Voting recently concluded for the annual Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery “Best Healthy School Snacks” contest, highlighting new snacks and baked goods particularly suited to meeting the nutritional needs—and taste preferences—of today’s youth.

Van Popering brings more than 20 years of marketing, innovation and strategic planning experience from multiple brands in the food and beverage, apparel, retail, and paper and packaging spaces.

Ashland is taking aim at the fast-growing global nutraceuticals market by combining its nutrition business with the ingredients processing expertise of recently acquired Pharmachem. The combined unit, which will be called Health and Wellness, will continue to report up through Ashland’s Specialty Ingredients segment.

The total purchase price for the combined transactions is, subject to customary closing adjustments, $156.5 million (approximately CDN$200 million), consisting of $153.0 million in cash and $3.5 million in Premium Brands common shares.

The company also welcomed consumer packaged goods industry veterans and trailblazers to its Board of Advisors, rounding out a leadership team with deep category experience and track record of success.

Tyson Foods, Inc. completed the acquisition of Philadelphia-based Original Philly Holdings, Inc., one of the nation’s leading producers of raw and fully-cooked Philly-style sandwich steak and cheesesteak appetizer products.

Brisan is a twenty-one year old company with an expertise in food ingredients and supply chain, and these unique technical insights remain the core business and critical to their growth strategy. “Our ingredient goods and new services can now take a concept all the way through production,” explains Brian Vogt,

Cambrooke Therapeutics, Inc. (Cambrooke), an innovator in therapeutic nutrition for inborn errors of metabolism and ketogenic diet therapy, announced it has been acquired by Ajinomoto Co. Inc. (Ajinomoto), a worldwide leader in amino acids, pharmaceuticals, high-quality seasonings, processed foods, beverages, and specialty chemicals, through its subsidiary Ajinomoto North America, Inc. Prior to the acquisition, Cambrooke was a privately-held business led by investors Galen Partners and Seventure Partners.

Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), a national dairy cooperative owned by family farmers, announced the acquisition of Cumberland Dairy; a family-owned processor of ultra-pasteurized dairy products located in Bridgeton, N.J.

The company will launch some of its top product lines in the United States, which can be found at various retailers, depending on the state, including Whole Foods, Vitamin Shoppe, Roundy’s and New Seasons.