Lane County Food and Beverage Updates

Contents:

1. Food Business Unpacked is Coming Up!
2. Second FSMA Round Table Topic Announced
3. Yogi Tea Expands Local Roots With New LEED Certified Facility
4. Oregon Congressional Delegation Stands Up for Hazelnut Farmers
5. OEN Food and Beverage Showcase
6. Upcoming International Sales Opportunities
7. Pearl Buck Center Launchers Summer Work Experience Program
8. Sell to Oregon Hospitals 
9. Innovative Partnerships Elevate Natural Food Brands
10. 2nd Annual Operation: Food Rescue 
11. Health Insurance Opportunity 
12. Ice Cream Short Course
13. Provender 2018 Educational Conference
14. Founders Event for Lane County CPG Companies
15. City of Eugene Seeking More Mobile Food Vendors
16. Job Opportunities
17. Use eBuild for Your Next Expansion Project
18. Share Your Story
19. EWEB Business Growth and Retention Program   

Food Business Unpacked is Coming Up!

Wed 9/26 from 6pm - 8pm at Oregon Wine Lab

Food Business Unpacked showcases stories from food and beverage leaders. We welcome the community to join us for an evening of inspiration. Enjoy tasty local food and drink while you connect with other professionals from the 165 food and beverage manufacturing companies in Lane County. 

Systems for Implimenting Culture:  What your organization does, is more important that what it says. Learn how to build systems and structure that allow your values to floruish. Building culture into all operations creates effeciency and value in ways you may not have considered. 

Featuring:

• Cheryl Collins | Organizational Development Consultant
• Brittany Horn | Founder and President at Kinship
• Mike Litten | Director of HR at SnoTemp

Presented by The City of Eugene with support from Lane Sector Strategies, RAIN Eugene, Eugene Chamber of Commerce, and Oregon Wine Lab. 

Ticket includes two complimentary glasses of wine from Oregon Wine Lab. Da Nang Vietnemese Eatery will be onsite serving food.

Tickets will go fast.  Register here.  

Second FSMA Round Table Topic Announced

Thur 9/13 from 3pm - 5pm at RAIN Eugene (942 Olive St). 

The FSMA Round Table Series provides local food and beverage manufacturers with a forum to discuss continuous improvement strategies.  This is the second of an ongoing series where industry members will have an opportunity to share best practices and strategies with their peers.

It is important that facilities begin aligning their sanitation, housekeeping, maintenance, as well as interior and exterior pest management programs now, to comply with the more rigorous FSMA requirements to come.  Leaders from Hummingbird Wholesale will lead a discussion on how they are implementing systems to manage pests and keep up on facility maitenece.  

Contact Mary Craighead at mcraighead@omep.org for more info and to register.  

Yogi Tea Expands Local Roots With New LEED Certified Facility

Yogi®, an industry leader in the natural tea category, announced the opening of its new 189,000 square-foot tea manufacturing facility. Designed to meet increased consumer demand for Yogi's products as well as prepare for future expansion initiatives, the new Yogi facility will be the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (or LEED)-certified tea production facility in the nation.
 
“The opportunity to build the nation’s first LEED-certified tea manufacturing facility right here in Eugene is very exciting for us, as we have always considered Eugene a home for Yogi,” said Giancarlo Marcaccini, Chief Executive Officer of Yogi. “When building this plant, our vision was to create a space that was thoughtfully designed and thoroughly efficient. This was purposeful in order to cultivate an environment that was harmonious both to what we do, which is make the best tea in the world, and to who is doing it, which is everyone working here to achieve that.”
 
Customized from the ground up, the new facility establishes a more efficient blueprint for product testing, manufacturing and employee collaboration and satisfaction. The facility incorporates numerous features to encourage more sustainable business practices, and works to minimize pollution, waste and heat island impacts, allowing Yogi to successfully pursue LEED-certification status. Examples include the actual location of the facility, which reduces environmental impact due to land selection that was not farmland nor in the flood plain, and not habitat for any endangered species, as well as provision of bicycle covered storage and preferred parking for low-emitting and fuel-efficient vehicles. In addition, the new facility allows for improved energy and water efficiencies through efforts such as capturing 90 percent of storm runoff and implementing drought-tolerant landscape.
 
