Bunge Foods opens bakery R&D center; syrups & toppings divestiture halted

Bunge Foods has opened a research and development center dedicated to serving the baking industry. The new 5,000-sqft center will serve all of Bunge's baking customers--wholesale, retail and foodservice alike.

"This state-of-the-art R&D facility supports our customers for mix and frozen baked products with new formulations, technical assistance and analytical testing," said Ken Neal, senior vice-president of bakery sales and marketing on Dec. 28. "The equipment in this laboratory will serve our customers well because it duplicates conditions that are encountered at the customer's location. In addition, we have doubled our staff with the addition of a cereal scientist, analytical chemist and culinary expert."

The facility is located approximately two miles from the company's headquarters (since 1999) in St. Louis, MO, and replaces R&D facilities that have until now been located in Bradley, IL. "We relocated our R.&D operation from shared facilities at our Bradley, Ill., plant to a center dedicated to serving our bakery customers," said Neal.

Also: syrups & toppings divestiture cancelled
Also, on Dec. 28, Bunge Foods terminated negotiations with foodservice food and syrup supplier Stearns & Lehman Inc., which was considering an acquisition of Bunge's foodservice syrups and toppings business. The companies mutually agreed to terminate the letter of intent process.

According to Haywood Solomon, general manager of Bunge Foods, "The proposed sale of Bunge Foods' foodservice syrup and toppings business to Stearns & Lehman represented a potentially attractive option for both companies. However, the reversal of the sale does not dim our confidence in this business or in Bunge Foods' ongoing efforts to serve its foodservice customers on the West Coast. We remain committed to supporting our employees as they continue to build this business."

Bunge Foods supplies oils, shortening, bakery margarine, bakery mixes and concentrates, frozen bakery products, fruits and flavors. "Foods" is a division of Bunge Corp., a vertically integrated food and feed ingredient company that is, in turn, part of Bunge International Limited. With headquarters in St. Louis, MO, Bunge Corp. and its subsidiaries operate grain elevators, grain and oilseed processing plants, edible oil refineries and food processing facilities in the U. S., Canada and Mexico.