Milling & Baking News - December 4, 2018 - 12

Business

Western Sugar to lay off workers
at Wyoming beet processing plant
TORRINGTON, WYO. - Denverbased Western Sugar Cooperative
plans to permanently lay off 92
workers in mid-January at its Torrington sugar beet processing plant,
according to reports in the Torrington
Telegram and the Scottsbluff, Neb.,
Star-Herald.
Western sent a letter to the City of
Torrington announcing the layoffs,
"based on current and projected business plans and needs," the reports
said. The letter did not mention the
facility's future, but trade sources and
press reports said beet processing operations would end, and the facility
would be used only to store and pack
sugar going forward.
"It is our plan that this will be the last
campaign that we will process sugar
beets there," Rodney Perry, president
and chief executive officer of Western
Sugar, told the Torrington Telegram. The

storing and packing operations are
expected to employ 20 to 30 full-time
workers, the newspaper said.
Mr. Perry indicated closing of the
Torrington plant had been planned
and was announced
in 2016 in conjunction with upgrades at
the cooperative's Fort
Morgan, Colo., and
Scottsbluff plants.
Cooperative growers in the region
would not be affected, as sugar beets
would be delivered to the Scottsbluff
plant, which is about 30 miles southeast of Torrington, Mr. Perry said.
Western Sugar Cooperative has
134,140 base sugar beet acres across
Colorado, Nebraska, Montana and
Wyoming with more than 850 grower/owners and more than 1,000 employees. In addition to the corporate
office in Denver and the processing

Panera rolls out breakfast
delivery across the United States
ST. LOUIS - Earlier this year, Panera
Bread announced that it had expanded
delivery to customers across the United
States through the Panera app or web
site. The next phase of the company's
delivery expansion is here, as it has officially launched breakfast delivery, starting with 231 cities and towns nationwide.
Ordered through the app or web site,
Panera's breakfast delivery offers a convenient alternative to waiting in line for food
or coffee. A total of 381 cafes throughout
the country initially will offer the service,
including select cafes in Chicago, Dallas, Nashville, St. Louis and Minneapolis.

PANERA BREAD

Panera plans to offer the service in an additional 30 cafes by the end of 2018.
"Since we launched Panera delivery,

ArchPoint acquires Watusee Foods,
Washington-based snack company
SAN ANTONIO - ArchPoint Group, a
global products and professional services company, has acquired Washingtonbased Watusee Foods, a maker of snack
foods. Financial terms of the transaction
were not disclosed.
Founded in 2013 by Jimmy Edgerton and
Gregory Katz, Watusee Foods' products include an organic, gluten-free breadcrumb
alternative called Chickpea Crumbs and
crispy and popped snacks called Chickpeatos and Popped Chickpeatos.
12 / December 4, 2018

Milling & Baking News

"We took our time looking for the right
strategic partner, and ArchPoint was the
clear favorite," Mr. Edgerton said. "We
sought a partner with deep consumer
packaged goods experience and capabilities, who was also passionate
about our social and health mission.
We got all that with ArchPoint."
Jesse Edelman, chief executive officer of ArchPoint, said the company
is excited to be involved in the fastgrowing healthy snacks category.

plants in Torrington, Scottsbluff and
Fort Morgan, Western also has beet
processing facilities in Billings, Mont.,
and Lovell, Wyo., with aggregate beet
slicing capacity of 3.6 million tons annually. Western's sugar production
exceeds 10 million cwts (500,000 tons)
annually, accounting for about 5% of
domestic sugar production. The cooperative also operates storage facilities
in Rocky Ford, Sterling and Longmont,
Colo., and in Bayard,
Gering, and Mitchell, Neb. In 2002
the cooperative finalized purchase of
Western Sugar from Tate & Lyle and
entered into a long-term lease agreement with American Crystal Sugar
Co. for the operation of the Torrington
plant, which was built in 1926.
Western produces retail granulated, brown and powdered sugars
under the GW brand, as well as bulk
totes and bags of granulated sugar
and powdered sugar in bags for industrial users. MBN

guests have been asking 'what about breakfast?' We're all looking for an easier way to
get a better breakfast as we start our day,"
said Blaine E. Hurst, chief executive officer
of Panera. "Panera is uniquely suited to
meet this need - the convenience of our
digital properties and our great service
provide a better experience for wholesome
food, delivered any time of day."
Panera also uses its own drivers to
make deliveries, as opposed to using a
third-party service like UberEats or Grubhub. Convenience and cost are key, as
guests within an eight-minute drive time
of participating cafes can order breakfast
delivery for as little as a $5 menu purchase
(excluding tax) plus a delivery fee. Panera
hopes that delivery will impact its breakfast sales, as it has with other products. MBN
"Applying ArchPoint's capabilities in
brand development, marketing, sourcing,
sales and supply chain to Watusee's mission and innovation creates the kinds of
synergies required to grow Watusee brands
and generate value for customers, investors
and employees," Mr. Edelman said.
ArchPoint's clients include Tate & Lyle,
Tootsie Roll Co., Starbucks Coffee
Co. and AdvancePierre Foods.
The companies said they hope
to expand distribution with the
current product selection, bring
new products to market and
build the brand with new positioning. MBN

WATUSEE FOODS

bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

http://www.bakingbusiness.com http://www.world-grain.com

Milling & Baking News - December 4, 2018

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