The new facility also includes high-tech Research and Development and Quality Assurance laboratories.  From plant DNA analysis to ingredient identity confirmation testing, the lab was designed with a meticulous focus on ensuring product purity, quality and safety. In contrast to its previous manufacturing facility, the new Eugene manufacturing facility provided Yogi its first opportunity to design a manufacturing plant that aligns with its process flow. This new layout is expected to bring greater efficiencies throughout the manufacturing process.
 
“Just like our teas help people to thrive and flourish, our new facility was built to support the health and wellbeing of our employees and community,” said Sat Bir Singh Khalsa, Director of Global Community Relations and HR Development for Yogi. “Since 1984, Yogi has been comprised of individuals who embrace the vision and culture of our company. This community and many of people who live here have been a part of our story, and now our story continues.”
 
Other features of Yogi’s new manufacturing facility are designed to meet the needs of Yogi's valued employees. This includes expanded locker rooms with showers, enhanced lunch room with marketplace vending service, outdoor seating areas, and an open office layout to encourage collaboration and interaction. In addition, the office building was purposely situated facing southwest for year-round natural-light exposure.
 
More information about Yogi, Yogi's story and opportunities to join the Yogi team, are available here. 

Oregon Congressional Delegation Stands Up for Hazelnut Farmers

Congresswoman Bonamici, Senators Wyden and Merkley, and Representatives DeFazio, Blumenauer, and Schrader called on the Trump Administration to work with China to reduce or eliminate Chinese tariffs that are harming Oregon’s hazelnut farmers and making it difficult for them to compete with growers in other countries. The Members spoke out on behalf of Oregon hazelnut growers in a letter to US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.
 
“U.S. hazelnuts now face even higher Chinese tariffs imposed in retaliation to new U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports,” wrote the Members. “U.S. hazelnut farmers and producers find themselves at a disadvantage when competing with other producers that are subject to lower tariffs, or are not subject to tariffs at all.
 
“We urge you to engage with China to level the playing field for our Oregon farmers and therefore help their industry thrive. We encourage you to seek an elimination or substantial reduction of China’s burdensome tariffs on Oregon in-shell and shelled hazelnuts as part of any future dialogue with China on tariff barriers to U.S. agriculture exports. The reduction or elimination of these tariffs would make a meaningful difference to Oregon family farmers and U.S. producers.”
 
As a result of changes the Trump administration made to U.S. trade policy, China imposed an additional 25 percent tariff on U.S. hazelnuts, bringing its applied tariff rate on U.S. in-shell and shelled hazelnuts to 65 percent and 50 percent, respectively. About 800 farm families in Oregon grow hazelnuts on 67,000 acres.

For more information contact Juine Chada, of Senator Wyden's office at Juine_Chada@wyden.senate.gov.

OEN Food and Beverage Showcase

Do you have a food and beverage business that you want to promote and celebrate? Are you looking for an opportunity to promote your food & beverage startup? Now is your chance!

In association with Built Oregon’s Built Up Festival, OEN presents the Food & Beverage Showcase & Pitch Program—a series of workshops and events dedicated to supporting F&B entrepreneurs in Oregon and SW Washington. This program is perfect for entrepreneurs who want to better tell their story, whether it’s getting products on shelves, engaging distributors, seeking investment, hiring talent, or reaching new customers.

More information and registration here. 

