“USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service must chart a course for compliance with its statutory authorities and environmental statutes, such as NEPA, while USDA works to create the environment where all types of producers can and do produce all types of crops,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

“The steps we have outlined today not only respond to the concerns of producers while complying with the court’s ruling, but also further USDA’s continuing efforts to enable coexistence among conventional, organic, and biotechnology production systems.”

APHIS announced the following steps:

• APHIS has received applications from and is issuing permits to sugar beet seed producers to authorize “steckling” (i.e seedlings) production this fall under strict permit conditions that would not allow flowering of the stecklings. APHIS anticipates that issuance of such non-flowering permits can be completed in the next 2 weeks.
• APHIS has also received and is evaluating a request for a partial deregulation of Roundup Ready sugar beets. In connection with this evaluation, APHIS is developing an appropriate environmental analysis to inform its decision making regarding this request to authorize future seed and root crop plantings under a combination of permits, administrative orders, or other regulatory measures. Any regulatory measures taken would include mitigating restrictions consistent with those proposed to the Court as interim measures while APHIS completes the environmental impact statement (EIS) for the petition for determination of non-regulated status for GE sugar beets. APHIS anticipates making decisions on appropriate interim regulatory measures by the end of the year. There will be an opportunity for public comment on any environmental analyses developed.
• APHIS will continue to place a priority on the expedited completion of the EIS, a process that is anticipated to take 2 years.

The Court’s ruling does return genetically engineered sugar beets to regulated status, but does not apply to genetically engineered sugar beet root and seed crops that were planted by August 13, 2010. The genetically engineered sugar beet root crop that has already been planted may be processed and sold as sugar. The genetically engineered sugar beet seed crop that has already been planted may be harvested and stored. The Court’s ruling does not preclude the appropriate exercise of APHIS’ administrative discretion to authorize the future planting of Roundup Ready sugar beets pursuant to USDA’s regulatory authority and biotechnology regulations.

Ed Makin (L), President and CEO of Lantic Sugar, is taken on a tour of Imperial Sugar's state-of-the-art sugar packaging facility at Port Wentworth, Ga., by John Sheptor, President and CEO of Imperial Sugar.

Imperial Sugar Company is continuing to expand its global network of collaboration with technical exchanges on-going with Lantic Inc. in Canada, British Sugar in the United Kingdom, and Pfeifer & Langen in Germany.   These relationships have developed as regional sugar companies have found value in sharing knowledge with a producer in another world region.  Imperial Sugar Company initiated conversations with each based upon an interest to share best practices for sugar dust risk mitigation. From this beginning, broad technical discussions have ensued leading to substantive conversations.

“I am pleased with the open dialogues that have been developed between our companies.  Imperial is an active participant in the global industry through raw sugar and organic sweetener procurement.  The addition of refining and product development collaboration broadens our global reach and strengthens our technical base,” says John Sheptor, President and CEO of Imperial Sugar Company.

“We have invited the global industry to share best practices regarding combustible dust and these new relationships have been built upon a common commitment to worker safety.  I look forward to other global leaders to step forward to share what they have learned and know.”

To ensure that it is operating at the cutting edge, ISC plans to continue to exchange technical data and processes with each company. Reciprocal expert visits have been initiated and much has already been learned.

“These technical exchanges bring strength to our company, because we’re able to benchmark against other industry leaders,” says Thomas Rathke, senior director engineering and business development. “We can benchmark each other’s plants, looking at safety programs, energy usage, water consumption, control systems, maintenance approaches and so on.”

Thomas Rathke, senior director engineering and business development, Imperial Sugar Company.

ISC reached out to these three partners for a reason: Lantic Inc. is a market leader in Canada; Pfeifer is a highly prominent player in the Central and Eastern European markets; while British Sugar is a top supplier to the U.K., with large holdings in Africa and Asia.

The exchange begins with a visit by leadership to the international site, and soon after, a technical team follows to delve into the details. In those follow-up visits, for example, an engineering expert from ISC talks directly to his counterpart at Lantic, British Sugar and Pfeifer & Langen.

“The working-level discussions between experts — that’s the starting gun, where you really get things done,” Rathke says.

After benchmarking comes a gap analysis, in which both companies examine how well they perform versus the experience of the other.  With this scorecard in hand, the technical experts are in a position to focus on areas of most relevance to each company.

Pfeifer & Langen sugar facility in Euskirchen, Germany.

“We’ll ask ourselves whether we might change something in our own system to reach that better performance,” Rathke says. “In any given workplace, it is often difficult to let go of traditional appoaches. By going through this process, you can refocus, look at something a new way, and learn from one another.”

