Industry News
MATERIAL TRANSFER & STORAGE (MTS) completed an expansion that doubles its assembly space and enables additional processes to be brought in-house, quadrupling total manufacturing space.
ABB acquired CODIAN ROBOTICS B.V., a provider of delta robots and a hygienic design line, suitable for hygiene-sensitive industries including food and beverage and pharmaceuticals.
SKF is investing approximately $50 million in strengthening its manufacturing footprint in North America; $28 million to expand and automate its factory in Sumter, S.C.; and $23 million to localize manufacturing of tapered roller bearings from China to an existing site in Mexico.
PROMACH has acquired PANTHER INDUSTRIES, an automated labeling equipment provider to businesses across North America.
MOLSON COORS BEVERAGE CO. will distribute specialty coffee pioneer LA COLOMBE’S ready-to-drink coffee across the U.S.
FOREMOST FARMS plans to sell its Preston, Minn., manufacturing facility to DIVERSIFIED INGREDIENTS.
SCHENCK PROCESS GROUP reached an agreement to acquire BAKER PERKINS, a global supplier of food processing equipment and aftermarket services.
The USDA and the FDA signed a memorandum of understanding outlining strengthened coordination between the FDA and the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) and Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) to facilitate the export of milk and milk products from the United States. U.S. dairy exports are valued at nearly $6 billion annually.
NOVOLEX, a packaging and foodservice products provider, is investing in a new water treatment system that will increase its capacity to recycle plastic retail bags and other films.
ALLIED ELECTRONICS & AUTOMATION has added supplier partners THK, RINGFEDER, TIMKEN, CONTITECH, REXNORD, INA and FAG.
UNIQUE PRETZELS is rebranding to UNIQUE SNACKS for greater growth opportunities in the healthy snacks and natural foods sector.
KRONES INC. has launched the KRONES PROCESS GROUP NORTH AMERICA to provide a more cohesive offering to the beverage, dairy and food industries in North America, Central America and the Caribbean. With this launch comes the consolidation of W.M. SPRINKMAN’S production capabilities into its Elroy, Wis., facility and TRANS MARKET’S Tampa, Fla., location. While the W.M. Sprinkman Waukesha facility is planning to close, the sales, engineering and administrative functions will continue in the Waukesha/Milwaukee area. Other Krones Process Group North American offices will remain at their current New York, Florida, Texas and California locations.
ROYAL DSM completed its acquisition of ERBER GROUP, valued at €980 million.
Since 2016, KELLOGG has reduced its total organic waste by 13.4% and total waste per pound of food produced by 5.7%. In 2019, just 1.1% of food handled across its manufacturing operations went unused globally, which was provided to local food banks and farmers for animal feed.
SOUTHEASTERN MILLS, makers of Better Than Bouillon and Louisiana Brand Hot Sauce, has announced a rebrand to SUMMIT HILL FOODS.
MEIJER was recognized by the ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY’S GreenChill Program for its achievements in reducing refrigerant emissions across its supercenters over the past year.
KOCH SEPARATION SOLUTIONS has become an ADM preferred vendor of water, wastewater and in-process separations applications based on premium services and reliable products.
ADP DIRECT POULTRY has acquired CAMI INTERNATIONAL POULTRY LTD, a poultry slaughter and processing company located in Welland, Ontario.
BONDUELLE FRESH AMERICAS has joined WALMART in the groundbreaking “10x20x30” initiative to root out food loss and waste from the supply chain. The 10x20x30 project is led by Walmart and more than 10 of the world’s biggest food retailers and providers, each having committed to engage at least 20 suppliers in a “whole supply chain” approach to cutting food loss and waste in half by 2030.
EURAZEO completed a $25 million minority investment in DEWEY’S BAKERY, a clean-label cookie and cracker manufacturer based in Winston-Salem, N.C.
NORPLEX-MICARTA has entered into a definitive agreement with SOLVAY (Alpharetta, Ga.) to acquire the product line designated as CYPLY.
AMERICOLD REALTY TRUST has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire privately held AGRO MERCHANTS GROUP from an investor group led by funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management for a total of $1.74 billion.
DANFOSS has updated and enhanced its service offering to create a more sustainable, scalable and secure cloud-based portal for managing food retail operations. Previously known as Danfoss Enterprise Services (DES), Alsense is optimized to provide new levels of efficiency.
MHS, a single-source provider of material handling automation and software solutions, announces its membership in the ROBOTIC INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION.
NAI, a manufacturer of custom interconnect solutions, announced the opening of a new manufacturing plant in Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico.
SÜDPACK opened its new production site in Erolzheim, Germany.
PROMACH has completed its acquisition of STATCO-DSI, a provider of integrated sanitary processing systems and engineering services for the food, dairy and beverage industries.
MACHINEMETRICS and FIIX have announced a new partnership between MachineMetrics’ manufacturing IoT platform and Fiix’s maintenance platform that enables businesses to drive turnkey automated maintenance solutions with real-time data from their production equipment.
