Gourmet News

Impossible Foods Hires Jagla as Chief Demand Officer

Published January 9, 2023

California-based Impossible Foods has hired top consumer goods industry leader Sherene Jagla as its first chief demand officer. Jagla will join the food and climate company to bring its sales, marketing, insights and product development teams into one integrated function under her leadership as it prepares for its next phase of growth.

Jagla’s appointment follows a year of record sales for Impossible Foods. The company continues to be the fastest growing plant-based meat brand in U.S. retail stores, where it experienced more than 50 percent dollar sales growth in 2022. In the food service sector, its flagship Impossible Beef product has been the best-selling product by volume of any plant-based meat brand in the United States.

Named one of the Top Women in Grocery by Progressive Grocer, Jagla joins Impossible with more than 25 years of sales, marketing, and general management experience at Fortune 500 companies across the CPG and food and beverage industries. Most recently, Jagla served as the senior vice president and general manager at Newell Brands, where she was responsible for a $2 billion business across 50 brands in 18 categories. There, she set the strategic direction for the brand’s top customer partnership and created a framework for collaborative growth that combined seven independent operating companies into one scaled organization.

“Our next phase of growth requires tight integration across teams and disciplines, and Sherene knows how to do that and build organizations that scale,” said Peter McGuinness, president and CEO of Impossible Foods. “She’s transformed complex organizations into high-performing businesses, and she has a deep understanding of the food and CPG space. I’ve no doubt her leadership will help transform Impossible into a household name.”

Jagla led sales at Kellogg’s with the world’s largest retailer, where she drove brand innovation in the United States and internationally. Jagla first joined the food company in 2019 to oversee sales of its Kashi cereal brand, expanding the brand’s capabilities to deliver both category and market share growth.

Jagla previously held senior leadership positions at personal care corporation Kimberly-Clark, where she led the commercial sales strategy across brands; retail strategy and execution firm Crossmark, where she built creative solutions for major CPG companies; and beverage company MillerCoors, where she developed breakthrough sales and marketing solutions for their largest brands and customers.

“One of the reasons I was drawn to Impossible is the company’s focus on leading the category and commitment to creating delicious, nutritious, and sustainable food,” Jagla said. “Impossible has created a compelling brand with a strong product portfolio that’s primed for growth. I look forward to working closely with Peter and the Impossible team to build on this foundation.”

Jagla serves on the board of directors for the American Heart Association in Northwest Arkansas and as a guest lecturer at the University of Arkansas Business School.

For news of interest to the specialty foods industry, subscribe to Gourmet News.

Pine River Offers Anniversary Cheese Spread at Winter Fancy Food

Published January 9, 2023

Pine River Cheese Spread will debut a limited edition anniversary cheese spread, 60-Month Cheddar, at the Winter Fancy Food Show held Jan. 15-17 in Las Vegas. The cheese spread was created in honor of the company’s 60^th anniversary, which it celebrates in 2023.

“The 5-year-old Wisconsin Cheddar gives this spread an extra creamy texture that has a rich cheddar flavor with a slightly tangy bite,” said Phil Lindemann, Pine River CEO. “The art of cheese spread making comes in the aging and blending process. We know which ages of cheese to combine to get the best flavor and we’ve been following the same recipe since my father started the company 60 years ago. ”

The highly decorated cheese spread company will be exhibiting in the Wisconsin Cheese Booth, #817. In addition to the 60-Month Cheddar, Pine River will be sampling many of its 21 Cold Pack flavors, as well as offerings from its Clean Label and Shelf-Stable cheese spread lines.

Founded on more than five generations of experience in the dairy industry, Pine River Cheese Spread produces three styles of award-winning Wisconsin Cheese Spread—Cold Pack Cheese Spread, Clean Label Cold Pack Cheese Spread, and Shelf-Stable Gourmet Snack Spread. We also offer Private Label, Food Service, and Fundraising services. The cheese spreads are crafted one batch at a time in a state-of-the-art facility in Newton, Wis.

Coming soon: Our Spring Cheese Guide! Subscribe to Gourmet News so you don’t miss it.

USDA Adds Support for Farmers, Ranchers, Producers

Published January 9, 2023

At the Jan. 9 American Farm Bureau Federation annual convention, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced several major developments at the U.S. Department of Agriculture that will benefit farmers, ranchers and producers across the nation.

“At USDA, our goal is to provide all farmers, including new and underserved producers, with the opportunity to receive the assistance they need to continue farming, to build and maintain their competitive-edge, and to access more, new, and better markets,” said Vilsack, who spoke at the American Farm Bureau Federation annual convention. “Working together we can ensure American agriculture is as resilient as ever and will do so by implementing a holistic approach to emergency assistance, by lowering input costs through investments in domestic fertilizer production, and by promoting competition in agricultural markets.”

Vilsack announced that USDA continues to make progress in the following areas by:

Assisting producers facing high input costs to access domestic, innovative fertilizer capacity.
Improving risk protection for underserved producers.
Investing in new choices and meat processing capacity for livestock producers.
Providing relief for producers impacted by disaster and the pandemic.

These programs and efforts are part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to lower costs for producers, increase competition and access to market opportunities, and ensure equity in designing and developing programs to help all producers. Additionally, the announcements are a continuation of the Biden-Harris Administration’s focus on targeting assistance based on need, reaching everyone who is eligible, and removing the bureaucratic burden on producers.

