Mission-driven Rubicon Bakers has sashayed onto the gluten-free scene with the bolt-on of local peer Lucky Spoon Bakery.
Founded in 1993, Richmond, California-based Rubicon – a portfolio company of Trive Capital – empowers people who need a second chance. Many of its employees have experienced significant barriers to employment, including housing insecurity, incarceration, substance use disorders and other systemic challenges. We provide employment so they can change their lives. The B Corp uses its operation as a force for good and is always finding ways to bake a better world.
Such as the acquisition of Lucky Spoon, which will add gluten-free to Rubicon’s current baked-from-scratch portfolio of clean label, nut-free and vegan treats.
“We are excited to enter the gluten-free category and build on our expertise in meeting specific dietary needs with delicious, fresh baked goods,” said Rubicon CEO Sebastian Siethoff.
“This is a valued addition to our portfolio and we are thrilled to welcome Lucky Spoon and the incredible team who have built this successful brand.”
For it’s part, Salt Lake-based Lucky Spoon has been a B Corp business since 2012, also providing employment for people facing social barriers. The Salt Lake-based baker specializes in gluten-free goods, which it sells into the US grocery channel through majors like Kroger, Albertsons and Whole Foods Market.
“I founded Lucky Spoon to change the way people think about gluten-free food,” said Lucky Spoo founder Pam Schulte, who will join the Rubicon leadership team.
“Rubicon Bakers is the perfect partner to grow that promise, and I’m so excited to join Rubicon’s family of brands.”
Financial details of the deal were not disclosed and comes three years after Rubicon acquired Just Desserts, a Fairfield, California-based maker of desserts and sweet goods.
A popular brand of sliced white bread is being recalled after rat parts were found in some loaves.
Nagoya-based Pasco Shikishima Corp said it is recalling 104,000 packs of its Pasco bread from 15 prefectures after parts of a small black rat was found in a batch of super-fermented chojuku bread produced at a factory west of Tokyo.
While the recall of the contaminated products had been completed, Pasco said it was recalling other items produced on the same line as an abundance of precaution. The line has also been “suspended for the time being to investigate the cause and to strengthen countermeasures,” the company said in a statement.
“We deeply apologize for the serious inconvenience and trouble this has caused to our customers, suppliers, and other concerned parties.”
Japan – which is known for its high standards of cleanliness and food safety – has recently been hit with a string of food safety scares.
In March, Kobayashi Pharmaceutical was ordered to recall supplement products containing red yeast rice, called beni koji, after five people died and more than 100 were hospitalized.
The scare is rocking a segment of Japan’s food market that has grown rapidly following looser regulations on labeling. Demand for functional foods – a category called tokuho (or foods with special health qualities) – was estimated to be $4.53bn in 2023.
Last year, a wave of social media pranks saw numerous arrests. Dubbed sushi terrorism, diners at conveyor belt restaurants filmed themselves spraying food with hand sanitizer or licking the rim of a cup before returning it to the conveyor.
The snack food giant has acquired a Bombardier Global 6000, which comes with a price tag of around $60m.
Data obtained by ch-aviation fleets show the Oreo maker acquired the 13-passenger jet from Priester Aviation in March.
In SEC filings, Mondelez said the aircraft will be reserved for CEO Dirk Van de Put’s business and personal travel, citing security and efficiency reasons.
The “use of private aircraft allows our CEO to be more secure, productive, and efficient when traveling, particularly since we do business in over 150 countries,” it explained.
The Mexican bakery giant Grupo Bimbo is closing a bakery facility in Lévis, Quebec, on July 1, impacting 95 employees.
Bimbo said production will be moved to other plants where there is available capacity, such as Québec city and Sainte-Marie-de-Beauce (Vachon). Affected employees are also being encouraged to apply for open positions with these facilities.
“This decision supports our strategic efforts to drive productivity improvements in our operations through better efficiency, increasing capacity utilization and reducing overall costs, while allowing us to provide the same high quality products and services to our valued customers,” the company said in a statement.
Bimbo Canada president Marie-Ève Royer added, “While we have made every effort to sustain and build the business, over time, site utilisation and production have steadily declined.
“It was a tough decision to close this bakery and I will personally ensure that we do everything possible to ease the impact on our people and encourage them to seek employment at other Bimbo Canada facilities that are hiring.”
To celebrate its win as The Hundred’s Official Team Partner for the fourth year, KP is giving fans the chance to win cash and cricket swag.
Running until mid-August, the promotion is giving shoppers the chance to win a grand prize of £10,000 or one of 100 daily £100 cash prizes, along with eight New Balance cricket sets and two £65 vouchers for The Hundred shop.
Specially themed packs are rolling out in UK retail and KP’s leading brands – including Popchips, Butterkist, Pom-Bear, Tyrrells, KP Nuts, Hula Hoops, McCoy’s and Skips – will be featured on both the men’s and women’s team shirts.
“As we mark a fourth year in our partnership with The Hundred, we are excited to be both launching a new on-pack promotion with our biggest ever prize pool and continuing our Everyone In initiative,” said marketing director Kevin McNair.
