Idaho Milk Products said it was awarded a $97,000 cash incentive from Idaho Power for its efforts in reducing energy consumption. The company’s upgrades have saved more than 540,000 kilowatt-hours annually in electrical energy, equivalent to what’s used in 47 Idaho homes.
“A critical component of our plant is the refrigeration system, which cools milk and helps to ensure top-quality products for our customers,” said Chris Parker, director of engineering for Jerome, Idaho-based Idaho Milk Products. “To maximize the performance and efficiency of our refrigeration system, we upgraded the pumps and piping that circulate water to the evaporative cooling towers. This upgrade helps our refrigeration compressors provide the same cooling level under less strain, reducing energy consumption and increasing the reliability of the equipment.”
Bongards Creameries, a Chanhassen, Minn.-based cheese manufacturer, announced the expansion of its Perham, Minn., plant, adding a new 70,000-square-foot refrigerated warehouse. The warehouse will hold finished goods produced by the plant, including cheese blocks and barrels. The additional space will allow Bongards to store finished goods on-site until they are shipped to customers.
Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), along with its employees and family farm-owners, are continuing in a commitment to help fight hunger by supporting Feeding America’s Hunger Action Month this September. Through its DFA Cares Farmers Feeding Families Fund, Kansas City, Kan.-headquartered DFA said it is donating much-needed commercial refrigeration to community food pantries in 20 states and keeping them stocked with milk through the end of the year.
Port Jefferson, N.Y.-based Trimona Foods, the maker of Trimona Bulgarian yogurt, had its entire product line keto verified in August. With zero added sugars and A2A2 tested organic milk, the yogurt meets the needs of keto diet followers and the "keto curious" by offering an easy way to add fermented dairy to a keto diet, Trimona Foods said.
Chobani LLC, New Berlin, N.Y., said its yogurt is now available to Canadian consumers. Through an exclusive agreement with Loblaws, one of Canada’s largest food retailers, fans may now find three flavors of Chobani Greek yogurt nationwide. All of Chobani’s dairy yogurts in Canada will also be Fair Trade USA certified.
The Reusable Packaging Association, Washington, D.C., said La Colombe, a Philadelphia-headquartered producer of ready-to-drink cold-brew coffee, draft lattes and other products, is one of the two winners in the association’s 2021 Excellence in Reusable Packaging award program. La Colombe won for their implementation of Schoeller Allibert’s Combo Excelsior Hybrid, a reusable intermediate bulk container, as supplied and serviced by Black Forest Container Systems for the transport of liquid products from manufacturing to bottling facilities.
The Washington, D.C.-based Organic Trade Association said it will host its 2022 Organic Week early next year in the nation’s capital. The forward-looking event, slated for Jan. 31 through Feb. 2, 2021, is themed “The Future of Organic” and promises organic stakeholders an “unparalleled opportunity” to help advance organic policy priorities and to protect the future of organic.
Ingredion Incorporated, Westchester, Ill., and Longmont, Colo.-based S&W Seed Co. said they entered into an exclusive U.S. stevia pilot-production supply agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, S&W will leverage its proprietary stevia plant portfolio and production techniques to supply Ingredion and its PureCircle by Ingredion subsidiary with high-quality U.S.-sourced stevia plants.
Ingredion also said it celebrated the expansion of its manufacturing assets in Vanscoy, Saskatchewan, on August 5. The ribbon-cutting ceremony, attended by Jim Zallie, Ingredion’s president and CEO, and other members of senior leadership, marked the opening of new production capabilities for pulse flours and concentrates sustainably sourced from North American farms.
The advancements at the facility further reinforce the company’s commitment to the future of plant-based food, Ingredion said.
CP Kelco, an Atlanta-based provider of nature-based ingredient solutions, said it will invest more than $50 million to expand production capacity for Nutrava citrus fiber, based on strong customer demand and market potential. With this significant capital investment, the company said it will have ample capacity for supporting current and future customers’ citrus fiber supply needs. The expansion project will add a second Nutrava citrus fiber production line to the company’s facility in Matão, Brazil.
Dynamic Conveyor Corp., Norton Shores, Mich., said it was recognized as one of five finalists for the 2021 Lakeshore Innovator of the Year Award. The Lakeshore Innovator of the Year Award was created by the Muskegon Innovation Hub at Grand Valley State University as a way to honor and recognize the many creative innovators found in West Michigan.
Tekni-Plex said it reorganized its business structure into two key market-focused divisions: Tekni-Plex Healthcare and Tekni-Plex Consumer Products. The reorganization is part of an intensive eight-month planning effort to evolve Wayne, Pa.-headquartered Tekni-Plex into an innovative partner leveraging proprietary material-science application knowledge to provide solutions that make the world healthier and more sustainable.
SKF, with U.S. headquarters in Landsdale, Pa., said it completed the acquisition of Rubico Consulting AB, an industrial consultancy firm with 10 employees based in Luleå, Sweden. Rubico Consulting AB specializes in visualization and analysis of signal data. This expertise will be integrated into SKF’s offer around the rotating shaft, as well as powering new technology areas such as bearings with fiber-optic sensors.
JPG Resources, a food and beverage innovation and commercialization group, said it welcomed Arwen Kimmell to lead the company’s new innovation marketing service offering. Kimmell joins the Battle Creek, Mich.-based company after spending six years at Kashi, where most recently, she was the director of consumer insights. She previously served in positions at Kellogg’s and General Mills.
Zebra Technologies — a Lincolnshire, Ill.-based company that “empowers the front line” in retail/ecommerce, manufacturing, transportation and logistics, and other industries to “achieve a performance edge” — announced that it intends to acquire antuit.ai, a Dallas-headquartered provider of artificial intelligence-powered Software-as-a-Service solutions specific to forecasting and merchandising for the consumer packaged goods and retail industries.
