JLS AUTOMATION strengthened its sales team for the Canadian market with the addition of Paul Swietlinski as National Sales Manager-Canada. In this newly created role, Swietlinski will bring more than 30 years of industry experience to support JLS’ customers and will help grow business with new and existing accounts across the country.

FPS FOOD PROCESS SOLUTIONS, a global supplier of turn-key freezing and cooling equipment, announced strategic senior appointments to ensure continued strength in the growing food processing sector. JAY LOY was promoted to general manager, U.S. operations. BARRY MCINTURFF joined FPS as sales manager overseeing the Southeast Region of the U.S. BRYAN RIDEOUT was promoted to senior manager, global project management. VIR SINGH was promoted to general manager.

STÄUBLI ROBOTICS has named a new group division manager: CHRISTOPHE COULONGEAT will head the Robotics Division. He succeeds Gerald Vogt, who has assumed leadership of the entire Stäubli Group as the new CEO.

CRB has appointed JIM HIGLEY, formerly interstates director of business development, to the position of CRB director of business development. He has more than 25 years of experience in integrated project delivery, construction management and operations involving prepared foods, pet care, meat processing, ingredients, automated distribution and more.

SMITHFIELD has announced new executive leadership appointments following Dennis Organ’s recent assumption as president and CEO. The appointments include: RUSS DOKKEN, chief sales officer; KEIRA LOMBARDO, chief administrative officer; GLENN NUNZIATA continues as chief financial officer; SCOTT SAUNDERS, chief supply chain officer; SHANE SMITH, chief strategy officer; BRADY STEWART, chief manufacturing officer; and JOE WEBER, chief commodity hedging officer. The following were named as executive vice presidents: LUIS CERDAN, European operations; JAMIE DIK, fresh meats; STEVE FRANCE, packaged meats; MARK HALL, finance; and JOHN SARGENT, hog production.

APPHARVEST has appointed DAVID LEE as president, reporting to Founder and CEO Jonathan Webb. Lee formerly served as CFO with Impossible Foods since December 2015.

SEEPEX has announced two moves in its sales team. JOHN SALYERS has been promoted from a regional sales manager to the director of sales, while AARON RENICK has transitioned from director of sales Western Region to the newly developed role of director of business development.

ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY SERVICES INC. announced that its CEO, Jeff Owens, was named to the prestigious 2021 list of “CEOs Who ‘Get It’” by the NATIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL, along with seven other leaders nationwide.

NEWMAN’S OWN INC. named DAVID BEST as chief executive officer and president. Best, a nine year veteran of the company, has served as president and chief operating officer since 2015. Prior to Newman’s Own, he held various marketing and leadership positions at General Mills, Atkins, Unilever and Henry Rak Consulting Partners. In addition, the company named MICHAEL MARDY to its board of directors.

STAVIS SEAFOODS, a multinational fishing company and seafood manufacturer, promoted DAVID LANCASTER to president. Lancaster, who previously served as vice president of sales at Stavis Seafoods, has more than 30 years of experience in sales, management and the seafood industry.

CLASADO BIOSCIENCES appointed LUCIE NAGY as head of regulatory and legal. In the role, she will oversee how the science behind the company’s prebiotic ingredient Bimuno is communicated across key commercial markets, ensuring that regulatory compliance remains front and center for the business.

SIDEDRIVE CONVEYOR COMPANY has begun life as what it claims is the first conveyor company to focus exclusively on edge-driven belt technology from Intralox for flexible and modular sanitary conveyance solutions. “I am excited to announce SideDrive Conveyor Co. as the only company with a singular focus on offering this edge-driven technology for helical and, theoretically, infinitely long conveying solutions that are sanitary, transferless and flexible,” says Kevin Mauger, president of SideDrive Conveyor.

DYNAMIC CONVEYOR celebrates its 30th anniversary of conveyor manufacturing. The DynaClean line of conveyors was introduced to food processors in 2011 as a time-saving alternative to difficult-to-clean sanitary conveyors, cutting cleaning times up to half when compared to conventional conveyors.

DURAVANT LLC, a global engineered equipment and automation solutions provider to the food processing, packaging and material handling sectors, announced the introduction of NVENIA LLC, a new operating company within Duravant’s Packaging Solutions segment formed by combining ARPAC, HAMER-FISCHBEIN and OHLSON into a single entity. NVENIA’s focus is on delivering next-level packaging equipment, integration and innovation to its customers.

