Today's Main Story: Sysco reported to be closing in on deal with US Foods by selling assets to Performance
The multi-billion dollar merger between Sysco and US Foods took a major step in winning regulatory approval today when Sysco said it is poised to sell off some of its assets to Performance Food Group. Officials at the Federal Trade Commission had warned the two companies it would consider rejecting the $3.5 billion deal since it stood to undercut competition among broadline foodservice distributors. The FTC advised the companies to sell off some of their assets in order to get approval. It appears Sysco has done just that with this deal that will divest some of its assets to Performance.
The worsening congestion situation at the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports could now impact seafood supplies for the upcoming holiday buying season. Last week, five carries said would start leving “congestion surcharges” as high as $1,000 per container starting November 26. At the same time negotiations broke down late last week between Maritime workers and the longshoremen. Seafood traders said the backup is the worse they have seen at the ports. One trader added that importers who ordered product for December’s holiday sales period may not get their shipments in time for the season.
In our video today, the second in our series produced by Steve Minor on GSSI, - The Global Seafood Sustainability Initiative - we look at the parallels between the public concerns over food safety in the 1990's and today's concerns over seafood sustainability. Today, every seafood sustainability problem is generalized to the entire global system of fisheries, so the public has a false perception about an 'intractable' problem, and fails to see how much of the industry is truly meeting remarkable sustainability goals.
On Friday the Pacific Seafood Processors Association honored the late Terry Shaff for his work on SeaShare’s board of directors with a $100,000 donation in his honor. Shaff, Unisea’s longtime president and industry veteran, passed away suddenly last weekend at the age of 67. “His respect within the seafood industry, along with his leadership brought additional support to SeaShare,” said the charity’s director Jim Harmon.
Finally, The Mazzetta Company has closed on the deal to acquire the former Good Harbor Fillet plant in Gloucester. The plant is expected to contribute to the company’s lobster business. The facility is not yet in operation since the building in “in the midst of a major rehab and refitting,” according to Jordan Mazzetta.
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