World News

• Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is looking to take his dispute with capitalism to a new level, threatening to copy the patented technology of food packaging company Tetra Pak. The goal is to reduce reliance on foreign companies, and the controversial leader has called patents “capitalist,” insisting they are “universal knowledge.” The government has already warned cardboard companies who refuse to supply packaging to state-owned food entities they will be expropriated. Tetra Pak is the second packaging company under siege from Chavez. In March, he seized 1,500 acres of land owned by the Irish company Smurfit Kappa Cartons, announcing the land would be used for “more rational” crops like yucca and beans. The government claims it will compensate the company for the land, though an additional land seizure is apparently in the works. Chavez is pursuing a strategy of nationalizing energy, concrete, telecommunications, steel and other companies central to industrial growth. The food sector already saw the expropriation of a rice plant owned by a subsidiary of Cargill saying the company had dialed to follow his price-control policies.

• Dunkin’ Brands Inc. has indicated it will open 100 stores by the end of 2009 in South Korea, its top-performing foreign market. Last year the company opened 191 stores there, with its 663 outlets in South Korean turning in 47% of non-U.S. revenue. Plans are to double the company’s presence over the next 10 years.

• Dean Foods is acquiring the Alpro division of Vandemoortele N.V., Europe’s largest branded soy beverage and food manufacturer, €325MM ($450MM). The Alpro soya and Provamel brands had net sales of €260MM last year. The company has manufacturing plants in Belgium, the U.K., France and The Netherlands.

• The global soft drinks market grew by 3.2% in 2007 to reach $329.4bn, with forecasts predicting it will hit $399.3bn by 2012 (21.2% more than 2007). The largest soft drink category is carbonates with 44.2% of the market, and the Americas are the largest soft drink market with 43% of global revenue share.

• In their first try at melding the two brands since the merger, Wendy’s/Arby’s will build 135 dual-branded restaurants in 9 countries of the Middle East and North Africa over the next decade.

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