On Monday, the McResource�website for employees of McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) suggested that employees avoid eating too much fast food, and showed a photo of something that looks very much like a McDonald’s meal labeled as an “unhealthy choice.” By Thursday, the website had been taken down. Spending on advertising promoting fast food likely will�continue.
McDonald’s, and other fast-food operators like Burger King Worldwide Inc. (NYSE: BKW) and Yum! Brands Inc. (NYSE: YUM), have been the target of protesters seeking higher wages. The employees organized strikes and demonstrations last summer, similar to the job actions that have taken place at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) over the two past Black Friday weekends.
Then, last October, the McDonald’s employee hotline told a long-time employee from Chicago who called asking for advice on making ends meet to seek help from food pantries, apply for food stamps and check out Medicaid assistance. This came after the company had published a sample budget online suggesting that employees having trouble making ends meet needed a second job.
Top 5 Net Payout Yield Companies To Own For 2015: Safeway Inc.(SWY)
Safeway Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a food and drug retailer in North America. The company operates stores that provide an array of grocery items, food, and general merchandise, as well as features specialty departments, such as bakery, delicatessen, floral, and pharmacy, as well as coffee shops and fuel centers. It also offers SELECT line of products that include baked goods, sparkling ciders and lemonades, salsas, whole bean coffees, frozen pizzas and entrees, and fresh and dry pastas and sauces, as well as an array of ice creams, hors d'oeuvres, and desserts; O ORGANICS line, which comprises milk, chicken, salads, juices, and entrees; Lucerne line of dairy products; Eating Right line of better-for-you products; Bright Green line of home care products; Total Pet Care line of pet foods and pet care products; and Value Red line of value-priced paper goods. As of December 31, 2009, Safeway operated approximately 1,725 stores in California, Oregon, Wash ington, Alaska, Colorado, Arizona, Texas, the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Mid-Atlantic region, as well as British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba/Saskatchewan. In addition, the company owns and operates GroceryWorks.com Operating Company, LLC, an online grocery channel, doing business under the names Safeway.com, Vons.com, and Genuardis.com; and Blackhawk Network Holdings, Inc., which provides third-party gift cards, prepaid cards, telecom cards, and sports and entertainment cards to North American retailers for sale to retail customers. Additionally, it engages in gift card businesses in the United Kingdom, France, Mexico, and Australia. Further, the company, through a 49% ownership interest in Casa Ley, S.A. de C.V. operates 156 food and general merchandise stores in Western Mexico. The company was formerly known as Safeway Stores, Incorporated and changed its name to Safeway Inc. in February 1990. Safeway was founded in 1915 and is based in Pleasanton, California. Advisors' Opinion:
- [By Rich Duprey]
Supermarket chain SUPERVALU (NYSE: SVU ) lost 40% annually between 2007 and 2012 while Safeway (NYSE: SWY ) lost 10% annually. Kroger (NYSE: KR ) , which recognized the value of private-label branding early on, achieved 4% growth.
- [By Andrew Marder]
Empire Co, the buyer of Safeway's (NYSE: SWY ) Canadian property, saw its stock jump 11% in early trading the day after the sale. Meanwhile, Safeway's stock was up 10%, on the announcement of the $5.7 billion deal. All in all, not a bad setup for investors.
- [By Steve Symington]
What's more, Whole Foods management plans to increase the total number of domestic stores to 1,000, or nearly triple the 345 total locations it currently maintains. If that sounds aggressive, consider that grocery giant Safeway (NYSE: SWY ) currently has more than 1,600 locations, and the behemoth SUPERVALU� (NYSE: SVU ) boasted more than 5,000 stores at the end of last year.�Compared to both Safeway and SUPERVALU, at least, Whole Foods has plenty of room to grow -- and plenty of market share to grab along the way.
- [By Shauna O'Brien]
On Friday, Credit Suisse announced that it has upgraded food and drug retailer Safeway Inc. (SWY).
The firm has raised its rating on SWY from “Underperform” to “Outperform” due a a valuation call. Analysts currently have a $34 price target on SWY, which suggests a 17% increase from the stock’s current price of $28.20.
Safeway shares were up $1.65, or 6.21%, during Friday morning trading. The stock is up 56% YTD.