PEPSICO INC. and BEYOND MEAT INC. will form The PLANeT Partnership LLC, a joint venture to develop, produce and market innovative snack and beverage products made from plant-based protein. The joint venture will leverage Beyond Meat’s technology in plant-based protein development and PepsiCo’s marketing and commercial capabilities to create and scale new snack and beverage options.

PROMACH, supplier of packaging machinery solutions headquartered near Cincinnati, Ohio, completed its acquisition of the assets of BARTELT, a provider of flexible pouch packaging systems for the food and confectionery industries.

DNV GL, the assurance and risk management company, changed its name to DNV. The present name has been in place since the 2013 merger between DNV (Det Norske Veritas) and GL (Germanischer Lloyd).

ALEPH FARMS LTD. and MITSUBISHI CORPORATION’S FOOD INDUSTRY GROUP signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to bring cultivated meat to the Japanese table. Aleph Farms will provide its scalable manufacturing platform (BioFarm™) for cultivation of whole-muscle steaks. Mitsubishi Corp. will provide its expertise in biotechnology processes, branded food manufacturing and local distribution channels in Japan.

Swiss technology group BÜHLER AG and the DIL DEUTSCHES INSTITUT FÜR LEBENSMITTELTECHNIK E. V., a research institute focusing on food technology and food science, have teamed up to develop new production technologies for healthy and sustainable food products, focusing on alternative protein-based products with a lower environmental impact than the CO2-heavy meat value chain.

EVERGRAIN INGREDIENTS recently launched and is backed by Anheuser-Busch InBev. (See “Creating healthful products from spent brewers’ barley,” FE.) The new company takes the spent/saved barley grain from breweries and turns it into useful protein and fiber ingredients for food and beverage products.

SÜDPACK acquired LPF FLEXIBLE PACKAGING B.V. from the Clondalkin Group. The company, located in Grootegast, the Netherlands, is a manufacturer of high barrier films for sensitive products.

Tippmann Innovation is working with long-term partners Sierra Supply Chain Services and Penta Properties to build a new $65 million state-of-the-art cold storage facility in Hamilton, Ontario, which will consist of 250,000 sq.-ft. of storage and a 30,000-sq.-ft. processing area.

Win Chill has under construction phase 3 of its Sioux Falls, S.D. facility, which is being built by Tippmann Innovation and will include 133,825 sq.-ft. of freezer space and 11 loading docks.

Nestlé Purina will build a 1.2 million sq.-ft. pet food production facility near Cincinnati, creating 300 jobs. Located in Clermont County off Ohio Route 32, the $550 million facility will be the first completely new Purina plant built from scratch since 1975, and is expected to be complete by 2024.

CJ Foods USA Inc., a U.S.-based affiliate of South Korean global lifestyle company CJ CheilJedang, is building a 700,000-sq.-ft. facility in Sioux Falls, S.D. The plant will include state-of-the-art production lines for Asian-style foods and a warehouse/DC, which will create more than 600 jobs by 2025. All products will be sold and distributed by CJ Foods and Schwan’s Co., a fellow U.S.-based affiliate of CJ Foods.

Mars Petcare plans to invest $145 million to expand its wet pet food operation in Fort Smith, Ark., creating 120 jobs. The expansion will be complete in 2022 and add 200,000 sq.-ft., allowing space for two production lines and room to expand further.

Greenleaf Foods (part of Maple Leaf Foods) is purchasing a 118,000-sq.-ft. facility in Indianapolis, where the company will install tempeh production equipment. The project, which will cost about $100 million, will become operational in 2022, employing around 115 people.

Butterball plans to invest nearly $9 million to upgrade turkey processing facilities: $4.7 million in Ozark, Ark. and $4 million in Huntsville, Ark., creating 360 new jobs combined over the next three years.

Koch Foods is investing nearly $16 million to expand its poultry production plant in Gadsden, Ala., which is expected to create 135 new jobs.

Tyson Foods is investing $26 million to expand production at its Wright Brand bacon plant in Vernon, Texas. The expansion is expected to be complete by March 2021 and create 32 jobs.

Enterra opened a 188,000-sq.-ft. facility near Calgary, Alberta, to recycle food waste by feeding to insects, which are then dried and processed into animal and pet food ingredients.

Sweetener Solutions is expanding its existing production capacity and warehousing space with the addition of a new, climate-controlled facility near its corporate headquarters in Pooler, Ga.