USDA will soon begin accepting public comments on environmental and related aspects of 21 potentially viable projects to increase fertilizer production across the United States totaling up to $88 million. These applicants have requested grant funding through the first round of the Department’s newly established Fertilizer Production Expansion Program. This program is one of many ways the Biden-Harris Administration invests in the agricultural supply chain right here at home. Investing in projects to increase fertilizer production will bring production and jobs back to the United States, promote competition and support American goods and services. Under the leadership of President Biden and Vice President Harris, USDA continues to create a competitive, resilient, secure and sustainable economy to support opportunities for local businesses and people across this nation. The Fertilizer Production Expansion Program is a critical part of that effort.

The Department is considering fertilizer production projects in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. Additional information is available at www.rd.usda.gov/fpep-environmental-review-comments.

The Fertilizer Production Expansion Program is part of a whole-of-government effort to promote competition in agricultural markets. USDA has also released a summary of the comments (PDF, 953 KB) received through a Request For Information on Access to Fertilizer: Competition and Supply Chain Concerns, which highlights the variety of concerns about the limited competition and dependence of foreign sources for significant amounts of fertilizer.

The Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program provides financial assistance to producers of non-insurable crops when low yields, loss of inventory or prevented planting occur due to natural disasters. There is a Congressionally mandated fee waiver for basic coverage for underserved producers. However, a previous set of procedures and regulations created a paperwork burden that stood in the way of many producers taking advantage of the basic coverage option. The recent rule removes barriers and establishes procedures through which an underserved producer with a CCC-860, Socially Disadvantaged, Limited Resource, Beginning and Veteran Farmer or Rancher Certification, on file prior to the applicable NAP application closing date will automatically receive basic coverage for any NAP-eligible crops they plant. Underserved producers on file for 2022 will also receive retroactive basic coverage. Like all other covered producers, underserved producers will still need to file a notice of loss and apply for benefits.

In addition to the basic catastrophic level coverage under NAP, producers can buy-up higher levels of coverage by paying a premium. Underserved producers receive a 50 percent discount on any premiums. Producers who are interested in obtaining NAP coverage for 2023 should also contact their local FSA county office for information on eligibility, coverage options and applying for coverage. FSA also plans to target outreach to previous producers of NAP-eligible crops to ensure these producers are aware of their options. For more information, reference our NAP fact sheet (PDF, 622 KB).

USDA is investing more than $12 million to expand independent meat and poultry processing capacity in Ohio, Michigan and Minnesota. Vilsack announced that Meat and Poultry Processing Expansion Program grants will help fund the following projects:

In Ohio, International Food Solutions Inc. is receiving $9,575,250 to help redevelop and expand a vacant building in Cleveland into a plant with the capacity to process 60 million pounds of poultry. The expansion will include cold and dry storage and two processing lines. The project will create 227 good-paying jobs. International Food Solutions is a woman- and minority-owned business that has produced thousands of prepared meals for K-12 students receiving free and reduced-price school meals.
In Michigan, grower-owned cooperative Michigan Turkey Producers is receiving $1,531,204 to help upgrade the hot water system, wastewater treatment facilities and refrigerated trailers to accommodate an expansion at its plant in Grand Rapids. With recent automation upgrades and the continuing expansion made possible by the grant, the plant will be able to add a shift and double its processing capacity to 10 million turkeys annually. The additional capacity also will allow the plant to provide back-up for other facilities of similar size in neighboring states.
In Minnesota, Benson + Turner Foods Inc. is receiving $962,954 to build a 6,788-square-foot cattle and hog processing plant on the White Earth Indian Reservation and storefront near Waubun. The grant will help the company achieve its goal of building a sustainable business that benefits the local economy by using locally grown livestock and providing new opportunities for producers to market their products by providing USDA-certified processing for them.

This is in addition to recent announcements of $74 million in 22 MPPEP projects, $75 million in grants through the Meat and Poultry Intermediary Lending Program, $3.9 million in Value Added Producer Grants, and $5.7 million in Food Supply Chain Loan Guarantees, all supporting meat and poultry processing. These programs are a few of the suite of programs facilitating investment in meat and poultry processing.

USDA is announcing two new programs that wrap-up and fill remaining gaps in previous natural disaster and pandemic assistance. To be eligible for ERP Phase Two, producers must have suffered a decrease in allowable gross revenue in 2020 or 2021 due to necessary expenses related to losses of eligible crops from a qualifying natural disaster event. Assistance will be primarily to producers of crops that were not covered by Federal Crop Insurance or NAP, since crops covered by Federal Crop Insurance and NAP were included in the assistance under ERP Phase One.

To be eligible for PARP, an agricultural producer must have been in the business of farming during at least part of the 2020 calendar year and had a 15% or greater decrease in allowable gross revenue for the 2020 calendar year, as compared to a baseline year.

The ERP Phase 2 and PARP application period is open from Jan. 23 through June 2. For more information, producers should contact their local USDA service center or reference the ERP Phase 2 fact sheet (PDF, 1.7 MB), PARP fact sheet (PDF, 540 KB) or the ERP Phase Two-PARP Comparison fact sheet (PDF, 2.5 MB).

For news of interest to the food and beverage industry, subscribe to Gourmet News.