Food Processing - April 2008 - (Page 11)

NEWS BITES IN THIS SECTION: • store brand sales increasing • grocer charges chocolate price-fixing • conAgra sells commodity trading unit • C O M PA N I E S• Chaotic month for Pilgrim’s Pride new ceo found internally; then plants closed, 1,100 laid off, turkey business sold. Three monThs afTer The deaTh of its Ceo, Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. was busy in march, naming a new Ceo and other executives, closing several facilities and selling its turkey business. J. Clinton rivers, then Coo, was named president/Ceo on march 5. a committee of the board of directors had been searching for a J. clinton rivers president/Ceo since the unexpected death of o.B. Goolsby Jr. last december. “after a thorough review of internal and external candidates, the board unanimously agreed that Clint has the right combination of experience and skills necessary to lead Pilgrim’s Pride into the future,” said Ken Pilgrim, chairman of the Pittsburg, Texas-based processor, which claims to be the world’s largest chicken company, “Throughout his career at Pilgrim’s Pride, Clint has played a pivotal role in positioning the company for operational growth, leading the integration of several large acquisitions, establishing key performance benchmarks at our production facilities and finding new ways to operate more efficiently,” Pilgrim continued. “Clint loves a challenge, and we are confident that he will provide the leadership necessary to position the company for long-term growth.” rivers, 49, held a number of increasingly responsible management positions. he joined the company as quality assurance manager in 1986 and was appointed plant manager of the mt. Pleasant, Texas, production facility in 1989. In 1992, he was promoted to vice president of prepared foods operations, then moved up to senior vice president of prepared foods operations, then to executive vice president of prepared foods operations. In 2004, he was appointed Coo. one week into the job, rivers announced Pilgrim’s Pride would exit the turkey business by selling its turkey production facility and distribution center in new oxford, Pa., to new oxford foods LLC, a subsidiary of hain Pure Protein Corp., which itself is a joint venture between natural foods marketer hain Celestial Group and an investment group. Pilgrim’s Pride entered the turkey business in 2001 with the purchase of WLr foods. Two days later, citing “unprecedented increases in feed-ingredient costs and oversupply of chicken,” rivers announced the closing of a large chicken processing complex in siler City, n.C., plus six of its 13 distribution centers, ultimately resulting in the elimination of approximately 1,100 jobs. www.foodprocessing.com “our company and industry are struggling to cope with unprecedented increases in feed-ingredient costs this year due largely to the U.s. government’s ill-advised policy of providing generous federal subsidies to corn-based ethanol blenders,” said the new Ceo. “The cost burden is already enormous, and it’s growing even larger. Based on current commodity futures markets, our company’s total costs for corn and soybean meal to feed our flocks in fiscal 2008 would be more than $1.3 billion higher than what they were two years ago. We simply must find ways to pass along these higher costs. “While the decision to close a facility is always very difficult, we believe the actions we are announcing today are absolutely necessary to help bring supply and demand into better balance,” he continued. “That portion of the demand for our products that exists solely at pricing levels below the cost of production is no longer a demand that this industry can continue to supply.” The closings are to begin immediately and will be completed by June. The siler City plant employs approximately 830 people. The distribution centers to close are in oskaloosa, Iowa; Plant City and Pompano Beach, fla.; Jackson, miss.; nashville, Tenn.; and Cincinnati, ohio. and company officials say they are reviewing other production facilities for potential mix changes, closure and/or consolidation. at the end of march, rivers found his own replacement. robert Wright was promoted to rivers’ old job as Coo. Wright’s former position as executive vice president of sales and marketing was then eliminated under an organizational realignment, in which four senior division vice presidents will report to Wright. as part of that reorganization, shane Butler was promoted to senior vice president for prepared foods. he previously was senior vice president for prepared foods-regional operations. Briefs Cadbury Schweppes Plc filed documents in london and new York for the “demerger” of the company in may. on may 2, shares of Cadbury Plc, primarily a candy company, are to be listed on the london stock exchange. on may 7, the company’s primarily American holdings in beverages will be listed on the new York stock exchange as Dr Pepper Snapple Group (dpsg). for every 100 existing cadbury schweppes ordinary shares (which will be cancelled), stock holders will receive 64 ordinary shares in cadbury plc and 12 shares of dpsg. wayne sanders, former chairman and ceo of Kimberly-clark, will be chairman of dpsg. April 2008 food processing • 11 http://www.foodprocessing.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Food Processing - April 2008

Food Processing - April 2008 Contents Editor's Plate NewsBites The Trends Rollout Food Biz Kids Consumer Taste Test - Indulgent, Superpremium Chocolate...at 3 Calories a Pop Cover Story - Annual Capital Spending Report - To Build or Not to Build? Ingredients - Trendy Fruits, Nuts and Vegetables Plant Operations - iPlant: Assessing the State of Automation Plant Operations - Your Sanitation Can Be Greener Packaging - For Which Oven? MRO Q&A New Supplier Products Toops Scoops

Food Processing - April 2008

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