News on Food Trends from Illinois

Mars, global leader in pet care, snacking and food and Kellanova (NYSE: K), a leader in global snacking, international cereal and noodles and North America frozen foods, recently announced that Mars has received unconditional approval from the European Commission for its pending acquisition of Kellanova.

Kraft Heinz will split into two tax-free, independent public companies: Global Taste Elevation Co. and North American Grocery Co. Goal: simplify structure, boost focus, drive growth, and unlock shareholder value. Deal expected in 2026.

JBT Marel Corporation (NYSE and Nasdaq Iceland: JBTM) has completed the settlement of its voluntary takeover offer to acquire all validly tendered shares of Marel hf.

Did you know that behind every delicious, crunchy, perfectly sized potato chip are years of research, development, experimentation and analysis by some of the brightest minds in the industry?

A team from the University of Illinois has engineered potato to be more resilient to global warming, showing 30% increases in tuber mass under heatwave conditions.

Four major potato processing companies, McCain Foods, Cavendish Farms, Lamb Weston, and J.R. Simplot, are accused of price-fixing in a class-action lawsuit filed in the United States District Court.

The Middleby Corporation has announced the acquisition of JC Ford, a leading manufacturer of tortilla production equipment systems. Founded in 1945, the company is based in Columbia, Tenn., with USD 70 million in annual revenues.

Mars, Incorporated has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Kellanova for USD 83.50 per share in cash, with the total deal valued at USD 35.9 billion. It makes Mars owner of brands such as Pringles®, Cheez-It®, Pop-Tarts®, Rice Krispies Treats® and NutriGrain®

JBT and Marel hf. have executed a definitive transaction agreement related to JBT’s previously announced intention to make a voluntary takeover offer for all the issued and outstanding shares of Marel.

Globally inspired flavors, evolving use of kitchen appliances, and a surge in breakfast foods are just some of the emerging trends identified in Future of Frozen Food 2024

Kellanova has announced that the maker of Pringles® is on track to reach its goal of creating a climate-positive future

A Northwestern University-led team of researchers has developed a new fuel cell that harvests energy from microbes living in dirt.

Four studies released from 2019 to 2023 by the University of Illinois show that on average, 67% of nitrogen found in corn comes from sources occurring in the soil. Researchers labeled nitrogen fertilizers applied with N15 to identify naturally occurring nitrogen vs. synthetic nitrogen.

Duravant LLC , a global engineered equipment and automation solutions provider to the food processing, packaging, and material handling sectors, has announced that it has acquired PPM Technologies from Stonehenge Partners.

Following their merger in August 2022, Information Resources, Inc. ("IRI") and The NPD Group ("NPD") unveiled a new combined company name and brand identity: Circana.

Duravant LLC, a global engineered equipment and automation solutions provider to the food processing, packaging and material handling sectors, has acquired Multiscan Technologies.

Inflation and other rising costs have consumers looking to cut expenses, and eating more dinners at home is one way they do it. Out-of-necessity dinners at home peaked during the pandemic but have since normalized.

Manipulating RNA can dramatically increase the yield of potato plants, as well as increasing drought tolerance, announced a group of scientists from the University of Chicago, Peking University and Guizhou University.