Alpina Foods, a leading dairy producer in South America, opened its first specialty yogurt manufacturing plant in the United States. The new plant is scheduled to create 50 jobs at the new dairy manufacturing plant, constructed in the Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park in Batavia, N.Y. Alpina runs nine industrial facilities across Colombia, Venezuela and Ecuador and maintains presence in more than 20 countries.
Friendly’s Enters Chapter 11
Friendly Ice Cream Corp., the Wilbraham, Mass., operator of Friendly’s restaurants and a nationwide distributor of ice cream products, and its subsidiaries filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. Friendly’s has secured approximately $70 million in debtor-in-possession financing, which, along with the company’s cash flow, will provide the working capital necessary to meet its ongoing obligations during the restructuring. Nearly 424 Friendly’s restaurants will be open for business as usual during the company’s financial restructuring with no impact to manufacturing and distribution operations. The company also expects to continue paying employee salaries and benefits, meet the needs of its guests and retail customers and honor all gift cards.