Upcoming International Sales Opportunities

• 26-28 – Retail inbound trade mission from China to OR, HI

• 10-14 – China seafood inbound to OR, WA
• 24-28 – Taiwan and Japan foodservice & ingredient inbound trade missions to OR & ID

• 3-5 – Food Ingredient Asia Trade Show (Jakarta, Indonesia)
• 8-12 – SE Asia outbound trade mission (Indonesia & Philippines)
• 14-18 – China outbound trade mission (Beijing & Shanghai)
• 21-25 – SIAL trade show (Paris, France)

• 5-7 – Korea outbound trade mission (in conjunction with USDA & Food Export)
• 8-9 – Taiwan outbound trade mission 

• TBA -  Europe craft cider inbound to OR, WA

Pearl Buck Center Launchers Summer Work Experience Program
 

Sell to Oregon Hospitals

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Wed 11/7 in Portland, OR (specific location TBA)

Health Care Without Harm is a national organization working with hospitals across the country to help them purchase more local, sustainable food products for patient meals and cafes.  This year, Health Care Without Harm is working with regional Oregon hospitals to support local food businesses and minority entrepreneurs. 

They are looking to identify local, minority-owned businesses with packaged food products interested in learning about opportunities to sell to hospitals and participate in a vendor fair on Wednesday November 11th. Businesses chosen to participate in the vendor fair will also be provided with a small stipend. 

Interested businesses should take this survey. 

For more information contact Yesenia Gallardo, NW Food Systems Coordinator for Health Care Without Harm at ygallardo@hcwh.org.

Innovative Partnerships Elevate Natural Food Brands 

Back To The Roots recently announced the launch of an exclusive licensing agreement with the legacy organic company Nature’s Path that could bring organic cereal into every school cafeteria in the country. Starting in September, Nature’s Path will integrate Back To The Roots’ organic cereal line into its product portfolio, and take over the supply chain, manufacturing and distribution parts of the business. The idea, says Arora, is for Back To The Roots to focus more on building out the rapidly growing indoor gardening category, which is now a billion dollar industry.

Read the full article from New Hope Network here.  

2nd Annual Operation: Food Rescue 

Sat, 9/22 from 4:30pm - 7:30pm at Wildcraft Ciderworks

The City of Eugene is highlighting issues around global food waste and drawing awareness to how food is wasted throughout the supply chain.  This event brings people and organizations together to showcase simple solutions to reducing wasted food at home. 

This year’s program features a spotlight on wonky and imperfect produce!  Half of the produce grown in the U.S. is trashed because it’s bruised, misshapen, discolored or has some other deformity that’s non-threatening.  Our keynote speaker, Jordan Figueiredo, created the successful The “Ugly” Fruit & Veg Campaign.  The campaign uses funny and beautiful images of less than perfect produce in order to highlight the 20-40% of all produce that goes to waste due to strict grocer cosmetic standards. 

Operation: Food Rescue includes a delicious meal made by Marché from would-be wasted ingredients.  Donations for the event will go to Willamette Farm & Food Coalition's Double Up Food Bucks Program.  The event also includes live music and kid-friendly games and fun activities for people of all ages.  
 
Purchase tickets here.  Sign up to volunteer here.  

For more information, contact Allie Breyer by phone 541-682-5224 or email alexandra.e.breyer@ci.eugene.or.us 

Health Insurance Opportunity 

Ice Cream Short Course

OSU's Food Innovation Center is offering a two-day opportunity to learn from industry experts about ice cream technology.

Day One features Dr. Bruce Tharp who has been involved with ice cream science and technology in North and South America, Europe, the Middle East, Australia, and throughout the Pacific and Southeast Asia area. He teaches at some of the world's most respected ice cream courses, and is involved in developments at the cutting edge of ice cream technology, including the first completely sugar-free frozen dessert, and the concept of "hybrid" frozen desserts. .

Day Two is filled with presentations by a variety of experienced industry professionals including Karen Caillouet of Balchem/Sensory Effects, ; Dr. Carlos Fajardo-Centeno of Palsgaard, ; Cary Frye of the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), ; Polly Barrett of National Flavors, ; Tyler Malek of Salt & Straw, and Sarah Masoni of the Food Innovation Center.

