Campbell Soup Company will close its Sacramento, CA plant, which produces soups, sauces and beverages; production will shift to its three remaining thermal plants. The company will also close its South Plainfield, NJ spice plant, which supplies ingredients to Campbell’s thermal plants. Spice production will be consolidated at its larger spice plant in Milwaukee. The closings are due to decreased sales of canned soup and will affect about 725 workers. 
 
Kellogg Company and Wilmar International Limited announced a 50/50 joint venture for the manufacture, sale and distribution of cereal, wholesome snacks and savory snacks in China. Wilmar’s wholly owned subsidiary in China, Yihai Kerry Investments Co., Ltd, will participate in the joint venture. 
 
Dare Foods Limited announced the appointment of Peter Luik as its president. 
 
Flowers Foods appointed Craig S. Parr to the newly created position of senior vice president of finance and chief risk officer.
 
Multiple Organics purchased and is moving to a 50,000-sq.-ft., state-of-the-art warehouse and office facility in Hercules, CA.
 
Barry Callebaut AG announced its intention to sell its factory and the related business in Dijon, France to Chocolaterie de Bourgogne. With this action, Barry Callebaut would conclude the final step to dispose of all its consumer activities. 
 
Chiquita Brands International Inc. chose Edward Lonergan as its new chief executive, succeeding Fernando Aguirre. Lonergran previously ran Diversey Holdings Inc., until it was acquired by Sealed Air. 
 
Newly Weds Foods, Inc. purchased the industrial food coating business of Tukwila, WA-based Continental Mills, Inc. for an undisclosed sum. The transaction includes a 55,000-sq.-ft. manufacturing facility located in Pendleton, OR and other assets associated with this business.
 
SkyyGreens Aquaponics became the first licensed indoor, vertical farm in Chicago.
 
MTY Food Group Inc.’s wholly owned subsidiary, MTY Tiki Ming Enterprises Inc., completed the acquisition of most of the assets of Mr. Souvlaki Ltd.
 
The BRC Global Standard for Food Safety Issue 6 and BRC/IoP Global Standard for Packaging and Packaging Materials Issue 4 were successfully benchmarked by GFSI and have achieved recognition against the GFSI Guidance Document Sixth Edition. In addition, the IFS Food Standard Version 6 was successfully re-benchmarked by GFSI and has achieved recognition against the GFSI Guidance Document Sixth Edition.
 
Industrial Info’s databases show expenditures of more than $300 million within the US on project activity for cold storage expansions and upgrades in 2012. 
 
Michael R. Gruber, senior policy adviser on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, has joined GMA as vice president of federal affairs.
 
Bosch Packaging Technology closed its acquisition of Ampack Ammann, a German filling and packaging machine manufacturer.
 
Schneider Packaging Equipment Co., Inc., specializing in end-of-line solutions for case packing and palletizing needs, acquired the assets of S&R Machinery (Olyphant, PA), a supplier of both random and uniform case sealers. 
 
Stellar appointed retired Navy Captain John J. Heinzel as its new vice president of refrigeration services. 
 
AvidBiotics Corp. and DuPont Nutrition & Health announced a collaboration focused on food safety. The agreement, which includes a DuPont Ventures equity investment, gives DuPont worldwide, exclusive rights to AvidBiotics’ antibacterial protein technology in the broad realm of food and food protection. AvidBiotics retains all rights to applications of its technology in the fields of animal health, humantherapeutics, human prophylactics and human diagnostics.
 
Timothy Koval, vice president and chief legal officer for The Raymond Corporation, was appointed to the position of president and COO for Arbor Material Handling, Inc., an authorized Raymond Sales and Service Center.
 
Hershey named Brent Cotton as its director of customer and industry affairs.