[22.09.2003, 10:00]
The International Exhibition for Food and Drink Products World Food Moscow 2003 ... will be held at Krasnaya Presnya Exhibition Center on the 23rd of September 2003. At the press-conference held September 19 2003, reporters met with the representatives of the ITE Group, the organizer of the show, as well as with the departments and organizations supporting this annual event.
Among those who gave a speech to the guests of the event were general director of the ITE Moscow Mr. Ros R. Soby, deputy head of the Food Processing and Child Food Industry Department of the RF Ministry of Agriculture S.N. Seregin, director of the ITE Moscow Food Exhibition Department M. Afanasjeva, ITE Group PLC sales director Steven Kin, deputy director of the Food Processing and Child Food Industry Department of the RF Ministry of Agriculture P.N. Petrova.
What distinguishes the exhibition, is, organizers said, a well-organized location of participants in the exhibition hall, i.e. convenient search system. Organizers also said the 1st International World Food 2003 Conference will be held as part of the World Food 2003 Exhibition and will be devoted to the up-to-date issues of the food industry, such as development trends, investment climate, tax regulation, quality control etc. More than 900 companies from over 50 countries will visit the event.
According to the data available in a special exhibition catalogue, tea/coffee sector is represented by over 100 companies, of them 60 companies specialize in tea production and realization, whereas 50 participants belong to the coffee industry.
“Tea and coffee market shows steady development and its rate of growth is estimated at about 20 percent,” said the RF Ministry of Agriculture representative S.N. Seregin, when asked by coffeetea.ru reporter about the current state of the tea and coffee industry. He also added some change in tea and coffee exports volume was registered. So the leadership position in tea exports to Russia, traditionally enjoyed by India, has shifted to Sri-Lanka, Vietnam and some other countries. “One of the most actual problems of the current market is adulterated products,” said Mr. Seregin. “While the new measures against counterfeit tea and coffee have already had some positive effect in large cities, the problem is still acute in the regions, the level of adulterated products reaching 30 percent according to the State Trade Inspection”.

[17.09.2003, 10:00]
Negotiations on the purchase of the company Cacique ... - one of the largest soluble coffee producers in Brazil - by Nestle are coming to an end, coffeetea.ru reported. The company Cacique, the owner of the trademark Pele, which became popular already in the USSR, has partly lost its leadership position in the modern market, the change caused, according to experts, not only by the 1998 default but also by the shift of taste preferences of Russians, complicated structure of the chip coffee segment, as well as growth of the purchasing capacity of the population. .Only recently, Cacique used to have the second largest share (7 to 11 percent) in the Russian soluble coffee market after the leading Nestle (34 to 45 percent. If the parties meet the agreement, Nestle will most probably account for nearly half of the Russian soluble coffee market or will even surpass the level, becoming unattainable for other companies, Cacique in particular.

[12.09.2003, 10:00]
One of the largest Spanish soluble coffee producers SEDA ... - Sosiedat Espanola de Alimentos S.A. in conjunction with the German concern Kruger Group, specializing in the production of instant products, e.g. coffee, tea etc., are preparing to join efforts with the Brazilian Cia.lguacu de Cafe Soluvel. The idea is to seek a larger footprint in the European coffee market.
According to coffeetea.ru the group will focus on private label production and packaging. The alliance is intended to take a leadership position in the European market in the nearest future to account for 10 percent of the world soluble coffee market.

Reference information:
SEDA Group (Sosiedat Espanola de Alimentos S.A.) appeared on the Russian market only recently. It was first mentioned in 2001. The company is engaged in the delivery of all types of bulk soluble coffee to some of the Russian companies.

Kruger Concern has been known in Russia since 1995, when Vologodskiy Region administration and Kruger jointly set up a factory producing child cereals
“Vologodskiy Child Food Factory”. Early this summer the Russian mass media (‘Vedomosty’,05.06.2003) reported that 50% of shares, part of them owned by Kruger Group, were sold. Wiliberg Kruger, the owner of the company Kruger Group, said that he decided to exit the business, as cereals was not their core business. About the main business - coffee, tea, chocolate, cocoa, vitamins, artificial sweeteners and all kinds of instant products, he said though in several months the company would inform on its intention to expand its presence on the Russian market in this very sector.

The Brazilian company Cia. Iguacu de Cafe Soluvel supplies bulk soluble coffee to Russian companies, as well as unpacked soluble coffee under its own label.

[10.09.2003, 10:00]
The Indian Tea Association has published statistics ... in the Indian mass media on the state of the domestic tea industry for the first half of 2003. Though the year has seen an increase in tea production by 38 million kg to 864 million kg, export sales came down this year by 12 million kg to 186 million kg. While an increase in production in India was 38 million kg in a period from January to June 2003, tea export were down by 22,1 million kg, a decline in exports causing losses of 31,65 million dlrs.
Tea sales have declined on account of loss of Iraq and Russian market by 13,89 million kg and 3,81 million kg , respectively.
The rate of growth in domestic consumption in the first half of 2003 has also been lower at 1.2 percent that the previous year growth rate of 3 percent.
Orthodox tea production has shown decline of 2 million kg. The solution, offered by the ITA, is to increase the production of orthodox tea and reduce the production of CTC. The association recommends companies of the industry to act in close conjunction with governments and regulatory bodies of countries-buyers, as well as to meet demands on tea standards, particularly the level of residual pesticides in tea.
The ITA delegation is planning to visit Russian in September. The delegation will conduct the meetings with Rusteacoffee Association to discuss the perspectives of the Indian tea export increase in Russia.

[09.09.2003, 10:00]
The new Premium tea is being introduced to the Russian market. ... English company Greenfield Tea Ltd. has embarked upon the production and distribution of plantation tea under trademark Greenfield. The collection includes four grades of leaf tea in packets by 100 grams, as well as teas of the same grade in tea bags packaged by 25 tea bags in a pack. Active brand promotion should be undertaken in Russia. For this purpose, as well as for the production of tea, Greenfield chose Orimi Trade, the owner of the modern high-technology factory and developed logistical structure. The company will be also responsible for the promotion of Greenfield brand across the Russian Federation and the CIS countries. The production of Greenfield tea was commenced in August at the factory near Saint Petersburg, at an investment of $2,000,000 USD. Modern technologies provide a many-stage quality control system, which will allow to secure exceptional quality and freshness of Greenfield tea.

[05.09.2003, 13:40]
The official inaugural ceremony of the First World Tea Festival ... took place in Moscow on September 6, at 12 a.m., the event being timed to Moscow City Day. The Festival, held under the motto “Tea - the culture of the world and health”, gathered numerous tea lovers. The opening ceremony was conducted by the state secretary, chief deputy of the Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation A.A. Mikhalev. The event that took place between the old Kremlin walls and St. Basil Cathedral was visited by representatives of different tea producing countries and heads of the industry associations. Under the guidance of the leading Russian stage designer Boris Krasnov, the historical area of the Vasilyevskiy Spusk was transformed into a “City of Tea Civilizations”. For two days, from September 5 to September 6, everyone interested in tea and tea-drinking culture of different countries is welcome here. According to the organizers of the festival, it will be conducted in the Russian capital every year to pursue the idea of supporting domestic producers, reviving old tea traditions and popularizing healthy way of life.