for more information about stanelco click on the links.

driver's research page link
http://www.moneyam.com/InvestorsRoom/posts.php?tid=7681#lastread
website link
http://www.stanelco.co.uk/index.htm

Agree with biscuit, Greenseal must have been part of the tendering process for Northern Foods. ASDA are completely satisfied with Greenseal and intend to push this technology into as many applications as possible, there's no way they're going to negotiate a 30 million pound contract and not include Greenseal, and possibly starpol 2000, for which they've publicly stated they expect several hundred machines retrofitted in 10 months.

Stockdog

Interesting snippet from the Telegraph. If the NF announcement means what we all think it does ( and there is no doubt in my mind that it does ), then the message this sends out to other ASDA suppliers will be heard loud and clear. The message is - if you don't embrace this new technology fast, our business will go to those suppliers that will -

This is excellent news and shows why Stanelco had remained so confident of the take-up of greenseal when others were getting nervous.

I agree with Paul that this is likely to involve Starpol. Otherwise why mention "new packaging"?

Dormar

driver,
You didn`t say if you agreed or disagreed with my observation ?

Niggsy.

You're 100% correct. You are clever.

No a technical manager won't make investment desicions, as he is a technical manager. Surprising that. As a technical manager, he'll probably give a 'technical' view of new packaging to the management.

The under 18 option is possible here driver.......

Thanks Bugz ,

"Niggsy.

You're 100% correct. You are clever."

Niggsy
Sorry nigsy I didn't bother reading your post I just keep wondering why you are on this thread.
Yes agree with bugz you are correct, so what, now p**s off.

driver, are you a lorry driver?
You certainly have the bad manners of a very poor one.

Niggsy
Wrong job wrong thread, p**s off,

Wish I could look at the world through the eyes of Niggsy. Bloody hell I'd love it!! Picking up on everything that pleased my eye, and ignoring everyelse.... Please child, up to your room, close the door and leave us quiet folks here to some peace....

Agree with Driver..... Come on guys - chill.

Need some more cheering up after a very bad week (last week) - is it rouge or le bleu for Stanelco on Monday onwards.....?

"ASDA has been accused of being 'unreasonable' by one of its suppliers after it ended a contract for ready meals without going to mediation - The Telegraph"

sd, any chance you could find the full article or is that all there is to it? it has certainly sent shivers down my spine.

Heres the story and the link

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2005/09/10/cnasda10.xml


Supermarket giant Asda has been accused of being "unreasonable" by one of its suppliers after it ended a contract for ready meals without going to mediation.

Ferndale Foods said its 40m annual contract had been ended, "in spite of requests from Ferndale's management and from the Office of Fair Trading to go to mediation", threatening 600 jobs. A spokesman said the supermarkets' code of practice "requires supermarkets to be reasonable and to act in good faith in terms of notice periods".

James Logan, Ferndale's managing director, said: "This is the code's first real test, but its regulator appears to be powerless."

A spokesman for Asda said Ferndale had been "consulted at every opportunity", adding: "They were fully aware of the situation 18 months ago."

He said Asda had now voluntarily agreed to go to mediation but that Ferndale no longer wished to.

Hi All,

The Ferndale news is a bit strange, as they were involved in Greenseal trials, so I guess ASDA going for the bigger supplier, Northern rather than Ferndale, means we have lost Ferndale's Greenseal licences until next year, but we have gained a possibly larger number with Northern.

Win some, lose some !

Cheers,
PM


Stanelco PLC
01 March 2005

1 March 2005

Stanelco PLC

Asda trials move in-store

Stanelco PLC, the RF (radio frequency) applications group, is pleased to
announce that the trial with ASDA for its high integrity sealing of
Microwaveable Food Trays (CPET) has now successfully proceeded towards actual
use in product at a manufacturing site, through distribution and onto the
supermarket's store shelves.

