MINNEAPOLIS — Totino’s, a frozen snack brand of General Mills Inc., has launched its first foray into the frozen breakfast aisle: breakfast snack bites.
The new microwaveable snacks come in three flavors: pork shoulder bacon and cheese scramble, which features a crispy crust filled with shoulder bacon and cheese; sausage and cheese scramble, which features bits of pork sausage and cheese wrapped in a golden crust; and cheesy chorizo scramble, which features smoky chorizo crumbles and cheese in a bite-size pocket.
“Totino’s is all about making every day epic and we’re bringing everything fans love about us to the morning,” said Taylor Roseberry, brand experience manager of Totino’s. “These bite-size pockets are the perfect poppable addition to breakfast — no utensils required.”
Totino’s breakfast snack bites are currently available at select grocery stores, with expanded availability at Walmart and Kroger in the summer, for a suggested retail price of $7.19 for a 40-count package.
NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF. – Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. announced the appointment of Frank Yiannas to its Food Safety Advisory Council on April 13. Yiannas is the fifth member of the council, which is comprised of independent food safety experts tasked with ensuring Chipotle’s food safety practices evolve with the times and serve as the blueprint for the foodservice sector. Earlier this year, Yiannis resigned from his role as the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) deputy commissioner for food policy and response, a position he held since 2018. In the 30 years before joining the FDA, he served in food safety and leadership roles with Walmart and The Walt Disney Co.
Yiannas is the newest addition to the council, which includes David Acheson, MD, former FDA Associate Commissioner of Foods; Elisabeth Hagen, MD, former United States Department of Agriculture Undersecretary for Food Safety; Hal King, PhD, former Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Research Scientist and Director of Food Safety with Chick-fil-A; and James Marsden, PhD, former Head of Food Safety at Chipotle and distinguished professor.
Kerry Bridges, vice president of food safety with Chipotle, said maintaining the company’s bench of food safety advisors is a priority.
“In order to make sure our food safety culture and programs are as robust as possible, it’s critical to supplement our internal expertise with independent external guidance,” he said. “Frank’s vast experience with the FDA and other large brands will help guarantee Chipotle’s food safety standards continue to be best in class.”
“I’m delighted to join and collaborate with some of the nation’s foremost food safety authorities and serve on Chipotle’s Food Safety Advisory Council,” Yiannas said. “I look forward to lending my experience to a company committed to ‘cultivating a better world’ that benefits people and the planet.”
CHICAGO – US District Court Judge Thomas M. Durkin ruled last week that large poultry producers must face antitrust litigation that accused them of conspiring to inflate chicken prices.
The in re Broiler Chicken Antitrust Litigation lawsuit accused poultry processors of conspiring and coordinating production dating back to 2008. This lawsuit was initially filed by retail, foodservice and institutional buyers of chicken products.
Durkin stated that jurors could find it likely that major poultry companies, including Pilgrim’s Pride, Sanderson Farms and Tyson Foods conspired for price fixing, throughout his 90-page decision.
“There are numerous examples of supposed competitors regularly exchanging sensitive production data with each other,” Durkin said. “A jury could find that such conduct is not the behavior of active competitors.”
Durkin also dismissed claims regarding the Sherman Act and RICO claims for Perdue Farms, Wayne Farms, Foster Farms, Case Farms, Norman W. Fries Inc., d/b/a Claxton Poultry Farms Inc. and Fieldale Farms Corp.
He later dismissed ongoing claims regarding Agri Stats Inc., which allegedly would monitor pricing and production for poultry companies.
Other companies that Durkin denied dismissal motions included Harrison Poultry, Koch Foods, Keystone Foods, Mountaire Farms, OK Foods, Pec Foods, Raeford Farms and Simmons Foods.
In his ruling, Durkin narrowed the timeframe for price-fixing allegations to be between 2008-2009 and 2011-2012.
He dismissed claims relating to supply cuts in 2015-2016 and alleged manipulation of the Georgia Dock broiler price index.
