Weekly News Update
Published: Wednesday, November 01, 2000
Whole Foods to Buy, Close and Sell Amrion
Whole Foods Market (WFMI) on Nov. 21 said it has signed a definitive agreement to purchase 100 percent of Thornton, Colo.-based Amrion’s common stock, close the company and sell it. The news comes less than a month after Whole Foods announced that it retained investment banking firm Dain Rauscher Wessels to evaluate strategic alternatives for its Amrion investment.
""We believe that it is in the best interests of our shareholders to discontinue Amrion’s operations and to focus all of our energy and attention on what we do best … operating natural foods supermarkets,"" said WFMI CEO John Mackey in a company conference call. Due to the discontinuation of Amrion, Whole Food’s 4Q00 results include charges totaling approximately $49 million. For the complete story, see the December issue of Natural Business.
Ben & Jerry’s Co-founders Threaten to Leave Unilever
According to The Wall Street Journal, Ben & Jerry’s Homemade co-founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield are thinking about leaving the company, which was acquired earlier this year for $326 million by Anglo-Dutch conglomerate Unilever (UN). The threat came after Unilever appointed Yves Couette to be the Ben & Jerry’s new CEO. Couette is a veteran of Unilever’s international ice cream operations, the Journal said. According to unnamed sources, Cohen and Greenfield were lobbying for the position to go to former Coca-Cola (KO) marketing executive and longtime Ben & Jerry’s board member Pierre Ferrari, an Atlanta-based consultant. Neither Cohen nor Greenfield confirmed that Ferrari was their preference but did note that the candidate they wanted was someone with a ""clear and established"" commitment to their social policies,"" the Journal said.
Stocks & Financials:
Twinlab (TWLB) posted a 3Q00 net loss of $11.1 million or $.39/share vs. a 3Q99 net income of $2.8 million or $.09/share. TWLB’s 3Q00 net sales totaled $76.4 million, down 6.7 percent from 3Q99 net sales of $81.9 million. The company’s stock on Nov. 16 fell more than 35 percent to close at $3.25/share.
Separately, New York-based law firm Wechsler Harwood filed a class action suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern Division of New York on behalf of TWLB shareholders who purchased common stock between April 27, 1999, and Nov. 15, 2000. The suit alleges that TWLB violated federal securities laws by making false and misleading statements in press releases and in SEC filings.
Naturade (NRDC) reported a 3Q00 net loss of $520,569 or $.07/share vs. a 3Q99 net loss of $2.1 million or $.39/share. NRDC had 3Q00 net sales of $3.8 million, up 16 percent vs. 3Q99 net sales of $3.3 million.
Omni Nutraceuticals (ZONE) on Nov. 17 was delisted from the NASDAQ National Market System.
Tucker Anthony Capital Markets on Nov. 16 downgraded its Buy rating on NBTY (NBTY) to Market Perform. Similarly, U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray also downgraded its NBTY rating to Buy.
ING Barings on Nov. 29 initiated new coverage on Immunex Corp. (IMNX) at Buy.
Galaxy, GNC to Develop Healthy Fast-food Cafes
Newly named Galaxy Nutritional Foods (GXY) on Nov. 16 announced that it and Pittsburgh-based General Nutrition Cos. (GNC) have agreed to jointly develop prototypes of their Veggie Cafe™ units during the next year. The cafes will initially be combined with small-footprint GNC stores and will serve a full line of healthy offerings, such as pizza, wraps and beverages, created from Galaxy’s plant-protein products and ingredients. Veggie Cafe’s target market will be college and university food courts, student unions and other campus sites.
Separately, Galaxy on Nov. 20 said that it is installing a new plant automation system that will increase production capabilities and cut labor costs by an undisclosed amount. As a result of the new equipment, 51 jobs were eliminated, leaving the company with about 237 employees, Galaxy said. The system is expected to be operational in February.
Briefly:
The Hain Celestial Group (HAIN) on Nov. 27 announced the launch of Great Awakenings Soymilk—the first product the company has developed with Heinz (HNZ). Additionally, Heinz has formed the Great Awakenings Foundation to provide direct financial support to organizations that are working to prevent and find a cure for heart disease, breast and ovarian cancer, osteoporosis and other diseases that threaten women. A portion of the purchase price from the soymilk will be donated to the foundation.
According to a study by Milpitas, Calif.-based Nielsen/Net Ratings, traffic in multichannel Internet retail sites jumped 27 percent the day after Thanksgiving. Traffic for brick-and-mortar sites overall increased 49 percent that day, while dot com pure plays jumped 26 percent. Numbers for Saturday and Sunday won’t be available until later this week.
Norwalk, Conn.-based South Beach Beverages (SoBe) said that all claims pending against it and its CEO John Bello have been dismissed. The suit, initiated by Lake Success, N.Y.-based AriZona beverages, alleged that SoBe’s bottle design violated AriZona’s copyright and trademark rights. On Oct. 30 PepsiCo (PEP) said it has reached a definitive agreement to buy a 90 percent stake in SoBe. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but sources say Pepsi paid about $370 million for the company.
According to The New York Times, Valatie, N.Y.-based Rapunzel Pure Organics has been bombarded with e-mails from Brazilians protesting the trademarking of the word ""rapadura"" on its organic sugar. In Brazil, rapadura is a type of cane sugar. Brazilians are in an uproar because they believe a word they consider part of their vocabulary should not be trademarked, The Times said.
Citing 38 clinical studies that show soy protein can help reduce cholesterol levels in the blood, the American Heart Association has officially recommended a daily diet containing soy-based foods.
FDA on Nov. 21 warned consumers not to purchase or consume products containing a thyroid hormone called triiodothyroaceteic (TRIAC) because it could cause heart attacks and strokes. TRIAC can be found in weight loss aids, FDA says.
Portland, Ore.-based Healthnotes Inc. was ranked No. 342 on Interactive Week magazine’s ""Interactive 500,"" which rates companies by the amount of Web-based revenues they generate.