The shelf life trials, which were conducted at Ferndale Foods on behalf of Asda,
have now concluded. Both microbiological and organoleptic tests produced
encouraging results. This has led to an ASDA product being packaged using Radio
Frequency Technology that will appear on the supermarket's shelves from today
(Tuesday).

Ian Balchin, Chief Executive of Stanelco commented:

'The results of the continuing trials with ASDA remain very encouraging.
Following the recent agreement of a 60-day option period with ASDA concerning
its access to our sealing technology for food retail in the UK and Ireland, we
look forward to progressing the relationship towards a long term commercial
agreement as soon as possible.'

Tony Ruane, Technical Manager, Meal Solutions category at ASDA said:

'This is a first to market for ASDA and a significant milestone in our
partnership with Stanelco. ASDA is delighted with the progress of the trials so
far. The environmental benefits of the technology are immense and we are looking
forward to working with Stanelco to widen the reach of RF packaging in the
coming months to other parts of our business. '

Hi All,

Another economist joins the concensus for oil at $100 a barrel .... Starpol/Biotec looking great :)

Cheers,
PM


Commodity Strategists: Oil May Average $93 in 2007 (Update1)
Sept. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Oil may average $84 a barrel next year, $93 in 2007, and $100 in the fourth quarter of 2007, as demand outpaces supply, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce's chief economist said, jumping ahead of other analysts who are trying to catch up with surging prices.

Rising consumption in China is straining supplies, and damage from Hurricane Katrina to Gulf of Mexico facilities will delay new oil projects in addition to cutting output now, Canadian Imperial's Jeffrey Rubin wrote in a Sept. 7 report. Global supply will be as much as 2.4 million barrels below projected demand by 2007, and the gap will only be closed as rising prices slow demand growth, Rubin wrote.

``We estimate that 1.8 million barrels per day of consumption must be squeezed out next year through the impacts of higher prices,'' Rubin wrote. The gap between supply and demand grows as much as 3 million barrels a day by 2008. Global oil needs are almost 84 million barrels a day now.

The 50 percent rally in oil this year stymied forecasters. They predicted an average $39 a barrel this year, according to the median of 24 analysts, strategists and economists Bloomberg surveyed last December. Oil touched a record $70.85 in New York on Aug. 30, a day after Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. The average price so far this year is $54.77.

Canadian Imperial, Canada's fifth-biggest bank by assets, last November predicted oil would average $52 a barrel in 2005, and in April raised the forecast to $55 and added a 2006 estimate of $61, Peter Buchanan, a senior economist who works with Rubin, said in a phone interview.

Morgan Stanley, Goldman

Other firms are also raising their forecasts. Morgan Stanley's chief economist, Stephen Roach, said this week that he now expects an average price of $64 a barrel for oil next year, and he lowered his global economic growth forecast as a result.

Goldman Sachs & Co.'s commodity strategists, including Steve Strongin, raised their 2006 forecast to $68 on Aug. 18. Arjun Murti, a Goldman Sachs equity analyst who tracks oil producers, roiled markets when he said in March that a ``super spike'' could lift prices as has as $105 a barrel. Even as he made that prediction, he forecast an average price of $55 for all of 2006.

How high prices will have to go to limit demand and get it back in line with global supplies is hard to predict because of the unprecedented rise in China's energy needs, Rubin said in a phone interview.

Consumption in China, the second-largest user of oil after the U.S., and in other expanding Asian economies, is sensitive to rising income and not prices, the CIBC economists said in their report. Per-capita energy use in China in 2003 was about one- tenth of the U.S. rate, according to the U.S. Energy Department.

Chinese Demand

``About 42 percent of the growth in global demand is coming from China, where there is virtually no price sensitivity to demand,'' Rubin said in a separate phone interview. ``There's a huge relationship to income growth there, but a very uncertain relationship to price at all.''

The International Energy Agency today said oil demand is being reduced by record prices. The agency cut its estimate of 2005 world oil demand growth for a third month, citing slower fuel sales in China, Thailand and other Asian countries.

