TexBev, a beverage co-packing company owned by Bishop Cider, plans to relocate its brewing operations and expand its capacity and capabilities. To support the growth of the business, Bishop Cider is acquiring Wild Acre Brewing and Legal Draft Beer Co. TexBev will relocate operations from Dallas to Wild Acre's Fort Worth facility and expand its capacity and capabilities with the addition of the equipment from Bishop Cider's Dallas cidery and Legal Draft's Arlington brewery. The Fort Worth facility sits on 21 acres of land, providing space to continually expand. Wild Acre beer will continue to be produced at the site but the brand will be undergoing a refresh. Joel Malone, CEO of Bishop Cider, said: "Rightfully so, Wild Acre has gained a lot of respect in Fort Worth. They have built a very impressive facility and the beer can hold its own against other local breweries, but I believe there is potential to compete on a larger stage." Bishop Cider has also begun construction of a new location of its Cidercade concept in Fort Worth, which will be the largest to date and is expected to open by the end of the summer. TexBev's acquisition of the Fort Worth facility is expected to close by the end of May.

Packaging solutions company Lamipak is investing $200 million to construct its second factory in Indonesia. Located near Cikande in the Serang district, the facility will be the first aseptic packaging factory in the country, according to Lamipak. The plant will be designed to have a capacity of 18 billion packs per year, with the production line to be implemented in two phases. Half of its capacity is expected to come online by the fourth quarter of 2023. Kostiantyn Sinikov, managing director of Lamipak Indonesia, said: "Our team is proud and excited to be involved in this project. Once the factory is commercially ready it will set a high benchmark on what a world-class packaging facility should be and will deliver a high-class service both to local and export customers. In addition, its presence will bring benefits to the local communities and their businesses, as well as create new job opportunities in the area." Once the final phase is complete, the factory’s capacity will be "one of the biggest in the world".

US-based Waterloo Sparkling Water has expanded its line of carbonated water with the launch of a limited-edition passion fruit flavour. The passion fruit sparkling water is "delightfully bright with an aroma that lures you into a tropical burst of fruit flavours". All flavours are made with non-GMO project verified natural flavouring and purified carbonated water. Adam Price, SVP of operations and flavour development lead at Waterloo, commented: "An island vacation with relaxing, tropical vibes was our inspiration. Over the course of ten months, we meticulously crafted our flavour, full of fresh-ripe, true-to-fruit and zingy-tart notes. Once we dialled in the earthy notes, we arrived at a bright, layered and complex tropical flavour with a fruity aroma – perfectly balanced and refreshing to drink wherever you are." The limited-edition flavour will be available at US retailers nationwide beginning this month, including Whole Foods, HEB, Central Market, select regions of Costco and Hy-Vee, during the summer season only.

Lactalis has reached an agreement to acquire Australian yogurt company Jalna. The company says the acquisition will help expand its yogurt portfolio and position in the Australian dairy market. The transaction includes the Jalna brand, a production facility in Melbourne, Victoria, and a milk farm in northern Victoria. In a company statement, Lactalis said: "Jalna is a fully integrated, ‘paddock-to-pot’ dairy business that produces pot set yogurts, manufactures the majority of its unique containers and operates a biodynamic farm, with a strong focus on Greek, organic and all-natural yogurts". The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Last month, Lactalis acquired the assets and brands of Bayerische Milchindustrie eG.

Canadian plant-based food and ingredients supplier, Above Food, has announced its acquisition of Northern Quinoa Production (NorQuin) for an undisclosed sum. Founded in 1994, NorQuin is described by Above Food as the "leading quinoa producer in the world". NorQuin will bring speciality ingredient capabilities to the Above Food platform, as well as a portfolio of consumer products that is already sold across North America in retailers such as Harris Teeter, Walmart and Costco. Above Food CEO Lionel Kambeitz said: "The team at NorQuin has built a truly remarkable platform. Adding them to our scaled, vertically integrated platform will enable significant opportunities for growth and margin expansion across each of our core competencies: disruptive agriculture, speciality ingredients and high-growth CPG." Last year, Above Food announced its acquisitions of organic legume and grain brand Farmer Direct and plant-based brands Only Oats and Culcherd.

US food tech companies Tomorrow Farms and Perfect Day are partnering to launch flavoured animal-free dairy milk under a new brand, Bored Cow. The newly launched brand will have three flavoured variants of the milk – chocolate, vanilla and strawberry – with a fourth "original" flavour due to be released later. Bored Cow animal-free dairy milk uses Perfect Day's animal-free whey protein which is identical to conventional whey protein with up to 97% fewer carbon emissions. Tomorrow Farms then adds plant-based ingredients to the animal-free whey to replicate the "rich, creamy flavour of dairy". According to both companies, Bored Cow contains eight grams of protein, zero grams of total sugars per cup and features vitamins and minerals that are present in traditional dairy milk. Ben Berman, CEO of Tomorrow Farms, said: "We started Tomorrow Farms with a belief that there's a better way to make our favourite foods. That's why we're so happy to be partnering with Perfect Day to bring animal-free dairy milk right to consumers in their homes." He continued: "We believe the Bored Cow brand will be synonymous with this exciting new category, offering an alternative to cow's milk and plant-based milks that don't compromise on taste, nutrition, texture and, most importantly, the future of our planet". Bored Cow's initial three flavours are available to order exclusively online starting early June, shipping directly to consumers in the continental US.