On the core technical team from ISC are Rathke, Robert Burch from the process engineering team, and Darrell Gerdes from the product development team.

In Rathke’s mind, it all boils down to this question: Why reinvent the wheel?

“When you have strong global partners, you shouldn’t have to reinvent,” he says. Instead, by sharing lessons about operational excellence, you can ultimately jointly gain improved workplace safety, efficiency and cost improvement.

Texas businesswoman Trish Winebrenner has focused her career on effectively streamlining the sales and marketing processes.

Texas businesswoman Trish Winebrenner has focused her career on effectively streamlining sales and marketing processes of a spectrum of Fortune 500 companies, most recently Continental Airlines. Now, she is bringing her operational expertise to the sales area of Imperial Sugar Company.

Winebrenner and Imperial share the same strategic goal: To favorably impact the all-important bottom line in a highly competitive business environment while exceeding customer expectations.

Imperial Sugar Company has contracted with Winebrenner to review and diagram operational processes within the sales area and then to develop improvement opportunities with the sales team.

For decades, the sugar industry’s business model was fairly simple – make and sell sugar. Not so, anymore.

Today, it is far more complex for sugar manufacturers because of changes to government import legislation, wide price variability on raw sugar futures and emerging governmental requirements regarding food safety.

Profit margins today are influenced by far-reaching and global competitive forces, mandating greater efficiencies for a sugar company, from manufacturing through marketing.

Coming to Imperial Sugar with a fresh perspective, it will be Winebrenner’s job to map all current sales, pricing and marketing processes within the Imperial sales network in an effort to highlight decision influencers, ensure actions are results driven versus activity focused and point out divergences in protocol or process that may be impacting the bottom line and the quality of customer service.

Winebrenner has recently initiated this project that delves into all segments of the key business processes used by Imperial’s sales team. Her responsibility is to drill down on essential and competitive areas, including sales forecasting, pricing, trade discounting and allowances, production allocation between plants, product allocation, marketing budgeting and order versus contract-agreed price matching.

What she is doing to streamline Imperial Sugar’s sales operation is similar in scope to strategic initiatives the company has taken in the sugar refining and packaging areas – to bring together expertise and enhanced operational disciplines that will make Imperial the most profitable sugar manufacturer in America.

Winebrenner was a senior executive at Continental Airlines and ExpressJet, and now provides sales and marketing consulting to Texas based companies. She is based in Houston.

In response, the company hosted a local blood drive.

According to Tracy Dicharry, senior human resource administrator at the Gramercy plant who coordinated the drive, 41 pints of blood were collected from as many contractors and Imperial associates.

“Given the hot weather, I was impressed with the turnout,” says Dicharry. “That speaks to the close-knit bonds shared among our people.”

Dicharry says that anyone who was unable to participate in the blood drive may still donate in Mr. Tolito’s name at any local blood center in LaPlace, La.

Product labels tell consumers a lot: where the food comes from, who made it, what’s in it and how it’s produced.

In essence, a label speaks volumes about a company’s business beliefs and practices. It’s a disclaimer, and even perhaps, a corporate character assessment all in plain view, right there on the grocery shelf.

As a company specializing in organic and all-natural products, Wholesome Sweeteners welcomes a close, careful read of labeling for its sugars, syrups, nectars and honeys. As vice president of marketing, Pauline McKee figures an informed consumer is the company’s best competitive advantage.

For example, the natural goodness of Wholesome Sweeteners’ products recently was verified as being Project Non-GMO (genetically modified organisms) compliant, she says. This verification makes it the first sweetener company to be classified this way. (http://www.nongmoproject.org/)

According to its website, the non-profit Project Non-GMO is made up of “manufacturers, retailers, processors, distributors, farmers, seed companies and consumers” – all of whom share the belief that consumers should know if their food is genetically altered or not.

The magnitude of this global issue is top of mind with Wholesome Sweeteners. “Moving forward, consumers will be showing an increasing concern over genetically modified food ingredients,” says McKee. “This new verification simply reinforces our long-standing position to always be GMO free.”

For the food industry, movement in this direction is needed now more than ever, she believes. “As more of our grains and crops become genetically modified and deliberately mixed with the non-GMO crops, it is very difficult for consumers to exercise their right to choose between GMO and non-GMO foods.”

The recent verification status adds to Wholesome Sweeteners’ market distinction of also being the only Fair Trade™ certified sweetener company in the United States, McKee points out.

The Fair Trade certification label, which appears on the company’s products, means farmers who produced the food – usually poorer farming communities in Latin America, Africa and Asia – are being given a fair shake in the marketplace.