Chinese demand for oil to fuel the fastest-growing major economy in the world is expected to rise 3.4 percent this year, down from 15 percent last year, agency said in a report today. The country's appetite for crude is forecast to expand 7.5 percent in 2006, according to the agency, which advises 26 industrialized nations.

Lack of Supply

The supply needed to meet rising global oil needs will not be coming, according to the CIBC economists. Members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries have ``limited'' opportunities to boost output, and increases in Russian production appear to have reached a plateau, Buchanan said. OPEC pumps about 40 percent of the world's crude oil.

Hurricane Katrina exacerbated the supply crunch by damaging platforms and delaying output from fields such as Thunder Horse, Atlantis and Tahiti, the report said. The Gulf accounts for about 30 percent of daily U.S. oil output and 24 percent of gas production.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc, the biggest oil producer in the Gulf of Mexico's deeper waters, today said output from the Mars field and nearby sites may be shut for the rest of the year because of Katrina.

Gulf of Mexico Outlook

Hurricane Dennis a month and a half ago also did damage in the region. BP found its $1 billion Thunder Horse platform, the largest of its kind, listing at a 20-degree angle after Dennis swept through in July. The project, which was in the development stage, won't start pumping oil this year as originally planned, BP said.

Instead of adding nearly 600,000 barrels of oil a day by 2007, new fields in the Gulf may contribute just 300,000, according to Rubin's report.

``When you juxtapose that with the apparent insensitivity of the demand curve, then what happens is that even though it's a relatively small reduction in supply, you need huge price increases to rein in demand,'' Rubin said during the interview.

Global output will rise about 1.2 million barrels this year and 1.7 million in each of 2006 and 2007, the economists predicted. If demand rises 2.5 percent annually from 2005 until 2007, a shortfall will develop by next year, the report said.

The economists reviewed government and other data and concluded a 10 percent increase in crude prices would reduce demand by 0.7 of a percentage point over three to four years, the report said. This figure is about half the rate used by the U.S. Energy Department in its estimates, the report said.

``You have had a very significant reduction in the growth of demand, something in the neighborhood of a 40 percent reduction in the growth of demand already,'' he said. ``Unfortunately it's taken huge prices to achieve that.''

"The appointment follows ASDAs decision to re-launch its ready meals range this coming autumn with new recipes and new packaging. The business is worth around 30 million"
from the northern foods anouncement.

"Ferndale Foods said its 40m annual contract had been ended, "
from the ferndale announcement.


you can see asda mean business. that's a 10m p/a saving straight away. i really do hope this has something to do with greenseal..... but i aint getting my hopes up just yet. next week could be interesting but ii could be correct this time.

"My point before was Asda may have used SE0 to get figures - figures they could use against suppliers and get the cheapest price from them - so the TENDER winner is the one who can supply equal to or less than the Greenseal trial figures - "

i have said before that supermarkets don't give a shit who gets hurt as long as they get their way.

Bosley Hi,

ii talks bo**ocks and always has.

If Northern wanted to win the contract, they are more likely to use Greenseal as a way of lowering costs, and GUARANTEEING qaulity, and extreemly low returns for 'leakers'.

The multiple savings Northern can make by using Greenseal, and Starpol 2000, versus heat and laminated, oil based plastic, was more likely the reason they won the contract, than ASDA forcing their prices down.

Cheers,
PM

I see bad news - if you also take into account that the leading Greenseal trial factory Ferndale Foods were cut out and Northern Foods - as is suggested - wins the contract - it looks bad for SE0 IMO.

