Baking & Snack - March 2022 - 10

BBU joins Green
Power initiative
Bimbo Bakeries USA Inc. (BBU), Horsham, Pa., has joined the
US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Green Power
Partnership, a voluntary program with more than 1,700 partner
organizations that encourages companies to use green power to
reduce the environmental impacts associated with conventional
electricity use.
BBU said it uses nearly 418 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of
green power annually, which is enough green power to meet 100%
of the company's electricity use. BBU is 41st on the EPA's National
Top 100 List of the largest green power users from the Green
Power Partnership.
BBU's parent company, Mexico City-based Grupo Bimbo SAB
de CV, in 2018 signed a virtual power purchase agreement (VPPA)
with Chicago-based Invenergy, an independent renewable energy
company. As part of the agreement, Grupo Bimbo receives 100
megawatts of wind energy as well as social and economic benefits
related to Invenergy's Santa Rita East wind farm in Texas. Grupo
Bimbo said its offtake from the wind farm is equal to 100% of the
energy used in the company's operations and helps offset approximately
260,000 tons of CO2
emissions per year.
BBU has also been recognized as an EPA Energy Star Partner
of the Year for four consecutive years. In 2021, the company received
the Sustained Excellence award, which recognizes BBU for
its commitment to energy management leadership.
- Eric Schroeder, Milling & Baking News
Leclerc acquires snack
production plant
North American snack food maker Leclerc Foods, Quebec, has
acquired a 790,197-square-foot production plant in Brockville,
Ontario, that will be focused on cookie and bar production.
Leclerc said it plans to invest more than $100 million in the facility
over the next five years.
Production at the plant is expected to begin in July, with plans
to ramp up to full capacity in January 2023, Leclerc said. Once
operational, the plant will be Leclerc's largest and will be used to
reach new markets and enter new product categories.
Founded in 1905, Leclerc Foods employs more than 1,300 people.
In addition to Brockville, Leclerc operates two plants in SaintAugustin-de-Desmaures
and one each in Hawkesbury, Ontario;
Cornwall, Ontario; Montgomery, Pa.; Kingsport, Tenn.; and
Phoenix. Increased market demand in the United States prompted
Leclerc Foods to establish a US headquarters in Kingsport.
- Eric Schroeder, Milling & Baking News
Blum
Mark Friend, artisan bread
innovator, dies
Mark S. Friend, a baker who was involved in
the artisan bread movement and helped bring
it to Kansas City, Mo., by founding Farm to
Market Bread Co., has died.
Mr. Friend, 67, an expert in natural sourFriend
dough
starters, founded his company with a
partner in 1993. He was also a founding member
of the Bread Bakers Guild of America.
" He was heavily involved in the artisan bread movement early
on, " said his son, John Friend, who is now president of Farm to
Market. " He was able to start his own company in the evenings
and was baking bread out of the back of a restaurant. They traded
bread for rent - he and his partner, Fred Spompinato - and was
a visionary in getting fresh artisan bread in grocery stores. "
The company started a model of delivering fresh bread to
Kansas City area grocery stores seven days a week, closing only
for Christmas. It's a model the company continues to follow today.
" He always took pride in high-quality products, " John Friend
said. " The sourdough and artisan bread movement was new, and
I think he saw an opportunity there. I hope he is remembered as a
pioneer and visionary in the artisan baking community. "
Richard Blum, Blossom
Industries founder, dies
Richard J. (Blos) Blum, who for many years
led an equipment and engineering services
firm for the commercial baking industry, has
died. He was 90.
Mr. Blum's roots in the grain-based foods industry
ran deep. His grandfather Sol Blum in
the 1890s established Blum Inc., a flour brokerage
based in Cleveland. Roger Blum, Mr. Blum's father, joined the
business in the 1920s and over time shifted its focus from a flour
brokerage to bakery equipment and supplies, particularly flourhandling
systems and foil pans.
In the mid-1970s, Mr. Blum left Blum Inc. to establish Blossom
Industries with a partner, Dale Kowalyk. Working as manufacturers'
representatives, Blossom Industries developed end-to-end
manufacturing solutions that knitted together systems from the
world's leading equipment manufacturers. Blossom was particularly
active in helping install in-store bakeries in supermarkets
and the development of commissary-style manufacturing and
distribution in the pizza industry.
- Josh Sosland, Milling & Baking News
10 Baking & Snack March 2022 / www.bakingbusiness.com
http://www.bakingbusiness.com
Baking & Snack - March 2022

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