Milling & Baking News - November 17, 2020 - 10

Business

Bimbo Bakeries expanding electric
delivery truck fleet after pilot
FOREST CITY, CALIF. - Following a
12-month pilot testing five electric delivery trucks, Motiv Power Systems is
renewing and expanding its partnership
with Bimbo Bakeries USA.
Motiv said the pilot program was conducted on real-world delivery trucks and
that 23 additional trucks are in production. Additionally, 100 trucks are planned
for rollout in 2021. BBU will deploy the
additional vehicles, all powered by the
Motiv EPIC F-59 chassis, in California,
New York and Pennsylvania.
" We are pleased with the 100% uptime
of our pilot vehicles and look forward to
growing this partnership into 2021 with
additional deployments, " said Eric McCann, technical fleet manager for BBU.
" Sustainability is built into our company's purpose, and incorporating these

vehicles into our fleet is an important step
toward reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. With Motiv's help, we're confident that we will meet our goals. "
Motiv expressed pride in its partnership with BBU, which it described as a

BIMBO BAKERIES USA

baking industry leader and a company
that has worked aggressively to limit its
environmental footprint.

Weston invests nearly $100 million
in two new production lines
TORONTO - Weston Foods, a subsidiary
of George Weston Ltd., recently invested
C$125 million ($96.61 million) to install
high-speed production lines at two different bakeries, producing bagels and donuts.
" Our bagel and donut business is
growing across North America, " said Luc
Mongeau, president of Weston Foods.
" With these new lines, we are perfectly
positioned to capitalize on that growth.
With increased capacity and additional

capabilities combined with our consumer
trend insights, we are truly partnering
with our retail and foodservice customers
to provide them with great-tasting products their guests are looking for. "
The new traditional hearth-baked bagel line has been installed at Weston's
220,000-square-foot Toronto-based bread,
rolls and bagel baking plant. Weston said
the new high-speed line produces traditional fermented, boiled and hearth-baked

Hearthside expanding at Indiana
plant, will add cracker production
MICHIGAN CITY, IND. - Hearthside
Food Solutions, a manufacturer of grainbased snack foods and baked foods, said it
will invest $13.6 million to expand its facility in Michigan City. As part of the expansion, which will increase its capacity to produce crackers, Hearthside said it will install
a processing, oven and packaging line. The
expansion also will include the addition of
processing and packaging equipment.
The expansion will bring an additional
50 jobs to the plant.
" Our team is ready to build on and accelerate the momentum we have put into place
over the years in Michigan City, " said Bob
Wojcik, plant manager for Hearthside. " Our
production line allows us to position our
company in an even stronger spot within
our industry while providing new jobs for
10 / November 17, 2020

Milling & Baking News

Michigan City community members. "
Hearthside acquired the Michigan City
facility in May 2010 as part of its acquisition of McComb, Ohio-based Consolidated Biscuit Co.
In addition to its Michigan City facility,
Hearthside operates a second plant in Indiana in Seelyville. Hearthside acquired
the former Kellogg Co. baking plant in
Seelyville in November 2018.
Based in Downers Grove, Ill., Hearthside is a contract manufacturer and packer
of baked food products in North America
and, to a lesser extent, Europe. The company produces a variety of nutrition bars,
cookies, cereals, baked foods and snacks
at 38 manufacturing facilities across the
United States and Europe. The company's
customers include General Mills, Kellogg,

" Our continued work with Bimbo Bakeries USA to help achieve their sustainability goals runs concurrent with our
mission to free fleets from fossil fuels, "
said Matt O'Leary, chairman and chief
executive officer of Motiv. " We are grateful for the trust Bimbo has placed in our
products. " Â
Motiv said the EPIC chassis are Ford
eQVM approved and retain the Ford
OEM chassis warranty.
Based in Forest City near San Francisco, Motiv was founded in 2009 and is a
sustainable technology company offering
electric vehicle solutions for mediumduty trucks and buses. The company said
its technology uses high-performance
BMW batteries and is available for many
configurations, including step vans, box
trucks, work trucks and other specialty
vehicles. Motiv said it has more than 100
vehicles on the road, operating at more
than 99% uptime and with more than 1
million miles logged. MBN
bagels. The line has extensive packaging
options, Weston said, including the ability
to produce bagels of varying sizes and additional capabilities that will enable future
product innovation.
Earlier this year, Weston installed a
flexible yeast and cake donut line at its
Lebanon, Tenn., facility. According to
Weston, the high-speed line is capable
of producing a variety of yeast and cake
donut shapes. The Lebanon facility, built
in 2016, is a dedicated donut facility.
Originally housing two lines, the current
205,000-square-foot facility now has five
lines, Weston said. MBN
Kraft Heinz, PepsiCo and Mondelez International. The company has about $3.1 billion in annual revenues and is owned by
an investment group led by Charlesbank
Capital Partners and Partners Group following an April 2018 leveraged buyout.
" Hearthside continues its innovative approach as a means to advance and thrive in
the food manufacturing and packaging industry, " said Duane Parry, mayor of Michigan City. " This project at the Michigan City
plant is another step in the company's move
to entrench itself as the world-class food
manufacturer here in northwest Indiana. "
Clarence Hulse, executive director of
the Economic Development Corporation
Michigan City, added, " Hearthside has
continued to build on its base here in Michigan City as well as evolve to meet industry
needs and flourish as a food contract manufacturer. It is always a special opportunity
to work with existing businesses that are
progressing to new levels in our region. " MBN
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

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Milling & Baking News - November 17, 2020

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