Rich Products Restructures
Rich Products Corporation, Buffalo, New York, has restructured as
a global organization with five regional business units:
Asia/Pacific, Europe/Middle East, Latin America, South Africa,
and U.S./Canada.
The former North America Business Group has become the
U.S./Canada Region, which will now...
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Kerry Ready Meals Plant on the Verge
Headland Foods couldn't make a go of a frozen ready meals plant
in Grimsby, England, and now it looks as if Ireland's Kerry Foods
can't make a go of it, either. Some 337 jobs are at stake as the
factory faces closure.
On Feb. 3, Kerry began a 90-day consultation with the entire
workforce at t...
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Bernatello's Gets Bigger Pizza the Action
Bernatello's Pizza, Inc., Edina, Minnesota, manufacturer and
distributor of frozen pizza, snacks and appetizers, has acquired
the assets of Five Star Frozen Foods, Inc., Kaukauma, Wisconsin,
also a frozen pizza manufacturer and distribution company.
The acquisition will continue to grow and e...
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Spicing Up Keystone Foods
Spice burgers at McDonald's? Not yet, at least. But Keystone
Foods, West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, USA, has acquired the
Irish company that makes them, and plans not only to continue
making the unique burger, but to distribute it more widely into
Europe.
Walsh Family Foods of Dublin has bee...
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Volatile Times at Cosun's Aviko Unit
At 1.776 billion euros, consolidated turnover at Royal Cosun, the
Dutch agri-industry group, was slightly higher than in 2010.
Operating profit came to 136 million euros. But due to higher
beet prices, profit was lower than 2010's 157 million, despite
improved earnings at its business groups.
...
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Ice Cream a Bright Spot for Unilever
Anglo-Dutch consumer products giant Unilever, which used to be
really big in frozen foods, showed overall sales growth of 6.6%
last year, to 46.467 billion euros, but nearly all of that was in
higher prices -- volume was up only 0.1%. Foods of all kinds
accounted for only 3.672 billion, and "ref...
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Nowegian Salmon Back to US Market? Maybe.
The US International Trade Commission has decided to remove a
more than 20-year old anti-dumping and countervailing duty
tariffs imposed on Norwegian salmon entering the US.
The Norwegian government and the salmon industry said they had
achieved this through their participation in the US revi...
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Vietnam Seeks First Place in Seafood Exports
Top of the world! That's where Vietnam wants to be in fish and
seafood exports, with a goal of $6.5 billion set fore this year
by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the
Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
Export revenues touched $6.1 billion last ...
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Cono Italiano: From Pizza Cones to Empanadas
Cono Italiano, Red Bank, New Jersey, USA, has big plans for pizza
cones: drip free, spill free cone-shaped pizzas made of
proprietary dough and filled with freshly selected ingredients.
But it has also come out with empanadas.
Like pizza cones, they're a joint venture with Interstate
Caterers...
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New Regulatory Taxes a No-No for AFFI and Others
The American Frozen Food Institute (AFFI) and other leading food
industry groups are urging the Obama administration not to stick
the food industry with new taxes and regulatory fees to pay for
enforcement of a new food safety program.
"We respectfully ask that you make securing adequate
cong...
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Brits Could Save Big on Frozens
Cash-strapped Brits could save up to a third on their grocery
bills by switching from fresh to frozen fish, meat and
vegetables, according to a university study. What's more, they'd
cut down on food waste.
The research, by Sheffield Hallam University, showed that a
basket of frozen family gro...
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What's the Occasion for Birds Eye?
It's not what to advertise, but what to advertise it FOR at
British Birds Eye, as the brand taps consumer data to shift from
product-based to occasion-based marketing in a bid to change
consumer perceptions of the frozen food sector.
Birds Eye's new positioning follows the relaunch of the b...
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Apetito Upgrades Hospital Food
A new frozen plated meal system for hospitals, CarteChoix, has
been launched by apetito UK.
The new range of plated meals complements the company's
multi-portion bulk system, and enables hospitals to heat up meals
quickly, allowing patients to order closer to mealtimes. It's
also a leaner, mo...
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British Birds Eyes Takes a Deep PR Breath
Live & Breathe has been appointed by Birds Eye in the UK to
handle below-the-line marketing for its full range of frozen
foods. That includes sales promotion, direct response marketing,
public relations, experiential, etc.
