Weekly Digest: Ferrero completes Nestle USA confectionery buy, Mondelēz pledges sustainable cocoa sourcing

06 Apr 2018 --- This week, Monsanto Fund and Africare launched a US$5 million, five-year initiative to address acute hunger, malnutrition in Northern Kenya. Elsewhere, Mondelēz International announced that as of the end of March 2018, the Oreo brand would be covered by its industry-leading sustainable cocoa sourcing program, Cocoa Life. Also this week, Ferrero completed its previously announced acquisition of Nestlé USA’s confectionery business and Arla Foods is planning to sell its cheese production site in Sonthofen, Germany to German-based dairy company Allgäuer Hof-Milch GmbH.

In brief: Sustainability
Monsanto Fund, in partnership with Africare, has pledged US$5 million over a five-year period to improve nutrition and access to healthy food for women and young children in Turkana County, Kenya. Africare, based in Washington, DC, works in partnership with African people to build sustainable, healthy and productive communities. With support from the Monsanto Fund, the new Improved Approach to Community-based Nutrition in Turkana (IMPACT) Project, will provide increased access and availability of diverse and nutrient-rich food to pregnant women, new mothers, infants and young children. The initiative, which is aligned with the Kenyan government’s Big 4 Agenda to address food insecurity, is also said to improve access to quality health services while sharing information about the prevention and treatment of malnutrition.

Mondelēz International has announced that as of the end of March 2018, the Oreo brand will be covered by its industry-leading sustainable cocoa sourcing program, Cocoa Life. Oreo packs will now begin to display the Cocoa Life logo, which will be present across the full range by the end of this year. The announcement is part of Mondelēz International’s commitment to expand Cocoa Life to more of its brands, with the company’s ultimate goal to source all its cocoa sustainably, primarily through Cocoa Life. Following last year’s announcement that all Cadbury products would be brought under Cocoa Life by 2019, the inclusion of Oreo in the program demonstrates how the company continues to use its scale to help even more cocoa farmers, their families and their communities.

In brief: Acquisitions
The Ferrero Group and its affiliated companies, has completed its previously announced acquisition of Nestlé USA’s confectionery business, with more than 20 iconic American brands, including chocolate favorites such as Butterfinger, BabyRuth, 100Grand, Raisinets and Wonka. FoodIngredientsFirst initially reported the acquisition in January, you can read the full story here.

In brief: Appointments & retirements
Givaudan has announced that Chris Thoen, Head of Global Science & Technology, decided for private reasons to retire at the end of August 2018. Currently an EC-member, he will step down from the Executive Committee at the end of May and continue to provide advice on strategic projects until his retirement. Thoen will take his retirement after a distinguished 32-year global career in Research and Development, notably in various senior positions at P&G.

Michael Noth, a long-standing member of Nordzucker AG’s Executive Board with responsibility for Finance and IT, is to leave the company at his request on 31 May 2018. Noth joined the Executive Board of Nordzucker AG in August 2009. Lars Gorissen, who has been at the helm of Nordzucker AG since March 2018 as Speaker of the Executive Board, explains, “Michael Noth is a proven financial expert, and we have accomplished a lot together on the Executive Board in recent years.” The Supervisory Board will appoint a new Chief Financial Officer to the Executive Board shortly.

In brief: Other highlights

Petrow Food Group can now offer unprecedented levels of safety, quality
and capacity following a major investment in a new fruit processing line.

European dairy co-operative Arla Foods is planning to sell its cheese production site in Sonthofen, Germany to German-based dairy company Allgäuer Hof-Milch GmbH. Both companies have signed a letter of intent and aimed to finalize the transaction before May 1, 2018. Arla Foods has decided to take this step because the production and distribution of the specialty cheese produced in Sonthofen no longer correspond with the strategic orientation of Arla’s businesses in Germany and Europe.

UK-based Petrow Food Group says it can now offer unprecedented levels of safety, quality and capacity following a major investment in a new fruit processing line. Petrow invested £850,000 (US$1.1 million) in one of the most sophisticated and well-designed machines of its kind, a high-tech nerve center incorporating the latest technology such as X-ray, flame unit, laser, throat metal detector and automatic packing unit. Together, this technology is claimed to perfect one of the most critical food safety operations – the identification and removal of stones, pits, glass, metal, plastic and other foreign bodies. Such elements can accidentally work their way into the supply chain and sourcing process during harvesting or sun-drying and often slips through upstream inspection processes.

By Elizabeth Green

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