Big Food is big. With such size comes a lot of baggage: 100-year-old brands, factories that sacrifice flexibility for throughput and leaders who are forced to placate activist investors.
But Big Food has begotten a handful of leaders who have gone against the grain and found success, who have created new categories or changed their companies and, in so doing, have changed the entire food industry. Or at least are trying to. There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with size; as one of our subjects, Gary Hirshberg, puts it, only Big Food can make big changes.
The editors of Food Processing developed a list of people who fits this persona, then we vetted that list with our Editorial Advisory Board, who made some new suggestions. While there are more people deserving of the recognition, we look at the changes effected by Denise Morrison of Campbell Soup, Sam Reed of TreeHouse Foods, Jim Koch of Boston Beer Co., Scott Mandell of Enjoy Life Foods and Hirshberg of Stonyfield Farm/Danone.
> Read the full article on the Food Processing website
Source: Food Processing
McCain Foods has completed the acquisition of Irish plant-based frozen food manufacturer Strong Roots. The acquisition follows McCain and Strong Roots’ strategic partnership, which began in 2021 and resulted from a $55 million investment.
Cargill partners with Voyage Foods to scale up alternatives to cocoa-based products to meet consumers’ indulgence needs. The commercial partnership will also provide food manufacturers with nut spreads produced with no nut or dairy allergens used in the recipe formulation.
L’Occitane International owner Reinold Geiger is reportedly close to taking the company private in a deal with Blackstone. The French skin care company’s filing halted trading of its Hong Kong-listed shares this week. This is the second time in months that the Australian billionaire has attempted a buyout.
