Kerry Americas, New Century, Kan., the nation's largest food ingredients corporation, has developed a new sales force strategy for its Sweet - Frozen Dessert division. The new sales strategy taps into several of Kerry's business units - Kerry Sweet, Kerry Specialty Ingredients, Kerry Bio-Science and Mastertaste - making the company a one-stop shop for ice cream and novelty manufacturers. The joint business unit effort enables Kerry to offer confectionery & bakery inclusions, coatings, variegates, flavors and functional ingredients.

CPS Service & Spares, Rockford, Ill., specialists in the supply of spare parts and the maintenance for cheese and dairy equipment, has entered into a multi-million dollar agreement with the Southwest Cheese Company for the procurement and management of spare parts, maintenance and associated supplies for the new company's plant in Clovis, NM.

Solvay Chemicals Inc. , Houston, has expanded its trona production facility in Green River, Wyo. The expansion increases the capacity of Solvay Chemicals' high-assay T-200® Trona and for coarse T-50® Trona.

Chalet Specialty Foods, Sacramento, Calif., (formerly Harte Foods Inc.) has completed its acquisition of Bako Products, also located in Sacramento. Chalet is a dessert manufacturing company specializing in ingredients, food service bakery and confectionary products. Bako is a provider of specialty bakery desserts. The new consolidation marks a milestone for Chalet Specialty Foods and the market as a whole, especially customers seeking a single provider for their organic, bakery, confectionary and sweet ingredients. Production will be consolidated into the current Bako Products North Sacramento facility with significant production improvement in both capability and capacity with automation of existing production.

Koch Membrane Systems, Inc. , Wilmington, Mass., has received certification of compliance with NSF/ANSI Standard 61 for nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO) elements. These include the Fluid Systems" TFC"SR"2, TFC-S, TFC-HR, TFC-XR, and TFC-ULP" membrane types. Certification was provided by NSF International.

Fortitech, Schenectady, N.Y., recently received ISO 9001:2000 recertification for its global facilities located in Asia, Europe, South America and the United States. Fortitech is a leader in the development of custom nutrient premixes for the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries.