Gourmet News

General Mills Invests $2.3M for Regenerative Agriculture in Canada

Published July 27, 2022

General Mills and ALUS will support farmers and accelerate regenerative agriculture in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Canada – key regions where General Mills sources oats for brands such as Cascadian Farm, Cheerios and Nature Valley.

The $2.3 million investment enables ALUS to grow its community-led programming with a focus on soil health through its new Growing Roots pilot program, offering both technical and financial assistance to farmers. The partnership aims to remove barriers to entry and maximize benefits for local producers, communities, and the environment.

“We were drawn to ALUS’ grassroots approach with farmers at the center,” said Mary Jane Melendez, chief sustainability and global impact officer, General Mills. “Now, interested farmers in these communities can gain a greater understanding of regenerative agriculture and how best to apply those principles to their farm’s unique environmental, social and financial context, along with the power of peer knowledge-sharing and community support.”

ALUS supports General Mills’ commitments to advance regenerative agriculture on one million acres of farmland by 2030, reduce absolute greenhouse gas emissions – 60 percent of which are from agriculture – across its value chain (scopes 1, 2 and 3) by 30 percent by 2030, and ultimately achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

The investment from General Mills provides robust support to increase farmer mentorship and fund in-field projects that follow regenerative agriculture techniques. Funding also provides enhanced data collection, scientific research, and the sharing of this critical information with key stakeholders.

“ALUS has been interested in developing a comprehensive on-field program focused on soil health for years and we’re delighted that General Mills, a leader in this area, has become our foundational partner,” said Bryan Gilvesy, CEO, ALUS. “We believe the creation of this program is a catalyst for engagement from other corporate, government and philanthropic partners interested in ALUS programming and its outcomes and impact across Canada.”

Each organization encourages farmers, companies, and others who may be interested in growing the regenerative agriculture farmer-led movement in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Canada to visit ALUS.ca or reach out to Nicole Baldwin at nbaldwin@alus.ca to learn more.

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Middleby Acquires Colussi Ermes Automation, Food Safety Solutions

Published July 27, 2022

The Middleby Corp. has acquired Colussi Ermes, a leading worldwide manufacturer of automated washing food safety solutions for the food processing industry. Located in Pordenone, Italy, the company has approximately $50 million in annual revenues.

“Colussi Ermes is a highly respected, global leader directly addressing food safety and sanitation, a top priority across the entire food processing industry,” said Tim FitzGerald, Middleby CEO. “Colussi has the broadest offerings of automated washing solutions, covering a wide array of applications. Their washing solutions are in demand due to technology that reduces labor needs, decreases water and energy usage, minimizes chemical use and operates in a small footprint.

“The Colussi washing systems complement our existing food processing solutions and are incorporated in many of our current customer projects. This acquisition will support a significant opportunity for collaboration with brands presently in our portfolio, to deliver best-in-class, full-line solutions to our customers.”

Colussi Ermes provides automated washing food safety solutions for global food processors in many specialties including bakery, confectionary, protein and fruits and vegetables.

The Middleby Corp. is a global leader in the foodservice industry. The company develops and manufactures a broad line of solutions used in commercial foodservice, food processing, and residential kitchens.

Supporting the company’s pursuit of the most sophisticated innovation, the state-of-the-art Middleby Innovation Kitchens showcases and demonstrates the most advanced Middleby solutions. In 2022 Middleby was named a World’s Best Employer by Forbes and is a proud philanthropic partner to organizations addressing food insecurity.

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Giant Food to Launch Loop Packaging in D.C.

Published July 27, 2022

Giant Food will bring Loop’s innovative packaging solution developed by TerraCycle to its customers. Beginning this fall, customers in the D.C.-metro area will be able to purchase the products they use every day in durable, reusable containers that can be found in Loop branded displays in participating Giant stores.

“Giant is committed to taking sustainable actions that reduce plastic waste from our landfills and improve our environment,” said Diane Couchman, vice president category management, non-perishables at Giant Food. “We are excited to partner with LOOP, a global leader in eliminating waste, to offer our customers a program that allows them to shop their favorite products and help our environment.”

Loop is the first platform to partner with brands and retailers to offer consumers a way to go from single use to reuse with their purchases. Through the platform, customers can purchase their Loop-ready products in refillable, reusable containers found in branded displays in participating Giant stores.

After consumers finish the products, they return the empty containers to a Loop Return Point at Giant. From there, the containers are sent to Loop to be sanitized, then returned to brands to be refilled and returned to the store for future purchase.

“Loop’s goal has always been to grow, scale and be accessible to consumers around the world,” says Tom Szaky, founder and CEO of TerraCycle and Loop. “With world class retailers, like Giant, bringing Loop to their physical brick and mortar locations, we are giving consumers what they’ve been asking for since Loop was introduced in 2019 – the ability to purchase the products they use every day in durable, reusable containers, with the convenience of shopping at their local market.”

To ensure that all the reusable containers used in the Loop process maintain advanced cleaning and sanitization, Loop consults with Ecolab Inc., a global leader in cleaning and hygiene solutions and services, for on site design and equipment, as well as the chemistry of the cleaning processes.

Loop’s movement to an in-store retail model began in Paris with Carrefour in December 2020. In May 2021, Loop launched in-store at AEON in Japan and in-store at Tesco in September 2021.

Loop launched in-store at Kroger-owned Fred Meyer stores in the Portland metro area in February 2022. Loop launched a reusable packaging partnership with McDonald’s in the United Kingdom and with Burger King and Tim Hortons in select restaurants in the United States and Canada, respectively.

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