10 Best Food Stocks To Own Right Now: Lifeway Foods Inc (LWAY)
Lifeway Foods, Inc., (Lifeway), incorporated on May 19, 1986, is engaged in the manufacturing of probiotic, cultured, functional dairy and non-dairy health food products. The Company�� primary products are kefir sold under the name Lifeway Kefir and Helios Nutrition Organic Kefir; a line of yogurts sold under the Lassi brand, and BasicsPlus, a dairy based immune-supporting dietary supplement beverage. In addition to the drinkable products, Lifeway manufactures Lifeway Farmer Cheese, a line of various farmer cheeses, a line of gourmet cream cheeses, and Sweet Kiss, a fruit sugar-flavored spreadable cheese similar in consistency to cream cheese. The Company also manufactures and markets a vegetable-based seasoning under the Golden Zesta brand. Lifeway manufactures all of its products at Company-owned facilities and distributes its products throughout the United States.
Lifeway�� primary product, kefir is a fermented dairy product. Lifeway�� Kefir is a drinkable product intended for use as a breakfast meal or a snack, or as a base for lower-calorie dressings, dips, soups or sauces. Kefir is also used as the base of Lifeway�� plain farmer�� cheese, a cheese made without salt, sugar or animal rennet. In addition, kefir is the primary ingredient of Lifeway�� Sweet Kiss product, a fruit sugar-flavored, cream cheese-like spread which is intended to be used as a dessert spread or frosting. Lifeway�� Kefir is a drinkable kefir product manufactured in 10 regular and low-fat varieties, including plain, pomegranate, raspberry, blueberry, strawberry, cherry, peach, banana-strawberry, cappuccino and vanilla, and sold in 32-ounce containers and 8-ounce single serving containers featuring color-coded caps and labels describing nutritional information. The kefir product is marketed under the name Lifeway�� Kefir and is sold by retailers from their dairy sections.
Lifeway�� Organic Kefir meets the organic standards and specifications of the United States Department of Agricul! ture for organic products and is manufactured in five flavors: plain, wildberry, raspberry, strawberry and peach. Lifeway�� Organic Kefir is sweetened with organic cane juice. Lifeway�� Slim6 is a line of low-fat kefir beverages with no added sugar designed for consumers who follow low-carbohydrate diets. Lifeway�� Slim6 has only eight grams of carbohydrates and 2.5 grams of fat per 8-ounce serving and is available in five flavors: strawberries n��cream, mixed berry, tropical fruit, strawberry-banana and an original, unsweetened version. ProBugs is a kefir product that contains 10 live and active kefir cultures. Aimed at children ages 2-9, ProBugscomes in three flavors, Sublime Slime Lime, Orange Creamy Crawler and Goo-Berry Pie and is packaged in no spill spout pouches designed as cartoon bug characters Peter, Polly and Penelope ProBug.
Farmer Cheese is based on a cultured soft cheese and is intended to be used in a variety of recipes as a low fat, low-cholesterol, low-calorie substitute for cream cheese or ricotta, and is available in various styles. Sweet Kiss is a sweet cheese probiotic spread available in five flavors: plain, plain with raisins, apple, peach and chocolate. Elita and Bambino cheeses are low-fat, low-cholesterol kefir based cheese spreads, which are marketed as an alternative to cream cheese. Krestyanski Tworog is a European-style kefir-based soft style cheese which can also be used in a variety of recipes, eaten with a spoon, used as a cheese spread, or substituted in recipes for cream cheese, ricotta cheese or cottage cheese and is marketed to consumers of various Eastern European ethnicities.
Basics Plus is a kefir-based beverage product designed to support gastrointestinal functions and the immune system. Kefir Starter is a powdered form of kefir that is sold in envelope packets and allows a consumer to make his or her own drinkable kefir at home by adding milk. Lifeway continues to develop sales of this product through the Internet. Lassi is a c! ultured d! rink inspired by the traditions of India and is sold in 8-ounce containers in two flavors, strawberry and mango. Golden Zesta is a vegetable-based seasoning, which, because of its low sodium content, may also be used as a salt substitute and is marketed to delicatessens, gourmet shops and ethnic grocers. Helios Nutrition Organic Kefir is a kefir product made from organic milk and manufactured with a blend of active cultures. It is sold in 8 and 32 ounce bottles and made in five flavors: peach, plain, strawberry, vanilla and raspberry.
