As Moore, Oklahoma, and the surrounding communities struggle to recover from the devastation caused by the tornado on May 20, AdvancePierre Foods—a supplier of value-added protein and handheld convenience meal items—is helping the relief efforts.

This week, the company donated more than 175,000 servings of burgers, meatballs, breakfast sandwiches, Philly-style steaks, peanut butter and jelly snacks and chicken strips to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma and The Salvation Army. The company also gave $10,000 to the American Red Cross to aid the recovery work and will match associate donations up to an additional $15,000.

“Oklahoma is home to more than 1,600 AdvancePierre associates in our Edmond and Enid offices and plants and our hearts go out to those who were impacted by this devastating storm,” said Bill Toler, president and CEO of AdvancePierre Foods. “We are grateful for the tireless efforts of the first responders and the critical services provided by agencies such as The Salvation Army, American Red Cross and the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma. We are committed to doing all we can to support their work to help those individuals and families who have lost so much.”

In addition to the product and financial donations, the company is gathering donations of material goods and other supplies to deliver to the Red Cross. A team of AdvancePierre associates will also travel to Moore in the coming weeks to help with the clean-up efforts.

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Heartland Payment Systems, a payments processors and provider of merchant business solutions, has launched SmartLink Food Safety Monitoring, the most advanced, single-point solution for monitoring of food storage and preparation equipment in the convenience store industry.

For convenience store operators, SmartLink Food Safety Monitoring is a cloud-based temperature monitoring solution that ensures greater efficiencies, more control over the quality and freshness of food being served, and access to detailed reports to help protect food quality for their customers and their business while meeting Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) guidelines.

 “Convenience stores currently employ one of two monitoring methods—manual monitoring by employees or use of controls that are part of larger HVAC systems — neither of which is 100% reliable. Both approaches easily lend themselves to mistakes, misreporting and compliance problems,” Michael Youngkin, Heartland’s senior director of network solutions.  “With the SmartLink Food Safety Monitoring solution, operators will now have simple cloud-based access to the most accurate information possible. SmartLink Food Safety Monitoring ensures food safety and quality, as well as significant savings in equipment repair and energy usage.”

Through continuous monitoring and recording of cold storage and preparation equipment, operators can analyze performance to identify degrading equipment before a complete failure occurs, thus saving thousands of dollars in inventory and emergency service calls. Additionally, as cold storage and preparation equipment typically accounts for at least 30% of a convenience store’s energy costs, the continuous temperature monitoring enables operators to better maintain safe temperatures using as little energy as possible.

In addition to consistent, 24/7 reporting and the ability to proactively maintain equipment to predict and prevent failure before it occurs, another major benefit of the SmartLink Food Safety Monitoring solution is ensuring compliance with the Food Modernization Act of 2011. 

The law calls for a number of provisions, including more frequent inspections and a requirement that food facilities have a written plan outlining possible problem areas and steps the facility would take to prevent these issues. With the SmartLink Food Safety Monitoring solution, convenience store operators have immediate access to reliable data regarding the storage and preparation equipment temperatures whenever that information is required.

Overall, Heartland’sSmartLink solution is a secure managed network service, with PCI-compliant network security, that effectively supports transaction data and back-office systems. SmartLink’s cloud-based Managed Network Tools provide operators with monitored VPN communications for automatic tank gauges, in-store environmental control systems, back-office systems, digital signs, email and Internet access. It also provides a distributed and segmented SSL network to support transactions generated by point-of-sale, money order, check cashing, ATM and fleet card terminals. The SmartLink Food Safety Monitoring solution can be easily integrated into the entire SmartLink solution or installed on its own.

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Jim Drake

Server Products fills director of sales and marketing and international sales manager positions.

Server Products has promoted Jim Drake to director of sales and marketing, and hired Rafael Dingui Jr. as international sales manager.

In the capacity of director of sales & marketing, Drake will be responsible for domestic and international sales and marketing initiatives. Drake has been with Server for six years, most recently as director of sales, Eastern Region, and has spent 26 years in the industry, holding executive and sales management positions at other manufacturing companies.

Rafael Dingui Jr.

As international sales manager, Rafael Dingui Jr. will lead Server’s global business development efforts. Rafael has over eight years of industry experience and most recently was international sales manager at Franklin Machine Products.

Long recognized as a leader in portion-controlled dispensing and point-of-use holding of ambient, chilled and heated products, Server has a complete line of innovative dispensing and holding solutions perfect for any operation.

