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GOURMET NEWS APRIL 2017 www.gourmetnews.com Supplier News SUPPLIER NEWS 1 0 BRIEFS Driveline Retail Hires Ken Drish, Ed Kovatch Driveline Retail, a provider of large-scale retail services and technology, has appointed two industry professionals with significant experience in driving growth for retailers and manufacturers. The company has appointed Ken Drish as Executive Vice President, Business Development, and Ed Kovatch as Vice President, Business Development. Drish will report directly to Randy Wilson, Driveline's CEO, and will be responsible for delivering a portfolio of retail solutions that drive real value for its current and future client base of retailers and manufacturers. Canadian Cricket Protein Company Launches on Kickstarter Coast Protein, western Canada's first cricket protein company, launched a crowdfunding campaign through Kickstarter and hit its goal in less than 72 hours. The company plans to scale production, improve packaging and add cricket protein powders for smoothies to its product offering. The Vancouver start-up currently sells small-batch cricket protein bars to various retailers across British Columbia. Applegate Pledges to Improve Animal Welfare Standards for Broiler Chickens Natural and organic meat brand Applegate has announced intentions to elevate and third-party verify its standards for broiler chickens to be consistent with Global Animal Partnership (GAP) by 2024. These changes will require, among other things, using broiler chicken breeds that are scientifically proven to have improved welfare outcomes. MySuperFoods Company LLC Launches Savory Snack for Kids MySuperFoods Company LLC expands its presence in the children's food space with a new snack line, MySuperPops, a mini-popcorn chip packed with chia, quinoa and flax seed. MySuperPops are 100 percent whole grain and available in three kid-friendly flavors: White Cheddar, Kettle and Honey BBQ. Rapak Launches NSF-Approved Bag-In-Box Connector Rapak North America, a business unit of DS Smith, Plastics Division, is launching its newly redesigned and NSF approved PCSS+ line side connector for bag-in-box applications. This makes the PCSS+ the only NSF-approved connecting system for PCSS and Encore ® fitments in the industry. After a year of extensive product testing and material analysis, Rapak's PCSS+ beverage connector achieved compliance with NSF/ANSI Standard 18. This standard establishes food protection and sanitation requirements for the materials, design, construction and performance of food and beverage dispensing equipment. Emmi Roth USA Adds New Product to U.S. Kaltbach Cheese Line The Hershey Company Names New Executive Team Emmi Roth USA is expanding its sought- after Kaltbach line with a new imported cheese from Switzerland. Emmi Kaltbach Le Cremeux will join Kalt- bach Le Gruyère AOP, Kalt- bach Emmentaler AOP and Kaltbach Alpine Extra as available Swiss imports through Emmi USA. Made in 9-pound wheels, Kaltbach Le Cremeux is a washed-rind cheese that is sweet and unassuming at first, but keeps you coming back for another bite as the fla- vor and texture develops and becomes rem- iniscent of a soft cooked egg yolk in a bowl of ramen. It is a semi-firm cheese that's crafted with pasteurized milk and micro- bial rennet and aged a minimum of 120 days in the Kaltbach caves in the Alpine Valley near Lucerne, Switzerland. Swiss cheesemakers and affineurs care- fully handpick a select number of wheels to continue their refinement in the Kalt- bach Caves. The caves are a 22 million-year-old natural sandstone labyrinth with a small tranquil river that runs through it. It's that river that inspired the com- plex's name – Kaltbach means "cold river," and it's what allows for a constant 96 percent humidity in the cool, mineral-rich cave air. The enormous amount of cave-wall surface area helps regulate the aging atmosphere and promotes a stable setting for the cheese to ripen. The porous nature of the sand- stone acts as a give and take. It absorbs moisture when the air is too damp and re- leases it when it's needed. This natural process regulates the humidity and is a cru- cial part of texture and flavor development that makes Kaltbach cheeses unlike any other in the world. "The demand for artisan cheese contin- ues to grow in the United States," says Tim Omer, President and Managing Director at Emmi Roth USA. "We remain the number- one importer of Gruyere in the country and are proud to continue to introduce new products to the United States from our par- ent company in Switzerland. Like all cheeses we import, Kaltbach Le Cremeux is unique and special." Emmi Kaltbach Le Cremeux was