The Company competes with Danone Foods, Inc.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Lisa Levin]
Dairy Products: This industry tumbled 2.12% by 10:50 am. The worst stock within the industry was Lifeway Foods (NASDAQ: LWAY), which fell 0.9%. Lifeway Foods' PEG ratio is 3.56.
10 Best Food Stocks To Own Right Now: American Lorain Corp (ALN)
American Lorain Corporation (ALN), incorporated on February 4, 1986, is an integrated food manufacturing company. The Company develops, manufactures and sells food products, which includes chestnut products, convenience foods, including ready-to-cook (RTC) foods, ready-to-eat (RTE) foods and meals ready-to-eat (MRE)), and frozen food products. The Company conducts its production activities in China. Its products are sold in 26 provinces and administrative regions in China and 42 foreign countries. The Company derives its revenues from sales in China, Japan and South Korea. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company produced 254 products, including 16 new products in its chestnut and convenience foods segment. During 2011, it discontinued three products in the convenience segment. In February 2014, American Lorain Corp acquired a 51% interest in Athena Group.
The Company manufactures its products in six facilities in China, three of which are located in Junan County, Shandong Province, one in Luotian County, Hubei Province, one in Miyun County, Beijing City and one leased facility in Dongguan, Guandong Province. As of December 31, 2011, the Company manufactured its products using 26 production lines. Each production line is used to produce between 10 and 50 products. The Company operates three product lines: deep-freezing lines, canning lines and convenience food lines. The Company sells its products in all first-tier cities in China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Guangzhou. Its export sales destinations include Asia pacific, primarily Japan, South Korea and Malaysia, but also Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia and Australia; Europe, primarily Belgium and the United Kingdom, but also France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Poland, and Denmark the Middle East, primarily Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Israel; North America, including the United States and Canada.
ALN owns 100% of International Lorain Holding, Inc. (ILH). ILH wholly owns two Chinese operating subsi! diaries, Luotian Green Foodstuff Co., Ltd. (Luotian Lorain) and Junan Hongrun Foodstuff Co., Ltd. (Junan Hongrun), directly. Junan Hongrun, in turn, wholly owns Dongguan Green Foodstuff Co., Ltd. (Dongguan Lorain). In addition, together with Junan Hongrun, ILH wholly owns Beijing Green Foodstuff Co., Ltd. (Beijing Lorain), Shandong Greenpia Foodstuff Co., Ltd. (Shandong Greenpia), and owns approximately 80% of Shandong Green Foodstuff Co., Ltd. (Shandong Lorain) (Shandong Economic Development Investment Co. Ltd. owns approximately 20%).
Chestnut Products
During 2011, the Company produced 57 processed chestnut products. During 2011, this segment contributed 51.7% of its total revenues. The Company's products include its aerated open-bottom chestnuts, which are chestnuts packaged with nitrogen; sweetheart chestnuts, which are sweet preserved chestnuts; chestnuts in syrup, and golden chestnut kernels.
Convenience Foods
The Company's convenience food products include RTC food products, RTE food products and MRE food products. During 2011, the Company's RTCs included beef and lamb products, and its RTEs included bean products and pickle products. The Company's self heating MREs are primarily for military use since no cooking device or other ingredients are needed other than water. The Company also introduced microwavable MREs for civilian uses, such as camping, traveling and other situations. The Company produces various MREs based on Chinese cuisine, which include its pork with garlic sauce over rice and kungpao chicken with rice. The Company produced 138 convenience food products, during 2011, including 14 new products, such as filled buns and fried sweet potato.
Frozen Food Products
The Company produces a variety of frozen foods, including frozen vegetables, frozen fruits, frozen fish, and frozen meats. The Company produced 63 frozen food products in 2011. The Company's frozen foods included, during 2011, were frozen asparagus a! nd frozen! corn.
