Milling & Baking News - July 22, 2014 - 9

Business 

Grupo Bimbo acquiring leading
Ecuadorian baking company
MEXICO CITY - Grupo Bimbo S.A.B. de
C.V. on July 15 announced it has reached
an agreement to acquire Supan, the largest baking company in Ecuador.
Terms of the transaction were not

disclosed, but Bimbo said Supan has annual sales of about $57 million and is expected to generate adjusted EBITDA of $6
million. Supan has 900 employees and operates plants in Guayaquil and Quito. The
company's brands
of bread, buns and
sweet goods include Supan, Bimbo, Grile, Braun,
Dulzones, Rey-pan
and Panso. According to Supan, the
company bakes 74
different products,
distributed in 24

Bimbo Bakeries to phase out bun
production at California plant
HORSHAM, PA. - Bimbo Bakeries USA
(B.B.U.) will halt production on the bun
line at its Fresno, Calif., bakery by Aug.
29. The bakery currently produces bread
and bun products, and the line shutdown
will affect approximately 60 positions,
the company said. B.B.U. said it will shift

production to other bakeries.
"This was a difficult decision because
of the dedicated team of associates operating the bun line at the Fresno bakery," said
Gary Feil, regional vice-president of operations for B.B.U. in California. "However,
after careful analysis and consideration,

Continental Mills completes project
updating dry mix plant in Illinois
EFFINGHAM, ILL. - Continental
Mills, Inc., a manufacturer and marketer of baking and beverage mixes,
snacks and other foods, held a ribboncutting ceremony on July 15 at its recently upgraded facility in Effingham.
The facility was acquired in December
2013 from Harlan Bakeries, with Continental Mills taking over operations
on June 29.
Continental Mills said it has invested more than $2 million in the
190,000-square-foot plant this year.
The company makes dry mixes for
baking at the facility, and improvements include upgrades to information technology systems, process
controls and infrastructure. The renovated facility also will have more
production capacity and updated systems that provide greater reliability
and connect to the broader company
systems.
"This is an investment in Continental
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

Mills and this community," said Mike
Meredith, senior vice-president of operations. "The upgrades and improvements we have made position us well
for long-term growth."
Continental Mills retained all 13 people previously employed by Harlan.
Two people who were previously parttime contractors were brought on as
full-time employees, the company said.
The dry mix manufacturing facility
was built by Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Corp. in 2001 and sold to Harlan
Bakeries, a family-owned company, in
2008. In addition to Effingham, Continental Mills' manufacturing footprint
includes facilities in Kent, Wash., Hopkinsville, Ky., and Manhattan, Kas.
The company's branded products include Krusteaz, WildRoots,
Kretschmer Wheat Germ and Alpine
Cider in retail, food service and club
store channels with nationwide distribution. MBN

provinces of Ecuador at 35,000 different
outlets.
"The transaction represents Grupo
Bimbo's debut into the Ecuadorian market, in line with the company's strategy
to further strengthen its footprint in the
Americas," Grupo Bimbo said.
Ecuador will be included in Bimbo's
Latin America reporting region, which
at 21,822 million pesos ($1,685 million)
accounted for 12% of the company's net
sales in 2013. EBITDA in the region last
year was about 103 million pesos ($8
million). The acquisition will bring to 15
the number of countries in which Bimbo
operates in Central and South America.
Others include Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, El Salvador,
Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. MBN
B.B.U. concluded that there is an excess
capacity to handle bun production in our
California manufacturing system."
Mr. Feil said the action would have no
impact on customers and consumers or
the availability of B.B.U. products.
According to the 2014 Directory &
Buyers Guide published by Milling &
Baking News, the Fresno facility makes
bread, bun and roll products under the
Rainbo, Iron Kids, Earth Grains and Roman Meal brands. MBN

Bartlett Grain expanding in
Kansas with new elevator
KANSAS CITY - Bartlett Grain Co. has
unveiled plans to build a new grain facility in Barton County, Kas., just east of
Great Bend on the Kansas and Oklahoma
Railroad.
The new elevator will be designed for
efficient and high-speed handling of inbound trucks, Bartlett said, and road access will be off of U.S. Highway 56. The
facility will have nearly 3 million bus of
storage and is designed to load out 110
car shuttle trains.
Construction will begin this month, and
Bartlett said it expects to be open for business by the 2015 wheat harvest.
The Barton County elevator will join
nine other Bartlett grain facilities in Kansas.
Bartlett had 2013 grain storage capacity of
62 million bus, making it the No. 22 ranked
grain major, according to the Grain & Milling Annual 2013 published by Sosland Publishing Co. The company operates a total
of 27 grain storage facilities, including 13
country elevators, 12 terminal facilities, 1
subterminal facility and 1 river facility. MBN
Milling & Baking News July 22, 2014 / 9

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