Milling & Baking News - December 10, 2013 - 9

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Texas-based C.H. Guenther expands
its McDonald's bun supply business
Continued from Page 1

Guenther Bakeries Ltd. The bakeries
supply buns and English muffins to
McDonald's.
In 2012, the company acquired Pizza Blends, Inc., a supplier of frozen
and dry mix pizza crusts and other
blended flour-based products.
"Rene, his management team, and
employees have built an impressive array of businesses that service many of
the same customers that we supply today, but with an expanded geographical reach into Canada," said Dale W.
Tremblay, president and chief executive officer of Guenther. "The product
capabilities are also very complementary to both our European bakery business as well as our U.S. frozen dough
and baked goods businesses."
Mr. Fluri, a fourth generation baker of Swiss descent, began his career
in 1958 when he joined Gizella in

Gizella Pastry Ltd., Vancouver, B.C., is one
of three Canadian companies acquired by
Guenther. Gizella bakes frozen desserts
such as cheesecake, layer cake, brownies
and bars.

Vancouver. The business was a retail
pastry shop at the time. After acquiring the business Mr. Fluri expanded
into the wholesale sector in 1967.

He was approached by McDonald's
in 1982 to consider building a dedicated bun plant for western Canada,
and in 1984 opened Golden West
Bakery, a 40,000-square-foot baking plant. Two years later he added
English muffin production capacity
at the plant. Additional significant
capital expansions and modernizations were completed over the last
15 years.
Mr. Fluri acquired Les Boulangeries
Rene in 2003. The bakery supplies McDonald's restaurants in eastern Canada while also supplying customers in
the central United States.
"The sale of the business to C.H.
Guenther & Son allows me to spend
more time with family and enjoy some
of the other important activities I have
going on here in Vancouver and in
Switzerland," he said. "C.H.G. has a
great 163-plus year history servicing
customers and consumers alike, and
as with our Canadian businesses, has
created a very family-oriented culture
for all employees." MBN

Smucker sees opportunities in
Uncrustables business
ORRVILLE, OHIO - Even as the company's Uncrustables business accounted for
more than one half of the year-over-year
decline in one segment and smaller losses
in another, executives at J.M. Smucker
Co. are bullish on the long-term profitability of the frozen sandwiches, which
were introduced in 1998.
Uncrustables enjoyed 25% volume and
net sales growth in the retail sector during the second quarter ended Oct. 31, versus the same period in 2013.
Commenting in a Nov. 20 conference
call with analysts to discuss secondquarter earnings, Vince Byrd, president
and chief operating officer, said retail
Uncrustables sales did not fully absorb the loss volume associated with

Smucker's decision to exit the U.S. Department of Agriculture's commodity
peanut butter program for schools.
"The profit impact resulting from
the net decline in Uncrustables volume
along with start-up costs associated
with the new bakery at our Scottsville
(Ky.) facility caused the overall Uncrustables business to negatively impact the
company's results for the quarter," Mr.
Byrd said. "Uncrustables accounted
for more than one-half of the yearover-year decline in the segment profit
for the International, Foodservice and
Natural Foods segment, while also contributing slightly to the decline in the
Consumer Foods segment."
But Mr. Byrd said Smucker anticipates

Corn refiners' on-line campaign
stresses caloric balance
WASHINGTON - The Corn Refiners Association has launched a national, on-line
consumer campaign that will promote a
healthy lifestyle through caloric balance,
which includes the idea people should focus on the total sugars in their diet rather
than on a specific type of sugar.
The campaign will appear on web sites
such as www.FoodNetwork.com and
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

Business

within AOL's Food Super Channel network. Banner placements will appear.
Videos will feature registered dietitians
Jessica Fishman Levinson and Neva Cochran. In one video Ms. Levinson says
sugar and high-fructose corn syrup are
nutritionally equivalent.
"Our goal is to provide consumers
with facts about health and nutrition so

continued growth for Uncrustables in
retail channels, and, as a result, the company's cost structure is expected to improve.
"We remain confident in the long-term
profitability of our Uncrustables business," he said. "As you know, we continued to invest in the capacity of our Scottsville facility, including the new bakery,
which will support the expected growth
for this product line."
Paul Smucker Wagstaff, president of
U.S. Retail Consumer Foods, added that
by exiting the school business Smucker
now has the capacity to "really push out
on that business on the retail side."
"We are now in the position to be able
to really push that product going for it,"
he said. "Will we see 25% growth rate?
I'm not sure about that, but we will definitely see likely double-digit growth going forward." MBN
that they can make informed decisions
about their diets," said John Bode, president and chief executive officer of the
Washington-based Corn Refiners Association. "Finding the right caloric balance is
key to a healthy lifestyle. It is a disservice
to consumers to suggest that good health
can be achieved by avoiding one particular food or ingredient."
The C.R.A., a trade association representing the U.S. corn refining industry, said the
placements should continue through the
holiday season and into 2014. MBN
Milling & Baking News December 10, 2013 / 9

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Milling & Baking News - December 10, 2013

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