Last month, Simmons Foods was granted preliminary approval for an $8 million settlement regarding a direct purchaser price-fixing lawsuit.
Court documents said that if the Simmons agreement is approved, the total amount recovered for the direct purchaser lawsuit is $188.9 million.
A summary of recent coverage of price-fixing cases can be found on the MEAT+POULTRYwebsite.
DALLAS — Increased off-premises sales, particularly for It’s Just Wings, helped Chili’s return to sales growth in the third quarter ended March 24. The quick-service restaurant chain, continuing to rebound from COVID-19 dining restrictions, rang up sales of $749 million in the quarter, which marked an increase of 0.3% from $748.7 million in the previous year’s third quarter.
Now, executives of Brinker International Inc., the Dallas-based parent company of Chili’s, are considering different avenues to grow It’s Just Wings, an online-only chicken wings brand. Two possibilities are takeout and tying in with sporting events.
“It’s Just Wings continues to perform well, and we’re on track to hit that $150 million target we set at the beginning of the year,” said Wyman T. Roberts, chief executive officer and president of Brinker. “Almost all of our domestic franchise partners jumped on the opportunity, and globally, several of our partners have already picked it up. Wings is now in nine countries and 160 locations outside the US, making it a formidable brand in just its first year.”
It’s Just Wings leverages existing Chili’s and Maggiano’s kitchens and cooks to sell chicken wings. It’s Just Wings began by operating through an exclusive partnership with DoorDash. Brinker International in March announced it had integrated with Google so that consumers could order pickup for the wings on Google Search and Google Maps.
“We believe takeout holds a lot of potential for us, and now that we’ve invested in the technology and infrastructure to support it, we’re working to increase awareness levels outside the delivery channel,” Roberts said. “We’ve learned a lot this year with the launch of It’s Just Wings that we will leverage when we’re ready for our next virtual brand.”
A return to a more normal college football season next fall could present opportunities for the brand, he said.
“It’s been a really great year of learning around the virtual brands, It’s Just Wings and others, around how to market them effectively, about how they play to different audiences and who the target is,” Roberts said.
Brinker International in the third quarter posted net income of $33.9 million, or 74¢ per share on the common stock, which was up 10% from $30.8 million, or 83¢ per share, in the previous year’s third quarter. Third-quarter revenues of $828.4 million were down 3.7% from $860 million. The winter storm Uri that hit in February resulted in an estimated $10.5 million in lost revenues, said Joseph G. Taylor, executive vice president and chief financial officer for Brinker.
Brinker International projects fourth-quarter revenues in a range of $950 million to $1 billion.
“With the rollout of vaccines in full swing and restrictions lifting across the country, our guests’ pent-up demand for a dine-in experience is being released as well,” Roberts said. “People are finally starting to feel safer to venture out and spend more — spend some of the money they’ve been saving over the past year.”
Through the first three quarters of the fiscal year, Brinker International posted net income of $56.6 million, or $1.25 per share on the common stock, which was down 33% from $73.6 million, or $1.97 per share, in the same time of the previous year. Total revenues over three quarters were $2.33 billion, which was down 7% from $2.52 billion.
Going forward, Brinker expects to face rising costs for labor. Inflation in labor typically is in a range of 3% to 5%, Taylor said, adding in the short run the level will be at the high end of that range.
“But we’re very comfortable,” he said. “We have all the tools in place to manage through this short term.”
BENTONVILLE, ARK. — Walmart is accepting applications from small business owners and entrepreneurs to apply to its 11th annual Open Call event. Entrepreneurs will pitch their products for a chance to be sold on Walmart or Sam’s Club shelves or on Walmart.com or SamsClub.com.
Entrepreneurs chosen to be sold at Walmart in stores or online receive a golden ticket and have access to the company’s customer base.
Program participants will participate in mentoring sessions with Walmart leaders and have the opportunity to listen to guests. They also will have one-on-one pitch meetings with Walmart or Sam’s Club merchants.
Last year’s Open Call featured opportunities for supplier development. The program drew more than 700 businesses and more than 180 pitches resulted in 130 golden tickets, according to Walmart.