The Company competes with Hebei Liyuan, Foodwell Corporation, Weifang Langdong Food Co. Ltd., Yuyao Hongji Food Co. Ltd. and Yantai Pengshun Food Co. Ltd.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By James E. Brumley]
Truth be told, were it just today's 11% pop from American Lorain Corporation (NYSEMKT:ALN), it might not even be worth mentioning. It's not just today's 11% rally from ALN, though, that's made this stock so interesting. It's everything that's happened up until this point that may mean American Lorain deserves a spot at the top of your watchlist, if not in your portfolio.
10 Best Food Stocks To Own Right Now: Seaboard Corporation(SEB)
Seaboard Corporation operates as a diversified agribusiness and transportation company worldwide. Its Pork division engages in hog production and pork processing; and the production and sale of fresh and frozen pork products, such as lunchmeat, ham, bacon, sausage, loins, tenderloins, and ribs, as well as further processed pork products, including raw and pre-cooked bacon to further processors, foodservice operators, grocery stores, distributors, and retail outlets under the Prairie Fresh and Daily's brand names. This division also produces and sells biodiesel from pork and other animal fats to third parties. The company?s Commodity Trading and Milling division sources, transports, and markets wheat, corn, soybean meal, rice, and other commodities, as well as operates flour, feed, and maize milling businesses. Its Marine division provides containerized cargo shipping service to 26 countries between the United States, the Caribbean Basin, and central and South America; and operates a terminal at the Port of Miami, an off-dock warehouse for cargo consolidation and temporary storage, and a cargo terminal at the Port of Houston for temporary storage of bagged grains, resins, and other cargo. As of December 31, 2010, it operated 10 owned and approximately 29 chartered vessels; and dry, refrigerated, and specialized containers and other related equipment. The company?s Sugar division produces and refines sugar cane, produces alcohol, and purchases and resells sugar to retailers, soft drink manufacturers, and food manufacturers in Argentina. Its Power division operates as an independent power producer in the Dominican Republic operating 2 floating barges with a system of diesel engines with combined capacity of approximately 112 megawatts of electricity. Seaboard Corporation also purchases and processes jalapeno peppers in the United States. The company was founded in 1928 and is based in Shawnee Mission, Kansas. Seaboard Corporation is a subsidiary of Seaboard Flour LLC.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By John Udovich]
Thanksgiving is around the corner�meaning investors might want to take a closer look at turkey stocks�like Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE: HRL), Seaboard Corporation (NYSEMKT: SEB) and Industrias Bachoco, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE: IBA)���the last major�publicly traded turkey stocks available for investors. Moreover, the Wall Street Journal has pointed out that corn prices are the lowest in more than three years and fewer birds are in production as some producers cut back on their flocks this year due to weaker turkey commodity prices.�Feed prices, which make up about 70% of the cost of a turkey, had soared with the price of corn which hit the $8 a bushel level but a recent�bumper crop has sent corn prices plunging to about the $4 a bushel level.
- [By David Milstead]
Steve Halpern: Now you note in the article that the $1,000 Club is still very exclusive. In fact, there were only four stocks that made the list and two of them, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) and Seaboard (SEB) have been above this level for some time. Can you tell us a little about those companies?
- [By Dan Burrows]
Even though you probably don’t know Seaboard (SEB), you almost certainly know its most famous product: Butterball turkey. But Butterball is just a small part of Seaboard, whose businesses include an eclectic mix of pork production, container shipping on the high seas, and electric power plants in the Dominican Republic.
10 Best Food Stocks To Own Right Now: Chiquita Brands International Inc. (CQB)
Chiquita Brands International, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the distribution and marketing of bananas and fresh produce under the Chiquita and other brand names worldwide. The company operates in three segments: Bananas, Salads and Healthy Snacks, and Other Produce. The Banana segment sources, transports, markets, and distributes bananas to retailers and wholesalers, and chain stores. It also engages in the cultivation and production of bananas. The Salads and Healthy Snacks segment offers value-added salads under the Fresh Express and other labels; and fresh vegetable and fruit ingredients used in foodservice, healthy snacks, and processed fruit ingredient products. This segment also provides fresh-cut products, such as lettuce, tomatoes, spinach, cabbage, and onions to foodservice distributors who resell these products to foodservice operators. It distributes Fresh Express branded products to food retailers, foodservice distributors, and quick-service restaurants; and fresh produce foodservice offerings primarily to third-party distributors for resale principally to quick-service restaurants in the United States. The Other Produce segment engages in sourcing, marketing, and distributing fresh fruits and vegetables other than bananas in Europe and North America. It offers grapes, pineapples, melons, kiwis, tomatoes, and avocados. The company was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jack Kramer and Nick Martell]
3. Chiquita earnings get frozen
Just in time for our favorite part of the year, smoothie season, your favorite childhood banana distributor,�Chiquita Brands (NYSE: CQB ) , reported first-quarter earnings on�Friday�that investors (figuratively) threw bananas at. Revenue for the first three months of 2014 fell 2% from the same period the previous year, to $762 million. - [By Rich Duprey]
After all, like Chiquita Brands (NYSE: CQB ) , Dole's been undergoing a significant corporate restructuring, and last month it�sold its packaged-foods and Asia fresh business for $1.7 billion, making it a more focused international fresh fruit business, but one subject to all the vagaries that entails. In comparison, Chiquita's reorganization has it looking to become a high-volume, low-cost producer of bananas and chopped salads.
