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CHICAGO — Mondelez International has selected 10 companies for its second CoLab Tech program.
The accelerator program, led by the baking giant’s R&D team, features an eight-week curriculum that offers companies hands-on experiences, virtual sessions, mentorship and a connection to Mondelez’ global network.
“As one of the world’s largest snack companies, we are thinking creatively – including seeking access to the newest technologies – to be ready and able to meet the opportunities we see coming in snacking,” said Ian Noble, VP for global ingredient R&D at Mondelez International. “This year’s CoLab Tech cohort brings exciting, disruptive technologies across the entire value chain. We are very eager to work with and learn from them, while also providing the resources and expertise that can help enable them to grow and scale.”
There were nearly 100 applications for this year’s program from around the world. The companies selected cover an assortment of areas critical for the future of the snacking industry, such as cocoa processing solutions, sustainable packaging and manufacturing, and wellbeing snacks and ingredients.
This year’s cohort members are:
Toppers Pizza has sold a company location in Janesville, Wisconsin, to MC Pizza, marking the franchisee’s fourth Toppers owned, according to a press release.
MC Pizza plans to open a new location in Beloit, Wisconsin, in 2025.
MC Pizza previously acquired three company-owned Toppers locations in March 2024: Menomonee Falls, Fox Point and Wauwatosa North. The Janesville store, located at 2201 Humes Road, represents another milestone in its strategic expansion across Wisconsin.
The franchise group is owned by Chester Ison and Marcus Tincher. Ison serves are the operating partner of MC Pizza and worked his way up from team member to general manager, area supervisor and then franchisee. Tincher is a real estate agent in Whitewater, Wisconsin.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled to take on the Janesville location and to bring Toppers to Beloit next year,” Ison said in the press release. “Toppers has always been about more than just great pizza – it’s about quality, innovation and community engagement. I’m excited to continue this upward trajectory with the brand.”
Toppers CEO Adam Oldenburg said Ison and Tincher have been outstanding franchisees.
“Their success is a testament to the opportunities we create for our most loyal partners,” he said in the press release. “We can’t wait to see them grow and bring Toppers to even more communities in the great state of Wisconsin.”
Toppers Pizza has 70 locations.
Wenzel’s Farm is now offering Venison Snack Sticks in three varieties: Original, Teriyaki and Jalapeno Cheddar.
All of Wenzel’s Farm Venison Snack Sticks are gluten-free and made with grass-fed venison.
“We are really excited as a company to be launching the new Wenzel’s Farm Venison Snack Stick line, says Wenzel’s President Mark Vieth. “We can provide a product consumers have a demand for at a great price. This product’s packaging brings forward the elements of our main line of products with a simpler, cleaner look.”
The Venison Snack Sticks will come in a single-serve, 1.5-oz. package and have a suggested retail price of $2.49.
Wenzel’s Farm offers 14 beef snack stick varieties and five varieties of jerky, all of which are crafted in small batches using premium cuts of meat and are naturally hard wood smoked.
Seven years after the Wireless Power Consortium first started working on a standard for countertop kitchen appliances, Midea announced the first product that works with the Ki standard. According to a story in The Verge, Midea announced its Celestial Flex Series of products, which includes a blender, steamer, and kettle, at the IFA show in Berlin.
Midea, one of China’s largest appliance brands, hasn’t said when its Ki lineup will ship, pricing, or regions to which it will ship. It also has not indicated if they are working on a Ki-compliant cooktop, (though it wouldn’t matter much to customers since any Ki-compliant cooktop should work). However, they did announce a new all-in-one built-in oven called the Midea One that has a built-in air fryer and automated multi-step cooking function capabilities.
The announcement of the first products is a big milestone for any standard, and Ki is no exception. And while it’s good to see a major manufacturer commit to the standard, the better part of a decade is a pretty long time for a standard to finally make it to market, which is probably why—as we reported earlier this year—some companies have taken it upon themselves to build wireless power products that don’t use the standard.
It will be interesting to watch if Cloen or others who have attempted to build non-Ki-based wireless power kitchen products will now begin to embrace Ki. My guess is they will since proprietary technologies are an uphill battle, particularly when trying to convince retailers to jump on board.
Initial Ki products with integrated transmission coils are expected to be indication cooktops, but in the long term, WPC expects the technology to be installed under the counter on quartz, granite, and marble countertops.
