Topping off the news this week was the tragic events that took place at Molson Coors' Milwaukee campus on Wednesday. Five people were killed when a 51 year old former Molson Coors employee opened fire before turning the gun on himself. Authorities are still investigating the situation.
Also in some level of mourning are companies like PepsiCo and McCormick Co. both of whom have plants immediately in or near the epicenter of the COVID-19—or coronavirus—outbreak. Both companies as well as Coca-Cola, Tyson, General Mills, Mondelēz, and Unilever are all feeling the impacts of the deadly virus.
Despite feeling down, however, neither Pepsi nor Mondelēz are feeling out. Both companies recently added to their portfolios with PepsiCo sweetening its pot with a $705 million purchase of the Chinese snack company Be & Cheery. Mondelēz is giving it a go with Give & Go Prepared Foods Corp., a Toronto-based processor of ready-to-eat sweet baked goods, which it has purchased for $1.2 billion.
Acquisition mode is full effect with B&G Foods, JBS, and Hormel all making purchases last week as well.
Who's not feeling very acquisitiony lately is TreeHouse Foods, who recently reorganized down to two units while bringing in an executive from J.M. Smucker to head one of the newly established divisions.
Speaking of bringing people on, Paul Kiecker was named as the new FSIS administrator while Brent Franks joins Godiva as COO.
Before heading off into the weekend, make sure you stop by the February Food Funny to cast your vote, find some friendly consumption habits via your Facebook friends, and grab a bite of some of Granny Ganja's Mary Jane-infused cookies.
Erin Hallstrom is the resident geek of FoodProcessing.com and the author of our Working Wit blog, she's responsible for the digital strategy for FoodProcessing.com including posting content, managing social media, and analyzing reader data. She's a Toastmaster, a Black Belt in Karate, and an Improv Performer to boot. Erin also is a founding member of the Influential Women in Manufacturing program and is a producer and host of our Manufacturing Tomorrow's Workforce podcast. Give her a shout-out or get in touch with her via email.
