Cold Foods Industry News

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Kombucha brand Health-Ade announced longstanding partner First Bev has acquired a controlling stake in the company, with investment help from Manna Tree. Daina Trout, who co-founded Health-Ade in 2012, has taken on the new role of Chief Mission Officer and will work in partnership with Jack Belsito, Managing Partner of First Bev, who will assume the role of CEO. Daina and Jack will be working to cultivate further growth for the fast-growing business, capitalizing on increasing consumer demand for gut-healthy products and expansion opportunities in retail accounts domestically and internationally. 

Vejii, which owns and operates the plant-based marketplace ShopVejii.com, has launched same-day delivery across the Lower Mainland in British Columbia. B.C. residents throughout the Lower Mainland can now order all Vejii Express items, with same-day delivery. All orders placed by 10am, will be delivered by 8pm. The service area currently includes Coquitlam, Langley, Maple Ridge, New Westminster, Surrey, Abbotsford, Burnaby, Chilliwack, Delta, North Vancouver, Richmond Vancouver, and West Vancouver.

Smithfield's plant-based Pure Farmland brand is proud to present the recipients of the 2021 Pure Growth Project grant program. After receiving 103 applications from community gardens and farms across 29 states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia, 55 organizations have been carefully selected to receive grants ranging from $1,000 to $20,000, providing a total of $125,000 in financial support to nurture these unique neighborhood spaces. 

Seal the Seasons, the first national brand to sell locally grown frozen produce, has added Serafina Palandech as VP of sales, and Tom Healy as senior sales advisor. Over the past 10 years, Palandech founded, scaled, and sold her own organic chicken nugget venture. Healy played a significant sales role at both Vitamin Water and Pirates Booty prior to their successful acquisition. 

Tractor Beverage Company announced its beverages are now available at many locations operated by culinary management company Elior North America. Elior North America’s Cura Hospitality, Aladdin Campus Dining, Lexington Independents, and Corporate Chefs companies are now offering Tractor’s Certified Organic, Non-GMO and All-Natural beverages. 

The Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA) and RLS Logistics are honored to announce MJ Faison of Interstate Warehousing and Christian Avila of Valley Cold Storage as the first recipients of the Anthony M. Leo WFLO Scholarship. The scholarship will provide the opportunity for these individuals to participate in all three years of the WFLO Institute training program in memory of Tony Leo’s contributions to GCCA and the cold chain industry.

Westby Cooperative Creamery has added an all-natural sour cream squeezable pouch to its retail line of dairy products. It will be available in select grocery stores starting this month. 

PMI KYOTO Packaging Systems will be exhibiting their washdown horizontal cartoner for frozen foods at PACK EXPO Las Vegas, Sept. 27-29, at booth C-3036. Designed and built to FDA sanitary standards, this cartoner features heavy-duty, fully welded stainless steel washdown construction. 

Triangle Package Machinery Company is showcasing its new liquid fill vertical form-fill-seal bagger at PACK EXPO Las Vegas at booth C-2614, Sept. 27-29. Designed for packaging various hot fill, pumpable foods such as soups, sauces, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, the Model XYTLF is suitable for both retail and foodservice applications.

Sysco reported Q4 sales of $16.1 billion, an increase of 82.0% year-over-year. Gross profit also rose 86.2% during that time to $2.9 billion, reflecting the current rebound of foodservice as pandemic restrictions were gradually lifted throughout 2021. The overall numbers for fiscal year 2021 show a decrease in sales (-3%) and profits (-5.5%), since foodservice was still struggling to come back from Q1 to Q3 due to shutdowns for most of 2020.