- [By Sara Murphy]
Furthermore, the court's finding does not undermine the use of the ATS in cases of human rights abuses. It just requires a stronger connection to the United States. That means that other ATS cases currently working their way through the legal system, such as Earth Rights International's case against Chiquita (NYSE: CQB ) for allegedly funding and arming Colombian terrorists, are still on track. That also means that the link from human rights violations to corporate liability remains.
- [By Jayson Derrick]
Last night the board of directors of Chiquita Brands International (NYSE: CQB) rejected Cutrale and Safra's Groups acquisition offer of $13 per share and noted that it plans to proceed with a merger of Fyffes. Shares of Chiquita Brands hit new 52-week highs of $13.77 before closing the day at $13.63, up 0.89 percent.
10 Best Food Stocks To Own Right Now: Koninklijke Ahold NV (AHONY)
Koninklijke Ahold N.V. (Ahold), incorporated on April 29, 1920, is engaged in the operation of retail food stores in the United States and Europe through subsidiaries and joint ventures. Ahold�� retail operations are presented in four segments: Stop & Shop/Giant-Landover, Giant-Carlisle, Albert Heijn and Albert/Hypernova. During the fiscal year ended January 3, 2010 (fiscal 2009), it operated 2,909 stores. On February 8, 2010, Ahold�� Giant-Carlisle acquired 25 stores from Ukrop�� Super Markets.
Franchisees operated 783 of the Albert Heijn, Etos and Gall & Gall stores, 463 of which were either owned by the franchisees or leased independently from Ahold. Of the 2,446 stores, 20% were company-owned and 80% were leased. Ahold�� stores range in size from 20 to over 10,000 square meters. Albert Heijn is a food retailer in the Netherlands. Etos is a health and beauty retailer in the Netherlands. Gall & Gall is a wine and liquor specialist in the Netherlands. Stop & Shop is a supermarket brand, operating in six states in the northeast United States. Giant-Landover is a supermarket brand, operating in four states in the mid-Atlantic United States. Peapod is an online grocery delivery service working in partnership with Stop & Shop and Giant-Landover. It also serves the metropolitan areas of Chicago, Illinois; Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin, and the northern areas of Indiana.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Rich Duprey]
As mentioned, Kroger is still swallowing Harris Teeter and has said it needs time to make more acquisitions. Royal Ahold (NASDAQOTH: AHONY ) is also said to be leery about doing large acquisitions these days, while Cerberus recently finished acquiring the Albertsons and Acme chains from SUPERVALU (NYSE: SVU ) �for $3.3 billion.
10 Best Food Stocks To Own Right Now: SunOpta Inc (STKL)
SunOpta Inc. ( SunOpta), incorporated on January 1, 2008, is a global company operating businesses focused on a healthy products portfolio that promotes sustainable well-being. With expertise in field to table integration, it specializes in the sourcing, processing and packaging of natural, organic and specialty food products. The Company operates in two business segments: SunOpta Foods and Opta Minerals.
Its core natural and organic food operations focus on value-added grains, fiber and fruit-based product offerings, supported by a global sourcing and supply infrastructure. Its assets, operations and employees are principally located in North America and Europe. It has two non-core holdings: a 66.1% ownership position in Opta Minerals Inc. and its subsidiaries (Opta Minerals), a producer, distributor and recycler of industrial materials; and an 18.7% ownership position in Mascoma Corporation (Mascoma), a biofuels company.
