Milling & Baking News - June 21, 2016 - 16

Business X

B&G Foods c.e.o. optimistic about
growth prospects of Ortega brand
NEW YORK - Thirteen years after
it was acquired from Nestle S.A. for
about $118 million, the Ortega business of B&G Foods continues to spin
positive results for the Parsippany,
N.J.-based company. When B&G
Foods acquired Ortega, the brand
had $77 million in sales. Today, it's
over $115 million.
"Certainly, (Ortega is) a brand that
has performed extremely well in our
portfolio," Robert Cantwell, president
and chief executive officer of B&G
Foods, told participants at the Stephens Spring Investment Conference
on June 7. "It's been a very successful
business for us, and certainly our second largest business in our portfolio."
Ortega may not be the top-selling

brand in its category - Mr. Cantwell
acknowledged that Old El Paso tends

Yildiz spinning off confectionery,
chocolate and biscuit businesses
LONDON - Yildiz Holding, the largest food company in the Central and
Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa region, is splitting its biscuit, chocolate and confectionery businesses into
a new company: Pladis. Named after
the Pleiades constellation, a group of
seven stars visible from anywhere on
earth, Pladis is expected to be listed on
the London Stock Exchange within the
next three to four years.
The new business will be made up of
Godiva Chocolatier, a premium chocolate brand; McVitie's, a biscuit brand
with a heritage in the United Kingdom and Europe; Ulker, a biscuit and
confectionery brand in Turkey and the
Middle East; and DeMet's Candy Co.,
creator of Flipz chocolate pretzels and
Turtles covered nut clusters. Together,
the brands that now make up Pladis
generated about $5.2 billion in revenue
last year, according to Yildiz.

"Establishing Pladis is the first
step in realizing the long-term strategy of Yildiz Holding," said Murat
Ulker, chairman of Yildiz Holding.
"We are bringing together some of
the world's best loved
brands and combining
their 350 years of experience to form a new
family company. We will
be a global leader in biscuits and confectionery,
and bring 'bites of happiness' to every corner
of the world."
Pladis will employ 26,000 people
across 36 facilities in 13 countries.
The company will be led by Cem
Karakas as chief executive officer and
Ali Ulker as vice-chairman. The company will operate on a regional basis, with each region responsible for
the manufacturing and commercial

B.B.U. launches 'America's Better
Sandwich' recipe contest
HORSHAM, PA. - For the third time,
Bimbo Bakeries USA has announced
the opening of its annual Arnold
Bread "America's Better Sandwich"
contest in search of sandwich recipes
that are wholesome, nutritious and
delicious. Sandwich recipes paired
with Arnold Bread may be entered to
16 / June 21, 2016 XMilling & Baking News

win $25,000 from June 15 to Aug. 21.
Several top chefs, including former
White House Chef John Moeller, have
concocted their own personal sandwich recipes for the contest, according
to Bimbo Bakeries USA, which bakes
Arnold Bread.
Participants may enter their sandwich

to perform better - but he still sees
the value the brand has in the segment.
"As you look at the last 13 weeks,
26 weeks, (sales) are up 4% on Ortega - the whole category is up," Mr.
Cantwell said. "We just see that as a
lot more opportunity to come."
He continued, "This is not a tradedriven category. There's lots of promotional spending from time to time,
but it's not given that at this time
of year, you sell Ortega at this price
because Old El Paso is selling at this
price. So, it gives the category and the
brands in the category a lot more opportunity to support the brands with
consumers and really try to drive its
brand on the whole category. So, that
category is all about line extensions
and being creative, and just different
ways for people to eat kind of their
taco meals." MBN
activities of the full Pladis brand
portfolio.
"We have significant growth ambitions for Pladis with the aim to outperform the category standard yearon-year," Mr. Karakas said. "This is
supported by our capital position
and the strength of our manufacturing as one of only two companies in
the world that produce
such a broad range of
biscuits and confectionery. As one global
family, we can be more
agile, allowing us to
innovate around our
products and develop
more brand synergies
- which are already
benefitting our business."
Yildiz is a global confectionery and
biscuits company with more than 320
brands in more than 40 different categories. The company has 77 facilities in
14 countries and exports to more than
100 countries. Yildiz has annual revenues of about $12 billion. MBN
recipes into five categories at www.
americasbettersandwich.com. A panel
of experts will judge each eligible
recipe based upon nutrition, creativity and ease of preparation. The
recipes of the top three finalists in
each category will be posted on-line
for public voting this fall. Winners
will be awarded $5,000 each, while
the overall highest scoring sandwich will receive a grand prize of
$25,000. MBN
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

http://www.americasbettersandwich.com http://www.bakingbusiness.com http://www.world-grain.com

Milling & Baking News - June 21, 2016

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