intro- duced in the U.S. at the Winter Fancy Food Show from January 21-23 in San Francisco. The entire Kaltbach line is available to re- tailers nationwide and will continue to be available in specialty cheese shops through- out 2017. GN The Hershey Company has announced the new executive leadership team that incom- ing President and CEO Michele Buck has chosen to lead the organization. The new team balances continuity in key positions through exceptional leaders from within the company and world-class talent from outside of Hershey. "Hershey is an innovative snacking leader with its number one market share in U.S. confection and increasing breadth across U.S. snacking," said Buck. "I'm extremely confident in the individuals who will lead our organization as we delight our cus- tomers and consumers with innovation and news in the marketplace and strive to deliver leading sales growth and margins across the food industry. This is a great team, with a range of experiences, expertise and back- grounds to accelerate our innovation, exe- cute with excellence, instill a commercial mindset in all we do, and inspire our re- markable employees to achieve our goals." Todd Tillemans was named President, U.S. Tillemans leads the company's flagship U.S. business including core confection, its expanding portfolio across snacking and its sales and go-to-market teams. Tillemans joins the company from Unilever, where he worked for more than 23 years. He has held multiple leadership positions, including leading Unilever's skin care business in Eu- rope and Russia, its personal care business in the United States, and most recently serving as President, Customer Develop- ment U.S. Steven Schiller assumes the role of Pres- ident, International. Previously Hershey's President, China & Asia, Schiller will con- tinue to oversee the China and Asia mar- kets and will assume responsibility for the Americas region, India and Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Terry O'Day has become Senior Vice President, Chief Product Supply and Tech- nology Officer. Previously Chief Supply Chain Officer, O'Day will continue to over- see the company's supply chain organiza- tion and will assume responsibility for Hershey's productivity, information tech- nology and enterprise connectivity initia- tives. Senior Vice President and Chief Finan- cial Officer Patricia Little; Senior Vice Pres- ident, General Counsel and Secretary Leslie Turner; Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer Kevin Walling; and Senior Vice President and Chief Ad- ministrative Officer Mike Wege will con- tinue in these roles. GN New Crop Capital and BeyondBrands Form Unique Joint Venture In a collaboration between finance and consulting, New Crop Capital and Be- yondBrands have forged a joint venture to accelerate innovative product develop- ment and distribution with critical go-to- market funding and management support. New Crop Capital, led by established in- vestment manager Chris Kerr, sees the part- nership with BeyondBrands as another key component of the fund's strategy to disrupt the food industry, as well as a model for fu- ture alliances. Bruce Friedrich, New Crop Managing Trustee and Executive Director of the Good Food Institute, said, "This type of relationship shows industry leadership in its finest sense. GFI seeks high-impact opportunities combined with under- served markets and moves quickly to ad- dress them. This partnership combines our resources to address outdated and en- vironmentally destructive business prac- tices. Most consumers are reducing the amount of meat, fish, dairy and egg prod- ucts in their diets. With BeyondBrands, we will have a direct impact in supporting this lifestyle shift, while providing nutri- tious, clean and delicious products." Eric Schnell, co-Visionary of Beyond- Brands, said the partnership is a perfect extension of collaborative efforts within the leadership teams of New Crop Capital and The Good Food Institute. "It's un- heard of in our natural products industry for financing and product development experts to unify and co-create new com- panies from an idea, versus simply invest- ing in existing brands," says Schnell. "Chris, Bruce and their team are visionar- ies who focus on impact. When we origi- nally explored this model with a collective passion and mission, it just made sense. It's been a joy to work with like-minded professionals on projects that showcase our shared values for improving the quality of life of animals around the world and under the seas." New Crop Capital and BeyondBrands' first collaborative brand will be unveiled in summer 2017. GN

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