Take a look at our new “Future Foodie” column in our February issue. Written by Elyse Buckley, a student at Kansas State University in Manhattan, it provides a fresh perspective of the food industry. Buckley is a graduate student and a Master of Science candidate in the grain science department at KSU.

Dorner Manufacturing will fund the Richard C. Ryan Packaging Education Scholarship, which will be administered by the PMMI Education & Training Foundation.

Owner and founder John Broucek hands over the reins to New England Natural Bakers’ employees after 35 years.

Cincinnati-based Gold Medal Products Co. has purchased a 42,000-sq.-ft. building to accommodate its double-digit sales growth.

The American Bakers Association wins a major victory on behalf of the wholesale baking industry with the inclusion of an exemption in the Food & Drug Administration’s (FDA) recent proposal, “Preventive Controls for Human Food: Current Good Manufacturing Practice and Hazard Analysis and Risk-Based Preventive Controls for Human Foods.”

The Independent Bakers Association says it will be working with the Coalition for Sugar Reform in the coming months to include sugar reform in the new legislation.

Phoenix-based Inventure Foods expands its portfolio of brands by entering into a licensing agreement with Vidalia Brands of Glennville, Ga., to develop new snack line.

Tulsa, Okla.-based Nonni’s expands its specialty cookie offerings by acquiring La Dolce Vita, a maker of traditional, artisanal biscotti in Glendale, Ariz.

Puratos Group, Groot-Bijgaarden, Belgium, and Grand-Place Holding, Brussels, Belgium, two international groups active in the business-to-business supply of raw materials and ingredients to the food industry, have finalized negotiations for a joint venture agreement in Vietnam.

The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) says that it re-benchmarked three additional standard scopes set by the International Featured Standards.