As Scrutable has noted at AFN - Greenseal requires no change in manpower - but Northern Foods are taking on a massive increase in manpower - meaning likely they are simply going to ramp up production through shiftwork - not through any large amount of new machines (new machines are ultra high speed) - and definitely no reference to Greenseal conversions or cap ex in winning the tender - and with Ferndale a Greenseal trial site - and Ferndale being kicked out - it looks to me like Asda want cheapest price of supply and do not care about keeping with the SE0 gentlemans agreement - bad news - could well be - potentially we may see SE0 cancel the exclusive contract with Asda due to failings in order conversion levels - cancel Asda - then you can forget Walmart - and with Walmart and 900 conversions in the SE0 price - it would collapse.

All IMO

http://media.netpr.pl/notatka_42591.html

2005-09-09

Major Food Supplier Seeks Protection Under Supermarket Code of Practice

PRNewswire LONDON September 9

Asda, the supermarket chain, is sticking by a 12-week notice period to start the delisting of the entire output, valued at GBP40m per annum, of Erith-based Ferndale Foods, its primary ready meal supplier.

LONDON, September 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Asda, the supermarket chain, is sticking by a 12-week notice period to start the delisting of the entire output, valued at GBP40m per annum, of Erith-based Ferndale Foods, its primary ready meal supplier.

This is in spite of requests from Ferndale's management, and from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to go to mediation and to suspend the delisting decision while this is in process. Ferndale believes that a longer and more reasonable notice period will allow it to find alternative customers and so protect the jobs of its 600 employees.

James Logan, Ferndale's Managing Director, said: "We were surprised because there was no price tender and at the time we were assured we had done nothing wrong".

However, while Asda has eventually agreed to go to mediation (some five weeks after the OFT's request), it has still not agreed to do this under the Supermarket Code of Practice nor has it agreed to the OFT's request to suspend simultaneously the delisting notice, without which any mediation will be valueless as the business will be lost before the process starts.

Mr Logan said: "This is a clear case of shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted."

As a result of the uncertainty, Ferndale's management yesterday [8/9/05] issued their staff with consultation notices in contemplation of wholesale redundancies over the next few weeks and the closure of its chilled ready meals facility.

Asda is currently locked in a legal wrangle with the OFT and is trying to prove that the Code, which requires Asda to be both reasonable and to act in good faith, does not apply. "At the moment there appears to be a lack of reasonableness and good faith. This is the Code's first real test, but its regulator appears to be powerless in enforcing the spirit of it on Asda," Mr Logan said.

"After two months of analysis, the OFT still has not formally decided whether a delisting of GBP40m of business to start after 12 weeks notice even comes under the Code, let alone in getting Asda to suspend its decision pending mediation. But if this doesn't come under the Code, what does?"

"It appears that a business that, since 1996, has been the primary supplier of chilled ready meals to a major UK supermarket, has invested millions of pounds in its production plant so it can offer in excess of 90 product lines, has grown its workforce to 600 in a designated economically-deprived area, can be threatened with seeing it all disappear without any protection. In our view, the Code is flawed and the regulator is too weak to enforce the spirit of it," he added.

There has been much discussion in the food industry about the effectiveness of the Supermarket Code. The OFT's audit of the Code earlier this year concluded that it appeared to be working effectively.

Issued on behalf of Ferndale Foods by International Public Relations Partners, 39 King Street, London WC2E 8JS

Ferndale Foods

And this comment is more interesting from the Ferndale release -

James Logan, Ferndale's Managing Director, said: "We were surprised because there was no price tender and at the time we were assured we had done nothing wrong".

So with no price tender ?????????? and with Ferndale being a Greenseal test user - why did Northern Foods win the tender with Northern Foods not being a Greenseal trial user ???

The Greenseal trials were Youngs, Ferndale and Hitchens - and now Asda goes for Northern Foods ?

Perhaps Northern Foods through diligent working can offer the best overall deal to Asda without the use of Greenseal - if they work on lower margin but higher volume - and based on information from the Greenseal trials Asda may have set them a target to beat - and they can do so with no major need to change their machines.