SunOpta Foods
SunOpta Foods operates in the natural, organic and specialty foods product sectors and utilizes a number of integrated business models to bring cost-effective and products to market. It believes these markets will continue to grow as consumers focus on health and wellness. SunOpta Foods consists of four operating segments: Grains and Foods Group, Ingredients Group, Consumer Products Group and International Foods Group .It focuses on three key go-to-market segments: raw materials, value-added ingredients and consumer-packaged products.
The Grains and Foods Group specializes in marketing organic, identity preserved (IP), and non-GMO grains, ingredients, packaged goods and processing services with a core focus on soybean, sunflower and corn products. The Grains and Foods Group works to ensure that it provides its customers with organic, non-GMO and IP specialty grains and seeds by serving as a grower�� supplier of seed; purchaser of the grower�� specialty crops; and processor and packager of a wide range of grains-! based ingredients and consumer-packaged products. It offers a variety of IP, non-GMO and organic seeds and whole grains including soy, corn and sunflower for food applications offering varieties with superior food , raw material sourcing and processing of soy based ingredients in liquid, spray-dried and roasted formats. It offers Grain-based ingredients which utilize non-GMO and organic soy, corn, sunflower and rice; specialty organic functional ingredients, including maltodextrins, tack blends, fiber products; flavor enhancing products, including snack coatings, cheese powders and flavor systems; an line of organic dairy ingredients; and organic soy and sunflower oils. It offers variety of packaged food products for retail and foodservice use and a full range of bulk grain-based animal feed and pet food products.
The Ingredients Group is focused primarily on fiber products and specialty fruit ingredients. It works closely with its customers to identify product formulation, cost and productivity opportunities aimed at transforming raw materials into value-added food ingredient solutions. It offers fibers and brans, including Canadian Harvest Oat Fiber, SunOpta Soy Fiber, SunOpta Rice Fiber, SunOpta Cellulose Fiber and SunOpta Pea Fiber brands of insoluble organic and conventional fiber products, Barley Balance soluble fiber, MultiFiber blends, value-added starch-based texturizers, and a number of custom processed ingredients. It offers SunOpta Specialty Starch products, including OptaGrade and OptaMist. OptaGrade is a natural, starch-based texturizing agent that is used commercially in a variety of dairy products including natural, imitation, and processed cheeses, sour cream, cream cheese, cottage cheese and yogurt. OptaMist is also a starch-based texturizing agent that improves the taste, texture and appearance of dairy products, yogurt, cheese products, and salad dressings.
The Consumer Products Group provides natural and organic consumer packaged food products to global fo! od manufa! cturers, distributors and supermarket chains with a variety of branded and private label products. The Consumer Products Group�� products include Conventional and organic beverage processing and re-sealable pouch filling solutions in a variety of product categories, including shelf stable and refrigerated juices, frozen fruits and vegetables, specialty beverages, vitamin waters, electrolyte waters, energy drinks, soups, baby food, and healthy fruit and vegetable based snacks in flexible pouches. It offers nutritious healthy snacks including natural and organic fruit based snacks in bar, twist, rope and bite size shapes, with the ability to add a variety of ingredients including fiber, plus a range of baked and extruded nutrition bars using a wide variety of ingredients including grains, proteins and other ingredients.
The International Foods Group includes European and North American based operations that source and supply raw material ingredients and trade organic commodities. Its principal operations are located in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and Santa Cruz, California and comprise the global sourcing and supply operations of Tradin Organic, including a business in Dalian, China that supplies food grade organic soybeans, feed, organic sunflower kernels and other grains and distributes certain organic food products, as well as sourcing and processing operations in Ethiopia for organic and specialty coffees and organic and conventional sesame seeds. In addition, the International Foods Group is expanding its integrated processing capabilities with the construction of its value-added organic and specialty cocoa facility in the Netherlands.
