There are new leaders at two of the nation's largest public refrigerated warehousing associations -- the International Association of Refrigerated Warehouses (IARW) and an educational affiliate, the World Food Logistics Organization (WFLO). Both groups are core partners of the Global Cold Chain Alliance, Alexandria, Va.

Mark Blanchard, president & CEO of New Orleans Cold Storage, New Orleans, was elected as the 2010-2011 IARW chairman. Other new IARW officers elected for the coming year were Vice Chairman Garry Tilburn (Reed Boardall Cold Storage Ltd.) and Treasurer David Harlan (United States Cold Storage, Inc.).

Michael McClendon, president of Richmond Cold Storage Co., Richmond, Va., was elected as the 2010-2011 WFLO chairman. Other new WFLO officers elected were Vice Chairman Janice Scott (Commercial Cold Storage) and Treasurer Larry Rauch (Los Angeles Cold Storage Co.).

Looking for a foothold in Canada, natural, organic and specialty foods distributor United Natural Foods, Inc., Providence, R.I., said it agreed to buy the multi-temp Canadian food distribution assets of the SunOpta Distribution Group (SDG) business from SunOpta Inc., Toronto, for approximately CDN $68 million in cash. Officials expect to close the deal in early June 2010. Afterward, SDG will operate from Toronto (as a wholly-owned subsidiary) and be renamed UNFI Canada, Inc. Founded in 2002, SDG serves approximately 6,000 customer locations, 15,000 SKU's and has five distribution centers. Officials said SDG posted achieved 2009 revenues in excess of CDN $175 million. 

Productivity technologies supplier RedPrairie Corporation, Waukesha, Wis., said it purchased SmartTurn Inc., a San Francisco supplier of on-demand inventory and warehouse management system software programs. "The acquisition adds a multi-tenant software-as-a-service (SaaS) WMS to RedPrairie’s E²e productivity suite and creates the only software company with a WMS solution for distribution operations of all sizes and levels of complexity," said RedPrairie.