Milling & Baking News - November 17, 2020 - 12

Business

Amsterdam Commodities to acquire
SunOpta's ingredients business
MINNEAPOLIS - Amsterdam Commodities nv (Acomo) has reached an
agreement to acquire the global ingredients business of SunOpta Inc., as well as
related assets, for â¬330 million ($389.65
million). The transaction is expected to
close by January 2021.
The acquisition will include SunOpta
processing facilities located in Amsterdam; Silistra, Bulgaria; and Addis Ababa
and Yirgalem, Ethiopia. Approximately
525 employees will be transferred to Acomo from SunOpta.
" With the exciting acquisition of Tradin,
Acomo will realize a highly complementary acquisition, creating a leading global
player across organic and conventional
unlisted commodities, " said Allard Goldschmeding, group managing director at
Acomo. " The company is a leading partner
for the organic food industry, benefiting
from the rapidly growing global consumer
demand for sustainable and healthy foods.
Tradin has an attractive financial profile
and will continue to be led by a highly experienced management team. "
SunOpta said its global ingredients

business contributed approximately
$488 million to net sales in the 12 months
ended Sept. 26. Following the sale, SunOpta said it plans to use
proceeds to pay down debt
and invest in expanding its
value-added plant-based
foods and beverages segment. The transaction also is expected
to lower SunOpta's commodity trading
exposure while enhancing long-term
growth rate and margins.
" I'm pleased to announce this strategically transformational transaction, " said
Joseph D. Ennen, chief executive officer of
SunOpta. " This transaction further solidifies SunOpta's future direction as a highgrowth, plant-based company focused on
providing value-added products in competitively advantaged categories with
consistent, sustainable, above-average
growth characteristics.
" The long-term supply agreement
negotiated as part of this transaction
provides SunOpta with the benefit of
a continued strategic relationship with
a leading global ingredient player in

Farmers' Rice Cooperative agrees
to buy Bunge California rice mill
ST. LOUIS - Farmers' Rice Cooperative,
a grower-owned rice marketing cooperative with corporate offices located in
Sacramento, Calif., has reached an agreement to acquire the Woodland, Calif., rice
mill of Bunge Ltd. Financial terms of the
transaction were not disclosed.
The completion of the sale is subject to
customary closing conditions and is expected to be finalized by the end of 2020.
According to Sosland Publishing Co.'s
2020 Grain & Milling Annual, the Woodland

rice mill, operating as Pacific International
Rice Mills, LLC, has capacity of 7.5 million
cwts. The mill produces a variety of products, including medium grain, broken rice,
brown rice flour, milled rice products, rice
bran, rice byproducts, rice flour, stabilized
rice bran, white milled rice and white rice.
" As part of our portfolio review, we
determined that this mill has limited
connections to Bunge's broader value
chains, " said Gregory A. Heckman, chief
executive officer of Bunge. " We will work

Gluten-free baker ChipMonk opens
manufacturing facility in Houston
HOUSTON - ChipMonk Baking, a manufacturer of low-carbohydrate, low-glycemic, gluten-free cookies, treats and dry
mixes, has opened a 2,228-square-foot
dedicated gluten-free production and retail facility in Houston.
" Our new, dedicated baking facility
will give us room to grow with a bigger production schedule, more storage
and additional order fulfillment space
to keep up with current orders while
12 / November 17, 2020

Milling & Baking News

also developing new products and expanding our wholesale business, " said
Jose Hernandez, who co-founded ChipMonk along with David Downing in
February 2019. " We want to make our
products as widely available and accessible as possible because we know there
are a lot of people who have a sweet
tooth like me, but also want to lead
healthier lives. "
ChipMonk said the new facility will

Acomo. Furthermore, this transaction
de-levers and strengthens SunOpta's
balance sheet, enabling the acceleration
of near-term expansion plans in our
fast-growing plant-based food and beverage segment.
" The plans include both high-return
capital investment projects, as well as synergistic
acquisitions, that add to an
existing set of strong capabilities in our core plantbased beverage platform. "
Acomo distributes natural food products and ingredients through several
subsidiaries, including: Catz International BV in Rotterdam, The Netherlands
(spices and food raw materials); Van Rees
Group BV in Rotterdam, (tea); Red River Commodities Inc. in Fargo, ND; Red
River Global Ingredients Ltd. in Winkler,
Man.; Red River-van Eck BV in EttenLeur, The Netherlands; Food Ingredients
Service Center Europe BV in Etten-Leur;
SIGCO Warenhandelsgesellschaft mbH
in Hamburg, Germany (edible seeds);
King Nuts BV in Bodegraven; Delinuts
BV in Ede; Tovano BV in Maasdijk, The
Netherlands (nuts); and Snick EuroIngredients NV in Ruddervoorde, Belgium
(food ingredients). MBN
closely with the new owners to make the
transition as smooth as possible for employees and customers. "
Bunge has owned the California rice
business since 2011 when it acquired the
operation from Pacifica International Rice
Mills, LLC, a subsidiary of AnheuserBusch, Inc.
Farmers' Rice Cooperative owns and
operates two mills that are located on a
26-acre industrial site adjacent to the Port
of Sacramento, in West Sacramento, Calif.
With both mills online simultaneously,
the combined output is approximately
2,000 cwts (paddy basis) per hour, according to Farmers' Rice Cooperative. MBN
help it grow and give other glutenfree Houston-based food and beverage
brands a place to launch or expand.
" We wanted to offer a home for other
local innovators who want to provide
healthier alternatives to the Houston
market and beyond, " said Jonathan
Horowitz, project manager and adviser to
ChipMonk. " We've subleased production
space in the new facility to Bare Bakery, a
gluten-, grain- and refined sugar-free dessert company; 3 Cups Food, an activated
buckwheat granola company; and Smash
& Squeeze, which offers fresh-squeezed
lemonade with homemade syrups. " MBN
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

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Milling & Baking News - November 17, 2020

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