The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) announced that lamb exporters in the UK will have access to the American market—worth an estimated $48.9 million in the first five years of trade—as we head into the new year.

Planterra Foods has opened a new manufacturing plant in Denver. The 189,000-square-foot facility will increase Planterra’s production capabilities, offering opportunities to expand the brand to more consumers and retailers and provide 200 jobs in the Denver community. 

Danfoss and Florida State University have announced a multi-year collaboration in which Danfoss will fund scholarships and provide research opportunities for faculty and students at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, the joint engineering institution for Florida A&M University (FAMU) and Florida State University (FSU). The 5-year agreement establishes the Danfoss FAMU-FSU College of Engineering Fund with a $750,000 commitment from Danfoss.

Peter Fox has been promoted to CEO of SOMIC Packaging. Fox is a 30-year packaging industry veteran, and has served as the Senior VP of Sales at SOMIC since joining the Minnesota-headquartered company in 2014, which manufactures of end-of-line, retail-ready case packaging machinery.

EAS Consulting Group has hired Maged Sharaf, Ph.D. as senior director, labeling, cannabis and claims consulting services. He will be responsible for managing and providing label review and claims substantiation consulting services for conventional foods, animal foods, dietary supplements and cosmetics. In addition, he will oversee client projects related to product detentions, NDI submissions and cannabis.

Triangle Package Machinery has named Michael Small director of operations. Small brings a diversified background with extensive experience in production and operations management in the manufacturing industry that spans over three decades. 

Kraft Heinz has completed the sale of certain assets in its global cheese business and the license of certain trademarks to an affiliate of Groupe Lactalis for total consideration of approximately $3.3 billion, including cash consideration of approximately $3.2 billion. 

Préval AG, an international agri-food company headquartered in Quebec, has acquired the assets of J&G Foods, located in Sutton, Massachusetts. J&G is a custom and specialty case-ready fresh meat provider specializing in portioned organic and grass-fed beef, organic and natural chicken, natural pork and beef, and a variety of marinated and value-added meats.

The J.M. Smucker Co. is investing $1.1 billion to build a new manufacturing facility and distribution center in McCalla, Alabama, dedicated to production of Smucker’s Uncrustables sandwiches. Construction of the facility is expected to begin in January 2022, with production planned for 2025.