In recent years, the vacuum skin packaging platform has continued to see growth and technical advancement. This progress and growth over time combined with consumer interest in transparency, convenience and food safety have fueled skin packaging’s increasing popularity, according to Bryan Mueller, marketing manager for Oshkosh, Wis.-based Amcor Flexibles North America.
“Amcor strives to provide the packaging formats that processors and consumers value, and skin packaging clearly provides benefits across the value chain,” Mueller said.
Showtime
Once applied and vacuum packed, skin packaging provides a longer shelf life for meat and poultry products, and by completely draping the film over the entire product, it shows the product in a clearer way as if there is no film.
“Everyone benefits from longer shelf life,” said Mike McCann, packaging specialist at Reiser, Canton, Mass. “Retailers will reduce their shrink, consumers will reduce their food waste, and processors will be able to enter new, distant markets with their products.”
“Skin packaging offers several advantages to customers,” said Jason Angel, vice president of sales and marketing at Battleboro, NC-based Ossid. “For starters, it presents the product in a very appealing manner. Skin packaging allows the product to stand out by letting the color and beauty of the food pop through. This allows the consumer to inspect the product more closely and choose which package they’d like to ultimately purchase.”
The transparency and clarity of skin packaging not only gives consumers a better view of the product, but also delivers a high-end and premium appearance to go with longer shelf life, said Mike Hanneken, product market manager for Multivac Inc., Kansas City, Mo. Multivac offers two types of skin packaging. One type allows for minimal product protrusion while the other permits product protrusion of up to 95 millimeters.
“Packages with minimal product protrusion still create a premium and unique look, but packages with greater product protrusion really help the product stand out,” Hanneken said.
Farmer Focus in Harrisonburg, Va., a 100% organic poultry processor and network of family farms has used skin packaging for several years based on what its consumers want to see in the store. Farmer Focus’ research consistently drove the company to hone its packaging style to present aesthetically pleasing instore presentations of product on the shelf, as well as giving customers the ability to see what’s in the package before purchase.
“For Farmer Focus, it’s also another symbol of the transparency we offer throughout our whole process,” said Stephen Shepard, executive vice president of operations. “With the skin packaging consumers can evaluate all sides of the meat. When you couple that with our Farm ID system allowing consumers to trace back to the farmer, it becomes an added symbol of our transparency.”
Skin packaging not only offers a clean look, but it also offers a clean use to consumers in the home or otherwise.
“A skin package is normally far less messy to deal with on opening versus conventional vacuum packs,” McCann said.
Vacuum skin packaging provides a loner shelf life for meat and poultry products and shows the product as if there is no film. (Source: Reiser)
Attributes
Processors want high performance, low power consumption and overall cost efficiency when it comes to the equipment and machines necessary to operations, and skin packaging is no different. Ossid’s ReeEco tray sealer operates on electricity without the need of compressed air. Its infeed conveyor gives operators up to three loading positions, easy tooling changes and a user-friendly control panel.
According to McCann, in addition to shelf life and other advantages, processors like the ease of use in loading products into or onto packages in Reiser’s machines due to the collapse and evacuation in a quickly executed, yet controlled sequence.
“Of course, customer support is another critical component of a vacuum skin packaging system,” Angel said. “You can build the best equipment in the world, but if you do not have the infrastructure in place to support that system, you are going to fail your customer. A strength Ossid brings to the industry is a robust customer support network that tends to our machinery and customers long after the sale.”
Ultimately consumers push what a processor produces, how it packages, its ingredients, etc. Portion control may have started out as a trend but has become a mainstream consumer habit and tendency. Meat and poultry companies have taken notice, and skin packaging aids in attracting those consumers.
“More and more meat packaging is limiting portion sizes, and skin packaging can be an efficient way to package single portions for today’s consumer,” Mueller said.
Minimal protrusion skin packaging offers meat processing facilities a lower cost option, but products don’t present as well as those in a package with greater product protrusion. Maximum product protrusion machines possess a higher level of sophistication and create a more premium look.
