SUPPLIER NEWS

AAK has created a state-of-the-art Innovation Center of Excellence to develop plant-based foods close to its Zaandijk production facilities in the Netherlands. Overlooking the setting of Zaanse Schans, the new center, with its culinary, sensory, and pilot plant facilities, will provide a facility for AAK teams to work with customers from across the globe, to create new and innovative plant-based food products and bring them more quickly to market.

ABI has announced the appointment of Alyson Slapkauskas as CEO. The appointment is effective as of March 6. With over 20 years of operational leadership experience, Slapkauskas is adept to managing complex products, diverse supply chain solutions, operations planning optimization, and execution while developing high performance teams.

Corbion has made its newly updated Climate Action Roadmap public, aiming to spark greater collaboration and knowledge sharing among manufacturers worldwide. The roadmap provides a detailed breakdown of concrete actions taken so far, and defines the steps ahead, to achieve its recently revised, more aggressive, science-based emission reduction targets. The new targets were introduced to analysts and investors at its Capital Markets Day last December.

Food scientists at Mattson and the Almond Board of California are collaborating on a project that seeks to establish almond hulls as a food ingredient. According to the research, the hulls (the soft, fruit-like covering that grows around an almond shell) can be used as an ingredient in a range of food and beverage products, including high-fiber bars. According to Mattson’s proof-of-concept research, almond hulls bring nutritional value in the form of fiber, vitamins, and minerals, while offering a unique flavor profile.

ADM and Brightseed have announced a global joint partnership to develop evidence-based functional synbiotic products that target microbiome optimization with an undisclosed investment. ADM is leveraging Brightseed’s artificial intelligence platform, Forager, to decipher the molecular interactions between dietary plants and gut microbes and their potential impact on human health.

After over a decade of partnership, JLS has acquired K2 Kinetics, a company local to its York, PA headquarters. With this acquisition, K2’s full line of palletizers, as well as its cost-effective TL case packer and carton loaders, will now become part of JLS’s offerings. This will allow JLS, which designs and manufactures robotic primary and secondary packaging machinery, to expand its full-line solutions to be inclusive of palletizing.

AMF Bakery Systems (AMF) has announced the promotion of Adrian Dee to the position of Americas sales director. In this role, Dee will be responsible for overseeing sales operations throughout the Americas, including the development and execution of sales strategies and processes to support AMF’s commercial bakery customers throughout the region with its best-in-class equipment and complete system solutions. Dee brings over 25 years of experience in the baking industry including a range of international sales, business development, and marketing roles. He most recently served as regional account manager for North America for the past two years at AMF.

Piab Group has acquired COVAL, a global business in vacuum automation components and systems. With more than 35 years of history, COVAL adds a portfolio of premium products, highly experienced and skilled employees, and many new customers to Piab Group. Through the acquisition, Piab Group is evolving automation by strengthening its position as an automation company. The transaction was fully funded through a combination of external and internal sources.

The Food Processing Suppliers Association (FPSA) held its Annual Meeting on March 8, and in addition to its normal business, members elected two new members to the Board Executive Committee and new leadership for the Beverage Council. Kate Rome of Rome Grinding Solutions and Dana Summerour of Intralox were both elected to the Executive Committee. FPSA members also elected new leadership to its Beverage Council with John Piazza of Alfa Laval as council chair, and Michael Mas of JBT Corporation as vice chair. Cara Godack was elected to the FPSA board as chair of the Network Leadership Team, as was Bob Grote in an at-large position.

Wixon, a custom taste provider to the food and beverage industry, announced that Jessica Lopez recently joined its research and development team as a flavor chemist. In her new position, Lopez is responsible for growing the company’s flavor department capabilities and supporting all the product divisions within Wixon. She brings more than 10 years of experience working in the flavor industry, where she completed her Flavor Chemist Certification with the Society of Flavor Chemists in 2020.