The agency secured the business following a competitive pitch
involvin...
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Norwegian Seafood Exports to UK Soar
Norwegian cod, haddock and prawn exports to the UK reached 41,897
tons last year, up by 3,778 compared to 2010, according to the
latest figures from the Norwegian Seafood Council (NSC). In terms
of overall exports, the UK market is the seventh largest out of
the 130 countries Norway exported to ...
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Fake Meat with a Flair from ConAgra Unit
Lightlife Foods, a vegetarian foods unit of ConAgra Foods, plans
next month to introduce jazzier-sounding soy-based frozen entrees
such as Amaz'n Asian Sesame Chik'n and Olé Santa Fe Chik'n.
"These names put a friendly face on these items so they don't
seem scary to meat eaters," according to Ph...
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Marine Harvest Expanding in Scotland
Marine Harvest ASA, Oslo, Norway, has unveiled plans for £40
million expansion of fish farming in Scotland. The sites at
Stulaigh, near Loch Eynort on South Uist and Helisay in the Sound
of Barra, will employ 12 staff and produce up to 8,000 tons of
salmon over a 22-month farming cycle.
"Dema...
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Scottish Firm Exports Pizzas -- to Italy!
There's an old British joke about selling coals to Newcastle (a
coal exporter for much of its history), but Cosmo Products,
Newtongrange, Scotland, is shipping frozen pizzas to Italy -- and
that's no joke.
Founded by one-time Edinburgh restaurateur Cosmo Tamburro and run
by his son, managing ...
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New Entree Line Cuts Salt
Meals to Live, Dallas, Texas, bills itself as the first-ever
frozen foodline designed specifically for those living with
diabetes, and as amongthe lowest in sodium, keeping all of its
eight entree choices with 480 milligrams or less.
According to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, t...
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Charlie the Tuna Gets Last Laugh
Charlie the Tuna is finally getting some respect. After five
decades of "Sorry, Charlie" TV commercials, StarKist is launching
a "Thanks, Charlie" campaign to honor the icon behind the sales
success of its tuna. StarKist, while best known for canned and
pouched seafood products, also produces a ...
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EVOL-ution in Action
Evol Foods, Boulder, Colorado-based producer of made-from-scratch
natural and organic frozen meals and snacks, has received a
minority growth capital investment from private equity fund
Alliance Consumer Growth (ACG).
ACG's investment will enable EVOL to further accelerate
nationwide distrib...
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Dutch Frozen Snack Merger Under Fire
The European Commission is blocking a proposed merger between two
Dutch frozen snack food companies, Royaan B.V. of Duurstede Ad
Van Geloven (AvG) of Tilburg due to concerns that it would
adversely affect competition.
Under the EU Merger Regulation, the assessment of the Dutch part
of the pro...
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Most Alaska Salmon Processors Opting Out of MSC
Most of Alaska's salmon processors are dropping out of the
certification program of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC),
the Alaska Fisheries Development Foundation (AFDF) announced Jan. 17.
The AFDF said it had received letters from eight major primary
salmon processors advising AFDF they ar...
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Partner Logistics Builds for KLM
Partner Logistics officially broke ground Jan. 18 in Rheine,
Germany, for a new fully automated cold store for KLM Logistik
GmbH.
The ceremony was hosted by Georg Grewe, managing director of KLM
Logistik. The site is adjacent to the KLM Logistik facility at
the Offenbergweg 11 in Rheine...
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American Seafoods Group Expands
American Seafoods Group, Seattle, Washington, USA, which markets
frozen seafood under the American Pride brand, has acquired Good
Harbor Fillet LLC, a manufacturer of value-added frozen seafood
products, from private equity group Creo Capital Partners LLC.
"In this era of continuing industry c...
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Food Lion No Longer Roaring
The bloom is off Delhaize America, Salisbury, North Carolina,
which is closing 113 Food Lion stores and eliminating the
upscale Bloom banner. The decision came at the behest of the
parent Delhaize Group, based in Belgium.
Pierre-Olivier Beckers, CEO of Delhaize Group, said in a
statement ...
