Mars Chocolate North America announced that it will invest an additional $100 million in its Topeka, Kansas site, breaking ground on a new state-of-the-art 90,000-square-foot facility in America’s heartland. As part of this expansion, the company will create a total of 70 new full-time, permanent, high-wage manufacturing jobs.

Cargill has now completed the acquisition of ADM's global chocolate business for an enterprise value of $440m. The acquisition underlines Cargill's commitment to meeting customer needs and constitutes a milestone for its chocolate growth strategy, strengthening its position as a leading player in the cocoa and chocolate industry.

Peacock Engineering Company announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire L&L Foods, based in Anaheim, CA.

Frutarom Industries Ltd. ("Frutarom"), one of the world's 10 largest companies in the field of flavors and specialty fine ingredients, announced today the acquisition of the business operations and assets of Scandia Citrus LLC. of Florida, USA ("Scandia"), which specializes in the research and development, manufacture, and sales and marketing of specialty solutions in the field of citrus for leading global customers in the flavor, food and beverages markets, for approximately US$ 6 million. Scandia's sales in 2014 totaled approximately US$ 8 million. The transaction was completed upon the signing of the agreement and financed through bank debt.

Dr. Frederick Khachik, a renowned carotenoid scientist, joined the Kemin human nutrition and health division. The driving force for Khachiks’ reunion with Kemin is the company’s focus on exploring the health benefits of dietary carotenoids in maintaining and promoting health.

Consumers trying to maintain or improve their health are increasingly seeking specialty food and non-food alternatives. Whether they are organic, gluten-free, dye-free or lactose-free, these products can be costly, but a new survey of special needs store brands items shows significant savings for consumers.

Campbell Soup Company provided an update on the company's key strategic imperatives. Led by President and Chief Executive Officer Denise Morrison, executives outlined important actions the company is taking to reshape Campbell and improve its growth trajectory by strengthening its core business and expanding into faster-growing spaces. This includes Campbell’s plans to change many of its recipes, to build stronger connections with consumers and to increase the company’s focus on faster-growing categories, such as health and well-being and developing markets.

PepsiCo, Inc. announced a series of leadership appointments that support the company's global business priorities and growth strategies.

Roka Bioscience, Inc., a molecular diagnostics company focused on providing advanced testing solutions for the detection of foodborne pathogens, announced the results of a study demonstrating a limits-based testing application to accurately detect 1 colony forming unit per gram (CFU/g) contamination levels of Salmonella in 375-g ground turkey samples within one working shift.

As of the closing, the Permira funds combined Medora and Ideal under a holding company called BFY Holdings I, LLC (“BFY Holdings”).