marketing Awards! Click here for complete agenda and registration information.

ODDS-AND-ENDS

Timed with the 55th U.S. Presidential Inauguration, Ben & Jerry's Homemade Inc., Burlington, Vt., featured a full-page ad in the Jan. 20 Washington Post to highlight global warming and urge unity between political parities in a quest to maintain the shared environment. The color ad featured the earth in green and blue with the headline "Put red and blue aside. Think green." (Company report)...Illinois-based Oberweis Dairy will co-sponsor the 2005 Midwest Milkmen's Reunion and Convention of the Divco Club of America June 23-25, 2005, in North Aurora, Ill. In addition to dedicating a new Oberweis ice cream production plant, events will include tours of a nearby Dean's Foods plant and an Oberweis patron farm, sightseeing, parades and displays of historic and restored milk trucks and other delivery vehicles. For information, click here. (Divco Club report)

STOCK MARKET TICKER

As of 1/25/05, market close.

Company/Symbol		Last Trade		Change over Previous Close		Change over Last Week's D-brief
Dean Foods/DF Dreyer's/DRYR General Mills/GIS Groupe Danone/DA Hershey Foods/HSY Ingles Markets/IMKTA Kraft Foods/KFT Kroger/KR Ruddick Corp./RDK Safeway/SWY Saputo/SAP.TO Supervalu/SVU Unilever PLC/UL Weis Markets/WMK Wimm Bill Dann/WBD Winn-Dixie/WIN		33.15 80.45 51.89 18.10 56.22 13.05 33.03 16.97 20.30 18.83 35.87 31.79 36.62 37.50 16.65 03.66		-0.37 -0.04 +0.05 +0.19 +0.92 +0.00 -0.37 -0.03 +0.08 +0.14 -0.07 -0.24 -0.08 +0.25 +0.32 -0.06		-1.17 -0.15 +0.07 -0.14 +0.41 +0.00 -1.40 -0.03 -0.64 +0.27 +2.07 -1.15 -0.79 -0.83 +0.69 -0.24
Source: Yahoo! Finance

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