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Hopes High for Thai Shrimp Industry
The future looks bright for Thai shrimp exports& if only.
"We foresee another year of good growth in 2012, as global
demand for shrimp remains strong and the price is affordable,"
said Somsak Paneetatyasai, president of the Thai Shrimp
Association. "But this is the case only if no calamitie...
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Morrisons Debuts Frozen Meal Range
British supermarket chain Morrisons is launching its first M
Kitchen frozen convenience range, part of the wider M Kitchen
brand roll out of more than 300 restaurant-quality recipes.
The M Kitchen frozen range of English, Chinese, Indian and
Italian meals was developed by Neil Nugent, Mor...
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Black Christmas for UK's Tesco
British supermarket chain Tesco suffered its worst Christmas
sales in decades despite a high-profile £500 million ad campaign
to lure shoppers back into its stores with deep price cuts.
Chief executive Philip Clarke admitted he was "disappointed"
with the group's performance, which is the w...
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Shrimp Prices Soar in Flood-Stricken Thailand
Floods in Thailand are pushing white shrimp prices up. Offered
prices for Thai-produced Litopenaeus vannamei, the mainstay
imported frozen shrimp for Japan, have been making a strong
upsurge recently.
Industry observers say that the price hike was triggered by
damage to farming ponds in s...
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Pioneering Frozen Vegetable Company Faces Closure
It looks like the end of the road for Patterson Vegetable Co., a
66-year old operation in Patterson, California, that plans to
close putting 489 employees out of work, after their union
rejected pay cuts the company said it needed to pay for upgrading
its plant.
Formerly known as Patterson ...
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Dutch Investor Rescuing British Sea Bass Farm
Tethys Ocean B.V., a new aquaculture division of Linnaeus Capital
Partners B.V., has acquired Selonda UK Ltd., the United Kingdom's
only sea bass farmer, which had gone into bankruptcy Jan. 4.
Linnaeus is an Amsterdam, the Netherlands-based private equity
firm founded in 2009.
The farm had be...
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BluePrint Founder Bob Prakken Dies
Bob Prakken, founder and chairman of BluePrint Automation,
Colonial Heights, Virginia, USA, died Jan. 6 after a long battle
with cancer.
Prakken founded the company in his garage in 1978, after seeing a
potential market for automatic casepacking of flexible bags. Over
the years, BluePrint gre...
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Nestle Layoffs Symptom of Weak US Frozen Market
They're called Hot Pockets, but sales haven't been so hot lately,
and production costs are up, so Nestle is laying off 103 workers
-- about a sixth of the payroll -- at its plant in Chatsworth,
California, that makes them.
When it comes to that, frozen food sales in the United States
aren't a...
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Name Compression at GEA
Names have been changed in both Germany and Britain for
operating units of GEA Refrigeration Technologies.
What used to be GEA Grasso GmbH, Berlin is now GEA Refrigeration
Germany GmbH. British GEA refrigeration companies are now
under one roof: GEA Refrigeration UK Limited.
The change ...
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GME Acquired by Vanmark
GME Inc. International, Boise, Idaho, USA, leading maker of
hydrocutters and other food equipment used in the French fry,
fruit and vegetable processing industry, has been acquired by
Vanmark Equipment LLC of Creston, Iowa.
GME will continue business under the name of GME International
from...
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Lantmännen Shutting Down German Plant
Lantmännen Unibake plans to shut down production at its Verden,
Germany, plant as part of a restructuring. Some 100 employees are
affected.
Up until now, anyone who bought a frozen filled baguette at a
German supermarket was in all likelihood getting a private label
product from the Verden p...
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Alaskan Seafood Exports to China Booming
China will emerge as Alaska's top export customer for 2011 when
final trade statistics are counted for the last two months of the
year, state officials say.
Most of that has to do with seafood, according to Susan Bell,
state commissioner of commerce, who said that China's domestic
consumption...
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Findus Facing Sticky Debt Wicket?
Findus Foods, producer of frozen food and parent of Young's
Seafood, is facing its own debt crisis, according to the Sunday
Times.
The company asked lenders to waive a quarterly covenant test at
the end of 2011 which determines how it's able to meet its debt
obligations, the paper reporte...
