Owners of convenience stores head to the NACS show every year to find foods, beverages, candies, tobacco products and other goods. This year, dairy processors showed off their wares among the Slim Jims, Monster energy drinks and prepared sandwiches at the 2011 NACS, staged by the Association for Convenience & Fuel Retailing, Alexandria, Va., Oct. 1-4 in Chicago.

Officers and members of the board of directors for 2011-12 were sworn in at the association’s 67th annual meeting. Inductees include Bob Branham, General Mills, elected chairman-elect, and Scott Haws, Land O’Lakes, secretary. Newly elected to the board of directors are John Farmer, Global Dairy Products; and Steve Ostrander, Crystal Farms.

Sargento Foods’ North Sioux City, S.D., plant became certified to the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) with an “A” rating from the British Retail Consortium (BRC), demonstrating excellence in both food safety and quality operations.

Nestlé Ice Cream Factory Canada, a manufacturer of Nescafe and Nesquik, to name a few, received the 2010-11 Gold Medal IPM Partner Award for its outstanding commitment to Integrated Pest Management (IPM) partnerships.

Honest Tea released “Keeping it Honest,” the second edition of its annual Mission Report, available at www.honesttea.tumblr.com.

Hilmar Cheese Co. Inc. received the 2011 Outstanding Corporate Donor in Philanthropy award by The Yosemite Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals in cooperation with the Modesto Rotary Club, both in Modesto, Calif., for its generosity to Emanuel Medical Center, Turlock, Calif.

Bella Pak’s Appleton, Wis., plant is now USDA Organic certified by the Midwest Organic Services Association, Inc. (MOSA) to produce organic Parmesan and Romano cheeses under its Redwood Farms line. Bella Pak’s cheese comes from certified-organic farms and processing plants.

As Bill Weigel navigates his Toyota Avalon down Tennessee State Highway 131 through Powell, Tenn., he points out landmarks from his boyhood. There is the house where his grandmother lived. Over there is the orchard where he went for an apple to mask the tobacco on his breath from smoking (at age 9) his homemade corncob pipe. And that’s where he boarded the bus and rode to the big city (Knoxville) all by himself before he was even 10 years old.

The history of America is full of famous brothers. Comedy has its Marx brothers and baseball its Alou brothers. The Wright brothers reportedly had something to do with manned flight. In the world of ice cream, there are the Gifford brothers of Skowhegan, Maine.