This week in business news, Gold Coast Ingredients opened a new S.M.A.R.T. Center, at its Santa Fe Springs, California location, in a bid to “maximize its creative efforts.” FrieslandCampina and DMK signed a contract manufacturing agreement for the production of mozzarella cheese which is expected to come into effect in 2019. Ingredion opened a new sales office in Vietnam to “strengthen its brand presence and accessibility in Asia-Pacific.”

In brief: Business
Gold Coast Ingredients (GCI) has opened a new S.M.A.R.T. Center, at its Santa Fe Springs, California location. According to a company statement, GCI has positioned sales, marketing, applications, research, and technology together under one roof to “maximize its creative efforts.” With more than ten new laboratories, GCI’s S.M.A.R.T. Center focuses on developing custom flavors and colors, as well as extracts, flavor modifiers and ingredient enhancers. The GCI S.M.A.R.T. Center has independent laboratories for sweet and savory flavors, natural colors, flavor modifiers, as well as a separate analytical lab. Additionally, the S.M.A.R.T. Center has a commercial-style kitchen and a full laboratory dedicated to application development and testing. The commercial kitchen is designed for development work with hot products, such as baked goods, sauces and fillings and the lab is set up for cold products, including beverages, ice cream and frozen treats. GCI will still maintain its corporate offices, manufacturing, customer support, quality control and purchasing departments at its Commerce, California facility.

Gold Coast Ingredients (GCI) has opened a new S.M.A.R.T. Center, at its Santa Fe Springs, California location. According to a company statement, GCI has positioned sales, marketing, applications, research, and technology together under one roof to “maximize its creative efforts.” With more than ten new laboratories, GCI’s S.M.A.R.T. Center focuses on developing custom flavors and colors, as well as extracts, flavor modifiers and ingredient enhancers. The GCI S.M.A.R.T. Center has independent laboratories for sweet and savory flavors, natural colors, flavor modifiers, as well as a separate analytical lab. Additionally, the S.M.A.R.T. Center has a commercial-style kitchen and a full laboratory dedicated to application development and testing. The commercial kitchen is designed for development work with hot products, such as baked goods, sauces and fillings and the lab is set up for cold products, including beverages, ice cream and frozen treats. GCI will still maintain its corporate offices, manufacturing, customer support, quality control and purchasing departments at its Commerce, California facility.

In brief: Acquisitions and ventures
FrieslandCampina and DMK Group (DMK) have signed a contract manufacturing agreement for the production of mozzarella cheese, which is expected to come into force in 2019. According to a company press release, FrieslandCampina will bring in milk supplied by its members and will market the mozzarella cheese and DMK will provide the production facilities. For this purpose, DMK is set to further modernize and expand the Georgsmarienhütte location (Germany) to facilitate optimal mozzarella production for FrieslandCampina. Hans Meeuwis, President of FrieslandCampina Dairy Essentials, comments: “We have a strong portfolio in cheese and want to grow further in cheese types such as mozzarella. The cooperation with DMK fits in well with our strategy to further expand our process capacity through selecive partnerships. The co-manufacturing agreement will allow us to expand our portfolio in mozzarella, to drive value with our members’ milk and to improve the service to our customers.”

In brief: Appointments & retirements
Campbell Soup Co.’s board of directors has elected Mark Clouse to serve as the companys President and Chief Executive effective January 22. Clouse, who previously was the CEO of Pinnacle Foods Inc., succeeds Campbells interim CEO Keith McLoughlin, who will remain a director and will work closely with Clouse “to ensure a seamless transition,” the company said in a statement.

Meanwhile, as part of its retirement succession plan, DMK will have a new CFO, Dr. Frank Claassen, in July 2019, Dr. Frank Claassen will become the new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the DMK Group. He succeeds Volkmar Taucher (62), who will hand over his position in July 2019 as part of his succession plan. Dr. Claassen will take over his responsibilities at DMK. He is currently still working as Vice President Finance Europe at Beiersdorf AG and has held various positions in the financial sector there since 1994.

Louis Dreyfus Company B.V. (LDC) has appointed Kristen Eshak Weldon as Head of Food Innovation and Downstream Strategy, effective January 1st, 2019 and reporting to CEO, Ian McIntosh. Weldon joins as a member of LDC’s Executive Group and joins LDC from Blackstone, wher she spent 13 years in positions of increasing responsibility, most recently as Senior Managing Director and Co-Head of the London office for Hedge Fund Solutions. 

The Supervisory Board of Symrise AG confirmed the extension of the contracts of Executive Board members Heinrich Schaper and Dr. Jean-Yves Parisot (pictured). Both executives have been part of the management committee since 2016. The latest issue of The World of Food Ingredients features a detailed interview with Parisot about the business plans for Diana, the Nutrition Division of Symrise. 

Dunkin Brands Group, Inc., the parent company of Dunkin and Baskin-Robbins, has this week announced two executive promotions, naming Tom Manchester as Senior Vice President, Integrated Marketing, Dunkin’ US and Jonathan Biggs as Vice President, Operations, Baskin-Robbins US and Canada. The company also announced the appointment of Rick Gestring as Vice President, Operating Systems and Restaurant Experience, Dunkin’.

In brief: Other highlights
Nestlé Mexico is investing US$154 million in a new coffee factory in Veracruz, Mexico. The move was announced after a private meeting with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. The new state-of-the-art facilities will create 250 new direct jobs and roughly 2,500 indirect jobs, in addition to 1,500 jobs in the construction phase. According to the company, the plant will be able to process about 20,000 tons of green coffee annually, utilizing green technologies to reduce water and energy consumption. 

Nestlé has appointed a Scientific Advisory Board for research and development, which met for the first time from November 20-22, 2018 in Lausanne, Switzerland. The Scientific Advisory Board is an independent advisory panel comprised of distinguished academics and thought leaders, who meet once a year to advise Nestlé on the long-term scientific strategy. With expertise in nutrition, food science, health related disciplines and engineering, each advisory board member plays an important role in providing scientific guidance and expert recommendations.

Nestlé Scientific Advisory Board members include:
· Prof. Tamas Bartfai, Stockholm University
· Prof. Sir Stephen Bloom, Imperial College London
· Prof. Adam Drewnowski, University of Washington, Seattle
· Prof. Thomas Hofmann, Technische Universität München
· Prof. Ian Macdonald, The University of Nottingham
· Prof. Simin Nikbin Meydani, Tufts University
· Prof. Neena Modi, Imperial College London
· Prof. Susan Ozanne, University of Cambridge
· Prof. Erich Windhab, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich
· Prof. Ramnik Xavier, Massachusetts General Hospital and Broad Institute Boston

Finally, Ingredion recently opened a new sales office to strengthen its brand presence in Vietnam. The company notes that the Vietnamese market will contribute significantly to further growth in the region and is placing an increased focus on the country. Plans involve establishing more comprehensive on-site sales and partnership resources as well as enhancing operational support facilities. Additionally, Ingredion will strengthen its Ingredion Idea Labs on-site capabilities to accelerate innovations in food and nutrition and maximize collaboration opportunities with customers. Ingredion’s location in Ho Chi Minh City positions the company to meet the needs of the Vietnamese market by delivering value-added services, technical advice and sales support to food & beverage manufacturers. Customers will also benefit from a recent regional expansion plan that further boost Ingredion’s resources in the Asia-Pacific region.