PMMI

Dow announced the final results from a collaborative effort at PACK EXPO International 2024, and it concluded that sustainability initiatives were a resounding success. Combined efforts diverted 284.88 tons of waste from landfills, achieving a 51% diversion rate. Related initiatives also conserved nearly two million gallons of water and over one million kWh of electricity, among other environmental savings. The partnership between Dow, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies (PMMI), event venue McCormick Place, and waste management provider Independent Recycling Services achieved notable strides in waste diversion and resource conservation on site.

Rich Products

Rich Products is expanding its portfolio of pizza doughs, crusts, and flatbreads with a new Roman-Style Pizza Dough Ball. This innovation is the latest addition to Rich’s “Authentically Italian” portfolio, which features a variety of distinct pizza products, all with roots tied to Italy. The dough ball is made with 00 “double zero” style flour that is milled according to traditional Italian standards, and comes ready to thaw, proof, and stretch.

Ammeraal Beltech

Ammeraal Beltech, a brand of the Ammega Group, is celebrating its 75th anniversary. The 75-year milestone underscores the company’s legacy of innovation in offering the largest portfolio of conveying products in the U.S. More recently, Ammeraal Beltech expanded its resources in the U.S. in its mission to become the local partner of choice, while maintaining a presence across 40 countries, employing more than 3,000 people, and servicing 50,000 customers.

Barentz

Barentz, a global specialty ingredients solutions provider, has announced the appointment of Christian Barker as CCO, global head of human nutrition, and executive board member. He joins Barentz following over a decade as EVP of health and nutrition at a leading global biosolutions company, where he scaled the business fivefold, driving growth through innovation, acquisitions, and strategic partnerships. Prior to that, he served as corporate VP of strategic development, shaping the company’s transformation into a global bioscience leader.

BW Flexible Systems

BW Flexible Systems, purveyor of flexible packaging solutions, has announced enhancements to its Hayssen R300 flow wrapper, which originally launched one year ago at PACK EXPO East. Now, the solution will come standard with BW Packaging's OpView HMI, offering significant improvements to user training and operation, as well as providing baked goods producers with the flexibility necessary to adapt their equipment with their ever-evolving production needs.

PPM Technologies

PPM Technologies, a member of Duravant’s Food Sorting and Handling Solutions group, has introduced its new CookWright continuous frying system. Designed to maximize production efficiency and product quality, the fryer offers customizable heating, belt, and filtration configurations to aim to ensure each processor gets the ideal fryer for their unique application. CookWright combines precise temperature management with oil filtration while improving fuel efficiency and maximizing sanitation.

Koenig

The Koenig Group, manufacturer of bakery equipment, announced a planned leadership transition, as Richard Breeswine prepares for his retirement from Koenig after 18 years of dedicated service and nearly 40 years in food machinery sales. As of March 1, Jake Levy assumed the role of president and CEO, ensuring a seamless transition and growth for the company. Breeswine will remain with the company during a transition period to support Levy and his team.

T. Hasegawa

T. Hasegawa USA, Inc.—the North American subsidiary of global flavor and fragrance producer T. Hasegawa Co., Ltd in Japan—announced the completion of a year-long project renovating the company’s Cerritos, CA R&D facility. In total, the renovation increases the T. Hasegawa’s state-of-the-art flavor innovation facilities by more than 50%, as part of the company’s larger strategy of investing in its U.S. operations to bolster flavor development and manufacturing in North America.  

Ajinomoto

Ajinomoto Health & Nutrition North America, Inc. (AHN) hosted its inaugural pitch competition, Next Generation Taste & Texture Technologies, awarding $30,000 in cash prizes to start-up companies. At the end of 2024, AHN put out a call to entrepreneurs developing new functional proteins, new flavor compounds, enzyme systems, and next generation sweeteners. From that outreach, more than two dozen applications were submitted from across the globe, and 10 finalists were invited to the in-person event at AHN’s corporate headquarters outside of Chicago. Ultimately, six finalists pitched their innovations to a panel of five judges across the food and beverage industry. [EPK1]

[EPK1]Ditto on this one, PLMK if too long.

Spee-Dee Packaging Machinery

Spee-Dee Packaging Machinery has announced the promotions of Terri Fountain and Bobby Tracy to the positions of regional sales managers. Fountain has been a valuable member of the Spee-Dee team for nearly seven years. She began her journey as a sales engineer and has since advanced to senior sales application specialist and most recently, sales engineer/marketing specialist. Tracy has been with Spee-Dee for over three years, starting as a sales engineer before his promotion to regional sales manager. Prior to joining Spee-Dee, he began his career at Modine Manufacturing Co. In his new role, he will manage sales in the South and Southeast regions.