“For both types of packages, the top film contours the product very tightly without the product puncturing the film,” Hanneken said. “Some products are more challenging to skin pack. Multivac can work with the customer to run samples of their product using the customer’s film to evaluate such concerns.”
Shepard from Farmer Focus agreed, “Boneless cuts are going to be more successful than bone-in products purely because you are taking out the potential of bone puncture risk. However, we use this packaging for all cuts and success is really a matter of aligning the thickness of film and settings used when sealing.”
Jerry Rundle, vice president of sales for Taunton, Mass.-based Harpak-ULMA Packaging LLC, emphasized, “…reliability, reliability, reliability,” when addressing the things processor customers need most from skin packaging systems.
Rundle also agreed that while providing longer shelf lives and a superior look to packaged meat products, skin packaging offers more versatility in achieving those qualities.
“You can skin onto flex film, semi-rigid film, flat board, paper trays, etc.,” he said. He added that customers often seek out machines and machine builders whose equipment provides the best-looking skin packaged product because attractiveness implies quality.
Reiser works with customers to evaluate and choose the best machines for specific products. (Source: Reiser)
Making choices
For meat and poultry companies considering the purchase of a skin packaging system, many reasons suggest it’s a worthy investment. The aesthetic value of skin packaging gives consumers an instant verification of reliability and quality when making purchasing decisions.
“Skin packaging also provides a consistent appearance on the shelf with better purge control than traditional formats and no product shift during transportation,” Mueller said.
Reiser works with customers to produce samples of the different styles of packaging so they can evaluate before purchase. The company has seen success and satisfied numerous customers using this process. Reiser welcomes its potential and existing customers to visit and be a part of that process at any time.
“Working with our Customer Center affords processors the opportunity to investigate thoroughly their various options without gambling on the purchase of a dedicated line that may not even be able to handle their product,” McCann said. “We encourage processors to bring your product, make your packages, present them to your customers, and observe their preference so that you can proceed with the best package for your customer, your product, and your business.”
Farmer Focus prioritizes its mission to promote and protect generational family farms and bases its choice of vendors on alignment with that mission.
“We also evaluate other more operations-focused things like quality of sourcing, transparency in costing and service, clear lead times, collaboration on inventory demand levels, technical support, and willingness to innovate with us,” Shepard said.
KANSAS CITY, MO. – Multivac Inc. recently announced its universal flowpacking solution which will feature a W500 and W510 model.
The machine uses precise servo drive technology for maximum output and optimum process control.
The company said products with a maximum width of 200 mm and a height of 120 mm can be packed with or without a tray.
Other available features include the independent speed setting of the rollers for crease-free longitudinal sealing along with cross sealing to keep temperature and pressure at needed levels.
The machine also has an integrated gas analysis system for MAP packing with modified atmosphere.
“When it comes to labeling or marking the packs on a flowpacker, Multivac offers a wide choice of solutions,” the company said. “These range from inline labelers to direct web printers and even combined systems. All these solutions are characterized by their extremely compact construction and optimum hygiene features. They are perfectly matched to the Multivac flowpacker in terms of their control technology and mechanical functions.”
SEATTLE — Howard Schultz, who returned to Starbucks Corp. as interim chief executive officer on April 4, will remain in that role through the first quarter of fiscal 2023 as the company continues its search for its next permanent CEO, Starbucks said on June 6. The company said it is on track to name a new CEO in the coming months.
Starbucks said the timeline provides the company “the ideal runway for a seamless transition and continuity of leadership through the 2022 holiday season, as the business transformation continues.”
“Since returning as interim CEO on April 4, Schultz has engaged deeply with partners (employees) of all levels of the company, working directly with the leadership team to shape a strategic plan for the future of a reimagined Starbucks Coffee Co.,” the company said. “The reinvention plan is being designed through co-creation across the organization with a focus on exceeding the expectations of both partners and customers.”
Kevin Johnson stepped down as president and CEO of Starbucks on April 4. At that time, Schultz agreed to return to the company. Schultz previously was CEO from 1986 to 2000, and again from 2008 to 2017.