Mondelēz International-owned Cadbury is expanding its Twirl portfolio with the launch of a limited-edition caramel flavour. Cadbury Twirl Caramel will be available at retailers from next month for an RRP of £0.69. Frederike Grohmann, brand manager for Cadbury Twirl at Mondelēz International, said: “We’ve seen just how popular flavours are within chocolate singles, in fact when Twirl Orange launched it became Cadbury’s biggest selling single bar. We know Twirl Caramel is going to be a hit with consumers...” The launch of the bars will be backed by PR, digital and social media activity to drive visibility and encourage trial. Last year, dessert manufacturer Vittles Foods teamed up with Mondelēz to launch a range of Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate Brownies.

The US is in the grip of an infant formula shortage that has left many parents struggling to access the crucial product for their babies. In February, Abbott Laboratories initiated a recall of formula products, including from the Similac, Alimentum and EleCare brands, following reports of serious bacterial infections in four infants. The company also closed its Sturgis, Michigan, manufacturing plant. According to Reuters, the recall worsened a shortage that began with consumer stockpiling in 2020 and pandemic supply chain issues. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cited five bacterial infections reported in babies that had been given Abbott’s formula, two of which died. However, Abbott has said its formula is “not likely the source of infection”. In a statement released on 28 April, the company said: “Our focus has, is and always will be to ensure safe food for families who rely on us for our high-quality nutrition products”. “Abbott takes employee concerns very seriously and we foster a culture of compliance to produce the best and highest-quality formula. We empower our employees to identify and report any issues that could compromise our product safety or quality, which comes before any other considerations.” As a result of the worsening shortage, baby formula makers, including Danone and Nestlé, have stepped up shipments of their products to the US. Meanwhile, the FDA agreed on Monday to allow imports of baby formula from manufacturers that do not usually sell within the country. Enfamil formula maker, Reckitt Benckiser, is also boosting its baby formula production by around 30% as well as making more frequent deliveries to US stores, an executive told Reuters on Tuesday. Meanwhile, the FDA has agreed on the steps needed to reopen the Sturgis plant with Abbott, which is hoping to resume operations within two weeks. To address the shortage, President Biden has launched ‘Operation Fly Formula’ to get more formula to US stores as quickly as possible. Under the operation, the US Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services are authorised to use Department of Defense-contracted commercial aircraft to pick up overseas formula that meets US health and safety standards. On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives passed a bill to provide $28 million in emergency funding to the FDA to help alleviate the current shortage and head off similar crises in future. House Appropriations Chair Rosa DeLauro, cited by CNN, stated: "This bill is the first step to help restock shelves and end this shortage...Parents and caretakers across the country cannot wait – they need our support now. This bill takes important steps to restore supply in a safe and secure manner. Additionally, with these funds, FDA will be able to help to prevent this issue from occurring again.”

US snack manufacturer J&J Snack Foods has signed an agreement to acquire beaded ice cream producer Dippin' Dots for $222 million. Founded in 1988, Dippin’ Dots produces beaded ice creams using a patented cryogenic freezing process. Headquartered in Paducah, Kentucky, the company leases four frozen warehouses located in California, Canada, Australia and China. J&J Snack Foods president and CEO Dan Fachner said: “With this acquisition, we can further leverage our combined strength in entertainment and amusement locations, theatres, convenience and supermarkets to realise added scale, operational and go-to-market synergies and create new selling opportunities among an expanded customer base". Dippin’ Dots CEO Scott Fischer added: “As a leader in the snack industry with a number of iconic brands and a strong record of product innovation, we believe J&J Snacks Foods is well-positioned to leverage our unique offering in the market and improve and grow the business going forward”. The deal, which is subject to customary conditions, is expected to close by the end of June.

