Milling & Baking News - March 8, 2022 - 24

Milling & Baking News / Food Business News / Baking & Snack / Meat+Poultry / Pet Food Processing / Dairy Processing
STATE OF THE INDUSTRY REPORT
Sosland Publishing Company
October 2021
SOSLAND PUBLISHING CO.
SOSLAND PUBLISHING
years
TUES | 03 08 2022
magazine's first 50 years, as the company
grew it came to rely on more and more staff
drawn from outside the family. Three such
individuals who most affected Milling &
Baking News' direction were Mel Sjerven,
Gordon Davidson and Mark Sabo.
In 1968, Morton Sosland invited Mel
Sjerven, then a Minneapolis-based
stringer with 17 years of reporting for The
Southwestern Miller, to move to Kansas
City in a larger role. He became the first
full-time editor hired outside the family.
Even after he retired in 1990, he continued
to contribute to Sosland projects, coordinating
speakers for the Purchasing Seminar,
held annually in June.
" Mel Sjerven was recognized as a great
friend to the flour milling industry and,
in fact, was a great friend to many individual
millers, " said his son, Jay Sjerven, who
joined the company in 1981. " His strong
personal relationships with milling executives
brought both great accuracy and
richness to market reporting. His objectivity
and discretion were respected and
valued by all. "
Mr. Davidson, a veteran newspaper
reporter and editor, was hired in 1972 as an
associate editor and special project manager
of Milling & Baking News. He became
managing editor of the magazine in 1986.
" Gordon set a good
example for us. " Josh
Sosland recalled. " Even
in the middle of a crisis,
he remained calm and
laid-back, always getting
the job done. "
During its first half
century, magazine
advertising was sold
primarily by Dave
Sosland. On recommendation
from the Millers' National Federation
(MNF), the brothers hired Jerry A.
Machalek in 1968 as assistant editor. He
was assistant to the publisher from 1972 to
1978. He established a professional advertising
sales staff, which included Mark
Sabo. He became well-recognized for his
influence in the milling and baking fields,
earned during his years as the magazine's
chief sales executive.
" What I appreciated most about Mark
Sabo was his willingness to embrace history
but also to look forward, to develop,
nurture and expand Milling & Baking News
and the company into new areas, as when
we launched World Grain and later Food
Business News, " said G. Michael Gude, publisher,
Milling & Baking News, Food Business
News and Baking & Snack. " He was able to
From left: Morton Sosland, Mark Sabo and Mel Sjerven at the
100th session of the International Wheat Council.
recognize trends and take advantage of
them, thus well-nurturing the legacy product.
He did both with so much tenacity. "
Mr. Sabo rose to assistant publisher
in 1980 and to president and publisher of
Milling & Baking News in 1986 before his
retirement in 2015.
Both Josh Sosland, who succeeded Mr.
Sabo as company president, and Mr. Gude,
who followed Mr. Sabo as Milling & Baking
News publisher, described him as crucial
to the development of the magazine and
company.
Josh Sosland noted specifically, " Mark
was a force helping lead us beyond being
a one-title publishing company. Working
with Morton, Mark led Milling & Baking
News into its role as the incubator for
Baking & Snack, World Grain and Food
TRACKING THE LEADERS
C
orporate Profiles, a special issue
introduced by Milling & Baking
News in 2002, was expanded in
scope three years later with the debut of
Food Business News. Jeff Gelski, senior
editor, was appointed the annual edition's
managing editor. He and editors from
many other Sosland magazines do the
research, write and edit the publication.
" The
past two decades of Corporate
Profiles show how companies in the
food and beverage industry have
evolved. " Mr. Gelski said.
He noted the important changes
over this period.
" After Interstate Brands Corp.
declared bankruptcy and later was
sold off, Grupo Bimbo and Flowers
A featured publication of
®
24 MILLING & BAKING NEWS
Foods became dominant in the bread
industry, " he said. " Flowers bought the
Wonder bread brand once owned by
Interstate and then acquired Dave's Killer
Bread. Bimbo also was active in acquisitions,
including the Sara Lee brand of
fresh bakery products. Kraft spun off the
Nabisco business that included Oreos and
other snacks, calling it Mondelez International,
and later merged with Heinz to
become Kraft Heinz. "
All of this, and more, is what is
described in Corporate Profiles.
" Walmart and Kroger increased their
presence in food and began appearing in
Corporate Profiles, " Mr. Gelski continued.
" The plant-based trend annually
appears in Corporate Profiles now
that Beyond Meat trades publicly.
Amazon also made appearances in
Corporate Profiles, which signified
how online sales have grown. Once
COVID-19 hit, restaurant chains
scrambled to increase digital ordering
capabilities. Those companies
are now also represented in this
special issue. " MBN
bakingbusiness.com

http://www.bakingbusiness.com

Milling & Baking News - March 8, 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Milling & Baking News - March 8, 2022