Industry News

TreeHouse Foods Inc. announced it will sell its soup and baby food business to Riverbend Foods LLC, a new company formed by private equity firm Insight Equity.

Tyson Foods announced a $4.2-billion deal to acquire AdvancePierre Foods Holdings, a national producer and distributor of sandwiches, sandwich components and other entrées and snacks. Tyson also is exploring the sale of its three non-protein businesses, Sara Lee Frozen Bakery, Kettle and Van’s.

US Foods announced that it has agreed to acquire FirstClass Foods, a privately owned meat manufacturing company based in Hawthorne, CA with nearly $55 million in annual sales.

Lamb Weston Holdings, Inc., a supplier of frozen potato, sweet potato, appetizer and vegetable products, announced its European joint venture will acquire the potato division of Oerlemans Foods Nederland B.V.

SUPERVALU INC. will acquire Unified Grocers, Inc. in a transaction valued at approximately $375 million, bringing together the two grocery wholesale organizations with combined sales of approximately $16 billion in 2016.

Pregis acquired Sussex, WI-based Sharp Packaging Systems for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition will enable Pregis to expand its product portfolio to include a complete line of flexible packaging bagging systems and materials.

Heat and Control Inc., an expert in the design of food production equipment systems and automation, and ScandiNova AB, the creator of a pulsed electric field (PEF) solution, have announced a strategic partnership.

ATI Industrial Automation broke ground on the expansion of its corporate and manufacturing headquarters in Apex, NC. This expansion will increase the size of its Apex facility to 185,000 sq. ft.

Zachry Group has acquired Chicago-based Ambitech Engineering Corporation, a global, full-service provider of engineering, design, project management, procurement and construction management services.
 

People News

General Mills has named Jeff Harmening as its new CEO, taking over for Ken Powell, who has been CEO and chairman since 2007.

SpartanNash has named Tom Lee as senior vice president of supply chain.

Schwan’s Company announced Tony Puri has been named executive vice president of SFC Global Supply Chain, Inc., a subsidiary of Schwan’s Company.

tna has appointed Carel Pfaff as group product manager of processing to head up tna’s expanding processing portfolio.

Mondelez International’s North America President Roberto Marques announced he is leaving the company. Also stepping down from Mondelez are Chief Marketing Officer Dana Anderson and Vice President of Global Media Bob Rupczynksi.

Snyder’s-Lance, Inc. has announced its president and CEO, Carl E. Lee, Jr., has retired after 12 years of service to the company. Brian J. Driscoll, former president and CEO of Diamond Foods and a current director of Snyder’s-Lance, has agreed to step in as interim CEO.

DanoneWave, the new business formed after Danone’s acquisition of WhiteWave Foods, has appointed Lorna Davis as CEO of the unit.

Winpak Ltd. has announced the retirement of Bruce Berry, president and CEO, and the appointment of Olivier Muggli as Berry’s successor. Berry has been with Winpak for 41 years, the last 14 as president and CEO.

Reading Bakery Systems, manufacturers of snack production systems, has hired Joshua Derrer as a project manager.

SpartanNash has named Brian Holt as vice president of marketing.