The vaccine money is in and it’s pretty good.
Pfizer reported revenue of $3.5 billion from its vaccine in the first quarter of 2021. Moderna sold $1.7 billion worth of vaccines in the same period, turning a profit for the first time in the company’s history. BioNTech, which is making the vaccine in partnership with Pfizer, expects $15 billion in vaccine sales this year (with an expected profit above 25%).
AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, meanwhile, are providing the shots on a not-for-profit basis. But they have expressed the intention of revising up the cost of their vaccine once the pandemic phase of Covid-19 is over. Their first quarter revenue they posted $275 million and $100 million respectively suggests the vaccine will be a sizable business for both.
New bakery hybrid to hit UK biscuit aisles To keep the £2bn UK biscuit market relevant, pladis has launched a first-to-market fusion of its bestselling McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes with a doughnut.
McVitie’s Jaffa Jonuts marks an exciting evolution of the £66.4m brand, mooted as one of the UK’s top 10 bestselling biscuit brands with sales surging by +14.4% last year as consumers came to terms with lockdown.
The new mashup comprises the familiar three layers of McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes – light sponge cake; gooey orange-flavoured filling; and dark chocolate topping – but presented in a doughnut-shaped ring.
Targeted at Jaffanatics
This week, we have conversations with Dr Ross Crittenden, Chr. Hansen’s senior director for commercial development; Molly Renaldo, Fair Trade USA partnerships manager; and Kimberly Carey Coffin, global technical director at Lloyd’s Register.
Neogen, a company involved in food safety and genomic testing, announced a partnership with Ripe Technology, a food and farm blockchain provider, in March last year. The idea of the alliance was to improve the connection between livestock genomics, feed use and food safety in the US. We track their progress to date.