FedEx is preparing to scale its e-commerce fulfillment offering through a strategic alliance and investment in Nimble, an artificial intelligence robotics and autonomous technology company, according to an announcement Thursday. The investment amount was not disclosed.
Through the alliance, FedEx can use Nimble’s fulfillment centers, Nimble founder and CEO Simon Kalouche said in a news release. This will enable expansion for FedEx Fulfillment, which is geared toward order fulfillment and inventory management for small- and medium-sized businesses.
Nimble has six fulfillment centers already open or planning to launch by next year in the U.S. and Mexico, according to its website. These facilities feature the company’s robotic systems that autonomously pick, pack and handle products for brands selling apparel, footwear, electronics and other products.
“Nimble’s cutting-edge AI robotics and autonomous fulfillment systems will help FedEx streamline operations and unlock new opportunities for our customers,” FedEx Supply Chain President Scott Temple, which FedEx Fulfillment is part of, said in the release.
FedEx Supply Chain currently has more than 130 warehouse and fulfillment operations in North America and processes 475 million returns annually.
The team up with Nimble fits with FedEx’s strategy to strengthen its capabilities that will draw in more e-commerce and SMB customers. The delivery giant announced a new digital platform earlier this year offering end-to-end solutions for online merchants, and it has touted the benefits of its Ground-Express network merger for smaller shippers.
These are FreshFruitPortal.com’s top seven stories of the week.
U.S.-based NGO Climate Rights International published a study alleging that four United States avocado suppliers have continued to source avocados from Mexican orchards on illegally deforested land in 2023 and 2024.
The report, conducted by Climate Rights International in partnership with the Mexican non-governmental organization Guardián Forestal, holds U.S. avocado suppliers accountable after they were informed of the deforestation within their supply chains in a previous report published by the company in 2023, Unholy Guacamole: Deforestation, Water Capture, and Violence Behind Mexico’s Avocado Exports to the U.S. and Other Major Markets,
As part of the program for the 8th Jalisco Avocado Congress, the president of GLC Cerritos, Giovanni Cavaletto, offered a presentation on the role of Jalisco in making Mexico a more complete supplier for the U.S. market.
The director of the avocado producer and exporter, who has been working in the avocado industry for more than 25 years, is a founding member of some of the most important avocado associations worldwide, such as the Hass Avocado Board (HAB) and the Colombian Avocado Board (CAB).
In mid-August, the Chilean Fruit Cherry Committee elected Mario Edwards Correa as its new president, who will lead the entity for the next two years.
Edwards is currently the commercial manager of Agrofruta S.A. and has extensive experience in the Chilean fruit-producing and exporting sector, especially cherries. Since 2019, he has been on the Board of Directors of Frutas de Chile.
Early Chilean cherry harvest is about to begin in the country’s main producing regions, with the industry preparing for another successful campaign in the Chinese market.
We spoke with expert cherry advisor Jorge Astudillo, who is currently working with Ovalle producers in Coquimbo, northern Chile, to discuss the upcoming season’s projections and challenges. The cherry-growing area covers about 25 miles from the coast to the mountain range.
The Peruvian Association of Table Grape Producers and Exporters (Provid) released the first estimate for the 2024-2025 season, with a projected volume of 78.7 million boxes to be shipped.
The data provided by Provid is based on volumes estimated by members and producers.
As the southern hemisphere prepares for its main blueberry season, industry forecasts predict higher volumes compared to the 2023-24 season. However, supplies from Peru are expected to experience delays, with peak arrivals expected around November.
Despite this, Camposol is positioned to be one of the few suppliers that will deliver significant volumes in the early stages of the season.
The Unifrutti Group announced today the successful completion of its acquisition of 100% of Sociedad Exportadora Verfrut S.A. (“Verfrut”), a leading integrated fruit producer and exporter with over 7,500 hectares of operations across Chile and Peru.
CHICAGO — Circana’s annual report on “Eating Patterns in America” reveals consumers are switching up where, when and what they eat in response to changes in their daily lives.
The Chicago-based market research company said 86% of eating occasions are sourced from home. People also are eating breakfast earlier, and snacking away from home is becoming more popular, the report found.
Emerging trends in eating patterns are “really driven by the disruption of our daily routines,” said David Portalatin, senior vice president and industry adviser, food and foodservice, Circana. He said because of shifting home and work habits, lunch in the restaurant industry is permanently disrupted and has been 15% lower than it was in 2019.
