The UK has signed up to a global coalition which works to speed up the move towards more sustainable food production, Environment Secretary George Eustice has announced. He confirmed that the UK will join the Sustainable Productivity Growth Coalition (SPG) – an international group of countries, academic and research organisations and trade bodies that aims to improve agricultural productivity in an environmentally sustainable way. The SPG Coalition was launched in 2021 at the United Nations’ Food Systems Summit and members include the USA, European Union, Australia, Brazil, Canada, New Zealand and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. It is also supported by a raft of academic institutions and trade bodies representing industries including grain, dairy and livestock from all over the world. Members of the Coalition share with each other information about best practice, lessons learned and innovative evidence-based ways to boost productivity in a sustainable way, and promote them at public events and on public platforms. Environment Secretary George Eustice said: “I am pleased to announce today that the UK will join the Sustainable Productivity Growth Coalition convened by the United States. I look forward to working with our international partners in this dialogue on innovation, science and sustainable agriculture.”

Infarm, the urban farming company, is establishing its third Growing Center in the US and the largest Infarm Growing Center to date. Alongside the existing vertical farming facility in Seattle and a recently announced one in Austin, Texas, the new North East Growing Center will be located in Columbia, Howard County, Maryland. The opening of this facility is a significant step in the company’s US-expansion roadmap, where Infarm plans to roll out its network of cloud-connected farming facilities with a size of over 500,000 sq ft from coast to coast. The new Growing Center in Maryland will add around 200,000 sq ft to Infarm’s US portfolio and produce up to 45 million crops per year. The Growing Center will create more than 50 jobs in Howard County. “We’re thrilled that Infarm has chosen Howard County for this expansion of its innovative, data-driven vertical farming operation,” said Maryland Governor Larry Hogan. “Maryland’s strategic location makes it an ideal site for the new Growing Center and will allow the company to bring its nutritious produce to millions of new customers on the East Coast. We are proud to welcome Infarm to Maryland’s business community and applaud its commitment to unique and sustainable farming methods.” “It is exciting to have one of the world’s largest urban farming operations locate its newest facility here in Howard County, which is a magnet for innovative businesses like Infarm,” said Howard County Executive Calvin Ball. “Our Gateway District continues to be an engine of economic growth, and Infarm’s investment brings more jobs to our community with a welcomed focus on sustainability. Infarm is revolutionizing how we grow and consume food locally and we look forward to a long partnership to advance the sustainability of our food system.” Erez Galonska, CEO and co-founder of Infarm, said: “The opening of our largest US Growing Center to date in Central Maryland MSA demonstrates Infarm’s commitment to rapidly grow a local food infrastructure in the US market for the benefit of people and the planet. Howard County is a great strategic location that will allow us to serve over 23 million consumers across the Tri-State and Mid-Atlantic areas.” “With the opening of this new Growing Center, we are now entering a region where vertical farming is already widely adopted, and green innovations are thriving. Once fully operational, our Growing Center will provide the Northeastern US with a new food production capability that minimizes climate and supply chain risk by growing more than 75 types of plants locally, sustainably, and reliably 24/7, 365 days a year,” Galonska added. More than 50% of the new Growing Center is already pre-ordered with the first harvest planned for Spring 2023. The remaining capacity will be added by early 2024.

The closing date for submission of applications for the inaugural PPMA BEST ‘Grant Jamieson Engineering Scholarship’ is Friday 29 July 2022. Awarded by PPMA BEST, the Grant Jamieson Engineering Scholarship is an annual grant of up to £5,000 presented to the most outstanding individual who has demonstrated a genuine interest and potential in the field of engineering to PPMA member businesses and, for whom, additional financial support will aid their pursuit of a career in engineering. The first ever recipient of the recently launched Grant Jamieson Engineering Scholarship for 2022 will be announced at PPMA TOTAL 2022, the UK’s largest processing and packaging machinery, robotics and industrial vision event, on Wednesday 28 September at the NEC Birmingham. For more information on submission and application criteria, please visit: https://www.ppma.co.uk/ppma-best/grants-and-bursaries/grant-jamieson-engineering-scholarship.html Written applications should be sent to ppmabest@ppma.co.uk no later than Friday 29 July.

