Mars Buys The Maker Of Pringles In A Mega Deal For $36 Billion

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

August 14, 2024

The family-owned giant Mars, whose portfolio includes the popular chocolate desserts Twix, Snickers and M&M’s chocolate candies, is acquiring Pringles maker Kellanova. The deal will be completed in the first half of 2025.

KEY FACTS

The deal is valued at nearly $36 billion and will bring together under one roof popular consumer brands including Mars’ Twix, Bounty and Milky Way chocolates, as well as Kellanova’s portfolio of Pop-Tarts, Rice Krispies Treats and Eggo frozen waffles.
This is the largest deal in the packaged food sector and will allow Mars to diversify its business by expanding its operations. Kellanova manufactures products in 21 countries and markets them in over 180 countries.
Mars will pay $83.50 per share for Kellanova, which represents about a 33% premium to Kellanova’s closing price on Aug. 2. Kellanova shares rose as much as $80.45 in premarket trading.
According to the calculations of the “Reuters” agency, the value of the company’s shares is 28.58 billion dollars.
The deal comes at a time when growth in the U.S. packaged food sector is slowing due to inflation and the incomes of consumers who prefer cheaper products.
The acquisition is not expected to face too many regulatory hurdles. The acquisition will test regulators’ willingness to allow consolidation in the packaged foods sector.

THE BIG NUMBER

47 billion dollars. This is the size of the annual turnover of Mars. The family-owned company is based in Virginia and began selling buttercream candies from a small kitchen in 1911.

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Only 1% Of Cyprus Farms Use Precision Farming Technologies

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

July 24, 2026

Cyprus remains one of the European Union’s least digitised agricultural economies, with just 1% of farms using precision farming technologies in 2023, according to Eurostat.

The findings come as the EU continues to encourage the adoption of digital tools aimed at improving agricultural productivity, efficiency and sustainability.

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Internet Access Expands, But Digital Uptake Lags

Internet access has improved across the bloc, although adoption remains uneven. Eurostat found that 43% of EU farms had internet access in 2023, with northern and central European countries leading the way.

Denmark, Germany, Slovakia, Latvia, the Czech Republic and Austria all reported internet access rates above 90%.

Greater connectivity, however, has not translated into widespread digital adoption. Farm management information systems, which help farmers manage day-to-day operations, were used by only about 11% of EU farms. France was a notable exception, with around 60% of farms using the technology.

Precision Farming Concentrated In Larger Operations

Robotics adoption also remained relatively limited, with only about 7% of EU farms using robotic technologies. Overall, around 18% of farms with utilised agricultural area employed at least one precision farming technology or practice in 2023.

These included robotics for plant protection, band spraying, variable-rate application, precision crop monitoring and soil analysis. Despite representing fewer than one in five farms, these holdings accounted for around 44% of the EU’s utilised agricultural area.

The figures suggest that precision farming remains concentrated among larger agricultural businesses, where investment in digital technologies is typically easier to support.

Cyprus Lags Behind EU Leaders

Luxembourg, Finland and Estonia recorded the highest shares of utilised agricultural area managed by farms using precision farming technologies, each exceeding 75%.

At the other end of the ranking, Cyprus recorded just 1%, while Greece and Romania reported between 10% and 15%. The results indicate that Cyprus remains at an early stage of digital adoption in agriculture, even as precision farming becomes more widespread across parts of the European Union.

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