Avant-Garde Chefs Explore Japanese Green Tea Experiences
The Japan Food Product Overseas Promotion Center is collaborating with 16 leading restaurants and sweets shops in New York and Los Angeles to develop and offer special menus using Japanese green teas. Through this initiative, JFOODO is seeking to get people around the world to drink Japanese green teas and understand their appeal and benefits, including their rich yet refreshing taste and many health advantages; produced by artisan farmers, their manifold varieties offer a holistic approach to well-being as the ultimate health drink.
People interested in experiencing new flavor profiles are invited to try premium Japanese green teas in boundary-redefining pairings with French, Italian and other cuisines, as well as exquisite sweets that incorporate green teas, through partnerships with world-class fine dining restaurants including Le Bernardin, Crown Shy, Blue Hill at Stone Barns, and Restaurant Yuu, which have all received high rankings from the world’s most prestigious restaurant guides. Renowned chefs in the forefront of the global food scene have developed Japanese green tea pairings, unique non-alcoholic drinks, and sweets available for a limited time. See the Appendix below for the full list of participating restaurants and their menus.
In addition to pairing Japanese green teas as drinks, JFOODO is also collaborating with select sweet shops, including Van Leeuwen Ice Cream in 10 states and Wanderlust Creamery in Los Angeles, in its largest-ever overseas promotion of Japanese green teas. These collaborations, developed with preeminent pastry chefs, offer new ways to taste Japanese green teas in unique creations such as a matcha monaka mont blanc ice cream, matcha milk jam toast, and a savory matcha dish named Oeufs Cocotte.
New York:
abcV / Bar Moga / Blue Hill at Stone Barns / Crown Shy / Le Bernardin / Overstory / Restaurant Yuu / Time and Tide / Van Leeuwen Ice Cream
Los Angeles:
Piknik / Shibumi / Shunji Japanese Cuisine / SQIRL / The Brothers Sushi / The Lonely Oyster / Wanderlust Creamery
JFOODO runs The “GREEN TEA” Room, an educational and promotional website, and an Instagram account to showcase the artisanship and appeal of premium Japanese green teas. Until December 7, 2024 you can enter the #MatchaMoments giveaway on Instagram for a chance to win authentic ceremonial matcha from Japan!
The Japan Food Product Overseas Promotion Center was launched in 2017 within The Japan External Trade Organization. JFOODO is an organization responsible for consumer promotions to stimulate overseas demand for Japanese agricultural, forestry and fishery products and foods.
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Middleby Acquires Italy’s Gorreri Food Processing Technology
Photo courtesy Middleby Corporation
The Middleby Corporation has acquired Gorreri Food Processing Technology based outside Parma, Italy. Gorreri is a leading manufacturer of equipment for the baked goods industry, including cakes, pies, muffins, tarts and other desert line solutions. The company operates in a state-of-the-art, 50,000-square-foot facility, which was recently expanded to accommodate growth. Gorreri has revenues of $20 million annually.
“Gorreri is a highly respected brand recognized worldwide for premium-quality advanced industrial and semi-industrial baked goods solutions. This acquisition adds a broad line of complementary products to our food processing group, including turbo mixers, dosing, injecting, decorating, enrobing and ultrasonic portioning solutions. The Gorreri innovative end-to-end solutions extend and significantly strengthen the current Middleby offerings as a leader in the cake and desert categories, with meaningful growth synergies,” said Tim FitzGerald, Middleby CEO.
Visit www.gorreri.com for more information on the company and their full line bakery solutions.
In early November, Middleby announced the acquisition of JC Ford, a leading manufacturer of tortilla production equipment systems. Founded in 1945, the company is based in Columbia, Tenn., and has $70 million in annual revenues.
JC Ford offers a broad range of automated, full-line solutions for corn and flour tortillas, tortilla chips, and other corn-based snacks. In 2021, the company moved into a state-of-the-art, 132,000-square-foot production facility in its Nashville-area headquarters. The consistent increase in consumer demand for tortilla products has made it one of the fastest growing baked food segments both in the U.S. and abroad.
“We have targeted the snack food category as an attractive growing market for our Food Processing Group. The acquisition of JC Ford complements our existing product offerings, significantly strengthening our presence in this faster growing category. The company has developed innovative solutions that have been quickly accepted as the industry standard, allowing customers to automate production lines with a low cost of ownership. JC Ford has highly recognizable customers with a strong base of recurring revenue,” FitzGerald said. “We see significant opportunities to leverage synergies providing for added growth and margin opportunities.”
More information on JC Ford can be found at www.jcford.com.
The Middleby Corporation 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. The company showcases its advanced solutions in its Innovation Kitchens for commercial foodservice, industrial baking and protein Innovation Centers for food processing solutions and state-of-the-art, award-winning Residential showrooms. For more information, please visit www.middleby.com.
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US Agricultural Exports in ’25 Forecast at $170B
U.S. agricultural exports in fiscal year 2025 are forecast at $170 billion, up $500 million from the August forecast. This projection is primarily driven by increases in livestock and dairy exports.
Beef exports are projected $400 million higher to $8.8 billion as higher volumes offset lower unit values. Dairy exports are raised $300 million to $8.4 billion based on increased U.S. price competitiveness for a number of products.
Overall livestock, poultry, and dairy exports are forecast to increase by $700 million to $39.3 billion. Grain and feed exports are forecast at $36.5 billion, up $200 million from the August forecast, as higher exports of corn and sorghum more than offset moderately lower wheat and feed and fodder exports.
Horticultural exports are projected at $41.7 billion, up $200 million from August due to increases in fresh and processed fruit and vegetable exports. Oilseed and product exports are projected at $33.5 billion, down
$500 million due to lower soybean and peanut volumes. Cotton exports are forecast down $200 million to $4.3 billion due to lower volumes. The forecast for ethanol exports is lowered by $100
million to $4.2 billion, as falling export unit values offset slightly higher volumes.
Exports to Mexico, the top U.S. agricultural market, are forecast $700 million higher from the August projection to $29.9 billion, driven by continued robust demand for a range of products.
The export forecast for Canada is $300 million higher to a record $29.2 billion, supported by a strong economic outlook. Agricultural exports to China are forecast at $23.3 billion, down $700
million from the August projection.
U.S. agricultural imports in FY 2025 are forecast at $215.5 billion, up $3.5 billion from the August projection, led by increases in horticultural as well as sugar and tropical product imports.
The forecasts in this report are based on policies in effect at the time of the Nov. 8 World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates release. Click here for the full report.
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