Gossner Foods, Inc. has awarded Carlisle Process Systems, Inc. an order for the new cheese production plant in Burley, Idaho. CPS will be responsible for the engineering, equipment supply, installation and automation of the process plant from milk intake to whey pre-treatment. CPS will supply systems and equipment from its brands Scherping and Damrow for the cheese make process. The order includes milk receiving & pre-treatment, starter systems, Horizontal Cheese Vats (HCVs), whey pre-treatment and CIP systems. Walker Stainless, also a part of the CPS Group, will supply raw milk cream and whey silo storage.

Chr. Hansen, Inc., says that it will raise the price of select products within its dairy ingredient portfolio for customers in the USA and Canada. The company says the price increase is a result of continued high-energy costs and related rise in manufacturing and transportation costs, as well as the cost of raw materials and increased biosecurity and food safety measures. "Until now, we have drawn on other options to avoid passing on any of these increased costs to our customers," says Chr. Hansen-North America pres. and CEO Donald Combs. "Through restructuring and efficiency programs, we have maintained the price of our dairy ingredient products for sometime. Unfortunately, external factors beyond our control have created pricing pressures, and make a price increase unavoidable. However, we are doing everything we can to minimize the impact the increase will have on our customers."

Having recently reported a nineteenth consecutive quarter of growth and improved results, Frutarom Industries Ltd. announced last month the completion of its acquisition of the fruit preparations business in Germany and Switzerland of International Flavors & Fragrances, Inc. The acquired fruit preparations businesses, include activities conducted at the modern plants in Emmerich, Germany and Reinach, Switzerland, as well as related inventory and intellectual property. IFF's fruit preparations business in Europe recorded revenues of $90 million in 2003.

Elopak, Inc. has announced that Robert Gillis, EVP of Region Americas, will retire in October. He will be succeeded by Jörg Thiels. Gillis has been with Elopak for 16 years and has led Region Americas since 1997. During his tenure, the region has grown from the smallest in Elopak's global organization to one of the largest, and Elopak, Inc. has developed into an integrated packaging systems supplier. Thiels joined Elopak in 1999 as general manager of the Plastics Division, becoming its executive vice president the following year. He previously held senior management positions with Nampak and Metal Box Liquid Packaging.

GTC Nutrition, Golden, Colo., has become the principal distributor in the U.S. of Aquamin, a natural calcified mineral source. Supplied by Marigot Group Ltd. - a company specializing in the development and production of natural mineral products for use in foods, nutraceuticals, dietary supplements and cosmetics - Aquamin is available in a variety of forms.

Invensys reports that its Customer Satisfaction Center in Foxboro, Mass. and Technical Support Center in Lake Forest, Calif. have achieved certification under the prestigious Support Center Practices (SCP) certification program for the second consecutive year. SCP certification quantifies the effectiveness of customer support based upon a stringent set of performance standards and represents best practices in the support industry. The Foxboro center provides first-line support for Avantis, Eurotherm, Foxboro, SimSci-Esscor, and Triconex customers. The Lake Forest center supports Wonderware customers.

Omron Corporation, a global leader in automation, sensing, and control technology, is establishing a new facility in Shanghai to strengthen and integrate Chinese design, development and manufacturing functions, and to offer a customer support center. The new facility is expected to come online in the second half of 2006. Presently, Omron's Industrial Automation Business (IAB), of which this will be part of, maintains three facilities in Shanghai, each with its own independent design and development technologies, manufacturing, manufacturing management and quality management.

DSO Fluid Handling Co., now offer Elastoguard® rubber compounds from the Speciality Elastomers Business of Milliken Chemical, a division of Milliken & Company (Spartanburg, S.C.), to maximize antimicrobial protection in rubber parts for food processing equipment such as rubber rotors for pumps, rubber air valve stems, balls for ball check valves, sanitary pipeline gaskets, and O-rings. DSO is a manufacturer of high-volume replacement and maintenance parts for processing plants in the ready-to-eat food and dairy industries, as well as the cosmetic and pharmaceutical markets.

Key Technology, Inc. has formed a new company with Peco Controls Corp. InspX was formed in July 2004 for the development, manufacturing and sales of x-ray inspection systems.

If you have a Supplier News item, send it to Chief Editor David Phillips at phillipsd@bnpmedia.com.