Despite heavy taxation, health awareness and the financial crisis, the international tobacco market is going from strength-to-strength, new figures show.
According to a recent report by Companies and Markets titled Tobacco: Global Industry Guide, the tobacco market grew by 5.1 per cent in 2008 to reach a value of US$396.9 billion (£264.9 billion).
Furthermore, the industry is expected to reach $484.9 billion (£323.6 million) by 2014, an increase of 22 per cent compared to the 2008 figure.
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The Scottish food industry has been hailed as a world-leader by the International Culinary Tourism Association (ICTA) thanks in part to its industrial processes.
In its first ever global survey, the organisation found that the Highlands offers one of the most "unique, memorable and interesting" places for food and drink anywhere on the planet, according to the Scotsman.
The ITCA looked not only at the produce on offer but also at the larger manufacturing process, considering the way in which it is sourced, presented, packaged and distributed.
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Packaged foods rolling off the conveyors should be smaller, less salty and less fatty.
That is the recommendation of the Food Standards Agency (FSA) who today set out stringent plans for the food industry in order to tackle obesity and promote healthy eating.
The FSA has called on manufacturers to reduce the levels of saturated fat in products such as cake, biscuits, sweets and readymade meals.
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The golden leaf has become the most recent natural products to be suggested as a source for biofuel.
According to the Boston Herald, scientists in the US believe that by using tobacco as a form of biocrop they can eliminate the fuel versus food debate, which has been a topic of much contention.
Using the tobacco plant could also come as welcome news to the embattled cigarette industry which is facing more stringent regulation, heavy taxation and a decline in the western customer base.
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More than 800,000 meals each year that would otherwise have been banished to the bin will now be distributed among London’s most needy.
The FareShare Community Food Network has successfully secured a £362,000 grant from the London Waste Recycling Board to divert over 300,000 tons of edible products from landfill sites.
Food that has exceeded its shelf life or no longer has a commercial value will be delivered to charities, the elderly and the homeless living within the north-west of the capital.
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A California-based food manufacturer has announced it is to open a new facility in Scotland.
Seafood Processor Lusamerica Foods says its procurement of the Trident Seafood plant in Fife could create around 60 jobs in the industry as well opportunities to expand operations, according to the Fife Free Press.
Company president Fernando Frederico said: "We plan to bring 50 to 60 new jobs to the Fife plant this year and up to 100 in the next two years."
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The UK is one of 70 nations planning to take part in a European biomass conference and exhibition to be staged in France this May.
A consortium of professionals from across the UK biofuels market will be attending the five-day event in Lyon, which aims to create a detailed overview of the sector.
If UK representatives successfully pitch the technologies and facilities available in Britain this could spur a wave of investment in the sector, creating jobs, expansion and export demand.
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Manufacturers could soon be making use of conveyor belts that use thousands of micro-actuators to sort and move objects in the correct directions, much in the same way as cilia in the body.
According to the Engineer, scientists form the University of the West of England have already begun developing a concept along those lines, in which bulk handling systems could be made to mimic their natural counterparts.
Cilia are small hairs on the surface of cells found throughout the body that allow for various substances to be moved over them in coordinated waves.
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Commercial plans to reduce food waste are being pursued by a number of companies, including supermarkets.
That is according to the Waste Resources and Action Programme (WRAP), which works with businesses in the UK to help them reduce the amount of waste they send to landfill.
Speaking at the recent Vitality Show, a representative of the organisation highlighted steps being taken by retailers in particular, which could subsequently increase demand for bucket elevators among waste management firms.
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Investors are increasingly backing chemicals companies specialising in the creation of environmentally friendly substances derived from plants.
That is according Cnet news, which highlighted how one US-based chemical company has raised a significant amount of new funding for the development of an industrial chemical from sugar at a new demonstration facility to be built.
As greener alternatives are developed for many of the chemicals currently in use by commercial firms and manufacturers, demand for stainless steel bulk containers could pick up significantly.
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Despite heavy taxation, health awareness and the financial crisis, the international tobacco market is going from strength-to-strength, new figures show.
