Month: March 2020

Neogen acquires Chilean food and animal safety company Magiar Chilena

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USA – Neogen Corporation has acquired the assets of Chile-based distributor of food, animal, and plant diagnostics products, Magiar Chilena. The American food safety test kits supplier said that it will incorporate the Magiar assets into its wholly owned subsidiary, Neogen Chile SpA, for continued operations in Chile. Combined with Neogen’s January acquisition of similar businesses in Argentina and Uruguay, the company said that the acquisition in Chile completes its physical presence in the important agricultural Southern Cone region of South America. According to the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service, Chile…

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Vasari-backed Ethiopian liquor maker ceases production of denatured alcohol

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ETHIOPIA – Rorank Business Plc, a local Ethiopian company that produces alcoholic beverages under the ownership of British giant alcoholic beverage investor Vasari Group, has ceased making denatured alcohol due to shortage of raw material. The production facility located at Amhara Regional State, has been making and supplying denatured alcohol for five years to factories that make milk, cosmetics and medication. Other than shortage of raw material, the company has stopped making the products due to the 60% excise tax on denatured alcohol legislated by parliament a month ago, Addis…

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Brookside Dairy increases producer milk prices to cushion farmers against COVID-19

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KENYA – The leading dairy processing company in East Africa, Brookside Dairy Limited has announced it would pay an additional shilling for every kilo of raw milk supplied to it from Wednesday, 1 April to cushion dairy farmers against the economic effects of coronavirus. The increase will see the processor pay up to Sh36 per kilo, a relief  to farmers at a time businesses are re-evaluating strategy to survive the impact of  coronavirus pandemic that has disrupted the lives of millions of people and killed thousands of worldwide. “As the…

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Duravant acquires WECO to expand optical sorting capabilities for food processing applications

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USA – Duravant, a provider of automated food processing solutions, has completed the acquisition of Woodside Electronics Corporation (WECO), a leading manufacturer of optical color and defect sorting equipment based in California. Duravant and Weco announced the acquisition agreement in February this year. WECO has been a leader in optical sorting technology for agricultural growers for over 30 years supplying its solutions to tomatoes, walnuts, blueberries, pecans, hops, wine grapes, coffee cherries and olives processors. The company designs, builds and services “highly intelligent” optical color and defect sorting systems and…

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Agri-Food tech firm DiMuto secures funding to broaden footprint in Latin America

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SINGAPORE – DiMuto, a Singapore-based agri-food trade tech platform, has received an undisclosed sum of investment from venture capital studio, Latin Leap to broaden its footprint in Latin America. DiMuto said that the investment and support provided by Latin Leap would help drive further international expansion in Latin America, a market where strong continued growth of fresh produce trade is expected. DiMuto sees Latin America as a market that has positioned itself as a leading exporter of agricultural products such as fruit and vegetable, whose exports have grown considerably, particularly…

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Industry Veteran John Agwunobi assumes new role as Herbalife Nutrition CEO

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USA – Global nutrition company, Herbalife Nutrition has announced that John Agwunobi has assumed the role as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), succeeding Michael Johnson. The company previously announced the planned succession of Michael Johnson on October, 2019. After 17 years at the Company, Johnson retired as CEO effective March 30, and will retire as Chairman on April 29, 2020. Herbalife Nutrition believes that having dedicated his life to improving people’s health, as a physician, in government service and as a corporate executive, John is uniquely suited for this new role.…

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Fresh Del Monte Produce names Elana Gold as Chief Marketing Officer

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USA – Fresh Del Monte Produce has appointed Elana Gold as the company’s new Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) as the fresh and fresh-cut fruit and vegetables distributor continues to build its global brand image. In this key role, Elana will lead Fresh Del Monte’s global marketing functions, executing global, regional and local marketing strategies aimed at delivering long-term and sustainable business growth for the iconic brand. Elana boasts more than 25 years in building strategies, organizations and capabilities for top global companies and brands, including Abbot, Novartis,…

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Klabin acquires International Paper’s corrugated packaging business for US$64m

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USA – Klabin S.A. has entered into an agreement to acquire International Paper’s Brazilian corrugated packaging business for R$330 million (US$64m), subject to certain closing conditions and regulatory approvals. International Paper’s Brazilian business includes three containerboard mills and four box plants. The business has an annual production capacity of corrugated boxes of 305, 000 tons and a 6.6% market share as of 2018, according to ABPO. If the deal receives all necessary approvals, Klabin will pay R$280 million (US$54m) at closing of the transaction and R$50 million (US$10m) one year…

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Distell to consolidate core wine brands, offload some assets to balance books

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SOUTH AFRICA – Distell has announced that it will consolidate its core wine brands and capabilities to focus on growth in mainstream and accessible premium segments and offload its struggling wine farms in a bid to improve financial performance. The company is one of Africa’s leading producers of spirits, wines, ciders and “ready-to-drinks” (RTDs) as well as the world’s second-biggest producer of ciders. Some of its top brands include Amarula, Hunter’s, Savanna, 4th Street, Klipdrift, Nederburg, Richelieu, Viceroy, and J.C. Le Roux. In the six months ended December 31 2019,…

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Cadbury Nigeria appoints Nigel Parsons as Non-Executive Director

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NIGERIA – Cadbury Nigeria Plc, subsidiary of snack and confectionery firm Mondelez International has announced the resignation of a Non-Executive Director, Mr Gawad Abaza and the appointment of Mr Nigel Parsons as his replacement. This was disclosed in a notification, which was signed by the Company Secretary, Fola Akande, and sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and the investing public. As a show of appreciation, the Chairman and the Board of Directors of Cadbury Nigeria Plc expressed their gratitude to Mr Abaza for his services and immense contributions towards…

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