Post Holdings will acquire Bob Evans for in a transaction valued at approximately $1.5 billion.
ST. LOUIS — Post Holdings, Inc. said it will acquire Bob Evans Farms, Inc. for $77 per share in a transaction valued at approximately $1.5 billion. The combination is expected to expand Post’s presence in higher-growth packaged foods categories.
Based in New Albany, Ohio, Bob Evans is a producer and distributor of refrigerated potato, pasta and vegetable side dishes, pork sausage, and refrigerated and frozen products under the Bob Evans, Owens, Country Creek and Pineland Farms brands. The company also has a growing food service business that represents approximately 35 percent of volume.
Earlier this year, Bob Evans Farms sold its restaurant business to Golden Gate Capital following mounting investor pressure.
The addition of Bob Evans is expected to strengthen Post’s footprint in food service and is highly complementary to its portfolio of ready-to-eat cereal brands, including Pebbles, Honey Bunches of Oats, Malt-O-Meal and Weetabix; active nutrition brands, including PowerBar, Premier Protein and Dymatize; and value-add egg, potato and cheese brands, including Crystal Farms, Better’n Eggs, Simply Potatoes and All Whites.
Rob Vitale, president and CEO of Post Holdings
“We have enormous respect for Bob Evans’ success and are excited about the growth opportunities this combination will create,” said Rob Vitale, president and CEO of Post Holdings. “Combining with Bob Evans expands our portfolio of top brands and gives Post a leading position in the perimeter of the store. We look forward to welcoming the talented Bob Evans team to Post and working to create a successful future together.”
The transaction was approved by the boards of directors of both companies and is expected to be completed early next year. Upon closing of the deal, Post plans to combine its existing Michael Foods Group refrigerated egg, potato and cheese business with Bob Evans to establish a refrigerated retail business within the company under the leadership of Mike Townsley, Bob Evans’ current president and CEO Jim Dwyer who will remain in his current role as president and CEO of the Michael Foods Group, managing the commercial food service egg, potato and pasta businesses, which will include the Bob Evans food service business.
The purchase price represents a 15 percent premium on the 30-day volume weighted average of Bob Evans shares. Post management expects the acquisition to be immediately accretive to Post’s top-line growth.
Mike Townsley, Bob Evans’ president and CEO
“We are pleased to join the Post family, combining our complementary portfolios to the benefit of all of our stakeholders,” Townsley said. “This transaction creates enhanced and certain value for our stockholders, while providing further resources and reach to deliver the Bob Evans experience to a broader audience of consumers and retailers. We are very proud of our 70-year history as a beloved brand and eager to begin this next chapter of growth.”
SEATTLE — Starbucks Corp. pulled its new breakfast chicken sandwich less than a week after launching the item nationwide. The company issued a voluntary stop sell for its chicken, maple butter and egg sandwich on June 26, saying it failed to meet quality standards.
Employees were instructed not to donate, sell or allow anyone to eat any of the product, according to the company. The product debuted on menus across the country on June 21.
“We issued a voluntary stop sell and discard on the chicken, maple butter and egg sandwich because the product didn’t meet Starbucks quality standards,” a Starbucks spokesperson told Food Business News the sister publication of MEAT+POULTRY. “We are committed to a high level of quality in the products that we serve and always act with an abundance of caution whenever a product or quality issue is raised.”
Unverified reports that the sandwich made employees and customers feel ill have circulated on social media. Starbucks said claims the item caused specific illness are false.
“This is not an FDA issued recall nor is it related to Salmonella or Listeria contamination,” the spokesperson said. “The quality issue that was identified by Starbucks would not lead to foodborne illness and any reports linking the stop sale to illness are inaccurate.”
The chicken sandwich was part of a broader pushto improve food sales for the Seattle-based company. Increasing orders that couple food with drinks is one way Starbucks aims to improve its average ticket size. Food sales in the second quarter ended March 31 grew 25% year-over-year, contributing to a 7% increase in average ticket.
