A thirst for beer among Africa's middle classes is driving the world's biggest brewers to invest on the continent, but getting women to drink the beverage is another matter. Heineken is attempting to woo the elusive female African drinker with a sweeter, low-alcohol beer made from malt and lemon (essentially a shandy) that it hopes will persuade them to try its other lagers. [Click pic to enlarge]

A wedge-shaped package containing medical supplies that fits exactly into the spaces between Coca-Cola bottles when they are delivered in plastic crates has been been selected by The Design Museum in London as its Product Design of the Year 2013. It must be the first time that an anti-diarrhoea kit has taken centre stage as a design icon... [Click pic to enlarge]

Perhaps the one thing that stands out the most in the international coffee trade is the obvious injustice towards African, Asian and Latin American coffee growers, who get some 7% of the value of roasted coffee sold in supermarkets.

The solution to world poverty may have been under our noses all along. The United Nations has issued official advice suggesting that Earth’s inhabitants eat insects to help combat food-insecurity and reduce pollution worldwide.

Nestlé's Maggi brand of instant soups, stocks, sauces, taste enhancers and noodles has been adjudged top food brand in the world, according to Kantar Worldpanel. Unilever’s Knorr brand is second while PepsiCo’s Lay’s brand comes third.

Coca-Cola says it will make lower-calorie options and clear calorie labeling more widely available around the world, intensifying a push against critics who say its drinks pack on the kilos.

Sacré bleu! More than half of all French restaurant sales now take place at fast food chains, according to a new survey by food consultancy firm Gira Conseil.