As we know Asda changed the packs visual appearance OUTSIDE of the Greenseal trials as well as WITH the Greenseal trials - the reference to new packaging cannot be linked into Greenseal - its more than likely the new eye catching colours and presentation of the labels - which we know had an influence in increased sales with and without Greenseal.

Asda has said it wants best price - they will not care if this means Greenseal or not - if someone is offering best price and no Greenseal - Asda will award their production to them - as Asda wants ONLY the lowest price as has been clearly stated in Asda PR.

This all could be very bad news IMO.

All IMO - DYOR.

Has Asda just been using SE0 during the tender period to privately get the best deal for themselves.

IMO and ageeing with Bosley - supermarkets do not care who they hurt along the way to getting the best supplier deals - and they have no formal contract with SE0 where there is penalty terms - if Asda suppliers fail to deliver machine conversions to SE0 - the exclusive contract with Asda is ripped up and they both go their different ways with no come back on either - except the SE0 price would plummit with the loss of Asda/Walmart.

Is this the reason behind the hyping of Biotec at the moment ?

All IMO - DYOR !

Stanelco PLC
12 September 2005

12 September 2005



Stanelco plc ("Stanelco" or the "Company")

Hard-shell Capsule Development

Stanelco, the RF (radio frequency) applications group, is pleased to announce
the successful development of an edible, starch-based hardshell capsule for
edible applications including dietary supplements and pharmaceutical uses.

Stanelco and its partner on this project, Carclo plc, have been working together
for over 5 years with the objective of producing an economically viable
alternative to two-piece hard-shell capsules made from gelatine. Carclo
Technical Plastics has now successfully manufactured capsules using a new
polymer blend developed by Stanelco's subsidiary Adept Polymers Limited working
in conjunction with the recently acquired Biotec Holding GmbH group.

Work is ongoing to bring this new hard-shell capsule technology to market and
Stanelco and Carclo are now seeking to work with third parties to optimise
formulations, ensure regulatory approval (for human and animal consumption) and
develop the route to market, this process is expected to take a reasonable time
to achieve. A "prospectus" is currently being prepared for the attention of
serious third parties. Both the starch-based material and the manufacturing
process offer the prospect of lower unit costs of production than for gelatine
capsules. Starch-based hard-shell capsules also offer greater resilience to
humidity and heat than gelatine and facilitate easy filling - since they are
non-static.

From knowledge of the market, the Company believes that gelatine, an animal
derived material, is becoming less favoured as a material in which to deliver
nutritional supplements and pharmaceuticals to both humans and animals. Gelatine
capsule shells are currently made using a dip moulding process followed by a
slow drying process, which injection moulded starch-based alternatives do not
require. They are ready for filling immediately following manufacture. The only
significant alternative to gelatine currently on the market is HPMC
(hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose), a synthetic material with a significantly
higher cost base than gelatine. We believe that the world market for hard
capsules in significantly larger than that for soft capsules with many billions
of hard capsules produced annually.

Stanelco's subsidiary, Aquasol Limited, filed for patent protection in relation
to this new hardshell capsule in 1999. The patent, which is jointly owned with
Carclo plc, is proceeding to grant in various territories. The design of the
capsule also offers tamper evident and novel dissolution features as well as the
possibility of multi-compartments.

Ian Balchin, CEO of Stanelco said: "This breakthrough has resulted from a
combination of Stanelco's expertise in formulating and blending starch based
materials together with Carclo's expertise in precision injection moulding of
soluble polymers and the design and development expertise of both organisations.
Stanelco's acquisition of Biotec is enabling the manufacture of materials with
significantly lower cost potential than conventional solutions. We look forward
to the prospect of achieving regulatory approval and to entering the wider
market for replacing both gelatine and HPMC with our new products."

Ends

For further information please contact:

Stanelco plc

Ian Balchin, Chief Executive
Stanelco PLC
Tel: +44 (0)2380 867100
Tel: +33 (0)153 65 23 00