Hazelwood Demesne Limited, owner of the Lough Gill Distillery, on the shores of Lough Gill in County Sligo, Ireland, has been acquired by the Sazerac Company, one of the world’s largest distilled spirits companies with premium brands such as Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Paddy Irish Whiskey, Michael Collins Irish Whiskey, Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon, and Southern Comfort. The Sazerac Company, known for taking historic sites such as its Buffalo Trace Distillery in Kentucky and its Sazerac House in New Orleans and restoring them to become world class operations, will fully develop the 100+ acre site, the original demesne of Hazelwood House, to create a world-class whiskey facility and visitor attraction, making it one of the most important tourism centres in the West of Ireland. Once complete, Lough Gill Distillery hopes to welcome up to 150,000 visitors annually and will create a homeplace for Sazerac’s Irish Whiskeys, Paddy and Michael Collins. Additionally, Sazerac will significantly grow the footprint of Lough Gill Distillery through increasing the distillery’s capacity, adding warehousing capacity and expanding production and bottling lines. All current Lough Gill Distillery team members will remain with the business, and it is expected that Sazerac will increase employment after the expansion. As part of the acquisition, Sazerac will continue the development of the Athrú brand, including global distribution. Mark Brown, president and Chief Executive Officer of Sazerac, said: “With its rich history of distilling and storytelling, Ireland is an ideal homeplace for our whiskey business to flourish. In particular, the history of the Lough Gill Distillery, dating back to the 18th century, will be an integral keystone in the restoration and storytelling of this site. “We look forward to preserving the history, delighting our future visitors by the stories we share, and further expanding the growth opportunities for Paddy, Michael Collins and Athrú Whiskeys.” David Raethorne, founder of the Lough Gill Distillery, said: “This is a major announcement for Sligo and a vote of confidence in the potential for Sligo to become a major player in the booming global Irish whiskey market. The acquisition will enable Lough Gill Distillery to fully develop as a world-class visitor destination and will have significant long term economic and tourism benefits for Sligo, which, for me, was always a personal goal. “In addition, the maintenance and preservation works undertaken to date on Hazelwood House (a house of national importance) have played an essential part in saving it from dereliction. This acquisition will ensure that Hazelwood House will be enjoyed and appreciated by generations to come, another key objective of the project. “The Sazerac Company announcement is a culmination of seven years of hard work and determination by the Board of Lough Gill Distillery and the wider team, delivering on our original 2015 vision, when we acquired the site. I would like to formally acknowledge the support of Sligo County Council and its CEO Martin Lydon, which was a key driver in the decision for Sazerac to invest in Sligo.” In tandem with the acquisition, Lough Gill Distillery has also announced that former Bushmills Master Blender, Helen Mulholland, is joining the team.

Pernod Ricard has signed an agreement to sell the Tormore Scotch Whisky brand and distillery to Elixir Distillers, a company co-founded by entrepreneurs Sukhinder and Rajbir Singh. The Tormore distillery is emblematic of the Speyside region, home of the Scottish malt whisky industry, with a capacity of nearly 5 million liters of alcohol per annum. A listed building, constructed in 1960, it is equally famous for the quality of its Scotch whiskies as for its architectural design. The associated brand is renowned for its single malts, including its 14 and 16 year-old editions. The agreement marks a new milestone in a strong relationship between Pernod Ricard and the Singh brothers, who co-founded whisky specialist Elixir Distillers in 2017 and created the online spirits retailer The Whisky Exchange, which was acquired by Pernod Ricard in 2021. Alexandre Ricard, chairman and CEO of Pernod Ricard, said: “Active portfolio management is an integral part of our long-term strategy. The sale of the Tormore brand and distillery follows the recent announcement of our investment behind the Aberlour and Miltonduff facilities, which will increase our Scotch production capacities by 14 million liters of alcohol per annum. “We are delighted to be handing Tormore over to Sukhinder and Rajbir, two friends and truly creative entrepreneurs and look forward to finding new ways to collaborate in the future.” Sukhinder Singh explained: “Tormore is one of the most visually stunning distilleries in Speyside. It produces a beautiful spirit and fits in perfectly with the Elixir Distillers flavour-first philosophy to bottle only the very highest quality whiskies. “We are hoping to build on the work that’s been done by Pernod Ricard to bring to life the magic of Tormore and show consumers around the world just what a hidden gem it is. We are humbled to be the new custodians of Tormore; we couldn’t have asked for a better distillery to welcome to the Elixir family alongside our new Islay distillery, Portintruan.”

