Milling & Baking News - March 24, 2020 - 53

Business

Hostess' Callahan energized by
sweet baked goods category
BOSTON - The sweet baked goods
category is "one of the finest and one
of the most exciting" that Andrew P.
Callahan, president and chief executive officer of Hostess Brands, Inc.,
has ever been involved with.
Reflecting on his more than 25
years in the consumer packaged
goods industry during a March 4
presentation at the UBS Global Consumer and Retail Conference, Mr.
Callahan said he has been fortunate
and sometimes very challenged to
have worked in a broad range of categories.
Now, two years into his tenure at
Kansas City-based Hostess, Mr. Callahan is excited by the opportunities
laid out in front of him in indulgent
snacking and baking.
"We're living and we're competing
in a category today that (is) highly

impulsive, it's highly snackable, and
it has high emotional engagement
and appeal," said Mr. Callahan, who
earlier in his career worked at Tyson Foods, Sara Lee Corp. and Kraft
Foods Inc. "And our Hostess
brand is at the top relative to
that emotion and that appeal.
And if you look at the consumer trends around snacking, a lot of people talk about
health and wellness, but it's
unmistakable. You see it in a Callahan
lot of different ways; consumers are snacking on health and wellness, but they're highly snacking on
indulgence as well."
The reasons for snacking run the
gamut, Mr. Callahan said. For some,
it may be an emotional reason. For
others, it may be simply a treat.
Hostess recently ramped up its

North Dakota Mill and Elevator
plans grain unloading upgrade
BISMARCK, ND. - The North Dakota Mill and Elevator in Grand Forks,
ND, plans to upgrade its scales in
its truck unloading facilities
to speed up the process, according to Agweek.
The North Dakota Industrial Commission has
approved spending $8.3
million on the upgrade.
With the upgrade, waiting times on average will be reduced
by 35% per day, said Vance Taylor,

president and chief executive officer.
Construction is expected to start this
summer with completion in 2021.
The state-owned mill is the
largest single mill in the
United States and Canada
with a capacity of 52,500
cwts per day, according
to Sosland Publishing's
2020 Grain and Milling
Annual.
North Dakota Mill and Elevator bought nearly 30 million bus of

presence in the cookie category with
the acquisition of Voortman Cookies Ltd. The acquisition is part of the
company's larger plan to continue
to innovate and provide consumers
new snacking occasions.
"I've seen our ability to be able to
expand the set," Mr. Callahan said.
"And it can access consumption and
brands from a very broad base
of consumers - Very large
category of the addressable
set of which we have assets to
be able to go into. That's very
different than when you're in
kind of a category that's either
flat or declining, (and) you're
trying to just beat share from
everybody. You're trying to innovate. You can really focus on the consumer and the power of your ideas,
the power, the strength of your
brand and equity and your ability to
be able to execute. (You) can really
drive growth. And that's really exciting for our business." MBN
spring wheat and 1.96 million bus of
durum from regional farmers and elevators in the 2019 fiscal year, which
compared with 30.7 million bus of
spring wheat and 2.6 million bus of
durum in fiscal 2018.
North Dakota Mill and Elevator shipped nearly 14.7 million cwts
of flour to customers in fiscal 2019,
down 4% from 15.3 million cwts in
fiscal 2018.
Family flour shipments in fiscal
2019 totaled 350,522 cwts, up 2.8%
from a year ago. Organic flour shipments, meanwhile, totaled 141,901
cwts, down 9% from 156,413 cwts in
fiscal 2018. MBN

McKee Foods announces staged
expansion of Collegedale plant

Grupo Bimbo into Kazakhstan
through new joint venture

COLLEGEDALE, TENN. - McKee Foods Corp. plans to invest
more than $500 million during the next 15 years to expand its manufacturing operations in Collegedale. The company is a manufacturer
of snack cakes, bars and granola sold under the Drake's, Fieldstone
Bakery, Little Debbie and Sunbelt Bakery brands.
McKee plans to make an initial investment of $225 million during
the next five years to double the current size of its Apison plant in
Collegedale and add a new production line. The first phase of the
project will begin this summer. No additional details were provided
past the first five years of the project.
McKee Foods broke ground on the Apison plant in 1996, and production began in 1997. The plant was expanded in 2006 and again
in 2012.
The company has sales of approximately $1.4 billion and employs
6,000. Besides Collegedale, the company has facilities in Gentry,
Ark.; Stuarts Draft, Va.; and Kingman, Ariz. MBN

MEXICO CITY - Grupo Bimbo SAB de CV in February
formed a joint venture with Food Town, a bun supplier and
franchisee of McDonald's in Kazakhstan. As part of the
agreement, Bimbo holds a 51% stake in the joint venture.
Grupo Bimbo said the joint venture strengthens the manufacturing footprint of its Bimbo QSR subsidiary and aligns
its relationship with the company's quick-service restaurant clients in Central Asia.
The partnership also gives Grupo Bimbo its first presence
in Kazakhstan and a foothold in 33 countries around the
world.
"It is our priority to meet the needs of our QSR customers
worldwide, and we will continue to invest in our business
to achieve it," said Mark Bendix, president of Bimbo QSR.
"This operation in Kazakhstan is well positioned to meet
the growing demand of our customers in the region." MBN

bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

Milling & Baking News

March 24, 2020 / 53

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

Milling & Baking News - March 24, 2020

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