“Protecting the wellbeing of current and future generations by encouraging healthier lifestyles is a fundamental element of our People & Planet responsible business program. With giveaways of cricket equipment planned alongside the continued installation of community pitches, we are proud to be improving access to sports for our communities.”
Last year, The Hundred broke previous attendance records, with 580,000 tickets sold and more than 266,000 TV viewers tuning in to watch each match.
Fazer Group is contemplating the consolidation of its Baltic-based bakeries, which would see it reducing its workforce by 185 positions.
Anne Mere, MD of Fazer Bakery Baltics, emphasized the company’s intention to fortify its market positions by centralizing production. Fazer Bakery Baltics claims to be the third-largest bakery in the Baltic market, operating in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
“Today we have a strong number two position on the Lithuanian and Latvian markets and a number three position in Estonia and our aim is to strengthen our positions,” said Mere.
“With one modernized production unit, we will have the opportunity to expand our known brands and product assortments into new categories and to meet different consumer demands even better than before.
“Consumers have become more price-conscious, and the market is increasingly campaign-driven, which has led to price competition and lower margins.”
The Finnish conglomerate is exploring the potential of merging two bakeries into a single production facility in Ogre, central Latvia. A $19.2m investment will enhance warehouse infrastructure, upgrade production capabilities and streamline picking processes for frozen and ambient products.
The transition, however, will also impact the workforce at the Lithuania facility, potentially resulting in job terminations. However, the new facility in Ogre will require the recruitment of up to 60 additional employees.
“If these changes were to realize, we would do our utmost to support our employees in Kaunas and help them find new jobs,” added Mere.
“Vacancies in other Fazer Group units would be offered with priority to those employees whose employment would possibly be terminated. We would also collaborate with various partners and local Employment Service.”
Fazer Bakery Baltics produces a diverse range of bakery products including toast, rye and wheat-based loaves, portion breads, burger buns, polar breads, bread snacks, and cakes. It is one of Fazer Group's three bakery business units, alongside its divisions in Finland and Sweden.
In 2023, Fazer Bakery Baltics generated revenue of €54m, employing a 600-strong workforce. That year, the total bakery net sales for Fazer Group witnessed a 7% increase, reaching €463m.
Should it happen, the consolidation is expected to be concluded by the start of 2025.
The snack and beverage giant said its beverage plant in Northern Spain aims to become the company’s first plant globally to reach net-zero emissions by 2025.
This achievement follows investments of $29m in several sustainability projects at the Álava Basque Country plant over the past five years, in addition to a $5.38m decarbonization-focused electrification project.
The plant has used electricity from renewable sources since 2015, with the new electrification project ramping it up to 100%. The plant has also initiated a project to replace its remaining natural gas with electric energy.
According to PepsiCo, the electrification of the plant’s operations will eliminate 1,849 tons of CO2 per year.
“I am tremendously proud that our beverage plant in Álava aims to become the first in our company worldwide to have net-zero emissions next year,” said Pol Codina, GM of PepsiCo in Southwestern Europe.
“We are aware that we still have a long way to go to decarbonize our entire value chain and, to do so, we hope to be able to count on the maximum collaboration of all our partners.”
Under its pep+ sustainability framework, the company has is aiming to achieve groupwide targets of net zero emissions by 2040 and become water positive by 2030.
In 2023, PepsiCo opened a $343m plant in Poland, described by the company as its greenest factory in Europe as it incorporates renewable energy and a series of circular economy measures to reduce water waste and help address global food system challenges. The Środa Śląska plant is set to be climate neutral by 2035.
The US co-manufacturer has completed its amalgamation with the nutritional snack maker.
TruFood’s CEO Michael Buick will oversee the enlarged company, while Bar Bakers founder and CEO Harold Rothman will join the group’s board of directors.
“The coming together of TruFood and Bar Bakers marks a significant milestone as it strengthens our position in the nutritional snacks market,” said Buick.
California-based Bar Bakers manufactures cold-form baked bars, as well as cookies and wafers. The company employs more than 1,000 workers across four manufacturing sites and two warehouses in California.
Added Buick, “As a result, we have expanded our capabilities and portfolio of products and strategically extended our manufacturing footprint to the west coast.
“The combined company’s expertise and resources will enable us to better serve our customers and to accelerate our growth opportunities. I am thrilled to welcome Bar Bakers to our family. Their track record of customer partnership and operational excellence align perfectly with our values and vision.”
Said Rothman, “We look forward to coming together with the TruFood team and are confident that, together, the combined company will be best positioned to address the evolving needs of our customers and drive continued success for them, for our employees, partners and all our stakeholders.”
Founded in 1985, Pittsburgh-based TruFood is a contract manufacturer of branded and private label snack bars, chocolate moulded products and baked goods for packaged goods companies and retailers. Acquired by New York-based AUA Private Equity in 2019, it was then sold on to Mabadala Investment Company, under its Mabadala Capital fund, for an undisclosed sum in 2022.
“We see significant value in bringing together TruFood and Bar Bakers to create a single company that has the capabilities and expertise to lead this industry in the years ahead,” said Adnana Azam, executive director of Mubadala Capital.
