Milling & Baking News - May 13, 2014 - 12

Business 

Weston Foods acquires rye bread
specialist Rubschlager Baking
TORONTO - Weston Foods, a subsidiary of George Weston Ltd., has completed the purchase of Rubschlager
Baking Corp., Chicago. Rubschlager
has a 100-year history of baking a
full range of rye bread varieties and
products for the North American market. The company's products are sold
across the United States and Canada
and include a wide range of deli-style
cocktail bread (its signature product),
traditional square bread, 100% whole
rye Rye-Ola bread, sandwich bread
and mini-bread chips.
"Rubschlager will bring world-class,
authentic rye products and capabilities
to complement Weston's broad portfolio of bakery products," said Kevin McDonough, president of Weston Foods'
Frozen Division. "We plan to offer

these great rye products to our customers in Canada and the U.S. through our
existing sales network."
Paul and Joan Rubschlager will continue to be ambassadors of the Rubschlager brand and help transition the
business to Weston Foods ownership.
Paul's uncle, Fred Rubschlager,
founded the Rubschlager Baking
Corp. in Chicago in 1913 as a neighborhood, full-line bakery called Rubschlager Brothers Bakery. All five Rubschlager brothers were at one time or
another involved with Rubschlager
Brothers Bakery.
Rubschlager made headlines several years ago when it said it planned
to convert its entire bread product line
to a 100% whole grain formulation.
Currently, two of the company's bread

Bella Four buys assets of
Theodoro from bankruptcy
RENO, NEV. - Bella Four Bakery Inc.
has acquired the assets of Hazelwood,
Mo.-based Theodoro Bakery Co.
As part of the $4 million acquisition, Bella Four Bakery acquired
Theodoro Bakery's 117,000-squarefoot baking facility located in Hazelwood. The facility will house two
additional ovens, which may double
the capacity of Bella Four Bakery's
Nature's Bakery brand. Bella Four
Bakery said it plans to expand its
line of baked goods, offering private
label co-packing and production
support for Nature's Bakery fig bars.

Bella Four Bakery said it intends to
retain Theodoro's current employees
and hopes to create 100 additional
jobs in 2015. The company also plans
to be highly active in the St. Louis
community, as it has throughout
Northern Nevada.
"The acquisition of Theodoro's assets is a great move for us and one
we're very excited about," said Dave
Marson, founder of Bella Four Bakery.
"My son Sam and I look forward to
this opportunity for continued growth,
particularly in an area with abundant
access to high-quality ingredients."

Keebler updating, adding cookie
capacity at Kentucky baking plant
BATTLE CREEK, MICH. - Keebler
Co., a division of Kellogg Co., has
been approved to receive $2 million
in tax incentives from the Kentucky
Economic Development Finance Authority to purchase new equipment
and add manufacturing capacity at
its Florence, Ky., facility.
Kris Charles, a spokesperson for
Kellogg, said construction on the
new line will begin soon and is expected to be operational by the end
of the year.
Kellogg's Florence facility manufactures a variety of cookies, including
12 / May 13, 2014 Milling & Baking News

Keebler Fudge Shoppe and Famous
Amos. Ms. Charles said the plant has
been in operation since 1969. In 1989,
it became part of Keebler Co., and it
became part of Kellogg in 2001, she
said.
Earlier this year,
Kellogg said it
would close its
snacks plant in Charlotte, N.C., and
eliminate two production lines at
its snacks plant in Cincinnati by the
end of the year as part of its Project
K efficiency program. The Charlotte

lines are 100% whole grain and the
other lines are about 80% whole grain,
the company said.
The company's bread products
usually are sold in the deli section of
supermarkets and specialty stores,
although they may be sold at the instore bakery or from the commercial

bakery shelf. Rubschlager generally is
distributed to retail and food service
customers by deli and specialty distributors. MBN
Theodoro filed for bankruptcy in
August 2013, and Bella Four Bakery
emerged as the "stalking horse" bidder for the company in early February. Theodoro's products include
donuts, bread, bagels, cakes, cookies, pastries and other sweet goods.
Nature's Bakery is a Bella Four
Bakery brand that supports healthconscious, active lifestyles. Nature's
Bakery offers snacks with its flagship line of fig bars that come in
10 assorted flavors and are made
with natural ingredients. Its fig
bars contain no high-fructose corn
syrup, dairy, cholesterol, artificial
flavors or colors, and they are NonGMO Project verified, kosher and
vegan. MBN
plant produces Famous Amos, Austin Sandwich Cremes and Iced Animals cookies.
Unveiled in November 2013, Project K is Kellogg's four-year plan to
strengthen business in core markets,
increase growth in developing and
emerging markets and drive increased value-added
innovation. The program is expected to
result in the elimination of about 7%
of Kellogg's global
workforce over the next four years
and entails spending as much as $1.4
billion by the end of 2017 to relocate
production lines and globally integrate internal business services. MBN
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

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

Milling & Baking News - May 13, 2014

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