Baking & Snack - November 2005 - 11

Pepperidge honors
Bloomfield plant
Pepperidge Farm, Inc., Norwalk, CT, presented its "Rudkin Award" for the manufacturing plant of the year in 2005 to its bakery
in Bloomfield, CT. Each year, eight Pepperidge Farm manufacturing sites across the

US compete for the Rudkin Award, named
after Pepperidge Farm founder Margaret
Rudkin. The company chooses the winning
site based on performance in customer
satisfaction, cost management, consumer
satisfaction and safe work environment.
The winning plant receives a crystal trophy and luncheon. Plant employees receive a
monogrammed "Pepperidge Farm Plant of
the Year" fleece blanket.
The Bloomfield facility, built in 2003,
employs 260. The 265,000-sq-ft plant produces
a range of Pepperidge Farm products, including
fresh bread and rolls, croutons and stuffing.
"Our employees did exceptional work in
2005, and it paid off in great results," said
Bob Livingstone, plant manager. "To be recognized with this award is really a tribute to
the team."

BEMA donates $20,000 to KSU
The board of directors of BEMA, the baking industry suppliers association, approved
a donation of $20,000 to the Grain Science
and Industry Department of
Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS. "KSU's Grain Science and Industry Department
is one-of-a-kind in the world,"
said Michael Gude, chairman
of BEMA. "It is essential
to the development and
advancement of the baking industry worldwide.
We've been observing the
effort to rebuild the grains program since Virgil Smail, Ph.D., joined the
university staff, and we see great progress.
Key parts are coming together. For these
reasons we wanted to lend some support.
We encourage all segments of the baking

Ralcorp to buy private label waffle maker
Ralcorp Holdings, Inc., St. Louis, MO,
signed a definitive agreement to purchase
Western Waffles, Ltd., a Canadianbased manufacturer of private label
frozen griddle products. Terms of the
transaction were not disclosed.
Western Waffles' product offerings include frozen toaster waffles,
which represent 90% of its total revenues,
pancakes and French toast. Western Waffles

Bruegger's announces expansion
Bruegger's Enterprises, Inc., Burlington, VT,
signed agreements with two new franchise
groups to develop six Bruegger's bakerycafes in two new markets over the next three
years. Under the development agreements,
three of the cafes will
be located in Southeastern Wisconsin with
the first opening by the end of 2005. An
additional three will be developed in Knox-

industry to join us in investing in our future through KSU."
BEMA's donation will help support several initiatives, including participation
by Dr. Smail and department
students in industry events and
meetings, student recruitment
to the program and scholarships.
"We are very grateful for BEMA's
funding," Dr. Smail said. "It will
allow us to go that extra mile
in recruiting the most talented
students to our program and
give them additional opportunities to become familiar
with the industry as they learn. In return, the
industry will gain a pool of well-rounded,
educated, technically-minded, scientificallyprepared prospective employees. It's a
win-win deal."

ville, TN, over the next three years, and the
first unit is planned to open in early 2006.
Since January 2005, Bruegger's has
signed development
agreements with five
new franchise groups
to develop bakerycafes in additional
markets such as Huntsville, AL, the Triad
region of North Carolina and Southwestern Wisconsin.

has three manufacturing facilities in Canada
and approximately 370 employees.
As a result of the transaction,
Western Waffles will become a wholly
owned subsidiary of Ralcorp. The acquisition of Western Waffles will allow
Ralcorp to enter the private label frozen
griddle products category. Presently,
Ralcorp's product offering in frozen griddle
products consists of a variety of branded
frozen griddle products sold primarily in
food service channels. Western Waffles and its
facilities will become part of Ralcorp's Frozen
Bakery Products segment.
"We are pleased to have the opportunity
to add Western Waffles frozen griddle products to our existing frozen bakery products
platform," said Kevin J. Hunt, co-c.e.o. and
president of Ralcorp Holdings, Inc. "Ralcorp
is looking forward to operating the Canadian
facilities as a key part of Ralcorp's private label product offerings. Western Waffles' products are a great fit for Bakery Chef and will
complement Bakery Chef's existing sales of
high quality frozen griddle products."

November 2005 / BAKING & SNACK / 13
Baking & Snack - November 2005

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