Baking&Snack - October 2011 - 13

NEWS

Pepperidge Farm breaks ground on innovation center
Pepperidge Farm, Inc., Norwalk, CT, broke ground on a 34,000-sq-ft innovation center at its headquarters. The center is a $30 million investment designed to support parent company Campbell Soup Co.’s strategy of driving growth in baked snacks and efforts to accelerate innovation across its baking and snacking portfolio. “Pepperidge Farm has a long track record of innovation, and this project is key to our plans to accelerate the rate of innovation in baked snacks,” said Denise Morrison, Campbell Soup president and CEO. “The center is designed to foster greater collaboration and creativity in a setting where we can combine our culinary and baking expertise with our understanding of consumers’ needs.” The center will have a pilot plant with product development and testing lines, culinary kitchens, scientific labs and meeting rooms. The facility will be completed in the fall of 2012, and at that time the Pepperidge Farm headquarters will have 115,000 sq ft of office and research development space. The company also leases 33,500 sq ft of space at Norwalk’s Norden Place Office Park.

NEWS IN BRIEF
Baptista’s Bakery, Inc., Franklin, WI, plans to add 120,000 sq ft of space and 200 full-time jobs at its existing
135,000-sq-ft bakery in Franklin. The project is scheduled for completion in spring 2012.

Bob and Charlee Moore, founders of Bob’s Red Mill Natural Foods, Milwaukie, OR, committed to donate $25 million to establish the Bob
and Charlee Moore Institute for Nutrition and Wellness at Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR.

Roquette opens US innovation center

Gruma, Monterrey, Mexico, acquired Casa de Oro Foods, Omaha, NE, for US$20 million. The company plans to increase
its production of corn tortillas and corn chips through the acquired facility, which employs 250 people.

The American Bakers Association and the Independent Bakers Association will colocate their spring meetings
in Scottsdale, AZ, April 14-18, 2012.

AMF Bakery Systems, Richmond, VA, completed its acquisition of Baking Technology Systems, Inc. (BakeTech), Tucker, GA. Terms
of the transaction were not disclosed. Roquette America, Inc., Keokuk, IA, welcomed customers, partners, government officials and members of Roquette’s board of directors and employees to its grand opening ceremonies for the multi-million-dollar innovation center recently built in Geneva, IL. The company chose the Chicago, IL, area to locate its new innovation center because of its central location in North America and accessibility, but Geneva was chosen specifically because Roquette has developed a working relationship with FONA International, which has its own center located in Geneva. The building houses open, shared office space for sales and marketing teams, a human nutrition lab and an auditorium that serves as a classroom for Roquette University. The innovation center also has pharmaceutical labs, a powder tech lab and analytical lab as well as a large demonstration kitchen, which Chef Alain Roby used for the day to demonstrate sugar sculpting and to serve sorbetto to guests.
ROQUETTE AMERICA, INC.

Ashland, Inc., Covington, KY, completed its acquisition of International Specialty Products, Inc. (ISP), Wayne, NJ. ISP will be
integrated into the Ashland Aqualon Functional Ingredients commercial unit, and effective immediately, the combined unit is called Ashland Specialty Ingredients.

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October 2011 / BAKING & SNACK

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Baking&Snack - October 2011

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