Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Packaged food maker Conagra Brands said on Tuesday it would sell its Wesson cooking oil brand to Folgers coffee maker J.M. Smucker Co. for about US$285 million. Conagra will continue to manufacture products sold under the Wesson brand for up to one year following the close, after which Wesson will be merged into […] Read more

Conagra to sell Wesson oil brand to Smucker

Canola acres seen rising on high prices
Reading Time: 2 minutes Brandon | Reuters — Canadian canola plantings may rise slightly in spring as farmers seek to cash in before an expected drop in vegetable oil prices as palm crops recover from drought that hit major Southeast Asian producers, German oilseed analysis firm Oil World said Tuesday. Plantings will rise by less than 10 per cent […] Read more

Newfoundland harvests first canola crop
Reading Time: 2 minutes Researchers in Newfoundland are set to test the oil and meal quality of the province’s first-ever canola crop after its harvest on Friday. The 30-acre research plot at Pasadena, N.L., about 30 km east of Corner Brook, “grew exceptionally well, surpassing our researcher’s expectations,” Steve Crocker, the province’s minister of fisheries, forestry and agrifoods, said […] Read more

China’s canola meal supply may fall under tighter standards
Reading Time: 2 minutes Beijing | Reuters — China may suffer a shortage of canola meal, a protein-rich feed ingredient, after Beijing plans to toughen the import standards for the oilseed from major exporters, industry analysts said. China will allow no more than one per cent of foreign material in canola shipments starting April 1, the country’s quarantine agency […] Read more

Weekly canola crush hits new record
Reading Time: < 1 minute CNS Canada –– Canola oil is flowing freely in Western Canada, with domestic processors crushing more canola in a single week than ever before, according to the latest data from the Canadian Oilseed Processors Association (COPA). The weekly canola crush hit 184,493 tonnes during the week ended Wednesday, which is more than 10,000 tonnes above […] Read more

Loan called on Legumex’s U.S. canola crusher
Reading Time: 2 minutes Prairie special crop processor Legumex Walker is weighing its options after major lenders to the company’s U.S. canola crushing arm called their loan. Pacific Coast Canola, a cold-press canola crushing operation at Warden, Wash., about 160 km southwest of Spokane, is 84 per cent owned by TSX-traded, Winnipeg-based Legumex, and 16 per cent owned by commodity […] Read more

Canada’s canola crop woes cut crusher profits to two-year low
Reading Time: 2 minutes Winnipeg | Reuters — Problems with Canada’s canola crop are driving up the oilseed’s price, cutting processors’ margins to their lowest levels in two years and threatening to boost the price of a key ingredient of salad dressings and potato chips. Frost and dry conditions on the Canadian Prairies have damaged the crop, which processors, […] Read more

U.S. trans fat ban creates opportunities for canola
Reading Time: 3 minutes CNS Canada — A move by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ban artificial trans fats in processed foods within three years will create opportunities for Canada’s canola sector, especially high oleic varieties such as Nexera. Partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs), which are the primary source of artificial trans fat in processed foods, are not […] Read more

Condo developer to ship canola oil to China, Canada says
Reading Time: < 1 minute Winnipeg | Reuters — A condominium developer has signed a $1 billion deal to export Canadian canola oil to China, according to the Canadian government. The deal was one of more than 20 commercial agreements signed during Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s visit to China, which wrapped up this week. The government said on its website […] Read more