MoreMars, Inc. announced a merger agreement with Chicago-based Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company in a transaction valued at approximately $23 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, Wrigley will become a separate and standalone subsidiary of Mars. The boards of directors of both companies unanimously approved the agreement. The combined company will have a strong foundation in six core growth areas: chocolate, non-chocolate confectionery, gum, food, drinks and petcare. Wrigley operates three plants in Illinois, and Mars will transfer three of its global, non-chocolate confectionery sugar brands, including Starburst and Skittles, to Wrigley. Following completion of the transaction, Bill Wrigley, Jr. will remain executive chairman of Wrigley, reporting to Paul S. Michaels, global president of Mars, Inc.
Katherine M. J. Swanson, PhD
High Plains Bioenergy, a subsidiary company of Seaboard Farms Foods, opened its new biodiesel production plant, which will use pork fat from Seaboard’s Guymon, OK processing facility to produce up to 30 million gallons of fuel annually.
Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream Holdings, Inc. announced two senior executive changes. Tony Sarsam was named executive vice president of sales and operations, and Rhonda Ramlo was named executive vice president of marketing, replacing Tyler Johnston who will be retiring this summer after 20 years with the company.
Glenn Wright
La Tortilla Factory appointed Sam Tamayo as vice president and chief operations officer, which includes oversight of all research and development.
PPM (Newberg, OR), a supplier to the global food processing industry, merged with Wright Machinery, headquartered in Middlesex, England. Wright Machinery is a global systems integrator providing advanced seasoning and coating systems, proportional feed systems and fully automated multi-pack systems.
Ennis Parker was named chief executive officer of Facility Group, an integrated program management, design and construction firm. Parker most recently served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Facility Design Group, the architecture and engineering component of the company.
The Food Defense Strategy Exchange (FDSE) is a forum for food defense professionals to interact and share their knowledge and experiences. At the most recent FDSE, a poll of attendees revealed that approximately two-thirds were either re-evaluating their existing food defense plan, or implementing new food defense plans. In this podcast, Don Hsieh, Director of Commercial and Industrial Marketing at Tyco Integrated Security, discusses this topic and other findings from the exchange, and offers some best practices to proactively protect a company’s brand from food adulteration.
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