Milling & Baking News - July 22, 2014 - 14

Business 

Newly Weds Foods program builds
on global culinary capabilities
NEW ORLEANS - In the 82 years
since the modest beginnings of Newly
Weds Foods as a maker of ice cream
cake rolls, the privately-owned company has slowly but steadily moved
into new product lines and new geographic markets. The company's newly unveiled Kitchencounters program
highlights the extraordinary degree to
which Newly Weds has grown.
Described by the company as its
"ears and eyes on the food world,"
Kitchencounters will allow Newly
Weds through its culinary centers in
Thailand, Australia, China, the United Kingdom, Europe and the United
States to collaborate with customers
through the use of multi-media connections.
"We're taking advantage of the culinary centers we have around the
world, and we're bringing them together utilizing video conferencing
technology," said Tom Downs, director of marketing.
Mr. Downs discussed the new program with Milling & Baking News in an
interview June 24 during the 2014 Institute of Food Technologists' annual
meeting and food exposition in New
Orleans
Tapping into opportunities created
by technological change always has
been part of the Newly Weds story. The

'We're taking advantage
of the culinary centers we
have around the world,
and we're bringing them
together utilizing video
conferencing technology.'
Tom Downs, Newly Weds

original ice cream cake roll, a product
no longer made by the company, was
enabled when the company's founder,
Paul M. Angell, developed a batter
technology that allowed sheet cake to
be rolled without cracking.
Present at the birth of the frozen foods
industry, Newly Weds expanded in the
1950s from its ice cream cake roots.
"The industry began developing
coating systems for fish sticks and
other frozen foods in the 1950s, and
Newly Weds found ways to create
products that would withstand the
rigors of the freeze-thaw cycles and
the distribution system," he said. "By
14 / July 22, 2014 Milling & Baking News

the mid-1950s we were the largest producer of coatings in the United States.
It's a position we hold until this day."
The move into coatings required
Newly Weds to develop systems
specific to individual customer's
needs, which shaped the kind of
supplier the company has become,

footprint. Of the company's 25 plants,
15 are in North America, with the rest in
10 locations in Asia-Pacific and Europe.
The company is led by Charles T. Angell, president, the son of the founder.
"We're a global company," Mr.
Downs said. "We have more plants
than a lot of our competitors. We
like to be close to our customers. It
helps facilitate our product activity,
communication, transportation and
other logistical aspects, all in support of our customer. Eighteen of the

Multi-media connections will allow Newly Weds to allow global collaboration
under the company's new Kitchencounters program.

Mr. Downs said.
"Everyone knows that we are a customized supplier," he said. "We don't
have catalogues to just go in and pick
things out. Taste remains central."
Mr. Downs said changes at the company, large and small, often have reflected changes in the marketplace.
"We introduced Japanese style
bread crumbs and that technology to
the United States in 1977," Mr. Downs
said. "So Panko today can be traced
back to Newly Weds bringing that
technology here."
In the late 1980s, the company
entered the flavors and seasonings
fields. Through acquisition and organic growth, this segment has become a
major business for Newly Weds, Mr.
Downs said.
"In the early 2000s, we recognized the
importance of food safety products," he
said. "Now we have a complete portfolio of shelf life extension and antimicrobial products within our IsoStat line."
With this gradual growth over time,
Newly Weds built or acquired plants
over an increasingly large geographic

25 plants have on-site R.&D. support, fully-staffed labs. It's all there
to support our customers. We make
sure we have redundancies in place
that ensures enough capacity and
standardized manufacturing that, in
the event of a catastrophe, allows us
to shift production from one plant to
another."
Customization and collaboration go
hand in hand, Mr. Downs said, making the company's culinary centers an
important part of how Newly Weds
serves its customers. Kitchencounters
looks to synergistically bring together
the centers for the greater benefit of
customers, he said.
"We have very creative chefs at the
centers and utilize them through our
own development process," he said.
"But the food industry has become
global, and consumers are interested
in cuisines from all over the world.
Part of that is understanding that they
don't want Americanized things. Our
customers all around the world are
interested in products that represent
authentic cuisines from around the
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Milling & Baking News - July 22, 2014

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