Weekly Roundup: Avril acquires gourmet start-up Eccellenza Italiana, PerkinElmer launches food testing platform

11 Mar 2022 --- This week in industry news, Barry Callebaut opened HQ space in Singapore while Ornua Ingredients North America (OINA) acquired Whitehall Specialties (WSI) and Avril acquired Eccellenza Italiana, an Italian gourmet start-up specializing in manufacturing premium food products. Meanwhile, PerkinElmer launched its new FT-IR liquid food testing platform NSF partnered with BeVeg to launch a new vegan certification program for food manufacturers.

In brief: Business moves
Barry Callebaut officially opened its new regional headquarters in Singapore. The new facility further affirms its 25 years of presence in the country since 1997 and its continued investment in the local and regional chocolate and cocoa market. The Asia Pacific office has been headquartered in Singapore since 2014, previously located at Millenia Tower.Barry Callebaut chocolate creations with Asian flavors prepared by head of chocolate academy Singapore, SeungYun Lee. 

Diageo plans to build a distillery valued at CAD$245 million (US$192 million) to support growth ambitions for its Crown Royal Canadian Whisky brand. The facility, with capacity to produce up to 20 million liters of absolute alcohol annually, will be located in Ontario’s St. Clair Township and includes a distillery and blending and warehousing operations.

Caldic and GTM consolidated under the new ownership of Advent International, following the sale of Caldic by funds managed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management. Under the new ownership of Advent, the consolidation of Caldic and GTM – a portfolio company owned by Advent – will commence positioning itself in the top three global players in specialty ingredients and chemicals. Caldic’s product portfolio includes food ingredients, specialty chemicals and functional solutions for various life sciences and industrial end markets. 

PerkinElmer launched its new FT-IR liquid food testing platform, including instruments, software and streamlined workflows. The LQA300 system for wine identifies key quality markers, including alcohol, sugar, acidity, pH and density levels during the winemaking process. Additional fit-for-purpose LQA300 system calibrations will be added for other liquid food sample types by the end of 2022, including beer, alcoholic spirits, edible oils, soft drinks and more. The system detects key markers such as fat, protein and lactose levels in milk, cream and whey. Adulterants such as urea, ammonium sulfate, maltodextrin, sucrose and water can also be detected in raw and processed milk.Diageo's planned distillery will produce 20 million liters of alcohol annually. 

In brief: Acquisitions
Ornua Ingredients North America (OINA) acquired Whitehall Specialties (WSI). The acquisition is central to OINA’s long-term growth strategy. WSI and OINA provide food manufacturers’ retail and foodservice customers with customized functional cheese solutions. Ornua is an Irish dairy co-operative under the company’s flagship brand, Kerrygold. OINA custom formulates and manufactures a line of functional and nutritional cheese-based ingredient solutions for food manufacturing and foodservice customers in the US, Canada and Central and South America. 

Avril acquired Eccellenza Italiana, an Italian gourmet start-up specializing in manufacturing premium food products. The transaction is in keeping with Avril’s strategic priorities to bolster its position in the consumer goods market and expand its portfolio of brands in France and internationally, thereby addressing consumer demands for local, healthy and sustainable food.

Lantmännen acquired 30% of the shares in Swedish egg packaging company, KG:s Ägg. The acquisition will help expand development opportunities in the Swedish value chain for eggs and is in line with the company’s strategy of increasing initiatives and investments within the food supply in Sweden.

In brief: Sustainability
NSF partnered with BeVeg to launch a new vegan certification program for manufacturers, brands and retailers in food and beverages, personal care products and dietary supplements. The BeVeg Vegan standard enables brands to validate product claims independently.

In brief: Technology
The Hain Celestial Group (Hain) updated the content displayed on its ELI Codes for more than 300 of their most popular items. Hain will continue to update ELI Codes as more retailers adopt smart shelf tags. The tags increase retail sales by engaging and educating in-store shoppers with rich digital content such as videos, PDFs, web content, images and product content and attributes in the aisle at the point of purchase. Smart shelf tags are built on QR code technology featuring ELI Codes that can be read natively by most modern smartphones without requiring a separate app.

In brief: Achievements
DSM achieved International Organisation Standard (ISO) life cycle assessment assurance by DNV for its intelligent sustainability service Sustell. The independent, third-party verification by DNV underscores the robustness of the Sustell life cycle assessment methodology co-developed with experts at Blonk Consultants that accurately measures the environmental footprint of animal protein production.

In brief: Other highlightsBeVeg is a new vegan certification program for food manufacturers. 
The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) explored the shopping habits of 25,000 consumers to identify potential opportunities and challenges for red meat exporters in the UK. In its most extensive research into international buying behaviors, AHDB has evaluated the purchase drivers of shoppers in 17 different markets across Europe, North America and Southeast Asia. The study compares the priorities for buyers of red meat across the other regions. It takes an in-depth look at how consumers view UK meat compared to domestic products and how often it’s purchased in different markets.

The Food Standards Agency launched the next phase of Speak Up For Allergies. The campaign will encourage young people to support friends with allergies when eating in restaurants and the front-of-house restaurant staff’s role in providing allergen information effectively. The campaign will support food businesses, ensure they have good allergen management processes, and provide staff with information and training.

In the 2022 edition of Equileap’s Top 100 Gender Equality Global Ranking, Yum China Holdings has been ranked among the top companies worldwide. By the end of the 2021 fiscal year, Yum China employed over 290,000 women, representing 65% of the company’s total workforce. It is the only company from China named to the list this year and was also recognized among 19 companies globally with no gender pay gap. Equileap provides data and insights on gender equality in the corporate sector.

By Inga de Jong