Milling & Baking News - December 23, 2014 - 10

Business

Grupo Bimbo acquiring Saputo
Bakery for C$120 million
MEXICO CITY - Grupo Bimbo S.A.B.
de C.V., through its Canada Bread
Co., Ltd., subsidiary, has reached an
agreement to acquire the total shares
outstanding of Saputo Bakery Inc., a
subsidiary of Saputo Inc., for C$120
million ($103 million).
Saputo Bakery produces, markets
and distributes mainly snack cakes in
Canada, which are sold almost exclusively in the retail market under such
brands as Vachon, Jos Louis, Ah Caramel, Passion Flakie and May West. It is
the largest manufacturer of snack cakes
in Canada and also sells, on a small
scale, in the United States. The bakery
division operates one manufacturing facility located in the province of Quebec
and employs 642 employees. In fiscal
2014, the bakery division had approximately C$139 million in revenues and
represented less than 2% of Saputo's
consolidated revenues. Grupo Bimbo
said it expects Saputo to generate annual sales of more than C$130 million and
adjusted EBITDA of C$15.5 million.

The acquisition is expected to position Canada Bread for further growth
in the country, complementing its

current product portfolio, distribution network and manufacturing facilities. Headquartered in Etobicoke,
Ont., Canada Bread produces and
distributes packaged fresh bread and
bakery products. The company operates 16 bakeries and employs approximately 3,800 people across Canada,
and serves major grocery chains, retail
outlets and food service operations.
Canada Bread was acquired earlier

H&S Bakery introduces
alternative fuel vehicles
BALTIMORE - H&S Bakery has
launched a fleet of clean-operating alternatively fueled vehicles. Over the next
two years, the company has set a goal
of operating about 10% of its current
600-vehicle fleet with propane autogas.
"We want our customers and community to know that we are investing in
them and working hard to meet our sustainability goals," said Chuck Paterakis,
vice-president of transportation and logistics for H&S Bakery. "With propane
autogas, we're doing just that with a
domestically produced fuel that lowers
emissions across our delivery area."
H&S Bakery said it received funding

under a Maryland Clean Cities Coalition grant from the Maryland Energy
Administration to develop the autogas
fleet, which the company said will reduce carbon monoxide emissions by

General Mills bringing back
French Toast Crunch cereal
MINNEAPOLIS - General Mills, Inc.
is bringing back French Toast Crunch,
a ready-to-eat cereal that debuted in
1995 but was discontinued in 2006.
The company said fans gathered
thousands of signatures for an on-line
petition, created a Facebook page and
contacted the company with calls and
10 / December 23, 2014

Milling & Baking News

e-mails to bring back the cereal.
"We have been overwhelmed by the
consumer conversations, requests and
passion for the cereal to come back,"
said Waylon Good, marketing manager for Big G. "We value our fans
and are so excited to be able to bring it
back for them." MBN

this year by Grupo Bimbo in a transaction valued at $1,663 million.
For many years, Canada Bread was
a competitor with Saputo in the snack
cakes segment, but Canada Bread
stepped back from the category with
the closing of its Shawinigan, Que.,
bakery in May 2013. The Shawinigan
bakery produced a variety of snack
cakes under the Chevalier, Cadbury
and Obsession brands.
"We have experienced a significant decline in consumer demand for
snack cakes in recent years," Richard
Lan, president and chief executive
officer of Canada Bread, said at the
time the Shawinigan plant closing
was announced. "We are conducting
a strategic review to identify category
expansion opportunities. Based on the
outcome of this work, there could be
potential in the future to utilize this
plant to support other manufacturing
requirements. However, based on declining capacity utilization we have no
alternative but to close the facility. We
deeply regret the impact this decision
has on our people and are committed
to supporting their transition to new
employment." MBN
60%, nitrogen oxide by 20% and greenhouse gases by up to 25% compared to
gasoline. Each of H&S Bakery's Roush
CleanTech Ford F-59 trucks will eliminate about 117,000 lbs of carbon dioxide
emissions from the company's carbon
footprint during their lifetime, the company added.
To accommodate the fleet, H&S Bakery has installed a private refueling station that includes an 18,000-gallon underground propane tank. The station is
located outside of H&S Bakery's new
eco-friendly distribution center.
"Propane autogas provides an economic, environmental and competitive
advantage for America's industry leaders like H&S Bakery," said Todd Mouw,
vice-president of sales and marketing
for Roush CleanTech, the manufacturer
of the autogas fuel system. "With the
adoption of autogas, H&S reduces fuel
and maintenance costs, and helps lessen
Maryland's reliance on imported oil."
Last summer, Chicago-based Alpha Baking Co. became the first baking company to operate a fleet of autogas liquid propane trucks, with 22
stepvans in the Chicagoland area. In
October, Alpha Baking took top honors for its propane-fueled delivery
fleet, earning the Propane Autogas
Award from the Propane Education &
Research Council. MBN
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

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Milling & Baking News - December 23, 2014

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