Cereal processing business, Silvery Tweed Cereals, is enhancing its offering by bringing the family farm into its Northumberland cereal and seed processing operation. The fifth-generation family business, which processes, manufactures and supplies cereal and seed ingredients to leading names in the baking and cereals industries from a base in Berwick-upon-Tweed, has also been farming since the 1930s. Now, the business will source and process crops grown at the family farm – The Mead – for use in both new and established product ranges, as well as giving customers the ability to grow bespoke trial crops for new product development. The company has long put sustainability at the heart of the business and champions the ‘field to fork’ ethos. For many years, Silvery Tweed has sourced the majority of its grains from farms and merchants within a 40-mile radius of Berwick, supporting local suppliers and promoting produce grown in the region. Located ten miles from Silvery Tweeds processing facilities, the team at the 750-acre farm is currently growing wheat, barley, rye, linseed, and spring oats, with crops due to start being harvested in late July. Its proximity to the Silvery Tweed headquarters will also help reduce carbon emissions and the road miles produce travels to reach the factory. The Mead is also home to 300 sheep and 150 cattle, whose feed incorporates by-product from the ingredient cleaning and manufacturing processes at the Silvery Tweed factory, producing manure that is vital to maintaining and improving long term soil health at the farm. Managing Director, Robert Gladstone, said: “Bringing The Mead into the business is an exciting addition to Silvery Tweed. It allows us to enhance our offering to customers by bringing together the experience of our NPD department with our highly knowledgeable farm team. “Working together, they can determine the required variety, specification and acreage for planting and growing a trial crop to meet the customer’s exact needs, which will be harvested and further processed at our factory ahead of bespoke product development. “As well as trial crops, The Mead supports our sustainability goals as a business and in time will reduce our reliance on sourcing certain products from outside the UK as we scale up production with other growers in the local area.” The decision to make The Mead part of the Silvery Tweed operation has included significant investment in machinery, buildings and wider farm infrastructure. The Mead was bought and extended to 150 acres in the 1930s by the Gladstone family, who own and run Silvery Tweed Cereals. They purchased the neighbouring farm in the 1960s, adding a further 120 acres of land. The farm remained at that size until 2021, when a further 505 acres were added to the portfolio. The Mead is now fully operational, with its next harvest of crops due to start in late July.

Mondelēz International is to acquire Clif Bar & Company, the US maker of energy bars with organic ingredients, for $2.9 billion with additional contingent earnout consideration. The acquisition of on-trend brands CLIF, LUNA and CLIF Kid expands Mondelēz International’s global snack bar business to more than $1 billion, including its complementary and refrigerated snacking business Perfect Snacks in the US and performance nutrition business Grenade in the UK. This acquisition also advances the company’s strategy to reshape its portfolio to sustain higher long-term growth. “We are thrilled to welcome Clif Bar & Company’s iconic brands and passionate employees into the Mondelēz International family,” said Dirk Van de Put, chairman and CEO of Mondelēz International. “This transaction further advances our ambition to lead the future of snacking by winning in chocolate, biscuits and baked snacks as we continue to scale our high-growth snack bar business. “As a leader and innovator in well-being and sustainable snacking in the US, Clif Bar & Company embodies our purpose to ‘empower people to snack right’ and we look forward to advancing this important work with Clif’s committed colleagues in the years ahead.” The transaction is expected to be top-line accretive in year two and create cost synergies by using Mondelez International’s global and North American scale to expand Clif’s sales distribution and gain further penetration in existing and new customers and channels in the US. “Mondelēz International is the right partner at the right time to support Clif in our next chapter of growth,” said Sally Grimes, Chief Executive Officer, Clif Bar & Company. “Our purposes and cultures are aligned and being part of a global snacking company with broad product offerings can help us accelerate our growth while staying true to our deeply ingrained Five Aspirations – sustaining our people, planet, community, business, and brands – five bottom lines that have grounded our company since its founding and will remain our North Star going forward.” Mondelēz International will continue to operate the Clif Bar & Company business from its headquarters in Emeryville, CA. The company will also continue to manufacture its products in its facilities in Twin Falls, ID, and Indianapolis, IN. The acquisition of Clif Bar & Company will build on Mondelēz International’s continued prioritization of fast-growing snacking segments in key geographies. So far in 2022, Mondelēz International has announced an agreement to acquire Ricolino, Mexico’s leading confectionary company, from Grupo Bimbo and closed on its acquisition of Chipita S.A., a leader in the Central and Eastern European snack-size cakes and pastries category. This progress followed a year of strong global snacking growth in 2021, including the acquisitions of Grenade, a leading UK performance nutrition company; Gourmet Food Holdings, a leading Australian food company in the attractive premium biscuit and cracker category; and Hu, a well-being snacking company in the United States. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and a pre-closing F reorganization and conversion to a limited liability company by Clif Bar & Company, and the transaction is expected to close in Q3 following customary regulatory review.