New regulations for caps are coming to the EU in July 2024. Antares Vision Group’s solution, featuring FT System technology, inspects tethered caps with high accuracy, ensuring compliance without interrupting operations. Directive 2019/904 of the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union introduced new requirements for caps that are scheduled to come into force in July 2024. From that time, all caps must remain attached to containers after they have been opened to prevent plastic from entering the environment and to promote recycling in tandem with the containers. New challenges for beverage companies In response to the challenges the Directive creates for beverage companies in terms of inspection and control, Antares Vision roup, empowered by FT System technology, offers tethered cap inspection solutions for both existing and new lines. When the Directive was published in 2019, we immediately began assessing what impact it would have on bottling lines so we could offer effective and efficient solutions to the bottling industry. Thanks to our well-established presence in the European market, we have been able to test prototype caps using our systems, with satisfactory results. With only a few minor, low-impact changes to our line systems, we efficiently controlled all the cap parameters, including position, height and seal. Which types of tethered caps can Antares Vision Group machines inspect? Different types of tethered caps have different features, which makes the inspection stage even more challenging and important. For example, carbonated beverages use screw caps and flat beverages use press-on caps. We have solutions suitable for both, and the flexibility of our systems allows us to adapt our controls to the needs of different types of closures. In addition to their inspection systems, bottlers will have to analyse the impact the tethered caps have on their entire line, including application systems. A distinctive feature of the solutions is their ability to control the upstream process in addition to ensuring quality. For example, they monitor individual filling valves and individual capping heads and correlate product waste to a specific capping head. This allows the manufacturer to perform preventive maintenance and optimise the efficiency of their capping systems. Furthermore, our solutions make it possible to continue performing quality control on PET cap-preform coupling and torque measurement using Robo-QCS, the automated robotic system on the line. Robo-QCS automatically performs multiple quality controls on the line, simultaneously picking up and depositing a bottle directly on the belt at full line speed. We can also integrate application angle into tethered cap inspection. This ensures the correct closure between the cap and bottle. How does the Antares Vision Group inspection solution work? Collaborating with major cap manufacturers has been and always will be crucial to Antares Vision Group. Thanks to these strong relationships, we can anticipate proposed changes to tethered caps and continue to evolve and improve our solutions. We can study new features and confirm if our inspection systems are capable as is, or if they need to be adapted. A significant challenge with tethered caps is minimising false rejects. With full accuracy, our solution recognises actual rejects; it does not reject a bottle because of the space between the lid and the tamper-evidence band that is characteristic of tethered caps. We can also inspect symmetrical and asymmetrical caps with a protruding hinge that deviates from the usual rotation symmetry. All this is possible because we deploy up to five cameras — four for side views around the cap and one for a top-down view — and dedicated illumination systems to achieve a clear contour inspection of the tethered caps, especially the tamper-evidence band. Integrating the application angle guarantees complete closure detection via the correct alignment of caps with bottles. We understand some types of tethered caps might require dedicated solutions. Antares Vision Group with FT System technology is also ready to meet these needs. Our flexibility and capacity to perform dedicated studies is what has always set us apart from other solution providers. Antares Vision Group and FT System technology will be at Drinktec 2022 We hope to see you from 12–16 September at Messe München. Visit us in Hall A6 at Stand 115 to learn more about our solutions, including for inspection for tethered caps. For further information please contact commercial@ftsystem.com or visit ftsystem.com. #inspection #partnercontent #tetheredcaps #AntaresVisionGroup #FTSystem #EU

Australian dairy manufacturer Nature One Dairy has signed an agreement to acquire Fei Fah Medi Balm, which sells and markets dairy and adult nutrition brands Ripple and White H20 in Hong Kong. Nature One says it will transfer an upfront payment of $8 million to Fei Fah Medi Balm, with a further $4 million payment being made upon the six-month completion mark. With the acquisition, Nature One will provide over 180 jobs across Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong, with a marketing and sales team based in Hong Kong. Nature One founder and CEO, Nick Dimopoulos, said: “The acquisition is another key strategy of the Group, extending our current brand positioning in Asia by launching further owned branded powder nutritional products in both adult and infant marketing segments”. FEI owner and CEO, Lawrence Gau, added: “I am pleased to continue my role in the business based in Hong Kong and collectively build a strong brand and channel into Asia with access to multiple products in liquid and powder available to the business from ". He added: "There are significant mutual benefits across the two businesses, which existing customers will benefit from by providing access to multiple products in different formats and packaging and market segments that will further create market stickiness with customers and consumers.”

Multivac has introduced its new R3 thermoforming packaging machine for food manufacturers to keep pace with the range of pack types and packaging materials. Available from July 2022, the machine will not only run the latest types of packaging materials, such as recyclable and environmentally friendly mono films, but it will also be adapted to a wide range of customer requirements due to its modular construction. “Our aim is to offer 'best-fit' machine configurations to not only small and medium-sized companies but also larger companies with tight budgets,” said Michael Landerer, product manager at Multivac. “Cost-effective solutions, which are perfectly matched to the customer's production environment, and which are neither over-dimensioned nor under dimensioned. Solutions, which at the same time incur the lowest possible maintenance costs.” The R3 comprises four stations: the forming station, the loading area, the sealing die and the cutting area. “The R3 achieves a speed of twelve cycles per minute at its peak level and can therefore reach the output of high-end slicer lines,” added Landerer. The new machine has been equipped with “allover heating” in order to heat recyclable films evenly to prevent waves at the edges of packs. Additionally, “the chain guides for the web advance can be adjusted individually, and they are also decoupled from all the forces of the machine processes," explained the company. "This means, for example, the weight of the die set is borne entirely on the side frames. Therefore, no vibrations are transmitted to the film.”