Campbell Soup Company completed the sale of its Godiva Chocolatier business to Yildiz Holding A.S. for $850 million. Yildiz is a public company and the owner of the Ulker Group, a diversified food company based in Istanbul, Turkey. Nearly three-quarters of the net proceeds from the sale will be used to purchase company stock in open market transactions.
PepsiCo and Strauss Group announced the completion of their joint venture partnership to operate Sabra, a manufacturer of hummus. Sabra had sales of $65 million in 2007. The joint venture will produce and sell fresh dips and spreads in the US and Canada.
Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. sold its turkey production and distribution center in New Oxford, PA to New Oxford Foods, LLC., a subsidiary of Hain Pure Protein Corp. As a result of the sale, Pilgrim’s Pride is no longer a turkey producer.
Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. will reduce weekly chicken processing by approximately 5% in the second half of fiscal 2008 compared to the same period a year ago to better balance supply and demand amid record-high costs for feed ingredients such as corn and soybean meal.
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Robert Colvin
Stewart Systems (Plano, TX) and AMF Bakery Systems (Richmond, VA and Sherbrooke, PQ) signed a definitive agreement to merge the ownership of the companies. Both companies will continue to operate under their current names, said Ken Newsome, president and CEO of AMF Bakery Systems.
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Pamela Coleman
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Mark Carter