“People pack their days with meetings, and then they look up and it’s 2:30 and they say, ‘What are we going to do about lunch?’ and dinner is at 6:30,” Portalatin said.
Snacks are more often filling the gaps left by foregone meals, he added, with some snacking happening in mid-morning, some in the afternoon and some at night.
“Two things that we’ve seen steadily increase over the years are the consumption of snack items during mealtimes — and sometimes in replacement of a main meal — and the increase of time between mealtimes,” he said. “It’s the ‘snackification’ of our mealtimes.”
In response, consumer packaged goods companies increasingly are developing foods and beverages offering the convenience, ingredients and value consumers want.
“For CPG companies, it’s thinking about crafting eating flexibility for consumers in three ways: price points, portion control and portability,” Portalatin said.
The trends are especially evident among younger people who have more flexibility, he said.
“They throw a collection of items in their backpack, maybe string cheese snacks, salty snacks for satiety, a bottle of water or juice for pleasure, and just have a snack and save some for later,” he said. “In any case, (the items) are packaged to go where the consumer goes.”
The 86% of eating occasions being sourced at home is up about 3 percentage points from pre-pandemic years, according to Portalatin. The eating trend is part of the overall shift in consumer behaviors that includes more people working at home and investing more time and effort in their kitchens.
“That doesn’t mean we’re all going to become Michelin Star chefs,” he said, adding, “We’re seeing more heat-and-eat options and more meals thrown into an Instant Pot.
“As a food manufacturer, if you can bring that kind of architecture to the home from items in the pantry or the refrigerator, those are the kinds of things consumers are looking for. We still want culinary exploration, and we still want to try global cuisine, so manufacturers are still developing items in response.”
As CPG companies continue to innovate, consumers continue to want to experiment by trying new products, Portalatin said. This trend is unlikely to wane, especially if new products are overlain with functional aspects and offered so that budget-conscious consumers perceive value.
“The consumer is under pressure right now,” he said. “It’s the cumulative effect of inflation and debt causing people to rationalize their spend across categories. They’re focusing in on the value equation and not just the cheapest item.”
To “Read” Walt’s charts, keep the following in mind:
Support – this term refers to a trend line or price area under the market which is expected to hold the market from potential decline.
Resistance– a price area or trend line above the market that is expected to prevent or stall price increases.
Trend lines and channels – these long lines outline an established trend or band of price activity which is expected to continue. Breaking beyond the trend lines will often indicate a change of trend. Walt tries to indicate an uptrend with green line, downtrend with red line, and a broken trend with a broken line. Trends thought to be of greater importance are thicker. A broken blue line may be a former, now broken line, expected to have subsequent importance. A blue sideways channel indicates a neutral or choppy market with little or no price bias either upward or downward.
Green and red arrows will often be used to highlight significant turns, buy or sell “signals,” or break-outs from trading patterns.
Reversal days (up or down) occur when a closing price occurs in the opposite direction from a previous dramatic trend.
Gaps in price action will be identified by yellow circles which usually hint at major changes of direction or price behavior.
Bull and bear flags and pennants are often highlighted as indications of small corrective moves in an otherwise larger price trend.
Triangles may be outlined in order to indicate a contraction of highs and lows coiling for a later break-out in price direction.
Bull Trap – a false or failed chart break-out to the upside which draws bulls into a long position prior to a turn to the downside.
Bear Trap – a false or failed chart breakout to the downside which draws bears into a short position prior to a turn to the upside.
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Walt Breitinger, Commodity Futures Broker
“Pinion Futures, LLC d/b/a Breitinger & Sons”
800.411.FUTURES (3888)
Fuel supplier Peninsula has been linked to a pair of LNG bunker vessel newbuilds in South Korea.
Shipbuilding sources suggest the Gibraltar-based tanker and bunker group is behind an order for 18,000 cu m ships announced on Thursday at HD Hyundai Mipo.
The newbuilds, priced at about $93m each, should deliver by November 2027.
Peninsula established its LNG bunkering business in 2021, which was followed by the company’s first newbuilding project through a joint venture with Scale Gas, a subsidiary of Spanish utility Enagás.
The 12,500 cu m Levante LNG was built by HD Hyundai Mipo and delivered in July 2023 on an initial seven-year charter to Peninsula. The ship has since been operating in the Strait of Gibraltar and Western Mediterranean ports.