Milling & Baking News - March 9, 2021 - 11

Business

Grupo Bimbo acquires India's
Modern Food Enterprises
MUMBAI, INDIA - Grupo Bimbo SAB following its sale to Hindustan Unilede CV has acquired Modern Food Enter- ver. Everstone Capital acquired Modern
prises Private Ltd. from Everstone Capi- Foods in 2016.
Under Everstone's ownership, Modern
tal. Financial terms of the transaction
were not disclosed.
A pioneer in India's baking
industry, Modern Foods was established by the government of
India in 1965 as Modern Bakeries
and was rebranded as Modern
Foods in 1982. Over the years,
Modern has become one of India's most recognized brands
with a full range of white, sweet,
and health and wellness bread
varieties, as well as value-added MODERN FOODS
bakery products such as rusks, cakes, Foods relaunched its iconic bread brand in
June 2017. According to Everstone, the remuffins, buns, pavs and cream rolls.
Modern Foods was privatized in 2000 launch included significant investments in

Judge dismisses carrot cake
Donettes labeling lawsuit
SAN FRANCISCO - US District Judge
Sallie Kim on Feb. 19 agreed to dismiss a
proposed class action lawsuit that alleged
Kansas City-based Hostess Brands Inc.
misled consumers into believing its carrot
cake mini donuts sold under the Donettes
brand contained actual carrots.
In issuing her decision, Judge Kim provided no details on why the lawsuit was
dismissed.
Elena Lauchung-Nacarino, the plaintiff
in the case, had alleged that Hostess led
her to believe its carrot cake mini donuts
sold under the Donettes brand contain
" a substantial amount of real carrot, " not
simply artificial carrot flavoring. As a

result, Ms. Lauchung-Nacarino said the
labeling of the Donettes was misleading and accused Hostess of violating the
California Consumers Legal Remedies
Act, Unfair Competition Law, and False
Advertising Law, as well as committing
common-law fraud. She sought compensatory and punitive damages as well as
equitable relief.
In its Dec. 1 motion to dismiss, though,
Hostess Brands pointed out several inconsistencies in Ms. Lauchung-Nacarino's case.
" She does not allege that the labels made
any such claim or even showed an image of
a real carrot, and in fact she concedes that
the ingredient list shows there is no real

Mondelez makes first foray into impact
investing with Sustainable Futures
CHICAGO - Mondelez International
is building on its Snacking Made Right
commitment with its new impact investing platform, Sustainable Futures.
Through this platform, the global snack
company will co-invest in projects that
address climate change and organizations that improve communities.
" We don't have all the answers, but
we do know that alone we can never
achieve significant progress in the
fight against systemic issues like climate change, " said Dirk Van de Put,
chief executive officer and chairman of
Mondelez International. " Sustainable
Futures is our first foray into impact
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

investing and gives us the opportunity to work with others in supporting
environment and social projects that
can help drive meaningful, long-term
change. "
Sustainable Futures looks to take on
projects that will reduce carbon emissions, protect forests and increase resilience in the regions from which Mondelez sources raw materials. Sustainable Futures first social investments
will support a non-governmental organization (NGO) in India establishing a
women-owned enterprise to up-cycle
plastic packaging into board material
for multiple uses. The platform also will

manufacturing, research and development
at Modern's innovation hub in Chennai,
and thorough work on consumer insights,
strategy and design.
" We had a phenomenal experience in
rejuvenating the legacy brand of Modern and bringing it to the dining table of
consumers again, " said Roshini Bakshi,
managing director of Everstone Capital Asia. " Modern
has unlocked its potential
through its portfolio expansion and wider reach thereby exhibiting tremendous
growth. I wish Grupo Bimbo
the best for the future and
hope they continue to grow
bigger and better. "
Modern Food's bread and
bakery products are manufactured and marketed nationally through a
network of seven manufacturing plants
and more than 80,000 outlets. MBN
carrot in the product, " Hostess noted in its
filing. " Her allegation that she bought the
product because she 'prefers desserts that
contain real fruits or vegetables' is also undermined by her concession that she first
bought the Donettes in 2019, when the
front of the labels read 'Naturally and Artificially Flavored Carrot Cake mini donuts.'
" In short, a simple review of the objective information on the front packaging,
along with the ingredient list, would have
provided plaintiff with all the information
she needed to dispel any belief that the
Donettes contained 'a substantial amount
of real carrot' and no artificial flavoring. "
Hostess also said Ms. Lauchung-Nacarino's case lacked standing because she
" has not plausibly alleged she suffered
any injury in reliance on the alleged misrepresentations or omissions. " MBN
be a part of INMED Aquaponics Social
Enterprise in South Africa, which supports climate-smart food production.
" It's only by testing and learning new
approaches and by seeking new forms
of partnership with NGOs, governments and social entrepreneurs, that
we can unleash the creativity we need
to tackle some of the world's most challenging issues, " said Christine Montenegro McGrath, vice president and
chief of global impact and sustainability at Mondelez International. " By offering seed investment and expertise
through Sustainable Futures, Mondelez
International can help to create lasting
solutions in areas like forest protection,
carbon emissions reduction and innovation in recycling. " MBN
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Milling & Baking News - March 9, 2021

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