As a part of a new initiative, Furmano’s is renewing its commitment to fostering a culture of innovation and driving future growth. In Chef Earley, the company gains another experienced research chef with expertise in recipe development, new product development and foodservice consultation initiatives.

“This acquisition of FSI brings together our vibrant, growing companies who share an expertise in delivering delicious, exciting brands and private label products to retail customers that delight consumers,” said Ken Stickevers, President and CEO at Bellisio Foods, Inc.  

Hearthside is already a leader in nutritional bars, snack bars, cookies, crackers, and other snack foods. This acquisition adds frozen breakfast foods, refrigerated snack kits, salad kits, and fresh-made sandwiches and entrees to their capabilities.

In foods and beverages, Bartek’s malic acid ingredients—commonly used in beverages and candies, as well as other food applications—impart a desirable sourness reflective of fruit flavor profiles like apples and citrus fruits and delivers an array of functional benefits, including intensifying flavors, improving aftertaste, and deepening and broadening the flavor profiles of a variety of applications.

Univar will distribute a broad range of Cargill’s products, including starches, specialty sweeteners, texturizers, cocoa and chocolate, and edible vegetable oils and fats.

The sale includes all Blommer business entities, including its four manufacturing operations in North America and one in Shanghai.

Spruce is the parent company for Napa Valley Naturals, a premium brand of certified organic extra virgin olive oils, culinary cooking oils, Italian balsamic vinegars and aged wine vinegars, as well as Montebello, an artisan brand of organic pastas imported from Italy.

The companies will pitch live on Tuesday, Nov. 27 2018, the first day of the show, at the Industry Insights Theatre. The winners of the three categories will receive their awards following the live pitches.

The Schwan family will retain 20% ownership in the businesses being sold to CJCJ and will also retain 100% ownership in Schwan’s Home Service, Inc., which represents the legacy home-delivery business that Marvin Schwan launched in 1952.

The collaboration leverages the Truterra™ Insights Engine, a new interactive on-farm digital platform from Land O'Lakes SUSTAIN, that helps farmers scale their environmental stewardship efforts and assess return-on-investment in real time, acre-by-acre.