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Orion Food Systems President Steve Watkins joined South Dakota governor Dennis Daugaard and other executives as part of a trade delegation to China. 

With over 1.3 billion consumers, and a growing interest in American brands, Watkins sees a tremendous upside for American food and beverage companies. 

“Our primary goal for the trade mission was to initiate and establish long-term business partnerships in China,” reported Watkins, “We knew American brands and products were becoming very successful in China.  This is being driven by their growing economy creating more wealth and disposable income.  In addition, there are a growing number of foreign (to China) people living in China, looking for a taste of home.”

Watkins noted that one of the fastest growing segments is the young adult population who want to experience American culture and cuisine.  According to Watkins, quick and convenient American style pizza has tremendous potential.

“We met with the top five grocery retailers in China, along with the top two importer/distributors.  The most well received product was our new Papa Primo’s individual serving microwave pizza. The majority of homes in China do not have an oven so this product allows the Chinese consumer to experience good American pizza in their own home.”

Watkins emphasized that food safety was also a major component of Orion’s successful trade dialogue.  Tainted infant formula and other food safety issues reported by the international media have hurt China’s reputation for food safety. 

“Our recent SQF Level 2 certification (a globally recognized food safety and quality certification program),” noted Watkins, “was a big plus in their eyes.”

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Del Monte Fresh Produce N.A. Inc.  announced its second of four weekly aspiring chef winners of its “Find Your Inner Chef” online contest. Karen Gulkin, from Greeley, Colo., gets the opportunity to move on to the Cook Off Challenge event that will be held in Miami, Fla.

“Congratulations to Karen Gulkin on being our second week winner!” said Dennis Christou, vice president of marketing, North America for Del Monte. “She certainly proves to be an aspiring chef with her winning taco recipe using Del Monte fresh avocados. We can’t wait to meet Karen in Miami, and look forward to seeing her in action as she competes for the grand prize and the coveted Del Monte Fresh Chef title.”

The contest, “Find Your Inner Chef,” encourages consumers to participate in a fun and fresh culinary experience, using their own favorite recipe or by creating a new recipe using Del Monte fresh fruits and vegetables. Daily prizes, including retail gift cards, culinary kitchen tools, and tabletop appliances may be won by participating in the online contest.

“I’m so excited about making it to the finals,” said Gulkin. “I entered one of my favorite recipes, Blackened Orange Steak Tacos with Citrus Guacamole using Del Monte fresh avocados. It’s always a family favorite. I want to thank everyone for their support through Facebook and Twitter, and for voting for me. I can’t wait for this trip to Miami, where I know my recipe will bring the win to Colorado.”

There’s still plenty of time for consumers to participate. To enter the contest, all that needs to be done is to log onto www.facebook.com/DelMonteFreshProduce and “like” the page then complete the pop up registration form. After completing the registration form, a copy of their original healthy recipe along with photos utilizing Del Monte Fresh Produce products should be posted on the Del Monte Fresh Produce Facebook page.

Just as Gulkin was selected as the week two winner, after she posted her special recipe, her win was the result of the number of “likes and tweets that gave her the opportunity to compete in Miami! There are two weeks remaining in the contest. Del Monte will announce the final winner nationally, and in their hometown, so get going!

The contest launched April 15 and ends June 15, 2013. Consumers must be 18 years of age to enter. For additional details about the “Find Your Inner Chef” contest, log onto www.fruits.com.

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UL and NSF approved, it offers an adjustable thermostat, three 17-inch x 17-inch heated shelves, tempered glass side panels, polycarbonate doors and stainless-steel corner posts, and front and back doors for easy accessibility.

For More Information From Tomlinson Industries

(800) 945-4589, Ext. 112

www.tomlinsonind.com

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For More Information From CSCAMEX

www.cscamex.com

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Developed from old world recipes, the 3-Cheese is generously filled with Pepperjack, Parmesan and Mozzarella cheeses with pizza sauce.  The Pepperoni variety includes lots of pepperoni, mozzarella cheese and a special blended tomato sauce. With a suggested SRP of $1.69, these calzones are the perfect addition to anyone’s “value” lunch menu.  Preparation is easy since they arrive par baked for finishing in a microwave or oven. They can be merchandised in either a cooler case or warmer and have a 14 day refrigerated shelf life along with three-hour hold times in the warmer. Each one is packaged in an eye-catching window bag, which lets the consumer see what they are purchasing.

For More Information From Lettieri’s

Contact: Paul Fjeldseth, (866) 707-8466

www.lettieris.com

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For More Information From The Broaster Co.

www.broaster.com

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