“We have been working diligently for months to become non-GMO verified, too,” says McKee. “Besides our company website, the new Project Non-GMO logo will begin to appear on our literature and on product packaging.”

The USDA has announced that sugar entering the United States under the fiscal year 2011 raw sugar import tariff-rate quota will be permitted to enter U.S. Customs territory beginning September 1, 2010, a month earlier than the usual first entry date of October 1.

Additionally, the Department announced that sugar entering the United States under the U.S. fiscal year 2010 raw sugar TRQ will be permitted to enter U.S. Customs territory until October 31, 2010, a month later than the usual last entry date.

These actions are in response to increased tightness in the U.S. raw sugar market. This announcement does not change the level of any U.S. sugar import TRQs, and will apply only to raw cane sugar (not refined sugar).

While the move is textbook robbing Peter to pay Paul, and any will tighten the February-April period to the same extent that it eases nearby tightness, it will likely provide limited relief to the September/October cusp and will undoubtedly help traders delivering cargoes of sugar carrying both 2009-10 and 2010-11 raws.

Used with permission of Frank Jenkins.

Well-tuned engineering skills certainly have their place on the job – as well as in the heat of competitive racing.

Just ask master technician Kevin Todd and house engineers Wade Lambert and Onell Lousteau, all of whom work at Imperial Sugar Company’s refinery in Gramercy, La.

As house engineers, Lambert and Lousteau make sure the plant systems – including air, water and conveyors – are all running properly. As a master technician, Todd fixes anything that breaks, using such skills as welding, steel fabrication, and various mechanical and millwright work.

When they’re not on the job, this trio spends as much time as they can on their favorite hobby – racing radio-controlled model boats in international competition.

In their off-time, you can find them customizing and racing model boats – boats that reach speeds of 70 miles per hour and more.

The three are members of the North American Model Boat Association (NAMBA), as well as members of the largest club in NAMBA’s District 5 – called Voodoo Model Boaters.

Operating radio-controlled vehicles has been a hobby of Todd’s for many years. He says he started focusing on boats 10 years ago because with airplanes, for example, “once you crash them, you pretty much go get a garbage bag.” He also finds them more interesting because hydrodynamics are involved, as well as aerodynamics.

Todd, Loustea and Lambert recently competed in the NAMBA nationals, which were held at the St. John’s Parish retention pond in Reserve, La. Competitors came from as far away as Australia.
Todd says the pond provides a perfect place for a race because there are no residents or businesses nearby and the noise from the boats gets quite loud.

The race course is a 330-feet-long, 50-foot-wide oval – with up to six boats competing in each six-lap heat. Each event is conducted over a period of five days. First place goes to the best cumulative time.

The model boats range from 40 to 56 inches long and run a 7.5-horsepower gasoline engine, which amounts to a “highly modified weed-eater motor,” Todd says. Boats that use nitro fuel have clocked speeds as fast as 89 miles per hour. Two minutes is the best time for six laps.

Todd and his colleagues spend a lot of time coordinating and setting up local races, sometimes working as pit bosses and making sure things go smoothly and safely. “The props are razor sharp,” says Todd. “And some of these boats weigh as much as 25 pounds – and, at 65 mph, 25 pounds would hurt.”

Todd and Lambert also own and operate a business called Byyouboyz RC Boats, where they build and customize model boats to help support their racing passion.

Gramercy associates that are members of the Voo Doo Model Boat Club are (l-r); Onell Lousteau, house engineer Kevin Todd, master technician and Wade Lambert, assistant house engineer.

Racers might spend anywhere from $1,500 to $4,000 on a boat, but Todd says money won’t win a race. “It’s about knowing the boat, setting it up well and being a consistent driver.”

While Todd hasn’t won a trophy yet, three fellow members of the Voodoo club became national champions at nationals in June.

The Voodoo RC Boat Club will be sponsoring the next NAMBA nationals event in November – also in Reserve. It’s called “The Voodoo’s World Fastest Gas Boat Shootout” and includes entrants from such countries as Germany, Australia and Kuwait.

Antron Brown, a top drag racer who can be seen on ESPN, also competes as a member of the Voodoo club.

“It’s a really fine sport. A lot of fun and very competitive,” says Todd. “The good thing is that at the end of the day, everybody’s still friends.”

