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PRICES INCREASE FROM 1 st JULY 2009
As we reported in the last Newsletter, the recently announced Price Increases are now being implemented with effect for all deliveries from 1st July 2009. We had hoped to be able to hold the current levels as we did last year, but unfortunately we will be unable to do this now.
OBVIOUSLY WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU PLAN TO BRING FORWARD JULY and AUGUST ORDERS INTO JUNE and also CONSIDER BUILDING STOCKS.
Please talk to our Customer Service Team who will always be keen to work with you to ensure you benefit as far as possible from current prices – but please remember we have the deadline on Tuesday 30 th June!!
ECONOMIC SITUATION
In recent weeks the Economy has somewhat faded in the media, with the continuing saga of our politicians noses firmly being in the trough. Unfortunate, as the economic woes were blamed on the greed of the Bankers. Despite all though, the recent spell of decent weather has also reflected more positive overall news on the economy and seemingly before most of us, in the Food Industry, noticed we were in “the worse recession since the ‘30's”, there are strong indications that the green shoots have started.
As we have kept saying, the upside of weak sterling is that more people will holiday at home or in the UK and also a bumper year for North American and EU tourists. With the recent hot spell, the Ice Cream Industry has got off to a cracking start and popular tourist destinations are way busier than last year. So all good news for UK manufacturers of high quality consumer edibles and treats!
The £ looks to have started a slow long climb back now, which will lead to reduced prices later this year and into 2010, if it continues. Also the smart money now has to be on a General Election in the Autumn, at time of writing the Cabinet resignations are stacking up!
Well, I'm just off to re-float my duck house on the family moat for the summer....
Tony Mycock 03-06-09
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Cocoa Market
May proved to be an up and down month for cocoa prices, with a low below £1600 seen in the middle of the month, which was a 6 month low. The overall market trend still looks to be bearish, with the downward trend continuing, although at the moment the market is up about £100. Political stability is spreading in the Ivory Coast which is obviously positive news and whilst world production is down, also consumption is further down. This just has the effect of reducing the overall cocoa shortfall predicted for the year.

Currency
Last month we said that it looked like a correction in the Euro would benefit the £ and this continues with sterling nudging the Euro1.16 level. The most significant impact has been the weakening of the US$ against the £ as well as against the Euro. From a very recent low of $1.39, the dollar is now above 1.65. An interesting article from the BBC website is http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8079969.stm .

Tony Mycock 03.06.09
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