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Yummy Deal for Chinese Americold Venture
China Merchants Americold (Hong Kong) Holdings Co., Ltd. (CMAC)
and Yum! China have agreed to a Strategic Alliance Framework on
the outsourcing and relocation of selected logistics centers for
Yum! China and establishing new logistics centers in the future.
The initial projects under the agre...
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NFI Plans Conference; Crab Council Seeks Liaison
The National Fisheries Institute (NFI) is set to launch new
Global Seafood Marketing Conference Jan. 25-26 in Miami, Florida.
Meanwhile, the seafood industry groups Crab Council is looking
for an Asia Liaison to be its primary in-region contact for the
Councils projects.
The NFI conference ...
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Looking for a Bigger Pizza the Action
Cono Italiano, Red Bank, New Jersey, the exclusive license holder
for North American distribution and manufacturing rights to the
"pizza cono," a drip-free, cone shaped pizza made from
proprietary dough, has completed a plant for production of
another frozen product be launched in January 2012. ...
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Thai Union Buying Stake in Pakfood
Thai Union Frozen Products (TUF), Thailand's largest frozen and
canned seafood processor and exporter, has agreed to buy a stake
in Pakfood Public Company Limited (PPC), another of the country's
leading frozen seafood firms.
Pakfood has a strong focus in frozen shrimp, pasteurized crab
meat a...
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High Liner Closes Deal on Icelandic Units
It's a done deal. High Liner Foods is now the proud new owner of
the Icelandic Group's US and Asian operations.
Completion of the $232.7-million acquisition, announced Nov. 17,
makes Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada-based High Liner a dominant
seafood supplier to restaurants, hotels and insti...
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Rosina Acquires San Rallo
Rosina Food Products, Buffalo, New York, USA, has acquired the
assets of the San Rallo Pasta business from Mitsui Foods, a
major importer and distributor of a variety of food products.
"We are excited about this transaction. This acquisition is
consistent with the Company's strategic...
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Private Equity Firm Acquires Bellisio
Centre Partners, a private equity firm with offices in New York
and Los Angeles, has acquired Bellisio Foods, Duluth, Minnesota,
from the estate of its founder Jeno Paulucci, who died Nov. 24.
The Duluth News Tribune revealed the deal Dec. 18.
Bellisio Foods, formerly known as Michelina's, is...
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Faroe Islands Face Off Against EU Over Mackerel
Faroe Islands Prime Minister Kaj Leo Holm Johannesen, has taken
the European Union Commission to task for what he called an
unconstructive and confrontational approach on the issue of joint
management of mackerel fisheries in the Northeast Atlantic.
Johannesen's remarks were provoked by a pro...
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Mexico Looking to Buy More Idaho Spuds
Idaho potato industry representatives who met with top-level
officials of major food companies during Idaho's trade mission to
Mexico and Brazil believe the meetings will translate into more
sales of frozen products in Mexico, and also to Brazil -- a
relatively new market for Idaho spuds.
Ha...
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Wizard Oz Picks Healthy Frozens
Personal health guru Mehmet Oz thinks people seeking a healthy
diet should check out frozen foods. They aren't all salty or
fatty, he told viewers on a recent episode of the Dr. Oz Show.
"Some frozen foods are actually healthy for you, and guess
what? -- they will even help you shed some weig...
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Vietnamese Shrimp Exports Nearing Record
Vietnamese shrimp exports for 2011 look to exceed last year's
$2.1 billion, with the total already having reached nearly $2
billion at the end of October. And the European Union has proved
to be the strongest market, according to the Vietnam Association
of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP)...
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Charoen Pokphand Stressing Brand Marketing
Thailand's Charoen Pokphand Foods (CPF) is looking to become a
global brand with a new marketing strategy it hopes will increase
overall sales by 10-15%.
The new strategy involves distributing more premium-quality goods
to consumers, including five branded chicken and six branded pork
product...
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International Frozen Potato Market Booming
Global demand for frozen potato products (mostly french fries)
for July 2011 through June 2012 is forecast to increase five
percent to nearly 2.5 billion tons, according to the US
Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service.
The forecast is based on strengthening economic growth f...