SUPPLY CHAIN SERVICES has acquired MILES DATA TECHNOLOGIES, a provider of barcode, RFID and mobility solutions.
VECTOR CONTROLS AND AUTOMATION GROUP, a manufacturing representative, distributor and service provider, has formed a strategic partnership with IMI CRITICAL ENGINEERING to combine forces, resources and competencies in the valve marketplace.
GRAHAM PACKAGING is celebrating the 30th anniversary of the GRAHAM RECYCLING CO. (GRC). Over the last three decades, the facility has helped Graham become one of the largest suppliers of bottle-grade recycled plastic containers in North America, as well as enabled the company to become more sustainable.
People News
DOLE WORLDWIDE PACKAGED FOODS has appointed DR. LARA RAMDIN as chief innovation officer. Dr. Ramdin (right in the photo) will work closely with KIMBERLY GALANTE (left), who assumes a global product development role, and PEEWEE DIZON (center), the leadership of global category development.
SMITHFIELD FOODS INC. announced that KENNETH M. SULLIVAN, president and CEO, will retire in early 2021, following a distinguished four-decade-long career—nearly half spent at Smithfield. DENNIS ORGAN, chief operating officer, U.S. operations, will succeed Sullivan as president and CEO.
JBT announced the passing of CEO TOM GIACOMINI. BRIAN DECK will resume the role of interim president and CEO.
LYCORED has appointed SHIRLEY COHEN as its new CEO, where she will oversee the company’s expansion efforts.
HALIBURTON INTERNATIONAL FOODS announced that founder IAN SCHENKEL has stepped down as CEO and that DAN GLICK, a longtime management and financial advisor to the company, has been named its new CEO.
SPARTECH, a manufacturer of engineered thermoplastics and custom packaging solutions, announced that JOHN INKS has been promoted to CEO. He previously served as Spartech’s COO. MATT GISONI was appointed to VP of supply chain and sourcing; and DAVE GORENC becomes VP of manufacturing.
The INSTITUTE FOR AGRICULTURE AND TRADE POLICY named SOPHIA MURPHY as its next executive director.
JIM PERDUE, chairman of PERDUE FARMS, has been named to the MEAT INDUSTRY HALL OF FAME, honoring industry excellence in business leadership and community service.
ANOVA, a subsidiary of Electrolux and provider of sous vide devices, announced that SCOTT HEIMENDINGER has joined the company as chief marketing officer
CLASADO BIOSCIENCES has appointed HENNING SØGAARD as its new chairman of the board. He has more than 30 years’ experience in the food, pharmaceutical, biotech and personal care sectors.
KOS, purveyor of plant-based protein and functional ingredient supplements, has named DEREK DEARWATER as its new chief revenue officer and KEVIN DALAELI as chief marketing officer.
FORCE CONTROL named DILON ALTWEGG as a regional manager to cover the southwestern U.S. and Mexico.
REFRIGERATED SOLUTIONS GROUP announced additions to its commercial sales team. CHRIS CARNEY and HOWARD MCCANN were recently named regional sales managers for the portfolio of brands. Both will report directly to Bob Stevens, director of dealer sales.
NOVOLEX announced that PATRICK MANNING has joined the company as senior vice president of corporate development.
NOVALENT BIOTECH INC, a U.S. biotechnology engineering firm, has announced the appointment of DR. SCOTT BROOKS, head of food safety at Tyson Foods, to Novalent’s Scientific Advisory Board.
PDI, a supplier of infection prevention product and service solutions, announced the appointment of MICHAEL YANG, PH.D., as senior vice president of research and development. Yang will lead PDI’s growing R&D organization, focusing on innovative solutions that address the critical needs of today’s healthcare, food safety and public health markets.
SMITHFIELD FOODS INC. announced that MEGAN SUPAN, operations development manager, in its Wichita, Kan., facility, has been named an emerging leader as part of The Manufacturing Institute’s annual STEP Ahead Awards, which honor women who have demonstrated excellence and leadership in their careers and represent all levels of the manufacturing industry. In addition, Smithfield Foods Inc. announced it has been recognized by the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF MANUFACTURERS as a 2020 Manufacturing Leadership Awards recipient in the sustainability category for water reduction efforts at its Wilson, N.C., facility.
WAGO welcomed DANIEL ONDIK as its new regional sales manager Chicago region. Prior to joining WAGO, Ondik gained experience at Rockwell in the Nashville area for three years as a sales engineer before moving back to Illinois and working at Rittal for four years as an account manager.
SWARM ENGINEERING INC, provider of food supply chain optimization software, announced two strategic hires to its leadership team. ANDY MOUACDIE joins as chief revenue officer, and SHIYI PICKRELL joins as chief data scientist. As SWARM continues to scale its business, Mouacdie and Pickrell will play critical roles in furthering the company’s mission to optimize the food supply chain industry using artificial intelligence and machine learning.