]]> http://www.iscnewsroom.com/2010/08/19/honing-their-craft-on-and-off-the-job/feed/ 0 http://www.iscnewsroom.com/2010/08/18/imperial-sugar%e2%80%99s-online-coupons-gain-popularity/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=imperial-sugar%25e2%2580%2599s-online-coupons-gain-popularity http://www.iscnewsroom.com/2010/08/18/imperial-sugar%e2%80%99s-online-coupons-gain-popularity/#comments Wed, 18 Aug 2010 05:01:00 +0000 iscnewsroom http://www.iscnewsroom.com/?p=8920

Quynh-Luu Ha, Imperial’s business development administrator.

Imperial Sugar Company (ISC) has typically distributed coupons in newspapers or shopping fliers to reach customers. Today, these free-standing inserts (FSIs) are complemented by the company’s increasingly popular e-coupons – and consumers are the better for it.

On-line coupons are another smart way to reach shoppers. “It’s about being in front of consumers digitally,” says Hyuna Lee, senior marketing manager for ISC. “Consumers who visit our website are loyal customers, and we want to ensure we provide all options for them to use and save on our products.”

Consumers have many options when they shop and if we can provide incentive to pick up a specific brand, it’s a win-win proposition for both the consumer and a company

Last November, ISC launched its e-coupon pilot program. Within 24 days, 20,000 coupons were downloaded by customers – mostly for granulated sugar. “It was very successful,” says Quynh-Luu Ha, Imperial’s business development administrator.

Over the last nine months, buyers of Imperial Sugar and Dixie Crystals products have downloaded more than 100,000 e-coupons from several websites: smartsource.com and coupons.com, as well as from imperialsugar.com and dixiecrystals.com.

E-coupons are in addition to the traditional free-standing inserts, which continue to play a big part in promoting ISC’s products – as seen by the FSIs used in its successful “Grandma” marketing campaign.

Lee is quick to point out that online and FSIs are part of a broader strategy that also includes display coupons and promotional coupons, such as those used for events like Lemonade Day.

Still, there’s no denying e-coupons are gaining ground fast with customers – and Imperial Sugar intends to capitalize on this bargain-shopping trend.
“The number-one reason that consumers visit manufacturers’ websites is for coupons,” says Lee. “It was a missed opportunity for us. Coupons have proven to be a key driver for visits to our sites.”

With the success of its pilot, the company has followed up with e-coupons for its Redi-Measure™ brown sugar pouches and Baker’s Supreme™ Premium Frosting Mixes.

Today, ISC continues to boost its on-line coupon numbers, with tens of thousands being offered at various times for Imperial Sugar and Dixie Crystals products.

Downloaded online or delivered through more traditional means, Ha says consumers get the same great products either way – along with this frugal and thoughtful idea: “We want customers to realize we also are trying to help them save in this economy.”

“As we looked at unsolicited responses from our consumer hotline, and pairing that up with focus group research and talking to Sara Lee moms, removal of high-fructose corn syrup was something they saw as a positive for them,” says Jeff Dryfhout, director or Sara Lee North American Fresh Bakery.

Other big-name products that have already removed the sweetener in response to charges that the widely used and inexpensive ingredient has contributed to the obesity epidemic include Capri Sun juice drinks, Wheat Thins, Hunt’s ketchup, Gatorade and Starbucks’ pastry-case goodies. But many medical and nutritional professionals respond that all sweeteners are metabolized the same way and believe that corn syrup is being unduly villainized.

“A sugar is a sugar, whether it’s corn sugar or cane sugar,” says Audrae Erickson, president of the Corn Refiners Association.

Click for the full story.

In a 15-page letter to the Secretaries of the the United States Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services, The Sugar Association supports its view that sugar in moderation is “a safe and useful part of a balanced diet and healthful lifestyle.”

The letter – authored by Andy Briscoe, president and CEO of The Sugar Association – draws its conclusions from a “preponderance of scientific evidence” and the organization’s ongoing work monitoring nutrition science and educating consumers about sugar’s role in a healthy diet. It will be used to help determine the “2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans.”

Andy Briscoe, president and CEO of The Sugar Association.

Briscoe contends that dietary advice that says food is less healthy just because it contains sugar is misleading and not science based.

“All-natural sugar/sucrose is a valuable ingredient worldwide,” says Briscoe. “Sugar is used in food not only because it provides sweet taste, but sugar also provides essential functional properties required in food formulation, especially the microbiological safety required in today’s global food supply.”

The Sugar Association’s message comes at an important time, when awareness and concern over obesity grow. Briscoe says that according to scientific literature, there is no causal link between sugar intake and obesity.

