Ingredion Inc., Westchester, Ill., announced that it has entered into a commercial agreement with Gelymar, one of the Top 4 producers of carrageenan, based in Santiago, Chile. Ingredion will commer-cialize Gelymar’s carrageenan and textural solutions for the food and personal care industries in the United States and Canada.

Mahwah, N.J.-based Flavor & Fragrance Specialties Inc. (FFS) and Lucta S.A., Barcelona, Spain, announced the merger of the two companies. This merger expands both companies’ global footprints. Customers now will have an opportunity to utilize manufacturing centers serving Asia Pacific, Europe, South and Latin America as well as North America, the companies report.

International Flavors & Fragrances Inc. (IFF), New York, opened a new flavors facility in Schaumburg, Ill. The new facility will serve food and beverage industry operations that are located in the greater Chicago area. The facility houses a culinary center and state-of-the-art application and flavor creation laboratories, the company says. It will increase IFF’s application and technical footprint and be staffed with culinary, flavorist and product application teams closely linked to IFF’s regional and global R&D sites.

Bell Flavors & Fragrances, Northbrook, Ill., launched a new trend program called Spark that it plans to use to introduce its inspirations for 2015 flavor and fragrance trends. Bell Flavors & Fragrances’ Spark program will be a resource for analyzing consumer trends to influence flavor and fragrance inspirations, the company says. Bell Flavors & Fragrances also announced the hire of Steve Orson as senior perfumer and the promotion of Kristopher Holmen to manager of evaluation of the fragrance division. Holmen has been with the company for 15 years.

FutureCeuticals, Momence, Ill., announced that its patented Coffeeberry coffee fruit concentrate was certified by the Non-GMO Project as meeting the organization’s standards to be classified as a Non-GMO product.
 

Biocatalysts Ltd., Cardiff, Wales, published a technical bulletin titled “The Use of Enzymes in Yeast Extraction.” The technical document explains each stage of yeast extraction and details the way in which enzymes can improve this process. The technical bulletin is available on the company’s website.

Darifair Foods Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., named Midd McManus president of the company. This marks the first time a non-family member has been named to that position, the company says.

Kyowa Hakko USA, New York, reports that taking Sustamine L-Alanyl-L-Glutamine after endurance exercise can increase athletes’ reaction times and cognitive functions when compared with no hydration, according to a study published in the European Journal of Sport Science. Twelve male athletes performed four endurance trials of various lengths. One trial allowed no hydration, with another consisting of consumption of an energy drink. The other two trials included low and high doses of Sustamine in energy drinks.

Chicago-based Safe Foods International Holdings LLC (SFIH) acquired the International Food Network (IFN), an Ithaca, N.Y.-based consulting firm providing product development services from initial idea generation through commercialization. The partnership between IFN and SFIH’s other holding, The National Food Laboratory (The NFL), Livermore, Calif., a consulting and testing firm supporting the food and beverage industry, will create a group able to provide a comprehensive offering of product and process development solutions for a broad set of products and clients.

ChromaDex Corp., Irvine, Calif., announced that sports nutrition supplier BPI Sports has contracted with ChromaDex for third-party verification of BPI Sports’ protein products.

Cargill, Minneapolis, Minn., has signed a formal partnership agreement to support Deerfield, Ill.-based Mondelez International’s Cocoa Life program. This partnership will strengthen both companies’ commitments to improving the livelihoods of cocoa farmers and to investing in a sustainable future for cocoa, the companies say. Mondelez International’s Cocoa Life program shares several similarities with Cargill’s own Cocoa Promise program, as each initiative is focused on developing a cocoa supply chain that enables farmers to achieve better living standards and on delivering a sustainable supply of cocoa and chocolate products.

John Budin has joined Fona International Inc., Geneva, Ill., as its product safety and quality director. In his new role, he will lead a team focused on maintaining the highest standards of safety and quality, as Fona is Safe Quality Food (SQF) Level 3 certified and was named SQF Manufacturer of the Year in 2012 for superior dedication to food safety. Budin also will drive state-of-the art analytical testing and root cause analysis while working with customers to ensure products meet exceptional standards of quality and safety.

Tic Gums, White March, Md., released “The Basics of Food Gums” video series to help food and beverage manufacturers explain to their consumers what gums are, where they come from, and why they are used. The videos also support the clear label trend for transparency about what is in consumers’ food and where the ingredients are sourced.

Sethness Products Co., Lincolnwood, Ill., recently released a new video that will educate product developers on the wide variety of caramel colors that Sethness offers to meet color needs and address today’s consumer trends. Produced in both English and Spanish, the video is available for viewing at sethness.com.

 Philadelphia-based Opertech Bio Inc. and the Philadelphia Brewing Co. announced collaboration that will utilize Opertech Bio’s taste evaluation technology to investigate taste properties of new flavor formulations and identify more efficient approaches to quality control. The companies will apply an automated high-throughput system for rapid characterization of taste sensory properties, the companies say.