Organic Valley, La Farge, Wis., announced the appointment of three senior leaders as vice presidents of the cooperative. The newly promoted leaders are Kate Campbell, vice president of business insights and data science; Jaclyn Cardin, vice president of integrated brand marketing; and Jennifer Lilla, vice president of accounting and financial reporting. Organic Valley is the nation’s largest organic, farmer-owned cooperative and one of the world’s largest organic consumer brands.
Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) and Pineland Farms Dairy Co. said they plan to donate 12,000 pounds of handcrafted cheese to Maine’s Good Shepherd Food Bank in the coming weeks. This donation is part of an initiative that began in the spring of 2020 to aid relief efforts for Maine families — and businesses — hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
In early January, Kansas City, Kan.-based DFA donated two tankers of milk collected from local dairy farmers. Pineland Farms Dairy, Bangor, Maine, said it put this milk into production and is donating the labor and other processes necessary to make the cheese.
Wells Enterprises Inc., Le Mars, Iowa, announced the appointment of Gwendolyn Hatten Butler, president and chief investment officer of Capri Investment Group, to its board of directors. Hatten Butler will be the first African American woman and second female on the board.
Idaho Milk Products completed the redesign of its company website. The fresh new look makes it easier for visitors to find information about the company, discover the services they offer and obtain solutions for producing high-quality products with world-class ingredients, the Jerome, Idaho-based company said.
The Washington, D.C.-based International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) said it named Robert Rosado senior director, legislative affairs within IDFA’s Legislative Affairs and Economic Policy team. In his new role, Rosado will develop and implement legislative strategies to support IDFA’s policy goals.
Rosado comes to IDFA after serving the past four years with the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry as senior professional staff for nutrition and specialty crops policy. There, he drafted, managed and led successful final bipartisan negotiations on the nutrition and specialty crops provisions of the 2018 Farm Bill and led the U.S. Senate COVID-19 policy response efforts impacting food assistance, nutrition, retail/foodservice supply-chain and specialty crop agriculture, IDFA said.
EverGrain, backed by Leuven, Belgium-headquartered Anheuser-Busch InBev, announced its launch as a sustainable ingredient company. The company said it is revolutionizing the use of barley to deliver highly nutritious, great-tasting protein and fiber barley-based ingredients to the world. EverGrain uses saved grain from brewing, and through its innovative processes, transforms the circularly sourced barley into nutrient-rich ingredients that can be used in a variety of food and beverage products.
Tompkins Robotics, a Raleigh, N.C.-headquartered specialist in the robotic automation of distribution operations, said it named Mike Futch CEO. Futch, who has served as the company’s president since its inception in 2017, will retain that position and continue to lead the design and forward movement of Tompkins Robotics and its core system, the t-Sort autonomous mobile robot solution.
Amcor, a Zurich-based packaging company, said the “Reducing CO2 Packaging” label from the Carbon Trust may now be printed on Amcor packaging to demonstrate significant carbon-footprint reductions. It’s part of the company’s lifecycle assessment service, which enables brands to measure their packaging’s carbon footprint from raw materials through end of use.
The announcement comes at a time when sustainability is an increasingly important factor in consumers’ purchasing decisions, Amcor said. Carbon labeling is a way for brands to demonstrate their commitment to a lower carbon economy.
Avery Dennison Label and Packaging Materials, Mentor, Ohio, announced that its machine direction orientation (MDO) and polyethylene (PE) films have been recognized as complying with the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) Critical Guidance for HDPE Recycling, and the company’s biaxially oriented polypropylene (BOPP) and MDO films have been recognized as complying with APR Critical Guidance for Flexible PE Recycling. Following the earlier APR recognition of the Avery Dennison BOPP portfolio, the company becomes the first label manufacturer to offer a complete range of film solutions for brands and converters seeking to enhance the recyclability of rigid HDPE and the first to offer APR-recognized films for flexible PE plastics.
The Massman Companies, a Villard, Minn.-based manufacturer of packaging equipment for food, beverage, consumer and industrial products, said it named Jeff Bigger, current CEO and president, executive board chair, and Jeffrey Hohn CEO and president.
PDC International, a manufacturer of shrink-sleeve labeling and tamper-evident banding machinery headquartered in Norwalk, Conn., said Gary Tantimonico was promoted from vice president to president. Tantimonico, who has been in the machine tool industry for more than 30 years, will replace Neal Konstantin, who will retain the role of CEO.
Columbia/Okura LLC, Vancouver, Wash., and Integra Systems recently executed a license agreement that will allow Integra Systems to produce the complete line of Columbia/Okura robotic palletizers in Brazil. This milestone achievement follows a similar agreement reached in 2020 between Integra Systems and Columbia Machine Inc., Columbia/Okura said.