Course fee is $289 per person including lunch both days.

More info and registration here.  

Provender 2018 Educational Conference

Dates have been announced for the 2018 Provender Education Conference.  This year's theme is "Minding our Mission.  Finding our Future."  The conference provides a cooperative atmosphere for businesses to teach and learn from one another and network about the natural products trade.  Work trade and scholarships are available.  

Registration opens on July 15th here.  

Founders Event for Lane County CPG Companies

City of Eugene Seeking More Mobile Food Vendors

Job Opportunities

• Inside Sales Rep | Eugene

• Warehouse Assistant | Eugene

• Purchasing Manager | Eugene

• Office Manager | Eugene

• Production Manager | Cottage Grove
• Sanitation and Distribution Support | Cottage Grove

• Production Tech | Eugene
• Materials Management Tech | Eugene
• Packaging Scheduler | Eugene
• Procurement Specialist and Data Analyst | Eugene
• Materials Handler | Eugene
• Sanitation Specialist | Eugene

• Maintenance Technician / Millwright | Eugene

• Social Media Community Manager | Eugene

• Order Fulfillment Dept & Warehouse Inventory/Cleaning Position | Eugene

• Director of Quality Assurance | Eugene
• Logistics Manager | Eugene

• Local Production Maintenance Mechanic | Junction City

• Production Helper | Springfield
• Transport Driver | Springfield

• Controls Technician | Eugene
• Lubrication Technician | Eugene
• Warehouse Technician | Eugene
• Maintenance Tech | Eugene
• Pasteurizer | Eugene
• Production Worker | Eugene
• Production Machine Operator | Eugene

• Machine Operator

• Warehouse Assistant | Eugene
• Custodian | Eugene
• Customer Service | Eugene
• Retail Associate | Eugene

• Environmental Health and Safety Manager | Eugene
• Facility QA / Sanitation Supervisor | Eugene
• QA Lab Technician | Eugene 
• Oven Operator | Eugene 
• Packaging Machine Operator | Eugene 
• Packaging Line Lead | Eugene
• CDL Driver | Eugene
• Material Handler | Eugene
• Maintenance Electrician | Eugene
• QA Tech | Eugene
• Shipping Associate | Eugene
• Janitor | Eugene
• Food Safety Team Member | Eugene

• QA Lab Technician | Springfield  
• Production Worker | Springfield 
• Sanitation Worker | Springfield
• Custodian | Springfield

• Fleet Mechanic | Eugene
• Maintenance Generalist | Eugene
• Warehouse Specialist | Eugene

• Area Loss Prevention Specialist | Eugene
• Scratch Baker | Eugene
• Maintenance Clerk | Eugene
• Bulk Foods Clerk | Eugene
• Culinary Team Member | Eugene
• Barista | Eugene
• Cashier | Eugene
• Cake Decorator | Eugene
• Central Kitchen Production Worker | Eugene
• Management Training Opportunities | Eugene
• PLUS MANY OTHER OPPORTUNITIES ACROSS THE STATE   

Use eBuild for Your Next Expansion Project

eBuild is a web-based solution that allows applicants to initiate and complete the plan review process from application to permit issuance online.  As the applicant you will be able to submit drawings, pay fees, and select contractors online. You will be notified of any status changes to your project in real-time.  When your plans have been approved and your fees have been paid, you will be able to download and print the approved stamped plans.

The City of Eugene's Building and Permit Services Department is is always interested in receiving feedback.  A workgroup comprised of city employees, construction professionals, the Eugene Chamber of Commerce, and F&B manufactures has formed to help inform the continued evolution of Building and Permit Services Department programs and processes.  Stay tuned for more updates from this group.  

For more information, contact Mark Whitmill at mark.d.whitmill@ci.eugene.or.us or 541-682-5128. 

Share Your Story

EWEB Business Growth and Retention Program

• Special EWEB electric pricing
• Facility loans from EWEB
• Energy efficiency rebates and loans

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