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New Line from Beaver Street Fisheries
Beaver Street Fisheries, Jacksonville, Florida, USA, is
expanding further into the value-added market with its new fully
prepared, ready-to-cook Signature line -- a follow-up to its
recent Seasoned Selections.
Seasoned Selections, under Beaver Street's Sea Best brand,
features two-servin...
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Vietnamese Tuna Exports Booming
Vietnamese tuna exports for October reached $314 million, a
year-on-year increase of 28.6%, according to the General
Department of Vietnam Customs.
Over the past 10 months, Vietnamese tuna has penetrated into 87
markets, nearly double over those of the early 2011 thanks to
high demand from i...
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Red Lobster Sales Gain Fastest in USA
Second quarter same-restaurant sales growth is projected at 1.8%
for Red Lobster, the seafood chain's parent company Darden
Restaurants reported Dec. 6. Sales within the United States are
seen as gaining 6.8%, the company said.
Red Lobster operates in Canada, Japan and the United Arab
Emirate...
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Sale of Iceland Foods Might Be Off
Sale of British frozen food chain Iceland may be canceled because
of low bids, an Icelandic bank has warned.
Landsbanki, which owns a 67% stake in the chain, said it wants at
least £1.5 billion for it. But so far, the only bids are from
Morrisons and Asda, and they're both under the minimum.
...
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West China's Largest Coldstore A-building
Ground-breaking for West China's largest cold-chain logistic
center took place Dec. 2 in the Qingbaijiang district of Chengdu,
Sichuan province.
With an investment of 2.5 billion yuan, the Chengdu Silverplow
Cold-Chain Logistics Center for Agricultural Products is a major
project of Chengdu S...
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Japanese Firm Buying US Salmon Plant
Marubeni Corporation, a major trading house in Japan, plans to
acquire Yardarm Knot Fisheries' sockeye processing plant in
Seattle, Washington, USA. It's a timely move, because the salmon
catch in Hokkaido has declined sharply.
Consumption of sockeye has been expanding worldwide, especially
i...
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Rotterdam Giving Shippers a Break on Fees
Port fees for Rotterdam in 2012 are mostly being frozen at 2011
levels, under an agreement by Deltalinqs (the Rotterdam business
association for port and industrial companies), the Port of
Rotterdam Authority and the VRC (Association of Rotterdam
Shipbrokers and Agents).
Inflationary pressur...
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More Seafood to Sell, Weak Rupee, Twin Boons for India
The value of India's fisheries is expected to grow 28% over three
years as production ramps up. And a drop in the exchange rate of
the rupee to a record low of 52.73 against the US dollar has
brought cheer to the export-oriented seafood industry.
Growing at a compound annual growth rate of abo...
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New Coldstore in Southern France
Norbert Dentressangle, Saint-Vallier, Drôme, France, has opened a
new, shared-user cold store at Miramas in the Provence-Alpes-Côte
d'Azur region in the south of France.
Employing 65 workers, the ultra-modern 10,745-square meter
facility provides chilled and frozen storage for 8,500 pallets on...
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Icelandic Project Studying Fishery Resources
Iceland's heavy reliance on the ocean and its resources makes it
critical to find out just what these resources are and what
theyre worth, as a guide to any future planning and policy making.
The Iceland Ocean Cluster, a group consisting of leaders of
ocean-related businesses in Iceland, has...
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Fast Food at Mc-C Stores
"Convenience stores are increasingly falling into the same
consideration set as fast-food restaurants," according to Tim
Powell, director of Technomic, a research firm that tracks the
foodservice industry.
"This really speaks to the enhanced foodservice offerings in
convenience stores as well...
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Ardo's Edouard Haspeslagh Dies at 81
Edouard Haspeslagh, founder of Haspeslagh NV and chairman of the
Board of Directors of the Ardo Group, died Nov. 25. He was 81.
Vegetables were always a major part of Haspeslagh's life. He
started out as a farmer with fifty hectares of land near Ardooie
in the 1950s. He initially grew crops...
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Mandatory EU Inspections Ended for Bangladesh Seafood
Bangladesh has gotten free of a mandatory European Union
screening for its frozen fish exports after the country made
progress in its residue monitoring system.
The EU had previously tested 20% of frozen fish consignments from
Bangladesh to keep its exporters under a continuous pressure to
im...
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