SunOpta Foods is subject to a wide range of governmental regulations and policies in various countries and regions where it operates,including the
United States,Canada, the Netherlands, throughout the rest of the EU, China and Ethiopia. These laws, regulations and policies are implemented, as applicable in each jurisdiction, on t! he nation! al, federal, state, provincial and local levels. For example, SunOpta Foods is affected by laws and regulations related to: seed, fertilizer and pesticides; the purchasing, harvesting, transportation and warehousing of grain and other products; the processing, packaging and sale of food, including wholesale operations; and product labelling and marketing, food safety and food defense. SunOpta Foods is also affected by government-sponsored price supports, acreage set aside programs and a number of environmental regulations.
Opta Minerals
Opta Minerals is a vertically integrated provider of custom process optimization solutions and supplier of industrial minerals and silica-free abrasives for use primarily in the steel, foundry, loose abrasive cleaning and municipal water filtration industries. Opta Minerals has offices and production and distribution facilities in Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and production locations in Europe in Kosice, Slovakia; Romans, France; and Ermsleben and Rodermark, Germany. Opta Minerals integration of its business acquisitions into its existing operations and financial management systems has created synergies that have increased revenues and profit margins. It has invested in improving plant equipment and infrastructure and has been able to reduce costs while growing production capabilities. It believes that Opta Minerals is well-positioned to expand current operations with modest capital expenditures.
Opta Minerals produces, manufactures, distributes and recycles industrial minerals, silica-free abrasives and specialty sands and other products and services to the foundry, steel, loose abrasive cleaning, roofing granule, marine/bridge cleaning, waterjet cutting, and municipal, recreational and industrial water filtration industries. Its principal product lines include: blends of industrial minerals used primarily in heavy industrial a! pplicatio! ns; silica-free abrasives,and specialty sands, filtration media and other products and services.
Opta Minerals sells industrial mineral products primarily to the foundry and steel industries. Industrial minerals products produced by Opta Minerals include chromites, magnesium blends, lime, nozzle sands, clays, coated sands, petroleum coke, crushed graphite, pre-cast refractory shapes, injection lances, and a wide range of foundry pre-mixes.
Opta Minerals abrasive products are primarily sold into shipbuilding, ship repair, bridge cleaning, waterjet cutting and roofing granule markets. The abrasives produced are free of silica, making them a clean, efficient and recyclable alternative to traditional abrasives. Recycling operations are conducted at Waterdown, Ontario, Norfolk, Virginia and Ermsleben, Germany. This is an important service that Opta Minerals provides to its customers which results in the reuse of materials that would otherwise be sent directly to landfills. Silica-free abrasive products produced by Opta Minerals include BlackBlast, Ultra Blast, EconoBlast, EbonyGrit, Powerblast, Galaxy Garnet, Emerald Creek Garnet, Bengal Bay Garnet and other specialty abrasives.
Opta Minerals also generates revenues from the sale of specialty sands, filtration media and other products and technical services. The silica sands are not sold for use as an abrasive material.Speciality sands and other products and services of Opta Minerals include filtration and industrial sands, garnets for filtration and waterjet cutting, construction sands, golf bunker sand, silica (not sold for loose abrasive applications), colored sand, waterjet cutting replacement parts and components, and technical services.
The industrial minerals industry is characterized by a number of public and private companies that service the bulk of requirements for both the foundry and steel industry. The remaining market requirements are fulfilled by small regionally based companies with limi! ted produ! ct lines that generally focus on local markets.
The silica-free abrasives industry is characterized by a number of regionally-based companies with limited product lines tending to focus on geographically adjacent markets. Their competition varies by product line, customer classification and geographic market. Opta Minerals conducts business throughout North America with a focus on key regions including the Quebec-Detroit corridor, New York, Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana and Texas, all of which are areas of high volume ship repairs and bridge cleaning activities.
The Company competes with Vesuvius Group S.A./N.V., Stollberg Group, SKW Mettalurgie Gmbh, Magnesium Elektron and Prince Minerals.
Advisors' Opinion:- [By Jake L'Ecuyer]
Equities Trading UP
SunOpta (NASDAQ: STKL) shares shot up 12.89 percent to $12.70 after the company reported upbeat Q1 earnings.Shares of Isis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ISIS) got a boost, shooting up 10.16 percent to $27.64 after the company reported positive Phase 2 data on ISIS-GCGR Rx in HbA1c in patients with type 2 diabetes.
- [By Lisa Levin]
© 2014 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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