Here are some key findings submitted by The Sugar Association to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC), as well as comments on the DGAC’s preliminary report:

• Every comprehensive review of the scientific literature concludes that, with the exception of dental caries, no causal link can be established between the intake of sugars and lifestyle diseases, including obesity.
• The DGAC cited no scientific evidence proving a verifiable correlation between amounts of sugars consumed and a verifiable negative health impact.
• Scientific evidence finds no direct inverse association between micronutrient intake and sugars content because sugars make many healthy foods palatable, which increases intakes of many of the essential micronutrients whose intakes the public is advised to increase and, more importantly, discounts the fundamental influence of total diet.
• Intake, as well as food supply data, confirms sugars intake is not a major contributing factor to increased caloric intakes.

The letter goes on to point out that added sugars are shown to contribute significantly less to total food supply calories in 2007 than in 1970. Trend data also show there has been a nearly 10 percent decline in per capita consumption from total sugars since 1999, whereas per capita energy supply has risen to an unprecedented 4,000 calories per day, with a significant contribution from fat.

In moderation, sugar is an important part of a healthy diet.

According to USDA research, “More calories are available for consumption—and Americans are consuming more calories than they did 10 years ago. The increase in the amount of calories available for consumption is due mainly to a 28-percent increase in the amount of fat contributing to caloric levels, from 148 to 190 grams per day during this period.” (USDA, CNPP, Nutrient Content of the U.S. Food Supply, 2005, Home Economics Research Report No. 58)

Briscoe sums up the Association’s perspective, saying: “Clearly, sugars intake is not a major contributing factor to increased rates of U.S. obesity. Americans need to understand that if they consume too many calories – no matter the source – weight gain is inevitable. Obesity is the result of consistently eating too much and sedentary lifestyles, not sugars intake.”

The Sugar Association, founded in 1943, represents United States sugar cane growers and refiners and sugar beet growers and processors. Association members account for more than 90 percent of sugar production in the United States.

The prestigious Director’s Award goes to the student with the highest academic achievement. Burch, along with two other attendees, won this year’s award in a three-way tie. As a relative newcomer to the sugar-refining business, Burch was a dark horse to take home the prize. Though Burch has been a process engineer for 30 years, he has only worked in sugar refining since February 2010.

Robert Burch took home the institute’s top honor, the prestigious Director’s Award.

“I felt pretty good about being new to the business and achieving this,” Burch says. “The two guys I tied with have been in the sugar business for quite a while.”

The institute is administered by the Office of Continuing Education and directed by Dr. Robert Falgout, a retired professor in the Nicholls Department of Agriculture.

“Nicholls has become the world leader in sugar-industry education,” Falgout says. “The institute has attracted professionals from all over the globe, and we’re happy to have contributed to the growth and success of the industry.”

Burch and fellow employee Curtis Raymond were tapped to attend this year’s institute to stretch their knowledge. Imperial Sugar covered the cost of tuition and travel.

For Burch, the experience was an eye-opener: “It covered sugar refining from start to finish, and every step in between. And we were tested on every single lecture.”

Understanding the full sugar-refining process makes a difference, he says. “It’s a little more complex than most people would think — removing all the color from the sugar, getting the right crystal size, etc. It’s not something that the average person could do, and do well.”

Says the 30-year engineering veteran, “I’ve definitely been challenged since I came to Imperial Sugar.”

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White found in September 2009 that the U.S. Department of Agriculture had deregulated a variety of genetically modified sugar beets without conducting an adequate environmental impact report

Click for the full story.

P&G today announced that it would be piloting the new packaging globally over the next two years and expected the first products to be on shelf by 2011.

Brazilian firm Braschem is manufacturing the HDPE material from sugar cane that is said to be completely recyclable in existing reprocessing facilities.

Click for the full story.

Production is increased 100,000 tons due to higher than expected forecast U.S. sugarbeet yields. Imports are increased 185,000 tons to reflect lower tariff rate quota (TRQ) shortfall and the announced refined specialty sugar quota. Sugar use is increased 200,000 tons in line with the increase for 2009/10.

For 2009/10, U.S. supplies are increased 341,000 tons, due to higher beginning stocks, production, and imports. Beginning stocks are increased 35,000 tons due to revisions in Sweetener Market Data. Cane sugar production is increased 6,000 tons based on processor reports. Imports are increased 300,000 tons: 50,000 tons less TRQ shortfall, 50,000 tons more re- export imports, and 200,000 tons from Mexico and high-tier imports.

These import increases are driven by tight U.S. supplies. Total use is increased 120,000 tons, reflecting revised estimates in Sweetener Market Data. Ending stocks are increased 221,000 tons.

For Mexico, 2010/11 ending stocks are lowered 95,000 metric tons, raw value, due to lower beginning stocks. Mexico=s 2009/10 production is decreased slightly while exports are increased 90,000 tons; sugar use is unchanged.