May/June 2023 - 26

THE PULSE NEWS FROM AROUND THE INDUSTRY
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INDUSTRY
INSIDER
FreshEdge acquires specialty food distributor
Testa Produce
Fresh food distributor FreshEdge has acquired Testa Produce,
a Chicago-headquartered produce and specialty food distribution
business.
FreshEdge is backed by Wind Point Partners, a Chicago-based
private equity investment firm. The acquisition was announced in a
May 2 statement on Wind Point's website.
The deal closed April 29. Terms were not disclosed.
Testa has distributed fresh vegetables to customers in Illinois,
Wisconsin and Indiana for more than 110 years. Its 91,300-squarefoot,
LEED Platinum-certified facility features cutting-edge green
technologies to utilize energy generation and water conservation,
according to the release.
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and updates online at
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Certis offers more than 30 Organic Materials Review-listed
products, with biopesticides including herbicides and fungicides. In
February, the company announced distribution across all 50 states
of its microbial fungicide SoilGard.
" There is staggering investment in the agriculture space right
now, and biologicals are at the forefront of many of those innovation
efforts, " Amy O'Shea, Certis Biologicals president and CEO, said.
" With our strong commitment to science, the internal innovation
possible at our laboratory facilities, and our access to the market,
we believe that we are a strong partner for emerging technology
players. Mike's industry breadth and respect will be key in
leveraging these strengths for the overall growth of the sector. "
Companies partner to produce sustainable
packaging for pasta
Saudi chemical manufacturing company SABIC has teamed up
Allan looks to break new ground
at Certis Biologicals
Mike Allan sees his newly created role with biotechnology
company Certis Biologicals as a chance to drive innovation and
foster collaboration.
" The business development role is something that has been
really long awaiting fulfillment within Certis, " said Allan, named
the Columbia, Maryland-based biotechnology company's vice
president of business development and licensing in late 2022.
" We've not had a dedicated role to this at least as long as I've
been with the company. "
Allan joined Certis Biologicals in 2018 as vice president,
North America.
With operations in more than 50 countries, Certis develops,
manufactures and markets biological solutions for use in commercial
agriculture, professional greenhouse and consumer markets.
An emphasis of Allan's new role is to forge partnerships to
advance the use of biologicals - products derived from naturally
occurring microorganisms, plant extracts, beneficial insects or
other organic matter.
" The adoption rate in use of biologicals in the marketplace
continues to grow exponentially, " Allan said. " The projected
growth over the next five, six, seven years into double digits only
emphasizes the need to be able to prioritize and implement the new
products, but also the new technologies that are coming in that only
enhance the ability for biological products to perform in the field.
" We are constantly approached by various companies of
different size and abilities and technology status, and this role
is a means to be able to coordinate a role internally to evaluate
those opportunities and how best to be able to drive them to a
commercial space. "
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with Italia pasta maker Garofalo to produce a new, sustainable
pasta packaging.
The packaging, made by GT Polifilm and Polivouga using SABIC's
certified circular polypropylene (PP), is derived from advanced
recycling and converted into a biaxially oriented polypropylene
(BOPP) film. The application is the first pasta mono-PP packaging
material in the market containing 30% of post-consumer recycled
(PCR) content.
Garofalo introduced the first pasta bags made from the new
packaging to Italian stores in March.
The PCR content in the bags is based on post-consumer used
plastics, which is turned into pyrolysis oil. At SABIC, the oil is used
in the production of new polymers with the same specifications as
virgin plastics from conventional feedstock.
JBS USA names new CEO
JBS USA has a new CEO after the retirement of Tim Schellpeper.
Schellpeper, who joined JBS USA in 2017 as president of the
company's fed beef business, is succeeded by Wesley Batista Filho.
Filho's roles at the company have included president of JBS Canada
and CEO of JBS Brazil. Schellpeper's retirement took effect May 1.
" We thank Tim for all of his contributions to the success of JBS
USA during his tenure, " Gilberto Tomazoni, JBS Global CEO, said
in a news release. " Tim came out of retirement to join our team,
producing record results as the head of our Fed Beef business unit
and laying the foundation for our continued success as CEO. We
wish him all the best in his retirement. "
Global food company JBS serves customers in approximately
100 countries on six continents, providing meat, poultry and
seafood products.
http://www.produceprocessing.net
May/June 2023

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